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Car Runs On Air

Video: YouTube

This little Air car reminds me a bit of the Citroën 2CV, which was and possibly still is, that ugly little underpowered French car, which strangely enough was quite popular. In defense of the French, the Citroëns as a rule have always been very innovative, but as with most rules, the 2CV I still think was the exception that makes the rule.

I believe that this Air car could well be an answer to pollution, global warming and commuting, it’s specs are pretty good, and to be honest I can’t see why it would not be so. Their claims are that it will do up to 200 miles, 60 mph and it can apparently be charged in something like 3 minutes… these are all very good and believable numbers, and it could do this with virtually zero emissions, especially if it’s compressed gas comes from using photovoltaic solar cells to power the air compressors.

However, the ‘perpetual motion’ thing is marketing doing what marketing does, make glib, uninformed statements which are ignorant of the laws of physics.

The End, Nuclear War

Video: YouTube

I’m not altogether convinced that Nuclear War and MAD is not unthinkable, it may be unthinkable for reasonably rational people. However, not only are there irrational people out there; Nixon was one, and as they say, Shit Happens, and whilst there are some tens of thousands of Nuclear weapons… which is more than enough to put an end to consumerism for good, along with Religious differences, it will also solve our problem of global warming, because not only will a Nuclear Winter occur, we probably wont be here to worry about it.

Now the curious thing is, the very people who are promoting Nuclear energy as a solution, are in fact the same people responsible for our lack of energy, because of their waste, neglect and greed. The solution now ’some people say’; I love using FOXisms, build more Nuclear Power Plants because they are ’safe’, but not apparently so safe for Iran, Iraq, North Korea and Syria. So the question is what are they to use… think about it. We are being hard sold a pup.

If stupidity got us into this mess, then why can’t it get us out? - Will Rogers.

Dragon Power Station

Photo: Coolgadgetconcept.com

So by now we would have all heard of Wind, Solar, Hydro, Geothermal and Wave Energy. All of these are good reliable proven sources of renewable green energy.

Well there is a relatively new system called the Dragon Power Station that has been developed by entrepreneur Terry Kenny. The principle of his design is a set of plates that are installed into the road, when trucks or cars pass over these plates they compress hydraulic fluid in tanks under the road, this in turn creates a pumping action, which is then used to turn a generator and produce electricity.

Terry has installed his Dragon Power Station at the Port of Oakland where there are around 2500 trucks driving over his plates each day. He expects for this prototype to produce between 5000 to 7000 kilowatt-hours each day, enough to power 1750 homes.

Good thing about this design is that given the trucks or cars driving over the plates would already be doing so, there appears that there would be very little net carbon emissions with this system, maybe a small amount in the production of the hydraulic fluid being used.

“The “Dragon” is already set to be installed in some other prime locations and Kenney foresees a profitable deal out of these devices.”

Website: Dragon Power Station via Dragon Power Station

Meet Trev

Photo: South Australia University

Photo: Car Domain

Staff and students at the South Australia University have designed and built an amazing vehicle called the TREV (Two-seat Renewable Energy Vehicle). The Trev is a tandem two seater, with enough luggage space for at least two overnight bags and it weighs only 300 kgs; obviously using a 2+ tonne vehicle for 2 commuting people or less is totally ridiculous.

This energy-efficient car is clean and quiet. It complies with road safety and worthiness regulations, has a top speed of 120 km/h and gives something like 150 km of city driving before it has to be recharged! The electricity costs about $0.18 per kWh and the cost of recharging Trev is only about 2 cents per 2 km (mile)!

The South Australia Labor government has long been a leader in the promotion of alternative energy. Recently the SA government passed legislation, that allows anybody or even small businesses, who produce more power than they need from renewable sources, to sell back their excess power for twice the going rate… how totally excellent is that, and tomorrow we shall have a closer look at that.

Website: TREV Team South Australia University

“Time flies fellows, clock’s ticking”

Video: TEDTALKS


Well, where do I start. Phew, what an excellent approach to fixing so much of the Oil and Transport problems… not at a cost, but whilst making savings and employing more people.

So many solutions & opportunities, it’s all straightforward and doable, and I believe possibly in a much shorter time frame. But, there’s always a but, it is not going to be accomplished by the planet’s current management.

