Ed Ring

A "Sverdrup," named after the famed Norwegian geologist who defined this unit of measure, is the largest quantity commonly used to express volumes of water flow. Naturally, the highest volumes of water flowing on this planet are ocean currents, such as the Gulf Stream, which warms Europe and flows at a rate of of 30 to 150 Sverdrups, depending on latitude. So how much water is in a Sverdrup, after all? Apparently, one Sverdrup is equivalent to "one million cubic meters of water per second." In practical terms this is equivalent to delivering one cubic kilometer of water (weighing exactly one gigaton) in just under seventeen minutes. That is one heck of a lot of water. That is a very big pipeline. And what do Sverdrups have to do with brine? It has to do with whether or not to approve construction of desalination plants, which if built using modern technology all over the world, would...

There is an interesting futurist website entitled "Evolution Shift" authored by David Houle that recently reported on "the Air Car."  If you haven't yet heard of the Air Car, from Moteur Developpment International in France, you aren't alone.  We'd heard of MDI's Air Car, but when we set out to really research the development, we learned there is a surprising lack of information available, other than a handful of online forum commentaries and the company's own website. Apparently the car's engine runs on compressed air, and the prototype is reputed to have a range of several hundred kilometers.  In recent months, the company website has announced a hybrid design - on their "how it works" page they claim the engine now has the ability to run on gasoline or air, or a combination of both.  This is all very interesting, but let's focus on the notion of compressed air as a way to store energy to propell a vehicle.  How much energy can you...

In the Kittitas Valley, about 12 miles northwest of Ellensburg, Washington, a 65 turbine windfarm is in the final stages of approval.  This windfarm will consume 6,000 acres, nearly ten square miles, and given each turbine is atop a 410 foot tower, it is reasonable to assume these are going to be very large generators, with a yield of 2.5 megawatts each.  So this $150 million project will produce 165 megawatts of energy, or about 16 megawatt-years per square mile. To put this in perspective, energy consumption in the USA in 2006 was just about 100 quadrillion BTUs, or about 25% of total worldwide energy consumption.  Since 1 "quad" BTU equals 33.4 gigawatt-years of electricity, the total energy consumption of the USA, expressed in units of electric power equates to 3,340 gigawatt-years. The reason all of this matters is because (1) we are moving to an energy economy that relies increasingly on...

What looks like a giant football helmet, has three wheels, seats one driver (with six cubic feet of cargo space), does 0-60 mph in 12.5 seconds with a top speed of 75 mph, and has a range of 30 miles? That would be the Myers Motors "NMG," a nimble electric tricycle that is officially classified as a motorcycle, and costs virtually nothing to drive.  There are now over 300 NMG (which stands for "no more gas") vehicles being driven in several major cities in the USA, according to Myers Motors spokesperson Ron Huch. THE ELECTRIC "NMG" TRICYCLE FROM MYERS MOTORS Length 112", width 52", height 57". There's a lot to like about this practical commuter vehicle, that looks like...

Later today, when somewhere in this world begins the seventh day of the seventh month of the seventh year of the new millenium, the concert heard round the world will start, and global warming consciousness will continue to build.  Now we have a pledge that all 2.0 billion likely listeners will be urged to sign.  On Larry King Live yesterday, Al Gore denied this has anything to do with politics, stating that global warming is a moral issue. 7th day of 7th month of 7th year, the world generation awakens. But with a pledge being presented to 2.0 billion people, and climate crisis trainer training camps in full bloom around the planet, this is not just a moral...

When will the promise of electric cars be realized?  As Larry Burns, VP of R&D for General Motors has patiently reminded the auto-bloggers, innovation isn't sustainable until you can manufacture a vehicle not by the hundreds, but by the hundreds of thousands.  So when will GM's "Volt" hit the showrooms?  And what does it mean that we have so many aspirants to become the maker of the next generation electric car - Tesla, ZAP, ZENN, AC Propulsion, Phoenix, Myers Motors, the Tango, and many, many more? The just announced "ZAP-X" all electric car. Who is going to build the model T of electric cars - the one that captures the imagination of a nation, and sells by the millions?  Could it be the ZAP-X...

Ever since an incendiary interview with Czech President Vaclav Klaus was translated into English back in February 2007, he's been on the radar.  Quite simply, there is no head of state on earth who is as outspoken on the global warming scare as Mr. Klaus.  Others may agree with him, but as he puts it, "their voices are strangled by political correctness." Here is the translation as originally published by Lubos Motl on his blog, and also in the Prague Monitor.  He doesn't beat around the bush about global warming hysteria, stating "It's a false myth and I think that every serious person and scientist says it. Pointing to a UN panel is unfair. It isn't a scientific institution, it's a political organ. It's like creating a non-governmental organization of green coloring. This isn't a choice of neutral scientists, a balanced group of scientists. These are politicised scientists who are coming to this with...

We find Steven Milloy at JunkScience.com to be consistently entertaining, and almost always right. So it's our duty to critique his critique of Jim Manzi's (of the partisan publication National Review) shocking leap onto the stop-industrial-CO2 (at any cost) bandwagon. Here's what Manzi wrote: "It is no longer possible, scientifically or politically, to deny that human activities have very likely increased global temperatures; what remains in dispute is the precise magnitude of the human impact. Conservatives should accept this reality — and move on to the question of what we should do about it." Apparently Manzi is doing damage control - he's decided that global warming hysteria is here to stay, and if the two-party system is to survive in America, the Republicans need to get with the program. As journalists, of course, we stay above the partisan political fray - but our concern with the agenda of the...

Well it had to happen.  Just as we reported with delight back in 2006 on the imminent arrival of the Tesla Roadster, an all-electric car we estimate can top out somewhere north of 180 mph, last week we learned of a Dodge Viper that's been modified to run on E85, a fuel blend that is 85% ethanol. Karl Jacob's E85 Viper When I talked with owner Karl Jacob last week, he stated his Viper has already been clocked at 185 mph in the standing mile, and he's gearing up to do another run with the goal of topping 195 mph.  We're looking forward to seeing Karl's E85 Viper on display this September at the GoingGreen executive summit, an event for green technology investors and entrepreneurs that EcoWorld is...

Just over 100 years ago, on May 27th, 1907, Rachel Carson was born.  Her book "Silent Spring," published in 1962, is considered by many to have launched the modern environmental movement.  Inspired by concerns over misuse of the chemical DDT, the book had the specific effect of leading to the banning of DDT use in most of the world. Just yesterday, in the New York Times, John Tierney wrote a column entitled "Fateful Voice of a Generation Still Drowns Out Real Science," referring to Rachel Carson and the impact of her book.  Tierney's observations are important to note in this larger context, because Carson's impassioned prose has become the norm for environmental dialog, and this extends to countless environmental issues. Tierney writes "the chemophobia inspired by Ms. Carson’s book has been harmful in various ways. The obsession with eliminating minute risks from synthetic chemicals has wasted vast sums of money: environmental...