links for 2009-10-31

NS Book Review The Nuclear Rocket by James Dewar
In 1960 NASA prohibited the use of nuclear rockets to reach Low Earth Orbit (LEO).
It prohibited ground launch or the launch in the upper atmosphere about 100,000 ft. to send payloads to LEO. The ban would only allow nuclear rocket engines to operate from LEO and go [...]

links for 2009-10-30

John Farrell: Say no to transmission
Guy argues against transmission, says it could be used just as easily by coal, etc. So?
(tags: energy thegrid transmission)

The Innovation Consensus: $15 Billion for Clean Energy R&D
"Private sector energy R&D spending in the U.S. has fallen by more than half in recent decades, and the ‘innovation intensity’ of the energy [...]

links for 2009-10-29

Research Awards (The American Folklife Center, Library of Congress)
"The American Folklife Center will award up to three fellowships for the period February 2010 – February 2011 that will support new, original, independent field research into the culture and traditions of American workers and/or occupational groups found within the United States. Applicants must develop a [...]

links for 2009-10-28

Access Beyond Developmentalism: Technology and the Intellectual Life of the Poor
"Ranciere… he starts looking at small, obscure and short lived journals brought out by workers, in which they were writing about their own lives. But they were not necessarily writing about their work, or their condition as workers. And if they were , they were [...]

links for 2009-10-27

Study: Shifting the world to 100% clean, renewable energy by 2030
(tags: energy forecasts 2009 scale)

links for 2009-10-22

Texas = Energy Efficient? : ScienceInsider
"This year the council included a new effort to look at state-by-state energy efficiency by analyzing household energy use per person. The biggest surprise: Texas was second only to Washington state in efficiency improvement between 1997 and 2006, the most recent data. The results say a lot about making policies [...]

The Real Cost of Solar Fell $3 Per Watt from 1998-2008

Berkeley Lab’s energy analysts are out with a new report showing that installed solar costs have dropped from $10.8 dollars per watt in 1998 to $7.5 dollars per watt in 2008. Significantly, total installed prices finally started dropping again in 2008 (from $7.8 to $7.5) after a few years of stagnation.
Interestingly, the U.S. lags Germany [...]

More About Egg Production Than You Want to Know

A model one million hen in-line egg production facility
(tags: eggs)

Commercial Egg Production and Processing
"[In-line] Egg producers commonly deliver eggs to retail outlets within one week of lay. The second type of layer facility is the off-line facility. This facility functions nearly identical to the in-line facility except that the eggs are transported out [...]

A Vision for the Energy Web in 2001

Wired 9.07: The Energy Web
"In recent years, a series of technological breakthroughs – and, more important, a critical mass of scientific ideas – has begun to coalesce around a new model for an energy system that would better serve the needs of the near future, while enabling power producers as well as consumers to lessen [...]

Precision Farmers — And the Trade Magazines That Love Them

NASA – Snapshots From Space Cultivate Fans Among Midwest Farmers
(tags: precisionfarming)

PrecisionAg.com – Ag Technology’s Leading Indicators
(tags: precisionfarming)

Robert Blair talking about managing data
2009 Precision Ag farmer of the year
(tags: precisionfarming)

Precision Pays
Precision agriculture website.
(tags: precisionfarming)

Precision Pays
"According to a report in Mid-South Farmer magazine, Bill Robertson of the National Cotton Council says Randy Taylor, Oklahoma State University will [...]