Norman Foster Building on the green agenda

Video TEDTALKS

“Architect Norman Foster discusses his own work to show how computers can help architects design buildings that are green, beautiful and “basically pollution-free.” He shares projects from throughout his career, from the pioneering roof-gardened Willis Building (1975) to the London Gherkin (2004). He also comments on two upcoming megaprojects: a pipe to bring water from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea, and the new Beijing airport.”

Well it looks like the Hippies were right all along!

As for iPods, well I own an iRiver which runs on a single rechargeable AA battery… so I don’t have to send my MP3 player off to have the battery changed when it dies.

This video is worth watching. Although it pertains to commercial buildings for the most part, the basics apply to domestic housing, concepts which in Europe are largely the norm. Homes should be built to be practical, efficient and made to last.

My mother was, or is a European trained Architect, so I have probably a better appreciation of Architecture than most. We in England, the US and here in Australia, for the most part build appallingly designed homes. Sure there a few exceptions, but for the most part they do not take into account the local environment and they are certainly rarely built to last, or designed to conserve energy to any substantive degree.

I’ll use the US as an example here, largely because they are the number one consumer nation. I don’t know how many times I’ve seen US homes in Hurricane & Tornado areas, disassemble in the frequent storms. The first thing that happens is the roof generally lifts off in one hit… and then that’s it for that building. Duh! Why keep building the easy to disassemble homes in the same area time, after time, after time?

How can it be economically correct to keep on doing what’s not working? It might work for the Builders, Banks & Insurance companies… but that’s all, it’s broken economics. If you are going to live in those areas, build to last, build out of concrete or something that wont end up in the land of Oz, the first time a storm or Tornado hits.

If your in a hot or cold climate, why spend money year in year out air conditioning or heating, if with double or even triple glazing, proper insulation and proper design, you wont spent a fraction of what you probably are now on heating or cooling ever again… I just don’t get it.

Governments should give huge tax breaks and give low interest loans to the needy to ensure that homes are both efficient and safe. They should punish people through taxes for building those godawful McMansions, as we call them in Australia… and we are no better here I’m embarrassed to say.

A lot of Australia’s stupid ideas come from watching American TV, that promotes the illusions of grandiose mansions, which obviously are far from the norm. They are for the most place just empty headed warped imitations of ‘good’ homes, just with nose, teeth and boob jobs like many of the actors in those shows, in 10 or 20 years at best they will be gone… that’s no way to build a house or a home for that matter. It’s wasteful, inefficient and really stupid.

Nikola Tesla: The Missing Secrets (part 3 of 4)

Video: YouTube

They can heat up the Ionosphere, spend billions on weapons and wars, but they can’t provide health care for millions of their own people… not even for their kids. I’m not just speaking about the US here, but about most governments, and this is because that aforementioned high tech wizardry, is really more about welfare for the rich. It’s the Bankers, Military Industrialists and the ‘Security’ organizations on all sides who are the only ones to benefit.

Somehow I think Nikola Tesla would be disappointed with our progress, not just on his science, but in regards to our social development. True some countries have done better than most with regards to social development, but nobody is really going to discuss the Elephants in the room… too many people, which is perhaps the main worry, and a financial sector who seem to think; or at least act like they think, that growth is unlimited, which is a totally ridiculous concept.

Again if we worked together like civilized and intelligent beings, and used the science that Nikola created for the common good, we would probably have moved some of our eggs out of this basket and had bases on the Moon and possibly Mars. If we’d focused more on the potential power of Nikola Tesla’s ideas for positive things who knows where we’d be now… somehow I doubt if we had we’d be worried about global warming, we’d probably be working less, wasting less, getting on with each other better and we would be doing things that is good for the majority not just for the minority, not just for the people now on Earth, not just for the people in the future, but for the Planet as a whole, hey it’s the only one we have folks and it is, or at least was a beauty.

Nikola Tesla: The Missing Secrets ( part 2 of 4 )

Video: YouTube

I keep hearing about “The infamous banker and international financier JP Morgan” being fabulously rich… slightly better I suppose than being filthy rich, but it’s contra to my hearing that JP Morgan was in actual fact, really a Rothschild’s employee, all be it a rich one.

