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Sigmetnow

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Re: Better Tomorrows
« Reply #200 on: October 07, 2015, 02:00:11 AM »
CITE: The $1 billion city that nobody calls home
Quote
Planned for a population of 35,000, the city will showcase a modern business district downtown, and neat rows of terraced housing in the suburbs. It will be supplied with pristine streets, parks, malls and a church.

But no one will ever call it home.

The CITE (Center for Innovation, Testing and Evaluation) project is a full-scale model of an ordinary American town. Yet it will be used as a petri dish to develop new technologies that will shape the future of the urban environment.
http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/06/business/test-city/index.html
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Better Tomorrows
« Reply #201 on: October 09, 2015, 10:10:13 PM »
Elon Musk interview from earlier this week.  Many interesting topics.  :)
http://electrek.co/2015/10/09/tesla-ceo-elon-musk-at-the-new-establishment-summit-2015-video/
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Better Tomorrows
« Reply #202 on: October 11, 2015, 08:06:27 PM »
Incredible eco-friendly mansion is hidden entirely underground
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The innovative Perdu house also purports to incorporate the highest standards in renewable design to achieve nearly net-zero energy. The environmentally friendly elements include a ground source heat pump, state-of-the-art ventilation and heat recovery system, rainwater harvesting, solar tube system for hot water, and an energy-efficient lighting system with low-energy light bulbs that consumes 80 percent less electricity than a standard system. Since the building is underground, the house also benefits from the earth’s insulating properties to keep warm naturally in the winters while staying cool in summers.
http://inhabitat.com/radial-subterranean-mansion-with-a-waterslide-boasts-some-serious-eco-credentials/
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Neven

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Re: Better Tomorrows
« Reply #203 on: October 11, 2015, 09:57:07 PM »
Incredible eco-friendly mansion is hidden entirely underground
Quote
The innovative Perdu house also purports to incorporate the highest standards in renewable design to achieve nearly net-zero energy. The environmentally friendly elements include a ground source heat pump, state-of-the-art ventilation and heat recovery system, rainwater harvesting, solar tube system for hot water, and an energy-efficient lighting system with low-energy light bulbs that consumes 80 percent less electricity than a standard system. Since the building is underground, the house also benefits from the earth’s insulating properties to keep warm naturally in the winters while staying cool in summers.
http://inhabitat.com/radial-subterranean-mansion-with-a-waterslide-boasts-some-serious-eco-credentials/

What a horrible house. And not innovative either. Underground building has been explored for decades (see here, for instance). And you do it on a slope preferably, not just some silly atrium to let in a bit of light. You want a view, right? This is like some luxury doomer post-nuclear cellar.

Quote
The two-story circular home is bathed in a surprising amount of natural light and is nearly net-zero energy thanks to rainwater harvesting, a solar tube hot water system, and a ground source heat pump.

Nearly net-zero energy? Do they have any idea what a huge energy investment goes into building this? Never mind the excavation and all the BS luxury stuff, just think about all that concrete. You don't ever recover that, no matter how much LED lamps you put in.

This is pure construction greenwash.
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Better Tomorrows
« Reply #204 on: October 12, 2015, 03:46:36 PM »
Well, if you don't have a slope, I think the atrium makes sense.

What should be used in place of concrete?
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Neven

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Re: Better Tomorrows
« Reply #205 on: October 13, 2015, 02:42:11 PM »
Well, if you don't have a slope, I think the atrium makes sense.

What should be used in place of concrete?

Unfortunately I don't know of any less energy-consuming alternative to concrete, except for the variant where they use CO2 in the cement mix (I believe you have posted a link to that research in the not too distant past).

It's possible to build underground houses with wood and EPDM sheets, like Mike Oehlert does. Or things like used tyres filled with rammed earth, like the Earthship people are doing. This is the hippie way, though. Not really something that will be picked up by contractors around the world.

