Hurricane Florence was a Category 4 at its peak, at 130 miles per hour (or 210 kilometers per hour) wind two days before making its landfall on September 14, 2018. That was so close to the threshold (140-160 miles per hour) of the design of new solar farms. About a third of the 3,000 megawatts of solar capacity connected to Duke Energy Corp’s system went down initially, according to utility spokesman Randy Wheeless. As of this week, about nine projects in North Carolina remained offline. Four of these were due to damage to Duke Energy facilities and five were due to damage to the project themselves. Wheeless said facilities that suffered the most tended to be five megawatt projects connected to Due’s distribution system.
Duke had been trying to get developers to move toward larger solar projects to connect largely to its transmission system, the high-voltage wires that link Duke plants to the distribution system that delivered power to homes and businesses. With hundreds of solar projects connected to Duke’s grid in North Carolina, the number of damaged projects remained small. Senior vice president at Strata Solar, Brian O’Hara, said that the Chapel-Hill based solar developer with more than 140 projects in the state saw damage at only two facilities. O’Hara said, “Duke has done a commendable job responding quickly and getting our facilities back online shortly after we notified them that they were inspected and ready to reconnect….our teams have coordinated closely with Duke’s recovery team, and it has been professional, responsive and pretty seamless.” The chief operating officer for Durham-based Ecoplexus Inc., John Morrison, said his company also saw very little damage, with only two of the 16 sites operating in North Carolina suffering some broken modules, amounting to less than 0.34% of the the developer’s modules, “not enough to even exceed the insurance deductible.” Spokesman for the California-based Cypress Creek Renewables, Jeff McKay, also reporting no notable damage in its solar fleet. As for Duke itself, its only project that suffered damage was the 60-megawatt Monroe Solar project in Union County, with few panels being damaged by wind. Duke’s Fayetteville, Warswa and Camp Lejeuene solar projects were all undamaged and returned to service as soon as grid operations allowed. Most outages during and after the worst of the hurricane Florence were due to problems with Duke’s grid rather than problems at the projects themselves.
To see what solar had done for North Carolina, check out these videos below:
Video “The birth of a solar farm in Halifax, NC” below:
Video “What’s the future for solar energy in NC” below:
Video “Study shows North Carolina as number 2 for solar electric capacity installed through 2017“: below:
Gathered, written, and posted by Windermere Sun-Susan Sun Nunamaker
More about the community at www.WindermereSun.com
Aerial view of Apple Park, the corporate headquarters of Apple Inc., located in Cupertino, CA. The roof is covered in solar panels with an output of 17 MW, making it the biggest solar roofs in the world. Photo is taken from a Cessna 172M. (attribution: Daniel L. Lu (user: dllu), presented at: WindermereSun.com)
In China, solar panels are mounted high off the ground to let sunlight shine through so grass can grow and local yaks can eat it. (credit/attribution: Apple Inc., presented at: WindermereSun.com)
Apple’s headquarter in Cupertino, CA is powered by 100% renewable energy in part from a 17 megawatt onsite rooftop solar installation (credit/attribution: Apple Iinc., presented at: WindermereSun.com)
Ibiden, a component supplier outside Nagoya, Japan, maintains a floating solar photovoltaic facility to power 100 percent of its manufacturing. (credit/attribution: Apple, presented at: WindermereSun.com)
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This week, Windermere Sun is devoting several posts on how some of the individuals, groups, or companies commit to help combat climate change and to create a healthier environment. Back in April of this year (2018), Apple announced its global facilities being powered with 100% clean energy. This was achieved through retail stores, offices, data centers and co-located facilities in 43 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, China, and India. Apple also announced nine additional manufacturing partners committed to power all of their Apple production with 100% clean energy, bringing the total number of supplier commitments to 23.
Apple CEO Tim Cook said, “We’re committed to leaving the world better than we found it. After years of hard work we’re proud to have reached this significant milestone. We’re going to keep pushing the boundaries of what is possible with the materials in our products, the way we recycle them, our facilities and our work with suppliers to establish new creative and forward-looking sources of renewable energy because we know the future depends on it.”
Excerpt from Apple’s press release, in italics, from April of 2018, below:
Apple and its partners are building new renewable energy projects around the world, improving the energy options for local communities, states and even entire countries. Apple creates or develops, with utilities, new regional renewable energy projects that would not otherwise exist. These projects represent a diverse range of energy sources, including solar arrays and wind farms as well as emerging technologies like biogas fuel cells, micro-hydro generation systems and energy storage technologies.
Apple currently has 25 operational renewable energy projects around the world, totaling 626 megawatts of generation capacity, with 286 megawatts of solar PV generation coming online in 2017, its most ever in one year. It also has 15 more projects in construction. Once built, over 1.4 gigawatts of clean renewable energy generation will be spread across 11 countries.
Since 2014, all of Apple’s data centers have been powered by 100 percent renewable energy. And since 2011, all of Apple’s renewable energy projects have reduced greenhouse gas emissions (CO2e) by 54 percent from its facilities worldwide and prevented nearly 2.1 million metric tons of CO2e from entering the atmosphere.
Apple’s renewable energy projects include:
Apple Park, Apple’s new headquarters in Cupertino, is now the largest LEED Platinum-certified office building in North America. It is powered by 100 percent renewable energy from multiple sources, including a 17-megawatt onsite rooftop solar installation and four megawatts of biogas fuel cells, and controlled by a microgrid with battery storage. It also gives clean energy back to the public grid during periods of low occupancy.
