Hydropower As An Energy Platform

Much like solar and wind power, hydropower has been a constant energy source for man. Following is an overview of hydropower.

Hydropower As An Energy Platform

Hydropower can be defined simply as using the energy of flowing water to generate power. With early man, this power was experienced in the form of propulsion as in moving wheels to grind food materials. With modern man, hydropower is used to turn turbines that produce electricity. In cases such as the Three Gorges Dam in China, this platform can be the basis of providing huge amounts of energy to countries in need.

Let’s take a look at an overview of developments in hydropower:

Over 2,000 years ago, hydropower was used by the Greeks to turn grinding wheels to turn wheat into flour.

In the 1770s, French engineer Bernard Forest de Bélidor wrote Architecture Hydraulique, a four-volume series detailing mechanisms that could be used to convert flowing water into power.

1880 - Michigan's Grand Rapids Electric Light and Power Company showcased the first commercial application for electricity generated from hydropower. The company used a turbine to provide power to a whopping 16 lamps at the Wolverine Chair Factory.

1881 - Niagara Falls votes to convert all lamps on streets to electricity provided by hydropower, which made sense considering their location.

1882 – The first power plant devoted entirely to hydropower electricity production goes online in Wisconsin. The power is produced from water in the Fox River.

1886 – Hydropower plants are so popular that over 40 are functioning in Canada and the U.S.

1889 – Only three years later, the number of hydropower plants in the two countries grows to 200.

1907 – Hydro plants produce 15 percent of the electrical power needs of the United States.

1920 – Hydro plants produce 25 percent of the electrical power needs of the United States. 

1933 – Hydropower comes to the forefront with the establishment of the Tennessee Valley Authority.

1940 – Hydro plants provide a whopping forty percent of all electricity produced in the United States. 

2003 – At the turn of the century, hydropower has lost much of its allure. Population growth results in power needs so high that hydropower is not viewed as a solution. Environmental issues also cause a slow down. Only ten percent of the electricity in the U.S. is produced by hydropower.

Today, roughly twenty percent of all the electricity in the world is produced through hydroelectric power plants. The largest producer of electricity through hydropower is Canada followed by the United States, Russia, Brazil and China. Egypt is highly dependent on hydropower via the Nasser Dam. Norway produces nearly all of its electricity needs through hydropower. In many other countries, hydropower is being looked to as the solution for growing energy needs.

Hydropower has definite downsides. It can be unreliable in countries that suffer droughts, as many African nations have learned. The environmental impact of large dams, as seen with the three gorges dam in China, is also a concern. Notwithstanding these concerns, hydropower is a proven renewable energy platform that certainly is better than fossil fuel alternatives.

Power Cells As Alternative To Oil

As oil and gasoline prices rise, much hay is being made regarding the possibilities of power cells as a solution to our oil addictions. Here’s a basic primer on power cells.

Power Cells As Alternative To Oil

More than a few politicians have argued that power cells have the potential to cure all our energy problems. They argue power cells offer clean, efficient alternatives to the gasoline and oil burning combustion engine we all use in our vehicles. They also argue that switching to power cells will go a long way to dealing with global warming issues since this form of power does not produce the greenhouse gases seen with oil products. Instead, they produce water and heat. For once, the politicians may just be right for once.

Power cells use hydrogen or hydrogen derived sources to create electricity. Much like a single solar cell is not particularly good at producing power, a single power cell produces a fraction of the energy required to power most things of consequence. Like solar, the cell must be combined with others to get the necessary production. Temperature and the pressure of the hydrogen are also factors. To really make things work, such as a car, most power cells are actually a combination of hundreds or thousands of sub-cells. This, of course, results in problems of storage and stability. The more cells there are, the more space they take up. The more cells there are sitting next to each other, the hotter they get.

The current problems with these hydrogen power cells are numerous. They do not produce power on a cost-effective basis. They have not proven to be particularly durable, which means the need to replace them fairly frequently runs up the cost of owning them. A practical, but significant, problem is how to store and provide the hydrogen to users on a daily basis. Hydrogen can be unstable, which makes for big, pretty and expensive bangs. Most of these problems, however, will be overcome as technology progresses.

Once technology advances, the applications power cells can be used for are nearly endless. They can be used to run your laptop or your car. They can be used to provide electricity and heat in your home as well as your business. In our technology crazed society, they will even power your cell phones. If it can be run on electricity, power cells should be able to make it work.

Power cells aren’t the current answer to our oil problem, but that may change in the relatively short future.

How to Have Power over Others.

If power begins in controlling something, then are we powerless prior to controlling?

Yes and no.
We have potential, which is a power in itself, but unused and undirected potential is NOTHING.

Are we powerless prior to controlling?

