Chiranjeevi, the Megastar of Tollywood today, was born on 22nd August of 1955 in Mogalturu, a small village in ‘West Godavari’ District in Andhra Pradesh to Sri Venkat Rao and Anjana Devi. He grew up in his native village with his grand parents, while his family was elsewhere because of his father’s occupation. The sense of discipline and hard work which he still embraces were introduced at a very young age in his life and the tough childhood he had, being the eldest in his family, have helped him to handle many such events of higher proportion with great expertise in the later stages of his life.
Little did he imagine, even in the wildest of his dreams that he would, one day, be a Megastar and rule the Telugu Film Industry. Years later, this youngster, dearly called “Chiru” in the Film Industry, with his hard work and dedication to his profession could make it really big in the field hitting the limelight, with an unparallel fan following emulating his every act, word, dress and dance. What makes this ordinary human being such an extraordinary one - Hardwork and Dedication!Varaprasad’s education was nomadic accounting to his father Venkat Rao’s frequent transfers to Ongole, Bapatla, Chirala, Nellore etc, which didn’t really defer Vara Prasad as he gained a great friend circle wherever he was. Varaprasad is really fortunate for his father has constantly encouraged him after having discovered the undaunted liking of his son towards cultural activities.
Varaprasad did his schooling in Nidadavolu, Gurajala, Ponnuru, Mangalagiri and Mogalturu. He also won first prize for his first performance as Parandamayya Panthulu. After high school, Varaprasad joined Bi.P.C in P.R.Sharma Jr. College at Ongole. Following that he finished his B.Com from Narasapur college.After graduation, Varaprasad moved to Madras to seek a career in his chosen field of acting in the Film Industry.
To get himself ready for the camera, he joined in a film institute. This was in 1977.Varaprasad was offered the lead role in the film Punaadi Raallu, produced by Sheikh Abdul Khadir in the direction of Raj Kumar, which has laid the foundation stone to the acting career of Vara Prasad as Chiranjeevi. Even though Punadi Raalu was his first movie, it was Pranam Kareedhu that was his first release. Pranam kareedhu directed by K Vasu was released on September 22nd, 1978. The second movie to release was Manavuri Pandavulu from which Chiranjeevi started gaining recognition as hero among the spectators.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Unique ocean voyagers at sea in small boats
At least three small boats are plying the Pacific with environmental missions as you read this.
Two of them are single-handed efforts, the other having a two-person crew.Japan sailor Kenichi Horie, 69, is bobbing the Pacific between Hawai'i and Japan, a 4350-mile trip, aboard his boat Suntory Mermaid II. He left Honolulu March 16, 2008.The twin-hulled vehicle has a pair of aluminum fins under the bow that convert the power of waves into forward movement.
So his "engine" uses no fossil fuels.Meanwhile, long-distance rower Roz Savage left San Francisco May 24 and is nearly two weeks into an attempt to row her aluminum boat from the West Coast to Hawai'i.Her attempt last year was cut short when she was repeatedly rolled over in rough weather. This year her boat is outfitted with 200 pounds of lead in the keel to be more stable.
A few hundred miles south, another unique boat is waiting out the storm in at San Nicolas Island after departing Long Beach Sunday (June 1) before heading across the ocean to Hawai'i.
This is one of the stranger boats you'll see. It is made of trash. Its hulls are constructed of 15,000 plastic bottles encased in netting. Its cockpit is an old single-engine Cessna 310 airplane body.
The deck appears to be supported by a framework of old sailboat masts.The boat's name is Junk. The crew is Marcus Eriksen and Joel Paschal. They plan to sail downwind to Hawai'i behind a big square sail, which is used. Their goal is to bring more attention to the issue of ocean pollution and marine debris.They expect the voyage to take six weeks, which should put them in Hawai'i in mid-July.
Two of them are single-handed efforts, the other having a two-person crew.Japan sailor Kenichi Horie, 69, is bobbing the Pacific between Hawai'i and Japan, a 4350-mile trip, aboard his boat Suntory Mermaid II. He left Honolulu March 16, 2008.The twin-hulled vehicle has a pair of aluminum fins under the bow that convert the power of waves into forward movement.
So his "engine" uses no fossil fuels.Meanwhile, long-distance rower Roz Savage left San Francisco May 24 and is nearly two weeks into an attempt to row her aluminum boat from the West Coast to Hawai'i.Her attempt last year was cut short when she was repeatedly rolled over in rough weather. This year her boat is outfitted with 200 pounds of lead in the keel to be more stable.
A few hundred miles south, another unique boat is waiting out the storm in at San Nicolas Island after departing Long Beach Sunday (June 1) before heading across the ocean to Hawai'i.
This is one of the stranger boats you'll see. It is made of trash. Its hulls are constructed of 15,000 plastic bottles encased in netting. Its cockpit is an old single-engine Cessna 310 airplane body.
The deck appears to be supported by a framework of old sailboat masts.The boat's name is Junk. The crew is Marcus Eriksen and Joel Paschal. They plan to sail downwind to Hawai'i behind a big square sail, which is used. Their goal is to bring more attention to the issue of ocean pollution and marine debris.They expect the voyage to take six weeks, which should put them in Hawai'i in mid-July.
Global energy and global limits
We've come to an interesting zero-sum kind of place on the planet.That is to say, interesting, in the sense of the purported Chinese curse: “May you live in interesting times.”Opportunities for extracting resources are no longer limitless, and the planet's various reserve capacities appear in many cases to be tapped out.Natural systems at one time presumably had a capacity for handling short term changes in inputs.
A pulse of carbon dioxide could be absorbed by plants and marine life, as an example. Today, the absorption seems at capacity, and a pure chemical relationship has taken over—as we dump more carbon dioxide in, increasing levels of carbon dioxide dwell in the atmosphere; oceans grow more acid.Humans don't have much opportunity for pioneering, for leaving civilization and going to never-inhabited places and tilling never-tilled soil.
Polynesian voyagers ran out of new islands a millenium ago. American pioneers ran into a western ocean within the last few centuries. Virtually all the habitable lands on the planet are inhabited. It means that in many cases, if you're gonna do something new, you've got to shove something old out of the way.The global food budget that suddenly seems limited. Where once we were assured that the American farmer had reserve capacity to feed the world.
Now, take some acreage out of food grains for fuel, and there are shortages, price hikes.Which leads to a thought about the carbon-neutrality of biofuels.In theory if you sequester carbon dioxide in a corn plant or oil palm, and then convert it into fuel, and then release the same carbon dioxide in burning the fuel—well then, it's a balance. As much carbon in as out. No net impact on the atmosphere.
A pulse of carbon dioxide could be absorbed by plants and marine life, as an example. Today, the absorption seems at capacity, and a pure chemical relationship has taken over—as we dump more carbon dioxide in, increasing levels of carbon dioxide dwell in the atmosphere; oceans grow more acid.Humans don't have much opportunity for pioneering, for leaving civilization and going to never-inhabited places and tilling never-tilled soil.
Polynesian voyagers ran out of new islands a millenium ago. American pioneers ran into a western ocean within the last few centuries. Virtually all the habitable lands on the planet are inhabited. It means that in many cases, if you're gonna do something new, you've got to shove something old out of the way.The global food budget that suddenly seems limited. Where once we were assured that the American farmer had reserve capacity to feed the world.
Now, take some acreage out of food grains for fuel, and there are shortages, price hikes.Which leads to a thought about the carbon-neutrality of biofuels.In theory if you sequester carbon dioxide in a corn plant or oil palm, and then convert it into fuel, and then release the same carbon dioxide in burning the fuel—well then, it's a balance. As much carbon in as out. No net impact on the atmosphere.
The lasagne forests of Hawai'i
The key value to forests is their ability, according to a new federal report, is to manage water, and the native lasagne forests of Hawai'i are a key example.That's lasagne in the sense of layered, not food, since much of the Hawaiian forest is not particularly edible.A new federal study is saying that water is perhaps the most product of a forest. The online journal Science Daily today (July 21) issued a report under the title “Greatest Value Of Forests Is Sustainable Water Supply.”
"Historically, forest managers have not focused much of their attention on water, and water managers have not focused on forests. But today's water problems demand that these groups work together closely," said Oregon State geosciencies professor Julia Jones, vice chair of a committee of the National Research Council, which released the report. She was quoted in Science Daily.
Hawai'i resarchers have figured this out, and water departments work alongside wildlife managers and conservation groups on watershed management teams across the state, to protect native forests.What's special about Hawaiian native forests as opposed to, for instance, woodlands of non-native species?One way to determine this is to walk through a woodland in Hawai'i.
The planted loblolly pine forests of Kōke'e on Kaua'i have very little other growth under them. Eucaluptus stands in Maui's Upcountry area prevent other species from coming up in their shade. Miconia forests on the Big Island are often nearly entirely miconia, with very little other vegetation able to survive.When a heavy rain pounds these woodlands, muddy water can flow from them, as the rain erodes the unprotected soil below.
"Historically, forest managers have not focused much of their attention on water, and water managers have not focused on forests. But today's water problems demand that these groups work together closely," said Oregon State geosciencies professor Julia Jones, vice chair of a committee of the National Research Council, which released the report. She was quoted in Science Daily.
Hawai'i resarchers have figured this out, and water departments work alongside wildlife managers and conservation groups on watershed management teams across the state, to protect native forests.What's special about Hawaiian native forests as opposed to, for instance, woodlands of non-native species?One way to determine this is to walk through a woodland in Hawai'i.
The planted loblolly pine forests of Kōke'e on Kaua'i have very little other growth under them. Eucaluptus stands in Maui's Upcountry area prevent other species from coming up in their shade. Miconia forests on the Big Island are often nearly entirely miconia, with very little other vegetation able to survive.When a heavy rain pounds these woodlands, muddy water can flow from them, as the rain erodes the unprotected soil below.
Polynesian chickens in Chile? New furor, but they still look Polynesian.
A towering scientific furor has arisen over...chickens. Specifically, whether Polynesian voyagers introduced chickens to South America before the first Europeans showed up...carrying their own chickens.We'll get into some detail later, but the short version is this:It still looks clear that voyaging canoes from the Polynesian culture of the Pacific carried chickens to the Americas well before Christopher Columbus, despite a great deal of rancorous comment and competing scientific papers in the esteemed journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Scientists (PNAS).
Here's the longer version.In 2007, researchers led by Alice Storey of New Zealand published a paper on the dating and DNA analysis of chicken bones found at the El Arenal archaeological site in southern Chile.They found that 1) the bones dated to before Europeans first arrived in the Americas, and 2) the chickens were closely related genetically to early chickens found in Hawai'i and elsewhere in the Polynesian Pacific.
The inescapable conclusion was that the El Arenal chickens came from Polynesia, and since Polynesians, not South Americans, were a voyaging culture, that those chickens arrived on Polynesian voyaging canoes.Storey's paper was published in the PNAS in mid-2007. The same journal this week (July 28, 2008) published another chicken paper that challenges the Storey results.
It is: “Indo-European and Asian origins for Chilean and Pacific chickens revealed by mtDNA,” by Jaime Gongora, Nicolas J. Rawlence, Victor A. Mobegi, Han Jianlin, Jose A. Alcalde, Jose T. Matus, Olivier Hanotte, Chris Moran, Jeremy J. Austin, Sean Ulm, Atholl J. Anderson, Greger Larson, and Alan Cooper.In this one, Australian researcher Jaime Gongora argued that it might be premature to attribute those El Arenal chickens to a Polynesian voyager's introduction, in part because Gongora's team can't find Polynesian chicken DNA in modern South American chickens
Here's the longer version.In 2007, researchers led by Alice Storey of New Zealand published a paper on the dating and DNA analysis of chicken bones found at the El Arenal archaeological site in southern Chile.They found that 1) the bones dated to before Europeans first arrived in the Americas, and 2) the chickens were closely related genetically to early chickens found in Hawai'i and elsewhere in the Polynesian Pacific.
The inescapable conclusion was that the El Arenal chickens came from Polynesia, and since Polynesians, not South Americans, were a voyaging culture, that those chickens arrived on Polynesian voyaging canoes.Storey's paper was published in the PNAS in mid-2007. The same journal this week (July 28, 2008) published another chicken paper that challenges the Storey results.
It is: “Indo-European and Asian origins for Chilean and Pacific chickens revealed by mtDNA,” by Jaime Gongora, Nicolas J. Rawlence, Victor A. Mobegi, Han Jianlin, Jose A. Alcalde, Jose T. Matus, Olivier Hanotte, Chris Moran, Jeremy J. Austin, Sean Ulm, Atholl J. Anderson, Greger Larson, and Alan Cooper.In this one, Australian researcher Jaime Gongora argued that it might be premature to attribute those El Arenal chickens to a Polynesian voyager's introduction, in part because Gongora's team can't find Polynesian chicken DNA in modern South American chickens
Viewing distant islands--O'ahu from Kaua'i
I looked out across the ocean east of Kaua'i yesterday, and saw O'ahu.It sat there on the horizon, a dark hump in the distance, with a low shelf off to the right side. Not clear enough to pick out gullies from ridges, but clear enough to know it was real.This isn't unheard of. Kaua'i residents who live in Kalaheo and Wailua Homesteads report that on special days, they sometimes spot the island from their highland vantages.
And other folks say they'll spot it from time to time even from Lihu'e.But being able to see O'ahu from Kaua'i or vice-versa is rare.I've never seen a photo of one island taken from the other, and even on this day, it was still hazy enough that while my eye could pick the shape of the island out, my camera could not.O'ahu folks know how hazy Moloka'i can be in the distance, across the Kaiwi Channel.
Well, the Ka'ie'iewaho Channel more than twice as wide as the Kaiwi. Sixty miles from closest point to closest point. On a normal day, there's nothing at all sitting on the horizon.I'm assuming the island was visible because the air was unusually clear. There had been a couple of days of calm, which let the ocean spray settle down. And the trades had just returned, lightly, to push the vog away.
As the wind picked up on the ocean, the island grew more faint, and by midday it was gone again.I have sailed between the islands, and normally have been able to pick Kaua'i out on a voyage from O'ahu at a range of 40 miles to about mid-channel, depending on ocean conditions. For those cogitating on the issue, viewing these islands does not require any special bending of light.
And other folks say they'll spot it from time to time even from Lihu'e.But being able to see O'ahu from Kaua'i or vice-versa is rare.I've never seen a photo of one island taken from the other, and even on this day, it was still hazy enough that while my eye could pick the shape of the island out, my camera could not.O'ahu folks know how hazy Moloka'i can be in the distance, across the Kaiwi Channel.
Well, the Ka'ie'iewaho Channel more than twice as wide as the Kaiwi. Sixty miles from closest point to closest point. On a normal day, there's nothing at all sitting on the horizon.I'm assuming the island was visible because the air was unusually clear. There had been a couple of days of calm, which let the ocean spray settle down. And the trades had just returned, lightly, to push the vog away.
As the wind picked up on the ocean, the island grew more faint, and by midday it was gone again.I have sailed between the islands, and normally have been able to pick Kaua'i out on a voyage from O'ahu at a range of 40 miles to about mid-channel, depending on ocean conditions. For those cogitating on the issue, viewing these islands does not require any special bending of light.
Hawaiian lobelias--all from a single original immigrant
The Hawaiian archipelago is not renowned for its spectacular native flowers, but it has them, and some of the most breathtaking examples are in the lobelia family.From amazing spires of ivory blooms that rise from low rosettes of green to drooping delicate lavender showpieces that dangle from tree forms.Purples and pales are the lobelias' favorite colors, but the range is enormous.So, where does all this diversity come from in an island chain so isolated.
From a single introduction, 13 million years ago, according to a new study published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, “Origin, adaptive radiation and diversification of the Hawaiian lobeliads.”Its authors are Thomas Givnish, Kendra Millam, Thomas Paterson, Terra Theim, Jillian Henss and Kenneth Sytsma, all of the University of Wisconsin at Madison, Austin Mast of Florida State University
Andrew Hipp of Illinois' Morton Arboretum, James Smith of Idaho's Snake River Plains Herbarium, and, in Hawai'i, Kenneth Wood of the National Tropical Botanical Garden.Their research updates earlier arguments that lobelias in Hawai'i must have come from multiple introductions.The lobelia's 126 species in six distinct genus groups, represent an eighth of all the native plant species in Hawai'i.
And, say the authors, “have long been viewed as one of the most spectacular examples of adaptive radiation in plants.”Perhaps the most spectacular.“The Hawaiian lobelias are the most species-rich radiation of plants derived from a single colonist to be resolved on any single oceanic island or archipelago,” the authors write.Looking into the genetic material in Hawaiian lobelias, the researchers concluded that the first one arrived long before any of the existing main Hawaiian Islands were even formed.