But again, I'd do it on a slope, because receiving solar light is invaluable (no need for expensive, complex ground pumps, etc) and if you can't look outside, you're going to go nuts. Of course, you'd have to be pretty nuts, rich and bored, if you are adamant about building in some mega-expensive neighbourhood and then go underground to circumvent building regulations. And then call it green.  ;)
« Last Edit: October 13, 2015, 02:57:18 PM by Neven »
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Better Tomorrows
« Reply #206 on: October 13, 2015, 05:00:25 PM »
But again, I'd do it on a slope, because receiving solar light is invaluable (no need for expensive, complex ground pumps, etc) and if you can't look outside, you're going to go nuts. Of course, you'd have to be pretty nuts, rich and bored, if you are adamant about building in some mega-expensive neighbourhood and then go underground to circumvent building regulations. And then call it green.  ;)

Between the price and the design, I agree there wouldn't be many takers for this sort of thing!
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Laurent

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Re: Better Tomorrows
« Reply #207 on: October 15, 2015, 08:45:18 PM »
Sound interesting absorbing CO2...
http://carbonengineering.com/

What do you think ?

Martin Gisser

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Re: Better Tomorrows
« Reply #208 on: October 15, 2015, 10:41:37 PM »
Sound interesting absorbing CO2...
http://carbonengineering.com/

What do you think ?
As a solution to AGW methinks it is ridiculous.
But I'm not a chemist or physicist to check the efficiency. Maybe it is worthwhile as a local source of CO2 for chemicals production, replacing coal/oil/gas as source.

Else, photosynthesis seems more reasonable. If you want to save the atmosphere and the future, then plant trees, FOR HEAVENS SAKE: make char coal and put char coal in ground (as terra preta soil) instead of burning it. This soil enhancing technology is known since stone age. The charring still produces lots of CO2 (ca. 80% of what the tree sucked up).

Carbon negative forestry and agriculture is the future, if any. All else is ridicu-lousy tinkering of Earth detached rocket scientists.

Laurent

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Re: Better Tomorrows
« Reply #209 on: October 16, 2015, 09:41:09 AM »
You are certainly right Martin but I don't think natural processes will be enough to counter the effects of CO2.
Is that the solution, I don't know, they should tell how much CO2 has been released to make the prototype (counting everything from mining to transport). They say it does not release CO2 during the process but I doubt it seriously, here again they do not count the CO2 necessary to make the fuel they use, etc.

crandles

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Re: Better Tomorrows
« Reply #210 on: October 16, 2015, 01:06:40 PM »
You are certainly right Martin but I don't think natural processes will be enough to counter the effects of CO2.
Is that the solution, I don't know, they should tell how much CO2 has been released to make the prototype (counting everything from mining to transport). They say it does not release CO2 during the process but I doubt it seriously, here again they do not count the CO2 necessary to make the fuel they use, etc.

Prototypes are usually expensive. I don't think we should worry too much about that. It is the industrial scale equipment's carbon footprint that may well be relevant.

It is easy to say "this is not the solution". In reality a solution is likely to involve a bit of this, a bit of that, and lots of other bits.

Eg we don't have to move to 100% wind generated electricity as our only power source. We can aim for something like 40% solar, 25% wind, 20% biomass which leaves the remaining 15% from nuclear, hydro, tidal, geothermal, wave, ocean current, air captured CO2 to fuel, carbon negative forestry and agriculture, air captured CO2 to building materials, ... When there are lots of renewables like this, each one only has to do a little.

Photosynthesis is great and we are unlikely to improve on its efficiency - but it doesn't seem to work too well in deserts. There are niche areas where such things can help albeit if this is in a small way.

Not saying this air captured CO2 to fuel will work and be useful, but I don't think we should give up on trying to make such things work.

(Prototype costs: Price of first prototype LED was something ridiculous like $900,000. Would you use that as argument to cease all research into LEDs?)

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Re: Better Tomorrows
« Reply #211 on: October 16, 2015, 02:00:51 PM »
Here's something to combine technology and forestry:

Ornstein, L., I. Aleinov, and D. Rind, 2009: Irrigated afforestation of the Sahara and Australian Outback to end global warming. Climatic Change, 97, 409-437
Quote
Climatological feasibility and sustainability of such irrigated forests, and their potential global impacts are explored using a general circulation model (GCM). Biogeophysical feedback is shown to stimulate considerable rainfall over these forests, reducing desalination and irrigation costs
http://pubs.giss.nasa.gov/abs/or02000x.html
I haven't heard of this for some time. Add char coal to the soil/sand, and it holds more water and nutrients. That's why stone age cultures in Amazon and Africa did terra preta soil (resp. did not collapse because of this practise).

