Green Homes are Affordable Now - go groSolar!

groSolar, right in White River Junction, Vermont is the 4th largest residential installer of solar panels, rapdily expanding: http://grosolar.com/gro-history-timeline/. I met Jeff Wolfe, the CEO - you can follow Jeff on Twitter and you should because this gentleman is in front of what's happenening in this industry.

The recent arrangement with MA-based SunRun is testament to that. Rather than homeowners having to purchase solar systems up front, SunRun will purchase the systems for them, which are designed and installed by groSolar. For an initial cost of $1000, homeowners will then pay a low fixed monthly rate for the electricity the panels produce. Their electric rates will never rise during the term of the financing program, and the insurance, repair and maintenance of the systems are covered in full, making the shift to solar virtually risk-free for consumers. The program also incorporates existing tax rebates and solar incentives directly into a streamlined application process, so that consumers don’t have to apply separately for public rebates for solar installation.

“With this program, people no longer have to choose between investing in clean energy and doing other renovations in their homes. Now they can do both,” says Wolfe. “People are always surprised to find how simple a solar install really is. Getting new windows in your house, for example, is far more disruptive and complicated than installing solar – and the savings continue indefinitely.”

Windows 7 impact on clinical computing

richer touchscreens with ever greater IT apps...cameras with unbelievable resolution that transmit images remotely to docs and clinicians....http://blogs.msdn.com/healthblog/

one Chelmsford MA-based company manufacturing, assembling and delivering those types of cameras and many other integrated systems for remote health monitoring is AMD Global Telemedicine: http://www.amdtelemedicine.com/

Microsoft's Future Vision for HIT

At a conference I attended last year in Vancounver, I was able to hear Dr. Bill Crounse, Microsoft's Senior Worldwide Health Director, talk about his vision for health information technologies. Microsoft has a whole series of videos and here is one of them from their "Future Vision" series.

http://www.officelabs.com/projects/healthfuturevision/Pages/default.aspx

Monster turbines gear up to harness Fundy tidal power

Excerpts from OLIVER MOORE's recent article on the Bay of Fundy demo:

The first of three turbines is expected to go into the Bay of Fundy next month in spite of concerns raised by some local fishermen after the government approved the initial phase of a tidal energy project. Nova Scotia's Minister of the Environment, a long-time fisherman himself, acknowledged those concerns and acknowledged that the possible effects are unknown. But Sterling Belliveau said the only way to identify problems is to start installing turbines and closely monitor the result.

"These questions are only going to be addressed [if] you have a demonstration project," he said yesterday after approving the trial based on an environmental assessment.

"I think you basically cannot sit in a conference room and get the answer to that, you have to go out in the real life, in the real world."

A full-scale tidal energy project, if viable, would involve hundreds of turbines and could produce about 100 megawatts from the bay's huge tides. That would be 10 per cent of the province's energy needs, but such a system is years away. The demonstration phase of the project, involving three turbines, is expected to cost $60-million to $70-million. Each of the three companies involved - which will co-operate on environmental monitoring and onshore development - intends to test a different type of turbine.

Minas Basin Pulp and Power will suspend its equipment between the bottom and the surface. The turbine will float until the best current is found and then be fixed to the bottom with anchors. Company vice-president John Woods said yesterday that his firm aims to have the turbine operational this time next year.

The model chosen by Nova Scotia Power is similar. About six storeys high, with a turbine 10 metres across, it will use gravity to stay still underwater. This design is expected to be in place first, with the turbine going into the water late next month. It will not initially feed power into the grid. If viable, the proposed sea-power project in the Bay of Fundy could generate 10 per cent of Nova Scotia's energy needs.

Medieval Helpdesk

watch these funny guys try to figure out how to transition from paper scrolls to using "a book."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIuFfxg9saE

Dark Matters

.....Quantum Reality or General Relativity?

These physics topics and others can be found at the Perimeter Institute. Founded by RIM King Mike Lazardis, Waterloo (Canada) celebrates PI's 10th anniversary this year. Along with very select and targeted physics research programs, the Institute features special physics lectures on weekends, opening the field of physics up to the public:

http://www.perimeterinstitute.ca/en/Perimeter_Explorations/General/Perimeter_Explorations/

Renewable Energy/Clean Tech Sites - Mass

http://www.cleanenergycouncil.org/


http://www.massh2.org/ (Mass Hydrogen Coalition)


http://www.masscec.com/ (Mass Clean Energy Center)

Just in time for the witching days

Covering earth, health, science and society, futurity.org, http://futurity.org/category/earth-environment/, is a site led by Duke University, Stanford University, and the University of Rochester, that engages a consortium of leading research universities around North America (think Brown, Emory, Berkeley...)

