Tag Archives: desalination

Surprise! Climate change did not come up at this week’s presidential forum on national security.

by ErikaKilpatrick Posted on September 8, 2016

Most desalination plants — factories that take the salt out of ocean water — look like this:

But the Land Art Generator Initiative, a competition to design new energy infrastructure that can do double duty as public art, says a desalination plant can look like this instead:

Land Art Generator Initiative

Yes, that resembles a very expensive pen floating off the coast of Santa Monica. But the shiny surface on this hypothetical 2,000-foot-long pipe is actually solar panels, which would power the seawater-to-freshwater process.

Land Art Generator Initiative

The interior of the pipe would be an enormous public pool that would help disperse the extra-salty brine left over from the desalination process back into the ocean.

Khalili Engineers, the team that created the design, told Fast Co.Exist that the pipe would be able to supply a billion gallons a year — about half of Santa Monica’s freshwater needs. They’re building a prototype to prove it — which is good, because that number sounds ambitious.

In the meantime, this conceptual work is a perfect hybrid of current trends in art, technology, climate preparedness, and public spaces for our hotter, more crowded cities. Expect to see more blinged-out designs like this in the future.

View original article: 

Surprise! Climate change did not come up at this week’s presidential forum on national security.

Posted in alo, Anchor, eco-friendly, FF, G & F, GE, LAI, ONA, solar, solar panels, solar power, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Surprise! Climate change did not come up at this week’s presidential forum on national security.

California is figuring out the whole drought thing for the rest of us

by ChristaGoodlet Posted on June 22, 2015

Looking on the Blight Side of Things

California is figuring out the whole drought thing for the rest of us

By on 22 Jun 2015 2:48 pmcommentsShare

California drought,yadda yadda yadda. You’ve probably heard it all by now — water rights debates, evil almonds, lawn hate — but that overexposure could be a boon for the rest of the world, where drought is forecast to be a serious and growing problem as the climate warms. Here’s the gist, from Wired:

[B]eyond the lack of rain and decades of terrible, horrible, no good, very bad water policies, California has some of the best resources for setting things right. Resources like its $2.2 trillion GDP, its water-hawk governor, or the brains at Cal Tech’s Resnick Institute in Pasadena. (The institute, it should be noted, was funded with money from megafarmer Stewart Resnick, who has been the center of other water controversies.) . The institute, which focuses on scientific and technological fixes for energy, water, and other sustainability issues, is crafting a three-part plan to alleviate the drought. The goal, says director Neil Fromer, isn’t to solve the drought. “But if we can develop a system that is much more resilient to these kinds of weather systems, that can be valuable to people all over the world.”

Broadly, the Resnick group will explore three areas:
1. Technology to catch and recover water that is currently lost.
2. Sensors to gather better intelligence on how much water is available.
3. Models to put this intelligence to use for water management.

Basically, 1) a lot of the rain that falls on California runs straight off into the sea. The infrastructure and tech for capturing this rain and routing it into the watersupply should be fairly straightforward — but so far doesn’t really exist.

“Los Angeles, for instance, gets a decent amount of rainfall and most of that goes into the ocean,” Fromer says. Building stormwater capture and treatment facilities isn’t hard, but there’s no way to plug them into the system.

2) Our water system is incredibly old, while sensor technology has gotten good and cheap enough to help plug leaks and track usage — neither of which the state does at the moment.

Last summer a pipe burst under L.A.’s Sunset Boulevard and spilled at least 20 million gallons of water … to the best of anyone’s knowledge. City officials have no clue how long the pipe had been leaking before it burst. Municipal sensors could track flow in real time, along with water quality

And for No. 3), cities could get proactive with all that sensor data:

With the right data, engineers can write algorithms that predict use and plug up waste. For example, a model could track L.A.’s water usage by the minute, and by measuring those rates against averages could detect spikes indicating underground leaks. And because the sensors would be distributed, engineers could quickly pinpoint the leak’s location.

If that all sounds somewhat basic to you, it’s because our water infrastructure — not unlike the electrical grid — is pretty outdated to begin with. But we’re all about silver linings here at Grist. If the disaster that is California’s ongoing drought can show the rest of us a little light, let’s do ourselves a favor and pay attention now … including what NOT to do.

Source:
DEAR WORLD: HERE ARE SOME DROUGHT FIXES. LOVE, CALIFORNIA

, Wired.

Share

Please

enable JavaScript

to view the comments.