There was this Desertec energy proposal. Some of the surplus energy (when not bought by Europe) could be put into desalination and pumping.

Independently of this proposal there's the older African Green Belt movement and The Great Green Wall project to hold back the Sahara.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Green_Wall
http://www.sciencealert.com/africa-builds-great-green-wall-of-trees-to-improve-farmlands
https://www.thegef.org/gef/great-green-wall
----------------------------------
But me cynic has not much hope for this. It would be a serious step to avoid genosuicide. That can't be, we are Homo S Sapiens, after all: We dream of Mars colonies and tithe billions for our high priests at Wall Street.


Sigmetnow

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Re: Better Tomorrows
« Reply #212 on: October 18, 2015, 05:11:51 PM »
A Look Inside the Lowline, New York City’s First Underground Park
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It’s not an urban sci-fi fantasy: Someone is actually building a leafy underground park below Delancey Street on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. The Lowline is a plan to turn an abandoned trolley terminal there into a public green space, using special technology that pipes in sunlight beneath the street’s surface. The real deal probably won’t be ready until 2020, but this week the creators opened the Lowline Lab, a proof of concept and an experiment for seeing the ideas and tech in action. We got an early look inside.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/photo-essays/2015-10-13/inside-the-lowline-new-york-city-s-first-underground-park
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Better Tomorrows
« Reply #213 on: October 19, 2015, 09:37:47 PM »
Daily Views of Earth Available on New NASA Website
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NASA launched a new website Monday so the world can see images of the full, sunlit side of the Earth every day. The images are taken by a NASA camera one million miles away on the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR), a partnership between NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Air Force.

Once a day NASA will post at least a dozen new color images of Earth acquired from 12 to 36 hours earlier by NASA’s Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC). Each daily sequence of images will show the Earth as it rotates, thus revealing the whole globe over the course of a day. The new website also features an archive of EPIC images searchable by date and continent.
Article: http://www.nasa.gov/press-release/daily-views-of-earth-available-on-new-nasa-website
Image website:  http://epic.gsfc.nasa.gov
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Laurent

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Re: Better Tomorrows
« Reply #214 on: October 26, 2015, 08:20:09 PM »
May we could try to reorganize things ?

Reinventing Organizations

Sigmetnow

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Re: Better Tomorrows
« Reply #215 on: October 28, 2015, 02:30:48 PM »
The car even flashes messages to pedestrians and bicyclists to let them know you are yielding to them.

Nissan unveils its Intelligent Drive concept; its vision of EVs and self-driving going forward [pictures and videos]
http://electrek.co/2015/10/28/nissan-unveils-the-ids-concept-its-vision-of-evs-and-self-driving-going-forward-pictures-and-videos/

Edit: Nissan had its press briefing today for the opening of the Tokyo Motor Show 2015 and the Japan-based company reaffirmed its commitment to electric vehicles with 3 new EVs on stage, including one bare-bones K-car for "kids, who have never been in a world without the internet."
http://electrek.co/2015/10/28/watch-nissans-presentation-at-the-tokyo-motor-show-video/
« Last Edit: October 28, 2015, 05:48:19 PM by Sigmetnow »
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Better Tomorrows
« Reply #216 on: November 07, 2015, 03:32:21 PM »
Might help prevent Seasonal Affective Disorder and depression due to diminished sunlight in urban environments....

Transformer window expands into instant mini-sunroom for small apartments
http://www.treehugger.com/sustainable-product-design/more-sky-expanding-window-aldana-ferrer-garcia.html
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Better Tomorrows
« Reply #217 on: November 12, 2015, 02:34:32 PM »
I think we will be seing all sorts of tree-like "artificial trees" -- generating energy by solar and wind, and removing CO2, in our future. 

