| Google invests in $5bn wind-power superhighway The Atlantic Wind Connection Project will serve 1.9m homes from New Jersey to Virginia with electricity from dozens of offshore windfarmsGoogle is extending its investment in green technology with a $5bn (£3.2bn) programme to build an undersea, wind energy transmission backbone along 350 miles of the Atlantic seaboard.The grid project, which stands to serve 1.9m homes from Virginia to New Jersey with up to 6,000 megawatts of electric power from dozens of windfarms 10 miles off the mid-Atlantic coast, is the most ambitious of its kind.Google announced it is working with Trans-Elect and two other firms, but has not offered a timetable for construction. "This system will act as a superhighway for clean energy," said Rick Needham, Google's green-business operations director.Investment in both wind energy programmes and the controversial extraction of shale oil from deposits in North Dakota, Montana and Alberta, Canada, has increased since the BP spill over the summer caused US lawmakers to curb permits for offshore oil and gas drilling.For Google, the Atlantic Wind Connection Project is in line with earlier investments. In May, it put $40m into two North Dakota windfarms, its first clean-energy investment. Two days ago the firm announced it had tested a self-driving electric car on Californian highways.Today's announcement offers hope that further investment will pour into the lagging US wind-energy programme. Consistent wind through Montana and the Dakotas, off the South Carolina coast and across the Texas panhandle gives the US windfarm industry an opportunity to supply significant amounts of electricity to the grid.But compared with China, now the leading manufacturer of wind turbines and solar energy equipment, the US had been comparatively slow in adopting the technology. Public opposition to windfarms, including a large project off the presidential holiday island of Martha's Vineyard, has taken years to resolve.That may now be changing: the Global Wind Energy Council industry group estimates wind-power investment may reach $202bn over the next 20 years.Charlie Hodges, a wind industry analyst at Bloomberg New Energy Finance, said: "The North American wind industry hasn't had any players involved with the motivation and financial heft to really move this market forward. Google could play that role."GoogleWind powerEnergyRenewable energyEnergy industryUnited StatesEdward Helmoreguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Chile miners given clean bill of health Doctors say the health of most of the 33 rescued miners is surprisingly good. The most common complaint? ToothacheThe 33 rescued Chilean miners have undergone extensive medical checks since being hauled to the surface, but doctors believe that most of them are in surprisingly good health after their two-month ordeal.At least one of the men is believed to have suffered a perforated eardrum in the catastrophic rockfall which sealed the San José mine, and may require surgery. Another is being treated for pneumonia, but the most common complaint among the men is toothache.One man, Osmán Araya, was in so much pain from an infected tooth that, for the last few nights in the mine, he was told to sleep sitting up and take painkillers. For Araya, surgery is almost certainly necessary, according to a nurse who had access to his medical files.John Milne, chair of the General Dental Practice Committee of the British Dental Association, said the miners' dental problems probably stem from the first 17 days of their incarceration, during which they survived on sips of water and small amounts of tuna fish."If they couldn't brush their teeth properly for that length of time then they would have got a build up of plaque and bacteria," said Milne."And if they weren't eating fruit and vegetables, then they won't have been getting vitamin C. They would probably have had an acute infection of the gums, which is very painful."Minor dental problems can easily be treated, but the men's most enduring problems may be emotional."There should be concern about their psychological adjustment over time, particularly after the joy of the reunion period, which will last for a few days to a few weeks," said John Fairbank, a professor of psychiatry at Duke University medical centre.During the 10-week confinement, 19-year-old Jimmy Sánchez suffered repeated panic attacks and hallucinations.At times Sánchez was so disoriented that he saw visions of his mother who he thought had come to visit him in the mine, bringing him food and comfort.The youngest member of the 33 is expected to have extensive post-trauma counselling, and will be among the most closely monitored of the rescued men.By contrast the miner who survived in the best condition is Edison Peña, an exercise enthusiast who chopped down his mining boots to turn them into makeshift running shoes, bruising his feet yet still running up to six miles a day through the darkened tunnels.Peña's exercise regime was so extensive that medical authorities sought to slow him down by lowering his calorie intake – an unsuccessful effort to reign in the hyperactive man.One of the most visible effects of the 70-day subterranean saga has been the men's pale skin caused by prolonged time spent in the dark.Since emerging from the mine, most of them have worn sunglasses at all times. Geoff Roberson, a qualified optometrist and professional adviser to the Association of Optometrists, said the light outside the mine could be "a thousand times brighter" than what the men had experienced over the past two months."Ultraviolet light is a hazard as far as the eyes are concerned," he said. "If they are very adapted to a dark environment then are going out into a place where UV light levels are quite high, then with very dilated pupils they could suffer longer term damage as a result of excessive ultraviolet light exposure."The good news for the miners is that Roberson would be "very surprised" if they suffered longer term damage as a result of their ordeal, and the men could expose their eyes to sunlight over the next few days.Exposure of a rather different kind has come sooner for Oakley, the manufacturer and donator of the sunglasses. Yesterday a US analytics company estimated the product placement could be worth $41m to the firm, given the global coverage of the miners' rescue.ChileJonathan FranklinAdam Gabbattguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Egypt's Plans for Luxor: Vegas on the Nile? The archaelogical treasure-house is getting a dramatic face-lift -- including eviction notices for local residents feedproxy.google.com |
Kazakh Leader to Visit EU Kazakh President Nursultan Nazerbayev is set to this week visit Brussels and Paris, aiming to strengthen economic ties between the resource-rich central Asian nation and the European Union. online.wsj.com |
Nature Made Production - Video Dietary Supplements: Quality Matters feedproxy.google.com |