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The U.S. rare-Earth industry can rebound -- over time
Rare-Earth elements are not that rare; the U.S. has plenty of the metals that are critical to many green-energy technologies, but engineering and R&D expertise have moved overseas; responding to China’s near monopoly, companies in the United States and Australia are ramping up production at two rich sites for rare earths, but the process will take years
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Norway looking to osmotic power generation
Water-based energy generation conjures up pictures of towering hydro-electric dams, submerged tidal turbines, and bobbing wave-energy converters; the energy embodied in moving water — which all of these technologies exploit — is one way to make electricity from the sea, but it is not the only one; in Scandinavia, a pilot power station is demonstrating that another of the sea’s defining characteristics, saltiness, could also be harnessed to provide electricity
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Sea-based energy could supply 50% of Europe's needs by 2050
By 2050 Europe could get up to 50 percent of its electricity needs from renewable marine sources; marine renewable energies include harnessing the power of offshore wind, waves, tides, and ocean currents as well as exploiting salinity and temperature gradients and using algae for biofuel production
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Sector Report for Monday, 15 November 2010: Infrastructure
This report contains the following stories.
Plus 1 additional story.
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One in five global businesses affected by growing water shortages
Experts say that by 2030 global water demand would outstrip supply by 40 percent; a new survey reveals that we do not have to wait that long: drought, shortages, flooding, and rising prices are already damaging companies in water-intensive industries
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China to push sea water thousands of miles inland
Chinese officials say they have a found a solution to uninhabitable deserts of Xinjiang in west china: pump raw sea water thousands of miles from the coast to fill Xinjiang’s dried-up salt lakes and desert basins in the hope that it will evaporate and encourage rainfall over drought-stricken areas of northern and northwestern China; the sea water would be carried through a pipeline made of plastic and fiberglass; water experts have condemned the proposal
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GWU earthquake simulator helps engineering prepare for the real thing
George Washington University laboratory’s “shake table” — a $1 million, 10-by-10-foot metal structure that moves in six directions — replicates earthquakes and allows engineering students to test construction materials to see how they hold up under tremors of varying strength
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New Orleans levee committee uneasy with Corps of Engineers modeling
The Army Corps of Engineers uses complex computer models for hazard analysis calculations on which billions of dollars worth of repairs and improvements to the federal hurricane levee system are being based; the members of the regional levee commission want their own expert to scrutinize these computer models
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Day of using nuclear fusion to generate power from sea water nears
New X-ray imaging capability developed at Sandia National Laboratory may help remove a major impediment in the worldwide, multi-decade, multibillion dollar effort to harness nuclear fusion to generate electrical power from sea water
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Research to help reduce coastal flooding
According to the Environment Agency’s Flooding in England Report, one in six homes in the United Kingdom are at risk from flooding, and 2.4 million properties are vulnerable to coastal/river floods; coastal areas could be saved from the misery of flooding thanks to new research from the University of Plymouth
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U.S. military looking for sturdier, more survivable UAVs
The U.S. military is looking for sturdier, more survivable UAVs; the military regards the airspace over Pakistan and Afghanistan as “permissive environment” — and it wants UAVs to be able to do their work in what it describes as “contested airspace”
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Oil will run dry before substitutes roll out: study
At the current pace of research and development, global oil will run out ninety years before replacement technologies; the authors of the new study say the findings are a warning that current renewable-fuel targets are not ambitious enough to prevent harm to society, economic development and natural ecosystems
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Two nuclear reactors shut down Sunday because of problems
Two nuclear reactors — Indian Point nuclear power plant, about twenty-five miles north of New York City, and Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant in Vernon, Vermont — had to be shut down Sunday; Indian Points was shut down because a transformer caught fire, and Vermont Yankee was shut down because radioactive water began leaking from one of its pipes
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Mini UAVs for infrastructure facilities protection
Those in charge of critical infrastructure protection are showing increasing interest in using mini UAVs as a tool that will positively identify and “incriminate” threats before deadly force is used to stop them; the requirement is for a mini UAV that can be launched seconds after a threat is initially detected and that has the capability to loiter over the area where the threat was first detected by one of the ground sensors
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Study to assess use of wave turbines along U.S. coastline
A Scottish company will deploy its wave-power technology along the Oregon coast for a feasibility study of wave power; the state of Oregon has given the company a grant to measure and record the frequency, intensity and height of waves as they approach the Oregon shoreline
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The long view
Water Wars: A Historic Agreement Between Mexico and US Is Ramping Up Border Tension
As climate change drives rising temperatures and changes in rainfall, Mexico and the US are in the middle of a conflict over water, putting an additional strain on their relationship. Partly due to constant droughts, Mexico has struggled to maintain its water deliveries for much of the last 25 years, deliveries to which it is obligated by a 1944 water-sharing agreement between the two countries.
Trump Is Fast-Tracking New Coal Mines — Even When They Don’t Make Economic Sense
In Appalachian Tennessee, mines shut down and couldn’t pay their debts. Now a new one is opening under the guise of an “energy emergency.”
Smaller Nuclear Reactors Spark Renewed Interest in a Once-Shunned Energy Source
In the past two years, half the states have taken action to promote nuclear power, from creating nuclear task forces to integrating nuclear into long-term energy plans.
Keeping the Lights on with Nuclear Waste: Radiochemistry Transforms Nuclear Waste into Strategic Materials
How UNLV radiochemistry is pioneering the future of energy in the Southwest by salvaging strategic materials from nuclear dumps –and making it safe.
Model Predicts Long-Term Effects of Nuclear Waste on Underground Disposal Systems
The simulations matched results from an underground lab experiment in Switzerland, suggesting modeling could be used to validate the safety of nuclear disposal sites.