re Bush's visit to Milwaukee
In Marcus' post, commentor Paul Noonan points out that solar power conversion is advancing significantly, though he projects a ten-year window of actuation.
In the Scientific American Frontiers series, Hydrogen Hopes, Stan and Iris Ovshinsky demonstrate several crucial breakthroughs: relying on the properties of disordered materials, the Ovshinskys have developed thin-film photovoltaics, nickle metal hydride batteries - one-third the size of regular batteries, rechargeable, and lead-free - and a solid hydrogen storage system.
Hydrogen must still be produced in order to be stored and used in engines, but there are possibilities to extract it in ways other than petroleum-generated, electrically driven plants. Iceland takes advantage of their vast geothermal reserves to make hydrogen available to its people.
The thin-film photovoltaics material is exceptional. It looks like composite roofing material, doesn't quit working when it's punctured, and is being developed for mass-production. This would fulfill Bush's claim of turning homes into power generating stations.
Paul also mentions the drive to reduce the space and heat generated by computer servers, another topic I wrote about breakthroughs in, back in November. Multicore CPUs like Sun System's Niagara are hitting the market, promising less equipment purchased and significantly lower energy outputs - 70 watts in contrast to current CPUs running on twice that.
My point wasn't to say "there's nothing to these claims of Bush's," it was to say, "Say it, already!" People need to begin to grasp these technologies if they are going to catch on, and if research is going to be extended.
In the Scientific American Frontiers series, Hydrogen Hopes, Stan and Iris Ovshinsky demonstrate several crucial breakthroughs: relying on the properties of disordered materials, the Ovshinskys have developed thin-film photovoltaics, nickle metal hydride batteries - one-third the size of regular batteries, rechargeable, and lead-free - and a solid hydrogen storage system.
Hydrogen must still be produced in order to be stored and used in engines, but there are possibilities to extract it in ways other than petroleum-generated, electrically driven plants. Iceland takes advantage of their vast geothermal reserves to make hydrogen available to its people.
The thin-film photovoltaics material is exceptional. It looks like composite roofing material, doesn't quit working when it's punctured, and is being developed for mass-production. This would fulfill Bush's claim of turning homes into power generating stations.
Paul also mentions the drive to reduce the space and heat generated by computer servers, another topic I wrote about breakthroughs in, back in November. Multicore CPUs like Sun System's Niagara are hitting the market, promising less equipment purchased and significantly lower energy outputs - 70 watts in contrast to current CPUs running on twice that.
My point wasn't to say "there's nothing to these claims of Bush's," it was to say, "Say it, already!" People need to begin to grasp these technologies if they are going to catch on, and if research is going to be extended.
posted by Jane Bellwether @ 3:58 PM
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