I’m trying to put together a comprehensive website showing all the alternative fuels out there such as: sugar cane, sorghum, methanol wood grain alcohol), green vegetables, seaweed, kelp, natural gas, propane, new & creative enzyme to change chlorophyll into alcohol, alcohol synthesis from chlorophyll using natural photosynthesis & any other new & on the horizon technologies. Any & all constructive input would be greatly appreciated. PS: I’ve been hearing a lot about chlorophyll as the MIRACLE FOOD, combined in the blood stream w/carbon dioxide it produces oxygen/glucose sugar when sunshine or any plant light shines on the skin. This would be an earth shattering occurrence for people w/asthma, congestive heart failure, sickle cell anemia so on & so on. I found the thread under a web search of Chlorophyll Photosynthesis in the Human Body. I would certainly like to see some clinical test results on how successful this therapy could be
If you’re in the market for used auto sales, Austin’s DriveTime dealerships have a wide selection of vehicles to choose from. We know that it can be very difficult to get financed for a vehicle when you have poor credit, but at DriveTime we focus on getting people with bad credit into a used auto. Other dealerships may claim they can sell you a car no matter what your credit history is, but all too often this turns out to be an empty promise. That’s why you can count on DriveTime to find you a used car that you will be proud to drive!
Well, the EPA is an OK place to start research, and this web page, http://www.epa.gov/otaq/consumer/fuels/altfuels/altfuels.htm#fact
would be the best starting point in my opinion. I didn’t find any reference of sugar cane, sorghum, etc., but it does have some facts on some alternative fuels.
My Truck has 118,000 miles on it and it is in excellent mechanical condition. I just want to try to get better gas mileage since gas is $3.85 a gallon were I live. My truck is not a everyday driver. Would changing to a better oil help? Maybe a Synthetic or blend.
a synthetic oil will help it some,one of the best things you can do for it is change the air filter to a k&n air filter,they do help on gas mileage,that and drive it easy,and keep the engine tuned really well,and keep all the tires aired up to what they should be at,that helps a lot,other than that,just drive it easy and dont do any jack rabbit starts in it,that will help you save on gas,those only get around 20 or so when their running right,some will do a little better,synthetic oil does help a small amount,maybe enough to notice ,good luck with it.
If you’re in the market for used auto sales, Austin’s DriveTime dealerships have a wide selection of vehicles to choose from. We know that it can be very difficult to get financed for a vehicle when you have poor credit, but at DriveTime we focus on getting people with bad credit into a used auto. Other dealerships may claim they can sell you a car no matter what your credit history is, but all too often this turns out to be an empty promise. That’s why you can count on DriveTime to find you a used car that you will be proud to drive!
Why did Jindal say we need more alternative energy, but then criticize the stimulus package’s contents of hyrbid cars for government workers and a magnetic rail line from Las Vegas to Disneyland? Maglev technology was just one more technology we lost to the Japanese and Chinese and could be a focus of our transportation needs.
So he is not for government spending on alternative energy either then? That’s not the impression I got from his speech.
If you’re in the market for used auto sales, Austin’s DriveTime dealerships have a wide selection of vehicles to choose from. We know that it can be very difficult to get financed for a vehicle when you have poor credit, but at DriveTime we focus on getting people with bad credit into a used auto. Other dealerships may claim they can sell you a car no matter what your credit history is, but all too often this turns out to be an empty promise. That’s why you can count on DriveTime to find you a used car that you will be proud to drive!
Jindal is an idiot. He’s just another Sarah Palin. I loved his volcano comment. We should take his advice to use the money some states use in monitoring their volcanoes like Hawaii, Washinton, and Alaska, and use it on something else. So when those volcanoes actually erupt without warning, we can blame it all on Apu. Thank you, come again
Back in 1984 I co-authored a future history book with a doctor of biology who was convinced that photosynthesis and algaes as agents of mass production of clean oil could produce all the energy we need to replace petroleum and keep the climate stable – I would love to know where leading experiment networks are today. chris macrae http:/clubofcity.blogspot.com co-edit your citizens concerns …
Hi Chris, thanks for your question, which connects future clean energy solutions with the power of photosynthesis. I am an inventor working on just such technology, which is called SolaRoof and is a global, OpenSource system for construction of living structures for homes and communities. Our goal is a transition to a sustainable EcoLiving lifestyle that is powered by the "BlueGreen" concepts of water working and living plants. In our transparent SolaRoof buildings we can use plants and algae to grow Biomass from which we can produce biofuels and nutrients for growing organic food is an important know how for sustainable living. For more information enter the KeyWords above (WikiWords) in our search box at the SolaRoof Wiki. Also, search OilFromAlgae at our Wiki and you will see that we are also hosting an sub-wiki on this particular subject. Algae is very important because its’ high rate of growth can actually satisfy our demand for liquid fuel. We are just getting started on the OilFromAlgae and invite help and participation.