From a single introduction, 13 million years ago, according to a new study published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, “Origin, adaptive radiation and diversification of the Hawaiian lobeliads.”Its authors are Thomas Givnish, Kendra Millam, Thomas Paterson, Terra Theim, Jillian Henss and Kenneth Sytsma, all of the University of Wisconsin at Madison, Austin Mast of Florida State University
Andrew Hipp of Illinois' Morton Arboretum, James Smith of Idaho's Snake River Plains Herbarium, and, in Hawai'i, Kenneth Wood of the National Tropical Botanical Garden.Their research updates earlier arguments that lobelias in Hawai'i must have come from multiple introductions.The lobelia's 126 species in six distinct genus groups, represent an eighth of all the native plant species in Hawai'i.
And, say the authors, “have long been viewed as one of the most spectacular examples of adaptive radiation in plants.”Perhaps the most spectacular.“The Hawaiian lobelias are the most species-rich radiation of plants derived from a single colonist to be resolved on any single oceanic island or archipelago,” the authors write.Looking into the genetic material in Hawaiian lobelias, the researchers concluded that the first one arrived long before any of the existing main Hawaiian Islands were even formed.
Celebrate diversity in energy; avoid slavish adherence to favorites
There's been a lot of talk lately in the news about what energy technologies won't work, and which ones ought to be adopted to the exclusion of all others.My own view is that these are both troublesome positions.At a time when less than 10 percent of our energy in Hawai'i comes from non-fossil fuel sources, it makes little sense to casually toss any technologies out of consideration—either due to assumptions of their pre-eminence or their perceived flaws.
I recently wrote a post in which I cited arguments for using every workable technology. One correspondent argued that with was stupid—his term—and that just because some energy systems were feasible didn't mean they were appropriate.I entirely agreed. Some technologies would not make sense from an economic standpoint, some ought to be rejected from environmental perspectives, some might be too fragile and subject to disruption.
Just because you technically can drive a Mack truck as your primary household vehicle doesn't mean it's a workable option: they use a lot of fuel, they're expensive to garage and they're hard to park downtown. A bicycle, a hybrid or a small pickup truck might better suit your personal needs.It's a dangerous game to insist that any one energy source, whether it's oil/coal, or waves or even OTEC, is all we need to be working on.
There is danger in putting all your eggs in one basket.If an earthquake can knock out an oil-fired power system, it can also probably take out a windmill. If a hurricane can take out oil platforms, it can probably impact OTEC facilities. A tsunami can probably wipe out wave systems. And so forth.We've been all-fossil-fuel-all-the-time for so long that for many of us it's a stretch to think about distributed power generation scenarios.
I recently wrote a post in which I cited arguments for using every workable technology. One correspondent argued that with was stupid—his term—and that just because some energy systems were feasible didn't mean they were appropriate.I entirely agreed. Some technologies would not make sense from an economic standpoint, some ought to be rejected from environmental perspectives, some might be too fragile and subject to disruption.
Just because you technically can drive a Mack truck as your primary household vehicle doesn't mean it's a workable option: they use a lot of fuel, they're expensive to garage and they're hard to park downtown. A bicycle, a hybrid or a small pickup truck might better suit your personal needs.It's a dangerous game to insist that any one energy source, whether it's oil/coal, or waves or even OTEC, is all we need to be working on.
There is danger in putting all your eggs in one basket.If an earthquake can knock out an oil-fired power system, it can also probably take out a windmill. If a hurricane can take out oil platforms, it can probably impact OTEC facilities. A tsunami can probably wipe out wave systems. And so forth.We've been all-fossil-fuel-all-the-time for so long that for many of us it's a stretch to think about distributed power generation scenarios.
Big wave, wind generators proposed for Penguin Bank, Kaiwi Channel
A Seattle company has proposed a series of wave and wind energy generators in and south of the Molokai -to-O'ahu Kaiwi Channel.The wave generators would sit on the broad shallows called Penguin Bank, which extend into the Kaiwi Channel and to the southwest of western Molokai. It is an area with strong tidal flow. There are no images of what the units would look like in the application to date.
Grays Harbor Ocean Energy Company has filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission an application for permits for its Hawaii Ocean Energy Project. It is one of several permit requests Grays Harbor has filed, for similar projects in New Jersey, Massachusetts, California, New York, and Rhode Island. All were filed on the same day, October 22, 2008.Life of the Land has filed an application to intervene in the permitting.
noting that “this is the first application for a large scale ocean energy system in Hawai'i and will establish policy and set the tone for this and future ocean energy proposals.”Grays Harbor proposes 100 wave energy conversion structures at maximum capacity of one megawatt each, for a total maximum production of 100 megawatts. That's the goal, but for now, the firm wants a pilot project to install just two of the 1-megawatt generators for testing.
It also says that wind generators could be built atop the wave energy structures.The firm says in its application that the project would create utility-scale renewable energy from offshore wave energy, would enable testing of new wave energy technologies, would create jobs and would improve fishing “because the supporting platforms become artificial reefs.”Of Penguin Bank, the company says this:
Grays Harbor Ocean Energy Company has filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission an application for permits for its Hawaii Ocean Energy Project. It is one of several permit requests Grays Harbor has filed, for similar projects in New Jersey, Massachusetts, California, New York, and Rhode Island. All were filed on the same day, October 22, 2008.Life of the Land has filed an application to intervene in the permitting.
noting that “this is the first application for a large scale ocean energy system in Hawai'i and will establish policy and set the tone for this and future ocean energy proposals.”Grays Harbor proposes 100 wave energy conversion structures at maximum capacity of one megawatt each, for a total maximum production of 100 megawatts. That's the goal, but for now, the firm wants a pilot project to install just two of the 1-megawatt generators for testing.
It also says that wind generators could be built atop the wave energy structures.The firm says in its application that the project would create utility-scale renewable energy from offshore wave energy, would enable testing of new wave energy technologies, would create jobs and would improve fishing “because the supporting platforms become artificial reefs.”Of Penguin Bank, the company says this:
HECO/Sensus smart meters, smarter than they look
When Hawaiian Electric and Sensus Metering Systems announced a plan to put “smart” meters all over O'ahu, Maui and Hawai'i, Hawai'i media outlets missed or underplayed the significant piece of this scheme.The new meters are way smarter than they at first appear.Sure, they're wireless, meaning the electric company can get billing information without having to send its meter readers out in cars.
Just 19 towers scattered around the islands will be able to monitor the meters.But the communication won't be just one way.“This is an enabling technology. It's going to give the utility and the customers more options,” said HECO's Darren Pai.The proposal to put the “FlexNet wireless smart grid solution” meters in place requires state Public Utilities Commission approval, and any changes in service and rates will also require approvals.
But its capabilities appear to be remarkable.The utility can check on its grid any time. It can reconnect disconnected services remotely. It can diagnose trouble spots far more quickly and efficiently, thus improving reliability for the consumer.The new meters can be provided with upgrades via the wireless system of their firmware—the programs that run their electronics.
For consumers, there is the potential of much greater control over electrical use and the power bill.As an example, Hawaiian Electric could establish different rates at different times. With higher rates during peak hours, and low rates when use is low, the utility could shift demand—and reduce the need for new power plants.For the consumer, being able to shift water heating, ice-making, electric car charging and other high-demand uses to cheaper times means savings.
Just 19 towers scattered around the islands will be able to monitor the meters.But the communication won't be just one way.“This is an enabling technology. It's going to give the utility and the customers more options,” said HECO's Darren Pai.The proposal to put the “FlexNet wireless smart grid solution” meters in place requires state Public Utilities Commission approval, and any changes in service and rates will also require approvals.
But its capabilities appear to be remarkable.The utility can check on its grid any time. It can reconnect disconnected services remotely. It can diagnose trouble spots far more quickly and efficiently, thus improving reliability for the consumer.The new meters can be provided with upgrades via the wireless system of their firmware—the programs that run their electronics.
For consumers, there is the potential of much greater control over electrical use and the power bill.As an example, Hawaiian Electric could establish different rates at different times. With higher rates during peak hours, and low rates when use is low, the utility could shift demand—and reduce the need for new power plants.For the consumer, being able to shift water heating, ice-making, electric car charging and other high-demand uses to cheaper times means savings.
2009 highest tides January 10--roll up your trousers
The highest tides of 2009 for Hawai'i are just a week away as this is written, and people near the shore should be alert.From January 9 to 11, the highest tides, a few hours before dawn, will be 2.6 feet or higher in Honolulu, with the peak on the 10th. Depending on where you are in Hawai'i, the peak may be a little higher or lower, and a little earlier or later, but generally, folks will see a remarkably high high waterline when they get up on the 10th.
It means, of course, flooding in Mapunapuna, docks under water at Nawiliwili, beaches razor thin or gone entirely, and all the other features associated with the highest water.What isn't entirely clear is what other factors will be driving that water even higher or lower. That's because tides operate on top of the regional sea level, that can change due to a number of factors.
During certain climate events, like El Nino periods and strong low pressure systems, the base water level can be higher than normal. Warm water expands and can create regional high sea levels. There are oceanic gyres that can cause vast regions of the ocean to form a kind of hump. High tides atop these can drive water farther inland than normal.Strong waves atop high tides can also push flooding waters inland.
Chip Fletcher, the coastal geologist at the University of Hawai'i's School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, said he's not sure how severe the early January tides will be.
“Any swell that accompanies them will be a problem, but cool water this time of year should ameliorate a bit,” he wrote in an email.And all these features—tides, gyres, storms and the rest—operate atop the base sea level, which for the last century has been rising.
It means, of course, flooding in Mapunapuna, docks under water at Nawiliwili, beaches razor thin or gone entirely, and all the other features associated with the highest water.What isn't entirely clear is what other factors will be driving that water even higher or lower. That's because tides operate on top of the regional sea level, that can change due to a number of factors.
During certain climate events, like El Nino periods and strong low pressure systems, the base water level can be higher than normal. Warm water expands and can create regional high sea levels. There are oceanic gyres that can cause vast regions of the ocean to form a kind of hump. High tides atop these can drive water farther inland than normal.Strong waves atop high tides can also push flooding waters inland.
Chip Fletcher, the coastal geologist at the University of Hawai'i's School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, said he's not sure how severe the early January tides will be.
“Any swell that accompanies them will be a problem, but cool water this time of year should ameliorate a bit,” he wrote in an email.And all these features—tides, gyres, storms and the rest—operate atop the base sea level, which for the last century has been rising.
Polynesian voyaging curbed by climate change?
Is there a role for climate science in archaeology.Increasingly, the answer seems to be yes.
One of the mysteries of Hawaiian history has been why voyaging between the Hawaiian Islands and the South Pacific stopped several hundred years before the arrival of Europeans in the Islands.Climate researchers say that the decline in long-distance Pacific voyaging may have coincided with a significant change in climate.
which would have changed weather patterns throughout the region.For traditional navigator Bruce Blankenfeld, the link between climate and voyaging success is perfectly reasonable.
“You take a lot of your cues from the weather. If the weather changes, that changes everything,” he said.Blankenfeld is one of five Hawai'i non-instrument navigators who recently was inducted into a traditional Micronesian navigation society.
He is one of the veteran navigators of the Polynesian Voyaging Society's canoe, Hōkūle'a.Around the year 1300 the global climate began a switch from a warm period, often referred to as the Medieval Warm Period, to a cooler pattern known as the Little Ice Age.“There were changes in weather patterns and climate patterns, and there were more storm events in the Little Ice Age.
This would have made traveling much harder, less predictable and less successful,” said Oliver Timm, a paleoclimatologist with the University of Hawai'i's International Pacific Research Center.What caused the climate to cool? There are a couple of suspects, Timm told RaisingIslands.One is that solar radiation dropped at the end of the warm period, although the drop was so small, about a tenth of a percent, that Timm believes it was unlikely to be the sole cause of cooling.
One of the mysteries of Hawaiian history has been why voyaging between the Hawaiian Islands and the South Pacific stopped several hundred years before the arrival of Europeans in the Islands.Climate researchers say that the decline in long-distance Pacific voyaging may have coincided with a significant change in climate.
which would have changed weather patterns throughout the region.For traditional navigator Bruce Blankenfeld, the link between climate and voyaging success is perfectly reasonable.
“You take a lot of your cues from the weather. If the weather changes, that changes everything,” he said.Blankenfeld is one of five Hawai'i non-instrument navigators who recently was inducted into a traditional Micronesian navigation society.
He is one of the veteran navigators of the Polynesian Voyaging Society's canoe, Hōkūle'a.Around the year 1300 the global climate began a switch from a warm period, often referred to as the Medieval Warm Period, to a cooler pattern known as the Little Ice Age.“There were changes in weather patterns and climate patterns, and there were more storm events in the Little Ice Age.
This would have made traveling much harder, less predictable and less successful,” said Oliver Timm, a paleoclimatologist with the University of Hawai'i's International Pacific Research Center.What caused the climate to cool? There are a couple of suspects, Timm told RaisingIslands.One is that solar radiation dropped at the end of the warm period, although the drop was so small, about a tenth of a percent, that Timm believes it was unlikely to be the sole cause of cooling.
Emissions aren't just about climate--they're still killing us
In all the furor over carbon dioxide and global warming, many folks have lost sight of some of the other impacts of air pollution.It's still killing us.A simple search found a pile of recent research, linking air pollution to low sperm counts, low birth weights, asthma and other health problems in kids, heart and blood pressure issues in adults and on and on.Do you need another reason to be unhappy with the neighbor who climbs into her/his SUV or high-powered truck, or zoom-zoom luxury sedan
Do you need a reason to think twice when you pile clothes in the dryer that could be air-dried, flick on the air-conditioning, fail to use public transportation or neglect to insist your lawmakers pay immediate attention to these issues?How about this: It's making you, and your children, and your neighbors sick. There's plenty of evidence of it, much of it brand new, but lots more that's been around for years.
The carbon dioxide that comes out of tailpipes and smokestacks can be associated with a lot of compounds in addition to carbon dioxide—sulfur compounds, nitrogen compounds, benzene, formaldehyde and the like—which aren't good for humans or the environment.Even in places like Hawai'i, where in most places, tradewinds appear to blow the skies clean. More on that later in this article.
“Primary care physicians should be aware of the acute and chronic deleterious clinical effects of diesel exhaust,” says an article in the Journal of Family Medicine, “The Toxicity of Diesel Exhaust: Implications for Primary Care,” dated Jan. 1, 2008.“Urban air pollution is associated with inflammation, oxidative stress, blood coagulation and autonomic dysfunction simultaneously in healthy young humans, with sulfate and O3 as two major traffic-related pollutants contributing to such effects,” says an article in The American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, “The Effect of Urban Air Pollution on Inflammation, Oxidative Stress, Coagulation, and Autonomic Dysfunction in Young Adults,” published in 2007.
Do you need a reason to think twice when you pile clothes in the dryer that could be air-dried, flick on the air-conditioning, fail to use public transportation or neglect to insist your lawmakers pay immediate attention to these issues?How about this: It's making you, and your children, and your neighbors sick. There's plenty of evidence of it, much of it brand new, but lots more that's been around for years.
The carbon dioxide that comes out of tailpipes and smokestacks can be associated with a lot of compounds in addition to carbon dioxide—sulfur compounds, nitrogen compounds, benzene, formaldehyde and the like—which aren't good for humans or the environment.Even in places like Hawai'i, where in most places, tradewinds appear to blow the skies clean. More on that later in this article.
“Primary care physicians should be aware of the acute and chronic deleterious clinical effects of diesel exhaust,” says an article in the Journal of Family Medicine, “The Toxicity of Diesel Exhaust: Implications for Primary Care,” dated Jan. 1, 2008.“Urban air pollution is associated with inflammation, oxidative stress, blood coagulation and autonomic dysfunction simultaneously in healthy young humans, with sulfate and O3 as two major traffic-related pollutants contributing to such effects,” says an article in The American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, “The Effect of Urban Air Pollution on Inflammation, Oxidative Stress, Coagulation, and Autonomic Dysfunction in Young Adults,” published in 2007.
Mercury's Hawaiian connection, and is it volcanic?
We'll soon know lots more about Mercury than we once did, thanks to a voyaging spacecraft called MESSENGER.We already know that Mercury is hot, except where it's not. On the sunny side, it can reach 800 degrees Fahrenheit, while on the night side, that can drop more than a thousand degrees.That it's a small planet, just a third wider in diameter than our Moon.
That it spins very slowly compared to Earth. From one Mercury noon to the next takes half an Earth year.And that, like the Moon, it gets pounded by space rocks. Since it has no atmosphere, meteorites blast to the surface without burning up as many do in Earth's atmosphere. Images of the planet make it look remarkably battered and Moon-like.But Mercury, the planet closest to the sun, is so close to Old Sol that's it's difficult to study thoroughly without being blinded by the brightness alongside.
The last time researchers had a good look was during the Mariner 10 spacecraft mission in 1991. The new mission is the Mercury surface, space environment, geochemistry and ranging effort, whose first and sometimes second letters have been cobbled together into the word messenger.University of Hawai'i researcher Jeffrey Gillis-Davis, with the Hawai'i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology, is a member of the MESSENGER team.
“If Mercury were a puzzle, we would only have half the pieces, which makes it difficult to put geologic processes into a global perspective. MESSENGER will fill in a lot of those missing puzzle pieces this month,” Gillis-Davis said.His role is to use an array of sensors on the craft to study the planet's origin and its geologic evolution, to determine whether volcanic activity has played a role and to compare its geology to that of the other rocky planets, like Earth.