I would say we are not powerless, but ignorant (Which is a version of powerlessness, I guess.)

We don't know that we have power and don't know to know to test it.

The end of all powerlessness begins with awareness.

A Samurai Warrior would learn this by practicing a meditation of sitting on the top of a mountain with his arm extended and sword pointing skyward in a position ready to fall. He would meditate on that fleeting moment when a balanced piece of metal would turn into an unpredictable falling/killing weapon. His awareness was on the potential of the weapon. When he learned that then he could study the application of it's power.

What is power?
What is power like?
How great is power?
Where is power now?

To Know. To Will. To Dare. To Keep Silent.
These were the powers of the Sphinx and they remain dormant in all of us to one degree or another.

You don't know what you don't know. Thus you must seek knowledge in whatever realm you wish to control.

You must Will and Dare to use that knowledge.

To keep silent. This is where power turns to craft. It is the most subtle application of power. So subtle it may seem that things are all happening in your favor when in fact they happen by your design.

A bolder resting precariously on a cliff, a bow string pulled tight, these have a quality of potential force, What the Chinese strategist, Sun Tsu, called "shih". With just the right action and the force is unleashed.

The silent art of power and control is to see the potential force in everything and arrange it so that, if released, it works in your favor.

The keys to this power are first to know what you want far into the future and to know it in rich and glorious detail. The next step is to develop a presice and detailed plan to your goal and to meditate upon it day in and day out. By having this constantly on your mind you will function with the greatest efficiency toward your goal.

You will see the world about and know "This action will lead me to my goal. This action will lead me nowhere."

This task that is unnatural for most of us because of our natural tendency to focus on the thoughts of the present and to respond to the urgencies at hand. To master this skill we must alter our thinking and see every action that we perform as an act of manipulating "shih".

To do this is the height of Sphinx-like power and makes mere men to seem magical as if they controlled the forces of nature.

Money- The Paradox Of Money

Money is probably the most commonly word used around the world. Money, without which lot many things cannot be done. If one has no money, one will have trouble even feeding oneself, leave aside shelter etc. What should be our attitude towards money? How much money should we accumulate and how much should we give away. How many morals and principals can be broken to get more money? And why should we earn more money than absolutely essential? There are many questions about money that come in to mind. Because since ages its money and power that has motivated human beings.

For few of us power matters more than money. And paradoxically money always brings power with it. But power may or may not bring in money. For example if you are the most important person of your country but highly principled, you will have total power but very little money. On the other hand some corrupt dictators have accumulated money beyond any imagination.

For few of us there are other pursuits than money and power. A good scientist gets more excitement with his inventions than any amount of money or power. For each of us there is a different motivator. Money seems to be one of the most common motivator. Cutting costs, raising prices and making more profits, this is the mantra of most of the industries and enterprises. Stock market has attracted people since long only because of the probability of making quick money. Why should lotteries become popular? Should not we depend upon our hard earned money? But lottery tickets are bought around the world. Buyers hope that they may get lucky and earn more money than they could otherwise on a single day. Gambling of all types is again driven by money as the only factor. We can list as many activities as we wish that are driven by attraction for money.

Does money and more money and much more money than others give more peace of mind? Does it give more happiness or more contented life? The answer is not yes in most of the cases. Rather more money brings in more problems. Where to invest? Which bank to choose? What about those who are always requesting for donations and loans? How to keep them away? And what to do with money after one has met all the needs? Buy a still bigger mansion or holiday all the year or begin collecting antiques?

Money. If you have less, you want more and if you have more you don't know what to do? That is the paradox of money.

We All Want POWER

Admit it or not, we all have a need for power.

Power provides each of us with several very essencial things; the feeling of being in control, the feeling that we're right, a sense of security and the hope that we can accomplish what we want most for ourselves.

With Mind Control there is no doubt that it appeals to that very base need for power.

Even the most introspective and peace loving have to admit that the real power of mind control comes in two forms 1) external - controlling others and the environment and 2) internal - the ability to control our own thoughts, feelings and responses.

Here is a little mind control tip that anyone can use that will appeal to both aspects of mind control.

When interacting with someone what can you do to allow them to perceive as if they have power?

A simple example is ask them to do something that is slightly outside of what they believe is their current ability. In asking that give them the support and encouragement that they need to get the job done.

Here are the benefits as they relate to mind control.

First it will demonstrate to you that you have at least some power over people and your environment secondly, and most importantly, it will demonstrate that you have some personal and internal control over yourself to do it.

The main problem with people who suffer from shyness and want to control it that they are too much in their own heads wondering "What should I do next?" or telling themselves "This is stupid." In so doing they are not truly aware of their external surroundings and therefore not able to control it.

By taking charge in this small way anyone can begin to see the real benefits of mind control.