No_Holds_Bard: Tribute to Lazare Ponticelli & to those who survived or tried to survive WWI

No_Holds_Bard: Tribute to Lazare Ponticelli & to those who survived or tried to survive WWI

One Innovation most are awaiting - Longevity

Interlude

on

Longevity

I promised to pass on a couple of links I had on the Longevity theme, all the more relevant these days since a lot of people take Mars exploration oh so seriously, while others would like to stick around to see what will be the result of the Day's Big Matches "Burned or flooded or gased by climate change or frozen by either ocean current path change and lack of easily controllable energy (coal, oil, or petrol...) The other questions I had to ask myself was on which on my blogs to post the Longevity Links. Post it on:
-the current pages "Conversation-on-Innovations"?
-or on my newer "The Materials Chemists"? A bit of Alchemy could be helpful in these endeavors.
-or a bit poetic on "No_Holds_Bard"? Why not? Two links on serious science, more to come
-or again on "Metallurgy-Materials Science and Engineering"?.

That could be OK too, because one approach uses the classical engineering components bath-tub model made famous in the semi-con industry, remember, "Lots of failure at start-up (infant mortality!) things in life settle down to a standard steady state then old age, lack of energy, fossil or otherwise, or catastrophic climate-change or something catches up with the weeker "older generation" and Bye bye to the beautiful blue planet. Some of this may even shorten the steady state of current beatitude enjoyed by some.

Choices will wait: here are my longevity links:

1. "Longevity-Science Institute".

and

2. "The BBC Reith Lectures 2001: The End of Age".

My Rank on a Google Search Today

Google Search (080309): Date , 9th March 2008

Key Words

Blogs: Metallurgy & Materials Science,

Technology, Engineering

Rank- Page2, 15th in listed sites our of 15 000 replies.

Abstract from search page(2):

Conversations on Innovations: The Metallurgy of CO2 absorption ...
- [ Traduire cette page ]
Metallurgy, Materials Science,Applied Science .... Institute of (Metallurgy) Materials,Minerals & Mining-Science,Technology, Engineering - Academia & ...
Conversations on Innovations: The Metallurgy of CO2 absorption ...

Encouraging , Don't you think?

Comment for Comment - Open Letter to D.Bradley_Sciencebase

Comment for Comment,

Indeed David,

It would be most enlightening to read your own Technological- to do List.

David, you have a good start with "Solar vs. Nuclear Fusion".

Easy now vs maybe some day!

This does not alter the demand for very high level research in fundamental physics and materials. For scientific credibility to remain higher than just fund bickering or stealing under false pretense, whatever the lobbies, little "big" projects such as nuclear fusion-decided, I believe?- must keep the books clean and prove added value at every step, eg. by economically viable spin-offs, furthering teaching and education, energy distribution HVDC -high voltage direct , at first site favouring decentralised energy sourcing.

I am glad you reminded us of "the nitrogen cycle" -mostly air, reported as getting hotter.

Your link to Socolow allows us to get his rough skeleton of the "fertilisers -water pollution problem" (presumably in the highly intensive farming model in use over the last few decades). At current rates of population growth some consider this model to have reached it's limit and no longer a viable response to human global requirements and benefit.

It could be "amusing" to compare Socolow's 4 main categories (well presented on the whole via your link on Sciencebase with Dale Carnegie's list of Human Desires (from around the time of the great depression 1929) The first four are given here.

1 Health & the preservation of life.
2.Food
3.Sleep
4.Money & the things money can by.

"Better to be rich and in good health than poor & in ill heath!" according to the late Shultz's "Charlie Brown" in the famous Snoopy Comic Strips & Posters.

To your remark on Virtual Reality & Exploring Natural Frontiers -you made a point, alluded to in my previous post and reply to your question-comment, on real world problems. Let's add a high mark for the good use of VIRTUAL REALITY from the free magazine Scientific Computing[LINK] (commonly called computer modeling, "sexed-up?" cf. Carnegie's full hit-list of Human Desires) and a black mark for the games version of virtual reality and its influence on fragile minds (unable to differentiate the real world of common human perception from virtual-digital world. (I trust engineers "safely engineering for safety are, indeed, not in this category). It is perhaps not too much to expect that, this highly lucrative activity, contribute to objective study in these fields.

