After the infamous meltdown in 1986 resulted from a flawed reactor design and poor training, other nuclear reactors at the Chernobyl facility continued to operate until the turn of the century. For the past 18 years, Chernobyl has been nothing but an abandoned wasteland due to the high level of radiation, making the Chernobyl exclusion zone unsuitable for agriculture or forestry. This exclusion zone is a 1000 square mile area around the Chernobyl nuclear plant mostly uninhabited and unused since the 1986 disaster. Since there is already substantial electrical infrastructure in place left over from the nuclear plant and the fact that the land is unused and cheap, the site is an excellent choice for large solar farm(s) to be installed.
“It’s not just another solar power plant…it’s really hard to underestimate the symbolism of this particular project. ” the chief executive of Solar Chernobyl LLC, Evhen Variagin, told reporters at the unveiling of a 1 MW joint project that can power 2,000 homes, on Friday, October 5, 2018, by Ukrainian company Rodina and German company Enerparc AG, costing about $1.2 million (1 million euros) and benefiting from feed-in-tariffs that guarantee a certain price for power. The head of the Chernobyl nuclear plant Valery Seyda said, “It is the first time the site has produced power since 2000, when the nuclear plant was finally shut down. But now we are seeing a new sprout, still small, weak, producing power on this site and this is very joyful.”
Between January and September of this year (2018), more than 500 MW of renewable power capacity is added to Ukraine, more than twice as much as in 2017, according to the Ukrainian government.The head of the Office of the National Investment Council of Ukraine, Yulia Kovaliv, said investors want to reap the benefits from a generous subsidy scheme before parliament is due to vote on scrapping it in July next year. “Investors expect that in the renewable energy sector facilities launched before 2019 will operate on the current beneficial system of green tariffs…that is why investors want to buy ready-to-build projects in order to complete construction before that time.” Yulia Kovaliv told Reuters reporter on the sidelines of a conference in Odessa in September.
Cheap land and sunny skies are attracting interests from around the world. Two Chinese companies, GCL System Integration Technology Co. Ltd. and China National Complete Engineering Corp, are also building a one-gigawatt solar power plant (enough to power 100 million LED bulbs) to the South of Chernobyl. Another dozen smaller investors are also installing solar parks nearby on a smaller scale. These entrepreneurs are not deterred by the challenges of major construction projects in nuclear contamination zone. Engineering work has already begun, but there has not been any public disclosure about safety measures, the completion date, nor a price for the project.
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:
Solar panels atop a house in Riverside, CA (photo attribution: Jim Sun, presented at: WindermereSun.com)
Community Solar Garden or Solar Farm of Clean Energy Collective at Cowdery Meadow Community Solar Gardens (attribution: Susan Sun Nunamaker, presented at: WindermereSun.com)
Visitors at a Westmill Solar Cooperative Open Day at Westmill Solar Park (attribution: MrRenewables, Westmill Solar Cooperative, Ben Cavanna, presented at: WindermereSun.com)
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Today, California has become the first U.S. state to require solar panels on nearly all new homes and low-rise apartment buildings, starting in 2020. The California Energy Commission voted 5 to 0 to approve the new building standard/requirement that residential buildings up to three stories, including single-family homes and condos, be built with solar panels installations starting in 2020. About 117,000 new single-family homes and 48,000 multi-family units will be built in 2020. The commission endorsed this requirement after building representatives, utilities, and solar manufacturers and advocates voiced their support. It still needs the final approval from California’s Building Standards Commission (which usually adopts the energy panels’s recommendations when updating the state’s building codes). This is California’s latest step to curb greenhouse gas emissions. The technical director for the California Building Industry AssociationRobert Raymer called it a “quantum leap.”This requirement would only be applied to newly constructed homes, although many homeowners are choosing to install rooftop solar panels with help from various rebate programs. The California Energy Commission estimated that adding solar panels would boost construction costs by $9,500 for a single-family home but save homeowners about $19,000 in energy cost and other expenses over 30 year period. The price of solar has dropped dramatically in recent years, therefore, it is a no-brainer that it is cost effective for all homeowners to install solar. The amount of solar power required by the new standards is minimal and not enough to meet all the energy needs of most homes, therefore, most homes would still have to draw some of their power use from the power grid.