Over 485 megawatts of wind and solar projects have been developed across six provinces of China to address upstream manufacturing emissions.
Apple recently announced plans to build a 400,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art data center in Waukee, Iowa, that will run entirely on renewable energy from day one.
In Prineville, Oregon, the company signed a 200-megawatt power purchase agreement for an Oregon wind farm, the Montague Wind Power Project, set to come online by the end of 2019.
In Reno, Nevada, Apple created a partnership with the local utility, NV Energy, and over the last four years developed four new projects totaling 320 megawatts of solar PV generation.
In Japan, Apple is partnering with local solar company Daini Denryoku to install over 300 rooftop solar systems that will generate 18,000 megawatt-hours of clean energy every year — enough to power more than 3,000 Japanese homes.
Apple’s data center in Maiden, North Carolina, is supported by projects that generate 244 million kilowatt-hours of renewable energy per year, which is equivalent to the energy used by 17,906 North Carolina homes.
In Singapore, where land is scarce, Apple adapted and built its renewable energy on 800 rooftops.
Apple is currently constructing two new data centers in Denmark that will run on 100 percent renewable energy from day one.
To get to 100 percent renewable energy for its own facilities, the company worked to set an example for others to follow. Apple also announced that 23 of its suppliers are now committed to operating on 100 percent renewable energy, including nine new suppliers. Altogether, clean energy from supplier projects helped avoid over 1.5 million metric tons of greenhouse gases from being emitted in 2017 — the equivalent of taking more than 300,000 cars off the road. In addition, over 85 suppliers have registered for Apple’s Clean Energy Portal, an online platform that Apple developed to help suppliers identify commercially viable renewable energy solutions in regions around the world.
New supplier commitments include:
Arkema, a designer of high-performance bio-based polymers, which manufactures for Apple at its facilities in France, the United States and China.
DSM Engineering Plastics, which manufactures polymers and compounds in the Netherlands, Taiwan and China that are used in many Apple products, including connectors and cables.
ECCO Leather, the first soft goods supplier to commit to 100 percent clean energy for its Apple production. The leather that ECCO produces for Apple is of European origin, with tanning and cutting occurring at facilities in the Netherlands and China.
Finisar, a US industry-leading producer of optical communication components and vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs), which power some of Apple’s most popular new features like Face ID, Portrait mode selfies and Animoji.
Luxshare-ICT, a supplier of accessories for Apple products. Luxshare-ICT’s production for Apple is predominantly located in Eastern China.
Pegatron, which assembles a number of products, including iPhone, at its two factories in Shanghai and Kunshan, China.
Quadrant, a supplier of magnets and magnetic components in a number of Apple’s products.
Quanta Computer, one of the first Mac suppliers to commit to 100 percent renewable energy for Apple production.
Taiyo Ink Mfg. Co., which produces solder masks for printed circuit boards in Japan.
You may also be interested in these articles below:
Below, is a re-post from our sister publication, Windermere Sun:
There is a climate crisis unfolding (attribution: 350.org, presented at: WindermereSun.com)
Global Climate Movement (attribution: 350.org, presented at: WindermereSun.com)
Thousands of Rallies in Cities & Communities Around the World (attribution: 350.org, presented at: WindermereSun.com)
September 8, 2018 (attribution: 350.org, presented at: WindermereSun.com)
No New Fossil Fuels Anywhere (attribution: 350.org, presented at: WindermereSun.com)
A just and fair way to transition to 100% renewable energy (attribution: 350.org, presented at: WindermereSun.com)
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Just received a message about an event when/where thousands of rallies that will take place on September 8, 2018, worldwide, to demand our local leaders to commit to building a fossil free world that puts people and justice before profits. This is the message they are trying to convey, in italics, below:
No more stalling, no more delays: it’s time for a fast and fair transition to 100% renewable energy for all.
Real climate leadership rises from below. It means power in the hands of people not corporations. It means economic opportunity for workers and justice and dignity for frontline communities that are the hardest hit by the impacts of the fossil fuel industry and a warming world.
This September, cities, states, businesses and civil society from around the world are gathering in California for the Global Climate Action Summit.
The Summit has invited every mayor, governor, and local leader in the world to make a bold climate commitment to help the world reach the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement.
We know what those commitments need to achieve: a fast, fair and just transition to 100% renewable energy and an immediate end to new fossil fuel projects.
Plan or join an event in your community. If your elected officials commit, your rally can be a celebration. If they fail to act, it’s a chance to hold them accountable.
We are at a crossroads. By acting together, we can end the era of fossil fuels and save the climate we all depend on.
Here, in Florida, there are already multiple locations near Orlando, Tampa, Fort Myers, and Miami, ready to join Rise for Climate, Jobs, & Justice. Keep checking for there will be more locations as we progress toward 9/8/2018. So far, these are the locations in Florida, listed below:
Rise Up Orlando: Saturday, September 8, 2018, 11:00 am., Lake Eola Park, 512 E. Washington St., Orlando, FL 32801
She Moves Me, Saturday, September 8, 2018, 9:00 am., Fort Mellon Park, 600 East First Street, Sanford, FL 32771
Rise Up Ringing-People’s March/Rally/Meditation for Climate, Jobs and Justice, Saturday, September 8, 2018, 10:00 am., Williams Park, 350 2nd Ave. N, St. Petersberg, FL 33701
Indoor Block Party-Town hall, Saturday, September 8, 2018, 2:00 pm., St. Paul Lutheran Church, 5103 N. Central Ave., Tampa, FL 33603
SWFL People’s Climate March 2018, Saturday, September 8, 2018, 2:00 pm., Centennial Park, 2000 W. First St., Fort Myers, FL 33901, 33908
Miami Rising for Climate, Jobs & Justice, Saturday, September 8, 2018, 2:00 pm., Bayfront Park, 301 Biscayne Blvd., Miami, FL 33132
Explanations of FAQ regarding this event/day, taken from riseforclimate.org/#map, in italics, below:
What’s happening on September 8?
