India Just Broke a World Record With Its New Solar Farm

In Brief

• India is now home to a 10 square kilometer (over 6 square miles), 648 MW solar farm, the largest in the entire world.
• The country has one of the fastest growing economies and is getting increasing amounts of energy from renewable sources.

China may be the largest producer of solar energy in the world, but neighboring India is no less ambitious when it comes to renewable energy. Expected to become the world’s third-biggest solar market after China and the USA, it is putting its money where its mouth is. A case in point: the country has just put the world’s largest solar power plant into service.

This is good news not just for India’s future energy security but also for its people’s short-term energy needs.

Beating Records

The Adani Group’s new site in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu covers an area of 10 square kilometers and has a capacity of 648 megawatts (MW). This is nearly 100 MW more than the previous record-holder, the Topaz Solar Farm in California.

The plant was built in only eight months, comprises 2.5 million individual solar modules and cost $679m to build. It is estimated that it will produce enough electricity to power about 150,000 homes at full capacity.

Made up of five plants in a single location, the solar photovoltaic project has helped push India’s total installed solar capacity across the 10 gigawatt mark, which only a handful of countries can claim.


Installed solar capacity and cost in India. Image: Bridge to India

 

Leading the World in Renewables

A signatory of the Paris Agreement, India is forecast to meet its renewable energy commitments three years early and exceed them by nearly half. The country is aiming to generate nearly 60% of its electricity from non-fossil sources by 2027.

Solar is a particular focus: it makes up only 16% of renewable energy capacity now but is set to contribute over half of the renewables target by 2022: 100 gigawatts of 175 GW. Large installations will be key to achieving this, and the government is planning 33 solar parks in 21 states, with a capacity of at least 500 megawatts each.

Plugging a Gap

Prioritizing solar is not just an investment in the future, though. India is one of the world’s fastest growing economies, and its energy use has doubled since 2000, according to the International Energy Agency.

Last year, the country declared that it had a power surplus for the first time ever, though The Hindu reported that 300 million people still don’t have access to electricity and power cuts continue to be ‘rampant.’ The issue, it appears, is that capacity remains unused in the grid because some state power companies simply cannot afford to buy sufficient electricity.

The Indian government has recently launched an energy ‘blueprint’, and raised its investment target for solar energy to $100 billion in an attempt to address both these near-term issues as well as securing its energy supply far into the future.

This will be important even if China is about to overtake India with an even larger solar power plant which is capable of producing 850 MW of power, enough to supply up to 200,000 households.

An Indian chemical plant has figured out how to turn its carbon emissions into baking soda

This could solve a lot of problems.

A chemical plant in India is the first in the world to run a new system for capturing carbon emissions and converting them into baking soda.

The Tuticorin Alkali Chemicals plant, in the industrial port city of Tuticorin, is expecting to convert some 60,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions annually into baking soda and other chemicals – and the scientists behind the process say the technique could be used to ultimately capture and transform up to 10 percent of global emissions from coal.

While carbon capture technology is not a new thing, what's remarkable about the Tuticorin installation is that it's running without subsidies from the government – suggesting the researchers have developed a profitable, practical system that could have the commercial potential to expand to other plants and industries.

"I am a businessman. I never thought about saving the planet," the managing director of the plant, Ramachadran Gopalan, told the BBC.

"I needed a reliable stream of CO2, and this was the best way of getting it."

The inventors of the new technique, London-based Carbon Clean Solutions, developed the system in the UK after receiving finance from a British entrepreneur support scheme. Their process uses a patented chemical to filter out CO2 molecules.

In the Tuticorin setup, the plant runs a coal-fired burner to make steam that powers its various chemical-manufacturing processes. A mist containing Carbon Clean's chemical separates the CO2 emissions in the burner's chimney, which are then fed into a mixing chamber with salt and ammonia.

The end product can then be used to produce baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) or a range of other compounds, for use in things such as glass manufacture, detergents, disinfectants, and sweeteners.

The overall idea of separating CO2 molecules from flue gas may not be new, but the team behind the system say that their filtering chemical is more efficient than the amine compounds that scientists have previously used, and requires less energy to run.