If you’re in the market for used auto sales, Austin’s DriveTime dealerships have a wide selection of vehicles to choose from. We know that it can be very difficult to get financed for a vehicle when you have poor credit, but at DriveTime we focus on getting people with bad credit into a used auto. Other dealerships may claim they can sell you a car no matter what your credit history is, but all too often this turns out to be an empty promise. That’s why you can count on DriveTime to find you a used car that you will be proud to drive!
There are many types of solar kits. They can be used for a wide variety of applications. You can use them for home electricity or portable kits can be used for charging laptop batteries or cellular phones. No matter how the amount of electricity that needs to be stored or utilized is, there is going to be a solar panel kit that is going to power it.
Solar kits are a great source of secondary energy for people that are located in remote locations. Even if your house is powered traditionally, you never know what can happen to knock out your power and cut you off from civilization. Having a solar kit could create the energy that you need to power your cell phone to let you make that emergency phone call.
As can be imagined, just about anything that can be powered by electricity can be powered by solar power as well. Charging up things like cameras and laptops is very commonplace these days and there are actually devices that are made specifically to charge these items that are totally solar powered.
Going to the other end of the spectrum, there are solar kits that are made for powering a full home. These are typically installed on the roof and are attached to large batteries that are charged from the solar panels. The batteries are used to power the home.
If your home is too big to be powered completely by solar power, the overall electrical costs that the homeowner is faced with are cut down drastically with the availability of solar power. While there is the obvious cost to have the solar kits installed, over the years those costs will be recovered and from that point forward, the house is running cost free.
There many more uses for solar kits, but you get the idea as to how useful they can be. When you want to save money or guarantee that you will have an energy source during a disaster, you can do no better than to look into getting one of the many solar kits that are available for all of these reasons.
To find the low-down relating to our Solar Kits dive into our website at Home Solar Power.
categories: Solar Kits,Home Solar Power,Solar Installation,home improvements,alternative energy,technology
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Car manufacturers tout their efficiency. Consumer advocates dispute claims of 60-plus miles per gallon gas efficiency. Amidst the controversy, environmentalists still claim, in the absence of anything better – that hybrid vehicles are still better for the environment than their traditional gas-guzzling counterparts.
Hybrids, known for the way they combine both gas and electric power to offer a cleaner ride, have come under fire in recent months for their inability to reach gas mileage milestones set by the manufacturers. Critics say that most fail to live up to claims of getting more than 60 miles to a single gallon of gas. Advocates argue that recent studies confirm the same is true for efficiency ratings set on traditional engines, still making hybrids the better deal environmentally.
Touted as the gas-saver of the future when introduced in 1999, hybrids are known to use a fraction of the gas due to their ability to “share the burden”, with their electric motors. Full hybrid vehicles allow the electric motor to work independently of the more traditional internal combustion engine, while driving at low speeds. This in turn saves gas, and stops harmful emissions from entering the atmosphere. During an idle stop, a full hybrid actually shuts itself off, letting the electric motor take over to eliminate unnecessary idling and emissions.
Consumers should be aware, however, that the mild hybrids focus remains on traditional gas consumption, with the electric motor only assisting the gas engine at high speeds when more power is needed, thus making the mild hybrid much less environmental friendly than its full hybrid counterpart.
Great for in town drivers, the full hybrid allows slow speeding drivers to virtually use only the electric motor, thus saving even more gas, and eliminating harmful emissions into the environment.
Despite any controversy surrounding today’s hybrid vehicles, consumers seem eager to do what they can to decrease the harmful effects of emissions on the environment and save a few bucks at the pumps. Production of hybrid vehicles has tripled in the last four years, with production expected to double in 2007. The Yano Research Institute Ltd. estimates that by 2015, nearly 5.37 million hybrid vehicles will be on the global road, compared to less than one million last year.
Manufacturers have jumped on the bandwagon, with Honda, Toyota, Ford, Lexus and Chevrolet, all offering their own hybrid varieties. Newer models sport higher-powered and faster models, even making hybrid SUV’s and trucks available to the consumer. Of course, the heavier the vehicle, and the faster it rides, the more gas it is bound to use, despite the use and size of the internal electric motor.
Still, hybrids remain the most gas efficient and environmental friendly vehicles in mass production today.
