ewsFollowUp.com

search

news

pictorial index

 home   
Energy

= go to NFU page

 

 

go to page 2

Energy crisis: Turning-point of Humanity,  by Rudo de Ruijter

 

 

Tipping Points NASA

this page page 2
related topics  related topics related topics
PROGRESSIVE  REFERENCE CONSERVATIVE*

  • Guardian  "Scientists have converted an organism into an entirely different species by performing the world's first genome transplant, a breakthrough that paves the way for the creation of synthetic forms of life. The team, led by Craig Venter, the man who raced to sequence the human genome, wants to build new microbes to produce environmentally friendly fuels.  The group's study, details of which were revealed in the US journal Science yesterday, proves it is possible to transplant a complete set of genetic instructions into an organism, in effect turning it into the same species the DNA was taken from.  The proof of principle experiment solves the first of two big difficulties which have hindered the creation of artificial life. The team, based at Dr Venter's not-for-profit institute in Rockville, Maryland, now hopes to overcome the second hurdle, by designing new genetic codes on computers and transplanting them into organisms to produce new life forms.  The team is focusing on creating micro-organisms which produce green fuels as natural waste products. "One of the goals we have is trying to see if we could design cells to manufacture new types of fuel to break our dependency on oil and coal and try to do something about carbon dioxide," Dr Venter said. "We look forward to trying to have the first fuels from genetically modified and even synthetic organisms, certainly within the decade."
Alternate Fuels      top
PROGRESSIVE  REFERENCE CONSERVATIVE*
ANWR      top
PROGRESSIVE  REFERENCE CONSERVATIVE*
Conservation      top
PROGRESSIVE  REFERENCE CONSERVATIVE*
Energy News      top       & MORE ENERGY NEWS
PROGRESSIVE  REFERENCE CONSERVATIVE*
Hydrogen      top
PROGRESSIVE  REFERENCE CONSERVATIVE*
Research   top
PROGRESSIVE  REFERENCE CONSERVATIVE
Peak Oil      top
PROGRESSIVE  REFERENCE CONSERVATIVE

, 

Passive Solar Heating, Cooling

Buildings designed for passive solar and daylighting incorporate design features such as large south-facing windows and building materials that absorb and slowly release the sun's heat. No mechanical means are employed in passive solar heating. Incorporating passive solar designs can reduce heating bills as much as 50 percent. Passive solar designs can also include natural ventilation for cooling. Windows are an important aspect of passive solar design—for information on window technologies, see the Building Envelope section of the EREN Buildings page.

Design Principles

Proper building orientation, so the longest walls run from east to west, allows solar heat to enter the home in winter, while allowing in as little sun as possible during summer. Shading and overhangs also reduce excessive summer heat, while still permitting winter sun. In passive solar designs, the optimal window-to-wall area ratio is 25-35 percent.

Passive Solar Heating

In cold climates, south-facing windows designed to let the sun's heat in while insulating against the cold are ideal. In hot and moderate climates, the strategy is to admit light while rejecting heat. Interior spaces requiring the most light, heat, and cooling are located along the south face of the building, with less used space to the north. Open floor plans allow more sun inside.

The simplest passive design is the direct gain system in which the sun shines directly into a building, heating it up. The sun's heat is stored by the building's inherent thermal mass in materials such as concrete, stone floor slabs, or masonry partitions that hold and slowly release heat. With indirect gain systems, thermal mass is located between the sun and the living space. An isolated gain system is one where the system is isolated from the primary living area, such as a sunroom or solar greenhouse with convective loops into the living space.

Passive Solar Cooling

Many passive solar designs include natural ventilation for cooling. By installing casement or other operable windows for passive solar gain and adding vertical panels, called wing walls, perpendicular to the wall on the windward side of the house, you can accelerate the natural breeze in the interior. Another passive solar cooling device is the thermal chimney, which can be designed like a smoke chimney to vent hot air from the house out through the roof.

Trombe Walls

A Trombe wall consists an 8- to 16-inch thick masonry wall coated with a dark, heat-absorbing material and covered by a single or double layer of glass, placed from about 3/4" to 6" away from the masonry wall. Heat from the sun is stored in the air space between the glass and dark material, and conducted slowly to the interior of the building through the masonry. Adding a Trombe wall and south-facing windows is an easy way for a home to take advantage of solar heat.
GRANTS RESOURCES
Grants
  • OSTI Office of Scientific and Technical Information, U.S. Dept of Energy, grants.
  •  

free hit counter javascript

NGVC  CO2, Methane, Nitrous Oxide, Hydrofluorocarbons