According to a report from the Atlantic (I recommend clicking on the link and viewing the brilliant picture gallery on the subject of the coal industry), global coal usage has increased due to the consumption of developing countries in Asia. Particularly India and China as an effect of their increased demand for energy to power their economies. This results in increasing carbon emissions world wide, despite the fact that coal usage has reduced in North America and Europe.

Why is coal such a popular form of fuel for power generation?, I talked to somebody in the industry before about this and they mentioned that it all boiled down to the price of the fuel and the setup costs per Megawatt of energy generated.

Looking at the state of China’s air pollution right now should discourage energy companies from putting up anymore coal fired power plants. A clear cut example of our decisions coming back to haunt us eventually.

Formula One isn’t working. It’s declining because [the Federation International d’Automobile, the sport’s governing body] have forgotten that people watch the racing for the excitement. Nobody watches racing for the efficiency, come on.”

Well I have to disagree with him about that, I watch the race for the winners. Formula 1 for me is the apex of car racing, because tolerances are tight and winning is by having a few seconds lead over your competitor. Having a competitive car is based on not just having a good driver, its by having a technologically superior car that is well tuned for that specific track.

Given that in the 2014 season, Ferrari’s best finish was a measly 3rd place in the China Grad Prix. One can’t help but think that their threat to pull out has a lot more to do with their dismal showing, rather than their belief that the excitement is gone because of the quieter cars.

I am all for the changes that Formula 1 is doing to the rules to make for a more competitive season with more efficient cars. In the end it’s better for the environment as lessons learned in Formula 1 could trickle down to the cars of the future. Hasn’t that been the primary reason why car manufacturers enter racing events, aside from the prestige? To test technologies that could find their way into the humble car’s that they sell.

Here’s a great animated explanation of how fusion energy works by PHD Comics. Fusion energy is the Holy Grail of energy development and as the video states it is one of the cleanest forms of energy available. The drawback is that not much funding has gone into it in order to study further how to achieve this future form of technology. And as explained in the video with the current techniques being used, a lot of energy is required in order to attain a fusion reaction.

Despite the slow study of this field I think one really great alternative energy source that is a stop gap measure until we can really get the fusion bandwagon going is to use solar energy. When you think about it, solar energy is a direct result of the fusion energy being developed by the Sun. In a way its indirectly tapping into fusion energy.

Who knows when fusion energy will be a reality, I believe we are limited by today’s materials and technology. But hopefully we can achieve a breakthrough. There is hope, consider that it was only a century since man achieved controlled flight, entered the jet age, then traveled to the moon. All we need is the diligence to plod onward.

Tesla still owns the patents and will only file lawsuits against companies for defensive purposes and not if somebody uses their patents. This usually means that if a company files a patent lawsuit against them, they will check if the said company infringes on any of their patents then file a counter patent law suit till they reach a stalemate and opt for settlement.

This is a very monumental move by Tesla because it could really help spur development in the electric car field. Fledgling electric car manufacturers could take a quantum leap ahead by using the technologies that Tesla had already improved on. Of course, with the announcement a couple of eons back of the establishment of Tesla of an advance battery production plant, this could also help drum up customers for their battery packs and fast charging technology.

As always, I am in awe of the genius of Elon Musk, a truly brilliant move that hopefully will leapfrog the development of the electric car. For me it’s one of those “one small step for man, I giant leap for mankind” moments in history. If it is successful, it could shift the balance of power from the big car manufacturers to the small start up garage car builders.

Through their study they discovered that in typical lithium ion battery, as the lithium ions pass through the cathodes and anodes of the battery their ion channels become stuck over time due to its reaction with the nickel oxide forming small salt nano crystals. The presence of these crystals limit the flow of ions thereby lowering the battery capacity over time. They also discovered that the drive to develop denser batteries (for more capacity and faster charging) can actually have an effect on the more rapid formation of these nano crystals.

A truly important study as in the race to build batteries with more capacities and faster charging times, we could in effect be lowering the usable life of these batteries. Something that battery manufacturers should be looking. I mean I for one wouldn’t want to be changing the battery running my electric car after just one year because it’s charge capacity has already been halved.

I myself am not so easily sold on the Hydrogen-Fuel Cell vehicle, primarily because of the large infrastructure that has to be built in order to supply the hydrogen and the thought of having to carry pressurized hydrogen in a vehicle unnerves me. I’ve dealt with pressurized containers before and its really a hassle to ensure that there are no leaks so that the precious gas is not wasted. Now imagine placing that system inside a vehicle which is regularly subjected to vibrations and shocks from having to traverse roads with bumps and depressions. Could easily cause a leak over time, unless you are diligent in maintaining your suspension system.

As of now, Electric is the way for me. All we have to hurdle is the battery bottle neck which limits its range. But with the developments and discoveries of new materials. I think within the next decade we can surpass this and create batteries with storage capacities that can match or even surpass the ranges of current fossil fueled vehicles. Increased battery densities yet smaller casings is what I’m looking forward to. Imagine if this happened today, popping a new battery into you car is as easy as swapping the batteries of your flashlight.

The infrastructure is also there already for charging an electric vehicle, one has but to plug into ones electric socket. Providing of course you have the correct prescribed type of socket and wire density to accept that kind of wattage for charging so that you don’t end up burning your house down.

In the end, what really excites me is the thought that you can one day charge your car from you backyard solar array. And even hopefully, power up your house. That is truly off-grid living without having to get out of the city.

Buying a hammock has been one of the best P200 purchases I’ve ever made. Of course mine isn’t as fancy as that pictured above. But it has been a surprising revelation in these times of 4 hour blackouts that have been plaguing the city.

Turns out that its a very good way to keep oneself cool during these steaming hot blackouts. By swinging the hammock you generate airflow that can easily cool your body.

It’s like the opposite of a fan, where in the object to be cooled is the one that moves and any air movement is just incidental. And it’s not as tiring as a hand fan to use since you can just use a little kick now and then to get the airflow moving. And compared to a fan, you get to cool a larger part of your body.

These hammocks are especially useful to put kids and babies to sleep since they are the ones who are more susceptible to the heat and have a hard time sleeping because of it. In these dark times (no pun intended), you really have to think of innovative ways to work around these blackouts.

Interesting commentary from Hon. Edcel C. Lagman, where he cites certain provisions in the law which implicitly state the fact that the Reproductive Health law is not a population control measure.

population growth rate is incidental to the advancement of reproductive health

True, but it also seems to pass the Duck Test hence the at first glance belief that it is a population control measure