“Climate Shifts” is a topical commentary regarding climate change, natural ecosystems, politics and the environment, and can be found at www.climateshifts.org. The blog started life back in 2007 by Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, who has had a long history of research and scholarship on the climate change issue, both within the media and the scientific world. Ove started blogging for two main reasons:
- Concern about our rapidly shifting climate, and its impacts on both natural ecosystems and the people that depend on them.
- To improve how science is communicated – to ensure its wide dissemination while maintaining its neutrality and impartiality.
Since Climate Shifts was initiated to stimulate and actively encourage discussion regarding climate change. Climate Shifts will make every effort to remain neutral, but does have an active policy in place for moderating comments:
- Whilst discussion is actively encouraged, this is not a public forum: there is no automatic right to comment.
- All comments will be moderated prior to posting. Please note that this exists not as a form of censorship, but to stop ‘problem’ comments and spam.
- Please keep all comments relevant to the discussion at point within each post. As such:
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- Any coarse language (including racist and sexist comments) is prohibited, and any such posts will be deleted regardless of content.
- Pseudonymous posting is allowed, but actively discouraged – commenters email addresses will remain confidential.
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Climate Shifts is an open forum: have your say. Feel free to send us links or articles using the form below, or contact us on climateshifts2@gmail.com for technical issues, support or comments.
Hello Ove!
I enjoy your site and reading your blog. It is refreshing to know that you are very passionate about the topics that you discuss.
Here at FORA.tv we are passionate about bringing the
best political, social and cultural content from the
world’s leading forums. We hope you enjoy viewing and
sharing clips from FORA.tv programs on your blog.
Today’s feature video is “The Science and Politics of
Climate Change” held at the 2007 Battle of Ideas
conference hosted by the Institute of Ideas.
http://fora.tv/2007/10/28/Science_and_Politics_of_Climate_Change
We would love for you to join in on this discussion over at FORA.tv and we can’t wait for you to come look at our new site, if you enjoy this type of content. Keep up the great work!
Thanks,
William
I am a student from stokesley school, and i would like to ask permission to use one of your images in my GCSE ICT. Please could you email me back telling me if this would be ok, thank you.
Hi Ove, here is a new concept that could help.
http://www.mpd-designs.com
GLOBAL WARMING: THE SOLAR FLOATING RESORT SET GOOD EXAMPLE.
Solar energy technologies such as photovoltaic panels could provide a third of the world’s energy by 2060 if politicians commit to limiting global warming.
In 2011, the International Energy Agency has said that solar energy can make considerable contributions to solving the most urgent problem the world now faces, the greenhouse effect.
There is more electrical energy created by the sun in one hour than the entire world use in one year. The amount of solar energy reaching the surface of the planet is so vast that in one year it is about twice as much as will ever be obtained from all of the Earth’s non-renewable resources of coal, oil, natural gas, and mined uranium combined.
The development of affordable, inexhaustible and clean solar energy technologies will have huge benefits.
It will increase countries’ energy security through reliance on an indigenous, inexhaustible and mostly import-independent resource, enhance sustainability, reduce pollution, lower the costs of mitigating global warming, and keep fossil fuel prices lower than otherwise.
The energy from the sun could play a key role in de-carbonizing the global economy alongside improvements in energy efficiency and imposing costs on greenhouse gas emitters.
“The strength of solar is the incredible variety and flexibility of applications, from small scale to big scale.” Paolo Frankl, the agency’s head of renewable energy
Convinced that solar energy is the solution to global warming and environment issues, Michele Puzzolante, Italian Industrial Designer, decided to get involved in the green energy new era by inventing a unique building integrated photovoltaic concept totally self-sufficient energy generator, non-polluting and in unison with its natural surroundings.
Michele Puzzolante’s invention is based on a new structural element that is composed of a fifteen millimeter outside skin and a fifteen millimeter inside skin in balsa reinforced fiberglass. Thin films photovoltaic are integrated into the two skins to absorb sunlight energy from the outside and artificial lighting energy from the inside. Between the two skins there is a thirty centimeter vacuum insulation to protect the habitation from outside heat as well as reducing the consummation of air conditioning to the minimum.
SOLAR FLOATING RESORT INVENTION (SFR)
With SFR we enter a new era of advanced construction techniques, based on industrial design rather than traditional architecture.