Matthew Hick
http://www.articlesbase.com/environment-articles/hybrid-cars-positive-effect-on-the-environment-119123.html
Organizations increasingly depend on their IT infrastructure to support mission-critical activities. IT personnel are held accountable for managing this infrastructure and data center performance measurement is a vital tool in maintaining high performance and delivery. From assessing and ensuring the availability of critical facilities, monitoring geographically dispersed environments, and improving the overall organizational bottom line, IT personnel require tools that allow them to measure performance and proactively identify and mitigate potential issues. Several industry-related publications and groups have noted the importance of data center metrics, and have named the need to measure data center performance as a key issue for 2006 and 2007. (1)
Recommended Data Center Performance Measurements and Solutions
Issue #1: Ability to Track and Assess Equipment Availability
For most organizations, the cost of server or network downtime is significant and internal customers expect network and system availability of “Five Nines” or 99.999% (2). On a daily basis, IT managers need to be able to assess availability/reliability of equipment and all external components that support operations, so that they can reduce downtime, identify and mitigate issues, and provide a secure environment for an organization’s mission-critical equipment. IT professionals also need an effective way to review historical trends to identify equipment or systems that need to be redesigned or replaced.
Meeting the Challenge: Environmental monitoring solutions provide real-time feedback about critical systems with continuous, proactive monitoring of all pertinent factors including temperature, amperage draw, humidity, dew point, and physical security. These solutions allow administrators to set thresholds for environmental conditions and send alerts securely via e-mail, text message, or SNMP if said thresholds are exceeded. In addition, environmental monitoring systems provide valuable historical reports, alert information, and logs that allow administrators to identify trends and adapt practices accordingly. This data can help with statistical analysis, modeling, and forecasting.
Centralized Environmental Monitoring Solution
Issue #2: Ability to Assess Availability/Reliability of Critical Facilities
When assigning critical resources, IT professionals need to determine the highest-priority sites and facilities. Several organizations have proposed systems to help administrators classify and rate their facilities. For example, the Uptime Institute applies a four-tier classification system based on factors such as fault tolerance, useable capacity, sustainability, and concurrent maintainability (3). As another approach, the Syska Hennessy Group provides a seven-level criticality classification system that aims to help data center managers evaluate facilities that are vital to the mission of their organizations and provides a framework to help assess potential data center vulnerabilities (4). After determining critical sites, administrators need to be able to implement appropriate management and control systems.
Meeting the Challenge: Enterprise management solutions, such as KVM over IP or service processor aggregation appliances, provide administrators with 24/7 access to servers, serial devices, remote power, and other equipment both locally and remotely. These solutions provide BIOS-level access to mission-critical equipment, reducing system and network downtime by enabling immediate access to failed resources and centralizing data center management. These solutions also provide visibility to daily operations and occurrences through comprehensive audit logging and reporting tools. Enterprise-level management tools provide redundant architecture, including primary failover access at both the hardware and software levels.
Issue #3: Ability to Measure Energy Consumption in the Data Center
Across almost every industry, rising data center power consumption and heat are major issues, particularly as organizations are incorporating blade servers and high-density server racks into their IT infrastructures. Many organizations are studying how power consumption can be reduced in the data center. For example, the EPA is studying ways to make computer servers and data centers more energy efficient, and is considering a possible Energy Star designation for servers and other data center equipment. (5) The Green Grid, a newly formed non-profit consortium of information technology companies, is proposing the use of Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) and Datacenter Efficiency (DCE) metrics, which would enable IT personnel to estimate the energy efficiency of data centers, compare results against other data centers, and determine if energy efficiency improvements need to be made. As defined by the Green Grid, Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE)= Total Facility Power/ IT Equipment Power; Datacenter Efficiency (DCE)= IT Equipment Power/ Total Facility Power. (6)
Meeting the Challenge: Utilizing PUE and DCE information, IT personnel can begin to evaluate their own energy efficiency. Using these metrics, as well as application-specific data, data center managers should start to consider ways of reducing data center power consumption. Standalone data centers can also use the EPA Energy Star building performance rating tool, Portfolio Manager, to rate a facility’s energy performance in comparison to similar facilities (at the whole-building level). Some answers include transitioning to 208V or three-phase power provisioning. Higher voltage power reduces amperage requirements, allows equipment to operate more efficiently, and can reduce the amount of hardware required. IT personnel should conduct a thorough audit of equipment, determine if any servers can be consolidated or discarded, and clean up any clutter under the data center floor, such as cabling, that might be impeding air flow. The use of blanking panels and cable management accessories in the rack can also assist in these efforts.
