5 years too late, that we passed Peak Oil
5 years ago.
this is from Techcrunch
this is from Techcrunch
there's also a guy with electric motorbikes.
E-Z riders . xD AHAahahahAHAHAHahahaHAhaahAha
more later
Friday, 27 May 2011
a new lightweigh fuel engine with fewer parts
who'd a thunk it, just as we're finally realising,
5 years too late, that we passed Peak Oil
there's also a guy with electric motorbikes.
E-Z riders . xD AHAahahahAHAHAHahahaHAhaahAha
more later
5 years too late, that we passed Peak Oil
there's also a guy with electric motorbikes.
E-Z riders . xD AHAahahahAHAHAHahahaHAhaahAha
more later
Tuesday, 17 May 2011
What noise should a car make?
Make mine a Ferrari.
This is something that I've been wondering about for a good 15 years.
Don't believe me? try to follow the discussion below.
Maybe I should have been an engineer. I like solving real problems.
more later
1 the sound would need to be different for different speeds.
Fast cars would need to be very loud to warn people.
2 fast acceleration should be very loud, if you're crossing at a traffic light
3 the closeness of a car to an intersection is important
4 cars could communicate with other traffic equipment (e.g. traffic lights) and other cars,
5 iPods could have an override button so you'll know when a car is near
6 if it's computerised, the app should be modifiable for later updates or safety updates.
7 the wind could be used to create sound
other issues
Tire noise does help cars be heard, but most electric cars are on thin tires which make little noise.
Option to have cars fully traffic controlled. Save on insurance. It’s boring commuting anyway, except people should not use cars to commute. But, you could read a newspaper. From that point of view though, public transport would have to get alot more snazzy to keep people. Imagine driving in traffic without getting frazzled nerves.
I'm going to check to see if there are any debates going on about this.
[this guy's got the right sort of idea, except I'd use the sound of a Rottweiller. Heart attack, anyone?]
-Cosine67 ~~
checkitout:
from the BBC
17 May 2011 Last updated at 10:22
Should electric cars be made to go 'vroom'?
By Nick Holland BBC News
Cars may make artificial noises to improve safety
With whisper-quiet electric cars set to proliferate, the motor industry is under pressure to give them an artificial noise for safety purposes, but should they sound like traditional petrol vehicles?
It is an unsettling experience watching a car drive around, hearing little more than the whisper of the wind it generates as it glides down the road.
There would have been little time to get out of its way had it gone unseen.
Such a moment is the essence of the debate over how electric and hydrogen fuel cars should sound in the future.
The answer could determine how different cities could sound in 10 or 20 years. The rise of the electric car presents a rare opportunity to tackle the persistent roar of traffic that many city dwellers are used to.
Electric and hydrogen fuel vehicles are inherently quiet. The sound of the tyres on the road is noisier than the engine and this could prove lethal at slow speeds for pedestrians and cyclists.
Motor manufacturers acknowledge there is a problem. Some, like Nissan, are already fitting speakers under the bonnets of these vehicles to emit sounds for the safety of other road users.
“ It's incredibly important for the sounds of the engines to reflect traditional engines sounds that we are used to”
End Quote Andrea Cooper Blind student
And with the UK government predicting 8,600 electric cars will be sold by the end of this year, sound engineers say there is a pressing need to come up with some ground rules as to what sounds to pick.
So why not just stick with the current sound of a conventional combustion engine?
"That would be losing a huge opportunity," says Prof Paul Jennings from Warwick University who leads a project looking into alternative vehicle noises.
"We all know traffic noise can be annoying and the levels are significantly high. We do not want to lose the benefit we could get from using new reduced sounds."
He says: "The challenge is to create sounds that are as safe as possible but also ones that are much more pleasing for the urban environment."
As part of the engineering project, an electric vehicle called Elvin (Electric Vehicle with Interactive Noise), is being driven around the university campus demonstrating a small sample of made-up sounds.
