An Overly Grandiose Scheme for Climate Change

Of the wide array of ambitious geoengineering projects intended to fight global climate change, one of my favorites suggests using robotic ocean going vessels to produce seed clouds intended to increase precipitation and general cloud cover.  The underlying logic behind this proposed idea is to increase the Earth's overall albedo and as a result mitigate some of the effects of the greenhouse gasses in our atmosphere.  While theoretically a decent idea, there currently is no financial incentive to develop these vessels, which are estimated to cost between one point five and three million dollars (I'm converting from British pounds from the source article).  Government bodies may eventually decide that geoengineering programs will be part of their climate change portfolio, but as it stands now only anti-desertification programs  are being applied on a large scale (as far as I know, there may be other geo-engineering projects actively  being done, I just don't know them.  Please note I am ignoring the weather modification program of the Chinese government and other groups.)  Without international support how might we develop these seed ship technologies to promote the preservation of polar ice caps and mitigate changes in sea level rise?

One, long shot, solution for promoting ice production in polar regions would be to take advantage of the frequently mocked notion of shipping icebergs to the world's deserts as a source of fresh water.  The direct economics are questionable (but this is for fun so who really cares), according to one article the price of desalinated water is roughly $1/cubic meter, providing an excellent reference for what the cost structure should look like.  Most publicly available information appears to strongly suggest that shipping icebergs is not cost effective, at least when considered as a single product.  What I would like to suggest is a more complete package where a business(es) would develop a series of technologies intended to produce large quantities of  both water ice and liquid atmosphere as products intended for sale.
Imagine large artificial islands, possibly made from pykrete, in the Indian Ocean covered in wind turbines, solar panels, and possibly wave generators, growing every winter to massive proportions and slowly shrinking as the extra ice is shipped to water poor regions.  In addition to the water ice production the islands turn any surplus electricity into refrigerating gases like oxygen and nitrogen into their liquid states, storing energy for a later day.  The liquid gases and ice could be used in concert with intelligently designed regional distribution centers intended for both water and power production.  The liquid gases could also be moved via pipeline to nearby factories where waste heat could be more effectively used for localized co-generation plants. To help ensure cost efficacy (maybe) and improve long term sustainability (probably) the liquid gases and ice would be moved by some kind of smart sailing technology.
The selection of the Indian Ocean is not arbitrary, the region is currently at risk for both energy and water consumption matching ever increasing demands, in tandem with relatively few sea routes occurring below the 60th southern parallel.  Providing a reasonably underused volume of water that is relatively near its target markets.  I have no misconceptions that if my proposed addition to the ocean seeding concept would immediately or fully alleviate the challenges facing our planet, I do believe that by finding an economic benefit that a business could take advantage of trying to increase the Earth's albedo, without government incentives is paramount to long term sustainability.

Turning Neighborhoods into Micro-Grids

A major challenge for adopting larger scale renewable energy production the United States is our aging infrastructure's difficulty in accommodating the variable nature of demand and supply.  Utility operators, energy management firms like EnerNOC, and individual consumers are working to help reduce consumption to help their bottom line, there seems to be less effort into more directly lowering the dollar cost of energy for domestic energy consumers.  As a consequence of the extremely variable nature of domestic energy demand the average household will spend 11.62 cents/kWhr while commercial consumer's spend 9.82 cents/kWhr and industrial users spend an average of 6.54 cents/kWhr.  While net-metering approaches have started to help home owners in some states reduce their monthly power bill there are major limiting factors in adoption rates, until very recently residents in Hawaii and California were limited in how much generating capacity could be installed in a given neighborhood.  Improvements in policy will help increase the utilization of distributed energy, new technology will play a major roll.  Micro-grids have gained a greater degree of prominence as the various underlying technologies have shown how much more efficient power production and consumption can be made by more closely matching supply with demand.  The Department of Defense has already started to develop a strong push for implementing micro-grids as a means of improving the safety of the warfighter as well as offset the operational costs of larger facilities.