Get Grist in your inbox

Read more:  

California is figuring out the whole drought thing for the rest of us

Posted in alo, Anchor, FF, G & F, GE, green energy, LG, ONA, Radius, solar, solar power, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on California is figuring out the whole drought thing for the rest of us

Desalination Plant Said to Be Planned for Thirsty Beijing

by ChelseyPegues Posted on April 15, 2014

green4us

All New Square Foot Gardening, Second Edition – Mel Bartholomew

Rapidly increasing in popularity, square foot gardening is the most practical, foolproof way to grow a home garden. That explains why author and gardening innovator Mel Bartholomew has sold more than two million books describing how to become a successful DIY square foot gardener. Now, with the publication of All New Square Foot Gardening, Second Edition , t […]

iTunes Store
Codex: Astra Militarum (Enhanced Edition) – Games Workshop

The Astra Militarum are the mighty Hammer of the Emperor, an army so vast that it has never been fully recorded by the scribes of the Administratum. Drawn from a million worlds, its men and women are the thin line between Humanity and the void. On hundreds of thousands of warzones across the galaxy the armies of the Astra Militarum hold back the advance of a […]

iTunes Store
Codex: Astra Militarum (eBook Edition) – Games Workshop

Codex: Astra Militarum The Astra Militarum are the mighty Hammer of the Emperor, an army so vast that it has never been fully recorded by the scribes of the Administratum. Drawn from a million worlds, its men and women are the thin line between Humanity and the void. On hundreds of thousands of warzones across the galaxy the armies of the Astra Militarum hol […]

iTunes Store
My Boyfriend Barfed in My Handbag . . . and Other Things You Can’t Ask Martha – Jolie Kerr

“Wise and funny. . . . The Lorrie Moore short story, or the Tina Fey memoir, of cleaning tutorials.” —Dwight Garner, The New York Times “Thrillingly titled. . . . For a generation overwhelmed not just by dust bunnies, but by bong water on the carpet, pee stains on the ceiling and vomit seemingly everywhere, Jolie Kerr dispenses cleaning advice free of judgme […]

iTunes Store
White Dwarf Issue 11: 12 April 2014 – White Dwarf

This issue, the Bullgryns smash into Warhammer 40,000 along with their Ogryn counterparts and the infamous bodyguard Nork Deddog, complete with painting guides in Paint Splatter. We also take the Astra Militarum out for a Battle Report: who will win, humanity’s finest defenders or the marauding Orks? About this Series: White Dwarf is Games Workshop […]

iTunes Store
The Art of Raising a Puppy (Revised Edition) – Monks of New Skete

For more than thirty years the Monks of New Skete have been among America’s most trusted authorities on dog training, canine behavior, and the animal/human bond. In their two now-classic bestsellers, How to be Your Dog’s Best Friend and The Art of Raising a Puppy, the Monks draw on their experience as long-time breeders of German shepherds and as t […]

iTunes Store
How to Paint Citadel Miniatures: Astra Militarum – Games Workshop

The Astra Militarum is an army of regimentation and proud tradition, with soldiers drawn from across the length and breadth of the Imperium. Their uniforms and iconography reflect this strict adherence to military organisation, and whether it is the Scions of the Militarum Tempestus, the Imperial Guardsmen of Cadia or the tanks of an armoured formation, each […]

iTunes Store
Codex: Militarum Tempestus (Interactive Edition) – Games Workshop

Codex: Militarum Tempestus The Scions of the Militarum Tempestus are the highly skilled elite of the Astra Militarum. Trained from youth in the combat schools of the Schola Progenium, each one has been psycho-conditioned to obey without question and kill without remorse. In battle, the toughest missions fall to the Tempestus Scions. Their specialist sq […]

iTunes Store
How to Raise the Perfect Dog – Cesar Millan & Melissa Jo Peltier

From the bestselling author and star of National Geographic Channel’s Dog Whisperer , the only resource you’ll need for raising a happy, healthy dog. For the millions of people every year who consider bringing a puppy into their lives–as well as those who have already brought a dog home–Cesar Millan, the preeminent dog behavior expert, says, “Yes, […]

iTunes Store
Beautiful No-Mow Yards – Evelyn Hadden

What has your perfect green lawn done for you lately? Is it really worth the time, effort, and resources you lavish on it? Armed with encouragement, inspiration, and cutting-edge advice from award-winning author Evelyn Hadden, you can liberate yourself at last! In this ultimate guide to rethinking your yard, Hadden showcases dozens of inspiring, eco-friendly […]

iTunes Store

Excerpt from: 

Desalination Plant Said to Be Planned for Thirsty Beijing

Posted in alo, Bunn, Citadel, eco-friendly, FF, G & F, GE, LAI, LG, Monterey, Mop, ONA, solar, solar power, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Desalination Plant Said to Be Planned for Thirsty Beijing