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Environment

New process makes solar power competitive with oil

Stanford Report shares news that a solar energy conversion process discovered by Stanford engineers could revamp solar power production:

“Called ‘photon enhanced thermionic emission,’ or PETE, the process promises to surpass the efficiency of existing photovoltaic and thermal conversion technologies.”

[...]

“Photovoltaic systems never get hot enough for their waste heat to be useful in thermal energy conversion, but the high temperatures at which PETE performs are perfect for generating usable high-temperature waste heat. Melosh calculates the PETE process can get to 50 percent efficiency or more under solar concentration, but if combined with a thermal conversion cycle, could reach 55 or even 60 percent – almost triple the efficiency of existing systems.”

Read the full story at Stanford Report.

Predicting floods in Venice: Look to the Sun

New Scientist reports on an interesting correlation between floods in Venice and solar activity:

“Several times a year, but most commonly between October and December, Venice is hit by an exceptional tide called the acqua alta. David Barriopedro at the University of Lisbon, Portugal, and colleagues were intrigued by studies showing the tides followed an 11-year cycle, just like the sun, showing peaks when the sunspots were most abundant. They looked at hourly observations of sea level between 1948 and 2008, which confirmed that the number of extreme tides followed peaks in the solar cycle (Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres, DOI: 10.1029/2009JD013114).”

Read the full story at New Scientist.

Environment — No Comments
27
Jul 10

Climate change to trigger mass Mexican migration to U.S.?

From the Los Angeles Times:

“Between 1.4 million and 6.7 million Mexicans could migrate to the U.S. by 2080 as climate change reduces crop yields and agricultural production in Mexico, according to a study published online this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The number could amount to 10% of the current population of Mexicans ages 15 to 65.”

Read the full L. A. Times article.

Environment — No Comments
26
Jul 10

Al Gore: Great Lakes are ‘Canary in the Coal Mine’

Al Gore highlights a New York Times article on how climate change is impacting the Great Lakes:

“According to Cameron Davis the senior adviser to the U.S. EPA on the Great Lakes, ‘The Great Lakes in a lot of ways have always been a canary in the coal mine’ [...] The waters in Lake Superior are on track to reach — and potentially exceed — the lake’s record-high temperatures of 68 degrees Fahrenheit, which occurred in 1998.”

Designing greener cities: An urban design toolkit

From the New Zealand Ministry for the Environment:

The Urban Design Toolkit is a compendium of tools that can be used to facilitate high-quality urban design. For some, the Toolkit will provide an important resource, assisting them in the application of quality urban design projects. For others, the Toolkit may provide increased insight into the breadth and depth of urban design and a starting point in identifying how to achieve quality design.

Read the full Ministry for the Environment report (pdf).