Chief among them are a deep sounding buzz, a high pitched hum and one that sounds like a piece of cardboard stuck in the spokes of a spinning bicycle wheel.
And then there is something that sounds like a 1950s UFO movie.
Nissan Leaf The Nissan Leaf noise was the product of four years of research
"It's important that the sound is associated with transport and a lot of how people interpret sound is based on their experiences," says Prof Jennings.
"For electric vehicles and futuristic vehicles a lot of those experiences are from the media, from games and from science fiction films."
There are certain noises that people associate with transport and they alert us that a vehicle is heading in our direction.
Whatever car manufacturers choose will only be effective if it does the same.
But balancing the needs for safety and improving the environment are not the only requirements. Clearly the manufacturers will have a big say in what happens.
If, for example, Ferrari were to ever make an electric car they would want it to sound like a Ferrari does now.
Luxury 'noise'
"Manufacturers know what the right sound is for their product," says Roger Williams, whose company Novisim provides computer simulators to help design car sounds.
"What they are keen on is a sound that matches the image of their vehicle, whether it's a sporty one or a luxury one."
Other road users will want to have their say too. In the next couple of months a group of blind and partially sighted people will be invited to Warwick University to give their verdict on what they hear.
The synthetic "engine noises" will be played to them through one of Novisim's computer programmes, which can simulate how a whole town of full of electric cars would sound all at once.
Vulnerable groups
* Blind pedestrians - used to petrol vehicle noise, dogs trained to respond to these noises
* Children - easily distracted
* Older people with hearing difficulties
"Guide dogs are obviously trained to respond to the noises of vehicles," says Andrea Cooper, a student at the university who has been blind since birth.
"So obviously I think it's incredibly important for the sounds of the engines to reflect traditional engines sounds that we are used to."
The more you delve into the issue the more apparent the complications become.
How loud they should these vehicles be? Do they need to make a noise when they are stopped at the traffic lights? How would hundreds of unmatched vehicle noises sound altogether on our streets?
Researchers at Warwick University intend to make the results of their research available to the EU, which is planning to legislate on electric and hydrogen car sounds sometime in 2011.
The conclusions will determine the noise you hear when you open your window 20 years from now.
This is something that I've been wondering about for a good 15 years.
Don't believe me? try to follow the discussion below.
Maybe I should have been an engineer. I like solving real problems.
more later
1 the sound would need to be different for different speeds.
Fast cars would need to be very loud to warn people.
2 fast acceleration should be very loud, if you're crossing at a traffic light
3 the closeness of a car to an intersection is important
4 cars could communicate with other traffic equipment (e.g. traffic lights) and other cars,
5 iPods could have an override button so you'll know when a car is near
6 if it's computerised, the app should be modifiable for later updates or safety updates.
7 the wind could be used to create sound
other issues
Tire noise does help cars be heard, but most electric cars are on thin tires which make little noise.
Option to have cars fully traffic controlled. Save on insurance. It’s boring commuting anyway, except people should not use cars to commute. But, you could read a newspaper. From that point of view though, public transport would have to get alot more snazzy to keep people. Imagine driving in traffic without getting frazzled nerves.
I'm going to check to see if there are any debates going on about this.
[this guy's got the right sort of idea, except I'd use the sound of a Rottweiller. Heart attack, anyone?]
-Cosine67 ~~
checkitout:
from the BBC
17 May 2011 Last updated at 10:22
Should electric cars be made to go 'vroom'?
By Nick Holland BBC News
Cars may make artificial noises to improve safety
With whisper-quiet electric cars set to proliferate, the motor industry is under pressure to give them an artificial noise for safety purposes, but should they sound like traditional petrol vehicles?
It is an unsettling experience watching a car drive around, hearing little more than the whisper of the wind it generates as it glides down the road.
There would have been little time to get out of its way had it gone unseen.
