Powering Your Car with Waste Heat

Technology Review
May 25, 2011

At least two-thirds of the energy in gasoline used in cars and trucks is wasted as heat. Thermoelectrics, semiconductor materials that convert heat into electricity, could capture this waste heat, reducing the fuel needs of the vehicle and improving fuel economy by at least 5 percent. But the low efficiency and high cost of existing thermoelectric materials has kept such devices from becoming practical in vehicles.

Now researchers are assembling the first prototype thermoelectric generators for tests in commercial cars and SUVs. The devices are a culmination of several advances made independently at thermoelectric device-maker BSST in Irwindale, California, and at General Motors Global R&D in Warren, Michigan. Both companies plan to install and test their prototypes by the end of the summer—BSST in BMW and Ford cars, and GM in a Chevrolet SUV.

BSST is using new materials. Bismuth telluride, a common thermoelectric, contains expensive tellurium and works at temperatures of only up to 250 °C, whereas thermoelectric generators can reach 500 °C. So BSST is using another family of thermoelectrics—blends of hafnium and zirconium—that work well at high temperatures. This has increased the generator efficiency by about 40 percent.
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A Car Battery at Half the Price

Technology Review
May 25, 2011

Last year, the battery startup A123 Systems spun out another company, called 24M, to develop a new kind of battery meant to make electric vehicles go farther and cost less. Now a research paper published in Advanced Energy Materials reveals the first details about how that battery would work. It also addresses the challenges in bringing the battery to market.

A big problem with the lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids is that only about 25 percent of the battery's volume is taken up by materials that store energy. The rest is made up of inactive materials, such as packaging, conductive foils, and glues, which make the batteries bulky and account for a significant part of the cost.

24M intends to greatly reduce the inactive material in a battery. According to estimates in the new paper, its batteries could achieve almost twice the energy densities of today's vehicle battery packs. Batteries with a higher energy density would be smaller and cheaper, which means electric and hybrid cars would be less expensive. The paper estimates that the batteries could cost as little as $250 per kilowatt hour—less than half what they cost now.

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A Gas Power Plant to Make Renewables More Practical

Technology Review
May 27, 2011

General Electric announced on Thursday that it's designed a gas-fired combined-cycle power plant that can start up rapidly. The goal is to help electricity grids adapt to the variability of renewable energy.

With a small but growing proportion of electricity in Europe being supplied by wind and solar power, grid operators need new ways to deal with fluctuations in supply. The supply from solar drops dramatically at night, while wind installations only provide power when the wind is blowing. GE's new plant can ramp up electricity generation at a rate of more than 50 megawatts a minute twice the rate of current industry benchmarks. The plant can start from scratch in less than 30 minutes.

GE is testing a pilot plant at its facility in Greenville, South Carolina, but the plant won't come into operation any earlier than 2015.

The plant will have a base load fuel efficiency of 61 percent, higher than other gas combined-cycle power plants. A base load power plant is one that's dedicated to providing a continuous supply of energy. Nuclear and coal plants commonly provide base load power. Such plants offer relatively cheap energy, but they can take hours or days to start up, which isn't fast enough to meet fluctuations in supply from renewables.

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Flexible films for photovoltaics

Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft
May 30, 2011

Displays that can be rolled up and flexible solar cells – both are potential future markets. Barrier layers that protect thin-film solar cells from oxygen and water vapor and thus increase their useful life are an essential component.

What do potato chips and thin-film solar cells have in common? Both need films that protect them from air and water vapor: the chips in order to stay fresh and crisp; the solar cells in order to have a useful life that is as long as possible. In most cases, glass is used to protect the active layers of the solar cells from environmental influences. Dr. Klaus Noller from the Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging IVV in Freising explains the advantages of a plastic film: “The films are considerably lighter – and flexible. They make new production processes possible that enable significant reductions in the cost of manufacturing a photovoltaic module.“ Instead of working with individual glass plates, the solar cells could be printed onto a plastic film and then encapsulated with the barrier film: photovoltaic modules on a roll.

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Solar inverters: losses are cut in half

Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft
May 30, 2011

A switching trick makes it possible to cut the losses of a series-production inverter in half and increase the efficiency from 96 to 98 percent. The HERIC®-topology makes it possible to achieve a world-record efficiency of more than 99 percent.

It was a matter of minutes,« Dr. Heribert Schmidt remembers the day in spring of 2002. To find opportunities for improvement, he had often pondered about the switching plan of an inverter while in his office at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE in Freiburg, Germany. A sudden flash of inspiration – and a solution that was ingeniously simple came to his mind. He immediately went to get an inverter from the laboratory, laid a few new strips and installed two additional semiconductor switches. »Then it required only a little bit of work on the controls - and we already had the proof!« This is how the electrical engineer, who holds a doctorate in electrical engineering, described the revolutionary step in brief: the losses could be halved and the degree of effectiveness could be increased from 96 to 98 percent.

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Merkel Will Scrap German Nuclear Plants by 2022 After Fukushima Disaster

Bloomberg
May 30, 2011

German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s coalition endorsed a blueprint to shut its nuclear-power plants by 2022, repealing the law she pushed to extend the life of the reactors to become the biggest nation to exit atomic power.

EON AG and RWE AG (RWE), the two biggest utilities, led declines on the benchmark DAX stock index, with RWE falling to its lowest since December 2004 as the government retained a tax on spent fuel rods. Solar-power companies Q-Cells SE (QCE) and Solarworld AG (SWV)rallied.

