Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/294724713?client_source=feed&format=rss
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Wednesday, March 27, 2013
New type of solar structure cools buildings in full sunlight
Mar. 27, 2013 ? A Stanford team has designed an entirely new form of cooling panel that works even when the sun is shining. Such a panel could vastly improve the daylight cooling of buildings, cars and other structures by radiating sunlight back into the chilly vacuum of space.
Homes and buildings chilled without air conditioners. Car interiors that don't heat up in the summer sun. Tapping the frigid expanses of outer space to cool the planet. Science fiction, you say? Well, maybe not any more.
A team of researchers at Stanford has designed an entirely new form of cooling structure that cools even when the sun is shining. Such a structure could vastly improve the daylight cooling of buildings, cars and other structures by reflecting sunlight back into the chilly vacuum of space. Their paper describing the device was published March 5 in Nano Letters.
"People usually see space as a source of heat from the sun, but away from the sun outer space is really a cold, cold place," explained Shanhui Fan, professor of electrical engineering and the paper's senior author. "We've developed a new type of structure that reflects the vast majority of sunlight, while at the same time it sends heat into that coldness, which cools humanmade structures even in the day time."
The trick, from an engineering standpoint, is two-fold. First, the reflector has to reflect as much of the sunlight as possible. Poor reflectors absorb too much sunlight, heating up in the process and defeating the purpose of cooling.
The second challenge is that the structure must efficiently radiate heat back into space. Thus, the structure must emit thermal radiation very efficiently within a specific wavelength range in which the atmosphere is nearly transparent. Outside this range, Earth's atmosphere simply reflects the light back down. Most people are familiar with this phenomenon. It's better known as the greenhouse effect -- the cause of global climate change.
Two goals in one
The new structure accomplishes both goals. It is an effective a broadband mirror for solar light -- it reflects most of the sunlight. It also emits thermal radiation very efficiently within the crucial wavelength range needed to escape Earth's atmosphere.
Radiative cooling at nighttime has been studied extensively as a mitigation strategy for climate change, yet peak demand for cooling occurs in the daytime.
"No one had yet been able to surmount the challenges of daytime radiative cooling -- of cooling when the sun is shining," said Eden Rephaeli, a doctoral candidate in Fan's lab and a co-first-author of the paper. "It's a big hurdle."
The Stanford team has succeeded where others have come up short by turning to nanostructured photonic materials. These materials can be engineered to enhance or suppress light reflection in certain wavelengths.
"We've taken a very different approach compared to previous efforts in this field," said Aaswath Raman, a doctoral candidate in Fan's lab and a co-first-author of the paper. "We combine the thermal emitter and solar reflector into one device, making it both higher performance and much more robust and practically relevant. In particular, we're very excited because this design makes viable both industrial-scale and off-grid applications."
Using engineered nanophotonic materials the team was able to strongly suppress how much heat-inducing sunlight the panel absorbs, while it radiates heat very efficiently in the key frequency range necessary to escape Earth's atmosphere. The material is made of quartz and silicon carbide, both very weak absorbers of sunlight.
Net cooling power
The new device is capable of achieving a net cooling power in excess of 100 watts per square meter. By comparison, today's standard 10-percent-efficient solar panels generate the about the same amount of power. That means Fan's radiative cooling panels could theoretically be substituted on rooftops where existing solar panels feed electricity to air conditioning systems needed to cool the building.
To put it a different way, a typical one-story, single-family house with just 10 percent of its roof covered by radiative cooling panels could offset 35 percent its entire air conditioning needs during the hottest hours of the summer.
Radiative cooling has another profound advantage over all other cooling strategy such as air-conditioner. It is a passive technology. It requires no energy. It has no moving parts. It is easy to maintain. You put it on the roof or the sides of buildings and it starts working immediately.
A changing vision of cooling
Beyond the commercial implications, Fan and his collaborators foresee a broad potential social impact. Much of the human population on Earth lives in sun-drenched regions huddled around the equator. Electrical demand to drive air conditioners is skyrocketing in these places, presenting an economic and an environmental challenge. These areas tend to be poor and the power necessary to drive cooling usually means fossil-fuel power plants that compound the greenhouse gas problem.