Artificial trees: How ASU scientists are hoping to slow global warming
http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/tempe/2015/11/11/artificial-trees-how-asu-scientists-hoping-reverse-global-warming-cns/75580316/
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Martin Gisser

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Re: Better Tomorrows
« Reply #218 on: November 12, 2015, 10:22:12 PM »
Oh no. Artificial trees again. Quite fashionable, isn't it? - continuing our techno(ill)logical delusions. Anybody done the CO2 balance sheet?

Take this silly stuff to your silly Mars colony, dear Homo S "Sapiens"! Here on Earth what we need is more f*en simple trees.

Sigmetnow

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Re: Better Tomorrows
« Reply #219 on: November 13, 2015, 06:57:59 PM »
Oh no. Artificial trees again. Quite fashionable, isn't it? - continuing our techno(ill)logical delusions. Anybody done the CO2 balance sheet?

Take this silly stuff to your silly Mars colony, dear Homo S "Sapiens"! Here on Earth what we need is more f*en simple trees.

Quite so:  we need more "real" trees.  But as they die off faster and faster, due to climate change, deforestation and increasing pestilence, we need to replace their helpful effects.  Constructing technology in tree-like shapes provides a psychological boost, a more natural design, and potential shelter for displaced wildlife that black boxes never will.
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Martin Gisser

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Re: Better Tomorrows
« Reply #220 on: November 29, 2015, 01:54:28 AM »
Artificial trees a psychological boost? Shelter for displaced wildlife? You sure are joking, Mr. Feynman.

Sigmetnow

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Re: Better Tomorrows
« Reply #221 on: December 09, 2015, 09:19:26 PM »
Under the dome?  ;)  Near Stockholm, this family built a greenhouse large enough to cover their entire house.

http://www.davidwolfe.com/greenhouse-home/
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Better Tomorrows
« Reply #222 on: December 22, 2015, 03:01:59 PM »
Because the future of human space endeavors has just changed forever:

Falcon 9 First Stage rocket Landing
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCBE8ocOkAQ&feature=youtu.be

Post-landing video from the Landing Zone:
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/679145544673923072

Imagine if airplanes could only be used for one flight, then had to be replaced.

SpaceX rocket landing opens 'new door' to space travel
http://news.yahoo.com/spacex-succeeds-historic-rocket-launch-landing-015405849.html

http://waitbutwhy.com/2015/12/spacex-launch-live-webcast-and-explanation-1-21-15.html
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Re: Better Tomorrows
« Reply #223 on: December 22, 2015, 04:08:05 PM »
I am a pessimist but I think our better tomorrows are behind us.

Sigmetnow

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Re: Better Tomorrows
« Reply #224 on: December 22, 2015, 04:13:11 PM »
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Better Tomorrows
« Reply #226 on: December 22, 2015, 04:16:21 PM »
And why the next generations of 3D printers will spell the end to much of the mass-production manufacturing.

Why It’s Critical for the Next Gen to Be Tech Creators Not Consumers
http://www.wired.com/brandlab/2015/12/why-its-critical-for-the-next-gen-to-be-tech-creators-not-consumers?mbid=fb_ppc_23stories_msft_consumers
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Better Tomorrows
« Reply #227 on: December 22, 2015, 07:45:27 PM »
Here's a 2-minute video of the Falcon 9 rocket landing in real time, with the SpaceX team and crowd reactions. Some shots are of the unlit second stage [engine], coasting into position to launch its 11 OrbComm satellites (which it did successfully).
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Better Tomorrows
« Reply #228 on: January 13, 2016, 09:34:20 PM »
Why can't CCS... be more like a tree?

Could artificial trees be part of the climate change solution?
Real trees are forced to work harder as more carbon is released into the atmosphere. Technology could share the load.
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/jan/12/artificial-trees-fight-climate-change
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Better Tomorrows
« Reply #229 on: February 07, 2016, 06:25:14 PM »
Quote
The other idea was the “Artificial Leaves (Exhale/Silk Leaf)” exhibit by Arborea LTD and Julian Melchiorri, which originated from the question: “What if we could build artificial forests?” These artificially designed leaves recreate the process of photosynthesis. Silk Leaf absorbs carbon dioxide and produces oxygen and organic compounds using the photosynthetic ability of stabilised chloroplasts inside the silk protein. Exhale is a new biological photo-reactor made of living algae that converts CO2 into oxygen. These leaves could be applied to household goods, urban development, and waste management. This project hopes to provide one way of bringing our society towards developing a cleaner economy.
http://blog.solarimpulse.com/post/138658608970/wef-solar-impulse-2016
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Better Tomorrows
« Reply #230 on: March 06, 2016, 04:36:43 PM »
Article and three-minute video on how cars, streets, homes and offices could interconnect, and generate and share electrical energy.