How Can The Latest Technologies Help You Improve Data Center Performance?
The team at 42U specializes in needs assessment, solution design, and implementation support to ensure that IT professionals maximize their use of current technologies to improve overall business performance. 42U provides complete remote management solutions, including KVM over IP, intelligent power, environmental monitoring, rack cooling, and rackmount solutions. A 42U sales engineer can help you improve your data center performance by helping you select solutions that are most appropriate for your organization’s particular needs and environment.
References:
(1) Stansberry, Matt, “Top Ten Data Center Stories of 2006.”
http://searchdatacenter.techtarget.com/originalContent/0,289142,sid80_gci1232599,00.html; MacKinnon, Chris, “How Is Your Data Center Performing? A Metric To The Madness.”http://www.42U.com/quicklink.aspx?url=http://www.processor.com/editorial/article.asp?article=articles/p2826/09p26/09p26.asp&guid=&searchtype=&WordList=&bJumpTo=True; and “Optimizing Datacenter Performance and Building ROI: The TeamQuest Approach”, IDC/TeamQuest, http://www.42U.com/quicklink.aspx?url=http://www.teamquest.com/pdfs/whitepaper/idc-roi.pdf
(2) Brill, Kenneth; Pitt, Turner; and Seader, John. “Tier Classifications Define Site Infrastructure Performance,” Uptime Institute, http://www.42U.com/quicklink.aspx?url=http://www.upsite.com/file_downloads/PDF/Tier_Classification.pdf
(3) Brill, Kenneth; Pitt, Turner; and Seader, John. “Tier Classifications Define Site Infrastructure Performance,” Uptime Institute, http://www.42U.com/quicklink.aspx?url=http://www.upsite.com/file_downloads/PDF/Tier_Classification.pdf
(4) Burkhardt, Jerry and Dennis, Richard. “Assessing criticality levels in the data center”, Data Center Management Advisory Newsletter, http://www.42U.com/quicklink.aspx?url=http://searchdatacenter.techtarget.com/tip/0,289483,sid80_gci1218937,00.html
(5) “Enterprise Server and Data Center Energy Efficiency Initiatives” http://www.42U.com/quicklink.aspx?url=http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=products.pr_servers_datacenters
(6) “Green Grid Metrics: Describing Datacenter Power Efficiency”, http://www.42U.com/quicklink.aspx?url=http://www.thegreengrid.org/downloads/Green_Grid_Metrics_WP.pdf
Lauren Nowenstein
http://www.articlesbase.com/hardware-articles/applying-data-center-performance-measurement-to-mitigate-challenges-132924.html
Volvo launched FlexiFuel cars powered by renewable bioethanol on some European markets. The green range is extended to include the new Volvo C30, which will be featuring eco-optimised FlexiFuel power.
“Interest in ethanol as a vehicle fuel is growing in Europe,” says Gerry Keaney, Senior Vice President Market, Sales and Customer Service at Volvo Cars. “We are therefore expanding our range with additional models on a total of 9 markets. First to get Volvo’s FlexiFuel cars outside Sweden will be Britain, Ireland, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland and Norway.”
“It’s very encouraging that the market is expanding and that political initiatives are being taken,” continues Gerry Keaney. In France, the government has announced its plan to build 500 fuel stations for E85 this year. E85, a mix of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline, will be produced locally from agricultural products like sugar-beet and several grains. At present, there are 23 plants producing ethanol in Europe and said number is expected to rise to more than 60 next year. In said territory, about 1.8 million liters of ethanol are produced every year and this capacity is expected to increase threefold in 2008.
Ethanol, an entirely renewable fuel, is produced from about any biomass source. One method of generating ethanol is through fermentation of sugar. Ethanol is also known as ethyl alcohol or grain alcohol however, in common usage it is referred to simply as alcohol. As a vehicle fuel, ethanol creates very little pollution when burned.
According to the Renewable Fuels Association, as of November 2006; 107 grain ethanol biorefineries in the United States have the capacity to produce 5.1 billion gallons of ethanol annually. There are additional 56 construction projects underway in the US to boost ethanol production. They are expected to add 3.8 billion gallons of new capacity in the next 18 months.
Growth in American fuel ethanol production is attributed largely to financial incentives that exist when oil prices are in excess of a certain level, as ethanol typically costs under $1.50 per gallon to manufacture and is exempt from the $0.52 per gallon federal gasoline tax. Nonetheless, the biggest national fuel ethanol industries are in Brazil.
