deepgreenfutures-blog - Tumblr blog

deepgreenfutures-blog · 7 years ago

Text

Blockchain 3D-Printed Construction

New Post has been published on http://www.deepgreenfutures.com/2018/11/26/blockchain-3d-printed-construction/

Blockchain 3D-Printed Construction

Prefab & any construction ripe for disruption with blockchain

From Thefifthestate.com.au by Poppy Johnston Nov. 22 2018

Topic: Blockchain 3D-Printed Construction

There’s hope on the horizon for the construction industry, which has been criticised for sluggish innovation. In the UK, proptech startup Ehab is using blockchain to decentralise the development process for the likes of prefab and 3D printing companies so that they can produce more affordable and sustainable housing.

Josh Graham started building Ehab, a blockchain-based platform designed to help smaller developers build sustainable, affordable, customised homes, because he personally found it “incredibly hard” to get this kind of project off the ground.

Fresh out of university and with boundless enthusiasm for saving the planet and solving housing accessibility issues, Graham and his friends looked at ways of building environmentally-friendly housing. He says his earliest attempt at a sustainable building project “inevitably failed” because in the UK it is “so incredibly hard to do what we needed to do.”

“There are so many barriers to small developers, and a large proportion of developers are trying to build in a better way,” he told The Fifth Estate from the UK during a recent phone conversation.

“So we wanted to build a platform to unlock building sites and money for smaller developers to help them build something more sustainable.”

Graham noticed other big problems plaguing the building and construction industry, such as poor management of onsite construction processes causing delays and budget blowouts. He also noticed people and communities were not engaged enough in the development process.

This is why the group set up the Ehab platform. The idea was to help get sustainable and affordable projects from the “idea stage to completion in a frictionless digital way” using blockchain enabled smart contracts.

Combined with 3D printing and modular construction, this technology has the potential to drastically reduce efficiencies so that sustainable and affordable building projects reach completion in bigger numbers, Graham says.

The plan is to start with residential with the aim of eventually expanding into commercial buildings and other areas.

How it works On any given building site, there’s typically a complex web of subcontractors and several interactions going on at one time. There’s also various assets to keep track of.

By using smart contracts, which are codified, self-executing contracts that exist across a distributed, decentralised blockchain network, the construction of a house can benefit from much-needed transparency and automation.

Graham says that that platform would be used by a project manager, for example, to handle the delivery of bricks or other materials to a site. They’d be able to access the platform through their phone to see when the order had arrived – no matter where they are on the site – and confirm that the order had arrived as expected.

Everyone on the site then knows that this order has arrived, because “it might be relevant for someone else on the site to know it has happened”.

At this stage, Graham says all the blockchain is doing is storing the information and that “the humans have to confirm it is true.” So there is still potential for inaccurate data to make it into the ledger.

Imagine automatic payments so if the builder goes under it doesn’t drag all the subbies with it But the plan is to keep minimising the chances for error by adding smart codes into the system that trigger digital actions, such as automatic payments. This means that once the brick order is delivered and signed off, to return to the original example, the supplier is paid automatically.

By “‘disintermediating’ all that potential for error” and getting the money “straight to whoever is adding value at that time”, you help protect individual stakeholders. This could help minimise damage when things go awry, such as when British construction services company Carillion infamously collapsed and took many of its subcontractors with it because they hadn’t been paid.

Even further into the future, sensors will streamline this process even further. GPS-enabled Internet of Things (IoT) devices will be able to tell when material orders reach the site, for example.

The transparency afforded by the platform is the “biggest win”. Graham says.

For a big project with multiple subcontractors, lead contractors then have a secure, accurate paper trail to refer to.

“It becomes a providence piece. Ten years later you know exactly what materials were used and who constructed it.”

This construction aspect is just one of five portals in the platform. The first three are about connecting homebuyers, landowners and developers to bring a project from inception to a final design, and securing funding from investors through the Funding Marketplace. The fifth is for investors to keep track of their investments.

Graham says there are companies doing elements of what his company is doing, with UK-based Brickchain “probably the furthest ahead”. There’s also a US-based company called Digibuild that focuses on commercial buildings, and “obviously a lot of the blockchain real estate companies trying to enter the market.”

Could the platform be used in Australia? The goal is to turn the platform into a “globally relevant system,” but Graham admits that this come with its challenges.

Smart contracts will likely need to be modified to accommodate the unique legal requirements in each country.

“Each new country we move to will need a dedicated set of contracts, but that’s just a cost,” he says.

Who’s interested? Graham says there’s been strong interest from investors and potential partners.

“I’ve never had someone who said they wouldn’t want to use it.”

Currently, at the beta stage in development and in the first stage of seed funding, the company of three is looking for strategic construction partnerships to help it scale, including partners with 3D printing capabilities.

He says the enthusiasm is largely driven by the “buzz of blockchain”, but he also believes there is momentum building to innovate the construction industry in the UK.

“The construction industry knows they should be innovating but are waiting for that silver bullet,” he said.

“The younger people want change to happen, but that’s not even strictly true… there are people that have obviously fought for change for a long time.

“There’s a bit of momentum now, not just in proptech. There’s a convergence from a variety of things that are pushing and pulling the construction industry.”

Topic: Blockchain 3D-Printed Construction

Source: https://www.thefifthestate.com.au/innovation/building-construction/prefab-construction-disruption-blockchain/

#3-D Printing #3D Printed Structure #Blockchain 3D-Printed Construction #ecofriendly #Geopolymer cement #3D-Printed Construction

0 notes

deepgreenfutures-blog · 7 years ago

Text

3D Printing on the Moon

New Post has been published on http://www.deepgreenfutures.com/2018/11/26/3d-printing-moon/

3D Printing on the Moon

Interview: Esa and Lithoz Take Small Steps Toward 3D Printing on the Moon

From 3dprintingindustry.com by Beau Jackson Nov. 22, 2018

3D Printing on the Moon

The European Space Agency (ESA) has made new advances in its quest to 3D print in space using in-situ materials.

In a partnership with Austrian ceramic 3D printing specialist Lithoz, ESA has demonstrated the ability to produce highly detailed spare parts, like screws and gears, from a lunar regolith simulant.

Dr. Advenit Makaya, ESA Advanced Manufacturing Engineer in Materials and Processes, tells 3D Printing Industry what this latest development means for the agency’s wider pursuit of low-gravity fabrication.

3D printed ceramic parts made by Lithoz and ESA from regolith simulant. Photo copyright ESA–G. Porter, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO

One small step for 3D printers…

As discussed in a previous interview with Dr. Makaya, ESA is currently in the midst of an In-situ Resource Utilisation (ISRU) project, which involves the investigation of different 3D printing methods using materials native to space, i.e. lunar and martian regolith, as a sustainable feedstock. By doing so, ESA aims to reduce the high cost of sending consumables into space; make deeper exploration possible; and prepare its astronauts with a means of producing anything they require on board stations like the ISS.

Starting small, the agency has already succeeded in 3D printing miniature habitat concept models using an extrusion-based technology.

With Lithoz, ESA has now added lithography-based ceramic manufacturing (LCM) to its regolith fabrication portfolio. The work was undertaken for a particular activity titled, “Conceiving a Lunar Base Using 3D Printing Technologies,” part of the ESA supported URBAN Consortium comprising COMEX, LIQUIFER Systems Group, SONACA Space GmbH and OHB System AG.

“We are therefore interested in mapping and understanding the use of a wide range of additive technologies, to address the manufacturing of every possible items needed for a lunar base, at all scales,” says Dr. Makaya explains, “From the construction infrastructure, to tooling, furniture, clothing and even food.”

youtube

The challenges of raw regolith

The key challenge of the Lithoz/ESA Lunar Base collaboration was to prove that Lithoz’s LCM 3D printing technology works with raw regolith simulant material, rather than other, already proven, conventional ceramics. “The regolith simulant was processed by crunching and sieving it to the right particle size, but the composition and mineralogy of the simulant were left as they are,”

“This means that the feedstock does not have a specific composition (i.e. it is not made of a specific type of oxide or nitride), like the ceramics that Lithoz is used to processing and for which they have an established “recipe.” Instead, the regolith simulant is made of a mixture of various minerals.”

The unusual mixture of regolith simulant made the tuning process altogether more complicated. Dr. Makaya adds, “The challenge was to achieve the same level of density and accuracy for this “raw” regolith, compared to what Lithoz can achieve with “conventional” ceramics.