On climate change & CO2, scepticism, I repeat, as on my blog,(previous post & comment reply to David Bradley, I simply cannot follow the sceptics down this lengthy "never ending" path, at least on engineering policy. The role of global dimming (atmospheric particles-repiratory problems - not the best way to cool things down) is also recognised. Of course no single individual nor country can properly address the magnitude of GHG mitigation required estimates. CO2 is a focal point, it could be Cost too(Stern Report). There is a special free supplement to Nature on supplement to Nature on Supplements/Collections which I'm sure you know. (Coal ref. Page40-43). Faced with a local finding of the reported biggest reserve in Europe(EU), I first shuddered, wrote a poem on Coal in an previous post, then got involved in this possibly “depressing” topic, Coal, Combustion, CO2... My sceptical nature made me check rapidly what others were saying. On the whole even in company websites no major discrepancy was found to contradict Nature's German correspondent’s article. Capture & Sequestration is a must by common accord for this most abundant fossil fuel. Now speed with which "the industrial-financial system can swing into full play is shatteringly slow - Commentators at my Institute -The Institute of Material, Mining & Minerals [IOM3-link]) - often refer to the efficiency of development (Research to Market),in wartime compared with the luxurious pace enjoyed by our post WW2 generations.

PS.
It is well worth looking at Steel production growth since 2000 and its related CO2(calculated by a fixed conversion ratio 1.7 IISI,(Eurofer 1.8): T Steel Prod X 1.7=Tonnes CO2)

(MT million metric tons), CO2 factor 1.7
Period

1995 - 1950 (45y) : Increased Steel 567 MT, Increased CO2 963.9 MT.

1996-2006 (10y) :Increased Steel 489 MT, Increased CO2 831.3 MT.

cf. International Iron & Steel Institute (IISI) Steel in Figures, World Steel in Figures 2007 [link] much of it for car production whose steel is produced in coal combustion powered economies where CCS-Carbon Capture and Sequestration is embryonic not even in it’s infancy.(large scale “pilot” plant is Mega Tonnes MT (CO2)when Giga Tonnes (CO2)- CCS is required)

A Strong valuable protest:
NB. The open letter by the Royal Society in UK-GB, complaining about slur on the reputation of on perfectly respectable highly competent climate scientists such as those seconded to IPCC, worse, underhanded specific financing of certain scientists notably by Exxon-Mobile, in order to discredit the Climate-Change Science and IPCC.

My own feeling is that after 20 to 30 years of painful research and modelling, as perfectly transparent as one comes across these days, IPCC and the International Scientific Communities, not overly attracted to open political-media bickering and no-holds-barred campaigning, preferring the “comfort of study, erudite, codified, publishing and teaching” finally pluck-up enough courage to triple underscore the fears they were living with intimately under the political pressures of economic growth, GNP and the short electoral time span, and the longer human life span, for that matter. This should be praise rather than scorned.

As you pointed out, the original Tech-to-do- list you presented (for want of the original report) does appear very wishy-washy indeed.

"Engineering Skills" in Shorter Supply than previously Imagined!

I have just taken a visit to Dave Bradley's Sciencebase site- mostly about chemstry.

It was a worthwhile visit. Of course it usually is. In this instance the added value concerned not chemistry, but engineering policy.

I stumbled upon a checklist entitled " Technological To-Do List " the list of most important engineering challenges by "experts."

Quite eye opening critical comments where made by David.

In particular he points out that since we are so close to engineering solar power, economically (I am translating liberally) why invest so heavily in Nuclear Fusion?
(NB. I am based in France-but not in the favoured South East of France- where the experimental reactor ITER is to be based. Worse, I remember quite clearly the Nobel prize winner the late Pierre-Gilles de Gennes' criticism of the ITER project. In one sentence P-G. de Gennes pointed out that this project lacked not only the resolution of some fundamental physics problems, but also did not respect the basic scaling rules of sound chemical engineering! NB. P-G, another of my mentors, was until his death, the Director of The Paris School of Industrial Physics & Chemistry, (ENSPCI) and member of the Board, for R&D, of several companies, noteably Rhodia)

As for the GHG-Green House Gases-critics, since we are concerned with "safety engineering safely", the only valid question, to my mind, is what engineering can and will be done to alleviate, mitigate, alter the current predicted "unmanageable" climate changes.

I am pleased he was not to harsh with my "mentor" Rob Socolow, source of my "Wedge-a-War" web-log.