The decision in the early morning hours today by coalition leaders in Berlin underscored Merkel’s flip-flop from a 2009 re- election promise to extend the life of nuclear reactors. She did her about-face after the March meltdown in Japan as the anti- nuclear Green Party gained in polls. Her party lost control of Baden-Wuerttemberg state to the Greens in March and finished behind them in a state election for the first time on May 22.

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Brazil’s Vale gears up for rare earths

Financial Times
May 30, 2011

Vale, the world’s biggest iron ore producer, is gearing up to move into rare earth mining as Brazil tries to compete with China to supply some of the world’s most sought-after metallic elements, says Brazil’s science and technology minister, Aloizio Mercadante.

The government has met several industrial companies to line up customers for rare earths, a group of 17 elements which are primarily used to make components for such items as wind turbines, electric cars, and computer screens.

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Japan to invest in quake-struck auto-parts industry

CNN
May 30, 2011

(FT) -- The state-backed Development Bank of Japan is setting up a fund that could be as large as $619m to help the country's auto-parts industry to recover from the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

Disruption to the auto supply chain caused the country's biggest disaster since the second world war has underscored just how important Japanese auto-parts makers are to domestic and global vehicle manufacturers, from General Motors to Toyota.

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China talent has designs on smallest rooms

Financial Times
May 30, 2011

Luxury goods manufacturers have long tailored products from cars to jeans for affluent Chinese consumers. Now, Chinese tastes are beginning to influence the design of the products the rest of the world buys – including toilets.

Take the $6,400 “smart” toilet from Kohler, for example. The global plumbing fixtures company designed its top of the line “Numi” toilet in the US and China. While the Numi is targeted at US and Chinese consumers, it has several features inspired primarily by China’s entertainment- obsessed consumers – not to mention their cold loos.

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FCO Elects Officers for 2011-2013 Terms

At its biennial conference in Vancouver earlier this month, the Forum of Canadian Ombudsman elected a new board and officers.




The FCO officers are:

• Kevin Fenwick (President) – Ombudsman Saskatchewan
• Laura Bradbury (Vice President) – Fair Practices Commission (WSIB)
• Laura Bruneau (Treasurer) – National Capital Commission
• J. Paul Dube (Secretary) – Tax Payer Ombudsman
• Ian Darling (Past-President) – Tarion Warranty Corporation

The other directors are:

• Nora Farrell – Ryerson University
• Doug Melville – Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments
• Howard Sapers – Correctional Investigator
• Johanne Savard – City of Montreal
• Todd Sloan – Member at Large

Outgoing President Ian Darling noted that the FCO board meeting also marked a transition with two of the founding FCO directors, Suzanne Belson and Justine Sentenne choosing not to seek reelection to the board. Belson and Sentenne were active in the creation of the FCO, and the early work to establish the identity for the organization. During the annual general meeting, the board made special note of their contributions and thanked them for their dedication to the FCO.

Related posts: FCO Selects New Board and Officers (2009); FCO/ACCUO Post 2011 Conference Agenda; Leading Canadian Ombuds, Suzanne Belson Retires.

International Conferences of Ombuds-Institutions for the Armed Forces Launches Website

Members of ICOAF are Ombuds and Inspectors General that protect and promote the human rights of armed forces of personnel. The association has created a website to provide more information about its activities and publications. ICOAF has held three annual meetings since its first in May 2009. The fourth ICOAF conference is planned for Ottawa in October 2012.

States that have participated in ICOAF activities include: Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, United Kingdom and the United States. (International Conferences of Ombuds-Institutions for the Armed Forces.)

Job Posting: Kenyon College

The private liberal arts college in Gambier, Ohio is hiring an Ombudsperson. ​ The position will provide informal processes for Kenyon employees to manage and resolve workplace conflicts. Applicants must have at least a four-year degree and should also have mediation and facilitation training and experience, and an understanding of unique challenges to dispute resolution in a small college environment.

The new Ombudsperson will be asked to attend Ombusman 101, a training offered by the International Ombudsman Association, July 11-13 in Indianapolis. No closing date or salary indicated. (Monster.com.)

Related post: (Not So New) Ombuds at Kenyon College.

CERN Ombuds Explains His Duty of Confidentiality

In his most recent newsletter article, Vincent Vuillemi, the Ombuds at the European Organization for Nuclear Research, explains how the duty of confidentiality affects his ability to work with a group of disgruntled employees. In his hypothetical example, Vuillemi believed that it was essential for the Ombuds to bring group's concern matter to the attention of senior management. However, because the employees had not given permission, the Ombuds was required to maintain confidentiality. Vuillemi's example is typical of cases many organizational Ombuds encounter. (CERN Bulletin.)

Related posts: CERN Appoints an Ombuds; CERN Ombuds Begins Series of Articles for Employees; CERN Ombuds Explores Workplace Rumors.

Save the Date for ACR Annual Conference in San Diego

The Association for Conflict Resolution will be hosting its tenth annual conference, "Many Paths, One Destination," October 12-15, 2011 at the San Diego Sheraton Hotel and Marina. Details will be announced later. (ACR Conf. Info.)

Related posts: 2009 ACR Conference Features Ombuds; Tenth ACR Conference Will Highlight Ombuds Issues.

