I'm blogging about my on-going journey to establish my web presence at my other blog. The 2 posts that pertain, in particular are:
I've become conflicted about maintaining my blog here at Vox.
No offence to the Vox staff; this is certainly one of the best blogging services I'm aware of. But there's something about blogger that appeals to me.
I'm test driving it, at http://filsalustri.blogspot.com. I like the greater flexibility to change the look & feel of the blog (I think look & feel is really, really important), and I like the way they handle the use of widgets.
On the other hand, I really like the Vox editor, and the fine-grained control you can exert over who sees your blog. I also like the notion of Vox groups and neighbourhoods.
Of course, the real solution to my dilemma is to design a solution. I don't mean creating my own blogging software (although I'm working on that too); I mean making an informed choice by considering why I feel so conflicted.
And if I had the time to sit down and run the process - something that I know how to do very well - I'm sure I'd resolve my conflict. But real life gets in the way, and I just don't have the time to do it.
So I will keep the matter in my hind-brain (actually, in my white matter), on a low simmer, and wait for inspiration to strike.
Georgia Tech has a cool idea: they want to capture carbon emissions in a car, and recycle it into new fuel not based on petroleum. Existent sequestration techniques don't address physically small sources of carbon emissions - but these sources apparently account for two-thirds of global carbon emissions.
In the first stage of the project, carbon will be captured on-board from conventional fuels. When you refuel, you drop off the accumulated carbon gunge. That is then shipped to a processing station to be turned into a new fuel. Eventually, when the system ramps up, there'll be enough synthetic fuel that fossil fuels won't be needed.
What I like about this is the systems view. It's also interesting that they put the sequestration machinery at the source - the car. I also like their two-stage approach, which will help adoption. I think one of the publications pertaining to this is here. The original article I read is here.
There's a book soon to be published by David J.C. MacKay, a Cambridge University professor, called Sustainable Energy - Without the Hot Air. There's a draft available for free at http://withouthotair.com/. The site has a number of other interesting documents, including a 4-page summary of the book, and a fascinating experiment with mobile phone chargers. There's even a link to a list of all the URLs in his book - very convenient and thoughtful.
I had the pleasure of meeting Prof. MacKay whilst on sabbatical in summer 2007. What struck me most about him (besides the wry British wit which, I'm told, is due to something in the water) was how level-headed he was. This, I think, comes through in his book.
The Chicago Tribune (2 Jan 2008) reported that the Dutch engineering firm Ooms Avenhorn Holding BV
is working on a way to extract heat from street asphalt via pipes
embedded in the road. Heat is gathered in water passed under the
asphalt and stored in natural aquifers, from which it is pumped when
needed for keeping the roads ice-free. The system can also be used to
pump cool water from underground to keep buildings cool in the summer. And it could cut back on the need for salting and sanding of roads.
The company found that their pilot project was also generating excess energy, so they started routing the heated water into buildings to augment other sources of heat in cold weather. While the installation currently costs about twice as much as conventional gas heating systems, it results in lower operating costs and up to 50% savings in carbon emissions.