Ceramics make critical parts

Sample parts made using Lithoz LCM are presently no larger than a 5 cent Euro coin, and consist of screws, nuts and bolts that the space crew could use for fixing parts and building new devices. These ceramic fasteners, accordingly, are best suited “for applications where the parts need to withstand very high temperatures, high pressures, corrosive or abrasive environments or where they need to be electrically nonconductive or nonmagnetic.” Basically, Dr. Makaya explains: “All requirements that metals cannot easily cope with,”

“In the context of the lunar base the main driver for producing ceramic parts. is the large abundance of the regolith material. Not all additive manufacturing technologies will be adapted to all usages. But sintered ceramic parts with high accuracies and complicated shapes – i.e. the type of parts that 3D printing of regolith can produce – have a role to play in the overall maintenance strategy […]”

In order to produce the parts, regolith powder had to be combined with a light reactive binder. After printing, the parts were then sintered to produce a strong solid.

“The particular technology of lithographic ceramic manufacturing, thanks to its ability to produce very fine details on objects made of regolith, appears very suited to building items where high precision and good dimensional accuracy are needed,” Dr. Makaya concludes.

“HAVING A WAY TO MANUFACTURE SPARE PARTS LOCALLY, USING THE ABUNDANT REGOLITH RESOURCE APPEARS HIGHLY ATTRACTIVE, COMPARED TO HAVING TO SOURCE THESE PARTS FROM EARTH. WE ARE TALKING ABOUT VERY SMALL ELEMENTS, BUT WITH POTENTIALLY A CRITICAL FUNCTION IF THEY ARE PART OF A KEY EQUIPMENT OR INSTRUMENT.”

3D printers in space

At present, vat polymerization techniques have not yet proven to 3D print in low-gravity conditions, though the potential of project could warrant the development of such systems in the future.

So far, American microgravity fabrication specialist Made In Space has installed the FFF-based Additive Manufacturing Facility (AMF) aboard the ISS and succeeded in producing small tools and components.

Next, under Project MELT, ESA is planning to put a high temperature FFF 3D printer aboard the station for tests, and Made In Space has been cleared to develop a metal system for microgravity conditions.

ESA’s Microgravity 3D printer for engineering grade plastics. Photo via BEEVERYCREATIVE

For exclusive interviews and news subscribe to the 3D Printing Industry newsletter, follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook. Join 3D Printing Jobs now to search for the next step in your academic career.

Featured image shows Dr. Advenit Makaya, ESA Advanced Manufacturing Engineer in Materials and Processes. Photo by Clara Cruz/ESA

Source: https://3dprintingindustry.com/news/interview-esa-and-lithoz-take-small-steps-toward-3d-printing-on-the-moon-143730/

Topic: 3D Printing on the Moon

#3D Printing Construction Tech #3D Printing on the Moon #3D-Printed Construction #Deep Green Futures #Melinda Pillsbury-Foster #Concrete 3D Printing #Geopolymer

0 notes

deepgreenfutures-blog · 7 years ago

Text

Hotter Then Hell! 2016 Climate Change Report from David Lincoln

New Post has been published on http://www.deepgreenfutures.com/2018/11/24/hotter-then-hell-2016-climate-change-report/

Hotter Then Hell! 2016 Climate Change Report from David Lincoln

Climate change report by petroleum geologist David Lincoln, who has been studying global warming for the past 45 years. This report is available for download at https://www.scribd.com/…

Hotter Than Hell!

David Lincoln, Aug 21, 2016, Eco-Alert

1 Introduction and Rationale How hot will our climate get? In recent years, many people have been concerned about global warming. Yes, I know it’s technically called climate change, but we are going to be focused on maximum temperature changes in the near future. This paper is addressed to those who believe the threat of Global Warming is exaggerated or that the evidence for human causes is weak. Most of those who are in complete denial are unlikely to be swayed by the facts even when confronted with the fires of hell.

In the past 5 years, we have learned a great deal more about the feedback loops and processes responsible for global temperature changes. We have begun to better understand the El Nino cycles, methane emissions, relationships between fires, soot, coal and ice with fossil fuels extraction. These discoveries utilize new technologies and take many forms and have not received the media attention they deserve. We will attempt to update the data and put it into a context where ordinary people can understand the situation on a gut level.

Many people still believe that global warming is a problem only for future generations. That is because future temperature projections have been based on the assumption that people will act rationally in the interests of society and for the preservation of our civilization. They assume there is a limit to how fast and how much we will allow the temperature to rise before we take drastic action to restructure our global economy and modify our behavior. They are dead wrong!

2 Warning You’ve been lied to. You think that all we need to do is turn off the lights and turn up the temperature on your air conditioner and then your kids and grand kids can apply some mysterious future technology to solve the Global Warming problem. However, while you’re thinking you might buy an electric car in a decade or two, the energy companies are busily figuring out how they can produce and sell 30% more dirty oil in the next 25 years effectively slamming the door shut on any conceivable solution to Climate Change before they incinerate the planet.

As you will see, not only are oil and gas companies, like EXXON, willing to squander their assets and subsidies to do whatever it takes to sell more oil and amass obscene profits, they are hell bent on producing the dirtiest, highest risk oil and gas with the highest Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emissions potential on the planet. Simply put, the Energy Companies are leading us over a failed bridge down a dead end road at top speed in a vehicle driven by a madman, drunk with power. We are rewarding them for the chances that they take with our lives and our children’s future. This must stop now!

In 2009, at the beginning of the Obama Administration, Dr. James Hansen who, at the time was the leading Climatologist at NASA, wrote to the White House and sounded the alarm:

“There is a profound disconnect between actions that policy circles are considering and what the science demands for preservation of the planet. A stark scientific conclusion, that we must reduce greenhouse gases below present amounts to preserve nature and humanity, has become clear to the relevant experts.”

In January 2010, about the time of President Obama’s first State of the Union Address an alarming report was released by the International Energy Agency (IEA) stating;

“Unprecedented climate change has Earth hurtling down a path of catastrophic proportions,” warning of “a continual unfolding of climate disasters” and “giant waves of migration and mass mortality” if drastic actions were not taken within the next five years.

Nearly seven years later, the link between Global Warming and increasing CO2 (and methane) is crystal clear (see chart above). The alarm bell has gone unheeded and many of the people and the Congress are still in denial. The purpose of this paper is to combine the latest science from academia and the energy industry to show you the fires and let you feel the heat as global warming takes its toll on us and our children.

Time has run out for us and the choices we make in the next year could well determine how many people like us will die needlessly in this decade and beyond from Global Warming! We will not be satisfied until we have informed you of the decisions which must be made soon and the consequences if those decisions and actions are delayed by corporate and political maneuvering due to sheer greed.

We will end with a list of specific recommendations which can be enacted resulting in the least pain for the fewest number of people.

3 The First Half of 2016

Source: NASA http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/global/2016/7/supplemental/page-2

NOAA has recently released the chart of Global Year to date Temperature Anomailes (See chart above) which shows that not only was July 2016 the hottest month in recorded history, all of the months in the year so far have been much hotter than the seven hottest years recorded since the late 1800s. Note that seven of the 8 hottest years occurred in the 21st Century and the eighth hottest occurred in 1998.

Hottest Global Temperature Rise (from historic baseline) Source: NASA Aug 16,2016 available at http://climate.nasa.gov/news/2479/nasa-analysis-finds-july-2016-is-warmest-on-record/

NASA has also announced that the first 6 months of 2016 were the hottest on record and averaged 2.4 degrees F above pre-industrial levels. In fact, the months of January to June this year were each the hottest since 1890.

That means the first half of this year already averaged 1.3 deg C and close to the goal of the Paris Accord signed just this year of 1.5 degrees by 2030. In Alaska, the temperature in June was 9 degrees F (4.95 degrees C) above this long term average and more than twice the Paris Accord global cap.

Gavin Schmidt, Director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) has predicted that the remainder of 2016 will remain hot. He has predicted a greater than 95% chance that we will finish the year as the hottest on record.

Source: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, State of the Climate: National Overview for July 2016, published online August 2016, retrieved on August 11, 2016 from http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/national/201607

In the United States as well, NOAA analyses of temperature anomalies from Jan through July 2016 (See map above) are showing much of the country well above historical averages and some parts of the country showing the highest temperature since the end of the 19th Century.

Clearly we are losing the battle against Global Warming and It indicates that at the present rate of fossil fuel burning we will blow past the 2.0 degree C cap well before 2030. If production increases as the Energy Information Administration (EIA) forecasts and we continue to release methane and carbon dioxide at increasing rates, it is conceivable that we could surpass this cap by 2020 just when countries are expected to begin implementing their carbon reduction plans.

The NOAA Temperature map for 2016 through June above shows that nearly half of the Ocean Temperatures around North America and Australia are at record highs and waters surrounding North America, South America, Africa and Australia are nearly all much warmer than average. Since oceans retain heat more than land areas these warmer ocean temperatures are likely to persist for quite a while. We are already in our third year of coral bleaching and die offs due to elevated temperatures. No one knows how long our reefs can survive temperature and alkalinity changes of this . Some of the significant climate events during June 2016 are displayed on the NOOAA map below.