Job Posting: Ryerson University

The public university in Toronto is hiring an Assistant Ombudsperson for an 11-month appointment (August 2, 2011 - July 3, 2012). The posting seeks applicants with several years experience in conflict resolution and knowledge of the post-secondary education setting and student policies and services. Applications are due June 10, 2011. (Charity Village.)

The Ryerson University Ombudsperson Nora Farrell and the Assistant Ombudsperson has been Ayesha Adam.

Related post: Ryerson University Ombuds Explains Slight Decline in Cases.

Job Posting: Kaiser Permanente Irvine

KP is hiring a full-time Health Care Ombuds/Mediator for their facility in Irvine, CA. The Kaiser HCOM "functions as a trained alternative dispute professional offering patients, family members, staff & providers a conflict management program to resolve patient/provider healthcare disputes early thereby improving patient safety & reducing the costs of health care dispute resolution."

People who have applied for these positions confirm that Kaiser generally seeks individuals with extensive clinical or health care management experience. No salary or closing date indicated. (Kaiser Permanent Careers, Job No.: 083104.)

Related post: Interview With Kaiser Permanente Health Care Ombuds.

University of North Carolina Ombuds Declines Comment

A University of North Carolina housekeeper is pursuing an internal grievance arising out of an alleged sexual harassment by her supervisor. Her petition alleges that filed a case with the University Ombuds Office and was not advised of the full procedures, but was referred to the Equal Opportunity/ADA Office. UNC Ombudsperson, Wayne Blair refused to comment on specific cases when contacted by the campus newspaper. (Daily Tarheel.)

Related post: University of North Carolina Ombuds Reports Continued Case Growth.

Class Action Lawsuit Against Bayer HealthCare References Ombuds

A class action suit againt Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals alleges the company discriminated against women employees, including female pharmaceutical sales representatives and all women in Bayer HealthCare’s Consumer Care unit. One plaintiff alleges that she sought help from an on-site counselor and then reported the incident to a company hotline, Bayer’s corporate Ombuds and human resources. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.)

Related post: Bayer Corp. Names New Ombuds.

New leadership, team must continue with policies and planning to push Sarawak upward

The victory of more than a 2/3 majority that the Rakyat has given to Barisan Nasional must guarantee them of their rights to get continuous improvement in the quality of leadership to uplift their standard of living.  

More importantly, those elected must adhere strictly to the objective of the common struggle to uphold Sarawak’s multi-racial character no matter what ever challenges that they have to face. 

Besides, it is important for them to realize that their primary responsibility is to meet the people, the Natives in particular who are very receptive with the idea of building a multi-racial Sarawak. Generally, the people have been very firm in their commitment to build multi-racial Sarawak. 

Understandably, the government being led by Barisan Nasional remains committed to development with the realization that all Sarawakians yearn for greater progress and prosperity; those in the minority must learn to respect their wishes and aspirations.  

Admittedly, Sarawak, has limited potentials for development unless efforts can be made to push the economy with the sustainable model of development beyond stage of being a developed nation.

Besides, Sarawak, unlike other States has various challenges that can impede its development. One of them is its small population that is scattered over a wide area. Generally, the people still have low level of education. Hence continuous efforts must be made to restructure the pattern of the population. Besides, efforts must also be made to find out the best way to induce people with better opportunities.  

The tract record of the State Barisan Nasional since Sarawak gained Independence through the formation of Malaysia, during the last 30 years under the leadership of Pehin Sri Haji Abdul Taib Mahmud, as the Chief Minister in particular is one of hard work to develop Sarawak. 

At one time Sarawak had the acute problem of having people living in absolute poverty.  The Government has been able to eradicate poverty and build what can be considered as a more prosperous and progressive society. There are only about 5.3% of the populations that can be considered as poor people, who cannot stand on their own feet.

Generally, the people, though they have yet to enjoy comfortable life, can nurture the hope of having a better standard of living by and by. Besides, Barisan Nasional has never waiver in its commitment to bring about greater development and progress to the State and country. 

Understandably, Pehin Sri Abdul Taib, before he retires, has to build a strong team to ensure that all policies that have been proven to be successful, all the machinery that is in top gear and all the planning that has been made to uplift the level of the State’s progress and development to a greater height will be continued.  

He pledges to build a strong team among the new people to support the new leadership with the primary responsibility to preserve the harmonious political atmosphere that has been built over the years. The State has been able to preserve the harmonious political atmosphere with the realization that the people want good leadership. 

He says one of the enemies of good leadership is being cliquish or having the spirit of cliques even in a party. This is the main enemy to unity and one of the enemies of progress and development of the State.  

Therefore, the new generation and new leadership must show a very high standard of political discipline to avoid being cliquish.  They must show that they do not practice favoritism and the interests of individuals must be subservient to the objective of the overall struggle to achieve progress and advancement for the people.

Pehin Sri says SCORE, which has a very challenging plan that stretches over one generation, is the opportunity that will uplift the people of Sarawak. But the successful implementation demands nothing less than full dedication towards improving the level of education, competency and skills of the people of Sarawak.  

Sarawak will need a lot of technical and managerial skills and vocational people to support the big drive towards a trend that is meant to bring Sarawak at least five times more income by the year 2030 from what it is today.  That is a big challenge that the people of Sarawak must endeavor to meet.  

