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NASA, Boeing finish tests of 757 vertical tail with active flow control technology

« Coca-Cola Company and Ford unveil Ford Fusion Energi with PlantBottle Technology interior | Main Print this post NASA, Boeing finish tests of 757 vertical tail with active flow control technology Aircraft_tail_600 The full-sized test tail modified and equipped with sweeping jet actuators. (Image credit: NASA Ames Research Center) Click to enlarge. NASA’s Ames Research Center and NASA’s Langley Research Center, in partnership with The Boeing Co., have completed wind tunnel testing of a full-scale Boeing 757 vertical tail model equipped with active flow control (AFC) technology. The project is one of eight large-scale integrated technology demonstrations that are part of NASA’s Environmentally Responsible Aviation (ERA) Project. ( Earlier post .) Active flow control involves the manipulation of a flow field—through the addition of energy—to improve the aerodynamic performance of an aircraft structure. Active flow control can enable the design of simpler, smaller and more aerodynamically efficient structures that […]

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Why the Government Now Cares What You Spend on Gas

Why the Government Now Cares What You Spend on Gas Page added on November 13, 2013 locationaffordability.info The housing crisis was, of course, primarily about housing: housing that people couldn’t afford, housing that banks helped them finance anyway, housing that too many treated as a sure-fire investment . But in a less noticed way, the housing crisis was also very much about transportation. The money we spend getting around is largely dictated by the choices we make in where to live. Buy a house 20 miles down the highway from your job, and your costs of getting around on $4-a-gallon gas are much steeper than they would be if you lived a short walk from the office (or the bus stop). Those costs – half a tank of gas here, a bus ticket there – are much harder to track than a single monthly housing payment. They’re practically invisible. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Recollecting the false messiah of peak oil

Page added on November 14, 2013 Oil prices continue to decline, with WTI currently leading the charge: So where are the oil bulls of 2008 now? Hard to say. But long-standing oil market watcher Stephen Schork, of the Schork Report, offers some colourful views on the topic this Wednesday. They come in the shape of a somewhat self-congratulatory nostalgic yarn, but it is worth the read, in so much as it really takes you back to how things were back in those scary September days. Here he goes: Back in September 2008 we were in Vienna giving a presentation to our friends at OPEC. In between copious amounts of Sachetorte and Grüner Veltliner, we had the opportunity to sit down with one of the largest hedge fund managers in Austria. At the time, crude oil on the NYMEX was imploding. That is to say, after peaking at a record […]

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Field test shows Volvo Buses’ plug-in hybrid reduces fuel consumption by 81% and energy consumption by 61%; 21 mpg

Field test shows Volvo Buses’ plug-in hybrid reduces fuel consumption by 81% and energy consumption by 61%; 21 mpg Volvo Plug-in hybrid_EN_2013 Volvo Bus’ plug-in hybrid. The pantograph for rapid charging can be seen on the roof. Click to enlarge. Field tests being conducted in Gothenburg show that Volvo Buses’ plug-in hybrid reduces fuel consumption by 81% and total energy consumption (diesel plus electricity) by 61% compared to a comparable Euro 5 diesel bus. ( Earlier post .) The field test in Gothenburg began in June 2013 and includes three plug-in hybrid buses, the batteries of which are rapidly recharged at the terminals. This makes it possible for the buses to run on electric power for most of the route. The plug-in hybrids are based on the Volvo 7900 Hybrid, Volvo Buses’ second series-produced hybrid bus model. The plug-in hybrids have been further developed, and enable rapid recharging from […]

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WTI Oil Swings After Biggest Gain in Week

West Texas Intermediate crude was little changed after the biggest increase in a week. A report today is forecast to show stockpiles rose to the highest level since June in the U.S., the world’s biggest oil consumer. Futures swung between gains and losses in New York after the industry-funded American Petroleum Institute said crude supplies increased 599,000 barrels last week. The government will report today that inventories rose by 800,000 barrels to 386.2 million, according to a Bloomberg News survey. Brent’s premium widened for a fourth time yesterday on speculation that protests in Libya will disrupt the nation’s oil exports. “The anchor is U.S. supply,” Phil Flynn , a senior market analyst at Price Futures Group in Chicago said by phone. Protests in Libya that blocked an oil tanker from loading “raised market concerns,” he said. WTI for December delivery was down 7 cents at $93.81 a barrel in […]