That it spins very slowly compared to Earth. From one Mercury noon to the next takes half an Earth year.And that, like the Moon, it gets pounded by space rocks. Since it has no atmosphere, meteorites blast to the surface without burning up as many do in Earth's atmosphere. Images of the planet make it look remarkably battered and Moon-like.But Mercury, the planet closest to the sun, is so close to Old Sol that's it's difficult to study thoroughly without being blinded by the brightness alongside.
The last time researchers had a good look was during the Mariner 10 spacecraft mission in 1991. The new mission is the Mercury surface, space environment, geochemistry and ranging effort, whose first and sometimes second letters have been cobbled together into the word messenger.University of Hawai'i researcher Jeffrey Gillis-Davis, with the Hawai'i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology, is a member of the MESSENGER team.
“If Mercury were a puzzle, we would only have half the pieces, which makes it difficult to put geologic processes into a global perspective. MESSENGER will fill in a lot of those missing puzzle pieces this month,” Gillis-Davis said.His role is to use an array of sensors on the craft to study the planet's origin and its geologic evolution, to determine whether volcanic activity has played a role and to compare its geology to that of the other rocky planets, like Earth.
Mystery of the Hawaiian-Emperor Bend, solved?
The Hawaiian Island chain, as most people know it, runs from Hawai'i to Kaua'i and Ni'ihau, but the islands are only the tail of a string of volcanoes that runs all the way to the Aleutians.
What baffles science is why this long string makes a distinct turn midway.Chain extends 3,700 miles northwest from the main Hawaiian Islands, and then makes a right turn beyond Midway and Kure, continuing as a line of seamounts that eventually disappears at the northern edge of the Pacific tectonic plate.
The blue line follows the course of the chain and the red arrow marks the right turn. Credit: Modified from Google Earth.)Current geological thinking is that the massive Pacific plate, which forms part of the Earth's crust, is constantly moving, its edges sliding along or under or over other plates, or being shoved away from others by volcanic activity. And a feature called the Hawaiian hot spot punches volcanoes up through the plate.
Like a pencil marking a line of dots on a page, the hot spot under the moving plate leaves a line of volcanoes.But what could have caused the bend in the line? Some movement of the hot spot? A dramatic change in the direction in which the plate moves? The question was tackled in a recent paper in Science Magazine by geologists David Clague, former director of the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory now working with the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute.
and Warren Sharp, of the Berkeley Geochronology Center.They conclude that the bend in the 129-volcano Hawaiian-Emperor Chain (the name for the combination of the Hawaiian Archipelago south of the bend and the Emperor Seamounts north of it), occurred about 50 million years ago.They carefully determined the ages at which rocks in the chain were created, using the latest dating techniques available.
What baffles science is why this long string makes a distinct turn midway.Chain extends 3,700 miles northwest from the main Hawaiian Islands, and then makes a right turn beyond Midway and Kure, continuing as a line of seamounts that eventually disappears at the northern edge of the Pacific tectonic plate.
The blue line follows the course of the chain and the red arrow marks the right turn. Credit: Modified from Google Earth.)Current geological thinking is that the massive Pacific plate, which forms part of the Earth's crust, is constantly moving, its edges sliding along or under or over other plates, or being shoved away from others by volcanic activity. And a feature called the Hawaiian hot spot punches volcanoes up through the plate.
Like a pencil marking a line of dots on a page, the hot spot under the moving plate leaves a line of volcanoes.But what could have caused the bend in the line? Some movement of the hot spot? A dramatic change in the direction in which the plate moves? The question was tackled in a recent paper in Science Magazine by geologists David Clague, former director of the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory now working with the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute.
and Warren Sharp, of the Berkeley Geochronology Center.They conclude that the bend in the 129-volcano Hawaiian-Emperor Chain (the name for the combination of the Hawaiian Archipelago south of the bend and the Emperor Seamounts north of it), occurred about 50 million years ago.They carefully determined the ages at which rocks in the chain were created, using the latest dating techniques available.
The quiet volcano gets explosive
The world's great drive-in volcano showed its darker side this week—and not for the first time.Kīlauea is known for its calm eruptions and flows, which visitors often can approach close enough to feel the heat. But as the week's activities showed, the volcano also has a history of violence, of catastrophic explosions capable of destroying property and taking lives.Earlier, the firepit within the Kīlauea began producing prodigious amounts of nasty fumes.
On March 19, 2008, a blast just before 3 a.m. strewed rocks and gravel over an estimated 75 acres. It followed several days of concerns over toxic sulfur dioxide gas emissions from the volcano, including the discussion that Volcano Village might need to be evacuated if gas clouds moved in its direction.Parts of Crater Rim Drive continued to be closed due to danger from the gas.
and the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory said further explosions—driven by steam or underground gas—were possible.Elevated toxic gas levels continued after the explosions, and parts of the region remained closed to human activity several days after the explosion.For many folks, the violence of the volcano seemed uncharacteristic, but it certainly was not unheard-of.In its multi-day events of May 1924.
the Halema'uma'u firepit rumbled and roared, its activity punctuated by powerful blasts that threw rocks from the size of sand grains to small cars. They landed, sizzling in the rain, hundreds and occasionally thousands of feet from the edge of the pit. Showers of yellow mud fell 25 miles away.That event ended in a spectacular eruption. During the events, one observer, a photographer, was killed by rocks and hot mud.
On March 19, 2008, a blast just before 3 a.m. strewed rocks and gravel over an estimated 75 acres. It followed several days of concerns over toxic sulfur dioxide gas emissions from the volcano, including the discussion that Volcano Village might need to be evacuated if gas clouds moved in its direction.Parts of Crater Rim Drive continued to be closed due to danger from the gas.
and the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory said further explosions—driven by steam or underground gas—were possible.Elevated toxic gas levels continued after the explosions, and parts of the region remained closed to human activity several days after the explosion.For many folks, the violence of the volcano seemed uncharacteristic, but it certainly was not unheard-of.In its multi-day events of May 1924.
the Halema'uma'u firepit rumbled and roared, its activity punctuated by powerful blasts that threw rocks from the size of sand grains to small cars. They landed, sizzling in the rain, hundreds and occasionally thousands of feet from the edge of the pit. Showers of yellow mud fell 25 miles away.That event ended in a spectacular eruption. During the events, one observer, a photographer, was killed by rocks and hot mud.
Halema'uma'u erupting! First time since 1982.
Halema'uma'u Crater, the firepit of Kīlauea, is erupting for the first time in 26 years.(Image: Hawaiian Volcano Observatory image of ash plume from Halema'uma'u.In a buildup that has lasted more than a week, Halema'uma'u first began pumping out increased amounts of sulfurous gas, then threw boulders across the landscape in what was described as a gas explosion. Sunday night, it began erupting small amounts of lava and large amounts of ash.
Much of the landscape around the Kīlauea Caldera is covered with ash from previous eruptions, so this is not unheard-of.The implications of the ash plume are potentially severe. It can damage aircraft engines that fly through it. It can harm human lungs. “There is now continuous emission of ash from the new gas vent in Halema`uma`u Crater, turning the formerly white cloud of fume a dusty-brown color.
The top of the ash plume, which is currently being blown to the southwest of the Crater, reaches 0.5 to 1.0 mile above ground level. Hawai`i aviation agencies have been notified of the potential hazard to aircraft,” the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory said in its daily update Monday.Observatory staffers began seeing glowing material erupting Sunday night from a 100-foot-wide vent that is within the crater and below the crater overlook.
The overlook and parts of the Chain of Craters road are closed to the public because of the health and safety hazards.The eruption as of the most recent update is not the classic fountain of lava, but more of a spattering of molten rock. Geologists searching the area yesterday found a range of volcanic products, including long, thin strands and small gobs, which are known as Pele's hair and Pele's tears.
Much of the landscape around the Kīlauea Caldera is covered with ash from previous eruptions, so this is not unheard-of.The implications of the ash plume are potentially severe. It can damage aircraft engines that fly through it. It can harm human lungs. “There is now continuous emission of ash from the new gas vent in Halema`uma`u Crater, turning the formerly white cloud of fume a dusty-brown color.
The top of the ash plume, which is currently being blown to the southwest of the Crater, reaches 0.5 to 1.0 mile above ground level. Hawai`i aviation agencies have been notified of the potential hazard to aircraft,” the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory said in its daily update Monday.Observatory staffers began seeing glowing material erupting Sunday night from a 100-foot-wide vent that is within the crater and below the crater overlook.
The overlook and parts of the Chain of Craters road are closed to the public because of the health and safety hazards.The eruption as of the most recent update is not the classic fountain of lava, but more of a spattering of molten rock. Geologists searching the area yesterday found a range of volcanic products, including long, thin strands and small gobs, which are known as Pele's hair and Pele's tears.
Loihi seamount yields volcanic glass, limu o Pele.
Limu o Pele is a magical product of the volcano, formed when waves wash over lava flowing into the sea.Seawater gets trapped under molten rock. The water flashes to steam. The still-molten rock forms a huge, thin bubble. Almost instantly, the bubble wall hardens, the bubble explodes and and the tissue-thin fragments waft away on the wind.If there's an onshore breeze, you can find it in greenish-brown see-through flakes of volcanic glass.
When I first saw it, the tiny flakes had filled voids in a lava flow and was gleaming gold in the setting sun. You could pick it up in your hand, and the fragments slid against each other.
It seems odd, but the stuff also forms deep under the sea, and is being studied at the volcano Loihi.Loihi, sometimes called the “next Hawaiian island,” lies 20 miles off the southeast coast of the Big Island. Its tallest point is still 3,000 feet below the waves.
There, the water temperature is cold, and the water pressure is extremely high. But the power of steam is enormous, and the presence of the volcanic glass flakes proves that the undersea eruptions create similar processes to those along the shore.Still the Loihi limu o Pele is not identical to the stuff at the surface.“Limu o Pele fragments quench at fantastic rates and that affects the structure of the glass,”
said David Clague, formerly with the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory and now at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute.A report on the Loihi volcanic glass was published in the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters by researchers Marcel Potuzak, Alexander Nichols and Donald Dingwell of the University of Munich's Earth and Environment program, and Clague. Potuzak is also association with Corning, Nichols with the Japan Agency for Marine Earth Science and Technology, and Dingwell with Stanford's Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences.
When I first saw it, the tiny flakes had filled voids in a lava flow and was gleaming gold in the setting sun. You could pick it up in your hand, and the fragments slid against each other.
It seems odd, but the stuff also forms deep under the sea, and is being studied at the volcano Loihi.Loihi, sometimes called the “next Hawaiian island,” lies 20 miles off the southeast coast of the Big Island. Its tallest point is still 3,000 feet below the waves.
There, the water temperature is cold, and the water pressure is extremely high. But the power of steam is enormous, and the presence of the volcanic glass flakes proves that the undersea eruptions create similar processes to those along the shore.Still the Loihi limu o Pele is not identical to the stuff at the surface.“Limu o Pele fragments quench at fantastic rates and that affects the structure of the glass,”
said David Clague, formerly with the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory and now at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute.A report on the Loihi volcanic glass was published in the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters by researchers Marcel Potuzak, Alexander Nichols and Donald Dingwell of the University of Munich's Earth and Environment program, and Clague. Potuzak is also association with Corning, Nichols with the Japan Agency for Marine Earth Science and Technology, and Dingwell with Stanford's Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences.
Island ground water reacts to big surf
Deep under the islands' surfaces, the groundwater is moving.It flows, of course, from the mountains toward the sea. As rain falls on the surface of islands, it percolates down and forms a vast underground lake within the volcanic matrix. That lake is constantly at flow seaward, where the island's fresh water leaks into the salt water surrounding the islands.When storm surf occurs, it shoves vast amounts of water up against the island, creating a rise in the overall level of the water.
In some areas, swimmers can feel its cool flow where it enters the ocean below the surface near shore.But the groundwater also moves up and down.Researchers have long known that the water in the islands' aquifers rises and falls with changes in atmospheric pressure. But it also moves with the tides, and with periods of storm surf along the coast.When storm surf pounds an island's shore, the change in the height of the groundwater can be measured in wells miles inland, according to research by Kolja Rotzoll, of the U.S.
Geological Survey's Pacific Islands Water Science Center.Rotzoll and Aly El-Kadi, both associated with the University of Hawai'i UH Dept of Geology andGeophysics Water Resources Research Center, published their study on the subject in the Journal of Hydrology. The work was part of Rotzoll's work toward his doctorate degree. Its aim was to better understand the movement of water in the aquifers under islands.
In research on Maui, he found that the impact of a major storm surf event on the coast can be measured as a rise in the water level in wells more than three miles in from the shore.
“The change in water level travels through the aquifer and can be detected as a net rise in the ground-water table kilometers away from the coast,” he said in an email.The effect is apparently the reaction to a rise in sea level at the coast.
In some areas, swimmers can feel its cool flow where it enters the ocean below the surface near shore.But the groundwater also moves up and down.Researchers have long known that the water in the islands' aquifers rises and falls with changes in atmospheric pressure. But it also moves with the tides, and with periods of storm surf along the coast.When storm surf pounds an island's shore, the change in the height of the groundwater can be measured in wells miles inland, according to research by Kolja Rotzoll, of the U.S.
Geological Survey's Pacific Islands Water Science Center.Rotzoll and Aly El-Kadi, both associated with the University of Hawai'i UH Dept of Geology andGeophysics Water Resources Research Center, published their study on the subject in the Journal of Hydrology. The work was part of Rotzoll's work toward his doctorate degree. Its aim was to better understand the movement of water in the aquifers under islands.
In research on Maui, he found that the impact of a major storm surf event on the coast can be measured as a rise in the water level in wells more than three miles in from the shore.
“The change in water level travels through the aquifer and can be detected as a net rise in the ground-water table kilometers away from the coast,” he said in an email.The effect is apparently the reaction to a rise in sea level at the coast.
Alaska quake: no tsunami threat, but a caution
A powerful earthquake Thursday afternoon in the Andreanof Islands of Alaska's Aleutian chain did not launch a tsunami toward Hawai'i, but it's a clear warning. Two of the most damaging tsunami in Hawai'i history came from the same region.The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center report of no tsunami hazard went out at 3:46 p.m. Hawai'i time, just 12 minutes after the 3:34 p.m. shake.
which registered a 7.0, although later recalculations dropped it to magnitude 6.6.
“A destructive Pacific-wide tsunami is not expected and there is no tsunami threat to Hawai'i,” said a statement from the center.The quake was centered at 51.8 degrees north and 177.6 west. That placed it a little more than 1,200 miles from Anchorage.“It was a pretty good-sized quake.
It was heavily felt in the Adak area,” said Bruce Turner, geophysicist and science officer with the West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center.It normally takes a considerably larger quake to generate a significant tsunami, but it was interesting that Alaska had a very active day Thursday from an earthquake perspective. Just a day earlier, at nearly the same location, there was a 5.1 quake.
And smaller shakers have rumbled up and down the Aleutian chain during the past 24 hours, most of them located in the immediate vicinity of these earthquakes.The 1957 tsunami came from a quake quite close to yesterday's temblor. It was at 51.5 degrees north, 175.7 degrees west, just 84 miles away and within the Andreanof Islands.The 1946 tsunami that caused severe damage in Hawai'i came from a location at 52.8 degrees north and 163.5 degrees west, about 900 miles away.
which registered a 7.0, although later recalculations dropped it to magnitude 6.6.
“A destructive Pacific-wide tsunami is not expected and there is no tsunami threat to Hawai'i,” said a statement from the center.The quake was centered at 51.8 degrees north and 177.6 west. That placed it a little more than 1,200 miles from Anchorage.“It was a pretty good-sized quake.
It was heavily felt in the Adak area,” said Bruce Turner, geophysicist and science officer with the West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center.It normally takes a considerably larger quake to generate a significant tsunami, but it was interesting that Alaska had a very active day Thursday from an earthquake perspective. Just a day earlier, at nearly the same location, there was a 5.1 quake.
And smaller shakers have rumbled up and down the Aleutian chain during the past 24 hours, most of them located in the immediate vicinity of these earthquakes.The 1957 tsunami came from a quake quite close to yesterday's temblor. It was at 51.5 degrees north, 175.7 degrees west, just 84 miles away and within the Andreanof Islands.The 1946 tsunami that caused severe damage in Hawai'i came from a location at 52.8 degrees north and 163.5 degrees west, about 900 miles away.
The Big Dogs in emissions: electricity and transportation
We can talk about recycling newspaper and aluminum cans, composting and reusing our containers, but the big dogs in the global climate issue are electrical use and transportation.The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, in a report issued in April 2008, showed that among sources of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, the nation's leading culprits are electrical generation and transportation.
If your eyes glaze over when you see a lot of numbers, here's the short version: Between two-thirds and three-quarters of all carbon dioxide emissions in the United States come from electrical generation and transportation.What to do about it? A few ideas are to find ways to cut your electric bill, drive less or in a more fuel-efficient car, and minimize long-distance travel.