Such a moment is the essence of the debate over how electric and hydrogen fuel cars should sound in the future.
The answer could determine how different cities could sound in 10 or 20 years. The rise of the electric car presents a rare opportunity to tackle the persistent roar of traffic that many city dwellers are used to.
Electric and hydrogen fuel vehicles are inherently quiet. The sound of the tyres on the road is noisier than the engine and this could prove lethal at slow speeds for pedestrians and cyclists.
Motor manufacturers acknowledge there is a problem. Some, like Nissan, are already fitting speakers under the bonnets of these vehicles to emit sounds for the safety of other road users.
“ It's incredibly important for the sounds of the engines to reflect traditional engines sounds that we are used to”
End Quote Andrea Cooper Blind student
And with the UK government predicting 8,600 electric cars will be sold by the end of this year, sound engineers say there is a pressing need to come up with some ground rules as to what sounds to pick.
So why not just stick with the current sound of a conventional combustion engine?
"That would be losing a huge opportunity," says Prof Paul Jennings from Warwick University who leads a project looking into alternative vehicle noises.
"We all know traffic noise can be annoying and the levels are significantly high. We do not want to lose the benefit we could get from using new reduced sounds."
He says: "The challenge is to create sounds that are as safe as possible but also ones that are much more pleasing for the urban environment."
As part of the engineering project, an electric vehicle called Elvin (Electric Vehicle with Interactive Noise), is being driven around the university campus demonstrating a small sample of made-up sounds.
Chief among them are a deep sounding buzz, a high pitched hum and one that sounds like a piece of cardboard stuck in the spokes of a spinning bicycle wheel.
And then there is something that sounds like a 1950s UFO movie.
Nissan Leaf The Nissan Leaf noise was the product of four years of research
"It's important that the sound is associated with transport and a lot of how people interpret sound is based on their experiences," says Prof Jennings.
"For electric vehicles and futuristic vehicles a lot of those experiences are from the media, from games and from science fiction films."
There are certain noises that people associate with transport and they alert us that a vehicle is heading in our direction.
Whatever car manufacturers choose will only be effective if it does the same.
But balancing the needs for safety and improving the environment are not the only requirements. Clearly the manufacturers will have a big say in what happens.
If, for example, Ferrari were to ever make an electric car they would want it to sound like a Ferrari does now.
Luxury 'noise'
"Manufacturers know what the right sound is for their product," says Roger Williams, whose company Novisim provides computer simulators to help design car sounds.
"What they are keen on is a sound that matches the image of their vehicle, whether it's a sporty one or a luxury one."
Other road users will want to have their say too. In the next couple of months a group of blind and partially sighted people will be invited to Warwick University to give their verdict on what they hear.
The synthetic "engine noises" will be played to them through one of Novisim's computer programmes, which can simulate how a whole town of full of electric cars would sound all at once.
Vulnerable groups
* Blind pedestrians - used to petrol vehicle noise, dogs trained to respond to these noises
* Children - easily distracted
* Older people with hearing difficulties
"Guide dogs are obviously trained to respond to the noises of vehicles," says Andrea Cooper, a student at the university who has been blind since birth.
"So obviously I think it's incredibly important for the sounds of the engines to reflect traditional engines sounds that we are used to."
The more you delve into the issue the more apparent the complications become.
How loud they should these vehicles be? Do they need to make a noise when they are stopped at the traffic lights? How would hundreds of unmatched vehicle noises sound altogether on our streets?
Researchers at Warwick University intend to make the results of their research available to the EU, which is planning to legislate on electric and hydrogen car sounds sometime in 2011.
The conclusions will determine the noise you hear when you open your window 20 years from now.
Tuesday, 1 March 2011
a fracking disaster
The process now used around the US to get at natural gas, called fracking,
is causing a stir everywhere.
It seems to be cracking the bedrock to get at trapped gas,
but most often gets gas to mix with ground water.
