I like to write stuff, so here is my blog.
1 September 2008, 3:14 UTCHow fast can a train go?
As high speed rail takes over from short hop air travel there will be demand for increased performance. MagLev technology may be useful for this, but how fast can steel wheels on steel rails go?
31 August 2008, 2:49 UTCLand area of coal power
Bulwynkl makes a very interesting point. He observes that the area of the Yallourn power station's coal mine is about 25km^2:
Melbourne gets 4.34kWh/m^2/day solar energy. Thus, the land taken up by the yallourn coal mine collects 390TJ/day or equivalent to 4.52GW average power input. Assuming a 32% efficient solar thermal plant, this gives an average power output of 1.45GW. Yallourn B Coal power station generates 1.45GW peak power.
And you already have the turbine and distribution in place!
30 August 2008, 4:01 UTCbeen busy!
I've been rather busy with projects of late, so little blogging action.
31 July 2008, 1:38 UTCOn Green Fairs and Green Fairies
Adobe regularly has a Green fair, which is like a small version of the Melbourne Sustainable Living fair, or the Fort Collins New Belgium renewable energy festival, or the Pennsylvania... you get the idea.
30 July 2008, 21:08 UTCFlaptuckel
For want of a word, I present the flaptuckel:
26 July 2008, 18:48 UTCMore guns kill more people
It's kind of obvious to the civilised world, but some americans (NRA) still struggle with the concepts of statistics.
26 July 2008, 3:57 UTClight rail is faster than a car, off peak, even when you've just missed the train
A colleague and I were talking today, and I missed the early train which would have given me 15 minutes to get to my appointment, the next train would have left me with 1 minute to walk to the appointment (which was about 1 minute from the station). So, he offered to drive me as my appointment was on his way home.
23 July 2008, 2:13 UTCWhy aren't solar panels getting much cheaper?
We can see that for the last 4 years PV costs about €4.7/W. But inflation means that in the same 4 years the value of those €4.7 has dropped to about €4.17.
A more interesting way to measure the value is the distance from the nearest power line beyond which solar is more economical. I think power lines are about $20k/km. As solar becomes cheaper (or alternatives become more expensive) that distance decreases and more people buy.
The number of people < x metres from the power line is probably quite a steep distribution. So perhaps the reason that the price doesn't fall very fast is that every incremental drop in price increases demand sufficiently to maintain price. When the distance reaches 0 (As it has done in Germany, due to their pricing structure), expect demand to rise dramatically — keeping the price high until that market is saturated (at current rates, taking perhaps 20 years). This is of course pure speculation, perhaps there really is a secret cartel who aim to keep the prices high.
23 July 2008, 2:10 UTCEntry
It's clearly in a car driver's rational self interest to get everyone else to use PT. So why aren't car drivers all pushing for better PT?
19 July 2008, 3:14 UTCIs climate change just a big story?
There are plenty of people out there who contend that anthropogenic climate change is all just a big story. The real question is: How would such a person be convinced that anthropogenic climate change is real?
9 July 2008, 4:29 UTCLibertarians
26 June 2008, 2:15 UTCThe VTA rules
22 June 2008, 2:31 UTCA Plan for Sam
18 June 2008, 5:18 UTC2Geom in Scribus
12 June 2008, 6:25 UTCOn schools and vocational training
11 June 2008, 22:46 UTCTenebrary: He who hides the truth
10 June 2008, 2:04 UTCEfficiency of socialised services
7 June 2008, 18:03 UTCComparing maglev to railed high speed
4 June 2008, 18:25 UTCBlush
1 June 2008, 23:23 UTCHarley pedal stop for aeolus
28 May 2008, 15:00 UTCReducing Fort Collins - Denver's car dependency
24 May 2008, 2:17 UTCI don't know whether to laugh or cry
19 May 2008, 5:32 UTCCraig wins Silver and Gold at SC International Invitational Swim
18 May 2008, 4:29 UTCInteresting perception experiment
14 May 2008, 2:19 UTCdevelopment types as biomes
13 May 2008, 4:34 UTCMy alternative to Eddington's folly
10 May 2008, 3:22 UTCI will survive.
8 May 2008, 22:50 UTCelectrickery
8 May 2008, 5:00 UTCflimflam fin fan film
8 May 2008, 2:44 UTCJam speaker