For folks who like numbers, here are some: In 2006—the most recent year for which there are data—the nation is calculated to have produced 5,983.1 teragrams of CO2 and CO2 equivalent greenhouse gases. It's a big number—nearly 6,000 grams with 12 more zeros after it: 5,983,100,000,000,000.If my calculations are right, that amounts to 6.6 billion tons. (Does your car weight a ton? Imagine the weight of 6.6 billion cars.
Of that total, the burning of fossil fuels represents 5,638 teragrams, more than 94 percent.
And of the fossil fuel burning, electrical generation is 2,328 teragrams or 41 percent and transportation is 1,856 teragrams or 33 percent.Together, electrical generation and the fuel in your cars and planes represent 74 percent of all fossil fuel emissions, and 70 percent of all CO2 emissions from all sources.
If your eyes glaze over when you see a lot of numbers, here's the short version: Between two-thirds and three-quarters of all carbon dioxide emissions in the United States come from electrical generation and transportation.What to do about it? A few ideas are to find ways to cut your electric bill, drive less or in a more fuel-efficient car, and minimize long-distance travel.
For folks who like numbers, here are some: In 2006—the most recent year for which there are data—the nation is calculated to have produced 5,983.1 teragrams of CO2 and CO2 equivalent greenhouse gases. It's a big number—nearly 6,000 grams with 12 more zeros after it: 5,983,100,000,000,000.If my calculations are right, that amounts to 6.6 billion tons. (Does your car weight a ton? Imagine the weight of 6.6 billion cars.
Of that total, the burning of fossil fuels represents 5,638 teragrams, more than 94 percent.
And of the fossil fuel burning, electrical generation is 2,328 teragrams or 41 percent and transportation is 1,856 teragrams or 33 percent.Together, electrical generation and the fuel in your cars and planes represent 74 percent of all fossil fuel emissions, and 70 percent of all CO2 emissions from all sources.
Massive conservation partnership covers 25% of Hawai'i land area
Partnering is the new paradigm in conservation in Hawai'i, and a group of Big Island partners have announced a stupendous new camaraderie.It will join together for conservation a quarter of all the land in the state—a million acres that sweeps across the Big Island, covering 40 percent of that island's land area.The new Three Mountain Alliance watershed partnership covers the slopes of much of Mauna Loa, Kīlauea and Hualālai.
The Kamehameha Schools and The Nature Conservancy of Hawai'i; the state's Department of Land and Natural Resources and Department of Public Safety; and the federal government's U.S. National ParkService (Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Geological Survey Pacific Island Ecosystems Research Center, USDA Forest Service and USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.
The Kamehameha Schools and The Nature Conservancy of Hawai'i; the state's Department of Land and Natural Resources and Department of Public Safety; and the federal government's U.S. National ParkService (Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Geological Survey Pacific Island Ecosystems Research Center, USDA Forest Service and USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.
One of the early projects for the alliance is to involve students and teachers in an education and restoration project at the national park and adjacent Keauhou Ranch, using native plants grown by inmates at Kūlani Correctional Facility. The alliance also plans to control wild cattle in several state-owned forest reserves in the region, to fence dry forests of upland Kona to protect them, to conduct joint invasive weed control work and to develop a watershed management plan for the high country forests of Ka'ū and Kapāpala.
The Kamehameha Schools and The Nature Conservancy of Hawai'i; the state's Department of Land and Natural Resources and Department of Public Safety; and the federal government's U.S. National ParkService (Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Geological Survey Pacific Island Ecosystems Research Center, USDA Forest Service and USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.
The Kamehameha Schools and The Nature Conservancy of Hawai'i; the state's Department of Land and Natural Resources and Department of Public Safety; and the federal government's U.S. National ParkService (Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Geological Survey Pacific Island Ecosystems Research Center, USDA Forest Service and USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.
One of the early projects for the alliance is to involve students and teachers in an education and restoration project at the national park and adjacent Keauhou Ranch, using native plants grown by inmates at Kūlani Correctional Facility. The alliance also plans to control wild cattle in several state-owned forest reserves in the region, to fence dry forests of upland Kona to protect them, to conduct joint invasive weed control work and to develop a watershed management plan for the high country forests of Ka'ū and Kapāpala.
Shakeless quakes at Kilauea
When the earth moves, experience suggests that there's always some shaking.Seems reasonable, but new evidence from Hawai'i shows it's not always true.It seems that if the earth moves slowly enough, it can make significant and measurable changes without anybody actually being able to feel it.Scientists working at Kīlauea were able to measure such a shudder-less earthquake in an event in 2007.
They reported their findings in the journal Science last week, under the headline, “Magmatically Triggered Slow Slip at Kilauea Volcano, Hawai'i. The researchers included Benjamin Brooks, James Foster and Cecily Wolfe of the University of Hawai'i's School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, David Sandwell and David Myer of Scripps Institution, and Paul Okubo and Michael Poland of the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.
Their focus was an event at the volcano in mid-June 2007, in which an underground region of the volcano was subjected to what geologists call a dike intrusion, in which magma pushes into a new region. (Magma is molten rock when it's still underground. It's lava when it hits the surface.)Using highly accurate global positioning system sensors, volcanoscientists were able to show that the dike intrusion at the rift zonetriggered an earthquake on Kilauea's flank.
But they hadn't measured active seismic activity—ground shaking—associated with the movement.The mechanics of this are something of a mystery, they say. They call these spontaneous aseismic slip events or slow-slip events. “The underlying process that generates seismic waves is the rupture of a fault. In typical earthquakes, this fault rupture occurs rapidly (within seconds) and this rapid rupture of a fault generates the seismic waves that people feel and that do all the damage,” said co-researcher Wolfe.
They reported their findings in the journal Science last week, under the headline, “Magmatically Triggered Slow Slip at Kilauea Volcano, Hawai'i. The researchers included Benjamin Brooks, James Foster and Cecily Wolfe of the University of Hawai'i's School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, David Sandwell and David Myer of Scripps Institution, and Paul Okubo and Michael Poland of the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.
Their focus was an event at the volcano in mid-June 2007, in which an underground region of the volcano was subjected to what geologists call a dike intrusion, in which magma pushes into a new region. (Magma is molten rock when it's still underground. It's lava when it hits the surface.)Using highly accurate global positioning system sensors, volcanoscientists were able to show that the dike intrusion at the rift zonetriggered an earthquake on Kilauea's flank.
But they hadn't measured active seismic activity—ground shaking—associated with the movement.The mechanics of this are something of a mystery, they say. They call these spontaneous aseismic slip events or slow-slip events. “The underlying process that generates seismic waves is the rupture of a fault. In typical earthquakes, this fault rupture occurs rapidly (within seconds) and this rapid rupture of a fault generates the seismic waves that people feel and that do all the damage,” said co-researcher Wolfe.
Hawaiian lobelias--all from a single original immigrant
The Hawaiian archipelago is not renowned for its spectacular native flowers, but it has them, and some of the most breathtaking examples are in the lobelia family.From amazing spires of ivory blooms that rise from low rosettes of green to drooping delicate lavender showpieces that dangle from tree forms.Purples and pales are the lobelias' favorite colors, but the range is enormous.So, where does all this diversity come from in an island chain so isolated.
From a single introduction, 13 million years ago, according to a new study published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, “Origin, adaptive radiation and diversification of the Hawaiian lobeliads.”Its authors are Thomas Givnish, Kendra Millam, Thomas Paterson, Terra Theim, Jillian Henss and Kenneth Sytsma, all of the University of Wisconsin at Madison, Austin Mast of Florida State University.
Andrew Hipp of Illinois' Morton Arboretum, James Smith of Idaho's Snake River Plains Herbarium, and, in Hawai'i, Kenneth Wood of the National Tropical Botanical Garden.Their research updates earlier arguments that lobelias in Hawai'i must have come from multiple introductions.The lobelia's 126 species in six distinct genus groups, represent an eighth of all the native plant species in Hawai'i.
And, say the authors, “have long been viewed as one of the most spectacular examples of adaptive radiation in plants.”Perhaps the most spectacular.“The Hawaiian lobelias are the most species-rich radiation of plants derived from a single colonist to be resolved on any single oceanic island or archipelago,” the authors write.Looking into the genetic material in Hawaiian lobelias, the researchers concluded that the first one arrived long before any of the existing main Hawaiian Islands were even formed.
From a single introduction, 13 million years ago, according to a new study published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, “Origin, adaptive radiation and diversification of the Hawaiian lobeliads.”Its authors are Thomas Givnish, Kendra Millam, Thomas Paterson, Terra Theim, Jillian Henss and Kenneth Sytsma, all of the University of Wisconsin at Madison, Austin Mast of Florida State University.
Andrew Hipp of Illinois' Morton Arboretum, James Smith of Idaho's Snake River Plains Herbarium, and, in Hawai'i, Kenneth Wood of the National Tropical Botanical Garden.Their research updates earlier arguments that lobelias in Hawai'i must have come from multiple introductions.The lobelia's 126 species in six distinct genus groups, represent an eighth of all the native plant species in Hawai'i.
And, say the authors, “have long been viewed as one of the most spectacular examples of adaptive radiation in plants.”Perhaps the most spectacular.“The Hawaiian lobelias are the most species-rich radiation of plants derived from a single colonist to be resolved on any single oceanic island or archipelago,” the authors write.Looking into the genetic material in Hawaiian lobelias, the researchers concluded that the first one arrived long before any of the existing main Hawaiian Islands were even formed.
The greening of Lehua Island
No one alive knows what the environment on Lehua Island was like before the rats and rabbits arrived. These critters began eating virtually every seed and seedling, leaving it an eroded crescent of earth, rock and cinder. But there is enough evidence to make educated guesses about what the island was like before human interference, and restoration teams will now try to recreate the prehistoric Lehua.
A supplemental environmental assessment for the restoration project has been completed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the state Department of Land and Natural Resources' Division of Forestry and Wildlife. It updates a 2005 environmental assessment, changing the timing of rodent control efforts to reduce threats to birds, and building on information developed during a similar program at an islet off Molokai.
Lehua is a gorgeous speck of land, even without restoration. An ancient tuff cone, it sits just north of Ni'ihau, visible on a good day from west Kaua'i, 20 miles distant. Sixteen species of seabirds use its 310 acres. Seals haul out on its rocky shelves.It is surrounded by deep, clear waters favored by dive tourists. One arm of its curved shape has a deep vertical crack that extends down into the sea. Some folks call it the Keyhole.
Multicolored corals and reef fishes cruise the steep-bottomed and sheltered arc of its bay.
But the land is mostly shades of volcanic brown. Little vegetation survives on the island.
As the environmental assessment says, it's been clear at least in the scientific literature since 1931 that rats and rabbits were the main problem. It's taken more than 70 years to move from that recognition to doing something about it.
A supplemental environmental assessment for the restoration project has been completed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the state Department of Land and Natural Resources' Division of Forestry and Wildlife. It updates a 2005 environmental assessment, changing the timing of rodent control efforts to reduce threats to birds, and building on information developed during a similar program at an islet off Molokai.
Lehua is a gorgeous speck of land, even without restoration. An ancient tuff cone, it sits just north of Ni'ihau, visible on a good day from west Kaua'i, 20 miles distant. Sixteen species of seabirds use its 310 acres. Seals haul out on its rocky shelves.It is surrounded by deep, clear waters favored by dive tourists. One arm of its curved shape has a deep vertical crack that extends down into the sea. Some folks call it the Keyhole.
Multicolored corals and reef fishes cruise the steep-bottomed and sheltered arc of its bay.
But the land is mostly shades of volcanic brown. Little vegetation survives on the island.
As the environmental assessment says, it's been clear at least in the scientific literature since 1931 that rats and rabbits were the main problem. It's taken more than 70 years to move from that recognition to doing something about it.
Bush to announce three new marine monuments; Papahānaumokuākea gets siblings
President Bush, in a widely anticipated event, today was scheduled to announce the establishment of three new Pacific marine national monuments, to join the two-year-old Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.Papahānaumokuākea has been a lonely creature within the federal bureaucracy—the only marine national monument in existence.
and one that conducts a constant balancing act with the three major agencies that have interests in the area: the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. They operate as co-trustees.No regulatory framework has been set up yet for the three new monuments, and while the partnerships will certainly be different, there will also be similarities.
“We will be asking the Secretaries of Commerce and Interior over the course of the next two years, in conjunction and cooperation with the governments of the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas, the government of American Samoa, and the government of Guam to develop these management plans, and come up with shared strategies for implementing them,” said Jim Connaughton, Chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality.
For Rose Atoll, Connaughton said the Administration proposes the monument management be folded into the existing American Samoa national marine sanctuary bureaucracy, “so they'll all be under the same management regime.”But that is something the outgoing Bush Administration will have to leave to its successor, the Obama Administration. The shape of those regulations will be driven by a Hawai'i born president who is far more familiar with oceans than Texan Bush.
and one that conducts a constant balancing act with the three major agencies that have interests in the area: the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. They operate as co-trustees.No regulatory framework has been set up yet for the three new monuments, and while the partnerships will certainly be different, there will also be similarities.
“We will be asking the Secretaries of Commerce and Interior over the course of the next two years, in conjunction and cooperation with the governments of the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas, the government of American Samoa, and the government of Guam to develop these management plans, and come up with shared strategies for implementing them,” said Jim Connaughton, Chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality.
For Rose Atoll, Connaughton said the Administration proposes the monument management be folded into the existing American Samoa national marine sanctuary bureaucracy, “so they'll all be under the same management regime.”But that is something the outgoing Bush Administration will have to leave to its successor, the Obama Administration. The shape of those regulations will be driven by a Hawai'i born president who is far more familiar with oceans than Texan Bush.
Hawaiian volcanoes are way older than thought, and there's life down 1.6 miles
Hawaiian volcanoes are dramatically more complex—and far older—than scientists have been teaching—and there are traces of life more than a mile deep in the rock. Those are just a few of the remarkable findings of a truly quirky idea: Let's drill miles down into the lava on the Big Island and see what we find.The goal was to collect a continuous sample of of a million years of volcanic activity, reaching rock dating from a time when Mauna Kea was younger than the nascent volcano Lo'ihi is now.
The core was started in an abandoned quarry near Hilo Airport. It was selected because it was midway between active rift zones of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa, so there would be less likelihood of hitting molten rock.The first pilot hole was put down in 1993, and a 3-kilometer deep core was taken in 1999. The drilling went on for several years, and the coring stopped when the site reached 11,500 feet—more than two miles down.
“There are problems with age-dating Hawaiian lavas,” but research suggests the lavas at the bottom of the hole are 700,000 years old said geochemist Donald M. Thomas, director of Center for the Study of Active Volcanoes at the University of Hawai'i's Hawai‘i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology, a part of the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology. The coring project has spawned dozens of scientific papers.
In one of the most recent, published yesterday (Feb. 15, 2009), researchers from Germany, Japan and the United States reported that they could calculate the rate at which volcanic glass cooled—and could tell, for instance, whether lava was erupted above or below the surface of the ocean.In a 2006 meeting, researchers reported on some of the many findings of the project.
The core was started in an abandoned quarry near Hilo Airport. It was selected because it was midway between active rift zones of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa, so there would be less likelihood of hitting molten rock.The first pilot hole was put down in 1993, and a 3-kilometer deep core was taken in 1999. The drilling went on for several years, and the coring stopped when the site reached 11,500 feet—more than two miles down.
“There are problems with age-dating Hawaiian lavas,” but research suggests the lavas at the bottom of the hole are 700,000 years old said geochemist Donald M. Thomas, director of Center for the Study of Active Volcanoes at the University of Hawai'i's Hawai‘i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology, a part of the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology. The coring project has spawned dozens of scientific papers.
In one of the most recent, published yesterday (Feb. 15, 2009), researchers from Germany, Japan and the United States reported that they could calculate the rate at which volcanic glass cooled—and could tell, for instance, whether lava was erupted above or below the surface of the ocean.In a 2006 meeting, researchers reported on some of the many findings of the project.
Halema'uma'u erupting! First time since 1982.
Halema'uma'u Crater, the firepit of Kīlauea, is erupting for the first time in 26 years.In a buildup that has lasted more than a week, Halema'uma'u first began pumping out increased amounts of sulfurous gas, then threw boulders across the landscape in what was described as a gas explosion. Sunday night, it began erupting small amounts of lava and large amounts of ash.Much of the landscape around the Kīlauea Caldera is covered with ash from previous eruptions, so this is not unheard-of.
The implications of the ash plume are potentially severe. It can damage aircraft engines that fly through it. It can harm human lungs. “There is now continuous emission of ash from the new gas vent in Halema`uma`u Crater, turning the formerly white cloud of fume a dusty-brown color. The top of the ash plume, which is currently being blown to the southwest of the Crater, reaches 0.5 to 1.0 mile above ground level.
