landscape photography

This is just a quick set of links to some beautiful landscape photography.

I recommend going to have a look, both here in the telegraph where I saw it first - and on the winner Robert Fulton's own site. 

http://www.kenleslie.co.uk/section412040_195202.html

More Biomimicry Please - A new source of inspiration for wind farms

How Schools Of Fish Can Lead To More Efficient Wind Farms

(straight from fastcompany)

A new source of inspiration for wind farm engineers has come from an unlikely place: the sea. By imitating schools of fish, engineers can increase wind farm output--potentially getting up to 10 times more power from the same site compared to traditional wind farms.

The biomimicry news comes from a Caltech study (PDF) in the Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy, which examined a test array in the California desert that used vertical axis wind turbines (they look like spinning eggbeaters) laid out based on the fluid dynamics of schools of fish.

Today's standard horizontal axis turbines--the propeller-like objects that are most often seen on wind farms--have to be spaced far apart in order to work correctly. This means that the wake generated by one of the giant turbines can interfere with the aerodynamics of neighboring turbines, leading to wasted wind energy. The problem can partially be solved with bigger blades and taller towers that can capture the wind gusts found at higher altitudes--but bigger turbines have other problems, including increased noise and more danger for birds and bats.

Caltech explains:

The solution, says [study researcher John] Dabiri, is to focus instead on the design of the wind farm itself, to maximize its energy-collecting efficiency at heights closer to the ground. While winds blow far less energetically at, say, 30 feet off the ground than at 100 feet, "the global wind power available 30 feet off the ground is greater than the world’s electricity usage, several times over," he says. That means that enough energy can be obtained with smaller, cheaper, less environmentally intrusive turbines--as long as they're the right turbines, arranged in the right way.

Vertical axis wind turbines are well-suited to the task, because they can be placed close to one another and can capture wind energy from all directions--even from above. By having every turbine placed in the opposite direction of its neighbor, Caltech researchers found that efficiency can be increased due to opposing spins lowering the drag on each turbine.

This is much like what is seen in schools of fish, which align themselves similarly to increase their forward propulsion. If there is just one fish swimming by itself, the energy kicked off into the water would be wasted. But if another fish is behind it, the follower can use the leader's kinetic energy to move forward.

Fish have inspired more than just better wind farms. Researchers at MIT, for example, areworking on energy efficient electronic screens that are based on cuttlefish camouflage, and a group at Case Western is using salmon to design better bridge stability sensors for floods.

[Hat tip: BBC]

[Image: Wikipedia]

Reach Ariel Schwartz via Twitter or email.

The Gathering - an SAS POW action

(from Surfers Against Sewage's youtube channel)

Surfers Against Sewages (SAS) new campaign Protect Our Waves (POW) had its first action today, The Gathering, a mass paddle out, in association with local campaign group Access BroadBench Association (ABBA). Over 350 surfers from across the nation joined SAS and ABBA and paddled out at Kimmeridge Bay on International Surfing Day. The action called on the Secretary of State for Defence to allow surfers access to Broadbench, a special wave found on the outer boundary of a Ministry of Defence (MoD) firing range.

Broadbench is a quality wave in Kimmeridge Bay, described by many as one of Britains best. Unfortunately it falls right on the outer boundary of a MoD firing range. SAS are not asking the MoD to reduce their use of this important firing range. However, SAS believe there is a compromise that will ensure surfers and waveriders can have 100% access to Broadbench without impacting on the MoDs full use of the firing range.

We are calling on the Secretary of State for Defence to implement SASs compromise, changing where the MoD currently fire from. This will in turn change the direction of the MoDs firing and could leave Broadbench outside the boundary of the firing range. It will not impact on the MoDs use of the firing range, leaving surfers and waveriders with 100% access to Broadbench and the MoD full use of their range.

International Surfing Day (ISD), sees surfing events taking place all over the world. There will be events in North and South America, Europe, Asia and Australia but nothing like the Gathering. SAS expect the Gathering to be the best-supported event with over 350 surfers and supporter actively participating at the paddle out protest on ISD.

For more information visit sas.org.uk 

A Grain of Sand Picture Gallery

Like a billion trillion bejillion little gems.... up close, even the grubbiest beach looks lovely. (from geology.com via stumbleupon)

Strange beautiful bunkers

Not really sure what this has to do with anything - except that it does prove that utilitarian buildings can blend into the landscape and be hidden.  Shame that innovation is so often driven by military necessity and cold-war paranoia - but the Swiss prove what can be done when there's a will or sufficient motive. So I give you Swiss bunkers.







And last but best the smashing Dutch take an old bunker and make it art....

Sky Truth - a smart new tool for environmental protection?

So here's something clever from the states that I found via the rather cool and increasingly essential PSFK.

Last week, environmental monitoring group SkyTruth launched an alert system that provides daily updates of environmentally significant incidents in America. The free service lets you view the most recent incident reports on a map or in Google Earth, which are tracked using remote sensing and digital mapping.

It shows air and water pollution, oil spills, and other incidents on an interactive map. Notes such as the time and date, nearest city, incident type, suspected responsible party, and a report description are listed for each incident. The maps are compiled using satellite images, aerial photography and data from emergency response agencies.

If you zoom in on an area of the map that you’re interested in and subscribe to the alert feed, you will be sent notifications about new incidents in that location via email or RSS as soon as they are posted.

SkyTruth Alerts

Is this something Surfers Against Sewage can take up and run with in the UK?

via PSFK: http://www.psfk.com/2011/10/nonprofit-group-launches-environmental-incident-map.html#ixzz1b9w1DD6c
The SkyTruth alert system is a free service open to the public that provides daily updates of environmentally significant incidents by geographical area. You can browse the most recent incident reports on a map or in Google Earth, and you can also subscribe to a personalized feed of incident reports via RSS or email.  The alert feed currently contains reports generated from ongoing SkyTruth investigations, combined with selected reports from the the National Response Center that have been processed by SkyTruth's automated expert system to clean up problem data and add additional SkyTruth commentary and analysis.
http://alerts.skytruth.org/

what's the environmental priority for the next 40 years?

I saw this article in the Guardian (which led me to Joe Royle's own page here) but her synopsis and the following video capture it all.

What should be the top environmental priority for the next 40 years?

With every breath we take and drop of water we drink we are connected to the ocean. Seventy two percent of our planet is ocean. The ocean drives global weather systems, absorbs the heat generated from our addiction to burning fossil fuels and provides the main source of protein for over a quarter of the world's population.   We live on a blue planet. The ocean breathes for the planet, with most photosynthesis occurring on the sea surface more than anywhere else. The health of future generations is dependent on the health of our ocean. However, silently and out of sight, the deep blue is suffering from our take-take relationship. We are getting dangerously close to the sea reaching its capacity to act as the planet's largest carbon sink. Depletion of the oceans fisheries, toxic contamination of the sea by industrial runoff and plastic pollution and acidification pose great threats to the health of the world's population.   The oceans are clearly of critical importance in providing energy, foodand economical security and drinking water. The blue planet teaches us about love, beauty, respect, sensuality and mystery. The ocean fuels our curiosity, imagination, well being and gives us a sense of clarity, meaning and purpose – the liquid planet is the greatest teacher. Would we get the same feeling of peace looking across a lifeless ocean?

tree houses - don't require much explanation

what a great site - found with stumbleupon

some people look for a beautiful place

WAR - what is it good for? Waves Are Resources

This is a really interesting read and an important document - and not just if you're a surfer. Lifted straight from SAS' website it gives thoughtful analysis:

 

The WAR report clearly highlights why Waves Are Resources and, as such, should be recognised as valuable assets, protected for this and future generations. The WAR Report not only focuses on the intrinsic value of waves to surfers but also the economic value to the wider community. SAS released the report on the first day of the Relentless Boardmasters 2010, the UK’s largest surfing competition. The Boardmasters is obviously solely dependent on the waves and the event bring £1,700,000 into the local economy.

There are a myriad of threats that constantly jeopardize our finite surfing resource, our waves. In 2009 SAS launched the new Protect Our Waves (POW) campaign that focuses on protecting waves from overzealous on and near shore development, environmental impacts and waverider’s rights of access.

The WAR Report was written for planners and waveriders alike and SAS will ensure that all relevant planning bodies in the UK have a hard copy of the WAR Report and will expect the WAR Report to be referenced alongside SAS’s other reports when coastal developments schemes are in the planning process. Download a copy of the The SAS WAR Report here on pdf

The WAR Report was written by SAS Director Dr Tony Butt PhD. Dr Butt is one of the world’s most highly respected authorities on the science of waves and how they interact with the coastal environment.

bonkers civil engineering is the way forward

Sometimes, to get amazing things done, it takes someone who is prepared to stand up and sound bonkers in public. Bjarke Ingels is clearly one of those people, but because he is both a Dutchman, and an architect, no one thinks he is mad and they commission him to build wonderfully insane buildings.

The one that caught my eye is a huge waste treatment plant on the outskirts of Copenhagen.

http://www.big.dk/projects/amf/

He explains,"Amagerforbraending is in many ways situated on an edge condition. It is a place in the outskirts of Copenhagen, but also the centre for new recreational activities. It divides the local area in two, with factories on one side and housing on the other. It is a place you know from afar, but where few people ever go. On one hand the city of Copenhagen on the other hand Amager. The aim of the project is to tie all these opposing forces together, forming an identity for a new place in Copenhagen. We want to turn it into a place in itself – a destination where people will travel to."

"Most of the recently build power plants are merely functional boxes, wrapped in an expensive gift paper. The main “function” of the façade is to hide the fact that factories are having a serious image/branding problem. We want to do more than just create a beautiful skin around the factory. We want to add functionality! The ambition of creating added value in terms of added functionality does not stand in contrast to the ambition to create beauty. It does not have to be either/or – it can be both! We propose a new breed of waste-to-energy plant, one that is economically, environmentally, and socially profitable."

"Instead of considering Amagerforbraending as an isolated object, we mobilize the architecture and intensify the relationship between the building and the city – expanding the existing activities in the area by turning the roof of the new Amagerforbraending into a ski slope for the citizens of Copenhagen. Now is time to re-brand the factory."