4 July 2016 So far in July 2016, we have seen widespread high temperatures (see map below showing max temp forecast for July 18 2016) which suggests a month which may go down in history as one of the hottest months on record in the northern hemisphere. Therefore, it is appropriate to talk about how hot it could get in the next two decades.

Many people could die this month alone as elevated humidity and nighttime lows become just as dangerous as Daytime highs in the 100’s across many states. When we factor in the heat index our current forecasts look more like the map below.

We know that global heat related deaths generally exceed hurricanes, tornadoes and lightening combined. According to CNN more than 100 million people are facing excessive heat advisories, watches and warnings this week in the US. July has also been the warmest month on record in the Middle East with new temperature records above 128 degrees in Kuwait, Iran and Iraq. These are the hottest certified temperatures ever recorded outside of Death Valley Calif (ground temperature 201 degrees F). It has been estimated that the maximum heat index for human survival is about 170 deg F and maximum possible ground temperature of 212 degrees F. Much of this current record heatwave has been attributed to the tail end of El Nino but what happens if it is the beginning of a pattern which repeats throughout our lifetimes.

5 El Nino

To find out what Global Warming might mean for the near future, let us now look at El Nino from a different perspective. We understand that El Nino is a cyclic climate phenomenon which occurs whenever the Central and Eastern parts of the Pacific Ocean warm periodically influencing the trade winds and ultimately the global path of the jet stream.

In the US. It is generally agreed that the super El Nino pattern of 2015 and 2016 is largely responsible for the spread of summer droughts and proliferation of wildfires in Western US. Globally, it has also been blamed for extreme heatwaves in Australia, Africa and the Middle East and the failure of the Monsoons in India. The key issue is how many of those cycles of the intensity of the last one do we think that we can tolerate before the temperature becomes unbearable for many people in the northern hemisphere.

How many El Nino cycles will you have to endure in your lifetime? Remember, that while average El Nino cycles occur roughly every 5 years, in the past 25 years, strong to moderate events have been occurring about every 3 to 4 years. Evidence indicates that warmer oceans favor El Nino conditions. So let’s assume that in the next 25 years El Nino cycles will occur on average every 4 years so that we might expect another six El Nino events during that period.

If each of those six El Nino’s occurs on top of an ever warming ocean and atmosphere, we might expect for each to be more intense than the previous one. Can you imagine just how hot it could get during that period? Remember the past 5 years which culminated in the 2015 super El Nino was associated with a 1/2 degree C rise in average global temperature. If each of the next six El Ninos was of equal intensity, we could be looking at a 3 degrees C average global temperature rise by 2040. This would not only be intolerable heat for many of the world’s largest cities, the melting rates at our poles (where much of the temperature rise would occur) would be unprecedented. The impacts on our ecosystems, our agriculture and our civilization would be catastrophic.

6 Methane Hydrates One of the first consequences of increased melting rates near the poles will be the release of methane hydrates. Hydrates form when methane and water combine at low temperature and pressure into ice crystals at ocean and sediment depths of 1500 to 3000 feet. These are generally found along shallow continental slopes but are also seen onshore in permafrost as shown on the map below.

Source: Global Carbon Project 2009 Image: http://www.globalcarbonproject.org/global/images/general/MethaneHydrates_1a.JPG

EPA scientists have recently learned that methane is leaking from our entire energy infrastructure (Oil and Natural Gas Sector Leaks, EPA 2014). We already knew that over a 20-year period methane is 60 times more effective as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. We also knew that methane is contained in frozen hydrates both under the sea and in the permafrost. Both of these are leaking at phenomenal rate as the temperature rises. These shallow methane deposits can be seen on sonar and seismic as disruptions of bottom simulated reflectors (BSR’s). They are routinely seen on shallow gas surveys (see section below) required before offshore wells are drilled and platforms are positioned.

In 2007, the IPCC estimated that in the unlikely event that 0.1% of the available methane hydrate were to escape into the atmosphere at one time it could raise the levels by 60%. Such an event could initially be triggered by an earthquake, a landslide or even a meteorite impact and then a series of feedback loops could result in additional methane being released.

Japan has recently announced that it has successfully mined offshore hydrates and is working to make it economic. Japan estimates that that there is enough methane off their coasts to fuel their energy needs for 100 years. Korea and India are also investigating the feasibility of production. Offshore drilling for these methane deposits could lead to dangerous blowouts especially in arctic areas.

Source: ESRI Wildfires Burning in the US on July 24, 2016

7 Soot

Slash and burn agricultural clearing (such as for palm oil trees in Sumatra, Indonesia above) have created plumes of black soot across entire countries. Some of this soot makes it way to the poles and joins with smoke from massive wildfires.

These wildfires (like the ones that recently spread across California) will likely become more frequent and more intense. Already thousands of firefighters are being stretched to their limits as the fire season now lasts thru most of the year.

Extraordinary measures will be required as in Australia and military men will be enlisted to fight the infernos racing along the deadly canyons. As the drought spreads and intensifies fresh water to fight the fires will be scarce and equipment will have to be adapted to utilize seawater along the coast which will be resistant to saltwater corrosion.

Source: Lindeberg 1999

We are also seeing evidence that glaciers and ice are melting at much faster rates than previously anticipated. We now know that glaciers are melting both at the top and at the base which endangers the structure of glaciers and accelerates their slide into the ocean. This is in part due to additional soot from burning of coal and fossil fuels which is turning the ice black and causing greater absorption of solar energy and therefore faster melting. The chart above shows the annual carbon emission levels (equivalent to about 10 Gigatonnes or PG per year in 2014. If we continued to ignore the causes of global warming and burned all the available fossil fuels as the denialists in Congress are proposing, we could expect the carbon emissions to double to 20 Gigatonnes per year before 2100. This would result in a Carbon Dioxide level in our atmosphere would raise the average global temperature to a point which would be unlivable.

8 Forests and Tar Sands

We now understand that the Boreal forest and the Amazon are far less capable of storing carbon dioxide than we had previously estimated. As we cut down the Boreal forest for access to fossil fuels and the Amazon dries out due to long-term drought conditions, we are seeing that CO2 released back into the atmosphere.

Global Forest Watch reports that Canada possesses the world’s largest Boreal Forest ecosystem and contains more than half of all of the Boreal Forests. In the Tar Sands region of Alberta, Canada has lost more than 2 million acres of forest since 2000.

Despite the recent fall in oil prices, IHS Energy still forecasts an increase in tar sands production of 1 million barrels per day by 2025. That represents a 45% increase in Tar Sands pollution in less than 10 years (shown by the blue line on the chart below). Clearly, this rate of tar sands expansion is not sustainable. It would be accompanied by an intolerable level of CO2 emissions and methane escape which could warm the planet to insufferable conditions.

9 Oil Production 2040 This brings us to oil forecasts by 2040. This is a good time frame to analyze because conveniently the oil companies have projected fossil fuel usage to this year and distributed this nightmare scenario with the help of the Energy Information Administration (EIA) in ANNUAL ENERGY OUTLOOK June 2016.

Last week the EIA estimated US production in 2016 would be nearly 9 million barrels of crude oil per day at $42per barrel and an average pump price of $2.12 per gallon of gasoline. This level of production has been nearly flat in spite of the fact that EXXON has reported 1st half earnings drops of 60% with other majors reporting significant losses. They are projecting gasoline prices of $2.28 per gallon for all of 2017 and expect crude oil prices to rise to $52 per barrel. All of the majors are projecting increases in production through 2040 (see production forecast chart above) primarily due to tight oil released through fracking and massive production increases labeled high oil and gas resource and technology. This translates to when high oil prices encourage deep offshore oil and gas fields and exotic fields with high-risk hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and carbon dioxide (CO2) contents.

This continued level of production is alarming because the EIA Global Energy outlook special report on Energy and Air pollution recently reported that Energy is by far the greatest source of air pollution. They concluded that Energy production is already responsible for 6.5 million premature deaths from air pollution per year. We can only imagine how many additional deaths can be attributed to the massive increase in energy production over the next quarter century.

They justify this doomsday doubling of US Crude Oil Production in 25 years by projecting an insane oil price between $125 and $225 per barrel.

10 Carbon Sequestration For decades the gas and coal industries have been peddling the myth of clean coal. This pie-in-the-sky notion has been elevated to the scientific name of Carbon Capture and Sequestration or CCS. Which means that the carbon dioxide emitted in the flue gases of coal and gas fired power plants would be captured and then injected into the ground to be stored indefinitely in underground reservoirs or the oceans (see the diagram below). The industries propaganda for this geoengineering solution to Global Warming has been so successful that it has been adopted in the campaign platforms of both major political parties and it is a critical component of commitments in the Paris Accords.