Would you like a match with your water?
I just keep getting this apocalyptic vision in my head that it's gonna cause those areas to just explode and sink into the ground.
Already, fracking seems to have brought a non-stop chain of earthquakes to Arizona
Apparently this was foretold in a James Bond movie.
More soon, Miss Moneypenny. There musht be shum mishtake!
is causing a stir everywhere.
It seems to be cracking the bedrock to get at trapped gas,
but most often gets gas to mix with ground water.
Would you like a match with your water?
I just keep getting this apocalyptic vision in my head that it's gonna cause those areas to just explode and sink into the ground.
Already, fracking seems to have brought a non-stop chain of earthquakes to Arizona
Apparently this was foretold in a James Bond movie.
More soon, Miss Moneypenny. There musht be shum mishtake!
get off the grid
Here's a story about people who have solar and wind energy, and don't need the grid, and the expensive land that goes with it.
I suppose you'll have limit your electricity use, but then you won't become the plaything of the private energy companies and Ofgen, the shockingly lazy government watchdog. More like a sleeping policeman, if you ask me.
checkitout: 2 things
1 video
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/video/2011/feb/28/life-offgrid-family-video
2
From the maker of BedZed comes ... PortZED, the self-powered apartments
UK's largest off-grid housing development includes traffic lights indicating energy use and will be powered by renewables
* Bibi van der Zee
* guardian.co.uk, Thursday 24 February 2011 09.00 GMT
PortZED CSH Level 6 zero carbon development, Shoreham Port The proposed plan for 70 off-grid homes at the PortZED development in Shoreham, East Sussex
The UK's largest ever off-grid housing development will have a traffic light system prompting residents to keep their energy use low, say developers awaiting planning permission.
PortzED is the 67-apartment development dreamed up by Bill Dunster – the architect famous for the BedZed eco-development in Sutton – and it is designed to be entirely self-powered.
The six apartment buildings, to be built at the mouth of Shoreham port near Brighton, will be linked by wind turbines, and their southern face will be tiled in solar thermal and photovoltaics panels.
Batteries will be charged during the day in order to keep the lights on at night, and the apartments themselves will be heavily insulated in order to keep power use as low as possible.
But resident behaviour will also play a key role, says the developer, Colin Brace of Bohogreen, who has worked on previous low-carbon projects. "We can't tell people that you only have so much power, and no more. But there are studies showing that if you give people renewable energy they think, oh good, it's free, and their energy use actually goes up. So an important aspect of the project will be to educate people about their energy use.
"The apartments will be designed to encourage communal living as much as possible," says Brace, "rather than having everyone in their own rooms using their own sources of power." There will also be LED lights on the wind turbines which light up red, amber and green to show which block is using power most heavily, in order to foster "a healthy sense of competition between residents to keep their power use low".
"The most important thing is that residents have a sense of ownership," he adds. "There will be resident panels, and if there's something like a football match coming up, the idea is that they will be able to talk through how to handle the attendant surge in power demand."
Rachel Shiamh, who built her own off-grid house in Wales last year, and who is organising an off-grid conference this summer, argues that being off-grid makes her more aware of her power use. "When the sun comes out I think 'oh brilliant, I can use the hoover.' It's made me far more aware of the elements. And I think it's really important that this isn't just seen as some hippy and low-budget thing; this kind of development is so important for getting off-grid into the mainstream."
The apartments in Portzed will be up to 22% more expensive than an "on-grid" development, due to the extra costs of installing high-spec insulation and renewables. At current market rates, that could add £20-24,000 to the final price of a two-bedroom flat. The developers believe however that there is a high demand for this kind of home due to their rarity. The financing for the project is already in place and the project is expected to be financial viable.
The final decision over whether the housing project will be off-grid, or remain online, will be made at a later date, depending on the feedback from potential buyers. "I'm not absolutely sure that the market is ready for it yet," says Brace. "But that [off-grid] would certainly be the ideal."