People on every continent will come together to Rise for Climate Action.
On 8 September we will rise together in our neighbourhoods to take action, telling the story of the communities we want, and showing governments how to follow our lead. We’ll connect all our local efforts globally to help make an unstoppable wave of people’s climate leadership – from our town halls, to our schools, and places of worship.
Why are people mobilizing on September 8?
We are at a tipping point. 2020 is a threshold for meeting global targets to tackle the climate crisis. We are fast running out of time to act, but meaningful action from national governments has been slow at best.
With climate impacts escalating — we don’t have the luxury to wait to see what bureaucratic negotiations have to offer. We need our local leaders to step up and do everything they can right now to stop the fossil fuel industry and build 100% renewable energy for all.
We believe that the Global Climate Action Summit, being held in California on 12-14 September 2018 presents a unique opportunity to pressure local governments and institutions to raise their ambition and do more for climate action. Every city and local leader has been invited to make a commitment around the summit.
We think this is an opportunity to set a new bar for climate leadership, drive ambition and close the gap between what justice and science clearly tells us – and the achingly slow action by our national governments.
Our actions won’t stop with this mobilization, we will keep the pressure on our local, state and national leaders to turn words into deeds for a fossil free world.
Every local leader has the power, and a moral obligation to do everything they can to stop the fossil fuel industry and build 100% renewable energy for all.
What are we asking for?
The bar for real climate leadership is simple: public, actionable commitments to a fast and fair transition to a fossil free world, powered by 100% renewable energy for all.
We can’t keep powering our lives with dirty fuels from the last century. It’s time to repower our communities with clean, renewable energy from the sun, earth, wind and water.
We need every local government and institution to commit to building 100% renewable energy and stopping new dirty energy projects in their community. Anything less than that is out of line with what science and justice demand.
What is the Global Climate Action Summit?
The Global Climate Action Summit is a gathering of mayors & local governments, business and civil society in San Francisco on 12-14 September 2018. Its stated goal is to showcase climate action taking place around the world, and inspire deeper commitments from each other and from national governments. It will be the largest gathering of its kind to take place, and we believe it’s an opportunity to pressure local leaders to step up and do much more to stop the fossil fuel industry and build 100% renewable energy for all.
But this summit needs to be about more than just words. We need communities, cities, regions, governments, businesses, institutions, and places of worship, to significantly increase their ambitions — and go beyond the Paris agreement, to close the gap left by slow national action. But time is running out, the time for false solutions is over: we need a global, just transition away from fossil fuels and towards 100% renewable energy for all.
Who is organizing Rise For Climate Action?
Rise for Climate Action is a global movement organized by hundreds of local leaders and dozens of partners. It’s coordinated by a global steering group in conjunction with our global and national partners. You can see the full list of groups involved here.
Every individual action is different, but most are organized by local groups who are leading the way for climate action in their communities. You can host an action in your community by registering it on the map above.
If your organization would like to support Rise For Climate Action, contact the steering group here.
How can my organization support this mobilization? There are many ways your organization can support Rise For Climate Action. You could hold an action and register it on the map, help promote the day of action or join as a partner. If you have any questions, get in touch with us here.
What about climate justice?
Climate change is both a result of, and a cause of injustice. We simply cannot solve the climate crisis without building a new economy that is fair, equal and works for all of us.
The weight of the climate crisis falls on those who have the least to do with perpetuating it, including indigenous communities, frontline communities in vulnerable countries, low income communities of color, and poor communities who are bearing the brunt of fossil fuel extraction, overburdened with unsafe and unfair levels of exposure to pollution, and are on the frontlines of the climate crisis.
A fast and fair transition away from fossil fuels to a renewable energy economy must protect the most vulnerable communities, including where that shift immediately impacts people and their city or state. Workers must be truly heard by companies and governments – working together to develop employment plans that include training, support and, if appropriate, re-skilling of workers. The shift away from fossil fuels is urgent and it must happen without harming some of the most vulnerable people.
Gathered, written, and posted by Windermere Sun-Susan Sun Nunamaker
Below, is a recent post from our sister publication, Windermere Sun, below:
Solar Panels (attribution: Carl Attard, presented at WindermereSun.com)
Solar panel arrays (presented at WindermereSun.com)
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On this first day of the year, I’d like to remind you all that almost half of Puerto Rico’s 3.8 million Americans are still without power more than 100 days after Hurricane Maria hit the island, presenting the largest blackout in U.S. history. But with its bountiful sunlight and vulnerability to hurricanes and high energy cost, energy industry leaders now believe that solar energy, along with battery storage providing backup when the sun isn’t shining, would be the solution to such a huge blackout.
Lewis Milford, president of the nonprofit Clean Energy Group and a senior fellow at the Brooking Institute said, “Federal and local officials, along with others, are beginning to see a different way to rebuild the grid that doesn’t rely exclusively on the old way of just having more central plant power lines and hoping for the best. For the first time there seems to be a serious look at some alternatives that include distributed solar and storage applications that can ride out and provide power during outages and storms.”