Pehin Sri Abdul Taib says the most important thing in the election victory is that the State Barisan Nasional has managed to convince voters that Sarawak must have a strong multi-racial government; although the Chinese somewhat started sitting on the fence in the run-up to the election.   

He is happy that all Barisan Nasional’s newly elected members of State Legislative Assembly, 55 of them represent all races, not only the major races but even the minor ones like Kedayan, Bisayas and others. Personally, he will always remember that an overwhelming majority of the people have expressed a strong desire to preserve the multi-racial nature of our society. 

The new faces comprise of people with high academic qualifications with strong commitment to serve the people and the State. Hopefully, they will appreciate that to have a strong political discipline is as important as having high academic qualifications. Besides, they must also appreciate that dedication with the people is the key motivating factor to ensure that Sarawak will achieve the full aim of SCORE namely to create 1.6 million jobs  by the year 2030. 

More importantly, they must adhere strictly to the objective of the common struggle to uphold Sarawak’s multi-racial character no matter what ever challenges that they have to face. This is the meaning of the Election victory that all Barisan Nasional’s newly-elected members of State Legislative Assembly must share for the next 20 years. 

Pehin Sri Abdul Taib admits the just-concluded State election was the most challenging one as it witnessed very different styles of campaigning as compared with the previous ones. There were more outsiders, who were ignorant of local sensitive and customs and traditions, taking part in the political campaign in the run – up to the elections.

He reiterates that he has come of age before he becomes too old, weak and tired and cannot lead with greater wisdom and decisiveness, to think of retirement and has decided to make the recently- concluded State election to be his last election. 

He thanks people for giving a strong mandate to State Barisan Nasional to form a very stable government.  The State Barisan Nasional will be able to do a lot of hard work with full capacity in the services of the people, State and country.

benuasains

 *Photos Source:

http://chiefministertaib.sarawak.gov.my/

Job Posting: Asian Development Bank

The regional development bank is recruiting an individual with extensive experience and success in conflict resolution to become its first Ombudsperson. The position will report to the ADB President and will follow the Standards of Practice and Code of Ethics of the International Ombudsman Association.

Applicants must have a university degree, preferably in social sciences, law or related fields, and at post-graduate level or its equivalent. In addition, applicants should have at least 15 years of successful professional experience in multicultural and international work environment — including a minimum of five years in workplace conflict resolution, excellent oral and written communication skills in English, and international experience working in several countries. Applications are due June 14. No salary indicated. (ADB Employment.)

ENOHE Publishes Proceedings of Joint Conference with ACCUO

In May 2010, the European Network of Ombudsmen in Higher Education and the Association of Canadian College and University Ombuds held a joint conference in Vienna. The proceedings from the conference, "Common Objectives, Different Pathways: Embedding Ombudsman Principles and Practices into Higher Education Institutions" are now available online.

The contents include:

• Martine Conway, Josef Leidenfrost: Vienna through the Rearview Mirror
• Welcome by Beatrix Karl, Austrian Minister for Science and Research: Ombudsmen as
• Important Elements
• Workshop A – Mediation: Learning by Doing: Jenna Brown, Mike Reddy, Jim Wohl
• Workshop B – Things I wish I had known when I started as an Ombudsman: Clifford Picton, Tim Birtwistle
• Workshop C – Challenges to Impartiality: Nora Farrell
• Workshop D – Core Curriculum for Development of Scientific Integrity: Lessons to be Learned for Higher Education Ombudsmen: Gerlinde Sponholz, Helga Nolte
• Tim Birtwistle: The Importance of the Use of Language, Terms and Titles in Higher Education Life, for Faculty and Students
• Wolfgang Weigel: Conflict Management Revisited: Remarks and Observations on the Status of the University Ombudsman
• Ram Gidoomal: Independence and Governance: (In)compatible?
• Natalie Sharpe: Online Bullying, Discrimination, Harassment – Revising a University Protocol
• Christian Sjöstrand: Complaint Management, Students’ Rights and the Principle of Public Access to Official Documents: Experiences from Sweden
• Gundi Gadesmann: Problem solving in the EU – The European Ombudsman
• Christian Pichler-Stainern: Quality Management and ISO Standards within the Austrian Agency for International Cooperation in Education and Research (OeAD-GmbH)
• Karl Andrew Müllner: Establishing an Ombudsman for the Lifelong Learning Programme in Austria – Challenges and First Experiences
• Pilar Abad-Garcia: Building Bridges: University Ombudsmen and University Cooperation in the post Bologna European Higher Education Area
• Andrea Blaettler: ESU and its Perspective on Student rights and ombudsmen in Higher Education
• Luis Adolfo Veliz Cornejo: How to Create an Ombuds Organism at the Pontifical Catholic University of Perú?
• Jure Marinovic: An Overview of the Student Ombudsman at the University of Zagreb
• Lara Leoncio Sáenz: Latin American University Ombudsmen – Building Better Environments and Fostering Social Change
• Robert Behrens: The Pathway Project: An Ombudsman’s Roadmap for the Next Five Years
• Sandro Vicini: Dealing with Systemic Issues: Strategies for Solutions in the University Context
• Monika Petermandl: Small and Beautiful – How Austrian Universities of Applied Sciences are Dealing with Student Complaints: The Example of the FHWien – Studiengänge der WKW
• Doris Kiendl-Wendner: The Powers and Tasks of the Ombudsman in Institutions of Higher Education 
• Ray Morley: Higher Education Ombudsman and Diversity Issues – Considering the Australian Point of View
• Cathryn Heslep: A New University – Addressing Diversity
• Robyn Jacobson: Restorative Justice: A Viable Option for Non-academic Misconduct?
• Peter Kostelka: Reaching Out to Citizens

(ENOHE Occasional Paper Nr. 7.)