Not only is this a false promise that has been sucking up government research funds for decades, but a person only has to read wiki or the energy industries own research reports to see that the entire concept is fatally flawed.

“A general problem is that long term predictions about submarine or underground storage security are very difficult and uncertain, and there is still the risk that CO2 might leak into the atmosphere.[8] Disadvantages of old oil fields are their geographic distribution and their limited capacity, as well as the fact that subsequent burning of the additional oil recovered will offset much or all of the reduction in CO2 emissions”.

In 2009, Shell published its report “Understanding Carbon Capture and Storage Potential in Indonesia” which includes the diagram of subsurface uncertainties.” The report discusses all of the various pathways of underground CO2 leaks such as leaking wells, faults, fractures, and earthquakes shown in the cross section below.

Given the uncertainties and potential leaks, the economics of this hypothetical technology are highly unfavorable. Numerous monitoring wells and surface detectors would be required which would raise the costs considerably. Together with the cost of CO2 absorbers this could double the costs of electricity generation and economics are not the only problem.

Recent studies of deep ocean storage have concluded that CO2 would eventually result in ocean acidification at levels which are unacceptable over the long term. Furthermore, CO2 released at shallow depths could be lethal for marine organisms, livestock and adjacent human populations.

Cameroon This fear was confirmed when a natural deposit of CO2 sequestered in a volcanic crater lake in Cameroon was disturbed by a landslide. In the Summer of 1986, I was in Kenya when a report came in from Cameroon that CO2 had escaped from Lake Nyos asphyxiating 1700 people and more than 3500 livestock. Although the population has been resettled in the area, the threat continues and another outgassing could be triggered by another earthquake or landslide. This catastrophe has led scientists to conclude that any blow-out of a CO2 reservoir could potentially replace enough oxygen to suffocate people for miles around the event.

Natuna C02 Project https://en.m.wikipedia.org/…. Ironically, the previous year, I was working for Tenneco in Indonesia. I evaluated the Natuna Project in the South China Sea for possible participation using EXXON’S own data and I recommended against it. This EXXON field is probably the largest remaining gas field in the world. Problems with the lease are disputed by China, Philippines, Vietnam and Malaysia; it is nearly 75% CO2 with significant H2S, and it costs $40 billion to develop, so it may not even be profitable when oil price is over $100 per barrel. Early calculations showed that deliberately bubbling the CO2 to the surface or a blowout could endanger anyone within a 10-mile radius.

I told the company the gas field was not economic, bad for the environment and too dangerous. I also told them it could not be profitable under any probable scenario. Apparently, James Hansen did some consulting work for EXXON about the same time and gave them the same advice. In short, development could start a war after which production would overheat the planet.

Given the scale of this Natuna Project. it could well have been the beginning of EXXON’S intense interest in the link between CO2 and global warming. Attempts to justify this ill-conceived project could have led to EXXON’s much publicized, active role in promoting Global Warming denial. Needless to say, EXXON to this day is continuing to promote this insane Natuna project and denial of man-made climate change It is still looking for additional partners more than 40 years after the fields discovery.

https://insideclimatenews.org/news/….

This brings us to our own recommendations for combating Global Warming culled from dozens that have been proposed over the years. These are based primarily on removing the financial incentives which accelerate Global Warming. Additionally, we have included recommendations to fight the inevitable consequences such as increased wildfires and dwindling water supplies. If these measures are not implemented soon, we will look back on this time as the point where we allowed our faint candles of hope to be extinguished by the energy companies wielding a blow torch.

11 Recommendations

End Fossil Fuel Subsidies

End Wastewater Injection

Ban high volume hydraulic fracturing (Fracking)

Remove the Haliburton Loophole and reinstate the Clean Water and Clean Air authority over hydrocarbon waste products

Establish monitoring and fines for methane emissions

Buy, Lease and Build a fleet of fire-fighting aircraft adapted to use salt water along our coasts.

Recruit and Train Veterans and the unemployed to a permanent Conservation Corps to fight fires and provide flood relief.

Monitor methane emissions above dump sites

Permanently cap and restore land above abandoned sanitary landfills

Stop Deepwater Offshore Leasing

End Govt. Research Funding of Clean Coal and CCS

Prohibit imports of Tar Sands or products from oil sands

Increase tax incentives for Wind and Solar Energy

Encourage development of fireproof and earthquake resistant affordable housing.

Establish nationwide tree planting programs

Subsidize water filtration and cleanup of drinking water.

12 Qualifications As a petroleum geologist David Lincoln has been studying global warming for the past 45 years. He knows what the oil companies have known for decades and follows the technical articles, conventions and trade journals they publish. He did his GIS Master’s Thesis on Vegetation Change in Australia and assisted in satellite research on global climate change. As a college instructor he has taught this subject for over 15 years. He has seen the technologies evolve as the weight of the evidence mounts.

He has concluded that no serious, objective scientist would challenge the simple fact that man’s use of fossil fuels is altering the climate. It is not yet too late to choose alternatives, but we cannot continue with business as usual. We must take a different path and leave many of the fossil fuel deposits in the ground.

#California Fires #Climate Change #David Lincoln #Global Warming #Hotter Than Hell #Lincoln Risk Registry #Lincoln's Risk-Registry

0 notes

deepgreenfutures-blog · 7 years ago

Text

3D-Printed House Was Built in a Week

New Post has been published on http://www.deepgreenfutures.com/2018/11/20/3d-printed-house-was-built-in-a-week/

3D-Printed House Was Built in a Week

Arup and CLS Architetti’s 3D-printed house was built in a week

youtube

From Dezeen.com by Sebastian Jordahn, Nov. 19, 2018 Our latest Dezeen x MINI Living video investigates a 3D-printed house, which was built in a week, onsite in a Milan square, using recycled concrete.

Engineering firm Arup and architecture studio CLS Architetti collaborated on the project, which was exhibited during Milan design week this year.

Named 3D Housing 05, the structure was printed within Milan’s Piazza Cesare Beccaria square in just a week. After construction the 100-square-metre house contained a living area, bedroom, kitchen, bathroom and was topped with a roof terrace.

The house’s curved walls were printed by a compact and mobile robot, which can print a single wall in 60 to 90 minutes. The machine was designed by Cybe Construction – a 3D-printing company from the Netherlands.

Arup and CLS Architetti unveiled the 3D-printed house during Milan design week

The structure was printed by a compact and mobile robot that can print one wall in just 60-90 minutes

The walls were printed with a special mix of recycled concrete, using debris from demolition sites, which cures in five minutes. The mix was developed by one of the world’s largest suppliers of cement Italcementi and can be recycled after a building has been demolished.

CLS Architetti told Dezeen that the project aimed to demonstrate that with 3D-printing technology housing can be built quickly and cheaply.

The house was fitted with bathrooms, a kitchen, living spaces and a roof terrace

According to Massimiliano Locatelli, principal architect at CLS, the cost of 3D printing a single square metre is currently €1,000 (£890) half the average price of traditional construction. Locatelli predicts that as the method becomes more advanced, this figure will drop to around €200 to €300 (£178 to £267) per square metre.

3D printing is efficient as the printer works quickly and reduces the amount of man hours put into a single building. The process also only uses the exact amount of raw materials needed for each component, thereby reducing waste produced during construction.

The cost of 3D-printing houses is lower than traditional construction methods as the process is more efficient

The house exhibited during Milan design week was only a prototype, however, CLS Architetti aims to improve on the building method to make it sustainable for building long term housing.

Source: https://www.dezeen.com/2018/11/19/video-mini-living-3d-printing-cls-architetti-arup-movie/

#Geopolymer

0 notes

deepgreenfutures-blog · 7 years ago

Text

Low Carbon Living on track to meet 10mgts target by 2020

New Post has been published on http://www.deepgreenfutures.com/2018/11/20/low-carbon-living/

Low Carbon Living on track to meet 10mgts target by 2020

CRC for Low Carbon Living on track to meet 10mgts target by 2020

From Architectureanddesign.com.au Nov. 19, 2018

Low carbon experts from around the globe are gathering at the Adelaide National Wine Centre today to discuss how the latest CRC for Low Carbon Living (CRCLCL) research is contributing to lowering carbon emissions in Australia’s built environment.

Australia’s only research and innovation hub, the CRCLCL is committed to contributing a cumulative reduction in carbon emissions of 10 megatonnes by 2020.

Now in its final year of funding, the Centre has announced that it is well on track to meet its founding goal by 2020, which will enable a projected economic benefit to Australia of $684 million by 2027.

To be held 19 – 20 November, the 2018 Annual Participants Forum: From Research to Reality hosted by the CRCLCL will discuss how the past six years of low carbon research are contributing to the significant reduction in carbon emissions in Australia’s built environment, along with several other related topics including low carbon solutions, green energy and the construction code.

