Living in the shadow of a nuclear power plant

This past week I glanced at an article in a local paper which displayed pictures of crazy malformed vegetables. Then a friend pulled out an ear of corn from her freezer which had two ears growing from the same stem and made the comment that in all of her 80+ years she had never seen such a thing. In fact, neither have I. I quickly teased that it was from the years of radiation leaks from the power plant that made dysfunctional corn grow. Quite honestly, it could have been the wet season last year and the abundant rain this year. As my grandma always said, you are more likely to find a four leaf clover during a wet season, indicating that the extra leaf was caused by excess rain. I really don’t know.

When I sit upon my deck and look to the south I can tell which direction the wind is blowing by the direction of the steam clouds which hover over the towers. Living in the shadow of a nuclear power plant has not caused me any need for concern until recently when several hundred fish died suddenly in the local river from an unknown cause. (Rockford Register Star, 2010) Having driven by the spot in the river where the warm water from the plant runs in during the winter, I wonder if there may be some kind of connection.

While we are assured that the power plant is safe and that the utility takes measures to insure safety, I am feeling a little unsettled when I remember a friend, who formerly worked in the plant, now literally “glows in the dark”. Some episodes from the popular television cartoon series “The Simpsons” poke fun at malformed fish and glowing objects because of the fictional power plant that Homer Simpson works in.

And what about the nuclear waste these power plants produce? The material glows for years. How safe is that anyway?

Is there a safer, more economical solution out there to power our homes and our lives? The race is on to reduce emissions and pollution to save our planet. The auto industry has been the primary target of this for years. Our power plants have reduced the use of coal. We are implementing the burning off of emissions from our garbage dumps to create power. Some of the larger farming operations use a digester in their pits to help compress the methane gas to create energy and wind farms are popping up all across the county.

100 years ago Nikola Tesla, worked intently on giving us other sources to generate electricity. His ground laying work gave us the knowledge for creating microwaves and lasers. In fact, many of his ideas have lead to a great deal of today’s technology. Today, more than ever, Follow me as I investigate electricity and alternative resources to generate power.

we have the tools necessary to create a free ample supply of electricity to power our lives.

References:

Unknown, (2010, January 2, 2010). Cause of fish kill still under investigation. Rockford Register Star, The (IL)

Powering down your electric bill

While attending the 2010 Farm Progress show near Des Moines Iowa, I discovered new technology that could potentially save building owners thousands of dollars with a product called EcoBrite, a brand trademarked by Innovative Lighting, Inc., Roland, Iowa.

This product is a unique lighting system that replaces fluorescent and metal halide lights. These units use LED lights which are far brighter and more energy efficient than the fluorescent counter parts and they operate efficiently in cold environments.

Because EcoBrite lighting uses LED Lights, the brilliant output is distributed more evenly across an area. These lights also do not have any hot-spots and operate coolly. This lighting is used currently in commercial refrigeration display cases or walk in freezers, but is expanding to warehouses, stores, malls, agricultural buildings, arenas, archival displays, museum exhibits, municipalities and places of worship.

In addition to saving on the electric bill, they are also more environmentally friendly as they do not contain any lead, mercury, glass or other elements.

Innovative Lighting, Inc. also offers a 30 LED A Style Frosted Globe, Product Number 712-X439, which fits in the U.S. Standard Light Sockets and only uses 5 watts of power. These lights are rated for 50,000 hours of service and have the potential of really slashing your electric bill.

References

Unknown, (2010), EcoBrite Innovative Warehouse Lighting, (brochure), www.innovativelight.com

Reaching toward simple electricity

I remember reading a book as a youth about how people may survive if there was a devastating war or a disaster. I thought the book was interesting because it described a dome over the last surviving city which kept radiation out. It was pretty far out there for the 70’s. That’s probably why it appealed to me. It got my imagination going as to what could be possible and what man could create.

The rebel in this book ventured outside of the city, away from the protective dome. He was curious about what he may find given the fact that everything was supposedly destroyed. In this journey, everything seemed baron around the city until he decided to head toward the vast mountains.

