What to do to get your home "ready for summer"

Before it gets too warm, it's time to make sure you're ready for hot weather.

 This doesn't mean running out and buying the latest swim wear. It means checking your home's heat and air-conditioning system.

First, change your filters in your heating/cooling system. Change them regularly - at least monthly.

Next change your thermostat over to "cool" and test the system by turning the temperature down. If the air conditioner does not turn on, first check to make sure no breakers are tripped. If you can't figure out the problem, call your heating and air conditioning technician. Calling early may prevent you from making an "emergency" call when the temperatures are soaring and the technicians are too busy.

If your cooling system turns on, make sure it is producing adequately cool air. If it's not, and you can't identify the problem on your own, call your heating and air conditioning technician. Make sure you set your thermostat at or above 78 degrees.

If your air conditioner needs to be replaced, do it BEFORE the HOT WEATHER HITS because heating & air conditioning technicians will become increasingly busy. Also, it's likely other things around your home will need attention as well. For instance, your air ducts may need to be tested for leaks and sealed; your attic insulation may be compacted and require an additional 5 to 8 inches; your windows and doors and other parts of the building envelope may need to be caulked and fitted with weather stripping; you might benefit from solar window film to keep out the heat.

Consider changing your old thermostat to a programmable one. You might be surprised how much one of these thermostats can save over its lifetime. If your older thermostat uses a mercury switch (a glass tube filed with silvery substance), be sure to dispose of it properly as it is a hazardous substance that should not enter a landfill.

Consider installing a whole-house fan that uses cool air in the evening to cool the entire house and push hot air out of the attic area.

If you cover your air conditioner's condenser unit (the part that is outside the house) for the winter, take off the cover and hose down the coils. Clear areas around the condenser unit so that it has full air flow.

Install ceiling fans or whole house fans to help reduce your need to use the air conditioner.
Open up any storm windows and clean your screens to enjoy cool morning and evening air.

And don't forget your car. Get it ready for summer and any vacations by filling up the tires, changing filters, checking the fluids and getting a tune up if it's needed.

Sea urchins reveal promising carbon capture alternative

 
Carbon capture and sequestration in underground reservoirs isn’t the most practical or cost effective way to reduce atmospheric CO2 levels. It would be much simpler if CO2 could be quickly and cheaply converted into a harmless, solid mineral before it is released into the atmosphere. A team from the U.K.’s Newcastle University may have stumbled across a way to achieve this thanks to the humble sea urchin.

As part of their research into what happens when CO2 reacts with water – known as the carbonic acid reaction – the researchers were looking for a catalyst to speed up the process. By chance, Dr Lidija Šiller, a physicist and Reader in Nanoscale Technology at Newcastle University, was looking at the way in which organisms absorb CO2 into their skeletons at the same time.

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Threadlike carbon nanotube fiber combines strength, flexibility and conductivity

 

At about 100 times the strength of steel at one sixth the weight and with impressive electrical conductive properties, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have promised much since their discovery in 1991. The problem has been translating their impressive nanoscale properties into real-world applications on the macro scale. Researchers have now unveiled a new CNT fiber that conducts heat and electricity like a metal wire, is very strong like carbon fiber, and is flexible like a textile thread.



Building on ten years of research, the team, consisting of scientists from Rice University, Dutch firm Teijin Aramid, the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, relied on a “wet-spinning” chemical process using chlorosulfonic acid to dissolve clumps of raw nanotubes in a liquid before they were squirted through tiny holes to form long strands. These strands, with trillions and trillions of tightly packed carbon nanotubes all aligned in the same direction, were then spun into a macroscopic thread the researchers say boasts the highest conductivity ever reported for a macroscopic CNT fiber.

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2012 Imagination Power Calendar Art Contest Winners

The results are in and we have selected thirteen art submissions from local elementary students to be used in the 2013 edition of our Imagination Power calendar. This marks the 5^th year JCPB has hosted an art contest for local 4^th and 5^th grade students to express their ideas about renewable energy and sustainable living through pictures. For the fourth consecutive year, JCPB promised a classroom supply of special edition KitBooks to the school with the greatest number of winning entries.

Having four of the thirteen selected entries, Mountain View Elementary of Johnson City Schools took this year’s KitBook grand prize as the school with the most winning selections. KitBooks are a unique and highly effective tool for teaching children key concepts of electrical circuitry and are designed and produced by local entrepreneurs.

Congratulations to Mountain View Elementary and all the young artists listed below! If you would like a copy of this year’s calendar, please come by the JCPB headquarters at 2600 Boones Creek Rd. and pick yours up today (supplies limited).

              Mountain View Elementary:

                

Natalie McBride

                 

Breann Metcalf

                   

 Lyla Muldoon

                   

Jazlynn Wiles

                    Jonesborough Elementary:

                      

Abby Rolla

             

Brandon Southerland

              Gray Elementary:

                   

Daniel Carpenter

                      

 Ethan Head

                     Grandview Elementary:

               

Mackenzie Baldwin

                    Boones Creek Elementary:

                  

Madi Mahoney

                        Lamar Elementary:

                 

Mattie Chase

                 Lake Ridge Elementary:

     

Ava Yobst - Cover Winner

                     Sulphur Springs Elementary:

                   

Cassidy Barrett

New radio telescope to provide advance warnings of potentially damaging solar flares

 
After a long eight-year wait, the building of Australia's Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) telescope has finally reached completion. The radio telescope's first major task will be to investigate the Sun to provide earlier warnings of solar storms that, if left unchecked, could fry satellites and power grids across the globe. The telescope will also be sued to scout the sky for the earliest, most distant galaxies ever detected in an attempt to resolve unanswered questions on the origins of the Universe.

Every once in a while, a massive flow of electrons and other accelerated particles collide with the Sun's plasma. When that happens, a solar flare is born, causing a giant electromagnetic pulse that can spell trouble for us Earthlings. Back in 1989, a solar flare cut power to six million Canadian citizens. And now, reports warn us, the Sun is due to re-enter peak activity in 2013, which the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) says has the potential to cause up to US$2 trillion in damage to power supply and communications networks.Read more:

Read more:http://www.gizmag.com/mwa-radio-telescope-solar-flares/25300/

Smart Meters Help Utility Speed Sandy Restoration

As power utilities work to restore electricity service to millions of people in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, at least one utility has found its investment in smart meters is making a difference.

Pepco, which serves Washington D.C. and parts of Maryland, is using these two-way meters to automatically locate where power outages on its network occurred. Once power is restored, the utility can also ping meters to verify service, rather than send out a crew or make a phone call, according to a Pepco representative.

The widespread disruption to electricity and natural gas service from Sandy raises questions over whether smart grid technologies, such as two-way meters and advanced switches to automatically reroute power, could make the grid more resilient.

http://www.technologyreview.com/view/506711/smart-meters-help-utility-speed-sandy-restoration/

'Frozen air' could heat up renewable energy

The journey to a cooler, greener planet may start with a breath of fresh air, suggests a battery technology under development that could rapidly solve one of the biggest problems with wind and solar energy.
 The air we breathe is about 78 percent nitrogen, a gas that turns to liquid at -321 degrees Fahrenheit.

The technology from Highview Power Storage in the United Kingdom involves extracting carbon dioxide and water vapor from the air, chilling the nitrogen to its liquid state and storing it in a giant vacuum flask.
Then, when energy is needed, the liquid is warmed to ambient temperature. As it transition to the gas phase, it expands about 700 times, generating force to drive a turbine that generates electricity.

Wind and solar power are used to suck air into compressors, purify it and freeze it, which gets us over the hurdle of the intermittentcy problem of the renewable energy.

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