Let us talk about biochar

There is too much CO2 in the atmosphere. It is put there by combustion of coal, oil and gas and the burning and decomposition of organic matter. Hydrocarbons that have been deposited as organic matter over millions of years are combusted and hence producing greenhouse gases at a pace faster than the environment can absorb without significant damaging knock-on effects.

Photosynthesis on a large scale is a mitigating factor, but the massive destruction of virgin forests is counteracting this. If the carbon captured from the atmosphere by photosynthesis could be captured and stored, then nature would contribute to capture and man to storage. The use of bio-waste and crop residues as feed-stock for the production of biochar can represent a promising technical solution. Biochar is produced through pyrolysis, combustion with minimal oxygen. The process is carbon negative. Apart from the Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) aspect, biochar has dramatic beneficial effects on soil. Because of its porosity, it acts as a sponge, providing a mechanism for slow-release of water and nutrients, as well as acting as an excellent biosphere for microorganisms that are essential for healthy soils.

In poor agrarian societies in the south, where the soils are typically poor in carbon and nutrients, the addition of biochar can make a dramatic difference. Thoughtful agro-ecology, agro forestry and intercropping where food and energy crops can be grown in an integrated fashion, can achieve multiple positive effects:

• Correct use of crops can introduce nitrogen to the soil and produce the right mineral balance
• The use of oil crops like Millettia Pinnata on poor soils can provide fuel for transport and energy
• Bio-waste and crop residues producing biochar will create a benign circle of increasing yields

Here is a schematic of biochar production:

Intelligent use of appropriate technologies and methods, working closely with the people on the ground can address many of the fundamental problems we face with desertification, malnutrition, ill-health and so on.

Cuban Memories

On a peaceful Saturday morning - sorting my hard disk, I came across a snippet of Video I made in 2007. 5 intrepid travelling boys intent on discovering Cuba. One day we rented a horse each and set out into the back country. There were no roads; hence no cars. We felt like real compesinos.

After a long ride, we arrived at a farm, and met a delightful bunch of genuine campesinos. This is what welcomed us:

Safely back in beautiful Trinidad - a UNESCO World Heritage site, we relaxed with good local food and music.

And in Cuba, you cannot avoid coming across some beautiful women. The rumours are true!

But - boys will be boys, and here is the experience the really blew us away! Right in the middle of a remote country road, we came across some guys with a steam train, and they wasted no time inviting us on board. Some of us got really excited! See for yourself!

There could be much more to tell, but life is too short. :-)

Accelerating! The Serial Hybrid with in-wheel electric motors

My dream car is a radical departure from what we have today. Well not quite.. It will have four wheels. But they will be different. This picture hints at it:

Research into these motors is advancing nicely. Here is an exploded view of one version:

Why not have the kinetic energy produced right where it is needed? In the wheel itself! Several companies are now researching in-wheel motors. The next item for discussion is the battery. Tesla already has one with a range of 300 + kilometers. But I want 1,000 +. 

Advances in battery technology have not stopped. Check this quote from some research going on at Stanford University:

In this project, researchers Stanford University will seek to develop an "All-Electron Battery", a completely new class of electrical energy storage devices for electric vehicles that has the potential to provide ultra-high energy and power densities, while enabling extremely high cycle life. The All-Electron Battery stores energy by moving electrons, rather than ions, and uses electron/hole redox instead of capacitive polarization of a double-layer. This technology uses a novel architecture that has potential for very high energy density because it decouples the two functions of capacitors: charge separation and breakdown strength. If successful, this project will develop a completely new paradigm in energy storage for electrified vehicles that could revolutionize the electric vehicle industry and establish U.S. leadership in advanced energy storage technology for electric vehicles.

But there is more! Have you heard about the Wave Disk Generator? It is a completely new engine concept and looks a bit like this:

And here is a schematic of how it works:

This combustion engine will reduce emissions by 90% compared to conventional internal combustion engines. It will be perfect for recharging the batteries in your future electric car. With a 50 liter tank this serial hybrid concept will probably give you a range of 2,000km on one tank.

