Toronto media covering demonstrations outside Maple Leaf Gardens last Saturday focussed on a large one staged by teachers, but several who attended an earlier one against wind turbines describe it as a huge success.
For one, Lorrie Gillis of Grey Highlands, who chairs the area Ontario Wind Resistance group, said there has been a lot of positive feedback since the event. She says the two protests complemented each other and many from each group participated in both gatherings outside the scene of the Ontario Liberal leadership convention.
Sherri Lange of North America Platform Against Windpower (NAPAW) said “a couple” of Toronto schools have asked to have representatives of the anti-turbine groups to speak to their students.
It isn’t known how much, if any, effect the estimated 20,000-30,000 in the combined rallies will have had on newly elected Liberal Leader Kathleen Wynne. Her victory statement was to the effect that her government would act in a spirit of co-operation rather than confrontation with the opposition parties, and also that the Liberals would build on outgoing Premier Dalton McGuinty’s programs.
That might be a tough row to hoe. Progressive Conservative leader Tim Hudak has vowed to scrap the Green Energy Act, and to place less reliance on wind. NDP leader Andrea Horwath is likely to be in agreement with the teachers’ arguments against Bill 115.
Some are predicting an early election despite Ms. Wynne’s aversion to one, and despite her popularity among elected members of all political stripes. There’s even speculation that Ms. Horwath’s NDP would win an early election.
NAPAW organized the anti-turbine rally. In their quest for protesters, they took a cue from a childhood rhyme and called it a massive “Pants on Fire protest.” Their poster and web posting called for the resignation of Dr. Arlene King as the provincial medical officer of health, and a public inquiry into her findings on wind turbines’ health effects.
Also just ahead of the rallies, NextEra Energy, had removed or relocated a bald eagle’s nest at Fisherville in Haldimand County on Dec. 31. NAPAW said the move was done with the required but fast-tracked permission of the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) over the advice of “the chief monitor of the bald eagle nesting program in southern Ontario, who told the MNR that the nest should be left alone and the turbines relocated elsewhere, and leaving no opportunity for objection from anyone else.”
As a symbol of concerns for the various endangered species that might be affected by turbines, the Watermann family of Norfolk County had brought along their adopted bald eagle, which they named Huxa when they acquired him from a Manitoba sanctuary several years ago.
Huxa became an immediate hit at the rally as a sort of silent protester. He had been invited as a special participant of sorts by NAPAW and Ontario Windpower Resistance, who supplied the Citizen with a photo.
Meantime, on the other side of the bald eagle story, Jutta Splettstoesser of Friends of Wind Ontario says the nest removed by NextEra was a “fall nest” that had never been used.
“In the news it was left out that the fall nest was incomplete and never used yet. It will be replaced by five platforms that are successfully used, according to studies. Also eagle monitoring programs are being put in place by the developer,” she said in an email.
2013年1月31日 星期四
2013年1月30日 星期三
Surprising tools of gunmaking
Amateur gunsmiths have made lower receivers for years, in metal, although the process requires a certain level of machining expertise. Inexpensive 3-D printers have grown in popularity — their rise has been compared with that of personal computers in the 1980s — in part because they are easy to use. It is not even necessary to know how to create the design files that instruct the device to print bit after bit of plastic to build the object, as there are files for tens of thousands of objects available on the Internet, created by other users and freely shared.
Still, some tinkering is usually required. Guslick, who works in information technology and describes himself as a hobbyist gunsmith, printed his receiver on a machine he bought online through Craigslist. He used a file and abrasive paper to make the piece fit properly, but overall the project was not much of a technical challenge.
Only Wilson, a law student who prints his receivers on friends' machines, had overtly political motives, wanting to demonstrate what he called the absurdity of gun-control laws. He took his efforts even further, printing high-capacity magazines like those that would be banned under recommendations proposed by President Barack Obama and successfully testing them earlier this month on a firing range south of Austin. He has posted the drawing files at his website, defcad.org, so that others can print the magazine.
Wilson also has a project to develop a fully printable one-shot weapon, although he has not made much progress. He is seeking a firearms manufacturer's license, which he would need to even make prototypes of a complete weapon.
He gets advice and technical help from a loose network of about 15 collaborators around the world and has posted other printer files at his site, including Guslick's file for a lower receiver.
Baetzel posted his files on his own blog, Ambulatory Armament Depot, after a printer file-sharing site, Thingiverse, forced him to remove them in December. A spokeswoman for MakerBot, a 3-D printer manufacturer that sponsors Thingiverse, pointed out that the site's terms of service prohibit content that "contributes to the creation of weapons."
Guslick, who is machining a couple of metal lower receivers, said 3-D printers were far from the best tool for gun-making, an opinion shared by Neil Gershenfeld, a professor at MIT and director of the school's Center for Bits and Atoms.
"A well-equipped machine shop for a long time has been able to make gun parts," Gershenfeld said. "Three-D printers make not very good ones."
The types of computer-controlled tools found in a machine shop — primarily laser cutters and milling machines — are expensive. But smaller and cheaper versions are now available to dedicated hobbyists, although they do not yet have quite the mass appeal of 3-D printers.
Yet the printers have other drawbacks besides the use of plastic. They are slow, often taking hours to build an object, and the results, while impressive to the eye, can be too crude for extremely closefitting parts.
And as Guslick pointed out, anyone who is desperate for a weapon "has the ability to assemble a zip gun from parts bought in a hardware store for $15."
The National Rifle Association did not respond to messages requesting the group's position on 3-D manufacturing. But for gun-control advocates, the real worry regarding 3-D printers and other machines is what the future might bring in the way of technological advances.
"Down the road it's going to be a big concern," said Josh Horwitz, executive director of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence. "We don't know how that's going to come about and don't know what technology."
Baetzel, for one, said he did not worry about what other people might do with the technology. "I follow the laws," he said. "I personally think everyone else should follow them." He said he did not post his designs hoping that someone would use them illegally.
Still, some tinkering is usually required. Guslick, who works in information technology and describes himself as a hobbyist gunsmith, printed his receiver on a machine he bought online through Craigslist. He used a file and abrasive paper to make the piece fit properly, but overall the project was not much of a technical challenge.
Only Wilson, a law student who prints his receivers on friends' machines, had overtly political motives, wanting to demonstrate what he called the absurdity of gun-control laws. He took his efforts even further, printing high-capacity magazines like those that would be banned under recommendations proposed by President Barack Obama and successfully testing them earlier this month on a firing range south of Austin. He has posted the drawing files at his website, defcad.org, so that others can print the magazine.
Wilson also has a project to develop a fully printable one-shot weapon, although he has not made much progress. He is seeking a firearms manufacturer's license, which he would need to even make prototypes of a complete weapon.
He gets advice and technical help from a loose network of about 15 collaborators around the world and has posted other printer files at his site, including Guslick's file for a lower receiver.
Baetzel posted his files on his own blog, Ambulatory Armament Depot, after a printer file-sharing site, Thingiverse, forced him to remove them in December. A spokeswoman for MakerBot, a 3-D printer manufacturer that sponsors Thingiverse, pointed out that the site's terms of service prohibit content that "contributes to the creation of weapons."
Guslick, who is machining a couple of metal lower receivers, said 3-D printers were far from the best tool for gun-making, an opinion shared by Neil Gershenfeld, a professor at MIT and director of the school's Center for Bits and Atoms.
"A well-equipped machine shop for a long time has been able to make gun parts," Gershenfeld said. "Three-D printers make not very good ones."
The types of computer-controlled tools found in a machine shop — primarily laser cutters and milling machines — are expensive. But smaller and cheaper versions are now available to dedicated hobbyists, although they do not yet have quite the mass appeal of 3-D printers.
Yet the printers have other drawbacks besides the use of plastic. They are slow, often taking hours to build an object, and the results, while impressive to the eye, can be too crude for extremely closefitting parts.
And as Guslick pointed out, anyone who is desperate for a weapon "has the ability to assemble a zip gun from parts bought in a hardware store for $15."
The National Rifle Association did not respond to messages requesting the group's position on 3-D manufacturing. But for gun-control advocates, the real worry regarding 3-D printers and other machines is what the future might bring in the way of technological advances.
"Down the road it's going to be a big concern," said Josh Horwitz, executive director of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence. "We don't know how that's going to come about and don't know what technology."
Baetzel, for one, said he did not worry about what other people might do with the technology. "I follow the laws," he said. "I personally think everyone else should follow them." He said he did not post his designs hoping that someone would use them illegally.
2013年1月29日 星期二
Can wind farm developers halt the 'march of the buffer zones'?
Renewable energy developers are hoping the government will prevent a growing number of county councils from imposing wind farm buffer zones, which could severely restrict developments across the country.
Buffer zones are designed to prevent turbines from being installed too close to people's homes, but developers fear that stringent restrictions could effectively block the development of wind farms in potentially suitable locations.
At least eight local authorities in England either already have formal buffer zones in place or are seeking to mark out areas of up to two kilometres around residential properties where turbines cannot be built.
Lincolnshire County Council is among those seeking a buffer zone of 700 metres, and South Cambridgeshire has consulted on a 2km restriction, while Hampshire last week confirmed a blanket ban on new wind farms built on council land.
Stratford on Avon District Council, Northumberland County Council, Cherwell District Council, Wiltshire Council, Milton Keynes and Rutland also have buffer zones planned or imposed already.
Meanwhile, the Scottish Conservative Party yesterday launched a report calling for councils to be given the power to end the "march of the wind farms".
The wide-ranging paper, says councils should have to power to impose a one year moratorium on new wind turbine developments in Scotland, and encourages them to enforce existing planning guidance restricting wind farms that are closer than 2km to residential areas.
The document also calls for a 50 per cent cut in the subsidy for onshore wind farms and greater "local democracy" in planning decisions, at the same time as calling for more investment in shale gas exploration and nuclear power plants.
However, renewable energy developers have warned that buffer zones are too blunt a tool for ensuring governments strike the right balance between encouraging renewable energy generation and giving communities a voice.
Jenny Hogan, director of policy for Scottish Renewables, pointed out that the Scottish Government's existing 2km guideline was designed to ensure that each wind farm application was judged on its own merits.
"The 2km proposal is a guideline and not a rule," she said. "This is an important distinction because it's imperative that communities, developers and decision makers are given the opportunity to make the case for or against any application. This avoids recommendations being made on the basis of imposed rules which may not be relevant to local circumstances."
Jennifer Webber, of RenewableUK, also warned that proposals for buffer zones across the UK were creating uncertainty among both developers and their suppliers over the future of wind energy in certain regions.
RWE has already threatened Milton Keynes with legal action over the council's decision to increase an existing 350m buffer zone to 600m-1km zone depending on the size of the turbine.
The utility, which has two wind farms that could fall in the new buffer zone, maintains the proposed rules clash with national guidance that sets out the need for renewable energy, as well as Milton Keynes Council's own existing policies on wind energy.
Developers are now hoping that the Planning Inspectorate will refuse to give the go-ahead to new buffer zones, when local authorities submit their Local Plans for approval in March.
Buffer zones are designed to prevent turbines from being installed too close to people's homes, but developers fear that stringent restrictions could effectively block the development of wind farms in potentially suitable locations.
At least eight local authorities in England either already have formal buffer zones in place or are seeking to mark out areas of up to two kilometres around residential properties where turbines cannot be built.
Lincolnshire County Council is among those seeking a buffer zone of 700 metres, and South Cambridgeshire has consulted on a 2km restriction, while Hampshire last week confirmed a blanket ban on new wind farms built on council land.
Stratford on Avon District Council, Northumberland County Council, Cherwell District Council, Wiltshire Council, Milton Keynes and Rutland also have buffer zones planned or imposed already.
Meanwhile, the Scottish Conservative Party yesterday launched a report calling for councils to be given the power to end the "march of the wind farms".
The wide-ranging paper, says councils should have to power to impose a one year moratorium on new wind turbine developments in Scotland, and encourages them to enforce existing planning guidance restricting wind farms that are closer than 2km to residential areas.
The document also calls for a 50 per cent cut in the subsidy for onshore wind farms and greater "local democracy" in planning decisions, at the same time as calling for more investment in shale gas exploration and nuclear power plants.
However, renewable energy developers have warned that buffer zones are too blunt a tool for ensuring governments strike the right balance between encouraging renewable energy generation and giving communities a voice.
Jenny Hogan, director of policy for Scottish Renewables, pointed out that the Scottish Government's existing 2km guideline was designed to ensure that each wind farm application was judged on its own merits.
"The 2km proposal is a guideline and not a rule," she said. "This is an important distinction because it's imperative that communities, developers and decision makers are given the opportunity to make the case for or against any application. This avoids recommendations being made on the basis of imposed rules which may not be relevant to local circumstances."
Jennifer Webber, of RenewableUK, also warned that proposals for buffer zones across the UK were creating uncertainty among both developers and their suppliers over the future of wind energy in certain regions.
RWE has already threatened Milton Keynes with legal action over the council's decision to increase an existing 350m buffer zone to 600m-1km zone depending on the size of the turbine.
The utility, which has two wind farms that could fall in the new buffer zone, maintains the proposed rules clash with national guidance that sets out the need for renewable energy, as well as Milton Keynes Council's own existing policies on wind energy.
Developers are now hoping that the Planning Inspectorate will refuse to give the go-ahead to new buffer zones, when local authorities submit their Local Plans for approval in March.
2013年1月27日 星期日
Wind farm plants
Texas lawmakers touring the state stopped in Harlingen Saturday to get a first-hand tour of a company that is recycling old tires into useful products.
Earlier in the day, the tour made its first-ever stop in Willacy County, where it visited a wind farm facility and was joined by U.S. Sen. John Cornyn.
In Harlingen, members of the 19th Texas Legislative Tour, including lawmakers and staff members, visited Tire Recycling & Processing, which began operations last summer.
State Rep. Ryan Guillen, D-Rio Grande City, asked Marta Martinez, vice president of the company, “When we change our tires, where do the old tires go?”
Martinez said that, too often, tires have gone into landfills or are buried underground. But now, with the help of German technology, the company is recycling the tires into useful products, she said.
The company, at 1309 Industrial Way, produces crumb rubber, which is used for asphalt, synthetic grass and other products. Steel salvaged from tires is sent to Mexico for smelting and recycled into new products, she said.
Martinez explained how scrubbers are used to control air pollution from the plant. Gases captured from the process are either used for energy in the plant or are sold, she said.
