Friday, November 21, 2008

Gas Prices Noelle and Trisha

Gas Prices


Thursday
Wednesday
Year ago


National Average
$2.02
$2.05
$3.09
Colorado Average
$1.96
$1.99
$3.08
Grand Junction
$1.88
$1.91
$3.11
Denver
$1.86
$1.89
3.014

1500 year old source of power

Posted by Blake

Windmills may not seem like much, but they can provide up to 20% of America's power and on less than 1% of the land too! The 3 Billion kWh of energy that windmills produce would equal 6.4 million barrels of oil. It would reduce pollution and smog, so after 1500 years it still works!

Tsunami Simulator

Oregon State Unversity developed a tsunami simulator to demostrate the devastation and understand physics behind this awsome feat of Mother Nature. On November 15, 2004 as part of a live, simulcast grand opening event of a new national earthquake engineering research network that links 15 large-scale research facilities across the continent, researchers at Oregon State University’s Tsunami Wave Basin unleashed a tidal wave on a scale model of a U.S. city on the Pacific coast. Other situations such as a fishing barge in a tidal wave "storm" testing different devices to allow the ship to survive this disaster. I have been there myself. The college also has another simulator next door which tests erosion of beaches and other landforms. The purpose of the experiment was to test several improvements in order to solve "certain" difficulties in life.

Solar House Boats

Green Resort is allowing customers to rent a solar house boat. They have plans to construct a "green" condo on the banks of the Mississippi River near the city of McGregor, Iowa. It is a four hour drive from Chicago and Minneapolis. It is hidden away in the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge. It is 240,000 acres of land and 260 miles of river.

Oh Poo


posted by Sydney and Natalie




When you see a pile of cow poop, usually all you see is a pile of cow poop.
But,California scientists are now discovering new ways to harness that not-so-beautiful sourc of power. As cow manure decomposes, it produces methane, a greenhouse gas more potent than carbon dioxide. Scientists say controlling methane emissions from animals such as cows would be a major step in addressing climate change.To tap the renewable gas from cow manure, the dairy farm first flushes manure into a large, octagonal pit where it becomes about 99% water. It is then pumped into a covered lagoon, first passing through a screen that filters out large solids that eventually become the cows’ bedding.The covered lagoon, or “digester,” is the size of nearly five football fields and about 33 feet deep. It is lined with plastic to protect the groundwater. This scientific advance is going to be an interesting thing to watch "bloom."

Breaking Turbines

-taylor



The main job of wind turbines is to convert wind into electricity; the stronger the wind the more electricity produced. The wind should not be so strong though that it causes the turbines to go so fast as to commit suicide to themselves; the blades are ripped off leaving a lot of damage. So to stop this from happening they use a mechanical braking system. Using this keeps the blades from spinning to fast. the blades spin the opposite direction of the wind. If the blades were to go the same direction as the wind it would be very dangerous.

Waste Energy

Posted by Ty Burtard

















Think about an energy that not only creates renewable energy but helps keep the world clean. By producing steam we can burn waste into fuel. This technology has been proven to produce energy for many years. The huge increase in the amount of waste produced by human activity has followed to lots of further research towards this problem. The bad part though is that the factories producing this energy may be putting harmful chemicals in the air. People still are researching this problem and hope to find a way to burn energy from waste without this bad side effect.

Trees as a Source of Energy


post by Shayla


Scientists have been studying trees as new forms of energy, and have made an interesting discovery. They say that what causes electric currents is the pH difference between the soil and the living tree. They are brainstorming ideas and debating what this new form of energy could be used for to help humans.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Fuel Economy


Posted by Top Banana


Just as it happened...I took a digital photo of my car's fuel economy read-out. Coasting down the Grand Mesa at approximately 45 miles per hour the computer posted 99.9 miles per gallon. Perhaps it is coincidence that my car, a 2006 Chevrolet HHR (Heritage High Roof), built by beleaguered General Motors, (GM) registered such good economy on the world's tallest flat top mountain, the Grand Mesa (GM). Shortly thereafter the computer displayed a more realistic yet respectable 32.3 miles per gallon (which is common for this car.)