The development is generally seen as a rare bit of good news from the housing industry, which has flatlined since the recession, and is still struggling to reach agreement with the government over the target for zero-carbon homes. In 2006, Labour announced a world-leading target to make all new housing zero carbon by 2016; when the housing minister, Grant Shapps, came into office last year he confirmed that the target would remain in place, and announced that they would have nailed the definition by the end of the summer. Nearly a year later, however, a final definition has still not been announced.
"We are now two-thirds of the way to having a working definition for 'zero carbon'," said John Alker, policy director at the Green Building Council. The government's Zero Carbon Hub believes that, as of last week, agreement has been more or less reached on the standards for the fabric and the energy use of new residential buildings.
But the third part of the definition is the tricky 'allowable solutions', section. If builders cannot make a building entirely zero-carbon they are permitted to try off-site solutions, such as investing in a community energy scheme. Opponents of the allowable solutions argue that it should be possible to achieve zero-carbon fully onsite. But the building industry say that in some sites this is just not practicable.
"There just isn't enough sun or wind on some sites," says Alker, who points out that the position of Portzed – right on our south coast with lots of wind and sunshine – gives it an advantage that other sites just don't have.
"There are only a very few zero-carbon homes in the UK at the moment, so it's wonderful to see something like Portzed come along," he said. "It's this kind of exemplar which gets us all excited about it again."
I suppose you'll have limit your electricity use, but then you won't become the plaything of the private energy companies and Ofgen, the shockingly lazy government watchdog. More like a sleeping policeman, if you ask me.
checkitout: 2 things
1 video
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/video/2011/feb/28/life-offgrid-family-video
2
From the maker of BedZed comes ... PortZED, the self-powered apartments
UK's largest off-grid housing development includes traffic lights indicating energy use and will be powered by renewables
* Bibi van der Zee
* guardian.co.uk, Thursday 24 February 2011 09.00 GMT
PortZED CSH Level 6 zero carbon development, Shoreham Port The proposed plan for 70 off-grid homes at the PortZED development in Shoreham, East Sussex
The UK's largest ever off-grid housing development will have a traffic light system prompting residents to keep their energy use low, say developers awaiting planning permission.
PortzED is the 67-apartment development dreamed up by Bill Dunster – the architect famous for the BedZed eco-development in Sutton – and it is designed to be entirely self-powered.
The six apartment buildings, to be built at the mouth of Shoreham port near Brighton, will be linked by wind turbines, and their southern face will be tiled in solar thermal and photovoltaics panels.
Batteries will be charged during the day in order to keep the lights on at night, and the apartments themselves will be heavily insulated in order to keep power use as low as possible.
But resident behaviour will also play a key role, says the developer, Colin Brace of Bohogreen, who has worked on previous low-carbon projects. "We can't tell people that you only have so much power, and no more. But there are studies showing that if you give people renewable energy they think, oh good, it's free, and their energy use actually goes up. So an important aspect of the project will be to educate people about their energy use.
"The apartments will be designed to encourage communal living as much as possible," says Brace, "rather than having everyone in their own rooms using their own sources of power." There will also be LED lights on the wind turbines which light up red, amber and green to show which block is using power most heavily, in order to foster "a healthy sense of competition between residents to keep their power use low".
"The most important thing is that residents have a sense of ownership," he adds. "There will be resident panels, and if there's something like a football match coming up, the idea is that they will be able to talk through how to handle the attendant surge in power demand."
Rachel Shiamh, who built her own off-grid house in Wales last year, and who is organising an off-grid conference this summer, argues that being off-grid makes her more aware of her power use. "When the sun comes out I think 'oh brilliant, I can use the hoover.' It's made me far more aware of the elements. And I think it's really important that this isn't just seen as some hippy and low-budget thing; this kind of development is so important for getting off-grid into the mainstream."
