Saturday, July 12, 2014

Combining wind turbines and pumped water storage hydro power



http://www.mlive.com/business/west-michigan/index.ssf/2011/02/ludington_pumped_storage_plant.html

A July 2014 Minnpost article describes how an elevated levee at Luddington, Michigan allows a power company to convert wind power into stored hydropower.  This is an example of Pumped-storage hydroelecticity.

Below is a diagram of how the energy storage system works for the Luddington, Michigan plant.  It was originally constructed in 1973 and used non wind energy sources to run the pumps.

http://www.consumersenergy.com/content.aspx?id=6985
A wind farm located near the Luddington power plant now provides a significant amount of the energy needed to run the pumps. The plant is 70% efficient.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/devriesd/7997893102/





Wednesday, July 2, 2014

School funding Minneapolis

http://www.better-ed.org/


Aspergillus versicolor compound reverses NDM-1 antibiotic resistance

Ann Lukits from the Wall Street Journal reports (New Weapon in Fight against Superbugs) on a compound from an Aspergillus versicolor found in Canadian soil that turns off an antibiotic resistant gene NDM-1 in bacteria.


NDM-1 gene information Sunnybrook - 3min.

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Environmental Reporter - Posts on Environmental Sampling

MN Forest teaming with airborne allergens
EMLab P&K has many informative articles on sampling for bioaerosols, particulates and allergens available at the Environmental Reporter.  A recent article deals with a spike in mucormycosis following natural disasters such as tornadoes, hurricanes and a tsunamis.


KXAN News -Texas report on elevated mold counts two days after a rainstorm.