The company produces biofuel, material for road paving, fiber for auto seats, material for printer ink and foam rubber, she said. Her company wants to build more plants like the one in Harlingen, Martinez said.
The tour continues today with visits to the Regional Academic Health Center in Harlingen and Marine Military Academy. State Rep. Armando Martinez, D-Weslaco, said he will visit the RAHC while on the tour.
His office is focusing on the high number of Medicaid patients in the Valley, funding for health care, the Medicare program changes causing local pharmacies to close and transpiration issues, Martinez said.
In Willacy County, state legislators toured a Duke Energy wind farm turbine facility. U.S. Rep. Filemon Vela, D-Brownsville, and other lawmakers accompanied Cornyn to a program at the Willacy County Historical Museum in Raymondville.
Speaking at that event, Cornyn said maximizing oil shale and wind energy will help Texas to continue leading the nation in creating jobs.
Although oil shale drilling is centered northwest of the Rio Grande Valley, there is a lot of potential benefit to the whole state to be derived from horizontal drilling to tap into that resource, Cornyn said. Oil shale is adding $358 million annually to state coffers and 27,000 jobs, he said.
The profit potential in wind energy is evidenced by the many wind turbines he saw while riding through Willacy County, the senator said.
“The challenge, of course, is the infrastructure pressure,” Cornyn said. “Money is always the issue and we have to decide how to prioritize,” he said.
Schools, colleges, universities, hospitals and better roads and bridges are needed to meet the demands of the future, Cornyn said. Education must be supported through institutions such as Texas State Technical College, South Texas College, University of Texas at Brownsville and Southmost College and UT-Pan American, he said.
The lack of an interstate highway has held back development and job growth in the Valley, but the effort to build Interstate 69 will meet that challenge, Cornyn said.
Problems of Willacy County, the Valley and Texas won’t be solved with quick fixes, Cornyn said.“I think we’ve got a lot of challenges ahead of us,” he said.
During a break, Vela said construction of wind turbines will continue. He knows of several pending permits in the Kleberg County area, he said. Tension with Mexico over water rights is critical, Vela said. “We’re taking a very close look at the 1944 water treaty,” he said.
Border security and the drug war in Mexico are also a great concern, Vela said. A program to assist training Mexican troops in use of high-tech surveillance gear is being approved, he said.
Earlier in the day, the tour made its first-ever stop in Willacy County, where it visited a wind farm facility and was joined by U.S. Sen. John Cornyn.
In Harlingen, members of the 19th Texas Legislative Tour, including lawmakers and staff members, visited Tire Recycling & Processing, which began operations last summer.
State Rep. Ryan Guillen, D-Rio Grande City, asked Marta Martinez, vice president of the company, “When we change our tires, where do the old tires go?”
Martinez said that, too often, tires have gone into landfills or are buried underground. But now, with the help of German technology, the company is recycling the tires into useful products, she said.
The company, at 1309 Industrial Way, produces crumb rubber, which is used for asphalt, synthetic grass and other products. Steel salvaged from tires is sent to Mexico for smelting and recycled into new products, she said.
Martinez explained how scrubbers are used to control air pollution from the plant. Gases captured from the process are either used for energy in the plant or are sold, she said.
The company produces biofuel, material for road paving, fiber for auto seats, material for printer ink and foam rubber, she said. Her company wants to build more plants like the one in Harlingen, Martinez said.
The tour continues today with visits to the Regional Academic Health Center in Harlingen and Marine Military Academy. State Rep. Armando Martinez, D-Weslaco, said he will visit the RAHC while on the tour.
His office is focusing on the high number of Medicaid patients in the Valley, funding for health care, the Medicare program changes causing local pharmacies to close and transpiration issues, Martinez said.
In Willacy County, state legislators toured a Duke Energy wind farm turbine facility. U.S. Rep. Filemon Vela, D-Brownsville, and other lawmakers accompanied Cornyn to a program at the Willacy County Historical Museum in Raymondville.
Speaking at that event, Cornyn said maximizing oil shale and wind energy will help Texas to continue leading the nation in creating jobs.
Although oil shale drilling is centered northwest of the Rio Grande Valley, there is a lot of potential benefit to the whole state to be derived from horizontal drilling to tap into that resource, Cornyn said. Oil shale is adding $358 million annually to state coffers and 27,000 jobs, he said.
The profit potential in wind energy is evidenced by the many wind turbines he saw while riding through Willacy County, the senator said.
“The challenge, of course, is the infrastructure pressure,” Cornyn said. “Money is always the issue and we have to decide how to prioritize,” he said.
Schools, colleges, universities, hospitals and better roads and bridges are needed to meet the demands of the future, Cornyn said. Education must be supported through institutions such as Texas State Technical College, South Texas College, University of Texas at Brownsville and Southmost College and UT-Pan American, he said.
The lack of an interstate highway has held back development and job growth in the Valley, but the effort to build Interstate 69 will meet that challenge, Cornyn said.
Problems of Willacy County, the Valley and Texas won’t be solved with quick fixes, Cornyn said.“I think we’ve got a lot of challenges ahead of us,” he said.
During a break, Vela said construction of wind turbines will continue. He knows of several pending permits in the Kleberg County area, he said. Tension with Mexico over water rights is critical, Vela said. “We’re taking a very close look at the 1944 water treaty,” he said.
Border security and the drug war in Mexico are also a great concern, Vela said. A program to assist training Mexican troops in use of high-tech surveillance gear is being approved, he said.
2013年1月24日 星期四
Wind turbines 'could interfere with weather forecasts'
It has objected that interference from the dozens of giant blades would lead to "false warnings of severe and hazardous weather being issued", while heavy rainfall and flood alerts could be missed, according to a newspaper.
The agency has written to planning authorities to register opposition to plans to erect more than 20 turbines at a mountainous site in Wales near one of its weather stations.
It said that the 400ft constructions could reflect the electromagnetic waves emitted by radar, creating "clutter" which can interfere with the accuracy of readings of atmospheric conditions.
The Met Office has lodged objections to proposals for the wind farm at Llanllwni, Carmarthenshire, which is currently under appeal, according to the Daily Mail.
It is also expected to fight plans for a 28-turbine site at Brechfa, which will go before planners in March. The sites are both a few miles from a weather radar at Crug-Y-Gorllwyn in Carmarthenshire, which gives coverage for south and west Wales.
The Met Office argued that analysis of the June flooding close to Aberystwyth showed the adverse effect that another wind farm, 14 miles away from the same radar, had on the accuracy of rain forecasts.
A spokesman said: "Weather radar is the only means currently available for monitoring in real time the location and intensity of a range of weather hazards, including rain, hail and snow. "Clutter from wind turbines can lead to false warnings of severe and hazardous weather being issued.
"Another risk is the potential for missed warnings where either rainfall returns are obscured either by clutter or because more aggressive quality control, developed to try to mitigate wind farm clutter, can have the side effect of deleting real rainfall signals." It is the latest skirmish in the battle over wind farms, an issue which has split the Coalition.
Greg Barker, the climate change minister, has said they can be "wonderful" and "majestic" but his energy minister John Hayes has promised to "protect England's green and pleasant land" from them. A study in November found that wind farm noise causes "clear and significant" damage to people's sleep and mental health.
"Ireland has the potential to generate far more wind energy than we could consume domestically," Mr Rabbitte said. "The opportunity to export this green power presents an opportunity for employment growth and export earnings which we must seize if we can."
Millions of British homes will be powered by clean electricity exported from Ireland following an agreement that could secure the State billions in UK investments.
The Irish Wind Energy Association (IWEA) estimated that up to 30,000 jobs could be created across the country by 2020. According to the Department of Energy, the construction phase of a 3,000 megawatt project alone could create up to 6,000 jobs.
The 80 megawatt Mount Lucas windfarm, one of the biggest in Ireland and the UK, will be just one of a string of clean energy hubs that could export its wind energy across the Irish Sea. IWEA chief executive Kenneth Matthews said Ireland stands to become a major renewable energy exporter.
"The electricity sector is on the cusp of transformational change with renewables and wind energy at the heart of it," Mr Matthews said. "Efficient use of existing and new interconnectors to increase our ability to integrate wind energy and to export surplus wind-generated electricity will be central to this transition."
The agency has written to planning authorities to register opposition to plans to erect more than 20 turbines at a mountainous site in Wales near one of its weather stations.
It said that the 400ft constructions could reflect the electromagnetic waves emitted by radar, creating "clutter" which can interfere with the accuracy of readings of atmospheric conditions.
The Met Office has lodged objections to proposals for the wind farm at Llanllwni, Carmarthenshire, which is currently under appeal, according to the Daily Mail.
It is also expected to fight plans for a 28-turbine site at Brechfa, which will go before planners in March. The sites are both a few miles from a weather radar at Crug-Y-Gorllwyn in Carmarthenshire, which gives coverage for south and west Wales.
The Met Office argued that analysis of the June flooding close to Aberystwyth showed the adverse effect that another wind farm, 14 miles away from the same radar, had on the accuracy of rain forecasts.
A spokesman said: "Weather radar is the only means currently available for monitoring in real time the location and intensity of a range of weather hazards, including rain, hail and snow. "Clutter from wind turbines can lead to false warnings of severe and hazardous weather being issued.
"Another risk is the potential for missed warnings where either rainfall returns are obscured either by clutter or because more aggressive quality control, developed to try to mitigate wind farm clutter, can have the side effect of deleting real rainfall signals." It is the latest skirmish in the battle over wind farms, an issue which has split the Coalition.
Greg Barker, the climate change minister, has said they can be "wonderful" and "majestic" but his energy minister John Hayes has promised to "protect England's green and pleasant land" from them. A study in November found that wind farm noise causes "clear and significant" damage to people's sleep and mental health.
"Ireland has the potential to generate far more wind energy than we could consume domestically," Mr Rabbitte said. "The opportunity to export this green power presents an opportunity for employment growth and export earnings which we must seize if we can."
Millions of British homes will be powered by clean electricity exported from Ireland following an agreement that could secure the State billions in UK investments.
The Irish Wind Energy Association (IWEA) estimated that up to 30,000 jobs could be created across the country by 2020. According to the Department of Energy, the construction phase of a 3,000 megawatt project alone could create up to 6,000 jobs.
The 80 megawatt Mount Lucas windfarm, one of the biggest in Ireland and the UK, will be just one of a string of clean energy hubs that could export its wind energy across the Irish Sea. IWEA chief executive Kenneth Matthews said Ireland stands to become a major renewable energy exporter.
"The electricity sector is on the cusp of transformational change with renewables and wind energy at the heart of it," Mr Matthews said. "Efficient use of existing and new interconnectors to increase our ability to integrate wind energy and to export surplus wind-generated electricity will be central to this transition."
2013年1月23日 星期三
Whitehall's border bullies are driving overseas students away
When the Afghanistan veteran Mark Sedwill takes over as permanent secretary at the Home Office next month, his experience opposing the Taliban may help him deal with a scandal that must surely be at the top of his in-tray. The Home Office crackdown on immigration, laudable in itself, is being run in a way reminiscent of the Stasi when it comes to foreign students.
Tales are growing of the UK Border Agency’s bullying and its use of bureaucracy as a weapon against foreign students and our universities. Overseas students coming to this country are worth an estimated 8 billion a year to our economy, but academics say the agency’s hostile attitude is drying up the numbers – the total from India alone was down by nearly a quarter last year. Restrictions and regulations worthy of Kafka are damaging Britain’s reputation abroad and crippling private sector colleges.
The Foreign Office and the Business Department are privately dismayed at the Home Office’s insistence on cutting immigrant numbers, regardless of the cost to Britain in economic or reputational terms. So welcome to Whitehall, Mr Sedwill – Whitehall at its worst.
It is the crudeness of the agency’s tactics that is shocking. PhD students coming back here to do a viva – a short oral examination vital for their doctorates – are being told they have the wrong kind of visa and must go home to reapply. Universities that protest have been threatened unofficially with having their licences to admit foreign students withdrawn.
Prof James Dunkerley, director of graduate studies at Queen Mary, University of London – one of the elite Russell Group – says: “We are all being treated as if we were running some kind of scam with no room for officials to use any discretion. There is no point the Prime Minister going to places abroad to boost exports when this is happening at home to education, which is a major export business.”
Other students are made to wait months for a visa, given “credibility” interviews where they can be turned down for the most minor things, or without any explanation. They are then charged an extra 500 if they reapply. There are also major restrictions on overseas students taking jobs here to help meet their costs and to gain valuable experience.
As Sir Christopher Meyer, our former ambassador to the US, said to me: “This is so typical of a government machine where everyone is desperate to avoid any blame, so they kick out at everyone and innocent people suffer.”
Sir Christopher, who teaches a politics course at the University of North Carolina, warns: “The danger is that students from countries like India and China will go elsewhere – notably to Canada, Australia and the US, which all have excellent universities and where there are also existing Chinese and Indian communities. David Cameron is always telling us we are in a global race for business, but it is as if other countries are forging ahead while Britain is in a sack race.”
It is true that the system for admitting foreign students has been abused, with bogus colleges setting themselves up in one room over a chip shop. Most of those have now been closed. Worse, London Metropolitan University clearly flouted the rules on overseas students and had to be stripped of its licence. What is more, the Government’s pledge to cut immigration has widespread public support.
It is also true that the official figures suggest the number of foreign students overall is stagnant rather than falling. But more detailed analysis shows a decline in the numbers coming from key countries – such as India, Pakistan, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia.
Tales are growing of the UK Border Agency’s bullying and its use of bureaucracy as a weapon against foreign students and our universities. Overseas students coming to this country are worth an estimated 8 billion a year to our economy, but academics say the agency’s hostile attitude is drying up the numbers – the total from India alone was down by nearly a quarter last year. Restrictions and regulations worthy of Kafka are damaging Britain’s reputation abroad and crippling private sector colleges.
The Foreign Office and the Business Department are privately dismayed at the Home Office’s insistence on cutting immigrant numbers, regardless of the cost to Britain in economic or reputational terms. So welcome to Whitehall, Mr Sedwill – Whitehall at its worst.
It is the crudeness of the agency’s tactics that is shocking. PhD students coming back here to do a viva – a short oral examination vital for their doctorates – are being told they have the wrong kind of visa and must go home to reapply. Universities that protest have been threatened unofficially with having their licences to admit foreign students withdrawn.