The apartments in Portzed will be up to 22% more expensive than an "on-grid" development, due to the extra costs of installing high-spec insulation and renewables. At current market rates, that could add £20-24,000 to the final price of a two-bedroom flat. The developers believe however that there is a high demand for this kind of home due to their rarity. The financing for the project is already in place and the project is expected to be financial viable.
The final decision over whether the housing project will be off-grid, or remain online, will be made at a later date, depending on the feedback from potential buyers. "I'm not absolutely sure that the market is ready for it yet," says Brace. "But that [off-grid] would certainly be the ideal."
The development is generally seen as a rare bit of good news from the housing industry, which has flatlined since the recession, and is still struggling to reach agreement with the government over the target for zero-carbon homes. In 2006, Labour announced a world-leading target to make all new housing zero carbon by 2016; when the housing minister, Grant Shapps, came into office last year he confirmed that the target would remain in place, and announced that they would have nailed the definition by the end of the summer. Nearly a year later, however, a final definition has still not been announced.
"We are now two-thirds of the way to having a working definition for 'zero carbon'," said John Alker, policy director at the Green Building Council. The government's Zero Carbon Hub believes that, as of last week, agreement has been more or less reached on the standards for the fabric and the energy use of new residential buildings.
But the third part of the definition is the tricky 'allowable solutions', section. If builders cannot make a building entirely zero-carbon they are permitted to try off-site solutions, such as investing in a community energy scheme. Opponents of the allowable solutions argue that it should be possible to achieve zero-carbon fully onsite. But the building industry say that in some sites this is just not practicable.
"There just isn't enough sun or wind on some sites," says Alker, who points out that the position of Portzed – right on our south coast with lots of wind and sunshine – gives it an advantage that other sites just don't have.
"There are only a very few zero-carbon homes in the UK at the moment, so it's wonderful to see something like Portzed come along," he said. "It's this kind of exemplar which gets us all excited about it again."
Sunday, 20 February 2011
Mugello
I was out there in 2005.
It's one of Ferrari's test tracks, near Florence. Great scenery, up in the mountains.
Nice bowl track.
I'll post some photos later. I saw Michael Schumacher, (slumped in a fast racecar), a bunch of old F1 cars in the hands of the rich drivers hired by some very rich people. I went there by train.
And a whole wack of Ferrari F1 Enzos.
For now, here's how a motorbike racer sees the track:
[off the track's website]
It's one of Ferrari's test tracks, near Florence. Great scenery, up in the mountains.
Nice bowl track.
I'll post some photos later. I saw Michael Schumacher, (slumped in a fast racecar), a bunch of old F1 cars in the hands of the rich drivers hired by some very rich people. I went there by train.
And a whole wack of Ferrari F1 Enzos.
For now, here's how a motorbike racer sees the track:
[off the track's website]
fuzzy vision
[Central Barcelona 2005]
[Pantera on kart track, Athens 2001?]
[Darzak]
[motorbike, upwardly mobile]some fast moving vehicles and people.
The theory of relativity and some nifty camera work.
never ceases to amaze me.
For us, they seem to bend the space-time continuum, if only in one direction.
Indeed research has shown (I'll find it) that life does go at a different pace for those
speeding along and those waiting for them to pass by, e.g. at a Lemans pit, when the driver comes in for a fill-up and new tires.
That's why I love racing.
Hail Hail Enstein.
calabogie track
[Viper]
[Corvette]
[parabolica]
[change of weight balance]some time ago, I went to a relatively new track around Ottawa, in the bush,
called Calabogie.
The area had been without a serious track for decades.
Used to be, motorheads were so crazy, they raced on the ice of the Ottawa River, near
the Prime Minister's house.
That is until a car fell through.
It was a cheap rental fee, for the river. Who says only Jesus can walk on water.
We can make cars roll on water, frozen, that is.
Anyway, a first-class track, fast, long, difficult.
-cosine67~~
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