Concentrated Solar Power, polyethylene bag, DC megagrid

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Antikythera Mechanism,_______________________________________________________
geekinator geekiness site

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longtail

we have in the past few months reached the penny-per-MIPS* milestone. Intel's Core Duo running at 2.13 GHz now costs around $200 at retail (it's around $180 at volume), but can do about 20,000 MIPS.

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banthebag
Ban the bag

the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh, simply being caught in possession of a polyethylene bag could get you seven years behind bars and a £1000 fine. The Maharastra government has also banned the manufacture, sale and use of all plastic bags, as have various other states and municipalities. Goa, Sikkim, Rajhastan, Punjab and Delhi, Bangalore and Darjeeling have banned the use of thin disposable bags.
Rwanda and the self declared Republic of Somaliland have also both banned thin plastic shopping bags, and Kenya is expected to also ban thin bags after Wangari Mathaai, the 2005 Nobel peace prize winner, linked plastic bag litter with malaria. When discarded, the bags can fill with rainwater,

My concern is visual-cultural. Streams and river banks get lined with pbags, which are gross visual pollutants.
The effect is to discourage the idea that a clean environment is possible. People just give up.
In many 3rd wrld situations, the poorest scavenge garbage dumps for pbs. The campaign there is for householder pre-sorting, so that the scavengers are exposed to less wet putrid waste, broken glass and ash.
'Clean' garbage is much less noxious for the poor to sort.
I believe that plastic bags are made from Natural Gas, Not oil. NG is a valuable resource that should not be wasted.
As a cyclist, I always have a back pack. I try to have a couple of plastic bags in my pack at all times. Car-drivers could easily have a dozen.
One negative effect: Garbage disposal men (garbos) have come to like plastic bags. Noxious household waste wrapped in plastic has made the garbo's work less smelly and dusty. Prepare for a bad reaction if you suddenly cease to plastic wrap your garbage. Otoh its trivially easy to put food waste and some dust into a 'worm farm'. My worm farm is just a bin with a few big holes drilled in the bottom, propped up on bricks.
I dont even collect the worm juice. Amazing how the volume goes down. Remember to keep it moist. My waste is not so worm friendly, a lot of coffee grounds and onion skins. Nevertheless the worms have invaded, up through the drain holes. I didn't bother buying worms. If you build it they will come. Heartening to see the mass of worms in my coffee-grounds. No bad smells (I dont put bones or meat scraps in)

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prontocondoms
condom speed video

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constantskeptic
Nov 21, 2006 - China intends to build one of the world’s biggest solar power stations at a cost of $765 million .. The 100-megawatt facility, to be built in Dunhuang..northwest China’s Gansu province.. Zhonghao New Energy Investment.. five-years to construct

2006/10
This cost $765 million 100-megawatt seems high
cf:
154 megawatt A$420m ($US318) .. Melbourne-based Solar Systems.
Capital cost US$2.06 per Watt (cf Sizewell "B" 1995 $3 per Watt)

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German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety has calculated that solar electricity imported from CSP plants in North Africa and the Middle East would be one of the cheapest sources of electricity in Europe, and that includes the costs of transmitting it.
trec
thelazyenvironmentalist
..by building solar power plants that cover 0.5% of the world’s hot deserts, the entire world’s electrical needs can be met.
....
the advantage of DC cables is that the loss in transport is only about 3% per 1,000 kilometres,
Concentrated Solar Power, polyethylene bag, DC megagrid