Chad's News

Here at Chad’s News, we’ve previously covered one of the problems with intermittent energy sources like solar and wind: how to store the power so that it can be used on-demand. Until that happens, the need for traditional fossil fuel plants will remain.

The linked article describes a large battery nicknamed BOB, that will provide reliable power to the town of Presidio, Texas. The battery is expensive ($25 million), and the town is small (pop. 4167), so I’m not sure how well this would work on a larger scale. But it’s a step in the right direction.

Link: http://www.inhabitat.com/…
(via Slashdot)

Here’s an alternative to burying nuclear waste in the ground for thousands of years. Scientists in France and Texas are developing technologies to destroy the the radioactive by-products of nuclear power plants. The article isn’t clear about the method used by the French scientists, but the researchers in Texas are working on a hybrid fusion/fission reactor.

Link: http://business.timesonline.co.uk/…
(via Slashdot)

Here are some really neat pictures of the recent eruption of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull volcano. Brings back memories of Mount St. Helens, although I don’t remember the US shutting down its airspace like Europe has done.

Thanks to Josh for the link.

Link: http://www.boston.com/…

One of the major problems with alternative energy sources such as solar or wind power is that they’re intermittent, while demand is continuous. All the turbines in the world are useless if the wind isn’t blowing. So alternative energy has been delegated to a role where it only supplements traditional power plants.

A possible solution to this problem is compressed-air energy storage (CAES), where energy is stored as compressed air then converted to electricity as needed—thus providing a steady power supply. And CAES doesn’t only apply to alternative energy. It can be used to store energy from traditional, coal-powered generators, allowing them to run more efficiently.

CAES is not a new technology, but it’s gaining popularity because of the growing use of alternative energy sources. Let’s hope we see more of it.

Link: http://www.wired.com/…
(via Slashdot)

Given the unbelievably large number of Coca-Cola cans sold every day, one artist has a simple proposal to save significant amounts of energy and materials: don’t paint the cans.

Link: http://gizmodo.com/…
(via digg)

As I grow older, I’m amazed to see the creation of technologies that I once read about in science fiction books. The Japanese government is spending $22 billion on a project to put a large solar panel array in orbit that will generate energy and beam it down to the Earth.

Link: http://www.scientificamerican.com/…
(via digg)

As CFLs have been replacing standard incandescent light bulbs, so will LED bulbs displace the CFLs. They last longer, use less electricity, and don’t contain hazardous materials. Right now, however, they’re way too expensive ($40 to $80 for the ones described here). One of the LED bulbs in the linked article even has a remote that allows you to change its brightness and color, which is a bit over the top for my tastes. But CFLs were super-expensive when they first came out, so I expect the LED bulbs will drop to a reasonable price as well.

Link: http://sharp-world.com/…
(via Engadget)

The linked article describes how paper is recycled. The system breaks down the wood fibers slightly, and they can’t be reused after about 6-8 times through the process. Also, there are nasty chemicals involved.

Link: http://www.mentalfloss.com/…

“It seemed like a good idea at the time: Remove all the feral cats from a famous Australian island to save the native seabirds.”

Link: http://www.sfgate.com/…
(via digg)

First colony collapse disorder and now this.

Link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/…
(via Slashdot)

I’ve heard some of the US Presidential candidates talking about “clean coal,” which could cause one to infer that there is some special type of coal that, when burned, does not produce pollution. As far as I know, this is not the case, and the linked article has an example of what “clean coal” really means.

Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/…

For those concerned about the environmental impact of throwing away compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs), Home Depot will recycle them for you.

Link: http://www.nytimes.com/…