Related post: ENOHE-ACCUO 2010 Conference Embraces Diversity of Ombuds Practice in Higher Education.

Emergency Medicine News: Sick of Complaints? Call the Ombudsman

The May issue of the independent news magazine says that Ombuds are an important resource for emergency medicine professionals who are often criticized from many sides.

In receiving complaints from emergency medicine professionals, the ombudsman may coach the employee in how to approach a manager on her own, or may direct the employee to an appropriate resource within the organization. At the same time, the ombudsman collects anonymous data on patterns of complaints that can help the emergency provider fine-tune training programs.

Some emergency service providers may wish to create an ombudsman position exclusively for clients to ensure high levels of satisfaction. This is a customer-friendly move.

The article was written by James Ziegenfuss and Patricia O'Rourke, authors of The Ombudsman Handbook. (Emergency Medicine News.)

Related post: Book Highlights Organizational Role of Ombuds.

International Franchise Association’s Ombuds Program Marks 10th Anniversary

In 2001, the IFA launched an Ombudsman Office as part of a two-year study into ways to improve and strengthen the association's Code of Ethics and Self-Regulation program. The IFA Ombuds is a confidential, neutral, independent, facilitative, informal, and free resource available to franchisors or franchisees. The success of the industry-wide program has prompted some franchisors to adopt their own Ombuds programs.

Sue Vandittelli has served as the IFA Ombudsman since 2004. She is assisted by Associate Ombudsmen Warren Morris and Danielle Martin. (Franchising World.)

Related post: International Franchise Association Touts Ombuds Program.

Asian Scientist Magazine: The Organizational Ombudsman Can Help

The latest issue of the magazine for the Asian scientific community, includes an article that explains how an Ombuds can help with these types of problems:

• “My senior colleague wants to be co-first author on my paper, but I did 80 percent of the work!”
• “My PI is not letting me graduate… I’m desperate.”
• “I can’t stand my labmate who bullies me. I can’t do anything about it because I depend on him.”
• “I hate my boss.”

The article discusses the professional standards of independence, neutrality and impartiality, confidentiality, and informality. There are several references to IOA materials and the website. This might be a good handout for Ombuds working with researchers. (Asian Scientist.)

Organization of News Ombudsmen Director Looks to the Future

Jeffrey Dvorkin, the Executive Director of ONO, takes stock of the organization at the conclusion of a successful annual conference in Montreal. He wonders how the value of Ombudsmen can be communicated more effectively to media management.

As with many professional association, ONO simply does not have, "the resources right now to launch a comprehensive survey with the credentials to prove its value." Fortunately, several academics are evaluating News Ombuds.

Dvorkin proposes that ONO open its membership to the public. Although non-Americans did not react enthusiastically, he points out that this model has worked for public radio in the US. After all, he says, "This is what news ombudsmen do best - relate and connect to the public. They do that from the confines of their own media organizations. Why not continue that from ONO's vantage point?" (Now the Details.)

Related posts: More Thoughts on the Decline of News Ombuds; Organization of News Ombudsmen Director Argues for 'Cyberombudsmen'; Organization of News Ombudsmen Head to Montreal for 2011 Conference.

I've been playing around with the idea of casting aluminum With a smelter made our of old bricks and steel cans and making my own charcoal.

so far I've had some proof of concept success in making coffee grounds into charcoal burning scrap twigs from the yard and was going to try my first melt, but I decided that I needed to up my safety routines instead, as melting metal in a 100+ year old wood building that has been drying in the desert for its entire lifespan seemed a might iffy.

In moving the smelter I found I had a lot of very fine wood ash and decided that I would try to make "lyewater" like the stuff they made old school soap out of.

This is done by filtering water through the ash to extract potassium hydroxide. (note both potassium hydroxide and sodium hydroxide are known as "lye")

I poked a small hole in the bottom of a large plastic salsa jug, filled it with ash and put a jar under it and poured water into it. Got a jar filled with uh.... TEA! colored liquid.

So I have a jar of noxious liquid, no ph testing gear but I know that aluminum in a water-sodium hydroxide solution will produce hydrogen and aluminum oxide.

So I dropped a small piece of aluminum in the goo and got bubbles, I think I have hydrogen.

Background: Developments that make a difference

Financial Times
May 19, 2011


The European Inventor Awards are a very visible riposte to those who regard the creation and protection of intellectual property as a boring, specialist activity of little interest to the general public.

Established by the European Patent Office in 2006, they aim to “give a face” to patents by honouring individual innovators with a prestigious prize, while raising awareness of the role of patents in promoting economic, social and technological progress.

The 15 finalists and five winners this year highlight a range of appealing developments that have made a difference to the lives of people around the world – and in the process made money for their inventors.

The winning innovations, announced in Budapest, Hungary, on Thursday involve strengthening concrete (in the industry category), burning biofuels (SMEs), identifying Alzheimer’s genes (research), implanting teeth (lifetime achievement) and disinfecting water (non-European). Four are profiled in separate articles.