SFR uses advanced materials, systems and techniques that have been applied successfully in the car and naval industries.
SFR has been designed with the industrial viewpoint of fabricating repetitive standard elements, using molding technology. This way, the master molds can reproduce hundreds of pieces cutting down considerably the fabrication costs, like in the car industry
Therefore, the main originality of SFR resides in its modular system that permits to construct all the parts in a factory, transport them by containers on site by ground, air or sea and to assemble the whole in a few weeks, like a “Lego”.
SFR is composed of a central tower, a deck with thirty-two modules and an habitation part with twenty modules.
Each module is composed of two skins in composite balsa reinforced fiberglass that has been extensively used in the naval industry due to its lightweight and high structural performances. It’s more resistant than a twenty centimeters wall stone!
The outside skin integrates thin films photovoltaic that absorbs sunlight energy and the inside skin integrates thin films photovoltaic that absorbs artificial lighting energy generated by the electrical bulbs. Between the two skins there is a thirty centimeters vacuum insulation thanks to the airtightness properties of the composite balsa reinforced fiberglass.
The whole is perfectly integrated and makes a modular construction element self-sufficient energy generator, non-polluting and lightweight which, has never been achieved before.
Power for the electrical and propulsion systems comes from the thin films photovoltaic that are integrated into the structure of SFR. The propulsion system is not intended for ocean crossing but to be sufficient for moving SFR to nearby reefs to explore marine life.
Thin films photovoltaic work under low light conditions as well as artificial light. The electrical current produced by the thin films photovoltaic is stored into batteries with an inverter converting direct current (DC) into alternative current (AC), almost twenty four hours the day, providing enough energy to the entire electrical and propulsion systems.
Thin films photovoltaic have a dye that absorbs light and transforms it into electricity. It is a solar cell very cheap compare to the silicon cell. The dye is based on a chlorophyll molecule, the chemical that plants use to absorb sunlight.
That’s science imitating nature! It’s called artificial photosynthesis. A molecule of chlorophyll absorbs light and generates electrical charges and then those charges are conducted to produce an electrical current which is stored into batteries.
Thin films photovoltaic are made of low cost materials and do not need elaborated apparatus to manufacture. They can be engineered into flexible sheets that are mechanically robust.
They absorb light from sunlight, low light conditions, cloudy skies, non-direct sunlight and artificial indoor lighting.
Thus, we can recycle the energy wasted in the electrical indoor lighting process!
And store it back to where it comes from….the batteries!
After a thorough research and programming step Michele Puzzolante designed a building integrated photovoltaic concept that could be used for terrestrial as well as floating applications.
The niche market selected was the luxury island resort development and front beach hotel upgrades that will put to test the Solar Floating Resort in its predicted environment.
SOLAR FLOATING RESORT DESCRIPTION (SFR)
SFR is a unique building integrated photovoltaic hospitality concept, part habitation, part yacht and part submarine, totally self-sufficient energy generator, non-polluting and in unison with its natural surroundings.
SFR is a hospitality product that will enhance the standards of front beach hotels and island resorts bringing them to a seven stars level!
SFR has been designed like a luxury yacht and a luxury hotel suite, with a fully submerged observation bulb because the majority of people are fascinated by watching and photographing exotic fishes, dolphins, sharks and marine turtle.
SFR reaches twenty meters in length, is designed for six people at sea and is ideal for living in marinas connected to front beach hotels or island resorts.
SFR sleeps six with a premium on privacy. The design calls for two single and two double bedrooms, each with private a bathroom. A large kitchen, a dining area, a lounge area and a pilot room complete the 110 m2 interior layout, treated in the purest Italian style.
Outside, the teak deck is set up with a large semicircular lounge/dining area, six individual day beds and a six places Jacuzzi.
But, the most distinctive feature is its fully submerged observation bulb. It’s big enough for six armchairs and it’s built like a tourist submarine with a thick glass enclosure that provides a 360 degrees view.
With an estimated 30,000 front beach hotels and island resorts around the world, the Solar Floating Resort has good chances to become a reality.
Moreover, setting the good example by using renewable and clean energy in any type of industry is today a must.
Copyright 2012 – Michele Puzzolante Designer – All rights reserved.