Hawai`i aviation agencies have been notified of the potential hazard to aircraft,” the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory said in its daily update Monday.Observatory staffers began seeing glowing material erupting Sunday night from a 100-foot-wide vent that is within the crater and below the crater overlook. The overlook and parts of the Chain of Craters road are closed to the public because of the health and safety hazards.
The eruption as of the most recent update is not the classic fountain of lava, but more of a spattering of molten rock. Geologists searching the area yesterday found a range of volcanic products, including long, thin strands and small gobs, which are known as Pele's hair and Pele's tears. The biggest pieces, the observatory said, are gobs of about 4 inches across.“The amount of lava erupted from the vent last night was small.
The implications of the ash plume are potentially severe. It can damage aircraft engines that fly through it. It can harm human lungs. “There is now continuous emission of ash from the new gas vent in Halema`uma`u Crater, turning the formerly white cloud of fume a dusty-brown color. The top of the ash plume, which is currently being blown to the southwest of the Crater, reaches 0.5 to 1.0 mile above ground level.
Hawai`i aviation agencies have been notified of the potential hazard to aircraft,” the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory said in its daily update Monday.Observatory staffers began seeing glowing material erupting Sunday night from a 100-foot-wide vent that is within the crater and below the crater overlook. The overlook and parts of the Chain of Craters road are closed to the public because of the health and safety hazards.
The eruption as of the most recent update is not the classic fountain of lava, but more of a spattering of molten rock. Geologists searching the area yesterday found a range of volcanic products, including long, thin strands and small gobs, which are known as Pele's hair and Pele's tears. The biggest pieces, the observatory said, are gobs of about 4 inches across.“The amount of lava erupted from the vent last night was small.
Hybrids, and something new
Virtually every car company is now producing or working on a hybrid car, which can run off petroleum fuel or electrical power, or a combination. They get substantially better fuel mileage than standard fuel engine cars.What many don't know is that a couple of new classes of cars have snuck in between the hybrid and the pure electric.One is the plug-in hybrid. Simply, it's a hybrid car that also lets you charge its batteries from the grid.
The plug-in Prius, to be available next year (2009) will be the first internationally marketed plug-in hybrid.But that's not all. There is now also the the extended range electric car.Nissan's Ghosn said his firm could produce Renault's electric Megane in an extended range model. That car would have a gasoline engine on board—but it would only recharge batteries. It would not directly drive the car.
It would be something like carrying a little generator along.In the Wall Street Journal Thursday (May 15, 2008), Ghosn said the range extender could push the 100-mile range of a pure electric to 400 miles.Chevrolet's Volt car, to be out in 2010, will also be an electric with a range extender. Chevy says it could have a range of 640 miles.What this all suggests is that we're going to have to develop a new automotive lexicon.
It used to be you had the car, the truck, and later the SUV.There's the gasoline fuel vehicle, and the diesel, and the natural gas-powered car.And the one that can use up to 85 percent ethanol, the E85.The straight electric vehicle (EV, plus of course modifications like the NEV and the UEV above). This one you just plug into the wall when the batteries are discharged.The hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) of which there are now more than a dozen models on the market.
The plug-in Prius, to be available next year (2009) will be the first internationally marketed plug-in hybrid.But that's not all. There is now also the the extended range electric car.Nissan's Ghosn said his firm could produce Renault's electric Megane in an extended range model. That car would have a gasoline engine on board—but it would only recharge batteries. It would not directly drive the car.
It would be something like carrying a little generator along.In the Wall Street Journal Thursday (May 15, 2008), Ghosn said the range extender could push the 100-mile range of a pure electric to 400 miles.Chevrolet's Volt car, to be out in 2010, will also be an electric with a range extender. Chevy says it could have a range of 640 miles.What this all suggests is that we're going to have to develop a new automotive lexicon.
It used to be you had the car, the truck, and later the SUV.There's the gasoline fuel vehicle, and the diesel, and the natural gas-powered car.And the one that can use up to 85 percent ethanol, the E85.The straight electric vehicle (EV, plus of course modifications like the NEV and the UEV above). This one you just plug into the wall when the batteries are discharged.The hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) of which there are now more than a dozen models on the market.
Hot new car class--the extended range electric
Plug-in hybrids are all the rage, but pure electric cars are making a surge, with the announcement by several major car companies of new manufacturing plans for electrics. And hot off the design tables is a new class of vehicle—not a gas or diesel, not a pure electric, not a hybrid. It's the “extended range electric vehicle.” More on that later.The hottest electric vehicle out there may be the sleek Tesla Roadster (blue car above).
which is promised out next year (2009). It will cost well north of $100,000, for or five times the price of aPrius.Nissan is the latest in the electric car field, with a proposed zero emission car that will be available in limited numbers within two years and in mass production by 2012. That's what Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn told National Public Radio.He told the New York Times that what's driving Nissan's interest is that consumers appear to be ready for them, finally—even if government agencies haven't mandated the shift to cleaner, more efficient vehicles.
“What we are seeing is that the shifts coming from the markets are more powerful than what regulators are doing,” Ghosn told the Times.But it was different from the doorless golf-cart-looking vehicles that some associate with electric vehicles. The U.S. Department of Energy refers to those as NEVs, for neighborhood electric vehicles. The Hypermini fell into the class of UEVs or urban electric vehicles.
The new Nissan electric may be the same car announced in January 2008 by Renault. (Renault and Nissan are partners.) That electric car was to be built in Europe and initially sold in Israel. Some reports indicated it would be built along the lines of Renault's Megane Sport Saloon.That's a standard-looking family car, and is likely to be far more acceptable to many consumers than something looking like the Hypermini.
which is promised out next year (2009). It will cost well north of $100,000, for or five times the price of aPrius.Nissan is the latest in the electric car field, with a proposed zero emission car that will be available in limited numbers within two years and in mass production by 2012. That's what Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn told National Public Radio.He told the New York Times that what's driving Nissan's interest is that consumers appear to be ready for them, finally—even if government agencies haven't mandated the shift to cleaner, more efficient vehicles.
“What we are seeing is that the shifts coming from the markets are more powerful than what regulators are doing,” Ghosn told the Times.But it was different from the doorless golf-cart-looking vehicles that some associate with electric vehicles. The U.S. Department of Energy refers to those as NEVs, for neighborhood electric vehicles. The Hypermini fell into the class of UEVs or urban electric vehicles.
The new Nissan electric may be the same car announced in January 2008 by Renault. (Renault and Nissan are partners.) That electric car was to be built in Europe and initially sold in Israel. Some reports indicated it would be built along the lines of Renault's Megane Sport Saloon.That's a standard-looking family car, and is likely to be far more acceptable to many consumers than something looking like the Hypermini.
Incredible rising airfares: the role of fuel
Airlines are hiking fees for all sorts of things these days, largely to deal with a single issue: the stupendous increases in fuel costsOur back-of-the-envelope calculations suggest that a flight from Honolulu to Maui or Kaua'i could burn as little as four gallons per seat. If the plane isn't full, it's more gallons per sold seat. If you're paying $49 for that flight, more than half the money is going to pay for the jet fuel.
Fuel exceeded labor as the largest airline cost in 2006, and that the year when fuel was crossing the $2 milestone.Clearly, it's a big problem for airlines when fuel goes from $2 to $4 and appears ready to go to $5 a gallon, and there are equivalent hikes in lubrication and of the many materials and services that also have inherent fuel costs.Jet fuel, much like kerosene and a heavier distillate of crude oil than gasoline, has gone up in some cases faster than the price of crude.
The International Air Transport Association reports that jet fuel has risen in cost 90 percent in the past year (effective May 16, 2008) and was costing airlines $3.90 a gallon.IATA reports that “modern aircraft achieve fuel efficiencies of 3.5 litres per 100 passenger km.”In U.S. terms, that works out to about 1.5 gallons per 100 passenger miles. But that's for the most modern planes. Some get far worse mileage than that.
Airline companies are designing planes to be dramatically more fuel efficient in response both to the cost of fuel and to the amount of carbon dioxide aircraft add to the global load. IATA says a couple of new aircraft are pushing for 1.3 gallons per 100 passenger miles. A Boeing executive was quoted saying the firm hopes the new Dreamliner 787 will get 1 gallon per 100 passenger miles, although most printed estimates put it closer to 1.3 gallons.
Fuel exceeded labor as the largest airline cost in 2006, and that the year when fuel was crossing the $2 milestone.Clearly, it's a big problem for airlines when fuel goes from $2 to $4 and appears ready to go to $5 a gallon, and there are equivalent hikes in lubrication and of the many materials and services that also have inherent fuel costs.Jet fuel, much like kerosene and a heavier distillate of crude oil than gasoline, has gone up in some cases faster than the price of crude.
The International Air Transport Association reports that jet fuel has risen in cost 90 percent in the past year (effective May 16, 2008) and was costing airlines $3.90 a gallon.IATA reports that “modern aircraft achieve fuel efficiencies of 3.5 litres per 100 passenger km.”In U.S. terms, that works out to about 1.5 gallons per 100 passenger miles. But that's for the most modern planes. Some get far worse mileage than that.
Airline companies are designing planes to be dramatically more fuel efficient in response both to the cost of fuel and to the amount of carbon dioxide aircraft add to the global load. IATA says a couple of new aircraft are pushing for 1.3 gallons per 100 passenger miles. A Boeing executive was quoted saying the firm hopes the new Dreamliner 787 will get 1 gallon per 100 passenger miles, although most printed estimates put it closer to 1.3 gallons.
X Prize seeks the 100 mpg four-seater automobile
If you end up driving a 100-miles-per-gallon sedan in the next few years, you might be able to thank the Progressive Insurance Automotive X Prize.The contest has a $10 million prize for the company or team that builds vehicles that meet a series of criteria, including getting at least 100 miles to the gallon or its equivalent in other forms of energy.The prize has generated a lot of interest.
In January there were 50 entrants, then 60, and there are now 70 teams from 12 countries. Electric seems to be the leading contender at present.India's Tata Motors is the most recent entrant. An innovative company, they're the folks with the patent on the MDI compressed air car, and who this year announced plans to build the world's cheapest car, a $2,500 sedan called the Tata Nano.
They key to the new prize is that it will require some kind of technological leap. No production vehicle is currently anywhere close to meeting the X Prize requirements.Other standards, according to the X Prize draft guidelines, are these.The car needs to meet strict emissions standards, meaning it can't be energy-efficient but polluting. The limit is 200 grams of carbon dioxide per mile.
It needs to have at least four wheels and seat at least four people. (That's for X Prize's Mainstream Class. An Alternative Class can seat two or more and has no limit on number of wheels.)Cars must have an enclosed cabin (although convertibles are permitted), windshield wipers, seat belts, standard gauges, heater, air conditioning. They need to meet U.S. safety standards—meaning they can legally be sold for highway use in this country—as well as meeting standards in other nations.
In January there were 50 entrants, then 60, and there are now 70 teams from 12 countries. Electric seems to be the leading contender at present.India's Tata Motors is the most recent entrant. An innovative company, they're the folks with the patent on the MDI compressed air car, and who this year announced plans to build the world's cheapest car, a $2,500 sedan called the Tata Nano.
They key to the new prize is that it will require some kind of technological leap. No production vehicle is currently anywhere close to meeting the X Prize requirements.Other standards, according to the X Prize draft guidelines, are these.The car needs to meet strict emissions standards, meaning it can't be energy-efficient but polluting. The limit is 200 grams of carbon dioxide per mile.
It needs to have at least four wheels and seat at least four people. (That's for X Prize's Mainstream Class. An Alternative Class can seat two or more and has no limit on number of wheels.)Cars must have an enclosed cabin (although convertibles are permitted), windshield wipers, seat belts, standard gauges, heater, air conditioning. They need to meet U.S. safety standards—meaning they can legally be sold for highway use in this country—as well as meeting standards in other nations.
Algae: the fuel of the future
For centuries—perhaps millenia—humans have been dragging kelp and other seaweeds out of the ocean and spreading them on fields as fertilizer. Long before the manufacture of chemical fertilizers that require vast inputs of energy.But among the newer uses of algae are to actually create fuel rather than to supplant it.Research teams across the globe are experimenting with the development of industrial-scale growing of varieties of algae that can be converted into a vegetable oil product—for use as biodiesel.
Royal Dutch Shell and HR Biopetroleum have formed a joint venture, Cellana, to develop this sort of fuel.Says the U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy news site: “Algae grow rapidly and can have a high percentage of lipids, or oils. They can double their mass several times a day and produce at least 15 times more oil per acre than alternatives such as rapeseed, palms, soybeans, or jatropha.
Moreover, algae-growing facilities can be built on coastal land unsuitable for conventional agriculture.”The work will be done at the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawai'i on the Kona coast.“The Cellana facility will grow only non-genetically modified, marine microalgae species in open-air ponds using proprietary technology. It will also use bottled carbon dioxide to test the algae's ability to capture carbon,” EERE says.
Then there's another company, Algenol, that says it will make ethanol from algae. It seems that this particular technology has an extensive research road before it's ready for prime time, but clearly, we'll be hearing lots more about algae in fuel discussions over time.It turns out that some algae and blue-green algae (cyanobacteria—not really algae) dump hydrogen as a waste product.
Royal Dutch Shell and HR Biopetroleum have formed a joint venture, Cellana, to develop this sort of fuel.Says the U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy news site: “Algae grow rapidly and can have a high percentage of lipids, or oils. They can double their mass several times a day and produce at least 15 times more oil per acre than alternatives such as rapeseed, palms, soybeans, or jatropha.
Moreover, algae-growing facilities can be built on coastal land unsuitable for conventional agriculture.”The work will be done at the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawai'i on the Kona coast.“The Cellana facility will grow only non-genetically modified, marine microalgae species in open-air ponds using proprietary technology. It will also use bottled carbon dioxide to test the algae's ability to capture carbon,” EERE says.
Then there's another company, Algenol, that says it will make ethanol from algae. It seems that this particular technology has an extensive research road before it's ready for prime time, but clearly, we'll be hearing lots more about algae in fuel discussions over time.It turns out that some algae and blue-green algae (cyanobacteria—not really algae) dump hydrogen as a waste product.
Forward to the past: more propellers in our future?
Could prop planes replace the jets that dominate Hawai'i's short-haul interisland market?
Increasingly, at least outside Hawai'i, market pressure is pushing that way.Trends appearing on short-haul Mainland routes see to be moving away from small jets and toward the use of propellor craft—mainly turboprops.The key reason: fuel.Or more precisely, the high cost of fuel.
Jets are generally more fuel efficient than props on long hauls.
They get their efficiency flying high and long. They lose it if they spent too big a proportion of their time on fuel-costly takeoffs.The regional airline Horizon in the Northwest, brought jets into its fleet, and now is reconsidering.It says it will switch to Bombardier Q-400 turboprops. (A turboprop is essentially a jet-like turbine engine that turns a propeller.A Horizon official said the turboprop is just way better on fuel economy—as much as 30 percent—on shorter hauls. With fuel near half the cost of flying today, that 30 percent looks better and better.
MSNBC, in a propeller story in April, said “The soaring cost of fuel is rapidly reshaping the landscape for regional flights at many airlines, leading to interest in a new generation of turboprop planes.”It's not just a U.S. phenomenon. In Germany, discount airline Air Berlin has opted for turboprops on shorter flights. SAS Scandinavian Air has bought a clutch of them as well.
One of the beneficiaries of the trend is Bombardier, the Canadian company that makes the Q-400.Bombardier is already an active player in the Hawaiian inter-island market.When Hawai'i interisland airlines switched from props to jets close to half a century ago, they created a travel scenario that was marginally faster, flew higher and quieter and was considerably sexier, but used a lot more fuel per seat flown.
Increasingly, at least outside Hawai'i, market pressure is pushing that way.Trends appearing on short-haul Mainland routes see to be moving away from small jets and toward the use of propellor craft—mainly turboprops.The key reason: fuel.Or more precisely, the high cost of fuel.
Jets are generally more fuel efficient than props on long hauls.
They get their efficiency flying high and long. They lose it if they spent too big a proportion of their time on fuel-costly takeoffs.The regional airline Horizon in the Northwest, brought jets into its fleet, and now is reconsidering.It says it will switch to Bombardier Q-400 turboprops. (A turboprop is essentially a jet-like turbine engine that turns a propeller.A Horizon official said the turboprop is just way better on fuel economy—as much as 30 percent—on shorter hauls. With fuel near half the cost of flying today, that 30 percent looks better and better.
MSNBC, in a propeller story in April, said “The soaring cost of fuel is rapidly reshaping the landscape for regional flights at many airlines, leading to interest in a new generation of turboprop planes.”It's not just a U.S. phenomenon. In Germany, discount airline Air Berlin has opted for turboprops on shorter flights. SAS Scandinavian Air has bought a clutch of them as well.
One of the beneficiaries of the trend is Bombardier, the Canadian company that makes the Q-400.Bombardier is already an active player in the Hawaiian inter-island market.When Hawai'i interisland airlines switched from props to jets close to half a century ago, they created a travel scenario that was marginally faster, flew higher and quieter and was considerably sexier, but used a lot more fuel per seat flown.