It was timely that I received a phone call last night from our solar friend Joy Hughes, the founder of the Solar Gardens Institute. Joy Hughes went to Puerto Rico to bring two emergency solar power kits to remote communities affected by Hurricane Maria, in partnership with Clean Energy Relief, Inc. Solar kits would provide refrigeration, water purification, device charging, and WiFi to affected communities during the holiday season. These solar kits would also power internet-connected classrooms to train community organizers, solar gardeners, to create a renewable, resilient energy future owned by the people. Solar Garden is like a community garden where subscribers would own a patch of solar panels in a shared solar array in subscribers’ community. The energy produced from these solar panels would be credited to subscribers’ or shareholders’ electric bill as if the panels were on their own roof. By subscribing to a solar garden, subscriber would save money and the environment. The Solar Gardener Training is a one-semester course that trains local leaders in solar gardens policy, project development, and community organizing.
Puerto Rico passed a solar gardens law , SB1666 to become Act 133-2016 in 2016. The law eases interconnection procedures for renewable energy projects up to 5 Megawatts and encourages community solar and microgrids. The bill’s statement of motives references the Commonwealth’s 50% reliance on oil for electricity generation, high electricity prices (around 20¢ / kWh), and vulnerability to oil price shocks. But the hurricanes struck before this law could be implemented. The Puerto Rico Energy Commission is currently developing program rules. Joy Hughes contributed community solar best practices to this development and recently attended the Puerto Rico Power Resiliency Workshop at the Department of Energy in Washington, DC with representatives from the government, industry, and nonprofit sectors to identify ideas to bring about the resilient transformation of Puerto Rico’s energy infrastructure.
Joy Hughes is asking for your help so she may continue her effort in assisting with the development of community solar gardens in Puerto Rico. There are many ways for you to help:
If you know of any one in Puerto Rico who is in need of assistance with solar loans, be sure to let him/her know about our Sunisthefuture Team at Kiva that intends to spread sunshine throughout our planet earth. Any one who wants to participate as a lender or promoter for Sunisthefuture Team at Kiva may join. A borrower would have to go through Kiva’s field partners first. Procedure for Kiva may be obtained by checking out Sunisthefuture Team at Kiva.
During this New Year, let’s help our fellow Americans in Puerto Rico by spreading the Sunshine!
I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank Elon Musk for having donated the solar panels for Puerto Ricans’ Children’s Hospital with solar power, reported below:
Gathered, written, and posted by Windermere Sun-Susan Sun Nunamaker
Bridgestone World Solar Challenge 2017 at Adelaide, Australia (presented at www.sunisthefuture.net)
Crowds awaiting for the arrival of solar cars at Adelaide, Australia (presented at www.sunisthefuture.net)
Finish Line at Adelaide, Australia (presented at www.sunisthefuture.net)
Awaiting for the arrival of solar cars at Adelaide, Australia (presented at www.sunisthefuture.net)
(Please click on red links & note magenta)
On this gorgeous Oct. 12, 2017, sun drenched day, Victoria Square at Adelaide, Australia, was filled with enthusiastic solar or vehicle advocates, parents, solar car racers/students from 30 countries, and curious audience, awaiting for the first solar vehicles to arrive. Without further ado, allow me to share the excitement of participants and audience of Bridgestone World Solar Challenge 2017 at Adelaide, Australia, below:
More photos, videos, and posts about these and other solar vehicles designed, built, and raced by students from 30 countries will be presented in the following posts.
For more on history of World Solar Challenge, please feel free to refer to our previous posts, below:
World Solar Challenge 2015, Parade at Victoria Square in Adelaide, Australia (photo of sunisthefuture-Susan Sun Nunamaker, presented at sunisthefuture.net)
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Yes, this is the year to celebrate the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge’s 30th Anniversary in Australia! The event began on Sunday, Oct. 8, 2017, at State Square, in front of the Parliament House of Northern Territory (at 6:00 am-8:30 am, with the first car leaving at 8:30 am) and expect to see the solar car teams arriving at Victoria Square/Tarntanyangga of Adelaide, Australia (between Wednesday, Oct. 11 to Sunday, Oct. 15, 2017). After teams of students from 30 countries designed and built their own solar cars, they have traversed 3,000 km between Darwin and Adelaide in 5-8 days, to meet the challenge of 3 classes of World Solar Challenge of 2017: Challenger Class; Cruiser Class; and Adventure Class.
World Solar Challenge was the brain child of solar pioneer Hans Tholstrup and car racer Larry Perkins. In 1982, they embarked on a quest to drive a home-built solar car The Quiet Achiever across Australia from West to East. Hans also enthusiastically urged others to explore and develop solar transport. So, the World Solar Challenge was born. Inaugurated in 1987 with pioneer sponsor, the South Australian Tourism Commission, the World Solar Challenge continues to showcase the development of advanced automotive technology and promote alternatives to conventional vehicle engines.
Using no more than six square meters of solar panels, bright young minds from different parts of the world are on track in developing efficient solar powered electric vehicles. Every two years, teams from international universities and technical institutes gather with private entrepreneurs at Down Under to promote the knowledge and fact that sun/solar is the future.
Above are photos and videos from World Solar Challenge 2015. Keep in mind that these solar car teams will be arriving tomorrow Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017, at Victoria Square/Tarntanyangga, Adelaide, Australia. If you will be near Adelaide, check out Victoria Square for views of many interesting designs of solar cars.