Prof James Dunkerley, director of graduate studies at Queen Mary, University of London – one of the elite Russell Group – says: “We are all being treated as if we were running some kind of scam with no room for officials to use any discretion. There is no point the Prime Minister going to places abroad to boost exports when this is happening at home to education, which is a major export business.”
Other students are made to wait months for a visa, given “credibility” interviews where they can be turned down for the most minor things, or without any explanation. They are then charged an extra 500 if they reapply. There are also major restrictions on overseas students taking jobs here to help meet their costs and to gain valuable experience.
As Sir Christopher Meyer, our former ambassador to the US, said to me: “This is so typical of a government machine where everyone is desperate to avoid any blame, so they kick out at everyone and innocent people suffer.”
Sir Christopher, who teaches a politics course at the University of North Carolina, warns: “The danger is that students from countries like India and China will go elsewhere – notably to Canada, Australia and the US, which all have excellent universities and where there are also existing Chinese and Indian communities. David Cameron is always telling us we are in a global race for business, but it is as if other countries are forging ahead while Britain is in a sack race.”
It is true that the system for admitting foreign students has been abused, with bogus colleges setting themselves up in one room over a chip shop. Most of those have now been closed. Worse, London Metropolitan University clearly flouted the rules on overseas students and had to be stripped of its licence. What is more, the Government’s pledge to cut immigration has widespread public support.
It is also true that the official figures suggest the number of foreign students overall is stagnant rather than falling. But more detailed analysis shows a decline in the numbers coming from key countries – such as India, Pakistan, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia.
2013年1月22日 星期二
The World's Biggest Wind Farm
Sometimes an event is just so thick with symbolism that just reciting the facts seems cliche. Case in point: After experiencing the biggest nuclear disaster of the new century, Japan is building the world's largest wind farm—right off the coast where the husk of the Fukushima plant still simmers.
Right now, Japan is scrambling to find enough alternative energy sources to pick up the slack from the fleet of nuclear power plants it shut down in the wake of the meltdown. It's going on a renewable energy binge, it's importing coal, and it's implementing impressive energy efficiency measures to lower demand. But it's not enough, yet.
So the government announced a major step forward—ambitious plans to invest heavily in offshore wind power. The new plant to be built off the shore of Fukushima will consist of 143 giant floating turbines, and boasts a capacity of 1 gigawatt of electricity—that's nearly twice the power of the planet's second-biggest turbine, which can currently be found in England.
To put that in perspective, 1 gigwatt is enough to power between 750,000 and 1,000,000 homes. 1 gigawatt is the total capacity of all the solar panels installed in California as of 2011. 1 gigawatt is some serious capacity.
Furthermore, Japan's big bad wind farm will be built using innovative new technology that allows them to float rather than being attached directly to the ocean floor.
Instead of anchoring each turbine directly to the ocean floor, the plan is to mount them on floating steel frames that will be anchored to the continental shelf below. To keep them upright, ballast will be used underneath. The plans also call for using 2 megawatt turbines, each standing 200 meters high.
And it turns out that the choice of location wasn't merely symbolic, either: “The site was chosen due to the existing infrastructure that had been used to transport power from the Daiichi plant before its destruction,” Bob Yirka writes.
Even so, the symbolism pervades. Out with the nukes, in with the clean power. Of course, the most urgent modification to the world's predominant power system is ditching coal, then gas, but drastic transitions like this—and Germany's post-nuclear evolution—demonstrate how rapidly things can change.
"A few hundred yards south-east of the quarry site lies the small cave of Hansdown Swallet. The stream sinking here was dye-traced in 1973. It travelled to St. Andrew's by the Bishop's Palace in just 20 hours.”
Mendip planners have yet to decide how to deal with the applications. In South Somerset district West Crewkerne Against Wind Turbines is fighting an application for a turbine that would be 67 metres tall to its blade tip on the West Crewkerne-Wayford-Winsham ridge. The group says it would be visible for 15 miles and spoil precious landscape.
Somerset's only large wind turbine, at Shooters Bottom, Chewton Mendip, was built in 2008 after a four-year battle. Mendip District Council turned down the Ecotricity but permission was granted on appeal.
Right now, Japan is scrambling to find enough alternative energy sources to pick up the slack from the fleet of nuclear power plants it shut down in the wake of the meltdown. It's going on a renewable energy binge, it's importing coal, and it's implementing impressive energy efficiency measures to lower demand. But it's not enough, yet.
So the government announced a major step forward—ambitious plans to invest heavily in offshore wind power. The new plant to be built off the shore of Fukushima will consist of 143 giant floating turbines, and boasts a capacity of 1 gigawatt of electricity—that's nearly twice the power of the planet's second-biggest turbine, which can currently be found in England.
To put that in perspective, 1 gigwatt is enough to power between 750,000 and 1,000,000 homes. 1 gigawatt is the total capacity of all the solar panels installed in California as of 2011. 1 gigawatt is some serious capacity.
Furthermore, Japan's big bad wind farm will be built using innovative new technology that allows them to float rather than being attached directly to the ocean floor.
Instead of anchoring each turbine directly to the ocean floor, the plan is to mount them on floating steel frames that will be anchored to the continental shelf below. To keep them upright, ballast will be used underneath. The plans also call for using 2 megawatt turbines, each standing 200 meters high.
And it turns out that the choice of location wasn't merely symbolic, either: “The site was chosen due to the existing infrastructure that had been used to transport power from the Daiichi plant before its destruction,” Bob Yirka writes.
Even so, the symbolism pervades. Out with the nukes, in with the clean power. Of course, the most urgent modification to the world's predominant power system is ditching coal, then gas, but drastic transitions like this—and Germany's post-nuclear evolution—demonstrate how rapidly things can change.
"A few hundred yards south-east of the quarry site lies the small cave of Hansdown Swallet. The stream sinking here was dye-traced in 1973. It travelled to St. Andrew's by the Bishop's Palace in just 20 hours.”
Mendip planners have yet to decide how to deal with the applications. In South Somerset district West Crewkerne Against Wind Turbines is fighting an application for a turbine that would be 67 metres tall to its blade tip on the West Crewkerne-Wayford-Winsham ridge. The group says it would be visible for 15 miles and spoil precious landscape.
Somerset's only large wind turbine, at Shooters Bottom, Chewton Mendip, was built in 2008 after a four-year battle. Mendip District Council turned down the Ecotricity but permission was granted on appeal.
2013年1月21日 星期一
Esko CDI Spark 4260
Describe your company?
Veepee Graphic Solutions is the flexo division of Veepee Group, which was established in 1961. Our Bengaluru-based company’s processing facility is housed in an 8,000 sq/ft plant and has a team strength of 35 person. We are equipped with state-of-the-art technology from Esko, Dupont and Flint, and is one of the premier trade shop for flexographic pre-press and platemaking in India.
What does the machine do?
The Esko CDI 4260 is the full HD version of Esko’s CDI 4000. It is equipped with inline UV2 in addition to a combination of round-top and flat-top technology. With the CDI 4260 we are able to optimise quality in both, the narrow as well as wide-web segment, and produce high quality flexographic plates.
Why did you choose this particular machine?
Esko released this full HD version of their CDI at Drupa 2012, where I saw it and was impressed with the technology, which I think has the ability to revolutionise the flexible packaging segment, because it brings the flexo quality closer to that of gravure and offset. This suited our requirements perfectly. Hence we decided to go ahead with it.
Did you look at any other similar machine?
No. As we were already familiar with Esko technology, we decided to install this latest machine, our third Esko, which even today is the only installation in South East Asia.
Why did you make the purchase?
Our choice of the CDI was more or less a conscious decision. Our partnership with Esko dates back to 2002 when we installed Esko’s front-end software. Our first CDI 4836 was installed in 2006 by which we made our foray into high-end flexo pre-press and plate processing segment. We installed a second CDI 4836 HD-enabled with inline UV in 2009. And, when this new machine came along, we opted for it.
What features do you particularly like?
The capability, which enables us to do away with pin holes and mottling. We have observed that it has considerably increased the print life of plates with stable highlight dots. This has enabled us to achieve 30% increase in ink densities.
Is there anything you wish it had that it doesn’t?
It has adequate features and the end-result of the product is satisfactory.
How fast is it?
With 40 optics laser heads, we are able to churn out more number of plates with consistent quality.
What’s the quality like?
With the new platemaking technology, the quality of the prints produced is comparable to gravure and offset. The colour reproduction is sharp and Veepee can produce output upto 200lpi.
How easy is it to use?
Its easy load – a new feature – has made the machine a very convenient one to use. It is designed such that a single person can manage the whole process efficiently.
Has it won you any new work?
Yes. The new technology has helped us get new clients in the wide-web flexible packaging segment and has also enabled us to convert a lot of high-end gravure jobs to flexo.
How much time or money has it saved?
Due to the high speed of the machine there is increase in productivity and has thus improved the turnaround time for jobs. We believe, “Time saved is money earned”.
Veepee Graphic Solutions is the flexo division of Veepee Group, which was established in 1961. Our Bengaluru-based company’s processing facility is housed in an 8,000 sq/ft plant and has a team strength of 35 person. We are equipped with state-of-the-art technology from Esko, Dupont and Flint, and is one of the premier trade shop for flexographic pre-press and platemaking in India.
What does the machine do?
The Esko CDI 4260 is the full HD version of Esko’s CDI 4000. It is equipped with inline UV2 in addition to a combination of round-top and flat-top technology. With the CDI 4260 we are able to optimise quality in both, the narrow as well as wide-web segment, and produce high quality flexographic plates.
Why did you choose this particular machine?
Esko released this full HD version of their CDI at Drupa 2012, where I saw it and was impressed with the technology, which I think has the ability to revolutionise the flexible packaging segment, because it brings the flexo quality closer to that of gravure and offset. This suited our requirements perfectly. Hence we decided to go ahead with it.
Did you look at any other similar machine?
No. As we were already familiar with Esko technology, we decided to install this latest machine, our third Esko, which even today is the only installation in South East Asia.
Why did you make the purchase?
Our choice of the CDI was more or less a conscious decision. Our partnership with Esko dates back to 2002 when we installed Esko’s front-end software. Our first CDI 4836 was installed in 2006 by which we made our foray into high-end flexo pre-press and plate processing segment. We installed a second CDI 4836 HD-enabled with inline UV in 2009. And, when this new machine came along, we opted for it.
What features do you particularly like?
The capability, which enables us to do away with pin holes and mottling. We have observed that it has considerably increased the print life of plates with stable highlight dots. This has enabled us to achieve 30% increase in ink densities.
Is there anything you wish it had that it doesn’t?
It has adequate features and the end-result of the product is satisfactory.
How fast is it?
With 40 optics laser heads, we are able to churn out more number of plates with consistent quality.
What’s the quality like?
With the new platemaking technology, the quality of the prints produced is comparable to gravure and offset. The colour reproduction is sharp and Veepee can produce output upto 200lpi.
How easy is it to use?
Its easy load – a new feature – has made the machine a very convenient one to use. It is designed such that a single person can manage the whole process efficiently.
Has it won you any new work?
Yes. The new technology has helped us get new clients in the wide-web flexible packaging segment and has also enabled us to convert a lot of high-end gravure jobs to flexo.
How much time or money has it saved?
Due to the high speed of the machine there is increase in productivity and has thus improved the turnaround time for jobs. We believe, “Time saved is money earned”.
2013年1月20日 星期日
The right way to fail in cleantech
The transition to cleantech – some would call it a revolution – inevitably entails change, which implies risk. In turn, this implies that some things will fail.
We’ve already seen more than a few failures, and we’ll no doubt see many more. As long as the successes outweigh the failures, that’s all that ultimately matters. Indeed, sometimes failure actually enables later successes.
As Thomas Edison has been quoted, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” And, then finally — ta-da! — he discovered an approach that worked for the incandescent lightbulb, thereby changing the world forever.
The management teams and the backers of these companies promised great things with premature hype in innumerable press releases. The companies blew through lots of capital – including substantial government funding.
Then, they fly off the cliff and go bust, and the media and blogosphere — much of which is adverse to cleantech — report their demises with barely-hidden Schadenfreude.
OK, so it’s not like a mass shooting spree: no-one got killed in these failures. But equity holders lost every dollar, creditors took a deep haircut, taxpayer money was wasted, and pretty much everyone active in the cleantech sector gets tainted by extension. As bad as economic failures, worse is when technologies fail because they simply don’t work.
The earliest windfarms of the mid-1980s in California became an eyesore of inoperative machinery, because the turbines were deployed in mass quantity before many engineering and manufacturing problems had been fully resolved. In the wake of this debacle, the U.S. wind industry took more than a decade to recover. By the time wind energy had regained credibility in America, European wind turbine manufacturers dominated the market.
These visions returned to me during a recent trip to Oahu, where my lodging provided me an ongoing view of the Kahuku windfarm standing idle in the face of a week of strong trade-winds. My first thought was a serial failure of the turbines – a relatively new 2.5 megawatt design fromClipper, a manufacturer with known technical issues.
However, as this report indicates, the root cause of the shutdown was unrelated to the wind turbines, but rather some problem with a set of grid-scale batteries being developed by Xtreme Power, and being piloted at the site to test the ability of such batteries to buffer the variable output of a windfarm. The pilot deployment had caused not one but three fires somehow involving the interconnection between the windfarm and the Hawaiian Electric grid, thus causing the windfarm to be idled while sorting out the battery issues.
Why weren’t these batteries tested in smaller scale and in a less obvious setting? Not only is the image of Xtreme Power (and grid-scale energy storage) being adversely affected, the long shutdown of Kahuku is dampening enthusiasm for wind energy in Hawaii.
It is these kinds of visible economic or technical failures that give the cleantech sector a black eye. The bad reputation diminishes civic goodwill, support for favorable public policies, and appetite for private capital to be allocated to the sector.
Unlike Edison’s failures, largely unnoticed by the rest of the world while he returned again and again to the drawing board, visible cleantech failures are distinctly unhelpful.
Such episodes are very painful for those of us on the sidelines working humbly to maintain forward progress in spite of the setbacks that inevitably occur in this long and challenging cleantech transition.
We’ve already seen more than a few failures, and we’ll no doubt see many more. As long as the successes outweigh the failures, that’s all that ultimately matters. Indeed, sometimes failure actually enables later successes.
As Thomas Edison has been quoted, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” And, then finally — ta-da! — he discovered an approach that worked for the incandescent lightbulb, thereby changing the world forever.
