North America's largest solar plant, covering 140 acres, is located near Las Vegas (Photo courtesy of the Nellis Air Force Base)
Environmental groups have pushed for decades to get the federal government solidly behind solar energy. Shawn Allee reports some of them don’t like the government’s most recent effort to promote it:
Transcript
Environmental groups have pushed for decades to get the federal government solidly behind solar energy. Shawn Allee reports some of them don’t like the government’s most recent effort to promote it:
The Federal Bureau of Land Management developed 24 “solar energy study areas” in Western states.
The idea is to identify federal land that might be be good for solar power plants.
Some environmentalists scoured maps of these solar study areas and got concerned.
Jeffrey Morgan is with Tahquitz Sierra Club in California.
Morgan says a solar plant can take up hundreds of acres, and construction could disturb desert tortoise and cactus habitat.
“They have no concept the desert is a vital, living place with a vast diversity of species, unspoiled landscapes and many, many other things. They they just see it as a waste-land. That’s just not true – it’s not a waste-land.”
The Bureau of Land Management says the “solar energy study areas” are just that – they’re for study – and the government would not let solar energy developers disturb critical wildlife habitat.
One paint technology that GM is developing uses quantum dots - shown here irradiated with ultraviolet light (Source: Walkman16 at Wikimedia Commons)
Even though General Motors has filed for bankruptcy, Rebecca Williams reports the company is still dreaming big:
Transcript
Even though General Motors has filed for bankruptcy, Rebecca Williams reports the company is still dreaming big:
Someday you might be able to power your radio through your car’s paint.
Christopher Webb is GM’s senior creative designer.
He says GM’s research teams are giving some thought to solar powered paint. He says it might start with tiny solar cells called quantum dots.
“You could suspend these solar cells in a resin system or a waterborne or solvent carrier and spray it over the surface of the vehicle. Technically the entire surface of the vehicle could become almost a solar conductor.”
Webb says nobody knows exactly how this might work yet. But he says he’s confident that GM will continue their research into new technologies like this even with the bankruptcy announcement.
Something else that’s being talked about is using volcanic rock in paint. It could be a coating that would reduce a car’s interior temperature by reflecting heat – so you could use the air conditioning less often.
Mercedez-Benz A-Class F-Cell at the 2009 Washington DC Auto Show (Photo source: IFCAR at Wikimedia Commons)
The Department of Energy wants to cut funding for the development of hydrogen powered vehicles. Mark Brush reports the Energy Secretary has decided that cars powered by hydrogen are too far off:
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The Department of Energy wants to cut funding for the development of hydrogen powered vehicles. Mark Brush reports the Energy Secretary has decided that cars powered by hydrogen are too far off:
Six years ago, President George W. Bush proposed spending 1.2 billion dollars to develop hydrogen power cars.
Now, Stephen Chu, President Obama’s Energy Secretary, says hydrogen powered cars aren’t yet practical for today’s market.
Chu says they’d rather spend money on things like plug-in cars and cars powered by biofuels. Things that can hit the road now instead of 20 years from now.
People working on hydrogen powered vehicles aren’t too happy about the cuts.
Patrick Serfass is with the National Hydrogen Association.
“I’d say the hydrogen industry is perplexed. The administration has a lot of smart people in it and they have done a lot of great things for many parts of the renewable energy sector. But the proposal to eliminate the hydrogen vehicle program is a mistake.”
Serfass says hydrogen powered cars are not as far off as the Energy Secretary might think. He and his group are trying to persuade members of Congress to put research money back into the budget.
Using hand picks from North Carolina, Operations Manager Bill Schaubs starts his first solo millstone
dressing project. He was taught by Upper Canada Village's Roland Tetrault.
The deep furrows help the grain travel across the cutting plateaus--until done to the right consistency
as judged by the miller. (Photo by Lucy Martin)
Besides illuminating the past, museums like Watson's Mill teach that bread does not start in plastic
bags on store shelves and that power can come from diverse sources. (Photo by Lucy Martin)
Watson's Mill is all that remains of a river-powered industrial complex from the mid 1800's. It's now a
working heritage museum in the village of Manotick, a short drive from Parliament Hill in Ottawa,
Ontario. (Photo by Lucy Martin)
When possible, Watson's Mill uses locally-grown wheat. A century ago, farm families used local mills
like this to process their own grain, seed and flour, with the miller taking a fraction as payment. (Photo by Lucy Martin)
Today, we buy whatever we need from the
store. But what would happen if we had to make
our own butter or spin our own wool? We needed
these kinds of skills to survive. And many of
them took centuries to learn. Some people are
working to keep these skills alive. Lucy Martin
followed a man who works in a historic flour mill.
He’s taken the time to learn old skills that he
says still matter today:
Transcript
Today, we buy whatever we need from the
store. But what would happen if we had to make
our own butter or spin our own wool? We needed
these kinds of skills to survive. And many of
them took centuries to learn. Some people are
working to keep these skills alive. Lucy Martin
followed a man who works in a historic flour mill.
He’s taken the time to learn old skills that he
says still matter today:
(Sound of rushing water)
Bill Schaubs volunteers his time at Watson’s Mill in Ottawa, Ontario.
The old mill is powered by water. The water turns two huge millstones that cut grain into
flour. A few years ago, Schaubs learned how to maintain the millstones. He’s about to put
those lessons to the test – on one-ton wheels that are nearly 5 feet in diameter:
(sound of the Mill)
Lucy Martin: “Well, here are your beauties!”
Bill Schaubs: “They are. Absolutely! 1860’s beauties, if you will.”
Martin: “These date all the way back to then?”
Schaubs: “Yes, ma’am. They do.”
Millstones have something in common with car tires – their “tread” eventually wears down.