To find out the motivation behind organizing this event, please feel free to view the video of an interview with Event Organizer Chris Selwood in 2013, below:
To find out the updated result for all teams and all classes and to see all the solar cars at World Solar Challenge 2017, please click HERE.
To find all the supportive Scientific Faculty behind World Solar Challenge, please click HERE.
For Regulations of the 2017 Bridgestone World Solar Challenge, please click HERE.
For World Solar Challenge web site, please click HERE.
For more on healthy, happy, and sustainable living, please feel free to visit: Windermere Sun, www.WindermereSun.com, an online publication promoting community activities, businesses, and collaborations for healthy, happy, and sustainable living.
Within two weeks after Hurricane Irma swept over St. John (smallest of the three main U.S. Virgin Islands), a survivor used debris from a nearby home to spell out “SEND TESLA“. With significant loss of life, lack of drinking water, dehydration, food scarcity, and disappearing power grid in Puerto Rico, the humanitarian effort by Tesla stepping in to help was truly welcomed. Bloomberg reported that Tesla had been sending hundreds of its Powerwall battery systems to be paired with solar panels to help restore the power back to the battered island. The monumental destruction brought by hurricanes Irma and Maria on the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico in September is opening up the possibilities for companies such as Tesla to move in and establish a presence. Tesla sent representatives to the island to begin signing up survivors for solar services.
Tesla indicated that some of the systems (Tesla Powerwall+Solar Panels) are already in Puerto Rico and others are on their way. Bloomberg also reported, “The company (Tesla) has employees on the ground to install them and is working with local organizations to identify locations.” The Puerto Rico island is still mostly without without power.
Thanks to Tesla for bringing power/electricity back to some of the people of Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands.
Mia Farrow’s Twitter further reminds us of the BBC report of 55% of the people in Puerto Rico are without drinking water. Hopefully, President Trump’s visit tomorrow (Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2017) to Puerto Rico will bring more attention, help, and water being dropped in by the U.S. National Guard to these Americans at Puerto Rico.
Gathered, written, and posted by Windermere Sun-Susan Sun Nunamaker
More about the community at www.WindermereSun.com
Hyperloop pod carriages major components designed by Elon Musk (presented at WindermereSun.com & sunisthefuture.net)
Hyperloop tube (presented at WindermerSun.com & sunisthefuture.net)
(Please click on red links & note magenta)
The vision of Elon Musk, once a simple sketch in Musk’s blog back in August of 2013, will soon become a reality. At the speed of 760 mph, this high speed mode of transport would allow commuters to travel between Orlando and Miami in 26 minutes or between Los Angeles and San Francisco in 30.15 minutes (twice as fast as commercial air travel). It is truly enabling us to travel at a blink of an eye. As an alternative to boats, aircrafts, automobiles, and trains, Elon Musk’s vision was that of hyperloop transporting people (and cars) via electromagnetically levitated pods/capsules enclosed inside of steel low-pressure tubes. Musk described the design looking like a shotgun with the tube running side by side for most of the journey and closing the loop at either end. The tube is partially evacuated to reduce friction. The capsule or pod carriage rides on a cushion of air forced through multiple openings at the capsule’s bottom (as though capsules are suspended midair by air casters, think of pucks on air hockey table float around ), further reducing friction. The capsules would be propelled (accelerate or decelerate) by linear induction motors (which are magnetic) placed at intervals along the route. These tubes would be mounted on columns 50 to 100 yards apart and the pods or capsules inside would travel up to 760 mph. Finally the hyperloop vehicle itself contains air compressor near the front to intake excess air in the tube and exhaust in the back because excess air would cause resistance and drag that would slow down the vehicle.
Since Elon Musk has made the hyperloop design/technology open source, there had been multiple governments, universities, companies worldwide exploring this concept . Hyperloop One, launched in 2014, previously known as Hyperloop Technologies, is a company in Los Angeles, California, that is working to commercialize the Hyperloop for moving passengers and/or cargo at airline speeds at a fraction of the cost of air travel. The concept of Hyperloop transportation was introduced and named by Elon Musk in August 2013, although he is not directly involved with Hyperloop One. The company has raised $160 million and demonstrated a form of propulsion technology in May 2016 at its test site north of Las Vegas. Its new round of funding on September 21, revealing an additional $85 million received from investors such as DP World, Caspian VC Partners, WTI, and OurCrowd.com. So, in total, Hyperloop One has raised $245 million since its launch in 2014 and is now worth more than $700 million. Hyperloop One has completed a 500m Development Loop (DevLoop) in North Las Vegas and just after midnight on May 12, 2017, the company held its first full-scale Hyperloop test, becoming the first company in the world to test a full-scale Hyperloop. The test combined Hyperloop components including vacuum, propulsion, levitation, sled, control systems, tube, and structures.
Hyperloop One is currently developing passenger and cargo system routes in the United States, Canada, Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, and the United Arab Emirates. It is also in early talks with Indian government to build one in India. Its publicly stated goal is to deliver a fully operational Hyperloop system by 2021. Officials with Hyperloop One placed the Florida route on a list of 10 that had cleared an initial proposal review. Each of the cities will now receive resources to help develop feasibility studies for the regions.