We see here again in this video that decisions are being made to the detriment of humanity, but instead as usual, for the benefit of the few. Is it any wonder the planet’s in a mess, teetering on disaster, whilst we dash around rearranging the deck chairs to the tune ‘In the Shadows’. mmm where’s that come from you might ask?

Nikola Tesla was obviously not only a genius, but a humanitarian as well and it seems that many of his inventions not widely used, were either suppressed, or else still more worryingly, are possibly being used by the ‘dark forces’ running the World. Other devices that came from Tesla’s research could possibly control the weather; a long held desire of the US Military Industrialists, whilst other devices could perhaps cause earth quakes; another handy weapon, but what’s still more worrying, some of his inventions could be used to screw with people’s minds, such as the much loved CIA/NSA MK Ultra thing… which reminds me, now where did I put my aluminum skullcap?

Anyway, like I said previously, this stuff I believe would best be attended to by the colleges and Universities, for the good of all rather than just a few. And I’d hope that they would use whatever income that would be derived to do positive things, like supporting the education of the masses, like saving the planet or exploring Space and eventually colonizing Space… the Military have already proven themselves untrustworthy in this, since they have not only weaponized Space, but the Morons have now actually stuck their filthy nuclear weapons in Space as well. What the 30,000 odd atomic bombs on earth weren’t enough for you?

Nikola Tesla - The Forgotten Wizard

Video: YouTube

Nikola Tesla’s reemergence from obscurity over the last decade or so, has been a steady flow which now has become an eruption with vengeance… perhaps it’s time for universities & colleges to get serious and come up with some answers and develop the opportunities themselves.

The reasons why I tend to support universities & colleges, is because I believe there is more hope amongst the academia and students, since I believe they are less likely to be motivated in the same greedy self serving ways as the various corporations. As was shown in this footage… the idea of free or even cheap power terrifies them.

Big business think big, big government assistance, big profits, big dividends and big executive salaries, along side the small wages paid to the majority of their workers… hey I’m not a socialist, but I am the much rarer Social Democrat, hated; both by the Right & Left.

I do not trust big business, I regard them for the most part as phony capitalists, who talk about competition whilst the opposite actually happens, the big fish eat the smaller fish and when there are no longer any small fish the big fish combine and that’s the end of competition… that’s how capitalism ends up.

Ausra solar thermal part 2

Video: Going Green 2007 via YouTube

John O’Donnell is the Executive Vice President of Ausra. Here he discusses Ausra’s technology and how it works. John says during the talk that he and his company are excited that this technology is about to take off and become a major player in the energy market. I totally agree with John and I really believe that big existing power companies who use coal and nuclear should be investing their dollars into Ausra, before they get left behind.

If you haven’t already seen part one of the Ausra Solar Thermal system see the link below.

baseload renewable power, ausra solar thermal is the answer

Solar Installation Video

Video: YouTube

This video shows a 3KW solar installation.

Baseload renewable power, Ausra solar thermal is the answer

Baseload renewable power at utility-scale is here and it is US based Ausra Inc who has the solution with it’s Solar thermal technology.

The technology was originally developed in Australia by Dr. David Mills. Unfortunately for the Australian economy Dr Mills had to take his technology to the United States to get the funding he required to continue this technology through to production stage.

We believe that Ausra Inc’s Solar thermal technology is the single most promising of all technologies we have shown at PaleBluDot, in it’s ability to reduce greenhouse emissions on a global scale and to do so at a comparable cost to coal and nuclear power generation.

So how does the Ausra Solar Thermal System work?

Ausra uses a technology called, Compact Linear Fresnel Reflector (CLFR). This idea was originally conceived in the early 1990s by Ausra’s founders in Australia. The system works by reflecting sunlight off mirrors and onto a collecting tube, this tube is filled with water and as such will produce high temperature, pressurised steam. The steam then drives a turbine generator which produces electricity. (see image below)

Image courtesy of Ausra Inc


Oct 07, ABC Australia video on Ausra’s Solar thermal system

Ausra on ABC 7.30 report via YouTube

POST CONTINUES more about Ausra’s system Read more

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