Jets on diets: less weight, less fuel
Aircraft manufacturers are pulling out the stops to improve fuel efficiency in jets, and they're seeing success in those efforts. That's a key issue in Hawai'i, where close to a third of the imported petroleum goes to fuel aircraft.The European aircraft manufacturer Airbus says aircraft fuel use has dropped 70 percent in the past 40 years, and continues to decline, with a target of another 50 percent by 2020.
The planes are also decreasing noise and emissions.“"Aircraft will only be accepted if they are efficient in terms of the environment. We have to keep technology at the heart of our programme to improve our performance,” said Airbus sustainable development chief Philippe Fonta.At this point, improvements are coming incrementally, and with small changes that won't be immediately apparent to most passengers.
Bombardier says its new CSeries jets will cut the fuel use by 20 percent. The five-across seating jets hold 110 to 130 passengers and are scheduled to be in service by 2013.“Key technologies are at the heart of the CSeries advantage. Composite materials are part of the center and rear fuselages, tail cone and empennage (tail assembly) and wings. Overall, 20 per cent of the aircraft weight is in composite materials,” the manufacturer says.
For an aircaft in normal use, that 1.4 percent saves 200,000 gallons a year.Boeing says three key things improved its plane's performance. One was modified GE engines. Another was reducing the plane's drag. And a third was cutting weight of things like the internal structure, and floor panels.In many ways, the technologies being used for planes are the same ones being used to make cars more efficient—lighter weight, more efficient engines and aerodynamic design.
The planes are also decreasing noise and emissions.“"Aircraft will only be accepted if they are efficient in terms of the environment. We have to keep technology at the heart of our programme to improve our performance,” said Airbus sustainable development chief Philippe Fonta.At this point, improvements are coming incrementally, and with small changes that won't be immediately apparent to most passengers.
Bombardier says its new CSeries jets will cut the fuel use by 20 percent. The five-across seating jets hold 110 to 130 passengers and are scheduled to be in service by 2013.“Key technologies are at the heart of the CSeries advantage. Composite materials are part of the center and rear fuselages, tail cone and empennage (tail assembly) and wings. Overall, 20 per cent of the aircraft weight is in composite materials,” the manufacturer says.
For an aircaft in normal use, that 1.4 percent saves 200,000 gallons a year.Boeing says three key things improved its plane's performance. One was modified GE engines. Another was reducing the plane's drag. And a third was cutting weight of things like the internal structure, and floor panels.In many ways, the technologies being used for planes are the same ones being used to make cars more efficient—lighter weight, more efficient engines and aerodynamic design.
Kilo Moana sought plastic trash, and found it.....
Researchers aboard the University of Hawai'i's research vessel Kilo Moana just completed a 12-day passage from Honolulu to California, looking for drifting plastic.They weren't disappointed—or were, depending on how you look at it.The crew conducted 14 trawls during its passage, and collected hundreds of bits of plastic on each one. Some were as small as pinheads; others as big as volleyballs, the research team reported.
The fact of plastic in vast quantities on the ocean isn't news. It's been a research subject for the Algalita Marine Research Foundation, whose raft built of trash recently sailed from California to Hawai'i to help call attention to the project. The raft's name is “Junk.” For lots of information on the web, search for trash, raft and algalita.The Kilo Moana trip's mission was called SUPER, for Survey of Underwater Plastic and Ecosystem Response.
Its goal was to help determine the impact of all that plastic on the natural environment.We know some of the impacts. Birds eat it and feed it to their chicks, which can die from bellies bursting full of undigestible plastic bits. Turtles appear to feed on plastic bags that look like jellyfish in the water. Animals like seals get trapped and drowned in plastic netting.But are there other impacts, either positive or negative.
Says the program: “We will use these samples to characterize the diversity and productivity of plastic-associated microbial communities, while water samples that were collected at each station will be analyzed to describe regional biogeochemistry.”Do plastic bits provide habitat for microbes; what kinds of microbes are found around them; what's the role of plastic waste in bacterial production rates.
The fact of plastic in vast quantities on the ocean isn't news. It's been a research subject for the Algalita Marine Research Foundation, whose raft built of trash recently sailed from California to Hawai'i to help call attention to the project. The raft's name is “Junk.” For lots of information on the web, search for trash, raft and algalita.The Kilo Moana trip's mission was called SUPER, for Survey of Underwater Plastic and Ecosystem Response.
Its goal was to help determine the impact of all that plastic on the natural environment.We know some of the impacts. Birds eat it and feed it to their chicks, which can die from bellies bursting full of undigestible plastic bits. Turtles appear to feed on plastic bags that look like jellyfish in the water. Animals like seals get trapped and drowned in plastic netting.But are there other impacts, either positive or negative.
Says the program: “We will use these samples to characterize the diversity and productivity of plastic-associated microbial communities, while water samples that were collected at each station will be analyzed to describe regional biogeochemistry.”Do plastic bits provide habitat for microbes; what kinds of microbes are found around them; what's the role of plastic waste in bacterial production rates.
Beach plastic is forever
Canadian resarcher Patricia Corcoran said she was studying the mineral components of Hawaiian beaches when she and a colleague noted large amounts of plastic debris on the shore, during a survey of Lydgate Beach on Kaua'i.“We wondered if the plastics on Lydgate Beach were derived from land-based or ocean-based sources. We also wondered how long the plastics would remain on the beach,” she said in an email to RaisingIslands.
Corcoran is with the Department of Earth Sciences, University of Western Ontario, in London, Ontario, Canada.She launched a study, using plastics from various Kaua'i beaches, treating the plastic particles in the same way she would have treated mineral sand particles. One finding: the stuff gets smaller and smaller, but it never goes away.Her study, “Plastics and beaches: A degrading relationship,” with University of Western Ontario co-authors Mark Biesinger and Meriem Grifi, was published in the Marine Pollution Bulletin.
They found that while most of the plastic debris and particles on beaches is originally from the land, most used the ocean as the method of transport for getting onto beaches.Also, there is more plastic on East Kaua'i beaches than on other shores. That may be a function of current patterns that drive marine debris onto shorelines from the east.One technique for studying them was inspecting them using a Scanning Electron Microscope.
“I was able to recognize distinct textures related to chemical and mechanical weathering. Combining the textural images with compositional results determined from Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), enabled us to recognize how both chemical and mechanical weathering contributed toward the degradation of plastic particles,” Corcoran said.That's the bad news. The plastic gets smaller and smaller, until you don't see it, but it's always still there.
Corcoran is with the Department of Earth Sciences, University of Western Ontario, in London, Ontario, Canada.She launched a study, using plastics from various Kaua'i beaches, treating the plastic particles in the same way she would have treated mineral sand particles. One finding: the stuff gets smaller and smaller, but it never goes away.Her study, “Plastics and beaches: A degrading relationship,” with University of Western Ontario co-authors Mark Biesinger and Meriem Grifi, was published in the Marine Pollution Bulletin.
They found that while most of the plastic debris and particles on beaches is originally from the land, most used the ocean as the method of transport for getting onto beaches.Also, there is more plastic on East Kaua'i beaches than on other shores. That may be a function of current patterns that drive marine debris onto shorelines from the east.One technique for studying them was inspecting them using a Scanning Electron Microscope.
“I was able to recognize distinct textures related to chemical and mechanical weathering. Combining the textural images with compositional results determined from Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), enabled us to recognize how both chemical and mechanical weathering contributed toward the degradation of plastic particles,” Corcoran said.That's the bad news. The plastic gets smaller and smaller, until you don't see it, but it's always still there.
New year mission: clean up the water
The annual year-end tourism bump is tempered by visitors disgusted by muddy water off many of the islands, along with reports of sewage spills in many areas. We count on repeat visitors. Will they be back?Meanwhile, the economic slump across the world continues to trash the Islands' economy.Molokai Ranch closed its doors and laid off nearly all its workers. The landline phone company, Hawaiian Telecom, filed for bankruptcy.
Norwegian Cruise Lines withdrew all but one ship from the Islands' waters. One of the two airlines that have dominated Hawai'i skies for most of the last century failed, and a new diversity entered the market, with Hawaiian, Go!, Mokulele and Island Air all providing statewide service.
A single lightning strike knocked out the Honolulu grid for hours, reminding of the risks of a centralized utility grid.
Rainstorms several times flooded homes across the state, and caused repeated sewage spills—a Third World eventuality that just keeps happening.The annual year-end tourism bump is tempered by visitors disgusted by muddy water off many of the islands, along with reports of sewage spills in many areas. We count on repeat visitors. Will they be back?Meanwhile, the economic slump across the world continues to trash the Islands' economy.
Molokai Ranch closed its doors and laid off nearly all its workers. The landline phone company, Hawaiian Telecom, filed for bankruptcy. Norwegian Cruise Lines withdrew all but one ship from the Islands' waters. One of the two airlines that have dominated Hawai'i skies for most of the last century failed, and a new diversity entered the market, with Hawaiian, Go!, Mokulele and Island Air all providing statewide service.
Norwegian Cruise Lines withdrew all but one ship from the Islands' waters. One of the two airlines that have dominated Hawai'i skies for most of the last century failed, and a new diversity entered the market, with Hawaiian, Go!, Mokulele and Island Air all providing statewide service.
A single lightning strike knocked out the Honolulu grid for hours, reminding of the risks of a centralized utility grid.
Rainstorms several times flooded homes across the state, and caused repeated sewage spills—a Third World eventuality that just keeps happening.The annual year-end tourism bump is tempered by visitors disgusted by muddy water off many of the islands, along with reports of sewage spills in many areas. We count on repeat visitors. Will they be back?Meanwhile, the economic slump across the world continues to trash the Islands' economy.
Molokai Ranch closed its doors and laid off nearly all its workers. The landline phone company, Hawaiian Telecom, filed for bankruptcy. Norwegian Cruise Lines withdrew all but one ship from the Islands' waters. One of the two airlines that have dominated Hawai'i skies for most of the last century failed, and a new diversity entered the market, with Hawaiian, Go!, Mokulele and Island Air all providing statewide service.
Hybrids and ecars: Build it, then improve it
Toyota's stunningly successful Prius took the hybrid market by storm, and Toyota's making it better by the year.Toyota apparently got the fuel economy improvements in part with lighter parts, including an aluminum hood, removing all belts from the engine compartment (presumably reducing friction losses) and, counterintuitively, putting in a bigger engine that runs at lower RPMs on the highway.
Honda's benighted Insight came out a little after the Prius, and despite a whopping fuel economy figure in the 60s, it only seated two people, and never sold well.This year, Honda plans to bring back the Insight name in a hybrid car that seats, ostensibly, five people, like the Prius. (And like the Prius, one assumes, they can't all be big people.) Its fuel economy is listed on the Honda website as 40 to 43.
To this observer, its styling looks a lot more like the Prius than the old Insight. That, one assumes, works as a combination of “don't fix what ain't broke,” and “mimickry as flattery.”Other car companies are hanging their hats on the next auto technology, which they assume will be electric cars.Chevy says its Volt will be out in 2010, and Chrysler says it will have some kind of an electric out in 2010 as well.
but isn't yet announcing what platform it will use. Ford plans one on the road in 2011. Toyota says it will have its pure electric out in 2012. And there are others in the works.Two downsides: it's hugely expensive, and there's a months-long waiting listHere's a shot of it being safety tested on the ice in Sweden, from the Tesla website.On a side note, Yamaha and Honda are planning electric motorcycles in 2010 and 2011 respectively.
Honda's benighted Insight came out a little after the Prius, and despite a whopping fuel economy figure in the 60s, it only seated two people, and never sold well.This year, Honda plans to bring back the Insight name in a hybrid car that seats, ostensibly, five people, like the Prius. (And like the Prius, one assumes, they can't all be big people.) Its fuel economy is listed on the Honda website as 40 to 43.
To this observer, its styling looks a lot more like the Prius than the old Insight. That, one assumes, works as a combination of “don't fix what ain't broke,” and “mimickry as flattery.”Other car companies are hanging their hats on the next auto technology, which they assume will be electric cars.Chevy says its Volt will be out in 2010, and Chrysler says it will have some kind of an electric out in 2010 as well.
but isn't yet announcing what platform it will use. Ford plans one on the road in 2011. Toyota says it will have its pure electric out in 2012. And there are others in the works.Two downsides: it's hugely expensive, and there's a months-long waiting listHere's a shot of it being safety tested on the ice in Sweden, from the Tesla website.On a side note, Yamaha and Honda are planning electric motorcycles in 2010 and 2011 respectively.
Making cars seXy efficient
A car is a car is a car. Clearly, that statement ain't true.Sometimes a car is a sportster, and sometimes an SUV. Sometimes a van, sometimes a sedan.But what counts is under the hood, you might hear.Even that isn't necessarily a true statement these days.Sometimes you'll find the power source for a car under the hood, but it might just as easily be in the trunk, or in the case of big battery packs, under the seats.
The world is in the heady process of redefining the family passenger vehicle.In the liquid fuel category, there are gasoline cars, diesel cars and biodiesel cars, propane and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cars, cars that run on various combinations of gasoline and ethanol, hydrogen cars and so forth.There's the compressed air car.There are electric cars, and hybrids. But there are such variations, that you really need to pay attention.
There, for example, are plug-in hybrids, and extended range electrics, both of which have blends of traditional fuel engines and electric car capabilities. Like hybrids, but not like most hybrids.
Each new blend of transportation technologies seems to be getting its own name.Click on the “efficient transportation” category in the right hand column of this blog for a number of stories on these issues.
The key to modern vehicle technology, in an age of astronomic liquid fuel prices, is efficiency. And one of the things expected to help move efficiency along is the Automotive X Prize, a $10 million contest to develop the most energy efficient automobile possible—and they need to be fast.“The technology-neutral competition, a project of the X PRIZE Foundation, is open to teams from around the world that can design and build production-capable
The world is in the heady process of redefining the family passenger vehicle.In the liquid fuel category, there are gasoline cars, diesel cars and biodiesel cars, propane and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cars, cars that run on various combinations of gasoline and ethanol, hydrogen cars and so forth.There's the compressed air car.There are electric cars, and hybrids. But there are such variations, that you really need to pay attention.
There, for example, are plug-in hybrids, and extended range electrics, both of which have blends of traditional fuel engines and electric car capabilities. Like hybrids, but not like most hybrids.
Each new blend of transportation technologies seems to be getting its own name.Click on the “efficient transportation” category in the right hand column of this blog for a number of stories on these issues.
The key to modern vehicle technology, in an age of astronomic liquid fuel prices, is efficiency. And one of the things expected to help move efficiency along is the Automotive X Prize, a $10 million contest to develop the most energy efficient automobile possible—and they need to be fast.“The technology-neutral competition, a project of the X PRIZE Foundation, is open to teams from around the world that can design and build production-capable
Getting renewable energy traction? Stop the infighting.
How do you prevent renewable energy from taking hold in Hawai'i?The answer keeps coming home, and did again this week at the 2008 Kaua'i Renewable Energy Conference.You want renewables to fail? Have the renewable advocates fight among themselves.At least some of them are doing it in Hawai'i.You've got some hydroelectric supporters saying they're way more steady than wind.
which also kills birds. And solar folks saying hydro is hazardous to 'o'opu stocks.And ocean thermal energy folks saying solar is iffy because of clouds, and, well, nightfall.And wind, hydro and solar folks saying ocean technologies are really still experimental.And many of those folks saying biofuels have all sorts of environmental issues; and biofuels folks saying that at least their fuels can be used in existing engines.
whether transportation or powerplant—and they provide fuel that's available where and when you need it.And the energy efficiency folks saying theirs should be the first initiative, before all those other technologies are put into play.It's an endless circular game guaranteed to keep fossil-fuel power at the forefront, and carbon dioxide pumping into the atmosphere.Maurice Kaya, a strategic energy .
And management consultant and the former state Chief Technology Officer, argued that there's no time for all this.“There is too much cost and way too much risk in the status quo,” Kaya told the energy conference. “We are well beyond the time when we must act.”Kaya argued that it is time for the entire community to insist that renewable energy assets be developed and to insist that policy makers take the issue of moving away from fossil fuel energy seriously.
which also kills birds. And solar folks saying hydro is hazardous to 'o'opu stocks.And ocean thermal energy folks saying solar is iffy because of clouds, and, well, nightfall.And wind, hydro and solar folks saying ocean technologies are really still experimental.And many of those folks saying biofuels have all sorts of environmental issues; and biofuels folks saying that at least their fuels can be used in existing engines.
whether transportation or powerplant—and they provide fuel that's available where and when you need it.And the energy efficiency folks saying theirs should be the first initiative, before all those other technologies are put into play.It's an endless circular game guaranteed to keep fossil-fuel power at the forefront, and carbon dioxide pumping into the atmosphere.Maurice Kaya, a strategic energy .
And management consultant and the former state Chief Technology Officer, argued that there's no time for all this.“There is too much cost and way too much risk in the status quo,” Kaya told the energy conference. “We are well beyond the time when we must act.”Kaya argued that it is time for the entire community to insist that renewable energy assets be developed and to insist that policy makers take the issue of moving away from fossil fuel energy seriously.
