Dr. Jeff Masters' WunderBlog

A solar panel outputting more energy than was required to make it DOES NOT violate any law of thermodynamics. The energy is coming from the Sun, it is not put into the panel at the time of manufacturing.

LET IT SNOW!!
...CONFIDENCE INCREASING FOR A SIGNIFICANT WINTER WEATHER EVENT TO
IMPACT THE ARKLAMISS LATE THIS WEEKEND...

AN INTENSE AREA OF LOW PRESSURE WILL TRANSIT THE NORTHERN GULF OF
MEXICO SUNDAY AFTERNOON INTO SUNDAY NIGHT. WHILE UNCERTAINTY IN THE
DETAILS EXISTS AT THIS TIME...IT APPEARS THAT ACCUMULATING WINTRY
PRECIPITATION WILL BE POSSIBLE FOR A MAJORITY OF THE REGION AS THIS
SYSTEM PASSES. LOCATIONS ALONG AND NORTH OF A MONROE TO YAZOO CITY TO
MACON LINE HAVE THE GREATEST POTENTIAL TO SEE ACCUMULATING SNOW...
WITH CONFIDENCE INCREASING THAT 4 TO 8 INCHES MAY FALL ACROSS THESE
AREAS BY EARLY MONDAY MORNING. JUST SOUTH OF THIS REGION...ROUGHLY
ALONG THE INTERSTATE 20 CORRIDOR...A WINTRY MIX OF PRECIPITATION IS
EXPECTED. WHILE CONFIDENCE IS LOW AT THIS TIME...THE POSSIBILITY
EXISTS FOR ICE ACCUMULATION ACROSS THESE AREAS THAT COULD TOTAL ONE
QUARTER TO THREE QUARTERS OF AN INCH. FURTHER SOUTH...MAINLY RAIN IS
EXPECTED WITH 1 TO 2 INCHES POSSIBLE. THESE CONDITIONS WILL MAKE FOR
HAZARDOUS TRAVEL CONDITIONS DURING THE MORNING COMMUTE ON MONDAY.
PLEASE STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR LOCAL MEDIA FOR UPDATES ON
THE WINTER WEATHER SITUATION.

From the NREL

Solar Photovoltaic Technology

Solar cells, also called photovoltaic (PV) cells by scientists, convert sunlight directly into electricity. PV gets its name from the process of converting light (photons) to electricity (voltage), which is called the PV effect.

The PV effect was discovered in 1954, when scientists at Bell Telephone discovered that silicon (an element found in sand) created an electric charge when exposed to sunlight. Soon solar cells were being used to power space satellites and smaller items like calculators and watches.

Today, thousands of people power their homes and businesses with individual solar PV systems. Utility companies are also using PV technology for large power stations.

Solar panels used to power homes and businesses are typically made from solar cells combined into modules that hold about 40 cells.

A typical home will use about 10 to 20 solar panels to power the home. The panels are mounted at a fixed angle facing south, or they can be mounted on a tracking device that follows the sun, allowing them to capture the most sunlight. Many solar panels combined together to create one system is called a solar array.

For large electric utility or industrial applications, hundreds of solar arrays are interconnected to form a large utility-scale PV system.

I predict somewhere, sometime, someone will figure out a relatively safe and sane way to generate power through nuclear fusion--that is, one that doesn't rely on detonating a hydrogen bomb. The waste from fusion is more radioactive for several decades than is the waste from fission, but the half-life of fusion byproducts is so short that within 300 years or so, you could practically eat the stuff if you so chose.

The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, once it comes online, is planned to generate 500mW of power from 50mW of input power for a short time. But even this experiment is a dozen or so years away from being carried out, and then there'll be more years before the technology is viable; some predictions say that'll be as late as--ulp--2080. I hope that's not too long...

Answer.com Re: Fusion based energy production.

Yes, they are quite different. The deuterium-tritium reaction produces a helium nucleus, which is harmless. There will be an intense neutron bombardment of the enclosure holding the fusion plasma, and this will result in the structure becoming radioactive, but that will be a problem for decommissioning rather than operation.

Scientists originally promised fusion as a clean source of energy, and whilst it is not entirely so, it is far cleaner than fission. The only problem is finding how to make it work in a practical power producing plant.


From Wikipedia...

The large flux of high-energy neutrons in a reactor will make the structural materials radioactive.

The radioactive inventory at shut-down may be comparable to that of a fission reactor, but there are important differences.

The half-life of the radioisotopes produced by fusion tend to be less than those from fission, so that the inventory decreases more rapidly.