According to CEO Aniruddha Sharma, the company's approach is to think realistically, partnering with modest, low-risk enterprises as it builds itself up – and he says the same strategy should be implemented by the carbon capture industry as a whole.

"So far the ideas for carbon capture have mostly looked at big projects, and the risk is so high they are very expensive to finance," Sharma told Roger Harrabin at The Guardian.

"We want to set up small-scale plants that de-risk the technology by making it a completely normal commercial option."

The other compelling aspect of the system is that it actually does something positive with the carbon – making new chemicals and products – rather than simply storing it somewhere in a useless, dormant state (such as burying it underground).

That distinction is the difference between carbon capture and storage (CCS) and what's called carbon capture and utilisation (CCU).

And given the expense involved with building carbon capture systems, the ability to on-sell a byproduct could be incredibly important in making this technology financially viable in the bigger picture.

"We have to do everything we can to reduce the harmful effects of burning fossil fuels," Lord Ronald Oxburgh, the head of the UK government's carbon capture advisory group, told the BBC, "and it is great news that more ways are being found of turning at least some of the CO2 into useful products."

Nikola Tesla vs. Thomas Edison: Who Was the Better Inventor?

 

 Nikola Tesla would have celebrated his 158th birthday today (July 10).

The Serbian-American scientist was a brilliant and eccentric genius whose inventions enabled modern-day power and mass communication systems.

His nemesis and former boss, Thomas Edison, was the iconic American inventor of the light bulb, the phonograph and the moving picture. The two feuding geniuses waged a "War of Currents" in the 1880s over whose electrical system would power the world — Tesla's alternating-current (AC) system or Edison's rival direct-current (DC) electric power.



Amongst science nerds, few debates get more heated than the ones that compare Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison. So, who was the better inventor?

"They're different inventors, but you can't really say one is greater, because American society needs some Edisons and it needs some Teslas" said W. Bernard Carlson, the author of "Tesla: Inventor of the Electrical Age" (Princeton Press, 2013).

From their starkly different personalities to their lasting legacies, here's how the two dueling inventors stack up. [Vote: Tesla vs. Edison - Who Was the Greatest Inventor of All Time?]

Most brilliant

Tesla had an eidetic memory, which meant he could very precisely recall images and objects. This enabled him to accurately visualize intricate 3D objects, and as a result, he could build working prototypes using few preliminary drawings.

"He really worked out his inventions in his imagination," Carlson told Live Science.

In contrast, Edison was more of a sketcher and a tinkerer.

"If you were going to [the] laboratory and watch him at work, you'd find he'd have stuff all over the bench: wires and coils and various parts of inventions," Carlson said.

In the end, however, Edison held 1,093 patents, according to the Thomas Edison National Historic Park. Tesla garnered less than 300 worldwide, according to a study published in 2006 at the Sixth International Symposium of Nikola Tesla. (Of course, Edison had scores more assistants helping him devise inventions, and also bought some of his patents.)

Most forward thinking

Though the light bulb, the phonograph and moving pictures are touted as Edison's most important inventions, other people were already working on similar technologies, said Leonard DeGraaf, an archivist at Thomas Edison National Historical Park in New Jersey, and the author of "Edison and the Rise of Innovation" (Signature Press, 2013).

"If Edison hadn't invented those things, other people would have," DeGraaf told Live Science.

In a shortsighted move, Edison dismissed Tesla's "impractical" idea of an alternating-current (AC) system of electric power transmission, instead promoting his simpler, but less efficient, direct-current (DC) system.

By contrast, Tesla's ideas were often more disruptive technologies that didn't have a built-in market demand. And his alternating-current motor and hydroelectric plant at Niagara Falls— a first-of-its-kind power plant — truly electrified the world.

Tesla also spent years working on a system designed to wirelessly transmit voices, images and moving pictures — making him a futurist, and the true father of radio, telephone, cell phones and television. [Creative Genius: The World's Greatest Minds]

"Our entire mass communication system is based on Tesla's system," said Marc Seifer, author of "Wizard: The Life and Times of Nikola Tesla," (Citadel Press, 2001).

