Genius Now » Resilience

Infrastructure Costs and Trends.

Greg — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 04:41:57 +0000

We won’t have the money or cheap energy needed to fix this slowly collapsing legacy of steel, concrete, and macadam. We will fill the potholes, and rebuild the occasional bridge, but we are going to have to imagine new transportation and energy approaches that leave the current infrastructure to fall down.

via Our Failing Infrastructure | Underpaid Genius.

Stowe Boyd has some solid thoughts on our infrastructure situation. The issue goes beyond transportation and energy, though they attract most of the attention. Water supplies, drainage, and flood control are equally vulnerable to deterioration – and our national water systems are in notably poor shape. Certainly conservation can help, and while “smart” materials can also help in terms of future utility, so can some older tech.

This comes at a time when a leading Republican candidate for President says she believes the states should be responsible for repairs. It’s hard not to read that as indicating that infrastructure spending will continue to be blocked at the national level.

At the same time, there is increasing pressure on cash-strapped municipalities to privatize their infrastructure, as Dylan Ratigan has reported so well. It’s not unreasonable to assume that, absent Federal funds, these sales will tend to occur in the net-deficit states. Many of which, not so coincidentally, are more dependent on transportation, flood control, and energy infrastructure than most of the rest of the country.

The privatization trend is about as non-resilient economically for a region as it can get. Private investment is designed to make a profit, and that means additional funds flowing out of the region, rather than being reinvested locally. At best, this makes a region marginally poorer – at worst, it turns it into an economic colony. Any municipal region in these circumstances needs to think hard about how to deal with the likely fallout in the near future.

No related posts.

Solar installations and Numbers.

Greg — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 22:16:00 +0000

“In 2005, California represented 80% of the U.S. solar market; today, it’s only 30%. According to a recent report from GTM Research and the Solar Energy Industries Association, East Coast markets – lead by New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Florida and North Carolina – installed more solar than California in 2010.” - renewableenergyworld.com

Except the graphic to the left is from the report they referenced. It’s not that each of those markets is growing faster than California – it’s that altogether they FINALLY are.

A bit depressing that Dixie is still nearly solar-free, and New Mexico is not taking advantage of one of the few renewable assets it has to the degree it should. Poor states don’t do solar, apparently.

http://www.blogdash.com/publication/blog_claim/blog_claim.png?s=e671626c0d5d7b6432f0ea034d3ed877

No related posts.

Container Architecture Exhibit

Greg — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 17:55:32 +0000

Very nifty stuff – click the main image for a slideshow. Although the bridge itself is provacative.

The response was overwhelming. Submissions included not only existing container buildings, but also new designs that were created specially for the exhibition: original, practicable, fictitious, sensible, fantastic, minimalist, exotic, pragmatic, futuristic—the breadth of submissions was very wide. Two dozen of these designs have been reconstructed as models on a scale of 1:5 for the ‘Container Architecture’ exhibition; the highest of the models breaks through the ceiling of the museum. Over 100 designs were submitted for consideration and every one of them will be included in a frieze of pictures running around the walls of the exhibition space. A catalogue of the exhibition will be published.

No related posts.

Fields of Windstalks

Greg — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 00:38:31 +0000

The Windstalk remains a concept, although its creators say that “It is based on a set of systems that already exist and work.” No word on how much energy a field of Windstalks could create, but we’re guessing it requires a lot of land to generate a significant amount of power. Source: Inhabitat and The Land Art Generator Initiative Second Place Mention from the Jury

via The Land Art Generator Initiative: Fields of Windstalks Harvest Kinetic Energy From the Wind.

No related posts.

A random meeting

Greg — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 21:04:04 +0000

Had an excellent discussion with Dr Garcia on Sunday, ranging from funny (tactical strollers on airplanes) to serious (funding and approaches to increasing the visibility and quality of some college departments in the state). I’m quite sure he had no idea he was talking to a former New Mexico political blogger who had some influence 5 years ago, just some guy from San Francisco with opinions wearing a black leather hat. Politics aside, he’s an excellent listener and thoughtful individual. It was a genuine pleasure meeting him.