To read more click here...

Swiss researchers boost efficiency of flexible solar cells to new world record

Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology
May 19, 2011

Scientists at Empa, the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, have further boosted the energy conversion efficiency of flexible solar cells made of copper indium gallium (di)selenide (also known as CIGS) to a new world record of 18.7% – a significant improvement over the previous record of 17.6% achieved by the same team in June 2010. The measurements have been independently certified by the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems in Freiburg, Germany.

It's all about the money. To make solar electricity affordable on a large scale, scientists and engineers worldwide have long been trying to develop a low-cost solar cell, which is both highly efficient and easy to manufacture with high throughput. Now a team at Empa's Laboratory for Thin Film and Photovoltaics, led by Ayodhya N. Tiwari, has made a major step forward. "The new record value for flexible CIGS solar cells of 18.7% nearly closes the "efficiency gap" to solar cells based on polycrystalline silicon (Si) wafers or CIGS thin film cells on glass", says Tiwari. He is convinced that "flexible and lightweight CIGS solar cells with efficiencies comparable to the "best-in-class" will have excellent potential to bring about a paradigm shift and to enable low-cost solar electricity in the near future."

To read more click here...

Two-dimensional graphene may lead to faster electronics, stronger spacecraft and much more

National Science Foundation
May 19, 2011

In the 19th century novel, Flatland, by Edward A. Abbott, residents of that fictional country exist in only two dimensions. Women are born as line segments, while men come in a range of geometric shapes reflecting their rank, from lowly isosceles triangles, to middle-class squares, to six-sided hexagons, reserved for nobility.

The constraints of life on a flat plane satirically reflect the rigid Victorian class structure of Abbott's time. When the narrator of the story discovers a third dimension, height, he tries to communicate this freeing concept to fellow Flatlanders, and winds up in jail.

Graphene, a real-life version of Flatland, consists of row upon row of hexagonal rings of carbon atoms fitted together in a flat honeycomb pattern only a single atom thick.

This atomic scale makes graphene part of the nano-world, where objects a thousand times thinner than a human hair no longer follow familiar natural laws such as friction and gravity.

Just as the narrator of Flatland rises above his restricted existence to experience life in another dimension, objects on the nano-scale obey a new set of rules: the "spooky" laws of quantum mechanics.

One of the most exciting quantum mechanical effects in graphene is the high speed at which electrons can flow through it due to a lack of friction. This so-called "ballistic" transport could lead to a new generation of superfast, super-efficient electronics.

In addition, for its size, graphene is stronger and more flexible than steel. It conducts heat 10 times faster than copper and can carry 1,000 times the density of electric current as copper wires.

In fact, graphene's structure gives it many unique optical, thermal, mechanical and electrical properties, exciting engineers and scientists all over the world with grand new possibilities for all sorts of applications.
To read more click here...

Working to Drive Electric Vehicles From Niche to Mass Market

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab)
May 19, 2011

With several new models of electric vehicles hitting the market this year and more next year, President Obama’s goal of putting 1 million EVs on U.S. roads by 2015 is tantalizingly within grasp. But what will it take for that number to reach 10 million or even 100 million in 20 years?

The answer: batteries need significant improvements. Specifically, they need to be cheaper, safer, last longer and have higher energy. The battery research team at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), recognized as one of the best in the country, is engaged in high-risk, high-reward research in each of those four areas, striving for technology breakthroughs as well as incremental advances. Their work could help drive a transformation of the vehicle industry and make EVs as common as laptops and cell phones for American consumers.

“I think with incremental improvements in batteries, engineering advances in the car and support from the government, these are all things that will make it a reality,” says Berkeley Lab scientist Marca Doeff. “And there’s considerable enthusiasm among the population as a whole, so I think it’s going to happen.”

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California Energy Commission Accelerates Renewable Energy Research at UC San Diego Through $1.4 Million Grant

UC San Diego
May 20, 2011

The California Energy Commission’s (CEC) Public Interest Energy Research (PIER) today announced $1.4 million in funding for UC San Diego that will accelerate the development and deployment of renewable energy technologies for Californians. UC San Diego’s portion will boost solar forecasting research, support the campus’ deployment of solar powered electric vehicle charging stations, solar integrated energy storage systems and improved information technology architecture with grid operators.

“Our investment in research on renewable energy projects will help accelerate its development and application in California,” said Energy Commission Chair Dr. Robert B. Weisenmiller. “The partnership with UC San Diego expands on the campus’ expertise in clean energy.”

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Turning to Academics for Analytic Insight

Technology Review
May 20, 2011

Since 2007, the online ticket broker StubHub has been trying to study the buying habits of its customers more closely. Every month, it randomly selects 2,000 first-time buyers and tracks their behavior on its site over time. But analytics experts at the company were already swimming in too much data to make full use of the added information.

So last month StubHub provided all that data to academic researchers to see if they could tease out new insights. StubHub wants to know whether its discount offers get dormant buyers to return to the site, whether buyers who are regularly offered discounts stop buying at full price, and which of its e-mail campaigns are successful in retaining customers.