Unfortunately, Tesla's grand scheme failed when his financial backer, J.P. Morgan, became fed up with years of failure.

Biggest impact

Edison's enduring legacy isn't a specific patent or technology, but his invention factories, which divided the innovation process into small tasks that were carried out by legions of workers, DeGraaf said. For instance, Edison got the idea for a moving picture camera, or kinetoscope from a talk by photographer Edward Muybridge, but then left most of the experimentation and prototyping to his assistant William Dickson and others. By having multiple patents and inventions developing in parallel, Edison, in turn, ensured that his assistants had a stable financial situation to continue running experiments and fleshing out more designs.

"He invents modern innovation as we know it," DeGraaf said.

Tesla's inventions are the backbone of modern power and communication systems, but he faded into obscurity later in the 20th century, when most of his inventions were lost to history. And despite his many patents and innovations, Tesla was destitute when he died in 1943.

Best dinner party guest

At the height of his career, Tesla was charismatic, urbane and witty. He spoke several languages and counted writers Mark Twain and Rudyard Kipling, and naturalist John Muir as friends, according to Seifer.

"He moved in very high circles," Seifer said.

But Tesla could also be haughty and was known to be a hygiene freak. In his later years, his obsessive tics (such as his fear of women's earrings) grew stronger, and he died penniless and alone in a hotel in New York City, Seifer said.

Edison, meanwhile, was hard of hearing and introverted, with few close friends.

Edison also had a mean streak, which he amply displayed in his vicious attacks against Tesla during the War of Currents. He also gave advice on how to build the first electric chair using direct current (DC), going into gory detail about the techniques needed to do the deed, Seifer said.

Most fashionable

Tesla was tall, slender and imposing, with a dashing moustache and an impeccable sense of style, Carlson said. His top hat and tails are even on display in a museum in Serbia.

By contrast, Edison was known to be a bit of a slob.

"We're not really interested in seeing what Edison wore, because it was pretty forgettable," Carlson said.

Edison even wore shoes two sizes too large so that he could slip into and out of them without stooping down to untie them, Carlson said.

Rosetta Plants 1st Human Kiss on a Comet

The European Space Agency's 1.4 billion-euros Rosetta mission on Wednesday achieved a first for humankind by successfully landing its Philae probe on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Now, the lander's fate hangs in the balance following a tense descent and the apparent failure of several key anchoring systems.

The ROLIS camera on Rosetta's lander, Philae, took the above image of Comet 67P/C-G during the descent, only 3 km away from the surface.(Credits: ESA/Rosetta/Philae/ROLIS/DLR)

"We are extremely relieved to be safely on the surface of the comet, especially given the extra challenges that we faced with the health of the lander," said Stephan Ulamec, Philae Lander Manager at the DLR German Aerospace Center, following news of the probe's safe arrival at 11:03 a.m. EST.

"In the next hours we'll learn exactly where and how we've landed, and we'll start getting as much science as we can from the surface of this fascinating world," he added.

Launched on March 2, 2004, Rosetta traveled 6.4 billion kilometers through the solar system before arriving at the comet on Aug. 6 of this year.

Philae's Wednesday landing followed a seven-hour descent.

"This is the first body of this type that we've ever landed on," James Oberg, a retired rocket scientist who is now an author and media consultant, told TechNewsWorld. "The last time we were on a comet, we hit it. This time, we got to kiss it."

The 100kg lander was provided by a European consortium headed by DLR; other members of the consortium are ESA, CNES and institutes from Austria, Finland, France, Hungary, Ireland, Italy and the United Kingdom.

A Milligravity Atmosphere

Philae's landing site was a spot named "Agilkia," located on the head of the comet, a double-lobed body 510 million kilometers from Earth. The comet is littered with boulders; it has towering cliffs, daunting precipices and pits, and jets of gas and dust streaming from the surface.

Following the descent, which was made without propulsion or guidance, Philae actually may have landed not just once, but twice -- apparently lifting off again briefly after the first time before resettling on the surface.