Nissan: your electric car is the fuel station of the future (video)
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1102694_nissan-your-electric-car-is-the-fuel-station-of-the-future-video
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Laurent

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Re: Better Tomorrows
« Reply #231 on: March 24, 2016, 09:44:04 AM »
Pilot plant to turn CO2 into house parts and paving stones
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2082112-pilot-plant-to-turn-co2-into-house-parts-and-paving-stones/
Quote
Taking carbon out of the atmosphere will be crucial if we are to slow the progress of climate change. As technologies to capture carbon improve, some are already thinking about what we will do with all that CO2.

Storage in geological formations underground is one option. Better yet, what if we could make useful stuff out of it, such as biofuels, plastics or building materials?

Several initiatives to explore such ideas are under way. Canadian company Carbon Engineering is combining captured CO2 with hydrogen gas to generate synthetic gasoline at its pilot plant north of Vancouver. And Newlight Technologies, based near Los Angeles, California, is using the greenhouse gas methane to manufacture plastic products such as mobile-phone cases and chairs.

Another project, starting this week, will research ways to turn CO2 into common building materials.

A pilot plant at the University of Newcastle near Sydney, Australia, will test the commercial potential of mineral carbonation. This is a process that chemically binds CO2 with calcium- or magnesium-containing minerals to form stable materials. The plant will bind CO2 with crushed serpentinite rocks to create magnesium carbonate, which can be used to produce building and construction materials such as cement, paving stones and plasterboard.
Building
Building materials made

Mineral Carbonation International

This carbonation process could be a way of “permanently and safely disposing of CO2, and making useful products in the process”, says Klaus Lackner, director of the Center for Negative Carbon Emissions at Arizona State University, Tempe, who pioneered laboratory studies of mineral carbonation.

The process happens naturally when rocks are exposed to CO2 in the air. This gradual weathering helped cut down CO2 in the ancient atmosphere to levels that were low enough for life to flourish, says Geoff Brent, senior scientist at Orica, an explosives manufacturer that will supply the pilot plant with CO2 – a by-product of its manufacture of ammonium nitrate.

But we don’t have millions of years to wait for geology to rid the atmosphere of excess carbon. “It’s about turning the natural process into a large-scale industrial process on our required time scale — which is extremely urgent,” says Brent.
Challenges ahead

There are several challenges in achieving this. Mining for serpentinite is itself energy-intensive and damaging to the environment. But Brent says an advantage is that the rock is one of the most common on Earth, and carbonation plants could be built near mining areas.

Another objection is that the carbonisation process still costs too much, whereas simply storing CO2 underground would be cheaper and require less energy.

However, Brent says that suitable underground repositories are hard to find and that carbon dioxide may escape back into the atmosphere even after being stored.

“Carbonation is more secure in the long term, because there is no danger of leakage and no need to maintain long gas pipelines and transportation infrastructure to move the CO2, since we will be obtaining it on-site,” says Brent.

And if the chemical reactions could be sped up and maintained with less heat, carbonation could become commercially competitive with underground injection storage of CO2.

“The whole point of the project is to get the price down low enough,” says Marcus Dawe, CEO of Mineral Carbonation International, the group coordinating the effort. “It is all about how we can make this economical.”

Dawe and his team are optimistic that they will make progress by the end of their initial 18-month project period, but whether their trials yield anything that can be scaled up on a meaningful level remains to be seen.

For mineral carbonation to take off, there will need to be a higher price on carbon, says Dawe, because right now “nothing is more economical than putting CO2 in the air”.