The management teams and the backers of these companies promised great things with premature hype in innumerable press releases. The companies blew through lots of capital – including substantial government funding.
Then, they fly off the cliff and go bust, and the media and blogosphere — much of which is adverse to cleantech — report their demises with barely-hidden Schadenfreude.
OK, so it’s not like a mass shooting spree: no-one got killed in these failures. But equity holders lost every dollar, creditors took a deep haircut, taxpayer money was wasted, and pretty much everyone active in the cleantech sector gets tainted by extension. As bad as economic failures, worse is when technologies fail because they simply don’t work.
The earliest windfarms of the mid-1980s in California became an eyesore of inoperative machinery, because the turbines were deployed in mass quantity before many engineering and manufacturing problems had been fully resolved. In the wake of this debacle, the U.S. wind industry took more than a decade to recover. By the time wind energy had regained credibility in America, European wind turbine manufacturers dominated the market.
These visions returned to me during a recent trip to Oahu, where my lodging provided me an ongoing view of the Kahuku windfarm standing idle in the face of a week of strong trade-winds. My first thought was a serial failure of the turbines – a relatively new 2.5 megawatt design fromClipper, a manufacturer with known technical issues.
However, as this report indicates, the root cause of the shutdown was unrelated to the wind turbines, but rather some problem with a set of grid-scale batteries being developed by Xtreme Power, and being piloted at the site to test the ability of such batteries to buffer the variable output of a windfarm. The pilot deployment had caused not one but three fires somehow involving the interconnection between the windfarm and the Hawaiian Electric grid, thus causing the windfarm to be idled while sorting out the battery issues.
Why weren’t these batteries tested in smaller scale and in a less obvious setting? Not only is the image of Xtreme Power (and grid-scale energy storage) being adversely affected, the long shutdown of Kahuku is dampening enthusiasm for wind energy in Hawaii.
It is these kinds of visible economic or technical failures that give the cleantech sector a black eye. The bad reputation diminishes civic goodwill, support for favorable public policies, and appetite for private capital to be allocated to the sector.
Unlike Edison’s failures, largely unnoticed by the rest of the world while he returned again and again to the drawing board, visible cleantech failures are distinctly unhelpful.
Such episodes are very painful for those of us on the sidelines working humbly to maintain forward progress in spite of the setbacks that inevitably occur in this long and challenging cleantech transition.
2013年1月17日 星期四
Primed pressroom
It seems, then, that making sure the platesetting area of a litho pressroom is primed for the ever-more ubiquitous short-run, on-demand jobs needn't mean paying vast amounts for the fastest platesetter.
Certainly, there are commercial printing outfits – such as those printing magazines and brochures, those with 10- or 12-colour presses, those with many presses to feed, and those priding themselves on catering for last-minute requests – who will benefit from a 60pph model. But many will be equally well-served by a machine that runs at 40-, 30- or even 20pph.
The key message to take from manufacturers' warnings about this being a neglected area of the litho pressroom is that care must be taken to ensure you have the right speed for your business, whatever that may be. The key here is to check you have the right workflow system, plate sortation equipment and automatic loading kit to allow your platesetter to do its thing.
In this way, litho printers can ensure digital doesn't steal the show, so litho printing sits alongside 'short-run', 'on-demand' and 'quick turnaround' on printers' lips.
Welshpool Printing Group, based 20 miles west of Shrewsbury in Powys, Wales, upgraded its platesetter from a 15-plates-per-hour (pph) Agfa Galileo to a 32pph Kodak Magnus three years ago. The firm would wholeheartedly recommend other printers follow suit in switching to a faster model.
A faster platesetter has enabled the company to offer speedier turnarounds on the range of newspaper, football programme and trade magazine work it processes on its three Komori four- and five-colour B2 presses and Heidelberg PrintMaster machine.
"Customers have noticed that we can offer faster turnarounds now," reports managing director Paul Jones. "Within 20 minutes of receiving the job you can have it on the press."
"A faster platesetter is also a real help when someone wants to change the design of a page at the last minute, or when a plate splits on-press," he adds. "Because it's running so much quicker you can produce another plate in two minutes."
Although short-run jobs are usually placed with the company's digital department, Jones says that if a request for a short-run job that also needed to be litho quality came along, having a speedy platesetter would ensure the company could process this job at an economical rate.
Jones would advise others to scrutinise carefully whether those systems supporting the platesetter were helping it achieve its full potential. The company opted for a Kodak platesetter because they were keen to upgrade to a Kodak Prinergy workflow system and felt that, as well as the Magnus kit being impressive in its own right, the platesetter they chose would perform best if totally in sync with the workflow supporting it.
Jones would also advise that a 30pph machine will be more than fast enough for most commercial printing operations.
"Our Magnus is totally catering for our production requirements at the moment," he says. "We'd only invest in a faster machine if we were processing a lot more work or if people were coming to us demanding shorter print runs of litho quality. But we only run the platesetter for eight hours a day. We ran the old one for 16 hours, so there's still room for boosting production."
Certainly, there are commercial printing outfits – such as those printing magazines and brochures, those with 10- or 12-colour presses, those with many presses to feed, and those priding themselves on catering for last-minute requests – who will benefit from a 60pph model. But many will be equally well-served by a machine that runs at 40-, 30- or even 20pph.
The key message to take from manufacturers' warnings about this being a neglected area of the litho pressroom is that care must be taken to ensure you have the right speed for your business, whatever that may be. The key here is to check you have the right workflow system, plate sortation equipment and automatic loading kit to allow your platesetter to do its thing.
In this way, litho printers can ensure digital doesn't steal the show, so litho printing sits alongside 'short-run', 'on-demand' and 'quick turnaround' on printers' lips.
Welshpool Printing Group, based 20 miles west of Shrewsbury in Powys, Wales, upgraded its platesetter from a 15-plates-per-hour (pph) Agfa Galileo to a 32pph Kodak Magnus three years ago. The firm would wholeheartedly recommend other printers follow suit in switching to a faster model.
A faster platesetter has enabled the company to offer speedier turnarounds on the range of newspaper, football programme and trade magazine work it processes on its three Komori four- and five-colour B2 presses and Heidelberg PrintMaster machine.
"Customers have noticed that we can offer faster turnarounds now," reports managing director Paul Jones. "Within 20 minutes of receiving the job you can have it on the press."
"A faster platesetter is also a real help when someone wants to change the design of a page at the last minute, or when a plate splits on-press," he adds. "Because it's running so much quicker you can produce another plate in two minutes."
Although short-run jobs are usually placed with the company's digital department, Jones says that if a request for a short-run job that also needed to be litho quality came along, having a speedy platesetter would ensure the company could process this job at an economical rate.
Jones would advise others to scrutinise carefully whether those systems supporting the platesetter were helping it achieve its full potential. The company opted for a Kodak platesetter because they were keen to upgrade to a Kodak Prinergy workflow system and felt that, as well as the Magnus kit being impressive in its own right, the platesetter they chose would perform best if totally in sync with the workflow supporting it.
Jones would also advise that a 30pph machine will be more than fast enough for most commercial printing operations.
"Our Magnus is totally catering for our production requirements at the moment," he says. "We'd only invest in a faster machine if we were processing a lot more work or if people were coming to us demanding shorter print runs of litho quality. But we only run the platesetter for eight hours a day. We ran the old one for 16 hours, so there's still room for boosting production."
2013年1月16日 星期三
Market Augmented Wind Power
Mass Megawatts Wind Power, Inc.today announces an initial geographical market for its plan to sell augmented wind power systems within the next few months. The target market is Massachusetts, New York and Connecticut. The new wind power unit is designed to reduce the cost of electricity by utilizing a less complicated and inexpensive wind-focusing technique to increase the wind velocity directed at the turbine.
In December 2012, affordable, green energy was made available for consumers in the Northeast region of the United States. The company offers electric power at competitive rates to commercial and residential electricity users in several states, including Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Illinois. Mass Megawatts recently expanded into the retail electrical market as a logical, strategic progression that diversifies their business model while improving future earnings potential.
In other news, Mass Megawatts began a sales program in Colorado for a wind powered water pump and wind electric generator with the marketing efforts geared toward agricultural facilities, farms, and ranches.
With its patented, wind augmentation system, a new retail sales business, and very little debt, Mass Megawatts believes it is well positioned to ramp-up production of its new augmentation units in the shorter term while expanding its infrastructure to support mass-production goals in the longer term.
This press release contains forward-looking statements that could be affected by risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to Mass Megawatts Wind Power’s ability to produce a cost-effective wind energy conversion device.
Among the factors that could cause actual events to differ materially from those indicated herein are: the failure of Mass Megawatts Wind Power, also known as Mass Megawatts Windpower, to achieve or maintain necessary zoning approvals with respect to the location of its power developments; the ability to remain competitive; to finance the marketing and sales of its electricity; general economic conditions; and other risk factors detailed in periodic reports filed by Mass Megawatts Wind Power. Additionally, Mass Megawatts Wind Power stock quote and Mass Megawatts stock price may be impacted by global condition. Mass Megawatts Wind Power Inc. expected and anticipated positive and negative impact on the Mass Megawatts stock price and the MMMW stock quote.
Specifically, technologies with the largest cost reduction potential are solar photovoltaics, concentrated solar power and wind. Hydropower and most biomass combustion technologies, on the other hand, are mature and their cost reduction potentials are not that big.
Solar PV has made remarkable progress in reducing costs to date. It has been established as a secure energy source with very high plant reliability and is not exposed to any fuel price volatility, achieving grid parity in a number of markets.
“With continued cost reductions, grid parity will soon be the norm, rather than the exception,” stated the report. As for the wind energy, the report found that total installed costs are declining again after seen an increase between 2004 and 2009.
Wind turbine costs, determined by a global overcapacity at wind turbine manufacturers, are declining as well and have fallen by around a quarter from their 2009 peak in the United States. Moreover, the current large discrepancies between Chinese turbine prices and those in the U.S. in 2012 suggest further drop in prices.
Despite significant cost reductions, Irena said deployment of renewable sources remains to be impeded by the perception that although sustainable, they are not as economically competitive as conventional power sources.
In December 2012, affordable, green energy was made available for consumers in the Northeast region of the United States. The company offers electric power at competitive rates to commercial and residential electricity users in several states, including Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Illinois. Mass Megawatts recently expanded into the retail electrical market as a logical, strategic progression that diversifies their business model while improving future earnings potential.
In other news, Mass Megawatts began a sales program in Colorado for a wind powered water pump and wind electric generator with the marketing efforts geared toward agricultural facilities, farms, and ranches.
With its patented, wind augmentation system, a new retail sales business, and very little debt, Mass Megawatts believes it is well positioned to ramp-up production of its new augmentation units in the shorter term while expanding its infrastructure to support mass-production goals in the longer term.
This press release contains forward-looking statements that could be affected by risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to Mass Megawatts Wind Power’s ability to produce a cost-effective wind energy conversion device.
Among the factors that could cause actual events to differ materially from those indicated herein are: the failure of Mass Megawatts Wind Power, also known as Mass Megawatts Windpower, to achieve or maintain necessary zoning approvals with respect to the location of its power developments; the ability to remain competitive; to finance the marketing and sales of its electricity; general economic conditions; and other risk factors detailed in periodic reports filed by Mass Megawatts Wind Power. Additionally, Mass Megawatts Wind Power stock quote and Mass Megawatts stock price may be impacted by global condition. Mass Megawatts Wind Power Inc. expected and anticipated positive and negative impact on the Mass Megawatts stock price and the MMMW stock quote.
Specifically, technologies with the largest cost reduction potential are solar photovoltaics, concentrated solar power and wind. Hydropower and most biomass combustion technologies, on the other hand, are mature and their cost reduction potentials are not that big.
Solar PV has made remarkable progress in reducing costs to date. It has been established as a secure energy source with very high plant reliability and is not exposed to any fuel price volatility, achieving grid parity in a number of markets.
“With continued cost reductions, grid parity will soon be the norm, rather than the exception,” stated the report. As for the wind energy, the report found that total installed costs are declining again after seen an increase between 2004 and 2009.
Wind turbine costs, determined by a global overcapacity at wind turbine manufacturers, are declining as well and have fallen by around a quarter from their 2009 peak in the United States. Moreover, the current large discrepancies between Chinese turbine prices and those in the U.S. in 2012 suggest further drop in prices.
Despite significant cost reductions, Irena said deployment of renewable sources remains to be impeded by the perception that although sustainable, they are not as economically competitive as conventional power sources.
2013年1月15日 星期二
Finding a student house
There are few things as satisfying as putting a deposit down on a house. After battling through the smorgasbord of showings, landlords and contract negotiations, the property is, to all intents and purposes, yours.
The search for a student house may be painful, but it's worth holding out until you find a place that's right for you, says Alex Clifford, welfare officer at Keele University student union. Having a house which is too far away from campus, too expensive – student accommodation has risen by 25% in three years – or one which does not suit your needs can impact on your health, degree and wellbeing.
Most students are first-time house hunters and unfortunately there are landlords who will exploit their naivety. It's not hard to find someone who has experienced nightmare accommodation.
Monika, a student at Keele University, developed allergies while living in a damp, mouldy house with poor insulation and a slug-infested bathroom. Her landlord cared more about increasing her rent than maintaining the property.
John, a former Stirling student, recalls living with a leaking gas boiler in his student house. A single spark could have lit the gas.
They're not the only ones who've had problems with their student accommodation. After asking university friends about their housing through Facebook, I was flooded with reports of horror stories: gaping holes in bedrooms that let cold air in, slugs, rats, poor insulation, damp and mould.
One thing that everybody complained about: their landlords either ignored or refused to deal with their requests. Andrew, a former Keele student, was ejected by his landlord after calling housing standards, a council team that makes sure private accommodation is up to scratch. His landlord had not dealt with a leaky pipe, faulty boiler or damp.
But don't be disheartened, there are landlords who care about your welfare, maintain the house and charge reasonable prices. Living in a student house is a great way to gain independence and explore the world outside your university.
Although there is no guaranteed way to find the perfect house here are some pointers, created with the help of Clifford.
It does not matter how silly your question may be – ask. Where is the nearest bus station, shop, or supermarket? Is the house fully furnished? What date does my tenancy begin and end? What happens if a housemate leaves university? Am I allowed posters or pets? Is there anywhere to park cars or store bicycles? Is the property reasonably secure? If the current tenants are there ask them some questions – they may be more truthful than the landlord.
