THE BIOTECH REVOLUTION – Visions Of The Future – BBC

Genetics and biotechnology promise a future of unprecedented health and longevity: DNA screening could prevent many diseases, gene therapy could cure them and, thanks to lab-grown organs, the human body could be repaired as easily as a car, with spare parts readily available. Ultimately, the ageing process itself could be slowed down or even halted.

Image Source: techi.com

Transparent Spray Film Solar Nano Paint EnSol AS has developed a new method to generate green energy out of a thin layer. It doesn’t require any special panel anymore as SolarWindow is a transparent spray film that you can spray to any glass surface to generate electricity.

The benefits:

Paint-able solar cells will indeed bring a revolution in alternative energy arena. Today, we put relatively expensive and uncomfortable solar panels on roofs to produce alternative energy. The new spray-on solar cells will reduce the cost as well and increase the comfort in setting up solar power technology. It can be painted on all surfaces where sunlight is available. You can spray the ultra-thin solar cells on your wall, rooftop, vehicle’s body, aircraft and ships.

According to the researchers, nano-particle inks can generate more energy than traditional solar powers. The South Florida University scientists say such solar cells will be five times efficient than the conventional solar panels. Moreover, many more people will go for green power, thanks to the simplicity in establishment of solar cells. Electronic vehicles can reap the required power while moving.

[Source: Greendiary.com]

SOLAR PAINT TECHNOLOGY EXPLORED

According to EnSol AS, this new energy generating method has a potential to increase the solar energy power by 300% while it’s about 1/1000th the thickness of our hair!

Professor Chris Binns explains a project to develop Thin Film Solar Cell Technology. Norwegian company EnSol AS has patented a ground breaking, thin film solar cell technology which they seek to develop commercially by 2016.

The company is now working with the University of Leicester Department of Physics and Astronomy to develop this revolutionary new type of solar cell material that could be coated as a thin film on, for example, windows in buildings to produce power on a large scale.

The new material has been designed by EnSol AS and is based on nanoparticles that can be synthesised in Leicester. The University of Leicester Department of Physics and Astronomy has a long history in the field of nanoparticles and has equipment that is uniquely suited in the world to produce small amounts of the material for prototypes.

Photovoltaics are destined to form a key power generating method as part of a low carbon economy and the new technology will bring that a stage closer. The material is composed of metal nanoparticles (diameters ~ 10 nm) embedded in a transparent composite matrix. EnSol’s next generation PV cell technology has tremendous potential for lower environmental impact and much more cost effective production and purchase than conventional devices.

Access more information about Physics and Astronomy at the University of Leicester here.

Peak Oil & $225 Oil by 2012

Upsides

• “More carpooling, fewer people on the freeways, more telecommuting — in many ways, what would happen is what people have been trying to make happen for a long time,”
• California has seen a jump in drilling activity as oil companies try to extract more crude from the state’s fields. Regulators expect a record 4,000 wells to be drilled in the state this year.
• “Every rig and every crew that’s available is working right now,” said Hal Bopp, the state’s oil and gas supervisor.
• Alternative-fuel vehicles become more cost-effective as all-electric sports car, could become important leaders in an emerging industry.
• Upswing in local business as families look for less-expensive vacation alternatives close to home.
• In Southern California, with its many natural wonders, theme parks and other attractions, the prospect of a “staycation”
• And spending less time stuck in traffic on the 405? Priceless.

[Source: LA Times]

Get the latest infographic on what is the cause?
Downsides Highlights and Is Google going Nuclear?

In the workplace

• Dramatically higher transportation costs leading to virtual mobility, or zero mobility, for many workers.
• Companies go to four-day workweeks
• Videoconferencing, touted as “the next big thing” to cut corporate travel budgets.
• Telecommuting, or working from home, as “knowledge” workers take over.
• Lower-income workers tend to be in jobs that don’t favor telecommuting, such as retail and food service.