Having let-off some steam, body temperature back to normal, I promise to read Dave Bradley (FRSC) Technological To-Do List on Sciencebase as well as R Socolow's comments at Princeton Engineering & Applied Science with more care, and to accept R Socolow's invitation to visit Engineering Challenges[Link]

R Socolow's invitation

Comments suggestions questions on my interpretation welcome.

Engineering Job call - Skill needs in energy industry - Significant decline in science, engineering and technical recruits

ref: ‘Skills needs in the energy industry’ report by the Energy Institute

"Energy skills shortage: a boardroom issue"

Future skills shortages and leadership development needs in the energy sector should be treated as strategic boardroom issues, according to the Energy Institute (EI).

This was one of the key recommendations drawn from surveys conducted by the EI in partnership with Deloitte , the management consultancy, and Norman Broadbent,an organisation dedicated to the search for executive talent in the energy sector, between 2005 and 2007.

A summary of the ‘Skills needs in the energy industry’ report was presented at International Petroleum Week, an annual four-day programme of major conferences and functions hosted in London by the EI.

According to EI, a significant decline in recruits, especially those with science, engineering and technical skills is reported.


For the first time, IP Week featured a seminar specifically dedicated to the issue of skills needs in the energy industry, during which delegates from 12 different oil and gas producing countries heard experts outline additional solutions.

The media report may be found at Energy Institute (EI)[link_pdf].

Other online resources from the Energy Institute are:


EI Publications online
Standard Test Methods
Modern Petroleum Technology
WPC Proceedings
Transport Fuels Technology Update Service
Hearts and Minds Toolkit
Safe staffing arrangements
Offshore technical guidance catalogue
Fuel and Energy Abstracts
Croner’s Energy Management
EI Yearbook



Source [link].

Nanoengineered concrete R & D to cut CO2 emissions

Nanoengineered concrete could cut CO2 emissions?

In a previous note on commercial or near commercial innovation, I recorded work on cement manufacturing at lower temperatures, thus saving energy and reducing CO2 emissions.

The MIT report (below_near the end of my entry) appeared to provide an opportunity to record both one high profile longer termed R&D work in Nanoengineering and the more mundane close to production, often overlooked by the main dailey press media.

Having recently received an invitation, among many others, to attend a 2 day conference, Global Fuels Conf. & Awards, held in London on 4-5 Feb. 08, [Link-html] reporting on Industrial progress and R&D work, many of which involved CO2 reduction in cement manufacturing, including it's use in steelmaking slags.

[Link-html]

The following entry "Nanoengineered concrete could cut CO2 emissions? " which was my initial motivation to weblog, appears to belong to the longer termed (LT) research category unless the financial backing from the french company Lafarge pushes forward the project and in doing so achieve quicker and improved ROI-Return on Investment.

Nanoengineered concrete could cut CO2 emissions?
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--While government leaders argue about the practicality of reducing world emissions of carbon dioxide, scientists and engineers are seeking ways to make it happen.
One group of engineers at MIT decided to focus its work on the nanostructure of concrete, the world's most widely used material. The production of cement, the primary component of concrete, accounts for 5 to 10 percent of the world's total carbon dioxide emissions; the process is an important contributor to global warming.

In the January issue of the Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids, the team reports that the source of concrete's strength and durability lies in the organization of its nanoparticles. The discovery could one day lead to a major reduction in carbon dioxide emissions during manufacturing.

Could be worth repeating that the above reported MIT research was funded in part by the Lafarge Group according to
Eurekalert[Link]

In guise of a conclusion:
WHAT IS PRETTY CERTAIN IS THAT MANY MORE E-MISSIONS WILL CUT CO2 EMISSIONS WITHOUT CUTTING JOBS!

May I take this opportunity to remind my readers that I travel for work missions only according to standard working request procedures, transportation mode being, of course, at the initiative of the requesting firm, however where distance is involved and when possible, rail travel is preferred. The latter is a considerable sacrifice, as I love flying!

Acknowledgements:

1. With thanks to Danish Nano & Nilt News letter who drew my attention to this MIT
work.

2. Global Fuels Awards

Four categories are open for nominations:

1 Outstanding alternative fuel project (cement or lime company)

2 Most innovative technology for alternative fuel use

3 Outstanding electrical energy efficiency project award (cement or lime company)

4 Most innovative technology for electrical energy efficiency