New Mexico Secretary of Higher Education

Jose Z. Garcia has been on the faculty at New Mexico State University for more than three decades. He has conducted research and lectured throughout Latin America, specializing in questions of political instability. Dr. Garcia directed the Center for Latin American and Border Studies at NMSU for 13 years.

World Water Day

Greg — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 14:35:40 +0000

The issues around water will continue to deepen. This article for World Water Day assesses global progress towards the goals for 2015. While drinking water is on track, sanitation is lagging very badly.

Water has long been the poor relation in the sustainable development family. Although diarrhea caused by dirty water is the second biggest killer of children under five, funding for water and sanitation declined from an already low 8% of total development assistance to just 5% between 1997 and 2008, according to a 2010 UN report. And most of that does not go to the world’s poorest countries, or people. Providing water and basic sanitation to those most in need clearly remains a low political priority. But without it communities will never escape poverty, and money spent on other sectors, such as education and health, may ultimately be in vain.

Turning the Tides on World Water Day.

No related posts.

Cheap catalyst made easy

Greg — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 13:51:17 +0000

(Case Western Reserve University) Catalysts made of carbon nanotubes dipped in a polymer solution equal the energy output and otherwise outperform platinum catalysts in fuel cells, a team of Case Western Reserve University engineers has found.

‎”But already they’ve proved the simple technique can knock down one of the major roadblocks to fuel cell use: cost.

Platinum, which represents at least a quarter of the cost of fuel cells, currently sells for about $65,000 per kilogram. These researchers say their activated carbon nanotubes cost about $100 per kilogram.”

Sourced from: EurekAlert! – Chemistry, Physics and Materials Sciences

No related posts.

Pump And Dump’ Botnet Scheme

Greg — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 07:02:05 +0000

Authorities said a group used hacking, spam, and malware to artificially inflate securities prices and then sell shares at a profit.

“According to the indictment, Rad and Bragg used the botnets — designed to evade anti-spam controls — to blast millions of emails to people touting the stocks… further hacked into the brokerage accounts of unsuspecting third parties, liquidated the existing holdings, and used the balance to trade in a particular stock…prearranged trades to make it look like there was an active market for the stock”

Feds Bust Stock ‘Pump And Dump’ Botnet Scheme — InformationWeek

No related posts.

Serbia: Returning Gratitude for the Japanese Donations

Greg — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 06:50:51 +0000

Written by Sasa Milosevic

This post is part of our special coverage Japan Earthquake 2011.

There’s an old Serbian saying that goes like this: “Make good things and hope for the good things.” These days, this traditional folk wisdom is being confirmed in practice.

At the moment when Japan faces an unprecedented tragedy, Serbian people express their solidarity in many ways, returning their gratitude for the donations that the Japanese government has been providing to Serbia since 1999. They have not forgotten the Japanese POPOS grants, which covered the basic and urgent needs of the Serbian population: health care, primary education, poverty reduction, social and environmental protection, and general well-being. The latest Japanese donations were given in March 2011. Despite its own horrible situation, the government of Japan donated $125,000 to the Serbian towns of Vlasotince and Sokobanja, to support the improvement of environmental services in Serbia. This month, the Japanese government also donated 77,943 euro to Paraplegic Association of Banat, Srem and the Center of Social Work in Paracin.

Respecting the fact that all of these funds (more than 200 million euro in total) were raised from taxpayers of Japan, Serbian citizens feel the need to return the gratitude to the friendly people of the Far East.

No related posts.

Potential issue – radioactive soil and water pollution.

Greg — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 20:46:39 +0000

Najmedin Meshkati, a nuclear and environmental expert at the University of Southern California Los Angeles, said the measures were necessary but raised a fresh, and serious, concern.

‘Where does the sea water drain?’ he asked. ‘This is now radioactive waste water. Has there been any measurement of its radiation effect?

‘I am interested to know how this water is being disposed, if it is being disposed or just allowed to drain to sea. That is the hidden part of this catastrophe.’

This is, indeed, a hidden part of the disaster. Another issue is the land itself – if the soil is or has been saturated with seawater since the tsunami, particles can disperse horizontally in a much wider area than the plant.

No related posts.