bits and pieces

[solarbird]

I got our car back from the shop. One new starter motor later and it starts the first time now. Unfortunately, my bike needs to go in next; the derailleur needs a lot of adjusting, and all the good shops are backed up. I read somewhere, but lost where, that a lot of bikes have been being sold lately. I wonder if it's true?

Monday's miles: 14.3
Miles out of Hobbiton: 1072.3
Miles out of Rivendell: 614.3
Miles out of Lothlórien: 152.3
Miles to Rauros Falls: 256.7

Total indigenous UK production of crude oil and NGLs in the first quarter of 2006 was 8.4 per cent lower than a year earlier. (PDF link, United Kingdom Dept. of Trade and Industry.) There's a neat chart on p. 8, figure 3.1. The important thing to remember about UK fields is that they're all expertly managed, most-modern best-practices offshore. Figure 3.2 is also interesting. There have been a variety of comments to the effect that offshore fields deplete more rapidly than land fields, and an assortment of reasons are given. The UK case is interesting because it's an example of such factors in action.

Meanwhile, this Iranian oil analyist thinks that we are at absolute peak and has apparently spent a lot of time over the last few years saying so. That puts him in the most pessimistic of camps - the ASPO thinks production will rise through 2010.


The Complexity of Rock
Anybody know much about solar, or a good place to start researching? (Other than Google, thanks.) I do know that here in the Cascadia region, the best dollar-return use of solar is for water pre-heating. I'd be looking for local recommendations if anybody has one.

Comments

[grian-ruadh.livejournal.com]

Might this help in the meanwhile?

http://www.bikewebsite.com/

[quen-elf.livejournal.com]

I know that, as you say, water heating is more efficient than photovoltaics - this assuming of course that you want water heating all the time. It's also lower-tech; somebody I know built their own system out of ordinary bits and pieces (i.e. nothing specifically designed for it) for next to no money.

I also know that PV solar isn't a hugely effective technology in the UK, for obvious reasons, and wind microgeneration is likely more productive. And that, living in a ground-floor flat thus having no access to roof nor high-up walls, neither is an option for me. :) That's the extent of my knowledge!

Anyway, do post what you find out about it - I'm interested in whether there have been improvements in the efficiency of commercially-available PV cells (you keep hearing about improvements but those tend to be research type things), what the cost is per square metre and what energy you can expect from it, etc.

Second hand fusion

[(Anonymous)]

Solar is sort of a hobby of mine. A solar water heater can be as rock-simple or as complicated as you want, but,yes, can be done dirt cheap,with used/junk/hardware store components. The simplest solar water heater I've built cost $1.05. A junked office-type coffee pot(about three gallons),and a can of flat-black engine paint. That's it. The tank had its own valve and thermometer.On a sunny day here(central Kentucky),it reached 150Deg. F.
A simple form of photovoltaics is what I call "window solar"-a small solar panel(Harbor Freight has-or had-them for $11.95),used in conjunction with a 12-volt Nicad charger(crap-pile at Radio Slack)..For less than $20.00,I have a system to keep all my rechargeables charged. It has long since paid for itself. Side note: Nicads/Nimh can be bought now, in some cases,cheaper than alkalines..Scott