These wheels need to be dressed. Someone has to grind off encrusted flour
and re-chip the many grooves and surfaces, using hammer-sized picks.
It’s not a trade you
find in the yellow pages.
(sound of Shaubs chipping the wheels)
Bill Schaubs grew up on a farm. He still keeps some of his family’s land in production. But he
spent a lot of his career helping to build things for NASA. He thinks it’s important to know
many skills, old or new.
“Yes, keep the technology! It’s great; I love it too, OK? But we need to still keep our feet on
the ground and be realistic about everything.”
Schaubs says one reason to keep these traditional mills running is because of the kind of
bread you can make from them. These days, flour is typically milled in modern factories,
using high-speed metal rollers. A place like Watson’s Mill can’t possibly match those for
volume, or price.
But stone-ground flour is a specialty product. It isn’t always found at your nearby supermarket.
The high-fiber whole grain is cut, not crushed, by the stone’s sharp grooves. The process
preserves wheat’s natural oils and nutrients.
Larry Ellis is a big fan of bread made from this flour.
“I get at least one loaf, every week. It looks like it came out of your mother’s oven, sort of
thing, you know? (chuckles)”
Besides promoting things like flavor and nutrition, Bill Schaubs says there’s also a sort of
insurance factor.
“This grist mill here, is completely water-powered. So, if all else fails, we can always mill
flour.”
(sound of park visitors boarding a boat, speaking in French)
To keep the millstones in good shape, Schaubs had to learn from the experts. He came here,
to Upper Canada Village, an 1860’s era Heritage Park with its own grist mill.
Liam Carson works at the park. He says maintaining many different skills is important
because society doesn’t always know when they might be needed.
“If you can find a way of doing things that’s better, it doesn’t matter if it’s high tech or low tech,
it doesn’t matter if it’s now or then – better is better. And the more of these parallel paths you
have, that still exist, that’s a wealth of possibilities that can be accessed.”
(sound of the mill)
Back inside Watson’s Mill, the freshly-dressed millstones are ready to go. This is the test run.
(sound of wheat falling into millstones)
Bill Schaubs watches the gold-brown wheat trickle down while checking on the flour as it
comes out.
“There’s still a little bit of tweaking to do, but other than that, I’m happy! Good learning
experience, that’s for sure!”
Sometimes Schaubs worries that too many skills are getting lost. He’d like to see more
people taking the time to pick them up and pass them on. Old or new, he thinks we need
them all.
A computer-generated image of the solar plane (Photo courtesy of Solar Impulse/EPFL Claudio Leonardi)
A team in Switzerland is gearing up for
the first around-the-world flight of a solar
powered plane. Rebecca Williams has more:
Transcript
A team in Switzerland is gearing up for
the first around-the-world flight of a solar
powered plane. Rebecca Williams has more:
Bertrand Piccard was the first to fly a hot air balloon non-stop around the
world.
“You know a lot of people think something is impossible just before someone
else finds the solution to do it.”
Now he’s leading a team that’s building a solar powered plane to fly around the
world. The plane will have long skinny wings with solar panels, and room for
just one pilot.
“My greatest hope is that enough people will follow our adventure. These
people will say ‘Wow! If there was there a team that could do it in a solar
powered airplane, of course we should do it also ourselves in our daily lives.’”
Piccard says they have a lot to test out, especially how to fly at night.
If all goes well, the first real test flight is planned for next year.
Dish stirling solar power system at the Arizona Public Service Solar Test and Research Center (Photo courtesy of the US Department of Energy)
Since the 1970’s, solar power has been called the
next big thing. But not a whole lot has really come of it.
Rebecca Williams reports that could be changing:
Transcript
Since the 1970’s, solar power has been called the
next big thing. But not a whole lot has really come of it.
Rebecca Williams reports that could be changing:
With oil going for more than 100 bucks a barrel, the country’s seeing its
first major investment in solar.
The utility company Pacific Gas and Electric has signed a multi- billion
dollar deal. It’s planning to build five solar power plants in the Mojave
Desert.
The US has been mostly reliant on coal, nuclear and hydropower. But more
renewable sources such as wind and solar are coming online.
Jack Jenkins-Stark is the CFO of BrightSource Energy. It’s the company that
will build the plants.
“The energy mix of the U.S. or the world is always going to be a combination
of many, many technologies and solar is clearly going to be one of those
technologies.”
He says three things are driving solar’s rise: worries about global
warming, soaring energy prices, and better technology.
Ford Motor Company is rolling out a small fleet
of hydrogen powered shuttle buses in the US and Canada.
The company says its one small step toward a future
without oil. Dustin Dwyer reports:
Transcript
Ford Motor Company is rolling out a small fleet
of hydrogen powered shuttle buses in the US and Canada.
The company says its one small step toward a future
without oil. Dustin Dwyer reports:
Ford will have a total of 30 hydrogen powered shuttle buses spread around North America, from Florida to
Vancouver, British Columbia.
Most test projects with hydrogen vehicles these days involve a fuel cell. But Ford is using hydrogen to
power a mostly conventional internal combustion engine.
Ford says that means there’s less research to be done, and the buses could be mass produced
earlier.
But Ford’s John Lapetz says the problem is still: where would you fill it up?
“Realistically, you gotta look at the infrastructure to refuel these kind of vehicles, you gotta look at the public policies that go around those kinds
of things, because you’re talking about not a significant change in the vehicle, but a significant change in
the way the vehicle is received in the community.”
Another problem is cost. Ford says each of its hydrogen buses now cost 250 thousand dollars.
North America's largest solar plant, covering 140 acres, is located near Las Vegas (Photo courtesy of the Nellis Air Force Base)