What I would like to propose is a plug and play micro-grid platform intended to work within the energy demands of traditional American neighborhoods.  This system would be designed to be plugged into the primary distribution line for a given service area and through use of batteries and control systems, surplus power from the local and larger grids would be stored for later use.  By creating a packaged system meant for entire neighborhoods the number of man hours required to make regions energy smart should be drastically reduced.  This local energy storage capacity would allow for a much smoother power demand curve, aiding in utilities operating generating facilities at optimal efficiency.
               Neighborhoods that install this technology could begin to negotiate for prices closer to those of commercial consumers (This may not be guaranteed to be correct, this is more theoretical than anything else) .   Alternatively utility operators may work with neighborhoods to implement localized micro-grids to improve overall power availability without adding new power lines or plants.  Another potential draw for packaged micro-grids, even if consumer energy prices are unaffected, could be disaster preparedness.  After Super Storm Sandy, large swaths of the East Coast lost power as a result of downed power lines. Having micro-grids attached to neighborhoods with small scale generating capacity would mean that freezers could keep operational and maybe at least one or more houses in a neighborhood would have enough power for all of the modern conveniences.

 For this platform to succeed from a design standpoint it must achieve some rather critical properties (I'm going to be vague here because I know far too little of the minutia to give hard and fast numbers).  The system must have minimal maintenance costs and ideally be as forgettable as possible for those using the technology, this means the installations must be effectively invisible to consumers.  Where-ever the system is installed consumers cannot see their energy costs go up as a direct result (there are a range of external variables and indirect costs that might eventually cause a rate hike, so only direct costs can honestly be factored in)  Have an ROI that is less than 10 years, depending on how a technology like this is marketed that timeline may need to be shorter, longer might be feasible for really solid market matches (this is doubtful to make financial sense for the company making the micro grid box.)  Personal experience in talking to small energy producers indicates that if the utility is paying for a technology an  ROI less than 4 or 5 years is generally necessary.

Some features that could be considered for the micro-grid plug and play box.  Warm water production, as there will invariably be at least some degree of waste heat produced, why not heat up water and pipe that to nearby buildings, while this would require a more complex installation it might make sense for getting people on board.

Fuel cell integration, either natural gas or Hydrogen, as the platform has the potential to be treated as a back up generator for an area adding this capability could make sense, the hydrogen fuel cell suggestion would likely make sense as a 3rd tier energy storage mechanismm after the system's flywheel and/or capacitors and secondary power storage mechanisms have reached maximum stored energy but there is still extra electricity coming from a local renewable source.  I should back track on the fuel cell comment for a moment and quickly explain the 3rd tier comment.  As I understand the technologies involved in energy storage batteries are rarely a good idea for extremely variable energy loads, where they must rapidly switch from storing to supplying power and vice-versa.  Fly-wheels and ultra-capacitors are solutions with properties that make them an excellent option for rapidly charging and dis-charging, the trade off for this ability is the reduced energy storage capacity, relative to both mass and overall cost.  For periods of less variability batteries will serve extremely well.  The reason fuel cells are put in the 3rd tier category (at this time) is the fact that they have some kind of additional fuel cost and a high upfront cost for a unit of generating capacity.  In the case of market available fuel cells there is the initial hardware investment and cost of fuel during operation (natural gas is most cases), making it an acceptable solution for emergency needs or extreme peaks in grid demand.  Hydrogen fuel-cells have the challenge of costing more per-watt of listed generating capacity and there is still the energy required to produce 1kg of Hydrogen from water, which is currently about 48kWhrs (while the system is technically using surplus power it is still worth considering) of that 48 kWhrs/kg of fuel, only 25% of that energy would be returned to energy users (sorry for using wikipedia on that, the primary source is being updated)  It should be noted that the 25% figure only accounts for electrical output with respect to electrical input (for every watt of power you're getting out of the generator you would need to spend 4 watts breaking the water).  If the fuel-cell is also being used with a waste heat generator the efficiency grows to closer to 85%.

