Some interesting news: World’s largest solar installation to use Stirling engine technology. 20-year purchase agreement between Southern California Edison and Stirling Energy Systems, Inc. will result in 20,000+ dish array, covering 4,500 acres, and capable of generating 500 MW — more electricity than all other present U.S. solar projects combined.
News.com also profiled the company and its CEO, David Slawson: Start-up sees new dawn for old solar tech. It is interesting to note that they say their technology is about three times as efficient as silicon-based photovoltaic solar cells. If true, that might be putting it into the efficiency range of wind or nuclear.
National Geographic magazine has a good story on the challenges of alternative energy in this month’s magazine – Powering the Future.
While not really practical for every day driving, it is interesting to note what can be done – Pulse And Glide – Getting Maximum Fuel Economy In A Prius – On August 7, 2005 five men took an unmodified Prius nearly 1400 miles on a single 12.87 gallon tank of gas. That’s 109 mpg! They did it by using a technique called “Pulse and Glide”.
Wired has another story on DIY plug-in hybrids.
Hah, I love it: A research team in Singapore have developed a paper battery that is small, cheap to fabricate, and which ingeniously uses the bio-fluid being tested (urine) as the power source for the device doing the testing. This should be a great thing for bio monitors, but I can’t wait until I have to pee on my cell phone to charge it.
Sunset mag has some pictures and a profile of the newest glide house
Very cool: The old man and the tree – Fearing boredom during retirement, Jack Barnhart nears completion of his dream treehouse after five years of work.
This is a depressing read: Four Amendments & a Funeral
“…To understand the breadth of Bush’s summer sweep, you had to watch the hand-fighting at close range. You had to watch opposition gambits die slow deaths in afternoon committee hearings, listen as members fell on their swords in exchange for favors and be there to see hordes of lobbyists rush in to reverse key votes at the last minute… In the first few weeks of my stay in Washington, Sanders introduced and passed, against very long odds, three important amendments. A fourth very nearly made it and would have passed had it gone to a vote. During this time, Sanders took on powerful adversaries, including Lockheed Martin, Westinghouse, the Export-Import Bank and the Bush administration. And by using the basic tools of democracy — floor votes on clearly posed questions, with the aid of painstakingly built coalitions of allies from both sides of the aisle — he, a lone Independent, beat them all. It was an impressive run, with some in his office calling it the best winning streak of his career. Except for one thing. By my last week in Washington, all of his victories had been rolled back, each carefully nurtured amendment perishing in the grossly corrupt and absurd vortex of political dysfunction that is today’s U.S. Congress…”