Though our primitive technology hasn't been expected to accurately forecast solar storms coming toward Earth, NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center has recently designed a forecasting model that will allow them to do exactly that. Their model will allow utility companies to "brace for fluctuations in the energy grid." This new technology, unlike any other existing model, will be able to specify the exact region on Earth that will be affected the most, hours, or even days in advance.
Based on previous instances when giant solar storms hit, the increased electrical load in the grid has the potential to cause severe damage to electrical transformers and blackout the energy system for a dangerously extended time. NOAA hopes that the new system will give utilities "enough time to react to prevent an extended blackout, and plan on refining the model as time goes on,"
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Across the Atlantic Ocean, Scotland has become one of the few nations to enthusiastically embrace tidal wave energy. On its Shetland Islands, the company "Nova Innovations" has already installed two 100-kilowatt turbines that are providing for its 23,000 residents. Prior to the commencement of this small project, however, a wind farm project was also being proposed. According to Frank Hay, chairman of Sustainable Shetland, “We recognize that renewables must play a part in how we live in the future. However, these schemes must be fit for scale and fit for purpose,” Hay said. “A wind farm of this scale is wrong for Shetland.” This goes on to prove that not all technologies are equal; each location comes with conditions that must be considered. In this case, islands are more likely to benefit from tidal wave energy.
Overall this article discusses the advantages of tidal wave energy, a technology we briefly covered last year. The article makes a strong case by mentioning that this technology works 24/7, unlike solar and wind, which need the sun to be out and the wind to be blowing. With that said, tidal wave energy appears to be the first to be nearly 100% efficient. Across the Pacific Ocean, our neighbor, Japan, has begun a project that aims to install solar panels over some of its bodies of water. The well known company, Kyocera, has begun a massive project to produce around 16,000 megawatts hours annually from nearly 60,000 panels floating on the Yamakura Dam reservoir. Companies like Kyocera have created a trend that is now being adopted by others in Australia and the United States. The advantages of experimenting with this new technology have already overshadowed those of solar panels installed on land. The pros are listed as followed:
1. Renting or buying land is more expensive than occupying bodies of waters 2. Reservoirs that are not used for recreation can finally be utilized 3. For aesthetic reasons, the solar panels can be hidden from public view (unlike land panels) 4. Solar panels are constantly cooled by the water, thus making them more efficient 5. Evaporation is slowed down (appealing to drought-stricken regions) Though the article does emphasize the overwhelming pros of this technology, it does acknowledge that each project will have its own challenges. It is also noted that, in order for these projects to succeed, incentives must be available and the wants of government have to be met. The connection between this technology and our classroom curriculum is clear: while focusing on solar energy, we experimented with the "best angle" of a solar panel in order to produce the greatest amount of energy. In the case of this project, it was mentioned that the solar panels would rotate to follow the sun in order to achieve this effect. Also, the article claims that the project would pay for itself in 2020, four years from now. This resembles the time when we studied electricity and energy efficiency; we analyzed the efficiency of similar appliances by calculating their initial cost and the time it would take for them to "pay for themselves." The successful MIT researchers who were able to create extremely thin solar cells say its all due to the change in fabrication. Typical cells have multiple layers, built separately. These new, thin cells have their layers built at the same time. It was because of this that they are thinner and easier to use on multiple surfaces. They are apparently thinner than a strand of hair. 1/50th the size of a hair, to be exact. The image above was taken to show the solar cell at its new size. It was caught in a soap bubble, and is apparently easily blown away if you breathe too hard.
All in all, as a result of their weight being reduce, while still maintaining the same ability to capture energy, these solar cells are slowly proving to be much more efficient than your typical solar cell.
In honor of our light bulb unit, I found an article on an alternative for incandescent light bulbs. According to Popular Science, two MIT researchers have created a prototype that uses heat waste to produce even more visible light while still maintaining the warm glow that is giving off by traditional incandescent bulbs. The fundamental difference, however, is that the filament (the wire inside a bulb) is covered in a crystal filter. This allows for visible light to pass through while keeping the infrared light inside (along with heat waste). The light and heat are then reused and given off as visible light.
So far this prototype has lived up to its hype. However, it is still being further developed. Once it meets necessary standards, it may be possible that this new technology is made available to the public (either in the form described above or in a completely different way!).
Today, most of the world's environmental issues can be summed up into the words "global warming", "alternative energy", "pollution", etc. However, another form of pollution is slowly but glowingly getting more attention.
Light pollution ("sky glow") is the excessive and unnecessary amount of artificial light in the sky. Most of this scattered light comes from parking lots, street lights, etc. Most lamps at these locations tend to give off the "yellow" light we are used to seeing. On top of that, the lamps themselves have shapes that don't restrict the direction in which the light travels. In order to address this issue, cities have started switching to LED lights. However, because these lights still contribute to light pollution, an effective solution has not been created. In terms of the effects of light pollution, it has reportedly become more of a problem for humans, the environment, animals, and basically the whole world. One thing that humans (and even animals) will have to deal with are the changes in sleeping patterns. Although these patterns have developed over thousands of years, they will become irregular and eventually promote health issues. Currently, the specific consequences of light pollution have not been identified but many can be predicted using information from studies based on the effects of light on humans and environments. On the bright side, however, (pun totally intended) social awareness has increased in recent years. If this continues, hopefully effective solutions will come to light (pun not intended) before the consequences of light pollution become another major problem for the world to deal with.
The following audio,"The Vanishing Dark", from the podcast: Nocturne is another great resource.
(It offers a lot of great insight that will raise your awareness and desire to find out more!!)
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AuthorIBCP student at Wooster High School aspiring to be an civil engineer Archives
November 2016
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