quinta-feira, 30 de junho de 2011
sexta-feira, 24 de junho de 2011
Japan suspends waste water nuclear operation
by Staff Writers
Tokyo (AFP) June 18, 2011
Nuclear watchdog slams Japan reaction to Fukushima Vienna (AFP) June 18, 2011 - The UN's atomic watchdog on Saturday criticised Japan for failing to implement the agency's convention on dealing with nuclear emergencies after the accident at its Fukushima power plant. A report to be published Monday at a five-day ministerial conference on nuclear safety said Tokyo should have followed guidelines laid down by the document after the plant was crippled by a tsunami following an earthquake. The convention lays down the rules for cooperation between the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and states that may need help, in the areas of security and communication. The report, which was seen by AFP and drawn up by experts who visited Japan last month, said Tokyo never implemented the convention. Japan also did not follow IAEA guidelines about tiered safety measures against outside threats, it said. IAEA safety standards are not binding for member states. The agency said that Japanese authorities had also failed to implement anti-tsunami measures that were tightened in 2002. The agency said earlier this month that Japan underestimated the hazard posed by tsunamis to nuclear plants, but praised Tokyo's response to the March 11 disaster as "exemplary". The experts' final report will be made available to the IAEA's 151 member states during the ministerial conference which starts Monday. |
quinta-feira, 23 de junho de 2011
Huge Solar Flares Could Spell Catastrophe for Earth - Tom Barlow - The Buyline - Forbes
Huge Solar Flares Could Spell Catastrophe for Earth
Power lines and transformers fry across the nation. Communication satellites are knocked out, the GPS network no longer works, and even the space station is sucked into Earth’s gravity well. Americans are forced to go months without power, without water systems, without television or cell phones or other forms of communication. Sound like a disaster? You bet, but the culprit isn’t terrorists or hurricanes or a meteorite; it’s our old friend, the sun.
Scientists are gathered this week to discuss a relatively underappreciated threat to our well-being, the impact a huge solar flare (also known as a solar mass ejection (SME) or solar electromagnetic pulse (EMP)) directed at Earth could wreak upon our modern technology.
How likely is this threat? Michael Hesse, Chief of the Space Weather Laboratory at NASA, said there are “No good statistics to tell you how often these things happen; maybe happening once in a hundred years, once in two hundred years…but it’s not impossible.” He’s “not going to bed worrying every night that the next morning I’d have this event. But if it were to happen the impacts would be catastrophic.”
Such an event did take place as recently as September 1, 1859. Called theCarrington Event, this CME knocked out telegraph lines across the country and the Northern Lights were seen as far south as Cuba. A similar event only a third of this magnitude knocked out the Quebec electrical system for nine hours in 1989.
Of course, in 1859 there were few electrical devices in operation, the telegraph being the most notable. Today, our society is networked by the power grid, satellites and phone lines, all vulnerable to the impact of a large electromagnetic storm. Hesse said that, “In all likelihood the space radiation associated with that event would knock out a large amount of our satellite infrastructure. You would see gigantic communications outages, of course.”
” Anything over the horizon you use radio for or radar for would be disturbed for extended periods of time,” he explained, and we could, “lose low earth orbit because the atmosphere could get heated and expand outward and cause enormous drag that could seriously imperil the space station and degrade the orbit to the point that it would be hazardous.”
He believes that such an event “…would probably take down our power grid, destroy transformers and equipment.” The most fundamental impact of such an event, he said, was that we could face no power for a very long time.
(Despite what the movie 2012 would have you believe, Hesse dismissed the connection between CMEs and earthquakes.)
We can’t stop such an event, but Hesse and others are working toward gaining the ability to predict such events early enough that networks can be shut down and minimize damage. He explained that it takes about 20 hours for such an EMP to reach Earth from the sun, giving us a window to react and prepare if the warning is timely enough.
He credits NASA’s experimental probes for providing much of the data to date that has helped us understand the sun’s behavior, but couldn’t project just when a working early warning system might be devised. He did voice a concern that there is no funding to date to create and maintain satellites for this on an operational basis.
Sunspot activity waxes and wanes on the sun in a 11-year cycle, and we are approaching the peak of sunspot activity, probably reaching it in 2013, according to Hesse. He said that there is some evidence that large CME events happen more frequently on the declining side of the peak.