Topics to be discussed at the forum include: Urban Heat Island mitigation to cool our cities; Blockchain technology for solar energy sharing and pricing; low carbon tourism; the world’s first trial of geopolymer concrete ocean barricades; low carbon schools and precincts; suggested changes to the National Construction Code; low carbon construction materials; cool roofs for large buildings; energy efficient pool pumps; low carbon wastewater treatment; and engaging communities to take low carbon action.

Several international speakers are also scheduled to speak at the CRCLCL event including Professor Brian Collins, professor of Engineering Policy at University College London and director of the International Centre for Infrastructure Futures; and Professor Ivo Martinac – Professor and Chair, Building Services and Energy Systems KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden.

Both will share their expert knowledge and experience in delivering low to zero carbon urban environments from policy as well as practice perspectives.

Australian keynote speakers include The Hon Mark Butler- shadow minister for Climate Change and Energy and Labor Member for Port Adelaide; David Speirs – SA minister for Environment and Water South Australian and State Member for Black; Dr Jemma Green – co-founder and chair of Power Ledger; and Richard Turner, SIMEC ZEN Energy.

The CRCLCL will also host an Adelaide focused industry breakfast entitled ‘Visions for a Carbon Neutral Adelaide’ on 20 November at 7am.

Source: https://www.architectureanddesign.com.au/news/crc-for-low-carbon-living-on-track-to-meet-10mgts

#3D-Printed Construction #Environmentally friendly concrete #Low Carbon Living #Sustainable Cement #Geopolymer #Sustainable Building

0 notes

deepgreenfutures-blog · 7 years ago

Text

UTA researcher to use grant to employ better ways to bolster embankments, soil

New Post has been published on http://www.deepgreenfutures.com/2018/11/16/uta-researcher-grant/

UTA researcher to use grant to employ better ways to bolster embankments, soil

Stronger highways

UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT ARLINGTON

A UTA civil engineering soil researcher is using multiple-year, $600,000 grant funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation regional center and the Texas Department of Transportation that will employ geopolymers for soil modification and sustainable cement materials to strengthen highway embankments in the Paris, Texas, district.

Anand Puppala, civil engineering professor and the associate dean for research in The University of Texas at Arlington’s College of Engineering, is the lead investigator on the project. Funding is from the Louisiana State University-led Transportation Consortium of South-Central States, a University Transportation Center that was created in late 2016 through $300 million in U.S. Department of Transportation funding.

“Geopolymers and the cementitious material leave a low carbon footprint, making it attractive environmentally,” Puppala said. “We use waste and convert that into cementitious material. It cuts down on the amount of lime and cement normally used. It replaces those materials with the geopolymers, which are like an ash material.”

Puppala said the second part of the project involves using lime treatment on slopes to stop cracks in the soil.

“That will be done at the field sites using 18- to 24-inch thick treated soil design models,” Puppala said. “This is similar to what we did with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to help stabilize some of the North Texas dams a few years ago. Currently we are designing a slope treatment for the Paris district using advanced geomaterial testing and modeling.”

Puppala said the projects are receiving strong collaboration through Texas A&M University and LSU, and are supporting three doctoral students and two postdoctoral researchers.

LSU’s Navid Jafari, an assistant professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, is contributing on the slope studies portion of the project.

Sayantan Chakraborty, a UTA post-doctoral student, and UTA doctoral student Burak Boluk also are assisting with the slope studies portion of the project. Surya Sarat Chandra Congress, a UTA doctoral student, is providing the unmanned aerial vehicle data collection part of the slope stabilization project.

Miladin Radovic, professor in the Materials Science and Engineering Department at Texas A&M University and director of TAMU’s Materials Characterization Facility, is a collaborating partner on the geopolymers project.

Aritra Banerjee, a UTA civil engineering adjunct professor and research scientist at The UTA Research Institute, will play a major part in the project. UTA doctoral student Rinu Ann Samuel also is contributing.

“The geopolymer we’re using is a silica similar to sand,” Banerjee said. “It came about in the 1950s but we’ve perfected the process to synthesize and create it. We anticipate more applications and research works in this field.”

Puppala’s projects are a prime example of building sustainable urban communities, a theme of the university’s Strategic Plan 2020: Bold Solutions | Global Impact.

Engineering Dean Peter Crouch said Puppala is a consummate researcher.

“Dr. Puppala has built up a great many important relationships with governmental state agencies in Texas, and is able to leverage this toward the buildup of UTA’s great depth of expertise in civil infrastructure,” Crouch said. “It seems like everything he does will have a long-lasting beneficial effect on Texas.”

#Geopolymer

0 notes

deepgreenfutures-blog · 7 years ago

Text

CCC: 3D Printed Homes Set to Become Mass Production Solutions

New Post has been published on http://www.deepgreenfutures.com/2018/11/16/ccc-3d-printed-homes/

CCC: 3D Printed Homes Set to Become Mass Production Solutions

CCC: 3D Printed Homes set to become mass production solutions

ATHENS, Greece, November 14, 2018 /PRNewswire/ —

The world’s first realistic approach to the mass production of 3D Printed Houses has been successfully piloted in Saudi Arabia, with the pioneering creation of a unique 3D Printed House Prototype taking 3D printing technology into mainstream construction.

Global construction leaders Consolidated Contractors Company and technology company CyBe were commissioned by the National Housing Company in Saudi Arabia to create the Prototype as part of a vision to transform the housing industry worldwide with innovative technologies meeting ever-growing, critical housing demands on local and global scales.

The collaborative project is the first step of many in realising 3D Printing as a mainstream construction method and certifying that new approaches, such as load bearing walls and complete MEP (Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing) integration while printing – approaches that were explored with this pilot project – are thoroughly investigated and implemented in future phases.

The project is not simply a ‘proof of concept’ regarding 3D printing technology – rather, it examined the realistic adoption of 3D printing technology in mainstream construction. The Prototype took 3D Printing from an ‘abstract future vision’ through to real-life implementation as a mainstream solution.

Consolidated Contractors Company were also committed to Saudization – Saudi nationals were trained in the 3D printing approach and associated processes, with the aim to be involved in future phases. All finishing material used to complete the project was acquired locally from Saudi suppliers and local industry.

The purpose of the initiative was to build a demo housing unit, demonstrating the capabilities of 3D printing technology and to investigate its potential benefits to the housing market.

About Consolidated Contractors Company:

Consolidated Contractors Company (CCC) is a global leader in the engineering and construction industry. Established in 1952 and operating worldwide, CCC has provided more than 65 years of project management, engineering, procurement and construction services to the industry, is currently engaged in 56 ongoing projects globally, and employs around 182,000 people internationally.

The company’s landmark construction projects include the Dubai Mall, the Abu Dhabi International Airport – Midfield Terminal Building, Riyadh Metro Project, residential towers, hotels, power stations, water and sewage treatment plants and networks, roads and bridges, industrial and process plants and pipelines around the world. Consolidated Contractors Company contributes to the Partnering Against Corruption Initiative of the World Economic Forum, along with the UN Global Compact, to ensure business ethics, anti-bribery policies and sustainable growth in all forms of its operations.

SOURCE Consolidated Contractors Company (CCC)

https://www.ccc.net/

#3D Printing Construction Tech #3D-Printed Construction #GeoStrong geopolymer #GeoStrong mortar #Geopolymer

0 notes

deepgreenfutures-blog · 7 years ago

Text

Next-gen Construction 3D Printer Being Developed by COBOD

New Post has been published on http://www.deepgreenfutures.com/2018/11/16/next-gen-construction-3d-printer/

Next-gen Construction 3D Printer Being Developed by COBOD

The company will develop the new construction 3D printer by 2021 thanks to a grant from N3XTCON

From 3D Printing Media Network by Tess Boissonneault November 12, 2018

The BOD building in Copenhagen

COBOD International, the construction 3D printing branch of Danish company 3D Printhuset, has received a grant to put towards developing the next generation construction 3D printer. The grant is part of the N3XTCON project, which itself has over 2 million euros in support from the Innovation Fund Denmark.

In addition to COBOD’s development of a next-gen construction 3D printer, the N3XTCON project also involves participation from materials suppliers, construction companies, architects, building owners, research institutions and universities. The goal of the project is to 3D print a demonstration building in Denmark designed by architect Bjarke Ingels’ BIG Architects firm.

COBOD, known best for its BOD2 construction 3D printer and the 3D printed Bod house in Copenhagen, will de developing a new 3D printer with the deadline of 2021.

“With the first 3D printed building in Europe, The BOD in Copenhagen, living up to all strict European building rules and regulations, we proved that 3D construction printing has the potential to disrupt the construction sector,” commented Henrik Lund-Nielsen, CEO of COBOD International. “This was further underlined by our partnership with The PERI Group. With this new project, we chase that ambition even further.”

“Since making The BOD we developed the BOD2 printer, an improved version of the BOD1 printer, which we used for making The BOD,” he continued. “We have no doubts that the BOD2 printer is globally the leading 3D construction printer evidenced by the unprecedented hardware speed of 100 cm/second and the fact that we with the BOD2 won the first ever EU tender for a 3D construction printer. However, we need to move on to stay ahead and this project will help us do exactly that.”

Render of the BOD2 construction 3D printer

The development of the next generation construction 3D printer will advance in close collaboration with research institutions and universities, which will offer their own expertise to create a machine that is more advanced than anything on the market today. In the context of construction 3D printing, research projects and efforts are providing a rich foundation in terms of hardware, materials and construction AM initiatives.

“To stay ahead and to fundamentally disrupt the construction sector, we need to continue developing and create new functionalities for the printers like integral reinforcement solutions, materials control systems etc. Developing such require specialized knowledge, all of which we do not necessarily have,” elaborated COBOD’s Development manager Michael Holm. “We are therefore very pleased that the Innovation Fund Denmark chose to support the development of our next generation printer, which we will do in close co-operation with the leading Danish research institutions and universities to create something truly unique and disruptive.”

Internationally recognized architect Bjarke Ingels’s firm will take charge of the design for the 3D printed demonstration building. The company is behind many stunning and innovative buildings including the recently completed LEGO House in Billund, Denmark, the Danish Maritime Museum in Helsingør, Denmark and others.

It will be interesting to see how the prolific architecture firm utilizes the design freedom afforded by 3D printing to create a design for the N3XTCON building project.

Source: https://www.3dprintingmedia.network/cobod-construction-3d-printer-n3xtcon/

#3-D Printing #3D Printing Housing Project #3D-Printed Construction #Concrete 3D Printing #Render of the BOD2 construction 3D printer

0 notes

deepgreenfutures-blog · 7 years ago

Text

Bitcoin Legal In China; The Cryptocurrency Ban Has Been Lifted

New Post has been published on http://www.deepgreenfutures.com/2018/11/12/bitcoin-legal-in-china/

Bitcoin Legal In China; The Cryptocurrency Ban Has Been Lifted

China Lifts Bitcoin Ban; Individuals and Businesses Can Now Own Cryptocurrencies Legally

From BTCCNN by Bada Adedamola – November 8, 2018

Bitcoin (BTC) is now recognized as a legal asset to be owned, transferred and utilized as a medium of payment for goods and services in China as decreed by the Shenzhen Court of International Arbitration after ordering the Bitcoin ban in 2017.

Nearing the end of last year, Bitcoin and cryptocurrency trading as a whole was banned by the Chinese government. This was effected by a forceful shutdown of cryptocurrency exchanges based in China including popular Chinese exchange platforms like BTC China and Via BTC.

The consequence of this decision was evident when the value of Bitcoin dropped from it’s the then all-time high of $4,000 to a fall in about 20% of its value after being massively sold by concerned investors. Another big part of the massive drop then, was because mining rigs all over China were shut down in quick response to the government policy. China houses some of the biggest Bitcoin mining rigs on the planet.

Bitcoin as a Legalized Asset in China

According to a recent report by CnLedger, the crypto ban is now a thing of the past in China, as virtual currencies have been legalized as a mode of payment to be accepted by people and business entities as. The Shenzen Court of International Arbitration was quoted as saying;

“Chinese court confirms Bitcoin is protected by law. Shenzhen Court of International Arbitration ruled a case involving cryptos. Inside the verdict: CN law does not forbid owning & transferring bitcoin, which should be protected by law because of its property nature and economic value.”

A cryptocurrency researcher, Katherine Wu, who went through the documents of the court conveniently stated that cryptocurrency could be viewed as an asset because of its decentralized status.

Adoption of Bitcoin and Major Altcoins in Chinese Businesses

Businesses in different parts of China are, however, adopting Bitcoin as a medium of payment for their services. This includes China’s oldest technology publication Beijing Sci-Tech Report (BSTR), which recently accepted Bitcoin to be used as payment by users for the subscription of its magazine. Several hotels across China are now increasingly adopting Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies as a mode of payment, with even a hotel namely the Ethereum Hotel promoting Ethereum to its customers by offering discounts to customers who pay in Ethereum coins for its services.

A huge significance of this move is the seeming embracement of technological innovations by China, who have in recent times, shown aversion to innovations of the Blockchain technology. The country’s internet regulator, however, is looking to put an end to the anonymity enjoyed by the country’s Bitcoin users by forcing services to perform a necessary KYC on its users so their identities can be found out.

Experts predict that this move is primarily to checkmate the extreme fraud, hacks, and scams plaguing the crypto space. The country initially countered the use of cryptocurrency citing its negative impact on the imminent devaluation of the Yuan, its official currency. Anyone can now pay for goods and services with Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies without being in fear of going against financial government regulations.

Source: https://www.btcnn.com/china-lifts-bitcoin-ban-individuals-and-businesses-can-now-own-cryptocurrencies-legally/

#3D-Printed Construction #Bitcoin Legal In China #cryptocurrency #Deep Green Futures #Melinda Pillsbury-Foster #Cryptocurrency

0 notes

deepgreenfutures-blog · 7 years ago

Text

Sustainable Building: New Technologies Address Natural Disasters

New Post has been published on http://www.deepgreenfutures.com/2018/11/11/sustainable-building-technologies/

Sustainable Building: New Technologies Address Natural Disasters

New Technologies For Rebuilding After Natural Disasters – Rebuild Better And Smarter

From Watershed Materials by David Easton, Oct. 17, 2018

The question that we inevitably ask after natural disasters like Hurricane Harvey, Mexico’s recent earthquakes, and the still burning California’s wildfires is: How do we rebuild? In most cases, we will rebuild – our communities band together time and time again. Building materials and construction technologies have come a long way recently, and there are a whole host of new techniques for offering short term shelter as well as rebuilding long term housing after natural disasters.

Like many of you, the Watershed Materials and Rammed Earth Works teams have been deeply concerned by the suffering following Hurricanes Harvey and Maria as well as the earthquakes in Mexico, wondering how we can help with the rebuilding efforts. We were then evacuated ourselves from the recent Napa / Sonoma fires that have ravaged areas far too close to our own homes, threatening our friends and neighbors. In the downtime of the past few days – we can’t work while evacuated – we’ve cataloged the newest technologies for rebuilding after natural disaster added some of our own ideas into the list. Do you have new approaches to add to the list? Add them in the comments below,

Short-Term Flexibility The immediate aftermath of a disaster offers little shelter for those displaced by it. Is it enough to simply find the largest covered space to house everyone or will the future bring flexibility to emergency shelters?

The Exo Shelter is a sleek, futuristic, efficient emergency shelter that holds 4 people. It’s being rolled out post-disaster, but also during music festivals and other commercial uses.

RE:BUILD is a less graceful but more practical modular shelter made with local materials. It brings larger-scale temporary shelters for housing, clinics, schools, and dining halls when people need them the most.

If the local stadium, high school, or other public place is still the best bet, architect Shigeru Ban’s Paper Partition System adds some much needed privacy using cheaply-sourced canvas and paper tubes. His larger-scale temporary Container Housing is another lightweight, affordable win.

Repurposing Resources The resources needed to survive and rebuild are often unavailable immediately after a natural disaster, especially in areas like the Caribbean where most traditional building materials aren’t manufactured locally. Nations respond with aid as soon as they can, but getting it to the scene is just another obstacle in the process of rebuilding. Destroyed bricks, concrete, glass, and steel must be removed before a new development can begin.

Watershed Materials is focusing on what we can do to repurpose the materials available right at the scene of a disaster. Our pop-up transportable high compression block plant takes excavated materials or mineral grains and turns them into durable masonry blocks using an ultra-high compression similar to the natural process of lithification.

Watershed Materials is developing technology to turn crushed concrete and brick into new, safe and sustainable masonry products to re-build stronger after natural disasters, using existing waste material where possible. The technology has evolved from on-site block production machinery originally developed to turn construction waste into on-site building materials.

Watershed Materials’ technology is being developed to repurpose existing materials – in the case of natural disasters even the wreckage of previous structures – right at the construction site. In the case of natural disasters, we hope to turn crushed concrete and brick into new, safe and sustainable masonry products to re-build stronger using existing waste material. In more traditional building projects like the Kirkham Project in San Francisco, this technology can turn excavation that usually needs to be removed from the site into building materials, saving money, reducing construction traffic, and limiting the pollution that goes along with it.

Chinese architects have rediscovered repurposed materials and revived building technologies used in previous generations. In an age of brick and concrete, they’ve utilized clay from an earthquake-prone village to not only rebuild, but provide defense against future quakes.

Future Proofing The chance of another natural disaster is a present fear for those who have labored to rebuild. They seek to build a better, stronger structure that can withstand Mother Nature the next time around.

Like the salvaged clay homes in Yunnan, China, we can focus right down to the very materials used. Concrete and steel beams are still the go-to for durability against wind, fire, and flooding (concrete is largely unaffected by water), but they’re not always economically feasible and aren’t truly earthquake-proof.

Rubber shock absorbers, viscous dampers, and friction dampers built into the very foundation are effective – albeit expensive – approaches to earthquake-proofing a building.

Fireproofing is always considered a matter of time; steel beams can only hold up so long. Fireproofing spray and intumescent paint coatings are slower to apply, but steady. Rigid board and flexible blanket systems are quicker alternatives. Even specialty aerated concrete can enhance a building’s fire-resistance.

We can consider the entire building as a modular unit with Cubicco’s elegant, 180-mph-hurricane-proof, flat-pack homes. Made entirely with renewable building materials like cork, they’re also energy efficient by design with options for solar water heaters, photovoltaic panels, rainwater collection systems, and vertical gardens.

We can approach post disaster rebuilding from a city-wide perspective too and may have to if we want to avoid the devastation of Hurricanes Katrina and Harvey. However, imposing stricter building codes, elevating buildings, redesigning the layout of the city, or installing levees still may not be enough.

A Chance For Change In all the devastation that follows a disaster, there is one strong silver lining: the opportunity to change how our buildings are constructed. We don’t necessarily need to rebuild things the way they were, we can find the positivity in destruction and utilize a clean, progressive slate. We can rethink our future and the way things are done.

That may be the only true long-term solution.

Some of our problems are rooted deep in the underlying infrastructure of our cities and building philosophies. When stripped bare, they can be changed. A focus on resilient and green infrastructure may rebuild us stronger, better, faster.

The cities most recently affected in the Southern U.S. have some things in common, namely outward expansion and wetland degradation that puts them in direct conflict with flooding. California is notorious for wildfires, yet is still devastated on a regular basis. Earthquakes are bound to happen again. Whether by political, financial, or social shackles, we continue doing things how they’ve been done in the slow industrial march of growth.

Unfortunately, Mother Nature doesn’t back down and climate change is making her a more powerful foe. Therein lies the disconnect though – the Earth shouldn’t be our enemy, it should be our home. We need to reshape the idea of human conquest into the idea of natural coexistence or we will find ourselves rebuilding again and again.

Source: https://watershedmaterials.com/blog/2017/10/17/new-technologies-for-rebuilding-after-natural-disasters

#3D Printing Construction Tech #Geopolymer cement #Melinda Pillsbury-Foster #Sustainable building #sustainable construction #Climate Change #Sustainable Building

0 notes

deepgreenfutures-blog · 7 years ago

Text

Construction Trends in 2019

New Post has been published on http://www.deepgreenfutures.com/2018/11/11/construction-trends/

Construction Trends in 2019

Newtecnic: Construction trends for 2019

Andrew Watts, CEO of international design engineering firm, Newtecnic, looks at the Top 10 Construction Trends for 2019

By Andrew Woods Nov 09, 2018

Construction Sequence Simulation

Simulating and animating construction sequences will grow in popularity as city building sites become increasingly complex. Protected public spaces that need to account for pedestrians and transport systems can be simulated, along with buildings themselves. Putting them into context helps people better understand how to build harmoniously in tight spaces.

Real-world simulations that include noise and air quality impacts, delivery schedules, make worksite management simpler by allowing stakeholders to see both the big picture, and the fine details, brought to life.

On-site Construction Labs

While off-site manufacturing can be the right method for mass-produced building components, on-site Construction Labs are ideal for fabricating mass-customised parts. Bringing materials, in optimised form, to be made into components on-site, saves transportation costs and enables a level of manufacturing flexibility that no other system delivers. Portable, very high-tech production facilities can use data, gathered from LiDAR equipped drones to fine- tune manufacturing so that each component perfectly fits the as-built structure. The movement towards 3D printing is very well accommodated by the use of Construction Labs which capitalise on the growing trend towards industry-wide digitalisation.

Training foreign workforces

Knowledge transfer to non-UK workforces in remote locations can be facilitated through design engineering that ensures construction and installation complexity is greatly simplified. That means very ambitious structures can be built by local workers who, when provided with the right project specific information and training, can achieve world class performance.

Reducing crane use

Crane usage will be reduced by deploying specialist machinery and robotised systems able to more efficiently and safely carry, and potentially autonomously install, large building components. This trend is especially relevant to building refurbishment where, on low but wide buildings with continuous wall and roof facades, it may not be possible to use cranes to lift components into place.

Digital user manuals

Buildings are becoming smarter and more like consumer products such as smart-phones, which can be upgraded throughout their lives. And just like consumer products, smart buildings require digital user manuals that can be continuously updated. Combining BIM data with engineering information, means that current and future occupants and owners can make the best use of resources, adapting and developing buildings and their interconnected machines and systems to make them future proof.

Robots and Cobots

Humans have always shared workspace with machines on construction sites. The development of robots, drones and cobots (i.e. robots that can work together with people) to automate tasks and help humans with heavy lifting and repetitive work, is underway. This trend is unstoppable and will accompany advancements in fully or semi-autonomous robotics.

Inspection of building facades by drones is safer and more thorough than using top-slung cradles because it allows operators better views from the comfort of an office. It will not be long before drones and robots go beyond inspection by also delivering components for installation. And because the engineering that makes this possible is being devised right now, I predict that in less than a decade those parts will be installed using robots and cobots.

Light weighting

When promoting the lightweight Dymaxion house in the 1920’s, Buckminster Fuller used to ask prospective buyers, “How much does your house weigh?” Today the same question is increasingly asked because each extra kilo requires more energy and resources to manufacture, transport and assemble, as well as to heat, cool, clean and maintain after construction. Immediate and substantial long-term saving can be made when weight is reduced. Therefore, the trend to produce precise weight calculations, such as are are made for all Newtecnic projects, will extend across the industry so that the immediate and long-term, consequential and extended costs can be accurately calculated.

Cloud

The major and growing trend for cloud operation in construction will expand over the coming months and years as its benefits become increasingly apparent. Working on the cloud means there is only one set of building data – one version of the truth – that is shared and used by all stakeholders. Information cannot be siloed or hidden. Cloud operation using 3D digital twins of buildings, their components and their construction methods, lets everyone better understand the project and their role in it. Anyone can see the big picture and its myriad details. That leads to fewer mistakes, better quality, and collaboration that avoids confrontation and disputes.

Waste reduction

According to the European Commission around 30% of all waste in Europe is generated by the construction industry. This is both unacceptable and unsustainable. The trend for engineering to find solutions is leading directly to increased efficiency, productivity and profits through eliminating wasted materials and time.

Generative design

When design is freed from traditional industry practices, shapes and components can be based on the interpretation of physics and mathematics. And, they can be ‘generatively’ created. This means that rather than being designed by a single person, geometry is based purely on functional requirements. In many cases the shapes that are generated have never been seen before, yet they are perfectly suited to purpose. This trend is often the starting point for human designers to adapt these shapes and to be inspired to develop new types of façade and detailing that can be manufactured using 3D printing.

About Newtecnic:

Newtecnic is an international world leader in the engineering design of complex highly ambitious construction projects and advanced building envelope systems. The company is an engineering design house that undertakes the engineering design of building structures, façades, and MEP (Mechanical Electrical and Plumbing) installations in partnership with leading international developers, architects and contractors. Founded in 2003, Newtecnic’s design professionals team is completely and solely dedicated to the design and engineering of structures, façades and MEP. In partnership with the Engineering Departments of Cambridge University, and UCLA in Los Angeles, Newtecnic’s R&D team analyses, develops, tests, validates and specifies new building technologies and methods. Newtecnic has offices in the USA, UK and Saudi Arabia. The company is owned, directed and managed by long-established and experienced engineers. Newtecnic holds the ISO 9001:2015 certification with the British Standards Institution (BSI)

Image credits: Newtecnic

Source: https://www.constructionglobal.com/mission-critical/newtecnic-construction-trends-2019

#Geopolymer

1 note · View note

deepgreenfutures-blog · 7 years ago

Text

3D Printing Robots to Address Skilled Labor Shortages

New Post has been published on https://www.deepgreenfutures.com/2018/11/10/3d-printing-robots-labor-shortages/

3D Printing Robots to Address Skilled Labor Shortages

How Autodesk plans to bring 3D printing robots to construction sites

From ZDNet By Natalie Gagliordi for Between the Lines | November 8, 2018

Autodesk has come up with an additive manufacturing “toolbox” for the construction industry, with robots and 3D printing systems coming together in a portable shipping container. (3D Printing Robots)

Autodesk is showcasing its vision to bring robots to work sites for on-demand, 3D printing of building parts. The design software company said the goal is to address the skilled labor shortage facing the construction industry, but also to help the industry keep pace with rising housing demands using newer manufacturing principles and practices.