Unlike fission reactors, whose waste remains radioactive for thousands of years, most of the radioactive material in a fusion reactor would be the reactor core itself, which would be dangerous for about 50 years, and low-level waste another 100.

Although this waste will be considerably more radioactive during those 50 years than fission waste, the very short half-life makes the process very attractive, as the waste management is fairly straightforward.

By 300 years the material would have the same radioactivity as coal ash

Quoting calusakat:


Problem.

Does anyone have any idea as to the half life of nuclear waste.

Over 15,000 years in most instances, at the very least.

How on earth can we expect this civilization to still be viable over that length of time. Answer is, we cant. An unexpected extraterrestrial event like an asteroid collision could easily cause a serious disruption in the fabric for mans control of his world.

Imagine having some unsuspecting folks happening upon one of our storage areas fifteen thousand years from now ( 150 centuries ) and not knowing what it was until too late. How much contamination would there be?

Nuclear is a good short term resolution to our problems and short term only. Renewables like photovoltaic are our only long term resolution for future energy needs on this planet.

That is the point I was making in post #830. I do not see any immediate answer to this problem and I have not seen any viable work around either. I would love to see us move more to nuclear power, but we still have this one tiny obstacle to overcome. A tiny obstacle that can have a negative impact for centuries. Once again, we would be putting the burden on many future generations so that we can party today. Let us be realistic. When we are not doing the work now to protect future generations then all we are doing is having one long party. A party that future generations will suffer from the hangover. Are we really smart enough now to develop the technology that benefits us now without being a detriment to future generations? I don't think that we are. We may experience that Eureka! moment just as the lights go out forever, or not at all. We must make changes now that helps to preserve our future generations. Should that require less of a party on our part then that is what will be required. No, I do not have the answers on how far back we need to be from the party mode to help assure that there will be future generations. That should not imply that I think we should just continue to party until we do have the answers.

Verhojansk -66 °F
Ojmjakon -65 °F
Ust'-Moma -65 °F
Sejmchan -59 °F
Ust'-Maja -55 °F
Ust'-Judoma -54 °F
Amga -51 °F

Republicans have wasted no time in using their new majority in Congress to try to block the authority of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to act on climate change.

In their first full day in the new Congress, Republicans outlined three different bills – encapsulating three different strategies – aimed at limiting the powers of the EPA. It also shut down a house committee that had tackled energy and climate issues.

The first, introduced by Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, would declare that greenhouse gas emissions are not subject to the Clean Air Act - even though supreme court ruled in 2007 that they are.

The second, introduced by Ted Poe of Texas, would block funding to any government agency associated with cap-and-trade.

The third, introduced by Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, is relatively modest, seeking a two-year delay in EPA regulation of carbon dioxide and methane emissions.

But that could make it the most likely to succeed. In the Senate, a Democrat from coal-rich West Virginia, Jay Rockefeller, has been calling for a bill to delay EPA action on climate change.

The EPA began the process of regulating greenhouse gas emissions under new rules for major power plants and oil refineries that went into effect this month. more here

Quoting P451:
The planet's northern magnetic pole is drifting slowly but steadily towards Russia -- and it's throwing off planes in Florida.

Tampa International Airport was forced to readjust its runways Thursday to account for the movement of the Earth's magnetic fields, information that pilots rely upon to navigate planes. Thanks to the fluctuations in the force, the airport has closed its primary runway until Jan. 13 to change taxiway signs to account for the shift, the Federal Aviation Administration said.

Read more:


...

Bet this is why birds and fish are dying, their senses are getting thrown off where to go

That's crazy! I was just stating in the blog that I thought the north pole was shifting toward Russia, which is why Greenland was warming and ice melting there...

Quoting Skyepony:
Republicans have wasted no time in using their new majority in Congress to try to block the authority of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to act on climate change.

In their first full day in the new Congress, Republicans outlined three different bills %u2013 encapsulating three different strategies %u2013 aimed at limiting the powers of the EPA. It also shut down a house committee that had tackled energy and climate issues.

The first, introduced by Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, would declare that greenhouse gas emissions are not subject to the Clean Air Act - even though supreme court ruled in 2007 that they are.

The second, introduced by Ted Poe of Texas, would block funding to any government agency associated with cap-and-trade.

The third, introduced by Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, is relatively modest, seeking a two-year delay in EPA regulation of carbon dioxide and methane emissions.

But that could make it the most likely to succeed. In the Senate, a Democrat from coal-rich West Virginia, Jay Rockefeller, has been calling for a bill to delay EPA action on climate change.

