Doug’s Dynamic Drivel

This is great news and hopefully if/when Obama gets elected he will pursue this.While they are not including geothermal heating systems used in homes as they do not generate power, they should. It’s important to consider geothermal HVAC systems as, while they use power to run, they free up other non-renewable resources (NG and petroleum products) for power production and, in the case of homes heated by electricity, reduce demands on power generation. Geothermal is incredibly important, it’s renewable and non polluting, and unlike wind power it doesn’t pose a problem for birds and bats (bats in particular have a problem with windmills - when they fly close by the drop in air pressure from the rotating blades collapses their lungs and kills them). Bonus the landscape is not littered with unsightly windmills.

Geothermal power production could significantly add to the electric power generating capacity in the United States.

The U.S. Geological Survey assessment released today is the first national geothermal resource estimate in more than 30 years.

The results of this assessment show that the United States has an estimated 9,057 Megawatts-electric (MWe) of power generation potential from domestic, conventional, identified geothermal systems, 30,033 MWe of power generation potential from conventional, undiscovered geothermal resources, and 517,800 MWe of power generation potential from unconventional (high temperature, low permeability) Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) resources.

The results of this assessment indicate that full development of the conventional, identified systems alone could expand geothermal power production by approximately 6,500 MWe, or about 260% of the currently installed geothermal total of more than 2500 MWe. The resource estimate for unconventional EGS is more than an order of magnitude larger than the combined estimates for both identified and undiscovered conventional geothermal resources and, if successfully developed, could provide an installed geothermal electric power generation capacity equivalent to about half of the currently installed electric power generating capacity in the United States.

“The results of this assessment point to a greater potential for geothermal power production than previous assessments,” said Dirk Kempthorne, U.S. Secretary of the Interior. “Geothermal energy is not only a renewable resource, but could significantly contribute to our domestic energy resource base.”

Results of this USGS assessment indicate that the power generation potential from identified geothermal systems range from 3,675 MWe (95% probability) to 16,457 MWe (5% probability); the power generation potential from undiscovered geothermal systems range from 7,917 MWe (95% probability) to 73,286 MWe (5% probability); and the power generation potential from Enhanced Geothermal Systems range from 345,100 MWe (95% probability) to 727,900 MWe (5% probability).

Geothermal energy is an extremely important but underutilized domestic, renewable energy resource. The nearly 15,000 Gigawatt-hours of geothermal power generated in 2005 constituted 25% of domestic nonhydroelectric renewable electric power generation (a little over 4,055,400 total Gigawatt-hours of electricity were produced in the United States in 2005).

The USGS assessment evaluated 241 identified moderate-temperature (90 to 150oC; 194 to 302oF) and high-temperature (greater than 150oC) geothermal systems located on private and public lands. Geothermal systems located on public lands closed to development, such as national parks, were not included in this assessment. Electric-power generation potential was also determined for several low-temperature (less than 90°ree;C) systems in Alaska for which local conditions make electric power generation feasible. The assessment also included a provisional estimate of the power generation potential from the application of unconventional, EGS technology.

Technorati Tags: Geothermal, U.S. Geological Survey, EGS technology

The blatant racism that is.

A local newspaper columnist, in a spoof of Obama’s platform, wrote in one recent piece that the Democrat would hire the rapper Ludacris to paint the White House black (a reference to a pro-Obama song by Ludacris), and divert more foreign aid to Africa so “the Obama family there can skim enough to allow them to free their goats and live the American Dream.” He joked that Obama would replace the 50 stars on the U.S. flag “with a star and crescent logo,” an Islamic symbol, and that his policy on drugs would be to “raise taxes to pay for Obama’s inner-city political base.”

The columnist, Bobby May, is also treasurer of the Buchanan County Republican Party and was listed in a July news release as the county’s representative on McCain’s Virginia leadership team, though he said his column reflected his views alone, and he denied it was racist.

McCain is losing everywhere except Ohio and Florida so it;s time for the GOP to start using their lower level operatives like the racist pig (probably wears lipstick when he thinks no one is looking too) who wrote that article.