Is there a dishwasher, clothes dryer, washing machine, shower, garden, television? Does the house come with a fridge and freezer – and how big are they?
Make sure you are 100% clear on this when you sign the contract. Every house comes with different terms and conditions. Make sure you know whether your property comes with gas, electric, water or internet. A contract that states "all bills included" may not include internet.
Senator Ann Rest hopes passing one of her bills would lower the overall sales tax from 6.8 percent to six percent or lower. The bills will get their first hearings in the Senate tax reform committee on Wednesday.
"Why should you pay a sales tax for a washing machine but not a sweater," said Senator Rest. "We're trying to broaden the tax base and make it fairer to everyone. Lower the rate for everyone."
This isn't the first time Senator Rest has introduced such legislation without much success. As stand-alone bills, they don't have much of a chance of passing, but if one of them makes it into an overall tax reform bill, there's a good chance it could become law.
The search for a student house may be painful, but it's worth holding out until you find a place that's right for you, says Alex Clifford, welfare officer at Keele University student union. Having a house which is too far away from campus, too expensive – student accommodation has risen by 25% in three years – or one which does not suit your needs can impact on your health, degree and wellbeing.
Most students are first-time house hunters and unfortunately there are landlords who will exploit their naivety. It's not hard to find someone who has experienced nightmare accommodation.
Monika, a student at Keele University, developed allergies while living in a damp, mouldy house with poor insulation and a slug-infested bathroom. Her landlord cared more about increasing her rent than maintaining the property.
John, a former Stirling student, recalls living with a leaking gas boiler in his student house. A single spark could have lit the gas.
They're not the only ones who've had problems with their student accommodation. After asking university friends about their housing through Facebook, I was flooded with reports of horror stories: gaping holes in bedrooms that let cold air in, slugs, rats, poor insulation, damp and mould.
One thing that everybody complained about: their landlords either ignored or refused to deal with their requests. Andrew, a former Keele student, was ejected by his landlord after calling housing standards, a council team that makes sure private accommodation is up to scratch. His landlord had not dealt with a leaky pipe, faulty boiler or damp.
But don't be disheartened, there are landlords who care about your welfare, maintain the house and charge reasonable prices. Living in a student house is a great way to gain independence and explore the world outside your university.
Although there is no guaranteed way to find the perfect house here are some pointers, created with the help of Clifford.
It does not matter how silly your question may be – ask. Where is the nearest bus station, shop, or supermarket? Is the house fully furnished? What date does my tenancy begin and end? What happens if a housemate leaves university? Am I allowed posters or pets? Is there anywhere to park cars or store bicycles? Is the property reasonably secure? If the current tenants are there ask them some questions – they may be more truthful than the landlord.
Is there a dishwasher, clothes dryer, washing machine, shower, garden, television? Does the house come with a fridge and freezer – and how big are they?
Make sure you are 100% clear on this when you sign the contract. Every house comes with different terms and conditions. Make sure you know whether your property comes with gas, electric, water or internet. A contract that states "all bills included" may not include internet.
Senator Ann Rest hopes passing one of her bills would lower the overall sales tax from 6.8 percent to six percent or lower. The bills will get their first hearings in the Senate tax reform committee on Wednesday.
"Why should you pay a sales tax for a washing machine but not a sweater," said Senator Rest. "We're trying to broaden the tax base and make it fairer to everyone. Lower the rate for everyone."
This isn't the first time Senator Rest has introduced such legislation without much success. As stand-alone bills, they don't have much of a chance of passing, but if one of them makes it into an overall tax reform bill, there's a good chance it could become law.
2013年1月14日 星期一
Dream factory
Red Wall is a round, wall-mounted speaker designed by Johannes Torpe for Bang & Olufson. Below is a Torpe designed flashlight for WiseDive.
The creative director of Danish audio products manufacturer Bang & Olufsen says he has the perfect job. Gan Tian finds out more about the synergy between design and engineering.
When Johannes Torpe was appointed creative director of Danish audio products manufacturer Bang & Olufsen, he felt like the protagonist in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. "For Danish kids, Bang & Olufsen is just like that dream chocolate factory. I bought a pair of Bang & Olufsen earphones when I was 13. Now I'm 39 and they're still fantastic," he says. "And now, I am Charlie," Torpe says happily.
The Danish man is in charge of Bang & Olufsen's overall design direction. He not only gives his opinion on the shape and color of electronic devices, but also shares his ideas on the label's brand image and its workshops' interior design. He says it's a job that mixes music and design.
Torpe developed an interest in music at a young age. He says his mother wanted him to learn the violin, but his father wanted him to play the guitar, while he was keener on the bass and drums. As a teen, Torpe started a band and held a few concerts. He made his own drum kit and even designed a stage and lighting system, all of which led him to his current job.
But how does music connect with design? First, close your eyes, and think of a CD player. What do you see? Usually, it is a big, black or silver box.
"But our company offers slim devices without buttons, that have a soft touch. It is something like a piece of glass that you can click," he says.
In Torpe's opinion, however, it is a bad time for audio products. From the 1960s through to the 1990s, it was very easy to design these, because there were media, like CDs, cassette tapes, or DVDs.
"They offered something visible, something that you could put in a machine, so there was always something you could 'wow' with," he says. "For example, there was one CD player in which I could put six CDs and it changed them automatically, and had a strong futuristic mechanical design."
But now, everything has gone digital and all the music in the world is in your pocket and there is little mechanical to show. "So, now my goal is to take this music out of devices, and make it sound good," Torpe says of his new daunting task.
Torpe is working on a device now that makes digital music sound less digital, or warmer. "It is difficult. I'm making speakers as small as possible, that can play good, big sounds."
The key to success is to "link" creativity with high technology. For an audio product company, it means there should be a link between designers and technical staff.
The first meeting after Torpe was on board as the creative director was about televisions. He talked about how users could control TVs, but the directors dismissed his idea as "impossible".
However, one senior engineer, who looked a bit like a bearded Viking, approached Torpe a week later and invited him into his workshop, in the factory's basement.
"I can't tell you what he made, because it is a business secret, but I can assure you, that what he presented to me, is what exactly I was talking about. He built it out of wood, a web cam, some cables and some panels in the hardware store around the corner of the factory," Torpe recalls.
The creative director calls the engineer the company "link" and emphasizes the synergy between creativity and engineering. Torpe has the vision and engineers make it a reality. This creation will likely hit the market in the near future.
"If you go to a company like Sony or Panasonic, you just get the impression that this is a big company. But here at Bang & Olufsen, when I walked in for the first time, I was touched because I found everything here was done by hand," Torpe says.
Torpe likens his job to being a designer at a brand like Hermes or Louis Vuitton, where designers produce only a limited amount of products. "For me, as a little boy in Charlie's big factory, I have to do something very special," he says.
The creative director of Danish audio products manufacturer Bang & Olufsen says he has the perfect job. Gan Tian finds out more about the synergy between design and engineering.
When Johannes Torpe was appointed creative director of Danish audio products manufacturer Bang & Olufsen, he felt like the protagonist in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. "For Danish kids, Bang & Olufsen is just like that dream chocolate factory. I bought a pair of Bang & Olufsen earphones when I was 13. Now I'm 39 and they're still fantastic," he says. "And now, I am Charlie," Torpe says happily.
The Danish man is in charge of Bang & Olufsen's overall design direction. He not only gives his opinion on the shape and color of electronic devices, but also shares his ideas on the label's brand image and its workshops' interior design. He says it's a job that mixes music and design.
Torpe developed an interest in music at a young age. He says his mother wanted him to learn the violin, but his father wanted him to play the guitar, while he was keener on the bass and drums. As a teen, Torpe started a band and held a few concerts. He made his own drum kit and even designed a stage and lighting system, all of which led him to his current job.
But how does music connect with design? First, close your eyes, and think of a CD player. What do you see? Usually, it is a big, black or silver box.
"But our company offers slim devices without buttons, that have a soft touch. It is something like a piece of glass that you can click," he says.
In Torpe's opinion, however, it is a bad time for audio products. From the 1960s through to the 1990s, it was very easy to design these, because there were media, like CDs, cassette tapes, or DVDs.
"They offered something visible, something that you could put in a machine, so there was always something you could 'wow' with," he says. "For example, there was one CD player in which I could put six CDs and it changed them automatically, and had a strong futuristic mechanical design."
But now, everything has gone digital and all the music in the world is in your pocket and there is little mechanical to show. "So, now my goal is to take this music out of devices, and make it sound good," Torpe says of his new daunting task.
Torpe is working on a device now that makes digital music sound less digital, or warmer. "It is difficult. I'm making speakers as small as possible, that can play good, big sounds."
The key to success is to "link" creativity with high technology. For an audio product company, it means there should be a link between designers and technical staff.
The first meeting after Torpe was on board as the creative director was about televisions. He talked about how users could control TVs, but the directors dismissed his idea as "impossible".
However, one senior engineer, who looked a bit like a bearded Viking, approached Torpe a week later and invited him into his workshop, in the factory's basement.
"I can't tell you what he made, because it is a business secret, but I can assure you, that what he presented to me, is what exactly I was talking about. He built it out of wood, a web cam, some cables and some panels in the hardware store around the corner of the factory," Torpe recalls.
The creative director calls the engineer the company "link" and emphasizes the synergy between creativity and engineering. Torpe has the vision and engineers make it a reality. This creation will likely hit the market in the near future.
"If you go to a company like Sony or Panasonic, you just get the impression that this is a big company. But here at Bang & Olufsen, when I walked in for the first time, I was touched because I found everything here was done by hand," Torpe says.
Torpe likens his job to being a designer at a brand like Hermes or Louis Vuitton, where designers produce only a limited amount of products. "For me, as a little boy in Charlie's big factory, I have to do something very special," he says.
2013年1月13日 星期日
To the town of Kingston
My name is Mark S. Beaton, chairman of the Kingston Green Energy Committee and former Board of Selectman member. Recent developments in regards to the Kingston Independence Wind Turbine and the attempt to shut it down by the Board of Health (BOH) and Board of Selectman (BOS) have me gravely concerned.
As a town of Kingston resident and proponent of Clean Renewable Energy, I am proud of the fact Kingston was designated Green Community status. This designation has enabled The town of Kingston (TOK) to receive $200,000 in grants for energy conservation. The retro fittings of the Smith Lane Fire Department, Kingston’s Public Library, and Kingston Elementary School have resulted in over $190,000 annual projected energy savings for the town. The Independence alone has generated over $75,000 of energy savings and lease payments for the town in just a few months of operation
At town meetings the voters were nearly unanimous for the wind and solar projects. After nearly seven years working with the Mass. Technology Collaborative Renewable Energy Trust and the Mass. Department of Environmental Protection, The town of Kingston with its partnership with private enterprise has a portfolio of clean energy generation that is sufficient to power up the entire community. This independence from using fossil fuel is remarkable, and the town should be proud. It is unfortunate there is a movement to dismantle this feat by shutting down the turbines.
The state via the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center has contracted acoustical consultants from Harris Miller Miller and Hanson (HMMH) to perform a turbine sound study analysis. To ensure public input and transparency there is also an Independent company hired by CEC; Consensus Building Institute from Cambridge. This process is well underway and has already gathered a significant amount of input from concerned neighbors. Most importantly, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MA DEP) has authorized Mass CEC to conduct the study and experts will be reviewing the methodology and findings for compliance with the state noise policy.
To give some perspective on the issue, the MA DEP defines a violation of the noise policy as an increase in the broadband sound level by more than 10 decibels above ambient. The ambient sound level at the quietest time of night at the nearest residence to the turbine was found to be around 54 decibels. The wind turbine’s maximum sound level was found to be 50 decibels, quieter than the sound from a household refrigerator.
This means that the turbine is quieter than the background sound nearly always, and certainly well within the MA DEP limits. It was always understood that the wind turbine would be audible at times outdoors, but that the sound is very faint overall so that by closing a window or turning on a small fan the sound would not be audible inside. I understand that some nearby residence are demanding that the wind turbine be shut down so it would NOT be heard at all. But that is not a reasonable community or legal standard.
Attorney Senie, who represents some of the residents in opposition to the wind turbines, commended not only the process being proposed but also the legitimacy of the acoustical firm hired (HMMH). It is imperative that the process continues as quickly and responsibly as possible. If there is in fact a detrimental situation to the neighbors of the turbine, remedial action should be taken. Presently, no real data has been presented, such as verifiable recordings, studies, scientific or substantiated medical evidence the turbine are any real cause beyond visually unpleasing to few. This is much less impact than a refinery electric transfer station or various accepted energy and utility services that are presently accepted and highly damaging to our environment.
Having been at ground floor of the process getting Clean Renewable Energy a part of the fabric of our town, I am confident the findings will corroborate the facts the turbines are well within the state guidelines for acceptable practices. I am also aware the O’Donnell group is receptive to be incorporated in the sound studies provided the methodology used in the studies are fair and unbiased.
As a town of Kingston resident and proponent of Clean Renewable Energy, I am proud of the fact Kingston was designated Green Community status. This designation has enabled The town of Kingston (TOK) to receive $200,000 in grants for energy conservation. The retro fittings of the Smith Lane Fire Department, Kingston’s Public Library, and Kingston Elementary School have resulted in over $190,000 annual projected energy savings for the town. The Independence alone has generated over $75,000 of energy savings and lease payments for the town in just a few months of operation
At town meetings the voters were nearly unanimous for the wind and solar projects. After nearly seven years working with the Mass. Technology Collaborative Renewable Energy Trust and the Mass. Department of Environmental Protection, The town of Kingston with its partnership with private enterprise has a portfolio of clean energy generation that is sufficient to power up the entire community. This independence from using fossil fuel is remarkable, and the town should be proud. It is unfortunate there is a movement to dismantle this feat by shutting down the turbines.
The state via the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center has contracted acoustical consultants from Harris Miller Miller and Hanson (HMMH) to perform a turbine sound study analysis. To ensure public input and transparency there is also an Independent company hired by CEC; Consensus Building Institute from Cambridge. This process is well underway and has already gathered a significant amount of input from concerned neighbors. Most importantly, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MA DEP) has authorized Mass CEC to conduct the study and experts will be reviewing the methodology and findings for compliance with the state noise policy.
To give some perspective on the issue, the MA DEP defines a violation of the noise policy as an increase in the broadband sound level by more than 10 decibels above ambient. The ambient sound level at the quietest time of night at the nearest residence to the turbine was found to be around 54 decibels. The wind turbine’s maximum sound level was found to be 50 decibels, quieter than the sound from a household refrigerator.