“The Hyperloop One Global Challenge started as a call to action for innovators, engineers, trailblazers and dreamers around the world who shared our vision of creating a new mode of transportation,” stated Shervin Pishevar, cofounder and executive chairman of the Hyperloop One group, in an announcement of all of the finalists. Below, is the announcement of Hyperloop One Global Challenge in June of 2016:
Outcome of The Hyperloop One Global Challenge, announced on September 14, 2017:
Winning Teams.Routes Represent United States, United Kingdom, Mexico, India, and Canada
CDOT (Colorado Department of Transportation), Hyperloop One and AECOM Enter Public-Private Partnership to Begin Feasibility Study
Hyperloop One Announce World’s First Global Summit around Hyperloop One Technology
For more details, please refer to HERE
We will be expecting wonderful collaborative efforts and new mode of transportation in the 2020’s. Our world is getting smaller, mostly due to innovations, open source, and great collaborations.
Gathered, written, and posted by Windermere Sun-Susan Sun Nunamaker
More about the community at www.WindermereSun.com
Below, is a re-post from one of our sister publications, Windermere Sun.
(Please click on red links & note magenta)
National Weather Service map with the new purple color to delineate high rainfall levels (presented at WindermereSun.com)
(Please click on red links & note magenta)
With water and massive damage of Hurricane Harvey continue to rise, and the death toll from the storm reaching 30, the National Weather Service (NWS) had to add a new color purple to indicate the unprecedented rainfall level that has occurred during the Storm/Hurricane Harvey since its landfall at Rockport, TX, on last Friday. NWS added two purple shades to its map because the old scale topped out at more than 15 inches while the new limit tops at 30 inches. Even though this is the most powerful storm that has hit Texas in more than 50 years and the worst flooding disaster in U.S. history, many experts and meteorologists believe that climate change will continue to fuel massive storms like Hurricane Harvey in the future. As Houston is experiencing its third 500-year flood in 3 years and 25 separate 500-year floods have occurred across the USA since 2010, it is conceivable that this will be our new normal.
Below, you will find an interview by Amy Goodman of Democracy Now and discussion with David Helvarg, Executive Director of Blue Frontier, an ocean conservation organization, on the subject of how climate change is fueling massive storms such as Hurricane Harvey.
David Helvarg comments that these flood zones will become more water logged as the sea level rises at Texas and Louisiana coast, South Florida, etc. The prediction is such that there may be about 3-6 feet or more of sea level rise in the coming decades, with the continuing global warming. The two 10,000 year rain events in two years is becoming the new normal. Despite the Trump administration’s denial of climate change, there are many measures that individual states and cities may take in helping to slow down the climate change: installing more renewables such as solar and wind, transitioning into electric vehicles, reducing food waste and increasing local food productions, recycling, reusing, reducing, etc.
There had been more than 1,200 people who died amid flooding in Bangladesh, Nepal, and India. This year’s monsoon season has brought torrential downpours that have submerged wide swaths of South Asia, destroying tens of thousands of homes, schools, and hospitals and affecting up to 40 million people. Aid organizations are warning that this is one of the worst regional humanitarian crises in years, with millions of people facing severe food shortages and disease caused by polluted flood water. Flood victims in southern Nepal say they have lost everything. Below, Amy Goodman of Democracy Now speaks with Asad Rehman, Executive Director of “War on Want“. Director Rehman has worked on climate change issues for over a decade.
To see what actions Central Floridians in Orlando (esp. Mayor Dyer and his team) have been pursuing in their effort to slow down the climate change, please view our previous post on Florida Climate Summit at Orlando in August, 2017. Perhaps you can also initiate and/or encourage people in your communities to transition into renewables such as solar and wind, electric vehicles, recycle, reuse, reduce food waste and increase local food productions. Our home planet Earth is in need of our help. We need to slow down the climate change in order to prevent millions of people on earth becoming homeless.
Gathered, written, and posted by Windermere Sun-Susan Sun Nunamaker
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Total Solar Eclipse observed from USA on Aug. 21, 2017, with the help of NASA (presented at WindermereSun.com)
Total Solar Eclipse (presented at WindermereSun.com)
Map of the Total Solar Eclipse of Aug. 21, 2017 (Attribution: Wolfgang Strickling, presented at WindermereSun.com)
Chart for Solar Eclipse (Attribution: Fred Espenak of NASA GSFC, presented at WindermereSun.com)
Diamond Ring of the Total Solar Eclipse, last bit of corona ring and last flash of the sun give us the “diamond ring” effect (presented at WindermereSun.com , with the help of NASA)
Diamond Ring of the Total Solar Eclipse, last bit of corona ring and last flash of the sun give us the “diamond ring” effect (presented at WindermereSun.com , with the help of NASA)
Did you drive or fly to one of the cities along the route for observing total solar eclipse? Did you avoid the crowd by watching live stream for the event, or were you simply oblivious of the Total Solar Eclipse event today? There were so many people trying to reserve for flights to one of the cities along the route of total solar eclipse above that a coach plane ticket between DFW (Dallas Fort Worth) to Nashville costed $6000 last week. Hotel rooms were quickly running out that all of the hotel rooms along this route were fully booked last week that the last single room was going for $6000 for 4 nights at Oregon State University area. This is the only reason that I am reporting the event from Florida rather than Oregon State University today. The next total solar eclipse in the USA will be on April 8, 2024, only 2422 days away. The next total solar eclipse outside of the USA will be on July 2, 2019, with the path of totality running through South American countries such as Chile and Argentina, according to NASA. If you missed today’s event, perhaps you’ll be interested in one of these two future events.
Historically, some of the total solar eclipses at:
October 22, 2134 B.C.: one of the earliest recorded solar eclipse appeared in Shu Ching, an ancient Chinese book of documents. The ancient Chinese believed that a solar eclipse was the result of a large dragon eating the Sun. It was the job of two royal astronomers Hsi and Ho to predict such events so that people could prepare bows and arrows to fend off the dragon. But Hsi and Ho shirked their duties and got drunk, so they were beheaded by the emperor.