The C30, S40 and the V50, three of nine Volvo models, are now available in an environmentally optimized FlexiFuel alternative. These cars are powered by a four-cylinder naturally aspirated engine that is capable of producing 125 horsepower. Bioethanol and gasoline are both filled in the same 55 liter tank. Volvo engine parts like fuel hoses, gaskets and valves are enhanced to stand the corrosive properties of ethanol. Also, the injection valves are reinforced and made larger to accommodate more fuel needs. E85 has lower energy content hence more fuel is injected into the engine. In addition, the cars also come with an updated software calibration designed for ethanol power. To monitor the mixture of fuels and to automatically blend ignition and injection, the automaker use sophisticated engine management system to do the tasks efficiently.
“A renewable fuel will not, on its own, be able to replace today’s fossil fuels, and the range of alternative fuels will probably be far wider in the future. Many different fuels and technologies will therefore be developed in parallel. Ethanol reduces dependency on fossil fuels and Volvo’s FlexiFuel programme thus makes a vital contribution to our strategy of environmental sustainability,” concluded Gerry Keaney.
Volvo Cars is expecting to sell 7,000 FlexiFuel cars this year; most are to be sold in Sweden.
Glady Reign
http://www.articlesbase.com/cars-articles/volvo-cars-expands-flexifuel-range-101636.html
Distant energy healing, also known as remote healing and absent healing has been practiced by healers in the Far East for centuries. In recent modern times many modalities of distant healing are being recognized and practiced in the West. More and more people are turning to alternative healing therapies such as distant energy healing to enhance their health and well being.
Distant healing and energy healing therapy is being clinically studied in the West by places such as the California Pacific Medical Center in Northern California. China has done many scientific studies on the effectiveness of qigong distance healing by qigong healers.
One strict double blind study on almost 400 patients by cardiologist Robert Bryd determined that people who were prayed for had better outcomes than those who were not. The field of Quantum Physics may provide some answers why distance healing works.
In the early 1980’s a team of scientists at the University of Paris led by Alain Aspect made an incredible discovery that may be one of the most important discoveries in modern science. They found that under certain circumstances some subatomic particles were able to communicate instantaneously with each other no matter how far apart they were from each other. It didn’t matter if they were millions of miles apart.
In other research in 1997 Nicolas Gisan duplicated these findings and concluded that some particles appeared to be communicating at the mind boggling speed of 20,000 times the speed of light.
These conclusions may give clues as to why distance healing works. Well known quantum physicist David Bohm concluded the reasons why subatomic particles can stay in contact with each other despite vast distances is not because they are transmitting some unknown signal back and forth but because the separateness of the particles is an illusion. Bohm surmises that at a deeper level of reality the particles are not individual entities but are extensions of the same fundamental something and everything in the universe is infinitely interconnected.
Some scientists are now recognizing what mystics from many traditions have said for millennium, that we are all connected and that we are not separate.
Distant healing energy can get transferred over long distances because we are all connected. It doesn’t make any difference if the one transmitting the energy is in a different state or country than the recipient.
Michael Mohoric
http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/how-can-distant-energy-healing-work-113991.html
I am debating, I just need some evidence that argues this resolution Resolved: That, by 2040, the federal government should mandate that all new passenger vehicles and light trucks sold in the United States by powered by alternative fuels.
Nothing about energy. Just why a mandate is bad. I was thinking something regarding the halt of ingenuity and innovation. Or socialism even.
By the way, I need NEED sources.
Okay, debate topics are fun. This is an interesting bent. Okay, here is how you should present your argument:
- Inflexible government mandates increase the likelihood of market manipulation through "poor planing" or "accidents" or "acts of nature" excuses by corporations.
- Market forces are more than sufficient to motivate consumers. The occurance of peak oil and resulting increase in gas prices over time will make conventional car driving obsolete. The desire for new, more cost-effective technologies for consumers will drive innovation, making a mandate meaningless. Government may help this process by funding research into new technologies.
- Organizing tax structures (breaks for alt fuel purchases and higher taxes on non-alt fuels) will do more to protect consumers and the environment than making combustion vehicle manufacturing illegal.
- This will harm US manufacturing by compelling combustion engine consumers to buy from other countries and ship the vehicles to the US.
If you are feeling ballsy, you should go for:
- The government lacks an enumerated Constitutional authority to mandate that a manufacturer make this versus that, unless the product crosses the State line, as enumerated in the Commerce Clause. So acceptance of such a mandate undermines the legal heritage of our nation. (This argument allowed conservatives to initially strike down much of FDR’s New Deal until threats of Supreme Court-loading made justices change their opinions.)
For a high school debate, that should be several very compelling arguments. References below.