He is looking to China as one place where large-scale mineral carbonation might eventually take off. The country is developing a carbon-trading system that is expected to go into effect next year, and is also scrambling to find ways to cut emissions causing its massive urban air-pollution problem, says Dawe.

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Re: Better Tomorrows
« Reply #232 on: March 25, 2016, 12:05:49 AM »
Creating artificial life -- in a test tube.

The Mysterious Thing About a Marvelous New Synthetic Cell
Quote
Why bother? Because they ultimately want to intelligently design new life-forms from scratch—say, bacteria that can manufacture medical drugs, or algae that churn out biofuels. And creation requires understanding. “We had to start with a system where we knew and understood all the components, so that when we added specific ones to it, we could do so in a logical design way,” Venter says. They needed a minimal genome—a vanilla model that they could later kit out with deluxe accessories.

And they’ve done it. Six years after Synthia, they’ve finally unveiled their bare-bones bacterium. And in piecing together its components, they realized that they’re nowhere close to understanding them all. Of the 473 genes in their pared-down cell, 149 are completely unknown. They seem to be essential (and more on what that means later). Many of them have counterparts that are at work in your body right now, probably keeping you alive.

And they’re a total mystery.

“We’ve discovered that we don’t know a third of the basic knowledge of life,” says Venter. “We expected that maybe 5 percent of the genes would be of unknown function. We weren’t ready for 30 percent. I would have lost a very big bet.”
http://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/03/the-quest-to-make-synthetic-cells-shows-how-little-we-know-about-life/475053/
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Better Tomorrows
« Reply #233 on: April 01, 2016, 09:45:32 PM »
This New Office in Oslo, Norway Will Have Hundreds Of Spaces For Bikes—But None For Gas Cars
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When a new high-rise is built in downtown Oslo, Norway, one of the first things visitors will notice is the bikes: A massive ramp leads cyclists directly into the building, and the plate-glass windows in the lobby show off bike racks.

The building will have parking spots for 500 bicycles, along with bike repair stations, a place to wash bikes, and a shower and a place to change. There will be 10 charging stations for electric cars, but no room for conventional cars at all.
...
The roof will be plastered with 8,300 square meters of solar panels. "The slanting roof is angled toward the sun to optimize energy production from the solar panels during daylight hours," says Solaas. "It makes the architecture unique, but I guess we will see more and more roofs angled like this to take full advantage of renewable solar power."

Heat comes from a district heating system and solar thermal technology. Because the building is as efficient as possible and filled with natural light, it can easily produce more than the amount of power it needs.

The roof will also collect rain and snow. Though the final design is still under development, the idea is to capture water to irrigate plants and to recycle inside the building. The northwest facade of the building, and a cave-like atrium inside, will be covered with moss-filled panels that can act as a habitat for birds and bats. The plant-covered atrium will also help naturally cool the building in the summer and provide fresh air, while filling nearby offices with light.
http://www.fastcoexist.com/3058478/this-new-office-will-have-hundreds-of-spaces-for-bikes-but-none-for-gas-cars/1
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theoldinsane

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Re: Better Tomorrows
« Reply #234 on: April 02, 2016, 09:35:35 AM »

Sigmetnow

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Re: Better Tomorrows
« Reply #235 on: April 02, 2016, 04:28:04 PM »
This New Office in Oslo...

Heat comes from a district heating system

https://www.sintef.no/globalassets/project/cenbio/cbws/_cbws_07_district-heating-system-in-oslo-county.pdf

From that pdf:
Quote
The fossil oil share of energy supply in the district heating production in 2014 was below 1 percent.

You go, Oslo!  ;D
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Laurent

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Re: Better Tomorrows
« Reply #236 on: April 07, 2016, 09:23:13 AM »
New Crop – the vegan venture fund fighting for animal rights
http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2016/apr/06/new-crop-capital-vegetarianism-vegan-animal-rights-agriculture-usda-beyond-meat
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A collective of animal welfare activists are gaining ground with an investment fund that supports businesses developing alternatives to meat, cheese and other animal products

    Impossible foods: how startups are changing what we eat – in pictures

Sigmetnow

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Re: Better Tomorrows
« Reply #237 on: April 14, 2016, 04:42:34 PM »
Huge infographic, and an analysis reviewing Elon Musk's life and accomplishments (so far).