StubHub agreed to work with the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton Customer Analytics Initiative, a three-year-old organization that aims to make connections between companies with lots of data and academics from multiple universities who want to figure out new ways to analyze it. Originally called the Wharton Interactive Media Initiative, it changed its name this year to reflect its goal of working with more traditional companies rather than just online media. Cofounder Peter Fader, a Wharton marketing professor, hopes it will soon be working with a pharmaceutical company, a financial services firm, and some nonprofit organizations. With growing pools of data, he says, many kinds of companies that want to understand their customers' behavior need tools more sophisticated than focus groups.

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Researchers create nanopatch for the heart

Brown University
May 19, 2011

Engineers at Brown University and in India have a promising new approach to treating heart-attack victims. The researchers created a nanopatch with carbon nanofibers and a polymer. In laboratory tests, natural heart-tissue cell density on the nanoscaffold was six times greater than the control sample, while neuron density had doubled. Results are published in Acta Biomaterialia. 

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Do Biofuels Reduce Greenhouse Gases?

Technology Review
May 19, 2011

Greenhouse-gas emissions from biofuels, such as ethanol and biodiesel, may be lower than many researchers have estimated, according to a new study. The findings could further fuel a debate over whether biofuels actually reduce greenhouse-gas emissions compared to gasoline, and if so, by how much.

Some recent studies have suggested that the indirect effects of biofuels production, such as higher food prices, could encourage farmers to clear forested land to grow more crops—thereby worsening climate change. At least one study suggested that the emissions resulting from such decisions would make biofuels even advanced biofuels made from cellulosic materials such as switchgrass worse for the environment than gasoline. These studies use economic analysis to predict the effect of future biofuels production on land use, while attempting to control for other factors that influence farmers, such as the amount of grain stocks on hand and changes in food demand.

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Association of Canadian College and University Ombuds Updates Website

ACCUO has unveiled a dramatically redesigned website that offers many resources for practitioners and others interested in the work of Ombuds in higher ed. The new website is available in English and French, and provides information about the association and its leadership, updated event listings, and other resources and tools. Much of the work was done by Anita Pouliot, the Assistant Ombudsperson at the University of Western Ontario, which hosts the site. Additional material is being developed and will appear soon. (ACCUO.)

Related posts: ACCUO Holds First Ever Mid-Year Meeting; FCO/ACCUO Post 2011 Conference Agenda

Registration Opens for ENOHE Annual Conference in Madrid

The European Network for Ombudsman in Higher Education has created a website for its ninth annual conference in Madrid, Spain on June 27-29, 2011. Registration for the meeting, which is hosted by the Universidad Europea de Madrid, is now open. (ENOHE Conf 2011.)

Related posts: ENOHE-ACCUO 2010 Conference Embraces Diversity of Ombuds Practice in Higher Education; ENOHE Annual Conference Slated for Madrid.

A New, Anonymous Ombuds Blog Launches

An unnamed Ombudsman at a large research-1 university has started a blog: "Higher Ed Ombuds" to ponder and discuss his/her observations of conflict in an academic system. (Followers of the OmbudsBlog Twitter feed may be able to sleuth out the blogger's identity, but the blog itself is reveals no identifying details.) The first post explains that the blog is not an exposé, a place to vent; a pronouncement of expertise; or a reflection/representation of the blogger's organization.

Moreover, the blogger states that she/he will follow the traditional Ombuds’ tenets of neutrality, confidentiality, informality, and independence. Stay tuned. (Higher Ed Ombuds.)


Related posts: ICANN Ombuds Launches Blog (Frank Fowlie); New Organizational Ombuds Blog (Clayton Gilman); Welcome Another Ombuds Blogger (Pamela Martin); Two Organizational Ombuds Launch Blogs (Bathabile Mthombeni, Wendy Friede.

University of Missouri–Kansas City Ombuds Posts First Report

Nancy E. Day, the first Faculty Ombudsperson at UMKC, has published a report on her activities since she began work last September. Day summarizes the efforts to set up the office, including IOA training, campus outreach, and the creation of relevant materials and a charter.

In addition, Day, who has a quarter-time appointment saw six visitors. Finally, she offers some suggestions for the campus including the expansion of Ombuds services for other stakeholders. (UMKC Ombuds 2011 Annual Report.)

Related posts: University of Missouri–Kansas City Appoints First Faculty Ombuds; Ombuds for University of Missouri–Kansas City Goes Online.

Hyundai accelerates in its move to quality

Financial Times
May 18, 2011

Hyundai’s cars were never traditionally bywords for quality. When he travelled South Korea in the 1970s, Hyundai’s founder, Chung Ju-young, used to count the clapped-out cars left deserted by the highways. He knew he had market share of 60 per cent, so if only 50 per cent of the abandoned cars were Hyundais, he was reassured he was doing well.

Hyundai’s status is very different in 2011. At an exclusive launch in a Seoul art gallery this week, Hyundai joined Italian fashion house Prada in launching a Genesis family sedan decked out with palladium, chrome and luxury leather, destined for rich motorists in the Gulf and China.

Hyundai’s 1,200 Prada Genesis cars will be of negligible commercial value but the partnership illustrates how the once-derided South Korean carmaker is shifting its strategic focus from volume to building a classier brand, gaining ground on Toyota, which faced the recall of millions of vehicles last year and a huge earthquake this year.
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Lessons in cultural awareness

Financial Times
May 18, 2011

It is 9.04am and a group of Chinese businessmen have assembled solemnly outside a hotel conference room in São Paulo. Brazil’s stock exchange operator, BM&F Bovespa, was scheduled to kick off its first ever capital markets forum with China four minutes ago but, like many meetings in the Latin American country, it did not start on time. As the Brazilian guests arrive, complaining loudly about the morning’s traffic and heading straight for the free breakfast, the huge cultural gap between the two emerging market powers becomes apparent.

