1) Well, today I am writing to you from the sunny beaches of southern Florida. Currently, I am with a team that is doing research on the gaseous flux through the benthic layer in coral reefs. So, just another case of an EnergyGridIQ team member saving the world, one step at a time.
To tie that into an energy related topic, we are using a method of mapping the velocity vectors within a fluid body by deploying a technology that essentially uses a sonar beam to get a full 3D picture of the nearby area. This picture can be used to see exactly where and how fast water is flowing in a given system. What does this have to do with energy? Well, as I have often noted, the amount of tidal energy within the world’s oceans, and the amount of river energy within the world’s waterways is incredible. By accurately mapping exactly where the ideal currents are that can be harvested, we will be able to determine where to best deploy hydrokinetic and tidal harnessing mechanisms.
2) Energy security is a rising issue. Just having enough capacity in many areas is a problem that must be rectified. In the cases of situations such as northern Africa, or developing islands in the West Pacific, just having the ability to turn on the lights is a lot. As it stands currently, many of the poorest areas of the world rely off of oil to power their electronic necessities. As such, their energy uncertainty is based not only off of economic constraints, but also off of demand issues.
In other areas of the world, demand for energy has fallen under both moral and environmental scrutiny and now, more than ever people struggle to find ways they can fuel their energy addictions without building new capacity or tapping into harmful combustive processes.
Recently the IEA released a report on the topic. Take a look:
http://www.iea.org/index_info.asp?id=2393
3) I know that some of the material I write and comment about has (relatively) similar source publication. However, the EIA just yesterday announced that the U.S., for the first time ever last November, relied on coal for less than 40% of its electricity source. Take a look at the source article. http://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.cfm?id=5331
That’s all for now, as always check back into energygridiq.com for all your energy news, thoughts, and great ideas.
No comments:
Post a Comment