The regulations exempts solar panels installations when it is not cost-effective or feasible (such as for homes shrouded in shade). Community solar generation would be an option for such circumstances.
According to SEIA (Solar Energy Industries Association), California is already the nation’s leader in solar installation, with more than 5 million homes in the state using solar power. California has set the goal of all residential buildings being “zero net energy”, meaning producing as much energy as they consume. California has positioned itself as the leader for clean energy in USA, pushing more electric vehicles on the roads and lower emissions from homes and commercial buildings.
California Energy Commissioner Andrew McAllister said, “This is a step, a very important step, in a long trajectory that we have been planning for and telling the world….This is not a radical departure. It’s a step in the right direction to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and improve our air, which for many, many decades California has been doing better and better each time.”
Perhaps it is high time for rest of the 49 states to also follow the California lead, for it is both economical and environmentally friendly for homeowners to install solar.
Gathered, written, and posted by Windermere Sun-Susan Sun Nunamaker
Below, is a recent post from our sister publication, Windermere Sun, below:
Permafrost status (permafrost_nsidc 2016, NASA, presented at WindermerSun.com)
Global Permafrost-Circum-Arctic Map of Permafrost and Ground Ice Conditions, 1998, revised Feb. 2001, Source: http://nsidc.org/data/docs/fgdc/ggd318_map_circumarctic/index.html(phto attribution, presented at WindermereSun.com)
Alaska Coastal Permafrost (photo attribution: NASA, presented at WindermereSun.com)
Massive buried ice (blue) on the north shore of Herschel Island, Yukon, Canada (photo attribution: Dave Fox, presented at WindermereSun.com)
The ice wedge in permafrost, Source: http://science.nasa.gov/newhome/headlines/ast27jul99_1.htm, with permission from PD=USGov-NASA, presented at WindermereSun.com)
Recently thawed Arctic permafrost and coastal erosion on the Beaufort Sea Arctic Ocean near Point Lonely, Alaska, photo taken in August, 2013 (photo attribution: Awing88, presented at WindermereSun.com)
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(This is an article that helps to remind us why we need to Go Solar, Renewable, and EV).
We’ve known for a long time that thawed Arctic permafrost would release much powerful greenhouse gases. Scientists estimated that five times as much carbon might be stored in frozen Arctic soils—permafrost—as has been emitted by all human activities since 1850. This worries people who study global warming. While emissions from permafrost currently account for less than 1 percent of global methane emissions, some researchers think this could change in dramatic ways as the world warms and that carbon-rich frozen soil breaks down.
Today, U.S. scientists and researchers revealed the discovery of permafrost in the northern hemisphere storing massive amounts of natural mercury (a potent neurotxin), a finding with significant implications for human health and ecosystem worldwide. In geology, permafrost is ground, including rock or (cryotic) soil, at or below the freezing point of water 0 °C (32 °F) for two or more years. The Arctic’s frozen soil of permafrost also acts as a massive ice trap that keeps carbon in the ground instead of in the atmosphere. There are 32 million gallons worth of mercury (or the equivalent of 50 Olympic swimming pools) trapped in the permafrost, according to the scientists who published the study in the journal Geophysical Reserach Letters, a journal of the American Geophysical Union.
“As permafrost thaws in the future, some portion of this mercury will get released into the environment, with unknown impact to people and our food supplies,” said Kevin Schaefer, a scientist with the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colo., and a co-author of the study. The research was led by Paul Schuster, a scientist with the U.S. Geological Survey, and was co-authored by 16 other federal, university-based and independent researchers. These scientists performed their research by taking cores from permafrost across Alaska. They measured mercury levels and then extrapolated to calculate how much mercury there is permafrost across the glove covering large portions of Canada, Russia, and other countries in northern hemisphere. “We figure that this represents the buildup of mercury during and since the last Ice Age.” Normally as plants die and decay, they would decompose and release the mercury back into the atmosphere. But plants in the Arctic often do not decompose fully because their roots are frozen and become buried by layers of soil. This suspends the mercury within the plants and within the permafrost. So, how much of these mercury will be released would depend on how much the permafrost thaws resulting from volume of greenhouse gas emissions and subsequent warming of the planet. The permafrost thaw has begun is some areas. Scientists project that, with the current emissions level, permafrost could shrink by 30% to 90% by 2100.