A recent Stanford research project showcases a team of photo scientists reinventing digital photography with the introduction of an open-source camera. “Frankencamera,” will give programmers around the world the chance to create software that will teach cameras new tricks. http://futurity.org/science-design/it%e2%80%99s-not-a-monster-it%e2%80%99s-frankencamera/

NPR's "Fresh Air" interviews TR Reid

NPR thought TR Reid had something to say as well..you can listen to the interview.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112172939

just saying

Don't think I don't know what it's like to get poor service at a hospital. Not long ago when I jumped off the picnic table, I punctured my gut on a stick. It wasn't pretty. I can tell you my Mom wasn't too happy when she had to pay (out of her own pocket) because I didn't have any health insurance. (Anesthesia and stitches don't run cheap these days).

Feeling like I got treated like a common animal, I decided to try and understand what is wrong with our healthcare system. Why can't a guy like me get a little respect when I'm bleeding?

Checking my research on the subject, I recalled T.R. Reid's keynote presentation at last year's New England Regional Rural Health RoundTable conference (NERHRT http://www.newenglandruralhealth.org/). Mr. Reid studied "socialized medicine" in depth way before it became popular to do so in the US (in recent days). His trips and studies of hospitals around the world provide a great framework for understanding what people really mean when they use the word "socialized." Check out his Aug 30 article on the subject. I'm just saying it's worth thinking about.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09242/993976-109.stm?cmpid=newspanel

And the Best US Snapshot of Ocean Energy

...The IEA (International Energy Agency) provides a framework for 42 RnD projects known as Energy Technology Agreements. The IEA-OES is one of ten IEA Implementing Agreements established in 2001. The agreement unites 25 countries in their efforts to collaborate and promote ocean energy technology. The US joined in 2005 (the DOE is the contracting party).

The IEA-OES Annual Report - US:
More money from the US government: It wasn't until 2007 that the DOE was authorized for the first time to establish a research program in marine and hydrokinetic energy. In 2008 DOE spent $10m on advanced water power research - mostly in ocean energy. In 2009, estimates are that $30m+ will be spent in this sector. Most of this funding comes in the form of grants for technology development such as site development, subsystem design and prototype development. Here's one example: http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/news/progress_alerts.cfm/pa_id=158

Identifying US capabilities: A database is purportedly available thru DOE's Energy Efficiency office that catalogs energy conversion devices and specific projects. It is estimated that 30 US companies are researching and/or developing ocean energy devices. Verdant Power, http://www.verdantpower.com/, Resolute Marine Energy, http://www.resolute-marine-energy.com/, Ocean Renewable Power Company, http://www.oceanrenewablepower.com/home.htm, Ocean Power Technology, http://www.oceanpowertechnologies.com/ are amongst them.

Increased research and interest from Universities, Research Organizations. Demo projects: The Snohomish Country (Washington) Public Utility District, Concepts ETI, The State of Hawaii, Pacific Gas and Electric.

Ocean Energy - The Best Global View

To date, the best overview and framework of the progress of ocean energy projects around the world can be found in the Annual Report 2008 of the IEA-OES (International Energy Agency Implementing Agreement on Ocean Energy Systems, http://www.iea-oceans.org/). Included are descriptions of OE activities organized by country that -- taken as a whole -- show where development is taking place around the world, and what types of projects are being undertaken and funded. Outgoing Chairman and Canadian Dr. Gouri Bhuyan noted in his opening message that more than 25 countries are involved in ocean renewable energy technology development activities. New Zealander Dr. John Huckerby is incoming Chairman for 09-10.

Where is it and how can I get some

NH's Office of Economic Stimulus lists not only a list of recently awarded contracts (stimulus funding from DOE), but also a list of RFPs from weatherization to renewable energy innovation and commercialization projects. http://www.nh.gov/recovery/contracts/index.htm

Bay of Fundy Ocean Energy Demo scheduled for October 09

There are so many interesting aspects of the Bay of Fundy Minas Basin project (harnessing the ocean's energy with a ginormous turbine), that it's hard to know where to begin. The complexity of the feat itself is historic - in Oct 2009, Open Hydro (http://www.openhydro.com/home.html) will deploy its turbine in the most dangerous and fast moving tides in the world (tides rising up to 55 feet+). Then there is the transfer of skills - one of the partners, Minas Basin Pulp and Paper, (http://www.minas.ns.ca/tidal/index.html) asked their staff to use their long-standing skills in the forestry business, for slicing big ice samples on-site. Transferring talent from a traditional industry to that of an emerging one...that's ingenuity.