This dream of a combo will not hit your stores quite yet. But when it does, cars will become cheaper to build, cheaper to run and will become the darlings of Mother Earth!

Identity - Security - Privacy

Perhaps we are not fully conscious of the transformation that has taken place from a very physical world where our interactions were direct and tactile. Speaking, catching the train to visit friends, sending a letter through the post and so on.

Not very long ago, this started to change. Today, there is still only one physical implementation of me, but I have spawned hundreds of virtual replicas, avatars, aliases, proxies, whatever. Do I control these? No, absolutely not. Even my own government is sloppy in the extreme in protecting my virtual integrity. The Norwegian Parliament is in animated discussions about the Data Storage Directive. In fact, they are conducting entirely the wrong debate.

Whilst there is clearly a need to ensure that my privacy and integrity is protected, we do need countermeasures against cynical, asocial persons who exploit vulnerable children, build drug empires that are becoming bigger than the legal economy, and misguided fanatics who believe tearing innocent civilians to shreds brings salvation.

Some simple principles may help the debate. Since there is just one of me, I need to establish a biometric connection between me and my virtual alter ego; my cyber-me. If I can fully control and manage my cyber-me, then I can permit others to access it for agreed purposes. I can opt them in to my cyber world. My government will have certain rights, but since in a democratic society I am the Master and the government and civil service just that - servants, I can require them to conform to certain rules of the game.

If the way in which I allow my cyber-me to be used is called a context, then one such could be my tax affairs, another my dealings with the social services and so on. On another plane, I could permit Amazon, eBay, Facebook or others to access my cyber-me in an agreed fashion.

Many-to-many relationships are doomed to über-complexity and potential failure. One-to-many is a good start. Since there is just one of each of us, perhaps that is the best point of departure. So, in order to build a sound identity infrastructure, say in Norway, let us start by creating an unbreakable bond between me and my cyber-me - a biometric bond. After that we can start having some fun with organisational and technical architecture!

Are we in for a new radiation disaster?

If one of these: 

Ends up breaking apart and this is the result:

We have yet another reminder that we must see what clean renewable energy can do for us.

Perhaps Geothermal should be looked at more seriously?

Watch this space!!

Turning smelly organic waste into hydrogen and organic fertilizer

There are thousands of municipal waste dumps using anaerobic digestion to produce bio-gas from organic waste. This can be used for road transport, electricity generation or heating. However, the sludge that is left over represents a major challenge in terms of disposal and cost.

A new process is now emerging that will convert the bio-gas to hydrogen and have carbon as a byproduct. In addition, the process will dry the sludge and add carbon to it, resulting in bagged, dry organic fertilizer laced with carbon particles. These have the ability to neutralize harmful chemicals and metals.

The Vortair sludge processing system makes it possible to turn the sludge into a dry powder which can be stored, transported and traded at commercial terms.
The process converts sewage and biogas sludge into a fine dry powder in a matter of seconds, removing 98% of the contained water. The low pressure vortex ‘shakes’ the water from the input feed material and creates multiple hotspots resulting in a drying mechanism that is a mix of thermal and mechanical processes. Energy savings over conventional thermal drying are considerable, making it economically viable where conventional drying would not be.
The company behind this is Agroplas, a Norwegian company. (www.agroplas.no). It holds the promise of turning waste into profitable products whilst making it carbon negative.
This is a dream example of how the threat posed by global warming has stimulated inventive minds to find a solution that demonstrates that we can turn a problem into an opportunity.

Value

The word VALUE is very interesting. Think about it. Is it not the essence of everything? It has many flavours. Financial. Artistic. Aesthetic. Social. Spiritual.

It can be destroyed - degraded - augmented - preserved - incremented.

Our attitude and behaviour in relation to it determines the human condition.

The cumulative effects of human behaviour on everything is yet another aspect of globalization. Think about that too.