How Elon Musk Started
Elon Musk is now Earth’s most future-oriented person. How did such a person come to be?
Quote
Think about it: if you believe there are more opportunities ahead it doesn’t make sense to be sad about lost opportunities. It makes sense to regret only if you lost more than you might gain. Here the key is probably in what you believe is still possible. We have to assume that the window of opportunity has not closed yet. In [thinking] on this point our intuitions are often mistaken – there is no proven critical period for learning, for example.
http://fundersandfounders.com/how-elon-musk-started/
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Laurent

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Re: Better Tomorrows
« Reply #238 on: April 21, 2016, 05:56:24 PM »
Just in case someone need that information, it seems there is a lot of slash and burn in the tropic regions around the world. Peasants thinks they don't have any other choice... but there is http://www.ingafoundation.org/ certainly the Inga tree is no the only one, they could grow many other trees that way. http://www.ingafoundation.org/

Sigmetnow

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Re: Better Tomorrows
« Reply #239 on: April 23, 2016, 02:57:12 PM »
Bertrand Piccard is piloting Solar Impulse 2 over the Pacific Ocean, on a three-day flight powered only by the sun.

Quote
Bertrand Piccard:  Today is symbolic: #EarthDay2016 & @COP21en #ParisAgreement signature, while I'm flying only powered by the sun
https://twitter.com/bertrandpiccard/status/723441204034048000
Quote
Christiana Figueres:  Thanks @solarimpulse for showing how to break through self-imposed barriers of possibility  http://newsroom.unfccc.int/climate-action/solar-impulse-back-in-the-air/ 
https://twitter.com/cfigueres/status/723490708879998976
Quote
Bertrand Piccard:  #EarthDay for me is more than about protecting the environment. It is the launch of a #cleantech revolution
https://twitter.com/bertrandpiccard/status/723512051449126914
Quote
Bertrand Piccard:  Be pioneers, be adventurers, be explorers for the solutions of today. Don’t let resistance take over.
https://twitter.com/bertrandpiccard/status/723611803264139265
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Laurent

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Re: Better Tomorrows
« Reply #240 on: April 24, 2016, 07:30:15 PM »
Mushrooms, whales and hurricanes: how bio-inspiration boosts energy efficiency
http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2016/apr/24/biomimicry-nature-environment-design-engineering-energy-efficiency
Quote
his week, the Biomimicry Institute, a nonprofit dedicated to bio-inspired engineering, announced the seven finalists in its first Biomimicry Global Design Challenge. The competitors, who come from around the globe, sought to develop efficient, nature-inspired solutions to food shortages. Their solutions copy a wide array of organisms, including an agricultural drainage system based on earthworms, an edible insect harvester based on a carnivorous plant and a desalinizing water still that imitates mangrove trees.

These projects – and the rest of the Global Design Challenge competitors – have until October to develop working prototypes for their inventions. In the meantime, here are a few other bio-inspired innovations that are already changing our lives and the way we relate to nature.

Sigmetnow

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Re: Better Tomorrows
« Reply #241 on: April 27, 2016, 02:19:59 PM »
Fantastic new bridges and buildings.

A bridge too far? 11 spectacular new bridges that break the mold
http://www.cnn.com/2016/04/27/architecture/spectacular-new-bridges-that-break-the-mold/index.html
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Better Tomorrows
« Reply #242 on: May 23, 2016, 01:42:05 PM »
Wood can now be made transparent, and potentially as strong as steel.

Quote
The "invisible" wood -- as Dr. Liangbing Hu of the University's Department of Material Science and Engineering describes it -- is sturdier than traditional wood, and can be used in place of less environmentally friendly materials, such as plastics.

And in a world where modern urban architecture relies heavily on the use of glass and steel, replacing these materials with transparent, biodegradable wood could revolutionize design concepts -- as well as reduce heating costs and help to lower fuel consumption.
http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/23/architecture/clear-wood-architecture/index.html
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DoomInTheUK

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Re: Better Tomorrows
« Reply #243 on: May 23, 2016, 07:00:20 PM »
Wood can now be made transparent, and potentially as strong as steel.