[Source: LA Times]

Consumers

• With every penny hike in the price of gas costing American consumers about $1 billion a year, sharply higher pump prices would lead to “significant bankruptcies and store closings,” said Scott Hoyt, director of consumer economics at Moody’s Economy.com.
• “The purchasing power of the American people would be kicked in the teeth so darned hard by $200-a-barrel oil that they won’t have the ability to buy much of anything,” said S. David Freeman, president of the L.A. Board of Harbor Commissioners and author of the 2007 book “Winning Our Energy Independence.”
• Almost 42% polled said they had reduced vacation travel and 40% said they were dining out less.
• If any retailers would benefit, it would be those on the Internet. In a recent survey by Harris Interactive, one-third of adults said high gas prices had made them more likely to shop online to avoid driving.
• Big box restaurants would suffer, while fast-food chains wouldn’t be immune, experts say, although they might fare better as families downscale their dining choices.
• Vehicle sales, too, would probably continue to tank. As many dealers are demanding premiums for gas-sipping hybrids, wiping out much of the financial advantage of buying one.
• Nationwide, $200 oil and $7 gasoline would force Americans to take 10 million vehicles off the roads over the next four years, Jeff Rubin, chief economist at CIBC World Markets, wrote in a recent report.
• As for the state’s beleaguered housing market, prices are falling faster in areas requiring long commutes — such as Lancaster and Palmdale — than in neighborhoods closer to job centers.
• Ads for locking gas caps are becoming more prevalent.

[Source: LA Times]

Trade

• “To put things in perspective, today’s extra shipping cost from East Asia is the equivalent of imposing a 9% tariff on East Asian goods entering North America,” said Rubin of CIBC World Markets. “At $200 per barrel, the tariff equivalent rate will rise to 15%.”
• If oil continues to rise from current levels, officials at the Port of Los Angeles believe West Coast ports would gain business because they are 10 to 12 days’ sailing time from Asia, versus the 18-to-20-day route from Asia to the East Coast through the Panama Canal.
• “Local sourcing is ideal. You won’t pay as much for freight, and when you use less fuel it’s better for the environment,” Gaddis said.
• Soaring diesel prices will make companies rethink whether they should have large, centralized plants or build smaller ones around the country.
• That is why Pizza Hut is now charging for delivery.

[Source: LA Times]

“Expensive oil is no longer enough. We are approaching the point where it will no longer guarantee relatively stable economic development.”

[Inforgraphic Source]

Oil Spill Blog

Should Google Go Nuclear

“The Macondo well, now known as the site of the nation’s largest oil spill, erupted on April 20, 2010, approximately 40 miles off the Louisiana coast in the Gulf of Mexico. Over the next 50 days, BP’s oil platform, Deepwater Horizon, poured an estimated 4 million barrels (approximately 170 million gallons) of raw petroleum into the Gulf.

Throughout the early days of the spill, accurate information in all forms was scarce, challenging a recovery response commensurate with the scale of the accident. With the well now capped, there is still incomplete information about the spill itself, as well as the temporal nature of and ecological consequences associated with the leaked oil. Also still uncalculated are the social costs that have been and will continue to be incurred by the thousands of individuals, businesses, and communities that make the Gulf coast their home.”

SOURCE: MIT SCHOOL OF SCIENCE REPORTS

Only 1 percent of the China’s 560 million city dwellers breath air considered safe by European Union standards according to a World Bank study. Air pollution is particularly bad in the rust belt areas of northeastern China. A study done by the World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that the amount of airborne suspended particulates in northern China are almost 20 times what WHO considers a safe level.

Space shuttle astronaut Jay Apt wrote in National Geographic, “many of the great coastal cites of China hide from our cameras under a…blanket of smoke from soft-coal fires.” The northeast industrial town of Benxi is so polluted that it once disappeared from satellite photos. Its residents have the highest rate of lung disease in China.

Coal is the number once source of air pollution in China. China gets 80 percent of electricity and 70 percent its total energy from coal, much of it polluting high-sulphur coal. Around six million tons of coal is burned everyday to power factories, heat homes and cook meals. Expanding car ownership, heavy traffic and low-grade gasoline have made cars a leading contributor to the air pollution problem in Chinese cities.