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Oil prices mixed ahead of US data, Yellen speech

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Oil prices were mixed Thursday ahead of the release of data on U.S. crude stocks. Investors are also watching for testimony by incoming Federal Reserve chief Janet Yellen for clues about when the U.S. will cut back, or taper, its $85 billion monthly bond purchases that have kept interest rates low to support economic recovery. Benchmark U.S. crude for December delivery was down 4 cents to $93.84 a barrel at midafternoon Kuala Lumpur time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract gained 84 cents to close at $93.88 on Wednesday. Brent crude, the international benchmark, was up 39 cents to $107.29 a barrel on the ICE exchange in London. The U.S. benchmark is down by about 8 percent in the past month. Traders say further declines are likely. U.S. crude stockpiles data for the week ended Nov. 8, due later […]

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Natural Gas Snaps Six-Day Streak of Gains as Cold Snap Eases

By David Bird and Nicole Friedman NEW YORK–Natural-gas futures snapped a six-session rally Wednesday ahead of an expected break in a sustained cold spell that has lifted gas-heating demand. December delivery gas fell 5.1 cents, or 1.4%, to settle at $3.566 per million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The loss follows a rise of 17.2 cents, or 5%, over the prior six trading days fueled by a bout of below-normal temperatures that blanketed the eastern half of the nation. Forecasters call for a moderating temperatures this weekend, with low temperatures expected to be 20 degrees above levels seen early this week in parts of the Midwest, the nation’s biggest market for gas-fired home heating. Broad temperature swings […]

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IEA World Energy Outlook 2013 sees CO2 emissions rising by 20% to 2035; oil use on upward trend

« TomTom launches real-time traffic service in Brazil | Main | ClipperCreek announces $549 LCS-25 charger with more wall plugs; direct replacement for ECOtality residential customers » Print this post IEA World Energy Outlook 2013 sees CO2 emissions rising by 20% to 2035; oil use on upward trend Energy demand growth moves to Asia. Source: IEA. Click to enlarge. The newly released 2013 edition of the IEA World Energy Outlook (WEO) depicts a world in which some long-held tenets of the energy sector are being rewritten; importers are becoming exporters, while exporters are among the major sources of growing demand. However, the report advises, long-term solutions to global challenges remain scarce; as one example, the report sees global CO 2 emissions rising by 20% to 37.2 Gt by 2035. WEO-2013 presents a central scenario (“New Policies”) in which global energy demand rises by one-third in the period to 2035, […]

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Emissions of CO2 driving rapid oceans 'acid trip'

Great barrier reef By Matt McGrath Environment correspondent, BBC News 14 November 2013 Last updated at 01:13 Corals all over the world are threatened by rising rates of acidification in the oceans The world’s oceans are becoming acidic at an “unprecedented rate” and may be souring more rapidly than at any time in the past 300 million years. In their strongest statement yet on this issue, scientists say acidification could increase by 170% by 2100. They say that some 30% of ocean species are unlikely to survive in these conditions. The researchers conclude that human emissions of CO2 are clearly to blame. The study will be presented at global climate talks in Poland next week. In 2012, over 500 of the world’s leading experts on ocean acidification gathered in California. Led by the International Biosphere-Geosphere Programme, a review of the state of the science has now been published. You […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Emissions of CO2 driving rapid oceans ‘acid trip’

Great barrier reef By Matt McGrath Environment correspondent, BBC News 14 November 2013 Last updated at 01:13 Corals all over the world are threatened by rising rates of acidification in the oceans The world’s oceans are becoming acidic at an “unprecedented rate” and may be souring more rapidly than at any time in the past 300 million years. In their strongest statement yet on this issue, scientists say acidification could increase by 170% by 2100. They say that some 30% of ocean species are unlikely to survive in these conditions. The researchers conclude that human emissions of CO2 are clearly to blame. The study will be presented at global climate talks in Poland next week. In 2012, over 500 of the world’s leading experts on ocean acidification gathered in California. Led by the International Biosphere-Geosphere Programme, a review of the state of the science has now been published. You […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple