This is a question bandied about frequently in geothermal circles. Recently, a panel chaired by Jeff Tester from MIT set out to answer that question and they presented their results at the 32nd Stanford Geothermal Conference yesterday.

Let’s first setup the measurement system, it’s in exa-joules (EJ.) A kilowatt hour is approximately 3.6M joules. An exa-joule is 10 to 18th power joules, or 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 joules. The entire US electric consumption for a year is around 100 EJ. Now that this is a nice easy way to think of it, 1 EJ = 1% of annual US electricity consumption, I’ll tell you what they discovered.

That if only 2% of the US geothermal potential was tapped, we would be able to access some 28,000 EJ in electric power generation. This statement is grand and requires some explanation. There are two flavors of geothermal power, hydrothermal and enhanced or engineered geothermal systems. This combines the output of both methods and predicts that resources at deep as 10km will be exploited over the next 50 years.

Even if this estimate is wrong by two orders of magnitude, it’s still 28x our current annual electricity consumption for the entire country. That is sufficient to cause even the most jaded person to stop and think. What could we achieve if we diligently work to tap and harvest this resource inside our own borders, with no carbon emission, and maintain our energy system with baseload power? What’s the impact of simply displacing old coal plants with new geothermal plants?

The study goes on to say that they believe 100,000 MWe (generation capacity) is entirely feasible by 2050, which is only 10% of the current electricity consumption per year in the US. There’s now a nice article posted on the MIT website that references this study available here.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, each megawatt hour of electricity generated by burning coal yields a ton of carbon and 14 kg of SOx and NOx into the atmosphere. To produce a new “clean” coal plant is a $1B+ investment. Fuel cost of coal has increased 35% over the past 6 years. Our ability to transport new coal in the US is constrained by railroad capacity, which is at capacity. Why invest in coal now?

Why not invest in clean power generation where the fuel is free and local. Nothing gets vented into the atmosphere (in a closed system) and start solving our dependence and climate impact. This isn’t rocket science….

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Tune: What I like about You by The Romantics
Technorati Tags: Geothermal | Potential | EGS | Mike Harding Blog

As evidenced by my earlier entries on advertising in the Rose Bowl and in an NFL Playoff game, I’m not really interested in constantly being advertised at. In part, it’s because it happens alot and in part because the ads are generally bad and in part because people are so rarely selling anything I’m the least bit interested in buying.

However, once in awhile, something new and interesting comes along. This time it’s in the form of an art project that combines the best of Web 2.0 into something interesting that ad agencies ought to look at. Alexis Lloyd created the Ad Generator as part of his thesis for a Masters of Fine Arts. Given that he’s randomly generating the slogans and randomly pulling images from Flickr as a mashup, it’s better than at least 25% of the ads you see out there (I can’t figure out what he’s selling exactly, but that’s common in ads these days.)

Below you’ll see a couple of screen shots from his work, click the image to visit the Ad Generator.

Sample 1


Sample 2


Sample 3



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Tune: Fools Get Wise by B.B. King
Technorati Tags: Advertising | Innovation | Mashup | Mike Harding Blog

One of the things that’s great about the Internet today is that bandwidth is consistently high enough and video compression has become efficient enough that one can actually enjoy video over the net. Here are a few silly videos I’ve seen over the past few months that make me laugh, and you might too…

Supersonik – Electronik


Two classics, Johnny Carson interviews Mel Blanc (click image to play)


Desktop Wars II


Bet you can’t bowl like this…


Killer bunny


Star Wars reenactment by naked hand puppets


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Tune: My Humps by Black Eyed Peas
Technorati Tags: Silly | Internet | Videos | Mike Harding Blog

The words of a history challenged paranoid or the clever work of a musical comic? Believe it or not, it’s the latter. This is one of the more creative and clever comedy clips I’ve seen. Rob Paravonian is the performer and writer. Click it and give it a whirl.




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Tune: Canon in D
Technorati Tags: Music | Comedy | Pachelbel | Mike Harding Blog
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Keywords: free music downloads music download music video Johann Pachelbel

One of the surprises uncovered when analyzing the logs from last year is that my readers liked the few music entries put up and I promised more. So here’s a peak at some “world” music. One of the great things the Internet has done is allowed people to get glimpses (listens?) into places that the otherwise wouldn’t be able to access.

Throughout the past 20 years, I’ve traveled extensively for business – even so, I still wouldn’t have gotten the exposure to music I’ve been able to get (legally I might add) through the ‘net. This should be prefaced by noting I’m not a musical expert by any means, these are simply tunes I like with some personal commentary. So, here are some of my favorite finds, I hope you enjoy them: (note: the song titles are linked to the iTunes music store, when you click the song title link, it will attempt to open iTunes and play you a 30 second snippet of the selection.)

• Iga Bani performed by Ali Farka Toure & Toumani Diabate – While this is Malian music, it has some Latin overtones that I find myself drawn to over and over again. Diabate’s mastery of the kora is evident in this piece.
• Desert performed by Emilie Simon – This young French singer brings together techno and jazz to create a haunting and beautiful song.
• Koke’e performed by George Kahumoku Jr. & Daniel Ho – OK, so technically Hawaii is part of the US, but I always feel like I’m somewhere outside the US when I’m there. Koke’e evokes the feeling of being there for me, in the warm breeze watching whales off Poipu beach in Kauai.
• Everything performed by Jehro – Jehro is a truly multi-national artist, he’s been all over. I like this part reggae, part jazz tune quite well.
• Old Moldavian Klezmer Suite in E performed by Khevrisa – This is traditional Moldavian folk music played with a klezmer, what’s not to like here? An unique and pleasing sound to be sure.
• Fakrenha performed by Natacha Atlas – A great mix of Arabic and North African music. A very interesting and compelling sound performed quite well.
• Machete performed by Novalima – An Afro-Latin genre mixed with some electronica. Nice beat, just try not to dance when listening to this. Good luck.
• Soy Campesino performed by Ska Cubano – A well executed fusion of SKA and Cuban music with the Latin influence winning out in the end. Catchy tune, also dance ready.
• La Noche y el Dia performed by Susana Baca – Baca combines traditional Peruvian instruments and sounds with an Afro beat and jazz overlay. This is a mellow song that works well for a quiet evening.
• Xiao Yue Er Gao (High Little Moon) performed by Various Artists – This is a traditional Chinese folk song which I find very relaxing with interesting and unfamiliar structure and execution.
• President performed by Wyclef Jean – OK, so former Fugees star Wyclef Jean has been in the US for awhile, I still find the reggae/hip-hop/rap mix he creates to be unique, interesting, and entertaining.
• Fuego performed by Alex Cuba Band – Simply great Cuban music. The complex beat is combined with vocals, and horns in just the right way.
• Siempre Me Quedara performed by Bebe – Spanish musician Bebe crafts a mellow and heartfelt song in Siempre Me Quedara. Not to be missed.
• Samba Da Bencao performed by Bebel Gilberto – Daughter of famous Brazilian musician Joao Gilberto, Bebel delivers with a a jazz infused Brazilian samba in this piece.
• Mariposa en Havana performed by Si*Se – A modern Cuban influenced pop song – “butterfly in Havana.” It’s got a great beat and the vocals are outstanding.
• Agua de Rosas performed by Lila Downs – Oaxaca muscian Downs delivers with this piece, great Latin music.

Well, that’s a taste of what I like; perhaps as you listened with an open mind and ear, you found something new you liked too. There are many genres not represented here, it’s simply a snapshot of some of my favorites.


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Technorati Tags: Music | Sampler | World | Mike Harding Blog

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Keywords: free music downloads music download music video