May 11th, 2007 tristan Posted in environment, pollution, technology 3 Comments »
More efficient internal combustion engines.
The above link tells of advances in the good old internal combustion engine. The change is to allow fine tuning of the air and exhaust valves allowing better fuel mixes to be created, leading to more efficient combustion and therefore less fuel usage and polluting emissions.
This sounds great, and very promising. I can envisage a system being developed which determines the optimal fuel mix for different types and qualities of fuel on the fly.
February 22nd, 2007 tristan Posted in BPL, EU, amateur radio, internet, pollution 1 Comment »
The EU has given €9.6 million to fund a trial of Broadband over Power Line (BPL).
This technology pollutes the radio spectrum as has been shown by numerous trials. It emits radiation across the HF spectrum, disabling communications in that part of the spectrum and potentially causing interference across the world. HF is not only used by Radio Amateurs (my particular angle on this) but also by the military, international broadcasters, ships and provides long range emergency communication in disaster areas.
This technology is pushed by energy companies seeking to extract more money out of their infrastructure (as is their right) but they form powerful lobbies, lobbying for an unneeded, polluting technology. If they want to develop it, they can do so without state subsidy and stop interference (or buy the rights to the spectrum they wish to pollute - but that’s not possible).