"In addition to these regions, we can foresee applications for radiative cooling in off-the-grid areas of the developing world where air conditioning is not even possible at this time. There are large numbers of people who could benefit from such systems," Fan said.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Stanford School of Engineering. The original article was written by Andrew Myers.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
- Eden Rephaeli, Aaswath Raman, Shanhui Fan. Ultrabroadband Photonic Structures To Achieve High-Performance Daytime Radiative Cooling. Nano Letters, 2013; : 130311121615001 DOI: 10.1021/nl4004283
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
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Quadrocopter fleet stuns Londoners with giant hovering Star Trek logo (video)
Before quadrocopters become Skynet's roaming recon fleet, they'll begrudgingly entertain us, and in a recent promotional enterprise, a swarm braved the London "spring" to remind us of the imminent launch of Star Trek: Into Darkness. Over the weekend, drone masters Ars Electronica Futurelab sent a party of 30 LED-tagged AscTec Hummingbirds halfway to Hoth, and used the relative darkness of Earth Hour to set an approximately 300-foot high Star Trek logo twinkling over Tower Bridge. A video of the event can be found below, complete with epic music and movie cut-scenes sure to send even the most Vulcan of trekkers to sickbay with hysteria. If anyone behind the promotion is reading -- please, whatever you do, just don't give them phasers.
Filed under: Robots
Source: Ars Electronica (1), (2)
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/25/quadrocopter-london-star-trek-promo/
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Tuesday, March 26, 2013
A US Nuclear Exit? (Part 5) The Economics of a ... - Nuclear News
The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists (BAS) has released its third and final issue in its Nuclear Exit series, this time turning its expert focus on the United States. The first two installments looked at Germany and France, countries that share a border but are ? for historical, political, and economic reasons ? answering the nuclear power question in different ways.
The final editorial piece in this five-part installment presented on PennEnergy.com comes from Amory Lovins, chairman and chief scientist of Rocky Mountain Institute, a nonprofit that focuses on efficiency and renewable resources. Starting from a detailed discussion of the US nuclear energy industry?s economic problems, Lovins draws on a comprehensive study that he and his institute authored, Reinventing Fire, to analyze three possible nuclear futures.
Part 1: Introduction- A US Nuclear Exit
Part 2: How to close the US nuclear industry: Do nothing
Part 3: The Limited National Security Implications of Civilian Nuclear Decline
Part 4: Nuclear exit, the US energy mix, and carbon dioxide emissions
?
The economics of a US civilian nuclear phase-out
By Amory B. Lovins
In the United States, which trades three-fifths of its electricity in competitive markets, the prohibitive capital cost of new nuclear power plants ensures that only a handful will be built. Nonetheless, with 40-year licenses being extended to 60 years, the 104 existing reactors? relatively low generating costs are widely expected to justify decades of continued operation. But the generating costs of ageing reactors have been rising, while competitors, including modern renewable s, show rapidly falling total costs?and those opposed cost curves have begun to intersect.
An expanding fraction of well-running nuclear plants is now challenged to compete with moderating wholesale power prices, while plants needing major repairs or located in regions rich in wind power increasingly face difficult choices of whether to run or close. Thus, even without events that might accelerate nuclear phase-out, as the Fukushima disaster did in Germany, shifting competitive conditions have begun to drive a gradual US nuclear phase-out. Its economics are illuminated by a detailed energy scenario that needs no nuclear energy, coal, or oil and one-third less natural gas to run a 158 percent bigger US economy in 2050?but cuts carbon emissions by 82 to 86 percent and costs $5 trillion less. That scenario?s 80-percent-renewable, 50-percent-distributed, equally reliable, and more resilient electricity system would cost essentially the same as a business-as-usual version that sustains nuclear and coal power, but it would better manage all the system?s risks. Similarly comprehensive modeling could also analyze faster nuclear phase-out if desired.