Hurtling in reverse on greenhouse emissions
Japan's carbon dioxide emissions just hit a new record. Higher than they've ever been.
To be fair, Japan's arguably been doing at least a reasonable job, keeping emissions stable since 1995 at between 1.2 and 1.4 million tonnes of carbon dioxide. But they haven't been dropping, and they are not approaching the nation's Kyoto targets.Nor are carbon dioxide global production figures.
The classic Keeling Curve, in which atmospheric carbon dioxide levels are measured at high elevation at the Mauna Loa Observatory, shows no change in the upward slope.Despite all the talk, we're producing more and more carbon dioxide.The average growth rate in parts per million of CO2 in the atmosphere was less than 1 in the 1960s. It was between 1 and 2 in the 1970s.
It exceeded 2 parts per million in three years of the 1980s, and continued to grow in the 1990s.The United States, long the leader in greenhouse gas production, has dropped to number-two. But that's not because of remarkable conservation in this country. Rather, it's that China is growing its economy and building coal-fired industrial facilities so fast that it has overtaken the U.S.
Both presidential candidates in the recent U.S. elections asserted their plans to do something about climate, but at some level, this is Nero fiddling as Rome burns. It takes more than something. It takes a great deal.The oceans are measurably acidifying as the result of rising CO2, and the list of climate effects on the surface is endless.We are living the reputed Chinese curse: “May you live in interesting times.”
To be fair, Japan's arguably been doing at least a reasonable job, keeping emissions stable since 1995 at between 1.2 and 1.4 million tonnes of carbon dioxide. But they haven't been dropping, and they are not approaching the nation's Kyoto targets.Nor are carbon dioxide global production figures.
The classic Keeling Curve, in which atmospheric carbon dioxide levels are measured at high elevation at the Mauna Loa Observatory, shows no change in the upward slope.Despite all the talk, we're producing more and more carbon dioxide.The average growth rate in parts per million of CO2 in the atmosphere was less than 1 in the 1960s. It was between 1 and 2 in the 1970s.
It exceeded 2 parts per million in three years of the 1980s, and continued to grow in the 1990s.The United States, long the leader in greenhouse gas production, has dropped to number-two. But that's not because of remarkable conservation in this country. Rather, it's that China is growing its economy and building coal-fired industrial facilities so fast that it has overtaken the U.S.
Both presidential candidates in the recent U.S. elections asserted their plans to do something about climate, but at some level, this is Nero fiddling as Rome burns. It takes more than something. It takes a great deal.The oceans are measurably acidifying as the result of rising CO2, and the list of climate effects on the surface is endless.We are living the reputed Chinese curse: “May you live in interesting times.”
Oceans acidifying 10 times faster than thought
Scientists are already measuring declines in populations of creatures as a result of acidification—and notably the replacement of certain shellfish by acid-tolerant seaweeds.Ocean acidification is perhaps the most under-reported feature of the steady advance of the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.“For a potential environmental problem that is receiving increasing attention, there is surprisingly little published data in the scientific literature on how pH in the ocean is actually changing over time.
And none that we know of outside of the tropics,” said Tim Wootton, of the Department of Ecology and Evolution at the University of Chicago.Some of the seminal research on sea acidification was performed in Hawaiian waters just within the past couple of years. But new research is adding breadth and depth to that data—and it is finding that the oceans are growing acid alarmingly faster than anyone thought.
Wootton's team, including colleagues Catherine Pfister and James Forester, conducted a multi-year study of ocean acidity off Washington State. One of their findings was that there is considerable variability in the pH level of the ocean, based largely in changes in ocean biology. But the other finding was that acidity is rising very fast.Their paper, “Dynamic patterns and ecological impacts of declining ocean pH in a high-resolution multi-year dataset,” was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The fundamental process is this: As carbon dioxide increases in the air, it mixes with the water, forming carbonic acid. The result is that the pH of the ocean—the measure of water acidity or alkalinity—is decreasing. That means the ocean is growing more acid.“An alarming surprise is how rapidly pH has declined over the study period at our site--about 10 times faster than expected,” Wootton said in an email to RaisingIslands.
And none that we know of outside of the tropics,” said Tim Wootton, of the Department of Ecology and Evolution at the University of Chicago.Some of the seminal research on sea acidification was performed in Hawaiian waters just within the past couple of years. But new research is adding breadth and depth to that data—and it is finding that the oceans are growing acid alarmingly faster than anyone thought.
Wootton's team, including colleagues Catherine Pfister and James Forester, conducted a multi-year study of ocean acidity off Washington State. One of their findings was that there is considerable variability in the pH level of the ocean, based largely in changes in ocean biology. But the other finding was that acidity is rising very fast.Their paper, “Dynamic patterns and ecological impacts of declining ocean pH in a high-resolution multi-year dataset,” was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The fundamental process is this: As carbon dioxide increases in the air, it mixes with the water, forming carbonic acid. The result is that the pH of the ocean—the measure of water acidity or alkalinity—is decreasing. That means the ocean is growing more acid.“An alarming surprise is how rapidly pH has declined over the study period at our site--about 10 times faster than expected,” Wootton said in an email to RaisingIslands.
Hawai'i 2009 highest tides January 10--roll up your trousers
Depending on where you are in Hawai'i, the peak may be a little higher or lower, and a little earlier or later, but generally, folks will see a remarkably high high waterline when they get up on the 10th.It means, of course, flooding in Mapunapuna, docks under water at Nawiliwili, beaches razor thin or gone entirely, and all the other features associated with the highest water.
What isn't entirely clear is what other factors will be driving that water even higher or lower.
That's because tides operate on top of the regional sea level, that can change due to a number of factors.During certain climate events, like El Nino periods and strong low pressure systems, the base water level can be higher than normal. Warm water expands and can create regional high sea levels.
There are oceanic gyres that can cause vast regions of the ocean to form a kind of hump. High tides atop these can drive water farther inland than normal.Strong waves atop high tides can also push flooding waters inland.Chip Fletcher, the coastal geologist at the University of Hawai'i's School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, said he's not sure how severe the early January tides will be.
“Any swell that accompanies them will be a problem, but cool water this time of year should ameliorate a bit,” he wrote in an email.And all these features—tides, gyres, storms and the rest—operate atop the base sea level, which for the last century has been rising.Sea levels have risen twice as much at Hilo than at Kaua'i and O'ahu. That is explained by the geological phenomenon in which the great weight of the young Big Island is actually pushing down on the Earth's mantle, causing the island to sink. The sinking is over for the severely eroded older islands.
What isn't entirely clear is what other factors will be driving that water even higher or lower.
That's because tides operate on top of the regional sea level, that can change due to a number of factors.During certain climate events, like El Nino periods and strong low pressure systems, the base water level can be higher than normal. Warm water expands and can create regional high sea levels.
There are oceanic gyres that can cause vast regions of the ocean to form a kind of hump. High tides atop these can drive water farther inland than normal.Strong waves atop high tides can also push flooding waters inland.Chip Fletcher, the coastal geologist at the University of Hawai'i's School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, said he's not sure how severe the early January tides will be.
“Any swell that accompanies them will be a problem, but cool water this time of year should ameliorate a bit,” he wrote in an email.And all these features—tides, gyres, storms and the rest—operate atop the base sea level, which for the last century has been rising.Sea levels have risen twice as much at Hilo than at Kaua'i and O'ahu. That is explained by the geological phenomenon in which the great weight of the young Big Island is actually pushing down on the Earth's mantle, causing the island to sink. The sinking is over for the severely eroded older islands.
Hybrids and ecars: Build it, then improve it
The Prius was launched with a fuel economy of 41 miles a gallon, then upgraded to 46 miles a gallon, and the company now says its newest version will sip at a rate of 50 miles to the gallon.Honda's benighted Insight came out a little after the Prius, and despite a whopping fuel economy figure in the 60s, it only seated two people, and never sold well.This year, Honda plans to bring back the Insight name in a hybrid car that seats.
ostensibly, five people, like the Prius. (And like the Prius, one assumes, they can't all be big people.) Its fuel economy is listed on the Honda website as 40 to 43.To this observer, its styling looks a lot more like the Prius than the old Insight. That, one assumes, works as a combination of “don't fix what ain't broke,” and “mimickry as flattery.”Other car companies are hanging their hats on the next auto technology, which they assume will be electric cars.
Chevy says its Volt will be out in 2010, and Chrysler says it will have some kind of an electric out in 2010 as well, but isn't yet announcing what platform it will use. Ford plans one on the road in 2011. Toyota says it will have its pure electric out in 2012. And there are others in the works.Toyota apparently got the fuel economy improvements in part with lighter parts, including an aluminum hood.
removing all belts from the engine compartment (presumably reducing friction losses) and, counterintuitively, putting in a bigger engine that runs at lower RPMs on the highway.Toyota's stunningly successful Prius took the hybrid market by storm, and Toyota's making it better by the year.cThere are lots of electric cars available or in production now, of course, though not all in the United States.
ostensibly, five people, like the Prius. (And like the Prius, one assumes, they can't all be big people.) Its fuel economy is listed on the Honda website as 40 to 43.To this observer, its styling looks a lot more like the Prius than the old Insight. That, one assumes, works as a combination of “don't fix what ain't broke,” and “mimickry as flattery.”Other car companies are hanging their hats on the next auto technology, which they assume will be electric cars.
Chevy says its Volt will be out in 2010, and Chrysler says it will have some kind of an electric out in 2010 as well, but isn't yet announcing what platform it will use. Ford plans one on the road in 2011. Toyota says it will have its pure electric out in 2012. And there are others in the works.Toyota apparently got the fuel economy improvements in part with lighter parts, including an aluminum hood.
removing all belts from the engine compartment (presumably reducing friction losses) and, counterintuitively, putting in a bigger engine that runs at lower RPMs on the highway.Toyota's stunningly successful Prius took the hybrid market by storm, and Toyota's making it better by the year.cThere are lots of electric cars available or in production now, of course, though not all in the United States.
Obama inaugural quotes
“Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age.”“Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted — for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame.
Rather, it has been the risk takers, the doers, the makers of things — some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.”“This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began.
Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions — that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.”
“...we will act — not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories.”
Rather, it has been the risk takers, the doers, the makers of things — some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.”“This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began.
Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions — that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.”
“...we will act — not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories.”
Merging technology with biology
Lasers are useful as pointers in public meetings, for aiming weapons, for directing energy and for many other purposes—but they also can play an important role in biology.Increasingly, biologists are employing the most complex technologies available, and merging multiple technologies to accomplish things that were never before possible in the natural sciences.In a recent example on the Big Island, scientists from the U.S.
Forest Service and Carnegie Institution combined high-accuracy GPS, plus advanced spectral imaging, with distance-measuring lasers to measure large-area changes in the natural landscape.
The equipment was mounted in aircraft, and permitted a three-dimensional detailed look at the forest cover.A report was published this month in the journal Ecosystems, under the title, "Environmental and Biotic Controls Over Above Ground Biomass Throughout a Tropical Rain Forest.”
The combined airborne technology is called the Carnegie Airborne Observatory. More on that
The satellite-based positioning inherent in GPS tells researchers precisely where on the ground they're looking. The laser, which can measure distances with six-inch accuracy, tells them the relative heights of various parts of the canopy, creating a three-dimensional image. The spectrometer can be used to distinguish individual plant species from each other—a koa tree has a distinctly different light signature from an 'olapa, for example.
By assessing the forest while flying over it, vast regions can be cataloged quickly. And preliminary results—comparing the aerial imagery with information gathered by foresters trudging through the woods on the ground—show that it works."These findings showed airborne data correlated with data derived from study plots on the ground," said Forest Service ecologist and paper co-author Flint Hughes, of the service's Institute of Pacific Islands Forestry.
Forest Service and Carnegie Institution combined high-accuracy GPS, plus advanced spectral imaging, with distance-measuring lasers to measure large-area changes in the natural landscape.
The equipment was mounted in aircraft, and permitted a three-dimensional detailed look at the forest cover.A report was published this month in the journal Ecosystems, under the title, "Environmental and Biotic Controls Over Above Ground Biomass Throughout a Tropical Rain Forest.”
The combined airborne technology is called the Carnegie Airborne Observatory. More on that
The satellite-based positioning inherent in GPS tells researchers precisely where on the ground they're looking. The laser, which can measure distances with six-inch accuracy, tells them the relative heights of various parts of the canopy, creating a three-dimensional image. The spectrometer can be used to distinguish individual plant species from each other—a koa tree has a distinctly different light signature from an 'olapa, for example.
By assessing the forest while flying over it, vast regions can be cataloged quickly. And preliminary results—comparing the aerial imagery with information gathered by foresters trudging through the woods on the ground—show that it works."These findings showed airborne data correlated with data derived from study plots on the ground," said Forest Service ecologist and paper co-author Flint Hughes, of the service's Institute of Pacific Islands Forestry.
Hawai'i's big greenhouse challenge--cars and power plugs: UH Report
A new report says ground transportation increased its contribution to Hawaiian carbon dioxide production by 53 percent from 1990 to 2005.Is that because we simply couldn't do anything about it? Hardly.In part due to dramatic efforts in efficiency and also due to improvements in load management, the other huge component of the transportation picture actually improved during the period.
Air transportation actually achieved efficiencies that allowed it to carry more passengers, while reducing its carbon dioxide production.In the first of several major reports on Energy and Greenhouse Gas Solutions, the University of Hawai'i Economic Research Organization (UHERO), created an emissions inventory for the 15-year period in question. It's part of a project ordered by the state Legislature in 2007's Act 234, to come up with ways to reduce emissions to 1990 levels by 2005.
Clearly, we've got a long way to go.The greenhouse gas project is led by Denise Eby Konan, with the help Steven Alber, Paul Bernstein, Iman Nasseri, Craig Coleman, Robert Mills, Michael Hamnett, and Terrence Surles.Download a copy of the Hawai'i Greenhouse Gas Emissions Profile 1990 and 2005.Here is part of the summary of their first report.“The most significant source of growth is ground transportation, which experienced a 53 percent increase in GHG emissions from 1990 to 2005.
Electric power generation resulted in 22 percent higher emissions levels in 2005. Non-energy sources of emissions, such as industrial processes, agriculture and municipal solid waste, also grew rapidly but beginning from a relatively small base. Air transportation emissions declined even as the number of passengers grew. Residential, commercial and industrial direct emissions also contracted.”Electricity and ground transportation are such big chunks of the pie that, despite improvements in air and a few other uses, greenhouse gas emissions were up overall.
Air transportation actually achieved efficiencies that allowed it to carry more passengers, while reducing its carbon dioxide production.In the first of several major reports on Energy and Greenhouse Gas Solutions, the University of Hawai'i Economic Research Organization (UHERO), created an emissions inventory for the 15-year period in question. It's part of a project ordered by the state Legislature in 2007's Act 234, to come up with ways to reduce emissions to 1990 levels by 2005.
Clearly, we've got a long way to go.The greenhouse gas project is led by Denise Eby Konan, with the help Steven Alber, Paul Bernstein, Iman Nasseri, Craig Coleman, Robert Mills, Michael Hamnett, and Terrence Surles.Download a copy of the Hawai'i Greenhouse Gas Emissions Profile 1990 and 2005.Here is part of the summary of their first report.“The most significant source of growth is ground transportation, which experienced a 53 percent increase in GHG emissions from 1990 to 2005.
Electric power generation resulted in 22 percent higher emissions levels in 2005. Non-energy sources of emissions, such as industrial processes, agriculture and municipal solid waste, also grew rapidly but beginning from a relatively small base. Air transportation emissions declined even as the number of passengers grew. Residential, commercial and industrial direct emissions also contracted.”Electricity and ground transportation are such big chunks of the pie that, despite improvements in air and a few other uses, greenhouse gas emissions were up overall.
Clean energy: expensive, cost effective, and Hawai'i utilities are on board
HECO is looking forward to an undersea cable-connected future in which wind energy from Molokai and Lana'i, and geothermal from Hawai'i can help feed the Honolulu demand. There isn't space anywhere on Oahu for the size of windfarm needed, Alm said.Current cable technology can't handle the more than two-mile depth of the Ka'ie'iewaho Channel, so Kaua'i has certain challenges that the interconnectability of the other islands helps solve.
KIUC sees a long-term role for liquid fuels at least as a backup for intermittent alternative energy sources, but that fuel can be biodiesel, said Randy Hee, KIUC president.Both companies are pushing forward on smart metering, which Alm said can mean lower rates for people who actively shift their power demands to the utility's low-demand periods.That capability will “allow us to reward you,” Alm said.
Hee said KIUC is in the “selection analysis” process for (get familiar with this term) AMI. That's Advanced Metering Infrastructure. Depending on what system is selected, this allows all sorts of advances on the grid—including the aggressive addition of intermittent green power options.Both Alm and Hee said their organizations are also ready to back “feed-in tariffs.” That's another term to get used to.
