China’s BYD E6, a pure electric vehicle GM announced on Jan. 12, 2009 that it would buy lithium ion cells from LG Chem of Seoul, South Korea. The cells will be manufactured in Korea and assembled into battery packs at a new facility that GM will build in Michigan. Robert Lutz, a GM vice chairman, …
The Chinese economy expanded a revised 13% in 2007 from a year earlier, up from an original estimate of 11.9%, the National Bureau of Statistics said in a statement on its Web site. Therefore, China economy at the end of 2007 was 25.731 trillion yuan ($3.766 trillion) as compared to Germany’s GDP was $3.54 trillion …
President-elect Barack Obama has put forth a goal to reduce carbon emissions in the U.S. by 80% by 2050, using $150 billion over 10 years to create a “clean-energy” future. Cambridge Energy Research Associates has estimated that the potential for world-wide investment in clean energy, of which nuclear generation is the focal point, will reach …
A presentation by Penn West, a Senior Canadian Oil Company, on its oil drilling plans. [34 pages] They are making a significant allocation to enhanced oil recovery. Horizontal multi-stage fracturing can be 44% of the cost of conventional oil drilling approaches for certain oil formations. Horizontal multi-stage fracturing should draw billions of barrels of oil …
April 2008, Armed Forces Institute of Regenerative Medicine (AFIRM) gave $42.5 million over five years to Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine. Wake Forest and its partners are adding $150 million for nearly $200 million. A second consortium with another $42.5 million will be managed by Rutgers and the Cleveland Clinic.Nature discusses the full soldier …
1. Air pollution from fossil fuel use is costing California $28 billion per year and 3800 lives per year. It increases healthcare costs and kills more people each year 3812 than 9/11. 2. The EPA’s (Enviromental Protection Agency) recent decision, likely future decisions and President-elect Obama and the likely new federal energy plan will be …
China could apply a 370 billion yuan (US$54 billion) stimulus package to its domestic economy. China appears to want to keep GDP growth at 9-10% per year. Brian WangBrian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. …
The August 12th IEA oil market report shows global oil supply increased by 890 Kb/d in July to 87.8 Mb/d. Norway, Canada, Argentina and Brazil underpinned non-OPEC growth of 520 Kb/d, amid a lull in seasonal maintenance elsewhere. Growth in non-OPEC output now averages 455 Kb/d for 2008 and 665 Kb/d for 2009, after 425 …
Breeder reactors: A renewable energy source by Bernard L. Cohen, American Journal of Physics, 1983 (H/T Crowlspace Uranium can last for 5 billion years with a withdrawal rate of 6,500 tonne per year from the oceans [with breeder reactors this would be double current world electricity usage]. This estimate does not include using Thorium which …
A blast-wave overpressure of 5 pounds per square inch, which is associated with winds around 150 miles per hour, is enough to destroy wood-frame buildings and cause severe damage to brick apartment buildings. However, with simple and cheap construction improvements and retrofits it is possible to enable all wood-frame buildings to survive 5 PSI. Further …
Researchers from Imperial College in London, England, isolated the receptor in the lungs that triggers the immune overreaction to flu. With the receptor identified, a therapy can be developed that will bind to the receptor, preventing the deadly immune response. Also, by targeting a receptor in humans rather than a particular strain of flu, therapies …