At the event/video below: How is climate impacting the Arctic, what does this mean & what can we do? hosted by The Woods Hole Research Center (WHRC), at the University of Alaska Fairbanks May 11, 2017. Professor of Geophysics Vladimir Romanovsky discusses the impact of Arctic permafrost thaw. Related http://permafrostwatch.org This video is an event excerpt, audio and video has been edited (additional media, contrast, sound effect, volume), you can watch the full event at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZ0cW…
Here at Windermere Sun, we always like to offer positive solutions and optimism, so please visit and share these links 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)
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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 our sister publication, Windermere Sun.
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Thumb Up-1 (presented at WindermereSun.com)
Solar Panels (photo by Neville Mecallef, presented at WindermereSun.com)
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What fantastic news for solar enthusiasts, climate scientists, and environmentalists! On Tuesday of this week, Duke Energy of Florida announced a settlement with Florida’s Public Service Commission (PSC), equivalent to other states’ Public Utility Commission (PUC), to stop plans to build a nuclear power plant in western Florida. The utility, with the blessing from PSC, will instead invest $6 billion in solar panels, grid-tied batteries, grid modernization projects, and electric vehicle charging stations. This new investment plan will involve the installation of 700 MW of solar capacity over four year period in the western Florida region.
Duke Energy Florida may not have started building the Levy nuclear power plant, but it did have plans to order two AP1000 reactors from Westinghouse. But now, with the dramatic decrease in cost of solar and increase in battery storage technology, Florida utility concluded that it is much more cost effective to invest in solar rather than nuclear. Last week, Duke told its PSC that it would have to increase rates by more than 8% due to increased fossil fuel (coal and natural gas) costs. But with the new investment plan directing the utility toward solar and storage, that rate hike will be 4.6% instead of 8%.
Even though the preparatory expenditure on Levy are now sunk costs, this new plan will save residential customers future nuclear related rate increases. Customers will see a cost reduction of $2.50 per MWh (megawatt-hour) through the removal of unrecovered Levy Nuclear Project costs, according to the utility. The 700 MW of solar may not cover the 2.2 GW (gigawatt) capacity of the Levy plant, but it does indicate the dramatic shift from nuclear power to more solar power.
Duke Energy of Florida serves 1.8 million Floridians and had been relying heavily on natural gas. This week Duke said it wants to raise its solar power capacity to 8% generating power in the next four years.
The parent company of Duke Energy Florida, Duke Energy, also pulled the plug on another planned nuclear power plant in North Carolina last week, according to GreenTechMedia. With continuing drop in solar cost and improved battery storage technology, it is conceivable that Duke would choose the best option of increasing solar for its customers.
It is a turning point in the history of energy use, when utility and PSC are able to be weaned from nuclear and move onto solar. Thanks to those who have worked tirelessly in researching, developing, and improving battery storage technology. For this is necessary in order for solar to be promoted from intermittent to reliable source of power.
Gathered, written, and posted by Windermere Sun-Susan Sun Nunamaker
This is a repost from one of our sister publications, Windermere Sun.
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Daniel Kammen, Distinguished Professor of Energy of UC Berkeley and former Science Envoy of U.S. State Department (presented at WindermereSun.com)
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UC Berkeley Distinguished Professor of Energy Daniel Kammen resigns from his post as Science Envoy of the U.S. States Department, citing that he believed it to be President Trump’s failure to denounce white supremacists and neo-nazis and for U.S. to depart from Paris Climate Accord. His letter of resignation spelled out “impeach” by the first letter of each paragraph.
Professor Kammen feels Secretary Tillerson needs to speak truth to power and not cave in to climate denial environment. He further comments that it is utmost important for U.S. to remain competitive economically and politically on world stage by addressing climate change, carbon tax, and renewable energy with distributed stand point.
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.