Let's Make Greenhouses Pull Double Duty

The initial seed of this idea stems from an article I read 18 months ago highlighting how artificial plant growth can benefit from using light sources that only use the colors that plants actually absorb as opposed to full spectrum lighting, which would invariably waste energy.  Anyways, my ADD being what it is I forget why I was thinking that there should be solar panels associated with green houses, the general concept was to have a semi-transparent solar panel, that is designed to absorb the colors of light that plants normally don't metabolize (I think I remember what started the idea going, I saw an article on a building in Germany powered by algae and I wondered why solar wasn't being used (turns out the design was meant to be algae only from the get go, I just didn't read it thoroughly the first time)).
By developing a solar panel that is transparent to the frequencies of light that plants metabolize, it would be conceivable that we could turn more farmland into usable energy.  Unfortunately I don't know enough about PV technology to even roughly estimate how much energy we could produce with a technology like this, that being said, I am darn curious (gonna keep it PG here).

March 20:  Countries like Dubai, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia would seem like a robust match for a technology like this.  With intense sunlight, low fresh water availability, and with a desire to become financially diverse from their currently oil dependent economy a semi clear solar panel could be incredibly useful.  Vast stretches of coastal desert could be converted into electrically and biologically productive land.  Most likely the majority of the energy produced by the solar panels would go into pumping salt water the algae growth tanks, with the remainder of the electricity going into processing the algae into bio-fuels and food for various food animals.  Another potential investor in this platform would be the US Department of Defense, as their desire to produce a renewable fuel source that doesn't impact food production.  Only at extremely low price points would this technology be viable for converting the American Mid-West.  

Water and Power

While chatting wtih my older brother yesterday I was given the challenge of inventing something that would win me a Nobel prize (I'm not sure how much sarcasm was involved as g-chat doesn't really communicate tone that well)  While I was pointing out that it is unlikely that any engineering achievement would warrant any of the 6 prizes , and explaining that the only way I might win such an honor would be if I developed a technology that successfully produced both electricity and water cleanly and efficiently.  Remembering my experiences at the NorthEast Cleantech Open one water producing technology stood out in my mind.  A company called NBD Nano has been developing a technology based on the properties of the Namib Desert Beetle, whose unique evolutionary adaptations allow it to produce water drinking water in one of the driest places on Earth.  Their coating technology is both a hydrophobic and hydrophilic causing water to collect into droplets along the surface of a product.  The additional application that sprang to mind from my conversation and general idea of NBD's technology would be to apply this kind of surface treatment to solar panels.  Allowing the consumer to produce clean electricity and drinking water from a single device.  Depending on  the technical specifications of NBD's coating technology different design solutions would make more sense than others.  Ideally if the material coating is roughly the same transparency as that of normal glass the coating could be applied to the panel in addition to the glass layer, while there would be some loss in generating efficiency users would benefit from a system that should be relatively easy to maintain.

If the surface coating turns out to be too opaque for the solar panel to operate efficiently the coating could be applied to the underside of the panel (as shown below).  By placing the water collecting surface on the back side of the solar panels additional design requirements would need to be considered, first and foremost being that of air flow, without a constant supply of new air there would be no way to continue to produce any quantity of water.  Accommodating access for cleaning might also need to be considered (as I don't know if the technology qualifies as self cleaning).  Whether or not the design could be made to promote passive flow with out over complicating the installation process for users in extremely remote locations would also need to be considered.  (I consider active air flow much easier to implement as it just requires that the offset design have fans at one end or another, but more likely to have a mechanical break causing problems and reduced net electrical output from the panels (ok that might not be the case as the more active cooling could increase the solar panel's overall efficiency in hot climates, I really don't know, something like that needs lab testing))

 Personally I'm very curious if something like this A) was efficient enough to be used by anyone at all B) easy enough to use in the water stressed regions of the planet C) cost effective/environmentally friendly enough to actually improve sustainability.  Hopefully an approach like this, or realistically something way more elegant and effective will happen sooner than later.

Who doesn't want warm undies in the winter?

Considering the various needs of our global super elite why has dresser technology not caught up to the wonders of the 21st century.  Why don't we have dressers that make my boxers and socks toasty warm for when I wake up in the morning?  My solution, a smart dresser assembly with simple plug and play technology that is designed to allow users make sure their clothes come out at exactly the temperature they need.  Using a collection of sensors and heating elements each drawer could be programmed to optimally use available energy to heat underwear to the ideal temperature and minimize waste.  By utilizing a microcontroller capable of integrating with the home wireless network and preferably connecting with a cellphone you could get a pretty nifty solution going.  Networking with the user's cellphone over the wireless the system would be able to set the output temperature of the drawers to coincide with the user's morning wake up call.  Connecting the dresser's micro-controller to your home wireless network would also allow you to access it remotely, meaning if you need toasty sweats to put on the moment you get back from your cross country ski trip, well gosh-darn-it you'll get toasty sweats to wear.  One additional feature that I feel is still on the reasonable scale of things, integrating a small power strip and several USB ports for charging your various devices.

