Comeback: America’s new economic boom

BOOK REVIEW

Comeback: America’s New Economic Boom, Charles R. Morris.

By Charles R. Morris – This is the world of shale gas and oil — which has revolutionized the U.S. energy position. These particular wells are in Oklahoma and are owned by Devon Energy Inc., one of the country’s larger independent exploration and production companies. Drills go two miles straight down, then turn to go another mile through shale rock steeped with gas and gas liquids. The shale is “fractured” with a high-pressure burst of water, sand and chemicals to start the product flowing. Once the flow is stabilized, the rig is removed and the well is connected to a permanent gathering pipeline. It should produce hydrocabons for 15 to 20 years.

By 2020 or so, the United States is expected to surpass Saudi Arabia in oil output, and Russia in gas, according to the International Energy Association’s best estimate. more> http://tinyurl.com/d6plwhd

Related>

• U.S. oil boom leaves OPEC sidelined from demand growth, Dmitry Zhdannikov and Christopher Johnson, Reuters

Norway’s Capital Doesn’t Have Enough Trash to Help Power the City

By Kharunya Paramaguru – In an age where there is an increasing demand to find alternatives to landfill sites, and a pressing need to reduce garbage production globally, Oslo, the capital of Norway, is experiencing an unusual problem with its trash: there’s not enough of it.

In order to sustain that waste-energy production, the Norwegians plan on importing garbage–potentially from as far afield as the U.S. given how relatively inexpensive sea transportation is. Last year Sweden also ran out of garbage to burn and plans to import nearly 800,000 annually to keep up with its energy production. more> http://tinyurl.com/ctcxgdd

Goodbye Fluorescent Bulb? Philips Says Yes.

By Toby Sterling – Royal Philips NV, the Dutch consumer appliances giant, said Thursday (Apr 11) that it has developed an LED light that will soon be far more efficient than the best fluorescents on the market. That should make it cheaper and greener, as well.

It’s a combination that will inevitably help the LED dominate the market for illuminating the world’s workplaces, according to the global leader in lighting sales.

“This is a major step forward for the lighting world,” said Rene van Schooten, CEO of Philips’ light sources division. “It will bring an enormous savings in energy.” more> http://tinyurl.com/cxl6d8j

• LED price battle heats up as Osram launches 10-euro bulb, Reuters
• Goodbye fluorescent bulb? Philips says yes, Toby Sterling, Associated Press/Yahoo
• Philips Unveils 200 Lumen-Per-Watt LED Tube Lamp, Cutting Energy Use in Half, Paul Strauss, technabob.com
• Addressing Fears About LED Light Bulbs, David Pogue, NYTimes.com

Debugging with printf() or not …

By Colin Walls – The first real debugger for embedded software, which enabled developers to see what was happening in high level language terms, was XRAY Debugger, which was released by Microtec Research in late 1986.

The timing of this release made sense, as it was just beginning to be feasible for each programmer to have their own computer. Before that, programming was largely done on paper in the first instance, and only entered on to a computer when access was available. This meant that programmers were quite careful and would “dry run” their code by hand before going anywhere near a computer. I have a sneaking suspicion that there were a few less bugs in those days, simply because time on a computer was precious and more thought was given to the code before it was entered. Nowadays, the approach of just throwing code at a debugger is all too common. more> http://tinyurl.com/dy9ua97

Related>

• Mentor Graphics introduces FloTHERM XT for electronics cooling simulation, from concept to verification, Courtney Howard, avionics Intelligence

BMW’s All-Electric Concept Coupe

SLIDE SHOW (9)

By Charles Murray – The i3 Concept Coupe is the third electrified car BMW has announced in the past 18 months. It joins the racy i8 hybrid and a five-door vehicle (also called the i3) that is slated to reach production at the end of 2013. Like the five-door car, the coupe will be designed from the ground up as an electric vehicle. more> http://tinyurl.com/bp4q2kv