Holly Martin's Blog

Posted by Holly Martin

The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) recently awarded Professor Bernard Amadei, of the University of Colorado at Boulder, the 2007 Hoover Medal for his work with students on international community development projects.

Prof. Amadei was honored for founding the humanitarian non-profit Engineers Without Borders (EWB). The group, which Amadei started in 2001, now claims over 230 student and professional chapters--and about 8.000 members--worldwide.

EWB students from universities all over the world travel to remote locations to help provide basics such as clean water, sanitation, housing, food production and electrical power for communties in the developing world, often as part of their required senior projects. Their focus is on sustainable solutions that local citizens can help build, and can maintain once the students are gone. Engineering professionals provide guidance and oversight to the students.

And the students receive more than just a grade in return for their hard work--they also gain practical experience, a global awareness, and the chance to really make a difference in other peoples' lives.

The EWB also provides ways for engineering and non-engineering volunteers and donors to contribute to the lives of others in a significant way.

To make a donation to EWB, visit their donations web page.

Posted by Holly Martin

When President Bush signed the Clean Energy Act of 2007 on Dec. 19, engineers and scientists working on renewable energy technologies received a boost to their efforts, both psychologically and practically.

The Act has something for everyone in the renewable energy field:

• Grants and subsidies for biofuels research and implementation;
• Vehicle efficiency and fuel economy standards;
• Standards for energy efficiency through advanced lighting technologies, such as CFLs and LEDs;
• Funding of a photovoltaic energy installation at the DOE Headquarters;
• Requirements for solar hot water heater use in new federal buildings;
• Marine and hydrokinetic (river flow) energy research;
• Carbon capture and storage research;
• Research on energy efficiency for appliances and buildings;
• Continued insurance protection for nuclear power plants.

Posted by Holly Martin

As the much-touted Bali Conference on Climate Change ends today after two weeks of talks, some scientists and engineers were disinvited to the discussion, because they dare to dispute the party line. A short search on the Internet will show that there are many logical, intelligent and educated scientists who can produce rational critiques of the methods used to massage the data and predict catastrophic climate change caused by human-generated greenhouse gases.

Whether we agree with either side is not the issue--the issue is open scientific inquiry, in the pursuit of truth.

Just as for those scientists who dare to question the evolution PC police, many honest, intelligent and scientifically sound skeptics of the predicted greenhouse gas holocaust were not allowed to participate in the party at Bali.

If the experts who are running the IPCC can't face their skeptical peers in rational debate, then they are denying the very tenets of science itself. They are no longer scientists--they are politicians.

Posted by Holly Martin

If some electrical utilities have their way, new "smart meters" will be installed at every address, in hopes of reducing electrical power use during peak hours. By checking on the current electricity rates every few minutes, the meters will be programmable to automatically shut down the air conditioner, dishwasher or dryer when electricity demand is greatest--usually the middle of the day.

In another twist on smart technology, utilities could install a "smart thermostat" that receives radio signals from the utility to shut down appliances when prices go up.

This sounds like another great use of "green technology" to protect the environment. And smart meters will definitely increase consumer awareness of how much power they are consuming, so that they will work harder to conserve energy.

However, as with all technologies, the science is only part of the equation. According to an article in the Washington Post today, one utility plans to charge customers for the meters, which will cost around $200. (They predict that the customer's energy cost savings will more than pay for the new equipment.)

And what about those retirees, homemakers with small children, and self-employed entrepreneurs (such as yours truly), who NEED air conditioning during the middle of the day? Is it fair to charge us several times higher rates? That's a question for the regulators, not the technologists.

Posted by Holly Martin

This year's hottest green Christmas products are LED holiday lights. LEDs, or light-emitting diodes, use the same technology as appliance indicator lights and fiber optic communication systems.

LED lights are made from two or more different semiconductor materials layered together like an Oreo cookie. Or, to be more precise, a cookie with one vanilla side and one chocolate side, joined together by white frosting. The chocolate side contains negatively charged electrons, while the vanilla side contains positively charged "holes."

When you plug the "cookie" into an electrical source, the negative and positive charges become attracted and flow toward each other. As each pair of charges meets in the middle, they combine to create a photon, a particle of light, which pops out sideways from the frosting. The photons come in different colors (wavelengths), depending on the type of semiconductor used. Or, the plastic cap covering the LED can be tinted to create different colors.

According to Philips, and other manufacturers, these "solid state" lights can last for up to 80,000 hours. There's no filament to burn out and no glass bulb to break. Plus, LEDs use only about 5 percent of the energy required to power other Christmas lights. For those of us who worry about reducing our electric bills, as well as our demand for power, this could be good news.

LED Christmas lights cost about twice as much as mini-light strands. Depending on how many hours you plan to run them, you might see a return on your investment within the first year.

For most of us, however, buying all new LED lights to replace perfectly good mini-lights, would be too expensive. I plan to use them to replace broken or burned out strands, as needed. Besides, in a few years, the price will probably come down as the technology matures.