Now let's make this thing way more convoluted, let's add in LED lighting that goes on when you open a drawer.  And what's this nonsense about only heating my clothes, what if I want to wake up to ice cold boxer briefs in the morning or for whatever reason I want to use my dresser as an emergency mini-fridge well  why the hell not we're talking fantasy land technologies here.  

Adding RFID and NFC sensors would allow users to add tags to their cloths that could ensure that your fabulous boxer shorts made of only the finest alpaca fur never exceeded whatever temperature they should be heated to.

I will say that my idea at the basic form isn't that unique, I did rather quickly find a blog entry suggesting this idea, although their approach is based on a timing mechanism as opposed to an adapting control system.  One comment noted that you may not want to heat your entire underwear drawer, just the clothes you want to put on the next day.  An approach based on this suggestion would be a smaller smart drawer system designed to conveniently fit underneath your bed, although at that point of needing to plan ahead you might as well just put your clothes in bed with you the night before, way less cool. 

Playgrounds that play back and a rather Cynical business plan

This idea was inspired by Corey Doctoro’s book “Makers” and a conversation with Bill Unkel and JP Gonzales during my visit to New Mexico about a month ago.

In Doctoro's book "Makers" there is a short anecdote with in the story, where the author briefly describes a playground that is associated with a regional hackerpsace that is designed to adapt itself to children's playing habits.  Every night the playground recalls what elements were played with the most and rebuilds itself to make the environment as entertaining as possible.  During our conversation about this idea a range of joking and semi serious ideas came forth.  The most cynical version is at the bottom of the document (namely because I spent a decent amount of my flight home trying to get the ideas semi-coherent in my head and I don't want to completely waste the effort)  First and foremost is a kind of ideal.

Imagine a playground that plays back.  While Star Trek's magic holideck might still be more fantasy than reality we are developing technologies that can add extra dimension to play.  Surfaces that know what game children are playing and adapt themselves accordingly.  When a group of players decide to play no-touch-ground freeze tag the floor actually becomes lava, glowing an ominous red and when someone steps in the lava, a projected ripple in the lava helps with disputes on whether or not a person is out.  During games of hide and seek, the playground will first work to distract the person seeking out other players, but as the game continues it might start to highlight where other players are hiding themselves.  Slides that let you know how fast you were going down them.  For obstacle courses elements will begin to glow a specific color so that children have a clear idea of what path to follow.  Mesh projectors and screens could turn a pirate cove into a space ship at a moments notice.

A more extreme version might work with several mobile 6 axis robotic arms and elements that are intended to be dynamically connected, allowing park spaces to grow according to interest and need.

Based on the freemium business model of software and online games, anyone can use the playground, but only those who have paid for the services will get the various advantages (which are dependent on the tier of service purchased) Creating more interactive playgrounds that augment play experiences with visual modifiers, activity tracking, adaptive system game play, bully detection, emergency system response…(all extra features available for a small fee)…  GOD I FEEL UNCLEAN   

Under the most extreme parody of this concept you might even imagine facial tracking quad copters following non-paying users around shouting insults and jabs at the child who can't afford the platform

“Benefits” promoting physical activity in children, promoting healthy socialization of children, allowing parents to let go of their children (as the environment could be perceived as safter),  give parents something to talk about as they can discuss the various play features that they have decided to utilize

Using touch sensors, integrated lighting, projectors, mechanical actuators, visual tracking systems…. The playground is intended to promote play on the entire surface, all while allowing children to experience an acceptable level of danger.

As more sophisticated technologies become available it would be reasonable to assume that their might even be a premium on surface properties where they are adapted according to the needs of the paying users.

Disturbingly enough teater totters that limit their range when free users are on them, or parents restricting certain mechanics of the playground equipment.