This doesn’t mean that you should curse the sun or build your own urban windmill just at the prospect of another Carrington Event. You should, however, know that weather on heavenly bodies other than the Earth can impact us, in a very large way. The sky isn’t falling…but it could.
Russia Plagued by Corruption Perception - Kenneth Rapoza - BRIC Breaker - Forbes
Russia Plagued by Corruption Perception
India is No. 1. The US is tied with Brazil.
Russia: 26%
China: 10%
Brazil: 5%
USA: 5%
In Russia, elected officials and the police are corrupt. In the US, the Democrats and Republicans are considered corrupt.
Russia: Public officials, civil servants, police
India: Political parties
China: Business, private industry
US: Political parties
10: squeeky clean. 0: filthy.
India: 3.3
China: 3.5
Brazil: 3.7
USA: 7.1
Denmark, New Zealand and Singapore: 9.3
quarta-feira, 22 de junho de 2011
Britânicos criam camiseta que transforma ruídos sonoros em eletricidade
Britânicos criam camiseta que transforma ruídos sonoros em eletricidade
A Orange, empresa britânica de tecnologia, anunciou recentemente a criação de uma camiseta capaz de transformar a energia do som em eletricidade. Através da invenção os amantes da música podem ir aos shows e ainda recarregarem seus celulares com energia limpa.
A camiseta foi batizada de “Sound Charge” e contou com a ajuda de especialistas em energia renovável para que pudesse se tornar realidade. O dispositivo utiliza a tecnologia de filmes piezoelétricos para captar o som, eles normalmente são encontrados em alto-falantes modernos.
O filme modificado foi colocado dentro de uma camiseta especial, para funcionar como um microfone, capaz de absorver as ondas sonoras. Depois disso, essa energia passa por uma compressão, com cristais de quartzo, e é transformada em eletricidade.
sexta-feira, 17 de junho de 2011
U.S And United Kingdom To Cut Power In Preparation of 'Massive Solar Storm'? -- Fire in the Sky -- Sott.net
The announcement by Thomas Bogdan, the director of the US Space Weather Prediction Centre, comes a week after a large scale solar flare released a massive amount of radiation and threatened to cause moderate disruption.
The solar flare on June 7th, 2011 was luckily pointed away from Earth but caused many to wonder if another solar flare is imminent, this one aimed directly at earth.
Now, due to the possibility of a large scale solar flare, officials in Europe and the United Kingdom are preparing what they call, "controlled" power cuts. What this actually means remains to be seen
SpaceWeather.com -- News and information about meteor showers, solar flares, auroras, and near-Earth asteroids
NASA - NASA Issues Announcement For Solar Electric Propulsion Studies
RELEASE : 11-191J.D. Harrington/Michael Braukus
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-5241/1979
j.d.harrington@nasa.gov/michael.j.braukus@nasa.gov
Lori J. Rachul
Glenn Research Center, Cleveland
216-433-8806
lori.j.rachul@nasa.govJune 17, 2011NASA Issues Announcement For Solar Electric Propulsion StudiesCLEVELAND -- NASA issued a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) seeking proposals for mission concept studies of a solar electric propulsion system demonstration to test and validate key capabilities and technologies for future exploration missions.
Multiple studies have shown the advantages of using solar electric propulsion to efficiently transport heavy payloads from low Earth orbit to higher orbits. This concept enables the delivery of payloads to low Earth orbit via conventional chemical rockets. The use of solar electric propulsion could then spiral payloads out to higher energy orbits, including Lagrange point one, a potential assembly point in space between Earth and the moon. This approach could facilitate missions to near Earth asteroids and other destinations in deep space.
Science missions could use solar electric propulsion to reach distant regions of the solar system, and commercial missions could use solar electric propulsion tugs to place, service, resupply, reposition and salvage space assets. NASA's strategic roadmaps for exploration, science and advanced technology all consider solar electric propulsion a vital and necessary future capability.
Com investimento de R$ 100 milhões Google ajuda a construir maior usina eólica do mundo
Com investimento de R$ 100 milhões Google ajuda a construir maior usina eólica do mundo
O Google anunciou, na última semana, investimento de R$ 100 milhões em energia eólica. A verba deve ser usada no projeto Shepherds Flat Wind Farm, localizado no Oregon, Estados Unidos, e construído pela multinacional General Eletric.