[GOP racists,McCain,racist,racism,Rethuglican racists[/tags]

Valuable studies all

• PEACE: The Swiss Federal Ethics Committee on Non-Human Biotechnology and the citizens of Switzerland for adopting the legal principle that plants have dignity.
• ARCHAEOLOGY: Astolfo Gomes de Mello Araujo and Jose Carlos Marcelino for showing armadillos can scramble the contents of an archaeological dig.
• BIOLOGY: Marie-Christine Cadiergues, Christel Joubert and Michel Franc for discovering that fleas that live on a dog can jump higher than fleas that live on a cat.
• MEDICINE: Dan Ariely for demonstrating that expensive fake medicine is more effective than cheap fake medicine.
• COGNITIVE SCIENCE: Toshiyuki Nakagaki, Hiroyasu Yamada, Ryo Kobayashi, Atsushi Tero, Akio Ishiguro and Agota Toth for discovering that slime molds can solve puzzles
• NUTRITION: Massimiliano Zampini and Charles Spence for demonstrating that food tastes better when it sounds better.
• ECONOMICS: Geoffrey Miller, Joshua Tyber and Brent Jordan for discovering that exotic dancers earn more when at peak fertility.
• PHYSICS: Dorian Raymer and Douglas Smith for proving that heaps of string or hair will inevitably tangle
• CHEMISTRY: Sheree Umpierre, Joseph Hill and Deborah Anderson for discovering that Coca-Cola is an effective spermicide, and C.Y. Hong, C.C. Shieh, P. Wu and B.N. Chiang for proving it is not.
• LITERATURE: David Sims for his study “You Bastard: A Narrative Exploration of the Experience of Indignation within Organizations.”

Technorati Tags: Ignobel

Technorati Tags: Palin, election 2008, red America, morons

The stupid, it just hurts

I must say though that with the recent interviews my impression of Katie Couric’s journalism creds is going up considerably. These interviews really set her apart from most of the pack.

Technorati Tags: Katie Couric, journalism

Are we born liberal or conservative? That is, is a bent either way genetically predisposed? I tend to suspect it is.

Liberals score high on a personality trait known as Openness to Experience whereas conservatives score very low on that but score high on wanting things that are familiar, safe and dependable - authority in other words. The example given in this film of two people, one a liberal the other a conservative, looking at the statue of David is very telling about these two groups. The liberal looks at it in awe and wonder, transfixed by the beauty of the sculpture and how it all comes together in pure harmony, the conservative is transfixed and embarrassed by the realistic, uncovered male genitalia and can’t get past that to appreciate the art (think back to John Ashcroft having the two partially nude statues in the Great Hall of the Department of Justice covered up with drapery.) It’s a fascinating topic and certainly pertinent to the upcoming elections both here in Canada and in the US.

visit yourmorals.org

Technorati Tags: Liberals, Openness to Experience, conservatives, authority, Jonathan Haidt, Yin and Yang, conservative, liberal, moral humilty

Remember the infamous Bush Bulge during the last election? Well it appears the GOP have, albeit less obviously, tried that again this time.

As bad as Palin was in the VP debate she did better than most though she would, which of course at least raised the possibility of her being prompted in some way. Many have noted that she spent all her time, when the camera’s were on Biden, staring at notes on her lectern. Now, no pre-scripted material was allowed on stage by the debate rules, at the same time it was not apparent to those in the audience or those watching split screen on C-SPAN that she wasn’t doing much scribbling. So what was she reading? That brings us to the 2008 version of the Bush Bulge.

Scott Creighton was watching it in high definition and, along with a few others, noticed something odd about Palin’s right ear. Yup you guessed it folks, she had an earpiece, a cleverly disguised one, in her right ear. In the photos on his site you can see something attached to the frame of her glasses and going from there into her ear and you can see it’s shadow. She was being cued from off stage and this accounts for all those strange winks she was giving. That wasn’t her being cute and folksy, that was her acknowledging she understood the cues.

Technorati Tags: Bush Bulge, Palin, Biden, earpiece, Sarah Palin is an idiot

The other day I told you to stay tuned for James Nachtwey’s TED Prize project. It has been released and is very powerful

Technorati Tags: James Nachtwey, TED Prize, TB, disease

If you have 5 American friends send this to them or post it on your own blog

Via Greg

Technorati Tags: Election 2008, vote

I guess one of the saddest parts of growing old is the passing of the heroes of your youth. Last week it was Paul Newman, this week it’s Nick Reynolds a founding member of the Kingston Trio who died yesterday at age 75. In my youth I wore out a few Kingston Trio albums. To wish Nick on his way here’s one of my favourites and apropos for the times.

Technorati Tags: Nick Reynolds, Kingston Trio, passings, growing old