May 28, 585 B.C.: A total solar eclipse brought about an unexpected ceasefire between two warring nations, the Lydians and the Medes, fighting for control of Anatolia (modern day Turkey) for five years, according to ancient Greek historian Herodotus. During the Battle of Halys, aka Battle of the Eclipse, the sky suddenly turned dark as the sun disappeared behind the moon. Interpreting this inexplicable phenomenon as a sign that the gods wanted the conflict to end, the soldiers put down their weapon and negotiated for a truce.
29-32 A.D.: Christian gospels say the sky darkened after the crucifixion of Jesus. It is possible that the event may have coincided with a solar eclipse. Historians have tried to pinpoint the death of Jesus, using astronomical records of solar eclipse in the years 29 C.E. or 32 C.E.
May 5, 840: Louis the Pious, the third son of Charlemagne, inherited a vast empire in what is modern day France after his father died in 814. His reign was marked by dynastic crisis and rivalry between his sons. Being a deeply religious man, Louis became terrified of punishment from God after witnessing a solar eclipse. According to the legend, he died of fright shortly afterward.
May 29, 1919: Sir Arthur Eddington tested Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity during a total solar eclipse. Einstein had theorized that massive objects caused distortions in space and time. Eddington confirmed that starlight bent around the sun by measuring the position of certain stars relative to the eclipse.
A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon completely covers the Sun’s disk, as seen in this 1999 solar eclipse. Solar prominences can be seen along the limb (in red) as well as extensive coronal filaments.(Photo Attribution: I, Luc Viatour, Presented at: WindermereSun.com)
Chart for Solar Eclipse (Attribution: Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA’s GSFC, Presented at: WindermereSun.com)
Map of Solar Eclipse (presented at: WindermereSun.com)
Map of the Solar Eclipse 2017 USA (created with Eclipse 2017 Android App, Geodata from OpenStreetMap (Attribution: Wolfganag Strickling, Presented at: WindermereSun.com)
(Please click on red links & note magenta)
How many of you had “observing a Total Solar Eclipse” on your bucket list? It was in totality only within a band across the entire contiguous United States ( covering: Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina). The last time a total solar eclipse was visible across the entire contiguous United States was during the June 8, 1918 eclipse.
Map of the Solar Eclipse 2017 USA (created with Eclipse 2017 Android App, Geodata from OpenStreetMap (Attribution: Wolfganag Strickling, Presented at: WindermereSun.com), covering: Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina
A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth. A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon’s apparent diameter is larger than the Sun’s, blocking all direct sunlight, turning day into darkness. Totality occurs in a narrow path across Earth’s surface, with the partial solar eclipse visible over a surrounding region thousands of kilometers wide. This eclipse is the 22nd of the 77 members of Saros series 145, which also produced thesolar eclipse of August 11, 1999. Members of this series are increasing in duration. The longest eclipse in this series will occur on June 25, 2522 and last for 7 minutes and 12 seconds.
The total eclipse will have a magnitude of 1.0306 and will be visible from a narrow corridor through the United States. It will be first seen from land in the US shortly after 10:15 a.m. PDT at Oregon’s Pacific coast, and then it will progress eastward through Salem, OR, Casper, WY, Lincoln, NE, Kansas City, Nashville, TN, Columbia, SC, and finally Charleston, SC. Total Solar Eclipse will darken skies all the way from Oregon to South Carolina, along a stretch of land about 70 miles (113 kilometers) wide. People who descend upon this “path of totality” for the big event are in for an unforgettable experience. A partial eclipse will be seen for a greater time period, beginning shortly after 9:00 a.m. PDT along the Pacific Coast of Oregon.
The August 2017 eclipse will be the first with a path of totality crossing the US’s Pacific coast and Atlantic coast since 1918. Also, its path of totality makes landfall exclusively within the United States, making it the first such eclipse since the country’s independence in 1776. (The path of totality of the eclipse of June 13, 1257, was the last to make landfall exclusively on lands currently part of the US.
If you are interested in observing this event (total Solar Eclipse), below, in italics, is excerpt from “Eye Safety During Solar Eclipses” from NASA:
The Sun can be viewed safely with the naked eye only during the few brief seconds or minutes of a total solar eclipse. Partial eclipses, annular eclipses, and the partial phases of total eclipses are never safe to watch without taking special precautions. Even when 99% of the Sun’s surface is obscured during the partial phases of a total eclipse, the remaining photospheric crescent is intensely bright and cannot be viewed safely without eye protection [Chou, 1981; Marsh, 1982]. Do not attempt to observe the partial or annular phases of any eclipse with the naked eye. Failure to use appropriate filtration may result in permanent eye damage or blindness!
Generally, the same equipment, techniques and precautions used to observe the Sun outside of eclipse are required for annular eclipses and the partial phases of total eclipses [Reynolds & Sweetsir, 1995; Pasachoff & Covington, 1993; Pasachoff & Menzel, 1992; Sherrod, 1981]. The safest and most inexpensive of these methods is by projection, in which a pinhole or small opening is used to cast the image of the Sun on a screen placed a half-meter or more beyond the opening. Projected images of the Sun may even be seen on the ground in the small openings created by interlacing fingers, or in the dappled sunlight beneath a leafy tree. Binoculars can also be used to project a magnified image of the Sun on a white card, but you must avoid the temptation of using these instruments for direct viewing.