He saw very little life except for an occasional bird or small rodent. Which, to him, was odd given that there was not supposed to be any life existing outside of the city.

Once he reached the mountains and started to explore, he came upon streams with fish. This was paradise to him. Then he found a hermit who figured out how to produce electricity by using a bicycle to turn a generator. He used this method to run the machines he needed to make things easier.

Since I read this book, I have continually looked for ways to create simple electricity.  Having lived through the New York City black-out, I could see an application for this. (Gottlieb and Glanz 2003) But, until recently, I didn’t have any ideas as to how this could be done.

I have been raised to believe that to create energy, you must create friction. Turbines used for wind and water energy create friction, which in turn creates electricity.

Then I was introduced to the concepts of a Stirling Engine by a fellow employee.  (Unknown 2006) This employee purchased a small replica of this device, then engineered his own machine and attached a light bulb.

This was amazing to me. While the concept was really cool, the light it produces was not sufficient to read by as the light pulsed as the wheel turned. But still, it allowed my creativity to be reborn.

After exploring this theory, I found that this exact theory has been used to create emergency electrical systems for yachts and for use in cryogenic cooling systems. In 2005 Southern California’s Edison agreed to purchase Solar Powered Stirling Engines to produce electricity. (Unknown 2006) Wow, this is amazing.

I began to wonder if there was a way to produce electricity without having to rely on ma Edison.  What untapped resource haven’t we fully embraced?

I kept searching while our world changed around me. Is there simple free electricity available for everyone? Have we just not tapped into the wealth of information before us? Or, has it been out of reach until now?

References

Gottlieb, Martin and Glanz, James, (2003, August 15) The Blackouts of '65 and '77 Became Defining Moments in the City's History, (article), New York Times (The), (NY), http://nytimes.com/2003/08/15/nyregion/15HIST.html, last accessed, September 28, 2010.

Unknown, (2006) Today’s Stirling Engine, (article), Stirling Engine Society (USA), SESUSA.org, http://www.sesusa.org/, last accessed, September 28, 2010.

Unknown, (2006) Stirling Engine, (article), Copyright NJK, Max Energy Limited, http://www.solarnavigator.net/stirling_engine.htm, last accessed, September 28, 2010.

Is it possible to harvest electricity from thin air?

Have you ever wondered if producing electricity could be as simple as breathing air? Living in the Midwest, it’s not uncommon to see lightening dash across the sky during a thunderstorm or witness an event called thunder-snow during the winter.

What if we could harness this energy? I have often wondered this. I witnessed a close lightening strike once and experienced the “green ball” which burst in our home. I know what it’s like to have all of my hair become instantly static when a lightening storm is near. But still, I am curious about harvesting and using this energy.

We know from using batteries that energy has to utilize positive and negative poles. We have acknowledged that the sun can produce usable energy by utilizing solar panels, and that wind and water create electricity using turbines. Further recent developments include the use of Geo-Thermo Energy to heat our homes as seen on display at the 2010 Farm Progress Show held near Des Moines, Iowa.

Scientists recently unveiled the discovery of the mechanism by which water vapor in the air becomes charged at the National Meeting of the American Chemical Society held in August 2010. (Dillow 2010) But what if we could pull energy from thin air day or night?

Nikola Tesla was working on this exact technology in 1899. Tesla theorized that ionic particles traveled between the earth and the sun. But, when investors killed his funding to build the Wardenclyffe Tower Transmitter Station in Long Island because the fear of free electricity was too great, Tesla was forced to stop his research. The tower was demolished in 1917. (Hunter 2008)

Technology has come a long way since, allowing us to accomplish more. What wasn’t available or even thought of then is now a reality. Is it possible, at last, to harvest electricity from thin air? If you knew how, would you go green?

References

Clay Dillow, August 26, 2010 , “Electricity out of thin air could be the next big power source”, article, POPSCI.com

Keith Hunter, 2008, “Tesla Undone: The Collapse of the Wardenclyffe Tower Project”, Nikola Tesla Biography, article, ancient-world-mysteries.com