I guess there’s this game this weekend and it’s something of a big deal…ok enough tongue in cheek stuff. Since the Debacle in the Desert, I haven’t paid too much attention to football. But this weekend is the Superbowl where Indianapolis and Chicago square-off to decide who’s going to get big rings and bragging rights. To say that this game is over exposed and overhyped would be a vast understatement.

I’ve gotten many requests to extend the prior ad analysis of the Rose Bowl and NFL Playoff game to the Superbowl. The reality is, I just don’t know if I’ve got it in me to do that – it takes a minimum 6 hour commitment and my eyes feel like they’ve been rubbed with sand paper after and my mind feels completely and utterly numb. We’ll see. Perhaps I’ll Tivo it to preserve the option. Heck, maybe it will even be a good game. Nah, that’s too much to hope for.

Ah, the game. I don’t have a strong attachment to either team, so there’s little in the way of emotional interference in making a pick. Indy’s strength is their offense, though their defense has risen to the challenge throughout the playoffs. Chicago’s strength is in their defense and special teams, though their offense has risen to the challenge throughout the playoffs. The pundits are pretty unanimously picking Indy as the AFC was far tougher this year than the NFC. I’m kind of neutral in picking a winner, I can find reasons that either team will win or lose.

When in that position, experience tells me, always pick defense and special teams. Therefore, Bears, you’re my official pick. In what I believe will be a somewhat sloppy and boring performance, I’ll predict a Bear’s triumph in a 27-13 snooze fest. Here’s to hoping I’m wrong about the snooze fest part…enjoy the game or the ads or whatever it is you tune in to see. Unfortunately, I doubt we’ll see any wardrobe malfunctions.


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Technorati Tags: NFL | Superbowl | Advertising | Mike Harding Blog

In California, the answer is 1.

Garden variety compact fluorescent light bulb


Yesterday it was widely reported in local media that Assemblyman Lloyd Levine has proposed a bill to outlaw the sale of incandescent lightbulbs in California after 2012. Instead of the traditional incandescent bulb invented by Edison and improved thereafter; compact fluorescent and led bulbs would take their place. These newer technologies provide up to 75% energy savings for equivalent lumens.

The downside is that each bulb costs more upfront than incandescent counterparts, but the upside is that over the lifespan of the bulbs the energy savings coupled with their longevity will provide payback many times over. An additional criticism of the new technologies is that the emitted light is “harsher” than incandescent bulbs. When electric bulbs were introduced 130 years ago, arc-lights were harsh, incandescent bulbs to “soft”, and gas lights were stinky, dangerous, and dim. Technological progress has a way of dealing with each challenge over time.

While I hate to see government intrude in our lives with legislation over how we choose to light our homes and businesses, natural market forces are taking too long to force this change. This is probably a good thing for both eco-s, ecology and economics.


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Technorati Tags: Energy | Light Bulb | Legislation | Mike Harding Blog

The Oil Drum published this long and detailed entry from the Engineer Poet on how to replace our dependence on fossil fuel and get to carbon neutrality using an enhanced biomass system coupled with electricity generation, fuel cells, and battery transport power. If you don’t have time for a long read, are data averse, or have attention deficit, the referenced post might not be for you…

This is an old post by net standards, published at the end of November of last year, but certainly is filled with interesting data. Now I don’t subscribe to the “solve the energy crisis in one fell swoop” approach, but this post did make me think that perhaps more is possible in big hunks than I’ve been allowing. Even so, this is is a grandiose proposal that would require 20 years or more to implement, if it even could be implemented. But the ideas are worth exploring as realizing even 10% of the benefit would make a difference.

The thesis of the post is: “The US can replace our fossil fuel dependence with sustainable fuel and positively impact our carbon footprint – but, not with our current approach, assumptions, or reward system.” The author then goes on to outline at length why our current situation and approach is flawed, current consumption and conversion of energy to work, outlines an improvement using biomass with several outputs including charcoal, ethanol, and electricity, tackles the issue of carbon capture from the atmosphere, then outlines plans for electricity and transportation, and finally ties it all together.

If you’re at all interested in this subject area, this is must-read content. Thanks to Bruce for passing this along.


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Technorati Tags: Biomass | Carbon Capture | Comprehensive Plan | Mike Harding Blog

Well here is a bold and interesting idea: Dig a long canal >128km (>80 miles) about 15 meters in diameter (~50 feet) at a depth of >5km (>3 miles) from the ocean on the Atlantic coast inland. Why? Because temperatures exceed 150C (~300F) at that depth, there is no shortage of ocean water, and the transfer of heat to that water over such a long distance would be sufficient to power a geothermal “Hoover Dam” equivalent on the eastern seaboard.

Clearly a project of this magnitude is neither easy nor cheap, but J. David Reynolds at Atlantic Geothermal is championing just such an approach. Aside from the obvious practical challenges of such a project, there are some other things like the amount of total dissolved solids in the water that would definitely need to be addressed. For instance, in the Salton Sea geothermal area in California, one must use titanium lined pipes to withstand the corrosive nature of the geothermal resource. That’s not cheap.

Nevertheless, this is a bold idea who’s feasibility will be debated hotly, no doubt. Regardless of your position on feasibility, it’s nice to see someone thinking big and sustainable.


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Technorati Tags: Large Scale Geothermal | Northeast | Atlantic Geothermal | Mike Harding Blog

Unfortunately for the traveler, this story does not have a good ending. Apparently a stowaway intended to make the trip to Los Angeles in the wheel well of a British Airways 747 from London’s Heathrow. That’s a terribly long trip in the cabin, let alone in a cramped, cold, depressurized, virtually no oxygen environment. Unsurprisingly, the man was dead on arrival in LA when his body was discovered by routine inspection.


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Technorati Tags: Stowaway | Travel | Death | Mike Harding Blog