The Sun can be viewed directly only when using filters specifically designed for this purpose. Such filters usually have a thin layer of aluminum, chromium or silver deposited on their surfaces that attenuates ultraviolet, visible, and infrared energy. One of the most widely available filters for safe solar viewing is a number 14 welder’s glass, available through welding supply outlets. More recently, aluminized mylar has become a popular, inexpensive alternative. Mylar can easily be cut with scissors and adapted to any kind of box or viewing device. A number of sources for solar filters are listed below. No filter is safe to use with any optical device (i.e. – telescope, binoculars, etc.) unless it has been specifically designed for that purpose. Experienced amateur and professional astronomers may also use one or two layers of completely exposed and fully developed black-and-white film, provided the film contains a silver emulsion. Since all developed color films lack silver, they are always unsafe for use in solar viewing.
Unsafe filters include color film, some non-silver black and white film, medical x-ray films with images on them, smoked glass, photographic neutral density filters and polarizing filters. Solar filters designed to thread into eyepieces which are often sold with inexpensive telescopes are also dangerous. They should not be used for viewing the Sun at any time since they often crack from overheating. Do not experiment with other filters unless you are certain that they are safe. Damage to the eyes comes predominantly from invisible infrared wavelengths. The fact that the Sun appears dark in a filter or that you feel no discomfort does not guarantee that your eyes are safe. Avoid all unnecessary risks. Your local planetarium or amateur astronomy club is a good source for additional information.
In spite of these precautions, the total phase (and only the total phase) of an eclipse can and should be viewed without filters. It is crucial that you know when to take off and put back on your glasses; see Eye safety during a total solar eclipse
Two spectacular events signal the boundaries of totality: appearance of the diamond effect and Baily’s beads.
Diamond Ring of the Total Solar Eclipse, last bit of corona ring and last flash of the sun give us the “diamond ring” effect (presented at WindermereSun.com , with the help of NASA)
Diamond Ring: it is a product of the final moments of the pre-totality partial phases and their post-totality resurgence.
Baily’s Beads: Sir Edmund Halley is credited with observing the first Baily’s beads during the eclipse of April 22, 1715. They were also observed by Maclaurin from Edinburgh during the annular eclipse of March 1, 1737 and by Williams from Revolutionary War America on October 27, 1780 from just outside of the totality. But it was Francis Baily’s widely disseminated description of the phenomenon during the annular eclipse of May 15, 1836, that led to their bearing his name thereafter. It was explained by Baily that shortly before second contact of a total eclipse, the opposing horns of the slender crescent sun begin to converge on one another. At the same time, the tenuous solar atmosphere becomes visible against the darkening sky, shining out around the edge of the moon where the sun has already been covered. The combination of this “ring” of light and the single brilliant “diamond” of sunlight where the horns are converging creates a most striking appearance, the diamond ring. The effect lasts for a very short time. Soon the horns of the solar crescent close completely, and the diamond ring begins to break up, to be replaced by an array of brilliant beads of sunlight caused by the sun shining through valleys and depressions on the moon’s leading limb.
Total Eclipse Viewing Events (source: wkipedia), below:
Madras, Oregon – The city will sponsor a four-day Solarfest at two locations.
Prineville, Oregon – Symbiosis Gathering will be hosting a global eclipse gathering. Dubbed Oregon Eclipse, the event will feature music, workshops, and art.
Casper, Wyoming – The Astronomical League, an alliance of amateur astronomy clubs, will hold its annual Astrocon conference, and there will be other public events, called Wyoming Eclipse Festival 2017.
Nebraska
Alliance, Nebraska – Entertainment and educational seminars will be offered.
Carbondale, Illinois – The area is calling itself the Eclipse Crossroads of America since it will also be in totality during the Solar eclipse of April 8, 2024, and since Giant City State Park, just south of the city, will experience the longest period of totality during the eclipse (approximately 2 minutes and 40 seconds).Southern Illinois Universitywill sponsor many eclipse related educational events, including the two day Crossroads Astronomy, Science and Technology Expo, and viewing at Saluki Stadium.
Carterville, Illinois – A three-day rock festival called Moonstock will be headlined by Ozzy Osbourne, who will perform during the eclipse.
Cookeville, Tennessee – Tennessee Technological University will be hosting a solar eclipse viewing party at Tucker Stadium, which is open to the public. The city of Cookeville will be hosting special events Saturday-Monday.
Nashville, Tennessee – The largest city in the path of totality is offering many special events, including the Music City Eclipse Science & Technology Festival at the Adventure Science Center.
Rosman, North Carolina – Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute (PARI) will be hosting a viewing event. The event at PARI has garnered international attention and the visitors will include about amateur astronomers.
Georgia
Rabun County, Georgia – Multiple events occur across Rabun County, including the OutASight Total Solar Eclipse Viewing Party with astronomers from Georgia State University. Other events will be held at Tallulah Gorge State Park, Black Rock Mountain State Park, and other locations in the county.
In northwestern Europe, the eclipse will only be visible as a partial eclipse, in the evening or at sunset. Only Iceland, Ireland and Scotland will see the eclipse from beginning to end; in the rest of the UK, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Spain and Portugal, sunset will occur before the end of the eclipse. In Germany, the beginning of the eclipse will be potentially visible just at sunset only in the extreme northwest of the country. In all regions east of the orange line in the map, the eclipse will be invisible.
Online Viewing Events
NASA – Live video streams of the event will be available on NASA’s website.