A estrutura, que deve ser concluída até 2012, terá capacidade para produzir 845 megawatts, caracterizando-a como a maior fazenda eólica do mundo. Além do benefício ambiental, o investimento também resultará em retornos sociais, empregando 400 pessoas durante a fase de construção, e econômicos, podendo render anualmente quase R$ 8 milhões.
Essa não é a primeira vez que a empresa norte-americana anuncia investimentos em energia renovável. Em 2010, o Google investiu em uma usina eólica offshore, ou seja, com turbinas instaladas no mar, na costa que vai de Nova Jersey até a Vírginia, nos Estados Unidos. A estrutura deverá produzir energia suficiente para abastecer os lares de 1,9 milhão de famílias.
A produção energética através do aproveitamento solar também foi alvo da gigante da internet. Em abril, pouco antes do anúncio do investimento na Shepherds Flat Wind Farm, o Google declarou seu primeiro investimento do tipo em território europeu. Serão quase oito milhões de dólares destinados à construção de uma das maiores usinas solares da Alemanha.
Além da produção energética, o Google também tem colaborado com a proteção ambiental através de plataformas on-line que monitoram o desmatamento e ações voltadas para a conscientização de adultos e crianças.
Google lidera ações sustentáveis ao aumentar sua frota de veículos elétricos
Google lidera ações sustentáveis ao aumentar sua frota de veículos elétricos
Ao longo dos últimos anos, várias tecnologias inovadoras de veículos elétricos (EV) surgiram no mercado. A empresa Google afirma estar trabalhando para atualizar sua infra-estrutura de transporte verde.
Como resultado, eles têm desenvolvido a maior infraestrutura corporativa de carregamento de carros elétricos do país, adicionando à frota atual mais de 30 veículos plug-in ao Gfleet, nome dado ao serviço de partilha de automóvel entre os funcionários da empresa (Googlers), que recebem carga gratuita.
A empresa acrescentou os carros Nissan Leafs e Chevy Volts à frota existente, que são utilizados em suas atividades diárias. Como explicado no blog oficial, não havia veículos elétricos no mercado quando o Google lançou sua iniciativa de sustentabilidade “RechargeIT” em 2007, quando adquiriu o Toyota Prius e o Ford Escapes e os adaptaram com baterias A123 Hymotion para criar sua própria mini frota de híbridos.
A empresa agora oferece mais de 200 carregadores para veículos elétricos em Mountain View, Califórnia, no complexo Google e tem planos para adicionar mais 250 em breve. O objetivo é “eletrificar” 5% dos seus espaços de estacionamento. A empresa tem cerca de 23 mil funcionários, e a maioria deles estacionam no Googleplex. O sistema expandido de recarga já ajudou vários Googlers a decidir comprar EVs próprios.
Eles calculam que estejam tirando das ruas, o equivalente a dois mil carros a cada dia por causa do programa de carregamento, Gfleet e o transporte empregado. A empresa afirma que ao apoiar novas tecnologias de transporte verde, estão capacitando os funcionários a serem verdes e fazendo sua parte ao ajudar a estimular o crescimento desta indústria.
quarta-feira, 15 de junho de 2011
GE Óleo & Gás e Shell selam contrato de US$ 30 milhões em offshore
Noticiário cotidiano - Indústria naval e Offshore |
Ter, 14 de Junho de 2011 23:27 |
RIO - A GE Óleo & Gás, que no ano passado comprou a Wellstream, assinou um contrato de três anos com a Shell Brasil para o fornecimento de 26 sistemas de cabeças de poço submarino e serviços relacionados para a exploração e produção de projetos offshore no Brasil. Ltda. A empresa informa que o valor do contrato é de aproximadamente de US$ 30 milhões. Segundo a GE Óleo & Gás, a empresa vai fornecer todos os sistemas de perfuração submarina para os poços exploratórios da Shell que serão perfurados no Brasil até 2013, pelo menos. A maior parte dos equipamentos será fabricada em Jandira (SP) e eles começarão a ser entregues em setembro deste ano. A GE fornecerá 13 sistemas MS-700 slimbore (de diâmetro reduzido) e 13 sistemas MS-700 de grande capacidade para águas profundas (DWHC). (Fonte: Valor Econômico/Cláudia Schüffner) |