This means that the turbine is quieter than the background sound nearly always, and certainly well within the MA DEP limits. It was always understood that the wind turbine would be audible at times outdoors, but that the sound is very faint overall so that by closing a window or turning on a small fan the sound would not be audible inside. I understand that some nearby residence are demanding that the wind turbine be shut down so it would NOT be heard at all. But that is not a reasonable community or legal standard.
Attorney Senie, who represents some of the residents in opposition to the wind turbines, commended not only the process being proposed but also the legitimacy of the acoustical firm hired (HMMH). It is imperative that the process continues as quickly and responsibly as possible. If there is in fact a detrimental situation to the neighbors of the turbine, remedial action should be taken. Presently, no real data has been presented, such as verifiable recordings, studies, scientific or substantiated medical evidence the turbine are any real cause beyond visually unpleasing to few. This is much less impact than a refinery electric transfer station or various accepted energy and utility services that are presently accepted and highly damaging to our environment.
Having been at ground floor of the process getting Clean Renewable Energy a part of the fabric of our town, I am confident the findings will corroborate the facts the turbines are well within the state guidelines for acceptable practices. I am also aware the O’Donnell group is receptive to be incorporated in the sound studies provided the methodology used in the studies are fair and unbiased.
2013年1月10日 星期四
Machinery Makers Line Up New Tech
"We are in fact seeing a flood of new launches... that are perfectly timed to coincide with the rise in demand for metal forming, surface preparation & finishing, grinding & cutting, machining & other allied engineering machinery and equipment to cater to the booming construction, infrastructure, rail, and manufacturing sectors," said Mr Saif Mohammed Al Midfa, Director-General of Expo Centre Sharjah .
"SteelFab has become the exhibition of choice for manufacturers and dealers... so much so that some of them delay their regional launches to have them displayed at SteelFab. This year, while several exhibitors have at least one new launch, there are some who have multiple new products, with one having almost six brand new products for the region," he added.
For instance, Rockwood International will launch six new products, including a tig brush, a unique temperature brush to conduct electrical energy combined with a mild solution to quickly remove weld discoloration and simultaneously passivate stainless steel surface.
"Our tig brush helps reduce workplace hazards and is economical to run in all kinds of environment," said Mr Basanth of Rockwood International, pointing out that Rockwood sees SteelFab 2013 as an excellent launch platform for their six new products.
Other launches include SafanDarley's electronic e-brake, Roccia Rundbiegen's revolutionary design of plate rolling machines, Trumpf's TruFiber fibre lasers, OMM's longitudinal welding of tapered tubular shafts, La Rosa's new sandwich panel manufacturing line and Gietart new paintsprayer, among others.
SafanDarley's new B-Shear and the Press Brake E-Brake B models will be presented at the stand of SIMCO Industrial Machinery Trading at SteelFab 2013. "The E-Press Brake & Shear removes the need for any oil in the machine. It significantly reduces operation time and electrical consumption by almost 50 per cent," said Mr Mohammed Abu Dakka, Steel Machinery Division Manager at SIMCO. "The absence of oil will be of great significance to the environment too," he said.
"Unfortunately, plate rolling machines starting from 1' capacity are often tall so they need to be installed in a pit. This is a big problem if the pit is to be dug in an existing building," said Mr Mauro Roccia of Roccia Rundbiegen. "Our revolutionary machines of up to 60 mm thickness are designed in such a way that they do not need a pit." This innovation will be on display at the stand of Kahrl & Wiemann.
Trumpf's TruFiber fibre lasers primary aim will be to popularize the technology in the region. "Fiber lasers have been introduced in industrial production for some years now. However they are yet to catch up here in the Middle East," said Jawad Khawaja, Managing Director of ATAD International, distributors for Trumpf machines. "We are showing a Trumpf fibre laser for the first time in the Middle East," he said.
OMM - Murgesi, the world patent holder for longitudinal welding of tapered tubular shafts, will have a big presence at the Comex International stand at SteelFab 2013. "For all highway construction projects, OMM can offer full know-how for turnkey supply of all required structures related to steel guardrails, steel poles, steel culverts and other internal and external services," said Mr Mostafa El-Hageen of Comex International.
Another launch at SteelFab, the Gietart paintsprayer will offer an efficient and quick way to paint freshly cleaned material. "The new system is not only faster, it is also cheaper and better for the environment because it saves paint and energy," said Mr Peter Michorius of Gietart.me. "In the past we have showed our shotblasting system, but this will be the first time that a paint spray system will be featured at SteelFab," said Mr Michorius.
"SteelFab has become the exhibition of choice for manufacturers and dealers... so much so that some of them delay their regional launches to have them displayed at SteelFab. This year, while several exhibitors have at least one new launch, there are some who have multiple new products, with one having almost six brand new products for the region," he added.
For instance, Rockwood International will launch six new products, including a tig brush, a unique temperature brush to conduct electrical energy combined with a mild solution to quickly remove weld discoloration and simultaneously passivate stainless steel surface.
"Our tig brush helps reduce workplace hazards and is economical to run in all kinds of environment," said Mr Basanth of Rockwood International, pointing out that Rockwood sees SteelFab 2013 as an excellent launch platform for their six new products.
Other launches include SafanDarley's electronic e-brake, Roccia Rundbiegen's revolutionary design of plate rolling machines, Trumpf's TruFiber fibre lasers, OMM's longitudinal welding of tapered tubular shafts, La Rosa's new sandwich panel manufacturing line and Gietart new paintsprayer, among others.
SafanDarley's new B-Shear and the Press Brake E-Brake B models will be presented at the stand of SIMCO Industrial Machinery Trading at SteelFab 2013. "The E-Press Brake & Shear removes the need for any oil in the machine. It significantly reduces operation time and electrical consumption by almost 50 per cent," said Mr Mohammed Abu Dakka, Steel Machinery Division Manager at SIMCO. "The absence of oil will be of great significance to the environment too," he said.
"Unfortunately, plate rolling machines starting from 1' capacity are often tall so they need to be installed in a pit. This is a big problem if the pit is to be dug in an existing building," said Mr Mauro Roccia of Roccia Rundbiegen. "Our revolutionary machines of up to 60 mm thickness are designed in such a way that they do not need a pit." This innovation will be on display at the stand of Kahrl & Wiemann.
Trumpf's TruFiber fibre lasers primary aim will be to popularize the technology in the region. "Fiber lasers have been introduced in industrial production for some years now. However they are yet to catch up here in the Middle East," said Jawad Khawaja, Managing Director of ATAD International, distributors for Trumpf machines. "We are showing a Trumpf fibre laser for the first time in the Middle East," he said.
OMM - Murgesi, the world patent holder for longitudinal welding of tapered tubular shafts, will have a big presence at the Comex International stand at SteelFab 2013. "For all highway construction projects, OMM can offer full know-how for turnkey supply of all required structures related to steel guardrails, steel poles, steel culverts and other internal and external services," said Mr Mostafa El-Hageen of Comex International.
Another launch at SteelFab, the Gietart paintsprayer will offer an efficient and quick way to paint freshly cleaned material. "The new system is not only faster, it is also cheaper and better for the environment because it saves paint and energy," said Mr Peter Michorius of Gietart.me. "In the past we have showed our shotblasting system, but this will be the first time that a paint spray system will be featured at SteelFab," said Mr Michorius.
2013年1月9日 星期三
Panasonic, in one-upmanship
Panasonic Corp, in a display of technological one-upmanship with its South Korean rivals, unveiled a prototype of the world's largest OLED screen on Tuesday.
The half-inch thick, 56-inch television, based on organic light-emitting diode technology, is a mere inch bigger than ones offered up by Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics a year ago in Las Vegas. The technology in theory allows for thinner screens that consume less power.
Japan's Sony Corp, which is cooperating with Panasonic in OLED technology, on Monday unwrapped its own 56-inch ultra high-definition model. Sony on Monday also said it will widen its range of ultra high-definition LCD sets to three this year, as it stakes out its territory in next-generation TVs.
LG, which has started to take orders for its thin OLED screens, plans sales in the United States of a $12,000, 55-inch model beginning in March, making it the first company to commercialize the new technology.
Nonetheless, Kazuhiro Tsuga, the president of Panasonic, told industry executives and reporters at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas that "Many people think of Panasonic as a television manufacturing company. In fact, for nearly 100 years we have been making a vast range of products."
Tsuga said that Panasonic will focus on selling products like batteries for cars, in-flight entertainment systems, hydrogen cells, solar panels and LED lighting to businesses, while boosting its appliance unit and reducing its exposure to the hyper-competitive consumer electronics arena.
"Panasonic's future is being built on far more than a single product category," Tsuga said. Panasonic and Japan's two other big TV makers, Sony and Sharp Corp, have been hammered in conventional LCD screens by competition from Korean rivals led by Samsung.
Japan's share of the world's flat panel TV market this year likely contracted to 31 percent from 41 percent in 2010, according to the Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association.
Tsuga has also vowed to deliver the details of a revival plan by the end of March. So far, he has said that businesses that fail to achieve a 5 percent operating margin within two years will be shuttered or sold. Sales of its weakest units may start next business year.
AFP meanwhile reported tha TV makers showing off their new wares at a huge trade fair will seek to dazzle consumers with bigger, bolder displays, and smarter technologies for consumers who want television to be a "multiscreen" experience.
Companies like Samsung, Sony, LG, Sharp and Panasonic showing at the International CES in Las Vegas this week are making a new push for so-called "ultra HD" high definition of 4K, which can provide stunning, lifelike images at a steep price.
Size is on the rise, with many consumers looking at screen measuring 60 inches (152 centimeters or bigger), especially in the United States, according to the industry.
"For US consumers, bigger is absolutely better," said John Herrington of the US division of Japan's Sharp, one of biggest sellers of jumbo TVs in the American market.
Sharp is selling TVs with displays up to 84 inches (213 cm) using its high-definition display technology called IGZO, using indium gallium zinc oxide. South Korea's Samsung meanwhile unveiled a new television that lets two people watch two different shows at the same time.
The F9500 television is the first in the world to offer this feature, dubbed "multi-view," using screen technology called "organic light-emitting diode" or OLED.
Viewers must wear special 3D glasses, which come with personal speakers built in to deliver the audio, in stereo, directly to them.
But "ultra HD" and other new televisions remain slow to capture the market because of their prices upwards of $10,000, according to a forecast released by the Consumer Electronic Association which showed the segment capturing just five percent of the US market by 2016.
The half-inch thick, 56-inch television, based on organic light-emitting diode technology, is a mere inch bigger than ones offered up by Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics a year ago in Las Vegas. The technology in theory allows for thinner screens that consume less power.
Japan's Sony Corp, which is cooperating with Panasonic in OLED technology, on Monday unwrapped its own 56-inch ultra high-definition model. Sony on Monday also said it will widen its range of ultra high-definition LCD sets to three this year, as it stakes out its territory in next-generation TVs.
LG, which has started to take orders for its thin OLED screens, plans sales in the United States of a $12,000, 55-inch model beginning in March, making it the first company to commercialize the new technology.
Nonetheless, Kazuhiro Tsuga, the president of Panasonic, told industry executives and reporters at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas that "Many people think of Panasonic as a television manufacturing company. In fact, for nearly 100 years we have been making a vast range of products."
Tsuga said that Panasonic will focus on selling products like batteries for cars, in-flight entertainment systems, hydrogen cells, solar panels and LED lighting to businesses, while boosting its appliance unit and reducing its exposure to the hyper-competitive consumer electronics arena.
"Panasonic's future is being built on far more than a single product category," Tsuga said. Panasonic and Japan's two other big TV makers, Sony and Sharp Corp, have been hammered in conventional LCD screens by competition from Korean rivals led by Samsung.
Japan's share of the world's flat panel TV market this year likely contracted to 31 percent from 41 percent in 2010, according to the Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association.
Tsuga has also vowed to deliver the details of a revival plan by the end of March. So far, he has said that businesses that fail to achieve a 5 percent operating margin within two years will be shuttered or sold. Sales of its weakest units may start next business year.
AFP meanwhile reported tha TV makers showing off their new wares at a huge trade fair will seek to dazzle consumers with bigger, bolder displays, and smarter technologies for consumers who want television to be a "multiscreen" experience.
Companies like Samsung, Sony, LG, Sharp and Panasonic showing at the International CES in Las Vegas this week are making a new push for so-called "ultra HD" high definition of 4K, which can provide stunning, lifelike images at a steep price.
Size is on the rise, with many consumers looking at screen measuring 60 inches (152 centimeters or bigger), especially in the United States, according to the industry.
"For US consumers, bigger is absolutely better," said John Herrington of the US division of Japan's Sharp, one of biggest sellers of jumbo TVs in the American market.
Sharp is selling TVs with displays up to 84 inches (213 cm) using its high-definition display technology called IGZO, using indium gallium zinc oxide. South Korea's Samsung meanwhile unveiled a new television that lets two people watch two different shows at the same time.
The F9500 television is the first in the world to offer this feature, dubbed "multi-view," using screen technology called "organic light-emitting diode" or OLED.
Viewers must wear special 3D glasses, which come with personal speakers built in to deliver the audio, in stereo, directly to them.
But "ultra HD" and other new televisions remain slow to capture the market because of their prices upwards of $10,000, according to a forecast released by the Consumer Electronic Association which showed the segment capturing just five percent of the US market by 2016.
2013年1月8日 星期二
PC MPP says province hid report on wind turbine health effects
A Progressive Conservative MPP is accusing the province of knowing about the adverse health effects of wind turbines as far back as 2009.
Through documents she obtained via a freedom of information request, Huron-Bruce MPP Lisa Thompson says she’s learned of one homeowner who complained about excessive noise from nearby turbines making it difficult for them to sleep.
“It is 1 a.m. I can’t take much more of this. I don’t know what is going on but I have the worst headache in the world right now,” reads one of them. The ministry eventually closed the file, saying it couldn’t verify claims of excessive noise.
Another document shows that the ministry backed down from a turbine company after the company agreed to reduce overnight operations of 24 turbines due to complaints from neighbours.
Heather Johnston lives in Belwood, northeast of Fergus. She agrees with Thompson that wind turbines present health concerns and the Liberals hid reports saying so from the public.
“If you don't sleep, you’re not well, and they just don’t seem to care about the people that have to live near these things,” Johnston tells CTV.
