The Wildernerd

Very little OC. mostly reblogs on transit, planning, urbanism, maps, graphs, and whatever else takes my interest. working it out as I go.

[just-shower-thoughts]

We had nuclear bombs before we had colour television.

[fy-perspectives]

First say to yourself what you would be, then do what you have to do.

Epictetus (via fy-perspectives)

[uppermiddlemanagement]

There is a current alleged terrorist attack occurring in Sydney, Pray for the hostages but do not forget to pray for the people who are going to be racially profiled because of all of the bigots in Australia who will use this act to justify their racism and islamaphobia. I’m genuinely scared that Australia just might have another cronulla riots occur soon and if that isn’t scary I don’t know what is.

[maryiees7]

I will always remember when the Doctor was me.

[false-profit]

Some anti-wind energy dipshits actually claim wind turbines are “ugly”. No one will ever be able to convince me that this: is uglier than this: Plus, wind doesn’t spill and pollute land and water.

[thewildernerd]

It's all aesthetic really

[asthecrowtherflies]

[thewildernerd]

Wind energy generation in Iowa avoids more than 8.4 million metric tons of climate-altering carbon pollution — the equivalent of taking 1.7 million cars off the road, according to a new report released by Environment Iowa.

Additionally, the report found that wind energy saves Iowans nearly 3.8 billion gallons of water per year, enough to meet the needs of over 158,000 people. 

Good work Iowa

[greenfuturist]

Brazil will see $235 billion of investments in renewable-energy and biofuel projects during the next ten years, Edison Lobao, the country’s mines and energy minister, said today at a United Nations event on sustainable energy in New York. The nation will install 36 gigawatts of hydroeletric plants, 12 gigawatts of biomass plants and 11 gigawatts of wind farms during that time, according to a transcript of the minister’s speech acquired by Bloomberg News.

Brazil Expects $235 Billion in Renewable Energy During Decade - Bloomberg

Pretty impressive, more than 80% of Brazil’s energy is already renewable 

(via greenfuturist)

Good work Brasil

[springwiseintelligence]

Rooftop solar kit doubles as water reservoir

In developing nations near the equator, the weather comes in extremes — the sun is at its strongest, while rainfall levels are also the highest in the world. At the same time, the same areas are blighted by a lack of electricity and clean drinking water. In order to tackle both of these issues, designers in Mexico have developed the PhotoFlow, a device that harnesses energy from the sun in good weather and collects and filters rainwater in bad weather. READ MORE…

[headspace]

(via Mechatronics & Electrical power Engineering)

Solar-powered ‘dragon’ stadium The solar-powered ‘dragon’ stadium in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, is the world’s first stadium which gets all its power needs from the sun. Designed by Japanese architect Toyo on a steel-rod structure with a roof covered with solar panels, the horseshoe-shaped structure has been constructed for the World Games to be held in Kaohsiung city in July 2009. Spread over 19 hectare…

s and having a seating capacity of 55,000 it will be used mainly for athletics and rugby events, including hosting the main events for the 2009 World Games. After the World Games, the Taiwanese national football team will play home matches at the ‘dragon’ stadium. The stadium’s unique, semi-spiral shape imitates a dragon and is intended to provide a “cordial welcome and a cheerful greeting to athletes and spectators with its open-ended structure,” according to the organizers of the World Games.

There are 8,844 solar panels on the roof which are expected to generate more electricity than is needed to power the building’s 3,300 lights and two gigantic television screens. Some 1.14 million kWh of electricity a year will be generated – preventing, in the process, 660 tons of carbon dioxide from being discharged into the atmosphere. As for the surplus energy generated during the warm weather, the government of Taiwan intends to sell it.

[thewildernerd]

Love it

[kqedscience]

[kqedscience]

[smartercities]

ElectriCity — Ultramodern Electric Bus Service Launching In Gothenburg In 2015 | Clean Technica

Buses that are silent, energy efficient, and don’t release exhaust — sounds good, doesn’t it? Just such a bus service is now in development in the Swedish city of Gothenburg — it’s currently set to launch in 2015. The new “ultramodern” bus service will be entirely electric and powered entirely by renewable energy sources.

[cees1-blog]

Scientists in the Netherlands have designed a windmill without rotating blades. EWICON, an acronym for electrostatic wind energy converter, uses particle movement to generate energy. Wind moves electrically charged water droplets across a bipolar field in the steel structure, which creates a current that can be transmitted to a grid. Read more: http://ow.ly/k9v4s

[cees1-blog]

Scientists in the Netherlands have designed a windmill without rotating blades. EWICON, an acronym for electrostatic wind energy converter, uses particle movement to generate energy. Wind moves electrically charged water droplets across a bipolar field in the steel structure, which creates a current that can be transmitted to a grid. Read more: http://ow.ly/k9v4s

[greenpeace]

Meeting renewable electricity standards requirements is proving to be an affordable way for utilities to add power-generating capacity while reducing dependence on fossil fuels.

[diegueno]

Solar power and other distributed renewable energy technologies could lay waste to U.S. power utilities and burn the utility business model, which has remained virtually unchanged for a century, to the ground.That is not wild-eyed hippie talk. It is the assessment of the utilities themselves.

Solar panels could destroy U.S. utilities, according to U.S. utilities | Grist (via diegueno)

[discoverynews]

Renewables + Storage = Full Grid by 2030: "These results break the conventional wisdom that renewable energy is too unreliable and expensive," said the study’s co-author, Willett Kempton, of the University of Delware’s College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment, in a press release. "The key is to get the right combination of electricity sources and storage — which we did by an exhaustive search — and to calculate costs correctly."