....By chemically stripping the pigment and then injecting what's left with Epoxy.

Interesting, but not very environmentally friendly.

Laurent

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Re: Better Tomorrows
« Reply #244 on: May 23, 2016, 07:34:37 PM »
Not at all environmentally friendly. Is it possible to find or make some bio epoxy or is it absolutely not possible ?
http://www.shaper.fr/resin_epoxy_bio.html
To me it is a very important question for the future of humanity because if we can make things as hard as steel with biological materials without polluting the planet that would be a game changer.

Sigmetnow

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Re: Better Tomorrows
« Reply #245 on: May 25, 2016, 06:28:13 PM »
Wood can now be made transparent, and potentially as strong as steel.


....By chemically stripping the pigment and then injecting what's left with Epoxy.

Interesting, but not very environmentally friendly.

Perhaps we will soon use 3D printers to mimic wood structure, including transparent and environmentally friendly materials.  SpaceX 3D-prints rocket engine parts;  we can certainly print a wall.   :)
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DoomInTheUK

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Re: Better Tomorrows
« Reply #246 on: May 26, 2016, 09:44:52 AM »

Perhaps we will soon use 3D printers to mimic wood structure, including transparent and environmentally friendly materials.  SpaceX 3D-prints rocket engine parts;  we can certainly print a wall.   :)

Why would we 3D print 'pretend wood' when we already have .....wood.  ::)
Plywood is already stronger than steel (weight for weight). The only novelty here is that it can made transparent....oh there's glass or perspex for that. It's a novelty that comes under the "yes we can, but why would we bother" category. :-\

Sigmetnow

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Re: Better Tomorrows
« Reply #247 on: May 26, 2016, 02:43:00 PM »

Perhaps we will soon use 3D printers to mimic wood structure, including transparent and environmentally friendly materials.  SpaceX 3D-prints rocket engine parts;  we can certainly print a wall.   :)

Why would we 3D print 'pretend wood' when we already have .....wood.  ::)
Plywood is already stronger than steel (weight for weight). The only novelty here is that it can made transparent....oh there's glass or perspex for that. It's a novelty that comes under the "yes we can, but why would we bother" category. :-\

Because trees are better used for other things, like saving the planet!   8)

Besides being able to make the exact product you need (like glass that's stronger than steel), 3D printing could be done where it is needed, avoiding the need to: trash forest ecosystems, burn fuel and energy extracting the trees, transporting them to a mill, sawing the wood, processing it into plywood, transporting it....  Not to mention the health effects of formaldehyde from plywood. 

Just because we've always done things a certain way, doesn't make it the best way.
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DoomInTheUK

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Re: Better Tomorrows
« Reply #248 on: May 26, 2016, 06:07:09 PM »
True, trees are good at saving the planet...more so when growing rather than when they've reached maturity.

I'd not considered the printing on location issue - a valid point.

I'd say that the new material would have to have some pretty good properties to make it more suitable than the existing ones. There are some good reasons why the existing materials have been around a while. Just being new isn't a valid reason.

I suspect it will make an appearance in very niche markets (a bit like carbon fibre).

Sigmetnow

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Re: Better Tomorrows
« Reply #249 on: June 02, 2016, 01:52:41 PM »
Make building standards top priority for tackling climate change, says IEA chief
Quote
In the developing world, and even some richer countries, building standards are often lax and frequently ignored. This has led to tragedies such as the collapse of the Rana Plaza factories in Bangladesh in 2013, which killed more than 1,100 people and injured thousands more. Just weeks ago, more than 50 people died as an illegal apartment building in Nairobi fell down.

If higher standards were enforced, not only would people benefit from greater reassurances against such needless disasters, but the buildings would use less energy and this giant source of carbon emissions would be vastly reduced, according to the IEA. Better windows, more efficient air conditioning systems, thicker walls and higher quality of materials and design would all result in efficiency savings, and make life healthier and more pleasant for the buildings’ occupants.
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/jun/01/make-building-standards-top-priority-for-tackling-climate-change-says-iea-chief
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