"Wisdom begins in wonder" – Socrates
Month: November 2018
Why California Should Have an Air-Filter Upgrade Policy
11/30/18
“Why should California have an Air-Filter Upgrade Policy?”
The climate is changing and as a result California is experiencing more fires. To build resiliency against this, the state of California should have a state-wide air-filter upgrade policy. This will ensure that ordinary citizens be safer in the built environment.
The European Union Has Just Unveiled It’s Zero Carbon Emission Plan
11/29/18
“How will the EU become carbon neutral?”
Breaking news. The European Union, accounting for 10 % of carbon emissions globally, has recently unveiled its long-term plan to cut its carbon emissions to zero by 2050. Although its 2030 goals will not be changed, it does give more focus to the following decades. This will be an extremely exciting event for years to come.
Switching regulators
11/28/18
“How can we control a series device to rapidly switch on and off?”
Series devices are used everywhere in electronics. However, sometimes we would like to be able to switch them on and off at an extremely high frequency. So how can we use our engineering mindset to solve this? Well, what if we were to have a special voltage regulator that could accomplish this? This is the exact idea behind a switching regulator and is integrated into all sorts of electrical devices.
How Battery Storage can help Black Starts
11/27/18
“How can battery storage help with black starts?”
In order to recover from power outages, black starts are a necessary firsts step. This can be helped with battery storage since their geographically distributed nature will make them more resilient. This is How Battery Storage can help Black Starts.
Why the Increasing Frequency of Fires Will Threat Energy Resilience
11/26/18
“How will the increased frequency of fires make us less energy resilient?”
The climate is changing. As temperatures get higher, the natural world is being thrown out of balance, and this includes dangerous fires such the one seen in Northern California. As these fires become more frequent, they will threaten power lines and energy generation sources. As a result, The Increasing Frequency of Fires Will Threat Energy Resilience.
Steam Accumulators
11/25/18
“How can we store energy using steam?”
With the advent of the new energy paradigm, energy storage will play a bigger and bigger factor. Although batteries are promising, they are not an all-encompassing technology and will need support from other systems.
One simple method for storing energy involves steam. What if we were to have a container half filled with cold water and connected to a boiler. Steam can be blown if from the boiler into the container, which condenses and warms the water. When the water is about ¾ of the height, it will be considered stable. A valve can then be opened to release energy by driving the steam through a turbine and boiling the water from the resulting pressure drop. This system is known as a Steam Accumulator and is being constructed in conjunction with many solar thermal plants.
Why Wind Energy has Difficulty with Black Starts
11/24/18
“Why does wind energy have difficulty with getting up after a blackout?”
When energy systems suffer from a blackout, black starts are used to make them come online again. However, wind energy has difficulty with black starts this since a gust may not be blowing at the necessary start times.
Lab-Grown Meat
11/23/18
“Can we make meat without killing animals?”
For all of biological history, eating meat involved taking an organism’s life. But this may change drastically with the advent of Lab-Grown Meat. Lab-grown meat is made by taking a cell from an animal, placing it in a Petri dish, and letting the cells grow and multiply. Although the process of obtaining the cells may involve slaughter, much more meat can be produced from a single animal! Lab-grown mate is exponentially decreasing in cost and may soon serve as an environmentally friendly alternative to old-fashioned meat.
How Lab-Grown Meat Can Fight Climate Change
11/22/18
“How can lab-grown meat be good for the environment?”
This Thanksgiving, American families all around the world are spending time with their dear friends and families and give thanks to all of the good things that have come. And a core part of this celebration (usually) involves cooking a Turkey. However, all of this meat consumption drives up carbon emissions immensely. But is there a way where can circumvent this without having to give up meat?
Well, this can actually happen with the proliferation of Lab-Grown Meat. Since this artificial meat did not require an animal to be raised for production, it is able to avert countless tons of emissions associated with production. As a result, Lab-Grown Meat Can Fight Climate Change. So in the near future, you might be able to have your meat and eat it too!
Happy Thanksgiving!!!
Isaac's science blog 