Gravity on the comet is so minimal as to warrant the term "milligravity," Oberg said.

The consistency of the comet's surface "is as weird as they feared," he added, and thus "the failure of their grapple mechanisms looks serious."

Signs of Trouble

Multiple pryotechnic charges don't appear to have worked, and two harpoons failed to fire, Oberg said.

"Explosive bolts are standard equipment, but no one has ever exposed them for so long to such cold," he explained. "There has been speculation in some of the space geek chat rooms that they could have a chemical issue."

The most telling first indications of trouble were the "very dramatic and graphic hand movements" of the mission's controllers as they "gathered in corners," Oberg said. "They have not spoken in any detail, but the posture of their controllers speaks volumes."

A 'Fluffy' Surface

With so little gravity on the comet, and with less anchoring than had been planned, it could be difficult for Philae to remain there as intended.

Moreover, "if the surface is as fluffy as it's starting to look, some of the sampling mechanisms would have difficulty acquiring samples without throwing the probe," Oberg explained.

Though Philae's designers "clearly knew they'd be facing a challenge," it remains to be seen whether the multiple mechanisms they included can cope with the reality of the conditions on 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

'You Go Out There to Be Surprised'

"They're looking at getting the situation stable and then relaying some pictures so they can figure out what the real status is," Oberg said. "It's going to be important to get some pictures from Rosetta of the landing site to see just how big a hole it made when it touched down -- or maybe several holes."

More details will surely emerge overnight, he added.

"As a spaceflight professional, my motto is, 'boring is good,'" Oberg said. "As a human being, we want surprises. This is probably the only comet landing any of us will see in our lifetimes. You go out there to be surprised -- if you didn't want that, you'd stay home."

An Onboard Laboratory

Assuming Philae can maintain its position, it will spend the next few days conducting its primary science mission. That includes capturing a full panoramic view of the landing site, including a section in 3D, as well as high-resolution images of the surface immediately underneath the lander. It will make an on-the-spot analysis of the composition of the comet's surface materials, using a drill that will take samples from a depth of 23 cm and feed them to an on-board laboratory for analysis.

The lander also will measure the electrical and mechanical characteristics of the surface. In addition, low-frequency radio signals will be beamed between Philae and the orbiter through the nucleus to probe the internal structure.

An extended science phase using Philae's rechargeable secondary battery may be possible if illumination conditions from the Sun permit and dust does not prevent it. This extended phase could last until March 2015. At that point, conditions inside the lander are expected to be too hot for it to continue operating.

Like Science Fiction

"This was a first, and all firsts are significant when it comes to complex space missions," said Mario Livio, senior astrophysicist with the Space Telescope Science Institute.

"Furthermore, this mission almost resembles science fiction, and it is a wonderful feeling when science turns what was previously science fiction into an area of active research," he told TechNewsWorld.

The detailed surface measurements that Philae makes at its landing site will complement and calibrate the extensive remote observations made by the Rosetta orbiter covering the whole comet.

"Comets are extremely important in giving us details about the history of the solar system," Livio said.

Time for Renewed Commitment

Indeed, "we are effectively sampling materials in primitive, unaltered form that goes back to the origin of the solar system four and a half billion years ago," noted William Newman, a professor in UCLA's departments of earth, planetary and space sciences, physics and astronomy, and mathematics.

"This could shed a lot of light on our solar system's origin," he told TechNewsWorld, "and the role that cometary materials had in the subsequent evolution of our own planet as a result of their delivering to us carbon dioxide, water, and other materials that have helped to redefine our planet."

China, India and Europe all have made "remarkable achievements" in planetary and space exploration over the past year, Newman said.

"Meanwhile, our space program seems to be frozen in time," he lamented.

"There are many talented planetary and space scientists in this country who are unable to find in America suitable employment and the opportunity to develop missions that could alter our perspective of our place in the universe," Newman observed.

"While our European colleagues deserve our kudos today," he acknowledged, "it is time that we renew our commitment to space exploration -- not to mention to potential economic benefits that could emerge -- if this country is to return to its leadership role. We must not be satisfied with being No. 4."