“The [ministry] is being guided on how they go through these processes, and to tell you the truth, I’m a little dismayed that the ombudsman’s office hasn't done anything about this.”
Four new 500-foot-high turbines are slated to be built in Belwood in the near future. Another project comprised of 30 turbines has been taken off the table, but Johnston says she believes it’s only a temporary stop and the 30 turbines will be built eventually.
Environment Minister Jim Bradley didn’t respond to a request for comment from CTV, but a ministry statement says priority is placed on ensuring turbines are built in a way that protects human health and the environment.
Thompson says she wants more answers out of Bradley, but can’t get them while the legislature remains prorogued.
I’m not against wind if carefully sited to minimize bird and bat deaths, which hasn’t always been the case, but because wind is also “like burning $20 bills to generate electricity,” this is a case of deception by omission.
The wind tax credit was just extended for another year. First enacted by the Energy Policy Act twenty years ago, it has been extended four, make that five, times. Every honest estimate I’ve seen suggests that this credit costs taxpayers roughly a billion dollars a year, for a total of roughly $20 billion and counting.
$20 billion is roughly the price tag of three conventional nuclear power plants, capable of producing about a third of present wind capability just from the extra cost of building wind. 52/19 = 3/x, x = 1.1, (104 reactors, average of 2 reactors/power plant, 19% of electrical energy from nuclear, 3% from wind, $6.7 billion per nuclear power plant).
If wind is economically viable (cheaper than fossil fuels), why do proponents always insist that the industry will collapse if it loses that credit? And wind can only scale so far before it becomes prohibitively expensive to compensate for its intermittency. We need other low carbon sources of energy to compliment it, and nuclear should be one of them. It may be more expensive than fossil fuels in the short run, but obviously, so is the “wind-enhanced combined cycle natural gas power plant.”
Through documents she obtained via a freedom of information request, Huron-Bruce MPP Lisa Thompson says she’s learned of one homeowner who complained about excessive noise from nearby turbines making it difficult for them to sleep.
“It is 1 a.m. I can’t take much more of this. I don’t know what is going on but I have the worst headache in the world right now,” reads one of them. The ministry eventually closed the file, saying it couldn’t verify claims of excessive noise.
Another document shows that the ministry backed down from a turbine company after the company agreed to reduce overnight operations of 24 turbines due to complaints from neighbours.
Heather Johnston lives in Belwood, northeast of Fergus. She agrees with Thompson that wind turbines present health concerns and the Liberals hid reports saying so from the public.
“If you don't sleep, you’re not well, and they just don’t seem to care about the people that have to live near these things,” Johnston tells CTV.
“The [ministry] is being guided on how they go through these processes, and to tell you the truth, I’m a little dismayed that the ombudsman’s office hasn't done anything about this.”
Four new 500-foot-high turbines are slated to be built in Belwood in the near future. Another project comprised of 30 turbines has been taken off the table, but Johnston says she believes it’s only a temporary stop and the 30 turbines will be built eventually.
Environment Minister Jim Bradley didn’t respond to a request for comment from CTV, but a ministry statement says priority is placed on ensuring turbines are built in a way that protects human health and the environment.
Thompson says she wants more answers out of Bradley, but can’t get them while the legislature remains prorogued.
I’m not against wind if carefully sited to minimize bird and bat deaths, which hasn’t always been the case, but because wind is also “like burning $20 bills to generate electricity,” this is a case of deception by omission.
The wind tax credit was just extended for another year. First enacted by the Energy Policy Act twenty years ago, it has been extended four, make that five, times. Every honest estimate I’ve seen suggests that this credit costs taxpayers roughly a billion dollars a year, for a total of roughly $20 billion and counting.
$20 billion is roughly the price tag of three conventional nuclear power plants, capable of producing about a third of present wind capability just from the extra cost of building wind. 52/19 = 3/x, x = 1.1, (104 reactors, average of 2 reactors/power plant, 19% of electrical energy from nuclear, 3% from wind, $6.7 billion per nuclear power plant).
If wind is economically viable (cheaper than fossil fuels), why do proponents always insist that the industry will collapse if it loses that credit? And wind can only scale so far before it becomes prohibitively expensive to compensate for its intermittency. We need other low carbon sources of energy to compliment it, and nuclear should be one of them. It may be more expensive than fossil fuels in the short run, but obviously, so is the “wind-enhanced combined cycle natural gas power plant.”
2013年1月7日 星期一
LED lights save Fort Smith
Citywide LED traffic light conversions are saving Fort Smith close to $7,000 per month since completion, according to Traffic Control Superintendent Steve Kelton - considerable savings, but less than originally reported.
Kelton verified on Monday that the latest electric bill was “about $5,000,” down from an estimated $12,000 per month in 2006 when the conversions began.
While the $7,000 per month cost savings estimate is less than The City Wire reported in July 2011, the latest energy bill is in line with estimates from that time. (It was initially stated that electricity costs prior to LED conversion were $15,000 per month.) As importantly for Kelton, the conversion has allowed traffic control personnel to work more efficiently.
“In prior years with the incandescents, we would change about 1,200 light bulbs per year. From July 2010 to July 2011, we changed 40 LEDs, and that was before we’d even completed our conversion,” Kelton said. “It has gotten us out of the street and the motoring public’s way. It’s safer for us and for them, since they (the lights) are brighter and easier to see. There’s just no downside to it other than the initial investment.”
That “initial investment” Kelton refers to was around $2,468 per intersection as of 2011. That amount covered the last remaining 64 traffic signals, which were funded by $158,000 in federal stimulus money.
Prior to those replacements, the city changed 85 traffic signals, which fluctuated in cost. Since the initial replacements occurred while LED lighting was still higher in cost, some ran the city as much as $7,000 with costs falling over time, Kelton said.
Assuming an average cost of $5,000 for the 85 signals completed without federal funding (a $425,000 total), the current rate of savings would replenish the city’s investment in approximately 5.5 years.
Replacement costs for an LED bulb are $75 to $80 per bulb but unlike incandescent bulbs, each LED has a “5- to 7-year warranty,” Kelton said, adding that the time savings allows the traffic control department to “do other tasks that we couldn’t do as regularly as we should have, because we were so busy changing light bulbs.”
“We’re more focused on preventive maintenance – cleaning lenses, tightening every screw or anchor bolt,” Kelton added.
The most commonly cited issues that arise with LED traffic lights include swaying signals attached to span wires and the lights freezing during harsh winter weather conditions. (LED lights do not grow hot enough to melt the ice.)
Kelton acknowledged that span wires can be a problem, but said “Fort Smith is now completely span wire-free.” Additionally, he said the snowstorm on Dec. 25 had no negative effects, nor have any such issues been reported since the conversions began in 2006.“It is a significant problem in northern parts of the country where they have big snows and lots of wind, though,” Kelton said.
That’s what the Endliss Smartcase, a new case for the iPhone 5, does, thanks to LED lights on the back of the case. Those multi-colored LED lights will flash and arrange themselves in different images as a way of notifying you of an incoming message. The smartcase works with Twitter, Facebook, texts, calls, and emails, so you can get a different LED pattern for each one of those alerts. The 8 x 16 LED light grid syncs up with your iPhone 5 via Bluetooth 4.0, and can also use that pairing to display the time using those LED lights.
You’d think this might be a tough sell, given that it sounds like a case that will put extra strain on the iPhone 5′s already limited battery life. Not so – the Endliss Smartcase is also equipped with a 1500 mAh battery, which powers the lights and manages to give your iPhone 5 a little extra juice in the process. Of course, that also means the case will add a lot of extra bulk to the iPhone 5′s very slim frame. If you like the idea of the Endliss Smartcase, but still want to slim down from time to time, you can slip the battery pack and LED light system off, revealing a plain black protective case underneath.
Kelton verified on Monday that the latest electric bill was “about $5,000,” down from an estimated $12,000 per month in 2006 when the conversions began.
While the $7,000 per month cost savings estimate is less than The City Wire reported in July 2011, the latest energy bill is in line with estimates from that time. (It was initially stated that electricity costs prior to LED conversion were $15,000 per month.) As importantly for Kelton, the conversion has allowed traffic control personnel to work more efficiently.
“In prior years with the incandescents, we would change about 1,200 light bulbs per year. From July 2010 to July 2011, we changed 40 LEDs, and that was before we’d even completed our conversion,” Kelton said. “It has gotten us out of the street and the motoring public’s way. It’s safer for us and for them, since they (the lights) are brighter and easier to see. There’s just no downside to it other than the initial investment.”
That “initial investment” Kelton refers to was around $2,468 per intersection as of 2011. That amount covered the last remaining 64 traffic signals, which were funded by $158,000 in federal stimulus money.
Prior to those replacements, the city changed 85 traffic signals, which fluctuated in cost. Since the initial replacements occurred while LED lighting was still higher in cost, some ran the city as much as $7,000 with costs falling over time, Kelton said.
Assuming an average cost of $5,000 for the 85 signals completed without federal funding (a $425,000 total), the current rate of savings would replenish the city’s investment in approximately 5.5 years.
Replacement costs for an LED bulb are $75 to $80 per bulb but unlike incandescent bulbs, each LED has a “5- to 7-year warranty,” Kelton said, adding that the time savings allows the traffic control department to “do other tasks that we couldn’t do as regularly as we should have, because we were so busy changing light bulbs.”
“We’re more focused on preventive maintenance – cleaning lenses, tightening every screw or anchor bolt,” Kelton added.
The most commonly cited issues that arise with LED traffic lights include swaying signals attached to span wires and the lights freezing during harsh winter weather conditions. (LED lights do not grow hot enough to melt the ice.)
Kelton acknowledged that span wires can be a problem, but said “Fort Smith is now completely span wire-free.” Additionally, he said the snowstorm on Dec. 25 had no negative effects, nor have any such issues been reported since the conversions began in 2006.“It is a significant problem in northern parts of the country where they have big snows and lots of wind, though,” Kelton said.
That’s what the Endliss Smartcase, a new case for the iPhone 5, does, thanks to LED lights on the back of the case. Those multi-colored LED lights will flash and arrange themselves in different images as a way of notifying you of an incoming message. The smartcase works with Twitter, Facebook, texts, calls, and emails, so you can get a different LED pattern for each one of those alerts. The 8 x 16 LED light grid syncs up with your iPhone 5 via Bluetooth 4.0, and can also use that pairing to display the time using those LED lights.
You’d think this might be a tough sell, given that it sounds like a case that will put extra strain on the iPhone 5′s already limited battery life. Not so – the Endliss Smartcase is also equipped with a 1500 mAh battery, which powers the lights and manages to give your iPhone 5 a little extra juice in the process. Of course, that also means the case will add a lot of extra bulk to the iPhone 5′s very slim frame. If you like the idea of the Endliss Smartcase, but still want to slim down from time to time, you can slip the battery pack and LED light system off, revealing a plain black protective case underneath.
Remembering Sunando
Sunando Sen probably did not realise what happened to him. One moment he was standing close to the edge of the platform looking at the oncoming subway. And the next moment a crazy woman, who carried hatred towards Hindus and Muslims since September 11, 2001, pushed him on the tracks. His death was gruesome, but hopefully it was quick. I would like to believe that he didn’t suffer too much. At 46, he was too young to die.
A friend called him “an Indian Gregory Peck”. He was supposedly working on a Ph.D. program at New York University and he had recently opened his own printing and photocopying business near Columbia University. In his 20 years in the US, he had tried to live the American dream and he was just beginning to realise it. Sen’s tragic death affected me deeply and not just because he was an Indian immigrant, living his life in New York.
He died at the 40th Street/ Lowery Street subway station in Sunnyside, Queens — six blocks from where I live. Sen died at the same spot where four years ago, 29 yearold Rajiv Reddy Malladi, an immigrant from Hyderabad, committed suicide by jumping on the train tracks.
For me that is way too many brown desis who have died one subway stop away from mine, too close to where I live. I can brush aside the two deaths as a mere coincidence, but I cannot forget such tragedies despite my otherwise busy life. Sen used to live in Sunnyside with a friend, before he moved into another apartment in Elmhurst.
I now look at his picture, wondering whether I had seen him, if we had travelled together in the same subway car on the number 7 train on our way to Manhattan back home in the evening. Sen was the second person to die on a subway track in December in New York City. The first was a Korean immigrant who was pushed on the track by another crazy person.
I do not want their deaths to become mere statistics. Last month, a television channel in New York interviewed the young daughter of the Korean man. Her one regret was that she could not say a final goodbye to her father or tell him that she loved him. According to newspaper reports, Sen did not have any family in the US. His funeral was attended by friends and acquaintances. I wish I had attended his funeral, but I was out of the country.
Too often we focus on the rich and the famous desi immigrants in the US — the successes of M Night Shyamalan and Jhumpa Lahiri, and the rise and the fall of Anand Jon and Rajat Gupta.
But very rarely do we think of other immigrants who often figure in our lives, touching us and making our day go smoother. I mourn Sen’s death, since he seems like a member of the extended family I have in Sunnyside, Queens. There is a Burmese man who runs a dry cleaning and laundromat establishment across from my building. He works long hours, seven days a week, and rarely takes time off.
He washes my clothes and always welcomes me, calling out my name with a slight lisp. Then there is a Bangladeshi woman who works the early morning shift at Dunkin Donuts at the corner of my apartment building.
Each time she sees me, she asks in her lovely Bengali accent “Sir, how are you this morning?” And then she rattles off my order — it has been the same for many years — “Small coffee, milk, no sugar!”
I read a piece on Huffington Post that Sen was an equally warm and caring immigrant. He had helped the writer of the piece restore old pictures of his parents.
The author wrote: “Sunando Sen was a real person. I knew him the way a lot of New Yorkers know each other. We passed through each others’ lives.” It is a touching tribute to a decent human being. Sen did not lead a glamourous life, but he deserves this eulogy and to be remembered.
A friend called him “an Indian Gregory Peck”. He was supposedly working on a Ph.D. program at New York University and he had recently opened his own printing and photocopying business near Columbia University. In his 20 years in the US, he had tried to live the American dream and he was just beginning to realise it. Sen’s tragic death affected me deeply and not just because he was an Indian immigrant, living his life in New York.
He died at the 40th Street/ Lowery Street subway station in Sunnyside, Queens — six blocks from where I live. Sen died at the same spot where four years ago, 29 yearold Rajiv Reddy Malladi, an immigrant from Hyderabad, committed suicide by jumping on the train tracks.