According to Autodesk, a rising global population will lead to increased demand for buildings. This demand, combined with the short supply of qualified workers, has pushed the construction industry to consider new building techniques, including the way parts of buildings are made.

Autodesk’s solution to this supposed supply and demand housing crisis is a sort of additive manufacturing “toolbox” for the construction industry, with robots and 3D printing systems coming together in a portable shipping container.

The idea is that various robots and printing systems — capable of printing large, usable metal components — can be packaged up in a shipping container and sent from job site to job site. This method, the company says, enables buildings to be built quickly, parts to be produced more accurately, and helps to fill the construction labor shortage.

Autodesk said the robot stuffed shipping container will make its way around Europe this winter.

Source: https://www.zdnet.com/article/how-autodesk-plans-to-bring-3d-printing-robots-to-construction-sites/

#3D Printing Housing Project #3D Printing Robots #3D-Printed Cement #3D-Printed Construction #Skilled Labor Shortages #Sustainable Cement

0 notes

deepgreenfutures-blog · 7 years ago

Text

Media

New Post has been published on http://www.deepgreenfutures.com/media/

Media

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]If you are a member of the media and would like more information please email us at [email protected]

Thanks.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

#Array

0 notes

deepgreenfutures-blog · 7 years ago

Text

Amazon Natives in Ecuador Get Dumped On Again

New Post has been published on http://www.deepgreenfutures.com/2018/11/08/ecuador-texaco-amazon/

Amazon Natives in Ecuador Get Dumped On Again

by David Lincoln, founder of Lincoln’s Risk-Registry September 10th, 2018

It is practically impossible to discuss oil industry impacts in Ecuador without first dealing with the lawsuits by the native peoples against the oil companies.

Here is where it took place:

As a result of exploration and production activities in Ecuador between 1972 and 1992, TEXACO/TEXPET [now CHEVRON] has faced several lawsuits stemming from alleged environmental damages. During that period, Texaco produced an average of more than 8 million gallons per day of oil from the Oriente region of the Amazon in Northeastern Ecuador.

Reportedly, the first lawsuit against Texaco was filed on behalf of a half million Ecuadorians soon after Texaco disposed of its oil interests in Ecuador in 1992. The suit was apparently dismissed in January 1994. In November 1993, a $1-billion lawsuit was filed against Texaco for about 30,000 Quechua Indians, who claimed that the oil company had caused irreparable damage to the Oriente rain forest. This suit was reportedly dismissed in November 1996 by the New York federal court. In July 1994, the municipality of Lago Agrio, a small town in the Amazon oil-producing region of northeastern Ecuador, filed a $2 billion lawsuit for alleged environmental damages. Texaco is said to have settled this suit in September 1996 for far less money — about $1 million — without any admission of liability.

There is also an Ecuador lawsuit, originally filed in 1993 in New York, which alleges that Chevron dumped 18 billion gallons of toxic waste in Ecuador’s rainforest from 1964 to 1992. According to the suit, this threatened multiple indigenous groups with extinction and caused skyrocketing rates of cancer.

The EIA states that in May 1995, Texaco signed an agreement with Ecuador’s government to undertake cleanup activities in northeastern Ecuador in return for releasing the company from future responsibility related to its former oil operations. Under the deal, Texaco was to treat polluted water, clean and reforest production sites, build schools and medical centers at three sites, and provide river boats and an airplane to local communities. Texaco also agreed to negotiate with several regional municipalities, including Lago Agrio, which had raised their own claims against the company. In late 1996, Ecuador’s Attorney General Leonidas Plaza reportedly attempted to annul this deal, but this attempt failed after President Buckram’s government was removed from power.

This lawsuit which was just dismissed on September 8, 2018 by the International Tribunal at the Hague in the Netherlands. According to the BBC, Chevron wins Ecuador rainforest ‘oil dumping’ case, “the oil giant now stands to be awarded hundreds of millions of dollars in costs by the Hague’s Permanent Court of Arbitration.” (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-45455984)

It is possible that had the courts allowed testimony of oil field experts (not working with TEXACO/CHEVRON), the Native Tribes (who were the victims in this case) might have been more successful in their claim.

The ruling this month states that Texaco had hired a contractor to clean-up the contaminated area. In truth, the consulting companies sampled less than half of the pits. Many that were partially remediated were completed in only a few weeks.

The chart above shows the Produced Water (millions of bbls/month) from the TexPet concession between 1972 and 1992.

This shows that TexPet alone discharged over 375 million bbls (more than 15 billion gallons) of Produced Water during the period they operated. Note the shutdown in 1987 was due to the major earthquake in 1987.

When I worked for Texaco in 1974, they paraded their successes in Ecuador for all the employees and stockholders and they were particularly pleased with the contracts they negotiated with the Corporacion Estatal Petrolera Ecuatoriana (CEPE), a predecessor of PetroEcuador. At the time, it was one of their most profitable ventures.

The full impacts on the Oriente people and environment from oil and Produced Water discharged at these fields has never fully been revealed. This understanding is made even more difficult because Chevron/Texaco defers to consultant reports rather than releasing its own original data. Simultaneously, they challenge the integrity of every lawyer who dares to attach his reputation to the case and they challenge every piece of evidence even it was produced by their own company.

Despite these obstacles, a few details have emerged which can shed some light on these controversies. Texaco certainly constructed more than 600 pits for the separation and disposal of oily Produced Water. The area receives between 2000 mm and 4000 mm (6.5 feet to 13 feet) of rainfall per year, so when these pits flood or overflow, the hydrocarbons are released directly into the river and streams. The geography and ecology of the Lago Agrio region also contribute primarily to the intensity of the environmental damage. The water table in the Amazonian basin is very high, this means that the average depth at which drinking water is found underground is significantly less than that of other nations and ecological regions. As a result, seepage of waste waters and discharged oil results in the direct contamination of regional drinking water, rivers, and wells. Contaminated water and oil can permeate the aquifers through fractures or through the underground beds of sand, gravel, or porous rock that store water.

Court documents have claimed that the risk of excess cancers for people who chronically drank from and bathed in oil contaminated waters ranged from 12-1000 cases per million persons.

A Texaco Audit of Practices between 1964-1990 produced by the consultant Fugro-McClelland in 1992 (which examined only half of the wells and about 30 miles of the pipeline) found that approximately half of the well pits contained crude oil in them. Various degrees of crude oil contamination existed on many of the sites audited. Hydrocarbon contamination was also observed at the production facilities of the two largest fields Sacha and Shushufindi.

Another Environmental Audit and Assessment produced by consultants HGT AGRA in 1993 found wellsite spills had occurred at more than 150 of the 163 assessed sites. Thirty-nine of produced fluid spills originated along a flowline. Thirteen of these spills had migrated off-site. In addition, more than 125 open or closed well site pits contained oily waste. The oily waste was apparently confined within about 50 of the pits, while evidence of seepage was noted at nearly 70 of the pits. Four facilities at Sacha Field (Sacha Central, Sacha Sur, Sacha Norte 1 and Sacha Norte 2) all but Sacha Norte 2 had large accumulations of crude oil (Greater than 95%) in their final stage pits [Pits that discharge directly to a surface water feature].

Gas is burned off at a separation station outside the town of Shushufindi.

At Shushufindi, the largest pit measured over 10,000 sq. ft and even after passing through two separation pits the final stage pit still had over half covered with oil. Produced water flow diagrams show that of the 15 pits used at the four production facilities, 13 had 100% oil covering the surface when audited.

Undoubtedly, hydrocarbons in soils represent a potentially long-term exposure to hydrocarbons. During the original audits contamination of soil and water was seen throughout the concession. It was observed at well sites, production stations, flowlines, and secondary pipelines and along roadways.

So, the evidence is clear that Chevron/Texaco polluted the Amazon rainforest with obsolete equipment and methods. It doesn’t matter if the government oil company continued to pollute using the poorly designed system that Chevron/Texaco left behind.

Their best defense then proved to be the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) designed to punish racketeering. This may be the first time that a multi-national corporation sued a country for racketeering and got away with it.

Written by Dave Lincoln

Full Disclosure: Mr. Lincoln was employed as a Geologist by Texaco in New Orleans from 1974 to 1976. I was also deposed as a witness for the plaintiffs by Chevron in 2007. My testimony related to this litigation, but it was determined that the statute of limitations had expired.