Monday, 6 January 2003

Another related, but older BBC news story, outlines the work of researchers at the School of Textiles at Heriot-Watt University in Scotland that are looking at ways of combining textiles with solar panels. [Source: BBC Sci-Tech News] 9:51:07 AM

Time Life Magazine has voted the proposed Enviromission Solar Tower in NSW as one of the best inventions in 2002. Time says: Want cheap, green electricity? The Australians have a simple answer. First, build a 20,000-acre greenhouse to trap and heat air. Then build a colossal tower 1 km (.62 miles) tall in the middle of it. The warm air from the greenhouse will rise through the tower as it would through a chimney, turning turbines and generating enough electricity to power 200,000 Australian homes. The BBC is also covering the project. 9:45:49 AM

US Fish and Wildlife Service:  How much oil in the arctic national wildlife refuge (ANWR)?  To sum up:  there is a 50% chance of finding 5.3 b barrels of recoverable oil (~7 b at the high end) there (this represents a little over 20% of US reserves or 1.5 years of extra production at current US rates).  At its peak (probably in 2020), Alaskan oil production from the ANWR will likely be 800,000 barrels a day.  That's 1/10 the current US production or 4% of what we currently use each day. [Source:John Robb's Radio Weblog] 9:33:49 AM

© Copyright 2004 Bill. Last update: 18/3/04; 5:33:35 AM.