It refers to a guaranteed rate of return for alternative power production, even if it is, for now, higher than the current cost of oil-produced energy.Feed-in tariffs in the short term can mean slightly higher power rates. But in Europe they have resulted in fast increases in solar, wind and other alternative energy production, and the long term value is stabilized power rates and reduced vulnerability to oil price fluctuations.
KIUC sees a long-term role for liquid fuels at least as a backup for intermittent alternative energy sources, but that fuel can be biodiesel, said Randy Hee, KIUC president.Both companies are pushing forward on smart metering, which Alm said can mean lower rates for people who actively shift their power demands to the utility's low-demand periods.That capability will “allow us to reward you,” Alm said.
Hee said KIUC is in the “selection analysis” process for (get familiar with this term) AMI. That's Advanced Metering Infrastructure. Depending on what system is selected, this allows all sorts of advances on the grid—including the aggressive addition of intermittent green power options.Both Alm and Hee said their organizations are also ready to back “feed-in tariffs.” That's another term to get used to.
It refers to a guaranteed rate of return for alternative power production, even if it is, for now, higher than the current cost of oil-produced energy.Feed-in tariffs in the short term can mean slightly higher power rates. But in Europe they have resulted in fast increases in solar, wind and other alternative energy production, and the long term value is stabilized power rates and reduced vulnerability to oil price fluctuations.
Civil Unions, Climate Change and bogus arguments
The Hawai'i Legislature's House Bill 444 would grant to same-sex couples the rights currently associated with marriage. It is unlike the climate change debate in every way but this: some of the arguments abandon logic and honest debate.You see this a lot in public debate. Folks who have honest disagreements begin to toss everything but the kitchen sink at the opposing side, presumably in hope that some of it scores points.
One assumes that the fundamental issue on the civil union issue is this: Should society continue to limit special recognition and certain tax and estate planning benefits to traditional male-female formalized marriages; or should those privileges also be afforded to non-traditional unions—notably same-sex ones.Seems simple—I believe it ought to be this way; or I believe it ought to be that way.
But folks are desperately cobbling together arguments to “logically” support their positions.My favorite—you hear this a lot in talk radio—is to say the issue has already been decided—in the 1998 constitutional amendment election. That's been a common complaint of opponents of Bill 444.Actually, anyone who reads the constitutional amendment recognizes that it didn't decide anything.What the amendment did was grant the Legislature the authority to restrict marriage to members of the opposite sex.
It didn't resolve the issue, and it didn't mandate that the Legislature do so.Or even this, which we heard last night: There have been non-anthropogenic spikes in atmospheric carbon dioxide levels before the Industrial Revolution, so this one isn't caused by humans, either. Which is vaguely analogous to saying: Lots of cats die of feline leukemia, so the cat, lying there under the wheel of a car, must have died of feline leukemia too.
One assumes that the fundamental issue on the civil union issue is this: Should society continue to limit special recognition and certain tax and estate planning benefits to traditional male-female formalized marriages; or should those privileges also be afforded to non-traditional unions—notably same-sex ones.Seems simple—I believe it ought to be this way; or I believe it ought to be that way.
But folks are desperately cobbling together arguments to “logically” support their positions.My favorite—you hear this a lot in talk radio—is to say the issue has already been decided—in the 1998 constitutional amendment election. That's been a common complaint of opponents of Bill 444.Actually, anyone who reads the constitutional amendment recognizes that it didn't decide anything.What the amendment did was grant the Legislature the authority to restrict marriage to members of the opposite sex.
It didn't resolve the issue, and it didn't mandate that the Legislature do so.Or even this, which we heard last night: There have been non-anthropogenic spikes in atmospheric carbon dioxide levels before the Industrial Revolution, so this one isn't caused by humans, either. Which is vaguely analogous to saying: Lots of cats die of feline leukemia, so the cat, lying there under the wheel of a car, must have died of feline leukemia too.
YUVARAJ INTRODUCTION
yuvaraj singh introduction
Every youngster in India dreams of making it to the Indian cricket team, and making a name amidst the crores of population that this country has got, not to forget the adulation the world over! Yuvraj Singh was just another kid watching TV and wondering .when he would pack some runs for himself representing India.
Passion undoes men to do strange things, one of them is chasing a dream. And every dream needs a kick-start – in Yuvraj’s case, good performances for Punjab and India Under 19s and the World Cup 2000 boosted him to go the first step towards chasing his dream. The captain who kick started it all for him was Sourav Ganguly.
Getting a look in to International cricket is always a challenge, especially for teenagers. Life does change in a matter of a few minutes that one spends in the middle of a vast green field surrounded by half a lakh people and millions watching glued to their television sets.
His ODI debut came about in the ODI against Kenya in the ICC Knockout in Kenya, which India easily made it through. His fellow debutants were Vijay Dahiya and Zaheer Khan. December 12 is Yuvraj’s actual birthday, but he would have rather had celebrated it on Oct 7, 2000, when his first ODI innings came about.
Every youngster in India dreams of making it to the Indian cricket team, and making a name amidst the crores of population that this country has got, not to forget the adulation the world over! Yuvraj Singh was just another kid watching TV and wondering .when he would pack some runs for himself representing India.
Passion undoes men to do strange things, one of them is chasing a dream. And every dream needs a kick-start – in Yuvraj’s case, good performances for Punjab and India Under 19s and the World Cup 2000 boosted him to go the first step towards chasing his dream. The captain who kick started it all for him was Sourav Ganguly.
Getting a look in to International cricket is always a challenge, especially for teenagers. Life does change in a matter of a few minutes that one spends in the middle of a vast green field surrounded by half a lakh people and millions watching glued to their television sets.
His ODI debut came about in the ODI against Kenya in the ICC Knockout in Kenya, which India easily made it through. His fellow debutants were Vijay Dahiya and Zaheer Khan. December 12 is Yuvraj’s actual birthday, but he would have rather had celebrated it on Oct 7, 2000, when his first ODI innings came about.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
the greatness of china
The Chinese were already familiar with the techniques of wall-building by the time of the Spring and Autumn Period, which began around the 8th century BC. During the Warring States Period from the 5th century BC to 221 BC, the states of Qi, Yan and Zhao all constructed extensive fortifications to defend their own borders. Built to withstand the attack of small arms such as swords and spears, these walls were made mostly by stamping earth and gravel between board frames.
Qin Shi Huang conquered all opposing states and unified China in 221 BC, establishing the Qin Dynasty. Intending to impose centralized rule and prevent the resurgence of feudal lords, he ordered the destruction of the wall sections that divided his empire along the former state borders. To protect the empire against intrusions by the Xiongnu people from the north.
Transporting the large quantity of materials required for construction was difficult, so builders always tried to use local resources. Stones from the mountains were used over mountain ranges, while rammed earth was used for construction in the plains. There are no surviving historical records indicating the exact length and course of the Qin Dynasty walls. Most of the ancient walls have eroded away over the centuries, and very few sections remain today.
Later, the Han, Sui, Northern and Jin dynasties all repaired, rebuilt, or expanded sections of the Great Wall at great cost to defend themselves against northern invaders.The Great Wall of China traditional Chinese: literally "The long wall of 10,000 is a series of stone and earthen fortifications in China, built, rebuilt, and maintained between the 5th century BC and the 16th century to protect the northern borders of the Chinese Empire from Xiongnu attacks during the rule of successive dynasties.
Qin Shi Huang conquered all opposing states and unified China in 221 BC, establishing the Qin Dynasty. Intending to impose centralized rule and prevent the resurgence of feudal lords, he ordered the destruction of the wall sections that divided his empire along the former state borders. To protect the empire against intrusions by the Xiongnu people from the north.
Transporting the large quantity of materials required for construction was difficult, so builders always tried to use local resources. Stones from the mountains were used over mountain ranges, while rammed earth was used for construction in the plains. There are no surviving historical records indicating the exact length and course of the Qin Dynasty walls. Most of the ancient walls have eroded away over the centuries, and very few sections remain today.
Later, the Han, Sui, Northern and Jin dynasties all repaired, rebuilt, or expanded sections of the Great Wall at great cost to defend themselves against northern invaders.The Great Wall of China traditional Chinese: literally "The long wall of 10,000 is a series of stone and earthen fortifications in China, built, rebuilt, and maintained between the 5th century BC and the 16th century to protect the northern borders of the Chinese Empire from Xiongnu attacks during the rule of successive dynasties.
circuits introduction..........
Most analog electronic appliances, such as radio receivers, are constructed from combinations of a few types of basic circuits. Analog circuits use a continuous range of voltage as opposed to discrete levels as in digital circuits. The number of different analog circuits so far devised is huge, especially because a 'circuit' can be defined as anything from a single component, to systems containing thousands of components.
Analog circuits are sometimes called linear circuits although many non-linear effects are used in analog circuits such as mixers, modulators, etc. Good examples of analog circuits include vacuum tube and transistor amplifiers, operational amplifiers and oscillators. Some analog circuitry these days may use digital or even microprocessor techniques to improve upon the basic performance of the circuit. This type of circuit is usually called "mixed signal."
Sometimes it may be difficult to differentiate between analog and digital circuits as they have elements of both linear and non-linear operation. An example is the comparator which takes in a continuous range of voltage but puts out only one of two levels as in a digital circuit.Digital circuits are electric circuits based on a number of discrete voltage levels.
Digital circuits are the most common physical representation of Boolean algebra and are the basis of all digital computers. To most engineers, the terms "digital circuit", "digital system" and "logic" are interchangeable in the context of digital circuits. Most digital circuits use two voltage levels labeled "Low" and "High". Often "Low" will be near zero volts and "High" will be at a higher level depending on the supply voltage in use.
Analog circuits are sometimes called linear circuits although many non-linear effects are used in analog circuits such as mixers, modulators, etc. Good examples of analog circuits include vacuum tube and transistor amplifiers, operational amplifiers and oscillators. Some analog circuitry these days may use digital or even microprocessor techniques to improve upon the basic performance of the circuit. This type of circuit is usually called "mixed signal."
Sometimes it may be difficult to differentiate between analog and digital circuits as they have elements of both linear and non-linear operation. An example is the comparator which takes in a continuous range of voltage but puts out only one of two levels as in a digital circuit.Digital circuits are electric circuits based on a number of discrete voltage levels.
Digital circuits are the most common physical representation of Boolean algebra and are the basis of all digital computers. To most engineers, the terms "digital circuit", "digital system" and "logic" are interchangeable in the context of digital circuits. Most digital circuits use two voltage levels labeled "Low" and "High". Often "Low" will be near zero volts and "High" will be at a higher level depending on the supply voltage in use.
tennis and fifa on...
In December 1873, Major Walter Clopton Wingfield designed a similar game — which he called sphairistike and was soon known simply as "sticky" — for the amusement of his guests at a garden party on his estate of Nantclwyd, in Llanelidan, Wales. He based the game on the newer sport of outdoor tennis or real tennis. According to most tennis historians, modern tennis terminology also derives from this period.
Lawn tennis in the U.S., 1887The first championships at Wimbledon in London were played in 1877. On May 21, 1881, the United States National Lawn Tennis Association was formed to standardize the rules and organize competitions.The U.S. National Men's Singles Championship, now the US Open, was first held in 1881 at Newport, Rhode Island. The U.S. National Women's Singles Championships were first held in 1887.
FIFA's supreme body is the FIFA Congress, an assembly made up of representatives from each affiliated member association. The Congress assembles in ordinary session once every year and, additionally, extraordinary sessions have been held once a year since 1998. Congress elects the President of FIFA, its General Secretary and the other members of FIFA's Executive Committee.
The President and General Secretary are the main officeholders of FIFA, and are in charge of its daily administration, carried out by the General Secretariat, with its staff of approximately 280 members. FIFA's Executive Committee, chaired by the President, is the main decision-making body of the organization in the intervals of Congress. FIFA's worldwide organisational structure also consists of several other bodies, under authority of the Executive Committee.
Lawn tennis in the U.S., 1887The first championships at Wimbledon in London were played in 1877. On May 21, 1881, the United States National Lawn Tennis Association was formed to standardize the rules and organize competitions.The U.S. National Men's Singles Championship, now the US Open, was first held in 1881 at Newport, Rhode Island. The U.S. National Women's Singles Championships were first held in 1887.
FIFA's supreme body is the FIFA Congress, an assembly made up of representatives from each affiliated member association. The Congress assembles in ordinary session once every year and, additionally, extraordinary sessions have been held once a year since 1998. Congress elects the President of FIFA, its General Secretary and the other members of FIFA's Executive Committee.
The President and General Secretary are the main officeholders of FIFA, and are in charge of its daily administration, carried out by the General Secretariat, with its staff of approximately 280 members. FIFA's Executive Committee, chaired by the President, is the main decision-making body of the organization in the intervals of Congress. FIFA's worldwide organisational structure also consists of several other bodies, under authority of the Executive Committee.
mummy returns....
In the ancient Egyptian city of Thebes in 3067 BC, a warrior known as the Scorpion King led his army to conquer the city. However, the Scorpion King lost the campaign and his army was scattered into the desert of Ahm Shere. One by one they died of heat exhaustion, leaving only the Scorpion King.To survive, the Scorpion King swore an oath to the god of the underworld, Anubis, exchanging his soul for the power to defeat his enemies.
The Army of Anubis swept across Egypt, destroying all in their path, and once their task was finished Anubis claimed the Scorpion King's soul. About 5000 years later, in 1933, Evy and Rick O'Connell are exploring another pyramid with their son, Alex. Within, they discover the Bracelet of Anubis. Back in London, their son Alex puts the bracelet on, providing him with directions to the oasis of Ahm Shere.
It being the year of the Scorpion, Alex has seven days to reach the oasis, at which point the Scorpion King and his army will reawaken. The cult, led by local museum curator Baltus Hafez, includes the psychopathic warrior Lock-Nah and Meela Nais, the reincarnation of Imhotep's love Anck-su-namun. The O'Connells set out to rescue Alex, accompanied by Ardeth Bay, the Medjai warrior from the previous film, and Evy's hopeless brother, Jonathan.
Rick's associate Izzy, an airship pilot from his past adventures, provides transportation.The Mummy Returns is set in 1935, 10 years after the events of the first film. Rick O'Connell (Fraser) is now married to Evelyn (Weisz), and the couple has settled in London, where they are raising their 9-year-old son Alex (played by screen newcomer Freddie Boath). When a chain of events finds the corpse of Imhotep (Vosloo) resurrected in the British Museum, the mummy Imhotep walks the earth once more, determined to fulfill his quest for immortality.
The Army of Anubis swept across Egypt, destroying all in their path, and once their task was finished Anubis claimed the Scorpion King's soul. About 5000 years later, in 1933, Evy and Rick O'Connell are exploring another pyramid with their son, Alex. Within, they discover the Bracelet of Anubis. Back in London, their son Alex puts the bracelet on, providing him with directions to the oasis of Ahm Shere.
It being the year of the Scorpion, Alex has seven days to reach the oasis, at which point the Scorpion King and his army will reawaken. The cult, led by local museum curator Baltus Hafez, includes the psychopathic warrior Lock-Nah and Meela Nais, the reincarnation of Imhotep's love Anck-su-namun. The O'Connells set out to rescue Alex, accompanied by Ardeth Bay, the Medjai warrior from the previous film, and Evy's hopeless brother, Jonathan.
Rick's associate Izzy, an airship pilot from his past adventures, provides transportation.The Mummy Returns is set in 1935, 10 years after the events of the first film. Rick O'Connell (Fraser) is now married to Evelyn (Weisz), and the couple has settled in London, where they are raising their 9-year-old son Alex (played by screen newcomer Freddie Boath). When a chain of events finds the corpse of Imhotep (Vosloo) resurrected in the British Museum, the mummy Imhotep walks the earth once more, determined to fulfill his quest for immortality.
tennis the game to be in..
Tennis is a sport played between two players (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a strung racquet to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt (most of the time Optic Yellow, but can be any color or even two-tone) over a net into the opponent's court.The modern game of tennis originated in the United Kingdom in the late 19th century as "lawn tennis" and had heavy connections to the ancient game of real tennis.
After its creation, tennis spread throughout the upper-class English-speaking population before spreading around the world.Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all ages. The sport can be played by anyone who can hold a racket, including people in wheelchairs. In the United States, there is a collegiate circuit organized by the National Collegiate Athletics Association.
Except for the adoption of the tiebreaker in the 1970s, the rules of tennis have changed very little since the 1890s. A recent addition to professional tennis has been the adoption of "instant replay" technology coupled with a point challenge system, which allows a player to challenge the official call of a point. Along with its millions of players, millions of people worldwide follow tennis as a spectator sport, especially the four Grand Slam tournaments (sometimes referred to as the "majors"): the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open.
Play like Passion, Play like Federer. Community for the greatest fans of Roger Federer!!Born August 08, 1981, (08:40 a.m.) in Basel, Switzerland, Federer presently lives in Oberwil, Switzerland. A 6'1''(186 cm) Right-handed (single-handed backhand) player, Dark brown hairs splashing all over his broad shouldersHis hidden-like Brown eyes shows the eager and determination for which he's known killing his opponents race for being the world greatest tennis chap
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)