Stanford University Examines Biological Entity Found In Atacama Desert

The Neanderthal’s DNA is 99.5 % identical to the human race, a chimpanzee and the DNA of great apes is 96-97% identical to a human being. Our own human history is still in the process of discovery, research and exploration. Most of the information we take in and choose to believe about religion, evolution and the origin of our species is often lacking complete information.

A lack of truth and information has led to the human race to develop a number of theories and belief systems that are widely accepted as truth and taught within educational institutions without any full verification.

There is nothing wrong with having different beliefs about creation and the origin of life, the mistake comes when we close our minds to other possibilities and new understandings about the nature of our reality. Sure, we do have lots of information, but what we perceive as a large amount is still a very small amount. This leads to new theories, ideas and world paradigms that are constantly changing throughout human history.

The specimen under examination in the video below was found in the Atacama Desert. Research has already determined that a large portion of its DNA is from a human female, presumably the mother. The astonishing thing is that 9% of its DNA is unmatched, this is a very large portion of DNA. What could it be? Researches don’t know yet, and it will take a number of years to determine exactly what that unmatched DNA represents.

Below is a clip from the recent documentary SIRIUS. I know many of our readers have probably already seen it, but for those of you who haven’t  I thought I would shed some light on it.

When dealing with the UFO/extraterrestrial phenomenon, it’s really important to question your sources and do some research. This subject is filled with multiple agendas, and disinformation. We do not judge the people behind the film, and we thank them for their work. Any type of documentary that is able to open the minds of the masses to realities beyond our world that do not fit the accepted framework is a definite advantage, and we are happy to promote. Sure, there have been some controversial remarks made by those with a ‘big voice’ in the ‘UFO community’, and it’s only natural that we examine those within the UFO field and see how it corroborates with other information that we’ve been privy to.

For a more in-depth analysis of the SIRIUS documentary from one of our  writers, you can read the article below. For more information on the UFO/extraterrestrial phenomenon apart from the SIRIUS documentary, you can browse through our alternative news, science & tech, or multimedia sections. Or you can use our search bar with key words like “extraterrestrial” or “UFO”.

Here is a clip of Dr. Steven Greer speaking about the specimen, it includes clips from the research conducted at Stanford. The full version goes much more in-depth with regards to the research, what it means as well as its implications.

NASA to map earth forests in 3D

 

The US space agency, NASA, is developing the Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) Lidar device to map forests on Earth in 3D and increase understanding of their role in the carbon cycle. The instrument will be the first to systematically probe the depths of the forests from space. 

 

"GEDI Lidar will have a tremendous impact on our ability to monitor forest degradation, adding to the critical data needed to mitigate the effects of climate change," said Patrick O'Shea, chief research officer at the University of Maryland. It is a laser-based system that can measure the distance from the space-based instrument to Earth's surface with enough accuracy to detect subtle variations, including the tops of trees, the ground, and the vertical distribution of above ground bio-mass in forests. 

 

The instrument will be built at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, a NASA release said. "GEDI will be a tremendous new resource for studying Earth's vegetation," said Piers Sellers, deputy director of Goddard's Sciences and Exploration Directorate. 

 

In particular, the GEDI data will provide global-scale insights into how much carbon is being stored in the forest bio-mass. "This information will be particularly powerful when combined with the historical record of changes captured by the US's long standing programme of Earth-orbiting satellites, such as Landsat and MODIS," Sellers added. By revealing the 3-D architecture of forests in unprecedented detail, GEDI will also provide crucial information about the impact that trees have on the amount of carbon in the atmosphere. 

 

Although it is well-established that trees absorb carbon and store it long-term, scientists have not quantified exactly how much carbon forests contain. As a result, it's not possible to determine how much carbon would be released if a forest were destroyed, nor how well emissions could be countered by planting new trees. 

 

The system is one of two instrument proposals recently selected for NASA's Earth Venture Instrument programme and is being led by the University of Maryland, College Park. NASA said GEDI is scheduled to be ready in 2018.