For me that is way too many brown desis who have died one subway stop away from mine, too close to where I live. I can brush aside the two deaths as a mere coincidence, but I cannot forget such tragedies despite my otherwise busy life. Sen used to live in Sunnyside with a friend, before he moved into another apartment in Elmhurst.
I now look at his picture, wondering whether I had seen him, if we had travelled together in the same subway car on the number 7 train on our way to Manhattan back home in the evening. Sen was the second person to die on a subway track in December in New York City. The first was a Korean immigrant who was pushed on the track by another crazy person.
I do not want their deaths to become mere statistics. Last month, a television channel in New York interviewed the young daughter of the Korean man. Her one regret was that she could not say a final goodbye to her father or tell him that she loved him. According to newspaper reports, Sen did not have any family in the US. His funeral was attended by friends and acquaintances. I wish I had attended his funeral, but I was out of the country.
Too often we focus on the rich and the famous desi immigrants in the US — the successes of M Night Shyamalan and Jhumpa Lahiri, and the rise and the fall of Anand Jon and Rajat Gupta.
But very rarely do we think of other immigrants who often figure in our lives, touching us and making our day go smoother. I mourn Sen’s death, since he seems like a member of the extended family I have in Sunnyside, Queens. There is a Burmese man who runs a dry cleaning and laundromat establishment across from my building. He works long hours, seven days a week, and rarely takes time off.
He washes my clothes and always welcomes me, calling out my name with a slight lisp. Then there is a Bangladeshi woman who works the early morning shift at Dunkin Donuts at the corner of my apartment building.
Each time she sees me, she asks in her lovely Bengali accent “Sir, how are you this morning?” And then she rattles off my order — it has been the same for many years — “Small coffee, milk, no sugar!”
I read a piece on Huffington Post that Sen was an equally warm and caring immigrant. He had helped the writer of the piece restore old pictures of his parents.
The author wrote: “Sunando Sen was a real person. I knew him the way a lot of New Yorkers know each other. We passed through each others’ lives.” It is a touching tribute to a decent human being. Sen did not lead a glamourous life, but he deserves this eulogy and to be remembered.
2013年1月5日 星期六
Wind Energy Production Grows in the Hawkeye State
You can hear the swift sound of movement as the turbine blades cut through the wind at this wind farm near Lake Park, Iowa. It's clean and efficient, and growing faster than any other energy source in the U.S.
"Iowa's 5100 installed megawatts are the equivalent to taking 13 million cars off the road," says Iowa Wind Energy Association Executive Director Harold Prior.
That's also equal to powering 85 million 60–watt light bulbs, and if you can believe it, the Iowa Wind Energy Association hopes to quadruple that 5100 megawatts by 2030.
If you're even considering a future in wind production, now is the time to get your turbines in a row.In 2012, producers received a 2.2 cent tax credit for every kilowatt hour produced.
But now, the federal government added new "in progress" language to the extension passed as part of the fiscal cliff deal, which basically gives wind producers a year to get their facilities in check.As long as they begin the construction before 2014, they'll still get that tax credit.
"It's going to open up another short term boom in the development of wind farm projects. There were a number of large projects and medium size projects that are already financed, they've done their power of purchase agreements, They've done all their permitting requirements. They just weren't sure they could get their product to the site and get the wind farm constructed before the end of December 2012. So they put those projects on hold," says Prior.
But now, Prior says, producers can get back on the bandwagon. It's the first step in the growth of the wind industry here in the Hawkeye State. But the Iowa Wind Energy Association is lobbying for a longer extension: they want it locked in for the next ten years.
And in half that time, the wind industry predicts it will be at the top of its game; functioning without the help of any subsidies. Prior says, there's a valid equity argument on the table.
"If other generators, like coal, oil or natural gas and nuclear are continuing to get tax subsidies through the tax code, or outside the tax code, then our argument is, look, let's have all the generators of electricity on a level playing field. So, if you're going to eliminate the subsidy for wind energy, than how about we eliminate the subsidy for all generators of electricity, and allow all of us to compete on a level playing field," he says.
He says that would also help reduce the federal deficit. Wind turbines currently generate roughly 20 percent of all the electricity produced in Iowa, enough to power more than 1.1 million homes.
Ecuador's Villonaco wind farm project, located in the province of Loja, is considered emblematic of the government of President Rafael Correa Delgado, himself a former economist. Morevoer, it is the world's highest such eolian structure, built some 2,720 metres above sea level.
On Wednesday January 2, 2013, President Correa refused to officially open the Villonaco wind farm, branding it incomplete because it does not have an access road.
The wind farm is made up of 11 generators with a total output capacity of 16.5 MW, a substation to step up power from 34.5 to 69 kilovolts, and a subtransmission line that links the Villonaco substation to its counterpart in Loja, which is on Ecuador's national power grid.
The system was set up by the Chinese company Xinjian Goldwind Science and Technology and will cut CO2 emissions by as much as 35.270 metric tons a year. It will also reduce diesel imports, the fuel needed to generate thermal electricity. As Correa points out on Ecuador's Ministry of Tourism website, "We would save almost USD 13 million per year in fuel costs alone."
Ecuador's electrical company CELEC is in charge of the infrastructure, with an investment of USD 36 million. The benefits are myriad, especially in terms of the environment insofar as the project will reduce toxic emissions in the atmosphere; in economic terms, it will satisfy 25% of the annual energy consumption of the province of Loja. The project will also cover 68,7% of the demand currently handled by the Empresea Eléctrica Regional Sur, the company that provides power to the provinces of Loja, Zamora, and sections of Morona Santiago.
"Iowa's 5100 installed megawatts are the equivalent to taking 13 million cars off the road," says Iowa Wind Energy Association Executive Director Harold Prior.
That's also equal to powering 85 million 60–watt light bulbs, and if you can believe it, the Iowa Wind Energy Association hopes to quadruple that 5100 megawatts by 2030.
If you're even considering a future in wind production, now is the time to get your turbines in a row.In 2012, producers received a 2.2 cent tax credit for every kilowatt hour produced.
But now, the federal government added new "in progress" language to the extension passed as part of the fiscal cliff deal, which basically gives wind producers a year to get their facilities in check.As long as they begin the construction before 2014, they'll still get that tax credit.
"It's going to open up another short term boom in the development of wind farm projects. There were a number of large projects and medium size projects that are already financed, they've done their power of purchase agreements, They've done all their permitting requirements. They just weren't sure they could get their product to the site and get the wind farm constructed before the end of December 2012. So they put those projects on hold," says Prior.
But now, Prior says, producers can get back on the bandwagon. It's the first step in the growth of the wind industry here in the Hawkeye State. But the Iowa Wind Energy Association is lobbying for a longer extension: they want it locked in for the next ten years.
And in half that time, the wind industry predicts it will be at the top of its game; functioning without the help of any subsidies. Prior says, there's a valid equity argument on the table.
"If other generators, like coal, oil or natural gas and nuclear are continuing to get tax subsidies through the tax code, or outside the tax code, then our argument is, look, let's have all the generators of electricity on a level playing field. So, if you're going to eliminate the subsidy for wind energy, than how about we eliminate the subsidy for all generators of electricity, and allow all of us to compete on a level playing field," he says.
He says that would also help reduce the federal deficit. Wind turbines currently generate roughly 20 percent of all the electricity produced in Iowa, enough to power more than 1.1 million homes.
Ecuador's Villonaco wind farm project, located in the province of Loja, is considered emblematic of the government of President Rafael Correa Delgado, himself a former economist. Morevoer, it is the world's highest such eolian structure, built some 2,720 metres above sea level.
On Wednesday January 2, 2013, President Correa refused to officially open the Villonaco wind farm, branding it incomplete because it does not have an access road.
The wind farm is made up of 11 generators with a total output capacity of 16.5 MW, a substation to step up power from 34.5 to 69 kilovolts, and a subtransmission line that links the Villonaco substation to its counterpart in Loja, which is on Ecuador's national power grid.
The system was set up by the Chinese company Xinjian Goldwind Science and Technology and will cut CO2 emissions by as much as 35.270 metric tons a year. It will also reduce diesel imports, the fuel needed to generate thermal electricity. As Correa points out on Ecuador's Ministry of Tourism website, "We would save almost USD 13 million per year in fuel costs alone."
Ecuador's electrical company CELEC is in charge of the infrastructure, with an investment of USD 36 million. The benefits are myriad, especially in terms of the environment insofar as the project will reduce toxic emissions in the atmosphere; in economic terms, it will satisfy 25% of the annual energy consumption of the province of Loja. The project will also cover 68,7% of the demand currently handled by the Empresea Eléctrica Regional Sur, the company that provides power to the provinces of Loja, Zamora, and sections of Morona Santiago.
2013年1月4日 星期五
MIT students develop oneTesla self-build
Educational electronics kits like the one from Minty Geek are a great introduction to the world of circuit building and electronic tinkering, but are perhaps a little too basic for more advanced hobbyists. Three MIT students are currently enjoying enormous success on the Kickstarter crowd-funding platform with a DIY Tesla coil kit called oneTesla that can make artificial lightning sing ... well, erm, play music from a MIDI source. Now where did I put that polyphonic version of This Town Ain't Big Enough For Both Of Us by Sparks?
The first version of oneTesla, which didn't play music, was created over the course of three days in February last year. The development team of full-time MIT students Bayley Wang, Heidi Baumgartner and Daniel Kramnik added a MIDI controller a little later, followed soon after by the hatching of plans to obtain some boards, build a few coils and offer a limited number of self-build kits on eBay to help recoup development costs. A user manual was written, revised, written again, and remains in a state of flux until the end of the current Kickstarter campaign.
The 10-inch (25.4-cm) tall musical Tesla coil was designed as an educational development kit for high voltage tinkerers with a steady soldering hand and a patient eye for precision. The creators say that building a Tesla coil will facilitate learning about wireless power transfer, high voltage electronics and radio frequency engineering. The team also advises that oneTesla is not for beginners, so those ordering a kit should have prior experience of electronics kits and troubleshooting. Although not essential, having an oscilloscope on hand for troubleshooting purposes is recommended.
Recipients of a oneTesla kit essentially get shipped some PCBs and a bag of parts that will need to be assembled and soldered together as per the supplied instructions. Each device is made up of a driver board that sits inside the laser cut acrylic main chassis and powers the whole Tesla coil. There's a MIDI input for connecting the device to a keyboard and playing live sparky music, or the supplied USB-to-MIDI adapter can be used to feed in pre-recorded MIDI files from a computer.
Although snaps/pulses from the streamer normally resonate at 220 kHz (way beyond the range of human hearing), the boffins at oneTesla have built a custom interrupter that modulates the electric arc, creating pressure waves that sound like musical notes. Sparks turned on and off at a frequency of about 262 Hz, for example, sound like a middle C. The interrupter board also serves to isolate the high voltage from connected electronics.
The primary coil features six turns of thick 14AWG wire, is directly connected to the main control board and sits at the base of the secondary coil. The secondary coil has 1,800 turns of fine 36AWG wire and is topped by a toroid topload, which together form a resonant circuit that can build up to high voltages. oneTesla reports that the coil is capable of producing lightning arcs nearly two feet long.
"The Tesla coil poses many hazards, and taking safety precautions are an absolute must," says oneTesla. "The hazards can be lessened by being a careful worker, keeping a workspace clear of clutter, wearing safety glasses when the board is energized, ensuring that the capacitors are discharged before attempting work on the board, keeping sensitive electronics and flammable objects away from the coil when it’s running, and generally being intimately aware of the operation and hazards of the Tesla coil."
Full build and operation instructions appear in the user manual, and those who undertake the project can expect to spend a full day putting oneTesla together. A quality soldering iron, a screwdriver, some wire cutter, diagonal cutter, needlenose pliers, a crimp tool/large pliers and a glue gun (or superglue) will also be needed.
The first version of oneTesla, which didn't play music, was created over the course of three days in February last year. The development team of full-time MIT students Bayley Wang, Heidi Baumgartner and Daniel Kramnik added a MIDI controller a little later, followed soon after by the hatching of plans to obtain some boards, build a few coils and offer a limited number of self-build kits on eBay to help recoup development costs. A user manual was written, revised, written again, and remains in a state of flux until the end of the current Kickstarter campaign.
The 10-inch (25.4-cm) tall musical Tesla coil was designed as an educational development kit for high voltage tinkerers with a steady soldering hand and a patient eye for precision. The creators say that building a Tesla coil will facilitate learning about wireless power transfer, high voltage electronics and radio frequency engineering. The team also advises that oneTesla is not for beginners, so those ordering a kit should have prior experience of electronics kits and troubleshooting. Although not essential, having an oscilloscope on hand for troubleshooting purposes is recommended.
Recipients of a oneTesla kit essentially get shipped some PCBs and a bag of parts that will need to be assembled and soldered together as per the supplied instructions. Each device is made up of a driver board that sits inside the laser cut acrylic main chassis and powers the whole Tesla coil. There's a MIDI input for connecting the device to a keyboard and playing live sparky music, or the supplied USB-to-MIDI adapter can be used to feed in pre-recorded MIDI files from a computer.
Although snaps/pulses from the streamer normally resonate at 220 kHz (way beyond the range of human hearing), the boffins at oneTesla have built a custom interrupter that modulates the electric arc, creating pressure waves that sound like musical notes. Sparks turned on and off at a frequency of about 262 Hz, for example, sound like a middle C. The interrupter board also serves to isolate the high voltage from connected electronics.
The primary coil features six turns of thick 14AWG wire, is directly connected to the main control board and sits at the base of the secondary coil. The secondary coil has 1,800 turns of fine 36AWG wire and is topped by a toroid topload, which together form a resonant circuit that can build up to high voltages. oneTesla reports that the coil is capable of producing lightning arcs nearly two feet long.
"The Tesla coil poses many hazards, and taking safety precautions are an absolute must," says oneTesla. "The hazards can be lessened by being a careful worker, keeping a workspace clear of clutter, wearing safety glasses when the board is energized, ensuring that the capacitors are discharged before attempting work on the board, keeping sensitive electronics and flammable objects away from the coil when it’s running, and generally being intimately aware of the operation and hazards of the Tesla coil."
Full build and operation instructions appear in the user manual, and those who undertake the project can expect to spend a full day putting oneTesla together. A quality soldering iron, a screwdriver, some wire cutter, diagonal cutter, needlenose pliers, a crimp tool/large pliers and a glue gun (or superglue) will also be needed.
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