Since China displaced the US in 2009 as Brazil’s biggest trading partner, Brazilian company executives and politicians have been scrambling to understand better the Asian giant in their midst and work out the best way to deal with it. BM&F Bovespa, for example, has long wanted to list Brazilian stocks in Shanghai – as it has done in places such as Hong Kong and Paris – but wooing the Chinese mainland has proved painfully slow.

“They’re not like the Americans or the Europeans,” Edemir Pinto, the exchange’s chief executive, explains in exasperation. “Sometimes, you have to sign a memorandum of understanding just to have lunch with the Chinese.”

Embraer, the aeroplane manufacturer, has also experienced a long struggle to expand operations in China while deals in other sectors have fallen through over such seemingly trivial things as a misinterpreted e-mail.
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Hospitals Misleading Patients About Benefits of Robotic Surgery, Study Suggests

John Hopkins Medicine
May 18, 2011

An estimated four in 10 hospital websites in the United States publicize the use of robotic surgery, with the lion’s share touting its clinical superiority despite a lack of scientific evidence that robotic surgery is any better than conventional operations, a new Johns Hopkins study finds.

The promotional materials, researchers report online in the Journal for Healthcare Quality, overestimate the benefits of surgical robots, largely ignore the risks and are strongly influenced by the product’s manufacturer.

“The public regards a hospital’s official website as an authoritative source of medical information in the voice of a physician,” says Marty Makary, M.D., M.P.H., an associate professor of surgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the study’s leader. “But in this case, hospitals have outsourced patient education content to the device manufacturer, allowing industry to make claims that are unsubstantiated by the literature. It’s dishonest and it’s misleading.”
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Autonomous robot for underwater intervention tasks

Universitat Jaume I
May 16, 2011

Researchers from the national project RAUVI [Reconfigurable autonomous underwater vehicle for intervention], which is coordinated by Pedro Sanz, a lecturer of Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence at the UJI, have successfully tested the autonomy of the robot for developing underwater intervention tasks. The robot has achieved to recover an object similar to an aircraft black box without the direction of any operator.

The test was performed last week at the Universitat de Girona, where there is a pool suitable for experimentation on underwater robotics. During the meeting, the researchers also tested the performance of the three parts involved in the experiment: the robotic arm, which is being improved by the UJI; the vehicle, in which the Universitat de Girona is working, and the computer vision techniques, which are being developed by the Universitat de les Illes Balears.

In the first part of the experiment the vehicle in which the robot was anchored descended to the bottom of the pool to survey the area using computer vision techniques and to draw a map. After that, the researchers asked the robot to recover an object (a black box), and the vehicle with the robotic arm plunged again, sought the object with the required characteristics, picked it up and pulled it to the surface.
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Horsepower v cash cows

The Economist
May 17, 2011

AS IF petrolheads did not already have reasons aplenty to hate electric vehicles. With oil prices rising inexorably (the recent dip notwithstanding) drivers of these silent, soulless battery-powered contraptions are set to look smugly on as gas-guzzlers burn a hole in their owners' pockets. Now, adding insult to injury, research suggests that electric cars might actually make a profit for their owners.

At present, in order to meet sudden surges in demand, power companies have to bring additional generators online at a moment's notice, a procedure that is both expensive and inefficient. If there were enough electric vehicles around, though, a fair number would be bound to be plugged in and recharging at any given time. Why not rig this idle fleet so that, when demand for electricity spikes, they stop drawing current from the grid and instead start pumping it back?

The idea, known as vehicle-to-grid (V2G), sounds great in theory. But what about in practice? To find out, Willett Kempton and Nathaniel Pearre, of the University of Delaware, has for the past three years been running a fleet of seven electric cars linked up to his local electricity company's servers by a wireless system that monitors their activity, in order to predict when each car is likely to be available as a power supply.
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Related Article:

• When fueling up means plugging in

Same Fungus, Different Strains - A Comparative Genomics Approach for Improved “Green” Chemical Production

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
May 13, 2011

Fungi play key roles in nature and are valued for their great importance in industry. Consider citric acid, a key additive in several foods and pharmaceuticals produced on a large-scale basis for decades with the help of the filamentous fungus Aspergillus niger. While A. niger is an integral player in the carbon cycle, it possesses an arsenal of enzymes that can be deployed in breaking down plant cell walls to free up sugars that can then be fermented and distilled into biofuel, a process being optimized by U.S. Department of Energy researchers.

Published online ahead of print May 4, 2011 in Genome Research, a team led by Scott Baker of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory compared the genome sequences of two Aspergillus niger strains to, among other things, better harness its industrial potential in biofuels applications. As more than a million tons of citric acid are produced annually, the production process involving A. niger is a well understood fungal fermentation process that could inform the development of a biorefinery where organic compounds replace the chemical building blocks normally derived from petroleum. Learning more about the genetic bases of the behaviors and abilities of these two industrially relevant fungal strains, wrote senior author Baker and his colleagues in the paper, will allow researchers to exploit their genomes towards the more efficient production of organic acids and other compounds, including biofuels.
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