As an internet user and an global warming enemy I am slightly disquited by the power consumption by my PC. It uses 250+ Watt, which is quite a lot over the 16 hour days I make. Considering that pages on the internet come from servers that run constantly and are usually relayed multiple times by routers that are always on means even outside my home considerable power is being consumed by my e-indolence.
I thought about this an now I found a tiny way to counter the guild: I decided to no longer include the original message in my email replies. Tough luck for the dementing receiver that can no longer follow the plot. This in my opinion can save up to 60% in bandwidth used by emails.
I checked my mailbox and most messages had series of previous messages attached (sometimes up to 20 previous messages). Email are pretty light but even so a message of 63 kb with previous messages can turn into a message of 10 kb without! If everybody would do this this would requiere less routing and serving, and less investment in new hardware to deal with bandwidth shortages.
It would also benefit the planet...
dinsdag 10 juli 2007
donderdag 28 juni 2007
Delayed introduction
Dear readers,
Alternative energy is my subject. I have followed the technologies available in the last half year. My first entry I'll focus on two of them who'se introduction (imho) is being delayed by the 'industry'
Concentrated solar
Solar thermal energy is usefull for water and air heating in homes, having reached a plateau with the new vacuum tube collectors. However Concentrated solar has serious potential and is being treated like it is still unproven see this article from Reuters : http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSN2729905420070627
Energy utilities want to test the technology for introduction in 2010!
You'll find companies that are ready to go here:
http://www.sunreign.com/index.php?Etype=Solar&Type=Concentrator
To name the most interesting ones: Sunmachine, Solar Power Group in germany and Rotem in Israel. These are all companies using mirrors to concetrate sunlight, running either turbines or Stirling generators on them. You can order today and start your own utility.
Concentrated PV
Another one of those suppressed developments. Photovoltaic cells are not cheap while they are generally underutalized (the sunlight on them is not as strong as it could be). Concentrated PV tries to get the most out of the photovoltaic realestate by focussing many times the single sunpower on small peices of cell. Although there is a trade off between the heat generated by the sunlight and the power generated by the increased light input to the cell, this technology is 100% vialbe and would cut PV cost as of tomorrow if it where introduced. Hoever almost non of the companies that make them :
http://www.sunreign.com/index.php?Etype=Photovoltaic&Type=Concentrator
Have managed to introduce them to the market. The only one making a real move is Practical instruments (http://www.practical-instruments.com/) that made a deal with a group of installers for a significant amount. This proves that market introduction of whatever revolutionary technology for application to homes must go through the gates of reluctant installer companies, that simply want a piece of the pie.
Concentrated PV pricing is held up against conventional PV equivalent, wich makes it a potential money machine, but also hampers its introduction. Concetrated PV could make conventional PV completely obsolete which (again imho) is why it is not allowed into the market.
Alternative energy is my subject. I have followed the technologies available in the last half year. My first entry I'll focus on two of them who'se introduction (imho) is being delayed by the 'industry'
Concentrated solar
Solar thermal energy is usefull for water and air heating in homes, having reached a plateau with the new vacuum tube collectors. However Concentrated solar has serious potential and is being treated like it is still unproven see this article from Reuters : http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSN2729905420070627
Energy utilities want to test the technology for introduction in 2010!
You'll find companies that are ready to go here:
http://www.sunreign.com/index.php?Etype=Solar&Type=Concentrator
To name the most interesting ones: Sunmachine, Solar Power Group in germany and Rotem in Israel. These are all companies using mirrors to concetrate sunlight, running either turbines or Stirling generators on them. You can order today and start your own utility.
Concentrated PV
Another one of those suppressed developments. Photovoltaic cells are not cheap while they are generally underutalized (the sunlight on them is not as strong as it could be). Concentrated PV tries to get the most out of the photovoltaic realestate by focussing many times the single sunpower on small peices of cell. Although there is a trade off between the heat generated by the sunlight and the power generated by the increased light input to the cell, this technology is 100% vialbe and would cut PV cost as of tomorrow if it where introduced. Hoever almost non of the companies that make them :
http://www.sunreign.com/index.php?Etype=Photovoltaic&Type=Concentrator
Have managed to introduce them to the market. The only one making a real move is Practical instruments (http://www.practical-instruments.com/) that made a deal with a group of installers for a significant amount. This proves that market introduction of whatever revolutionary technology for application to homes must go through the gates of reluctant installer companies, that simply want a piece of the pie.
Concentrated PV pricing is held up against conventional PV equivalent, wich makes it a potential money machine, but also hampers its introduction. Concetrated PV could make conventional PV completely obsolete which (again imho) is why it is not allowed into the market.
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