Nuclear power in the United States, long considered the durably low-cost generator of electricity, faces intensifying competitive risks: New reactors are far too costly to replace the aging fleet of existing reactors, which in turn face rising pressure from even cheaper-to-operate ways to save or make electricity. For economic or other reasons, the gradual phase-out of unprofitable nuclear power plants, already quietly under way, may accelerate. Transparent empirical data and orthodox analytical techniques can illustrate the economics of this US nuclear energy transition?a complex transition embedded in a context that extends far beyond nuclear power.
Continue here: The economics of a US civilian nuclear phase-out
Part 1: Introduction- A US Nuclear Exit
Part 2: How to close the US nuclear industry: Do nothing
Part 3: The Limited National Security Implications of Civilian Nuclear Decline
Part 4: Nuclear exit, the US energy mix, and carbon dioxide emissions
http://www.pennenergy.com/articles/pennenergy/2013/03/a-us-nuclear-exit-part-5.html
Source: http://nuclear-news.net/2013/03/26/a-us-nuclear-exit-part-5-the-economics-of-a-phase-out/
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New complex set to open - MadisonJournalTODAY
Madison County?s annual opening day for youth baseball and softball was set for this past weekend ? though the rain put a damper on the day.
Now, soccer won?t be far behind in kicking off its season, with opening day set for April 20. And when those boys and girls put the cleats on and show off their fancy footwork, they?ll do it on brand new fields.
The Brewer-Phillips Sports Complex is now ready to open.
Up to four games can be played simultaneously on the park?s two big fields.
Dove said the game of soccer has really exploded in Madison County in recent years, adding that a new park is a great thing for the county.
?It?s one of the biggest, growing sports,? said Dove of soccer. ?And we wouldn?t have been able to keep up with the need without the park.?
Both Dove and current recreation board director Robin Pendleton said former recreation director Dick Perpall deserves thanks for getting the complex rolling. Dove also said the county recreation board deserves praise for its work on the project.
Pendleton said that over 200 Madison County boys and girls will participate in soccer this spring. There will be co-ed leagues for ages 5-6, 7-8, 9-10, 11-13 and 14-17.
Pendleton said that getting the soccer games off of the baseball fields will help improve the condition of those fields.
?This project is years in the making,? said Pendleton. ?It?s good to see fields dedicated to soccer in the county.?
Source: http://www.madisonjournaltoday.com/archives/6019-New-complex-set-to-open.html
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Monday, March 25, 2013
Israel to resume money transfers to Palestinians
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) ? Israel said Monday it would resume regular monthly transfers of about $100 million in taxes and customs it collects for the Palestinian Authority, a step bound to ease but not end the protracted cash crisis of the self-rule government in the West Bank.
Israel has repeatedly halted the money transfers over political disputes, most recently after the Palestinians' successful bid in November to win U.N. recognition of a state of Palestine in lands Israel captured in 1967.
Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad accused Israel of withholding the funds illegally, saying the money belonged to the Palestinians. Israel has released some money since the U.N. recognition, but not on schedule.
Israel's decision came just days after President Barack Obama met separately with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during a visit to the region. Obama said stabilizing the Palestinian Authority, which is buckling under mounting debt, is key to U.S. peace efforts.
The transfers are an important part of the budget of the Palestinian Authority, which administers 38 percent of the West Bank. In recent months, the Palestinian Authority has struggled to pay the salaries of tens of thousands of civil servants ? the backbone of the local economy ? and repay its debt to the private sector.
The financial crisis began in 2010, with donors ? mainly Arab countries ? not meeting aid pledges, Fayyad has said. In 2013, the Palestinian Authority will have an anticipated budget deficit of $1.5 billion, out of an overall spending plan of $3.5 million, Fayyad told reporters.
The Palestinian Authority has operating costs of about $300 million a month, with more than half spent on the government payroll. The Israeli transfers are critical to keeping the Palestinian Authority afloat.
Meanwhile, wide gaps remain on the terms of renewing Israeli-Palestinian negotiations that broke down more than four years ago. Obama heard from both sides during his visit and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is making a new push to restart the talks.