The EPA began the process of regulating greenhouse gas emissions under new rules for major power plants and oil refineries that went into effect this month. more here

Sad but true. With the new GOP majority in the House and the way its beholden to Big Energy interests, progress on global warming mitigation can be expected to come to a dead stop, if not get thrown clear into reverse. It's been going on for years: massive corporations making hundreds of billions of dollars in profits each year--at great expense to both consumers and the environment--don't wish to see any of the money go away, so they delay, stall, obfuscate, manipulate, misinform, bribe, extort--whatever they have to do to keep the current fossil fuel paradigm alive and the rivers of cash pouring in. Of course, it's going to be even worse now with the ludicrously wrong-headed--and, frankly, evil--Citizens United ruling that allows oil, coal, gas (and other) corporations to funnel unlimited and untraceable amounts of money toward both supporting sympathetic candidates and undermining those who aren't so easily bought and sold.

It's very sad, really. History's not going to look very kindly upon what we've done.

This explains the mass animal kills across the globe folks

A government by the people, of the people, for the people, shall not parish from this earth,

.....unless of course there's money to be made or a conflict of interest makes it easier to do otherwise....

after they read the Constitution yesterday they added this clause to the Declaration of Independence...

the founding Fathers couldn't even considerer that government by us, could falter in the least, by us, letting ourselves off the hook.

Quoting Neapolitan:

Sad but true. With the new GOP majority in the House and the way its beholden to Big Energy interests, progress on global warming mitigation can be expected to come to a dead stop, if not get thrown clear into reverse. It's been going on for years: massive corporations making hundreds of billions of dollars in profits each year--at great expense to both consumers and the environment--don't wish to see any of the money go away, so they delay, stall, obfuscate, manipulate, misinform, bribe, extort--whatever they have to do to keep the current fossil fuel paradigm alive and the rivers of cash pouring in. Of course, it's going to be even worse now with the ludicrously wrong-headed--and, frankly, evil--Citizens United ruling that allows oil, coal, gas (and other) corporations to funnel unlimited and untraceable amounts of money toward both supporting sympathetic candidates and undermining those who aren't so easily bought and sold.

It's very sad, really. History's not going to look very kindly upon what we've done.

lol FOX news saying it's just part of nature from what experts are saying about the mass animal kills. Give me an effing break people, if the poles shift too much it throws them off morons.

The fox article about the magnetic polar shift sounds like a small adjustment.. nothing too ground shifting here..

polar motion over the last year..

Quoting RitaEvac:
That's crazy! I was just stating in the blog that I thought the north pole was shifting toward Russia, which is why Greenland was warming and ice melting there...

you know magnetic poles have no bearing on the axis of the earth and the geographic north and south pole, right? it is absurd to relate magnetic poles to climate... and the bird thing could possibly relate, but only when dramatic swings occur like magnetic pole switching. but that is not what is going on, and the drifting of the northern pole really cannot account for the deaths. there may be migratory problems, but that would not cause them to drop dead from the sky.

There is several "news" articles out today about the migrating magnet north being the cause of the both the birds & fishes mass deaths.

Quoting Skyepony:
There is several "news" articles out today about the migrating magnet north being the cause of the both the birds & fishes mass deaths.

i just don't buy that as a factor. unless it can be proven specifically that the birds or fish died due to the weather of that day, or hour, and not by some other insidious means such as environmental pollutant, then the magnetic pole shift plays no role. i don't think it has been definitively proven that cold weather was to blame.

Quoting RitaEvac:
That's crazy! I was just stating in the blog that I thought the north pole was shifting toward Russia, which is why Greenland was warming and ice melting there...

maybe its the beginning of the pole shift it would have to start now in order to complete its shift by 2012 if its a gradual process

Through analysis of palaeomagnetic data, it is now known that the Earth's magnetic field has reversed its orientation tens of thousands of times during the history of the Earth since its formation. With the increasingly accurate Global Polarity Timescale (GPTS) it has become apparent that the rate at which reversals occur has varied considerably throughout the past. During some periods of geologic time (e.g. Cretaceous Long Normal), the Earth's magnetic field is observed to maintain a single orientation for tens of millions of years. Other events seem to have occurred very rapidly, with two reversals in a span of 50,000 years. Furthermore, Occidental College geologist Scott Bogue and Jonathan Glen of the US Geological Survey have found evidence in ancient lava rock in Battle Mountain, Nevada that could indicate that a rapid geomagnetic field reversal occurred over a period of four years. Another offered explanation is a rapid acceleration period within the steady movement of the field. The reversal was dated to around 15 million years ago.[3] The last reversal was the Brunhes–Matuyama reversal approximately 780,000 years ago.