The Palestinians say Israel must freeze settlement building in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, the lands it captured in 1967, before any negotiations can resume. Israel says the issue of settlements can be addressed during negotiations.
Obama has sided with the Israeli view, and it is not clear how the U.S. can bring the Palestinians back to the table without a settlement freeze.
Arab countries are now being asked to help, said Yasser Abed-Rabbo, a top official in the Palestine Liberation Organization.
"U.S. efforts will increase in coming weeks and will include other Arab parties, such as Jordan and Egypt," Abed-Rabbo told Voice of Palestine radio Monday, adding that an Arab League delegation is to visit Washington as part of these efforts.
However, he said there would be no flexibility on Palestinian demands for a settlement freeze.
"For us, the important thing is the substance, such as the full settlement freeze and the recognition of the 1967 borders," he said.
The Palestinians want a state in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, but are ready to negotiate border changes, provided the 1967 frontier is the baseline.
Palestinian officials say they cannot return to talks without such a clear framework, arguing that open-ended negotiations will simply provide diplomatic cover to Israel to keep expanding settlements.
"We fear they (the Israelis) would waste time by getting us into a bargaining process over details and steps here and there, and in this way would waste two to three years and then get us to wait for a new U.S. administration," Abed-Rabbo said.
Netanyahu has said he is willing to resume talks immediately. However, he has said he will not relinquish control over east Jerusalem and has refused to recognize the 1967 lines as a starting point for talks.
For 10 months during his previous term, Netanyahu curbed settlement building as part of a U.S. push to bring the Palestinians back to the table, but negotiations never got off the ground.
Successive Israeli governments have built dozens of settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, now home to more than half a million Israelis. Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005, dismantling almost two dozen settlements there, but sharply restricts access to the territory.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/israel-resume-money-transfers-palestinians-182208690.html
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Shares of RIM fall after US release of new Berry
TORONTO (AP) -- Shares of Research In Motion are down more than four percent after a Goldman Sachs analyst downgraded the stock following what she says was a disappointing release of the new touchscreen BlackBerry in the U.S.
THE SPARK: Simona Jankowski said in a research note Monday that retail checks at over 20 store locations since March 22, including AT&T, Best Buy and Radio Shack, revealed a surprising lack of marketing support and poor positioning of the new Z10 touchscreen BlackBerry. She wrote that at most AT&T stores, there were no marketing materials or signs announcing the arrival of the Z10 and sales were poor.
The sell-off in RIM shares following the U.S. release follows a months-long rally. The company's stock had nearly tripled from a nine-year low in September after favorable reviews on blogs and financial analysts started to see the possibility of a comeback for the company. Jankowski now assigns a 20 percent probability of success for RIM's new BlackBerry 10 phones, down from 30 percent previously.
She lowered her 12-month target on the stock to $17 from $19.
THE BIG PICTURE: The BlackBerry, pioneered in 1999, has been the dominant smartphone for on-the-go business people and also crossed over to other consumers. But the iPhone's debut in 2007 showed that phones can handle much more than email and phone calls, and RIM's market dissipated.
The new BlackBerry Z10 has received favorable reviews since its release in February in Canada and elsewhere, but the launch in the critical U.S. market was delayed until late this month. A new keyboard BlackBerry won't be released in the U.S. for two or three more months. The delay in selling the new keypad BlackBerry, called the Q10, complicates RIM's efforts to hang on to customers tempted by the iPhone and a range of devices running Google Inc.'s Android operating system. Even as the BlackBerry has fallen behind rivals in recent years, many BlackBerry users have stayed loyal because they prefer a physical keyboard over the touchscreen on the iPhone and most Android devices.
RIM will report fourth quarter earnings Thursday morning. The results should provide a glimpse into how well the smartphones are selling in Canada, the U.K. and India, though details on the U.S. launch and other markets won't be part of the financial report until next earnings period.
SHARE ACTION: Down 68 cents, or 4.6 percent, to $14.23 in morning trading on the Nasdaq.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/shares-rim-fall-us-release-154444737.html
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