PersonalPhotographyTravel

Indian Bustle

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As a first-time traveler to the Indian metropolis of Chennai, I was struck (not literally, thankfully) by how chaotic the traffic situation is there. I found that there are generally four types of vehicles – small sedans, large vehicles like buses and industrial trucks, tuk tuk taxis and motorbikes. Each of them operates with minimal care for the others. Motorbikes will zoom in between other vehicles at traffic lights, traffic laws are lax and collisions are common.

In this video I chronicle what happened on a relatively simple drive to dinner across town. Then, I take a tour through a garment store in the city of Alleppey, Kerala and discover that Indian hustle and bustle is definitely not confined to the roadways.

PersonalPhotographyTravel

A Photographic Journey Through Chennai and Kerala, India

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In January of 2009 I travelled to India for the first time. Upon arrival we began by spending several days in the 9 million-person-strong metropolis of Chennai. We meandered along the Bay of Bengal on Elliot’s Beach, enjoyed multiple excellent South Indian lunches at Morgan Idlii’s and even went to see Slumdog Millionaire! We were also able to spend time with friends, both old and new. I was fortunate enough to meet Fugan – a former Peace Corp member in South America, current Buddhist monk and exceptionally talented musician.

Next, we flew across the subcontinent to the southwestern state of Kerala. Unlike much of India, Kerala is a land of blue skies, green mountains and tranquil waterways. A hired driver transported us to the city of Alleppey where we took an overnight houseboat tour on Lake Vembanadu.

Finally we drove high into the eastern mountains to the town of Munnar. Using the lovely Windermere Estate as our base, we viewed countless hills converted into tea plantations. We rented a paddleboat to explore the Mattupatti Dam Reservoir and visited Top Station, the highest reachable point in the region. At a mile above sea level, we experienced Top Station as being continuously blanketed by a rolling sea of whispering clouds.

Below I have included my full photography gallery from this trip. I hope you enjoy it.

PersonalPhotographyTravel

The Top 16 Things I Brought Back from India

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The day after the first inauguration of President Obama, I flew halfway around the world to India armed with little more than my old Nikon D40 camera and a kit lens.  I travelled onto lakes with active fishermen,

 and onto mile-high tea plantations,

I explored tropical lakes, cloud forests, narrow channels and even a dam.  I have uploaded what I feel are my top 16 photos on the page below.  I encourage you to exercise your sense of adventure, click this link or view what follows on this page.  In a couple of days I will unveil my full gallery of images.

 

 

ClimatePolitics

My Baltimore Sun Op-Ed Has Been Published

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I encourage everyone to check it out by clicking here. According to the Baltimore Sun’s publishing rules, they maintain 30-day exclusivity rights over the piece, so I won’t be able to post it on my website until mid-January.

This opinion piece, which was months in the making, highlights the extreme lack of scientific expertise in the halls of Congress. It gives examples, lists negative impacts and demonstrates how having at least some scientists in charge would be beneficial for the entire country. It will come as no surprise to anyone who knows me that climate change takes center stage in my argument.

Now here’s a little inside baseball. I’ve actually been pretty successful in getting my opinion pieces published in newspapers. I had my two previous letters to the editor (one on offshore drilling and the other on Keystone XL) published in the Baltimore Sun and one of those also in the NJ Star Ledger. Basically I was batting a thousand until this article.

So then a few weeks ago I submit a version through the Baltimore Sun website and hear nothing for like two weeks. Of course I’m thinking that they chose not to run it. So one morning I just decide to rewrite the entire thing. I kept certain phrases, but it was a total reorganization and shifting of the thesis. After bouncing it off some people, I resubmitted.

About three days later I get an email from the Sun’s deputy editorial page editor. She thought my first submission was interesting and well put together, but my contact info was cut off and she couldn’t respond! When I sent the second article, she recognized it as a variation of the first, got my phone number and email and we went ahead. In the end, the version you see here is a marriage of those two drafts.

I plan to extend this into a longer form article in the near future. After all, there’s a lot more than 750 words to say about this topic. I’m still trying to figure out where I can get it published (Science? Scientific American? American Physical Society News?). I’ve never done this before, so I welcome any advice.

AstrophysicsPhotography

Welcome to Everest on Mars

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Click on the image below to be transported once again to the beautiful red rock in the sky, Mars!

Our specific destination is the pinnacle of Mars’s Husband Hill, which lies adjacent to Gusev Crater.  Because of the elevation at which these photos were taken, the image below has been dubbed the “Everest panorama” in honor of Earth’s highest mountain.  This view into Gusev Crater showcases rocks and rusting sand stretching out over vast plains.  Further in the distance other peaks lie beyond sand drifts.  If you look closely, you can even see a couple of faintly colored dust devils in red and blue.

The images, which are credited to the Mars Exploration Rover Mission, Cornell, JPL and NASA, were taken over the course of three days by the  robotic Spirit rover in 2005.  Spirit, which ceased operation in 2009, took the images to match what a human being with 20/20 eyesight would have seen standing in the same location.

 

 

ClimateEnergy

Johns Hopkins Feels the Power with Its Cogeneration Plant

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Tucked away at the bottom of a small hill in a distant corner of Johns Hopkins University’s Homewood campus is a large brick building.  Metal pipes protrude horizontally from its side before diving perpendicularly into the ground.  Its tall, curved top windows, rooftop smokestack and mysterious purpose are vaguely reminiscent of the factory from the classic 1971 film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.  And much like the Wonka factory, no student ever goes in and no student ever comes out.

This building is the Homewood Power Plant, the facility responsible for providing electricity, heating, and cooling to the Homewood campus in central Baltimore City.  As part of Earth Week @ Johns Hopkins, the university’s Department of Facilities Management granted me a walkthrough to learn exactly what happens within.

The JHU Power Plant plays the same role as an electric utility’s generation station.  Fuel goes in and electricity comes out.  BGE, Maryland’s electricity provider, achieves 35% efficiency in this process.  What this means is that for every 100 units of fuel energy that goes in, 35 units of electricity comes out.  The remaining 65 units are expelled as waste heat through the Chesapeake Bay Cooling Tower.

Principles of thermodynamics and engineering limitations make it difficult to achieve higher efficiencies.  This is unless, of course, you manage to reclaim that waste heat for something useful.  This is where Homewood’s Cogeneration Facility comes into play.  Cogeneration (which stands for Combined Heat and Power System) is a process in which both electricity and useful heat (steam) are simultaneously produced.  The 65 units of waste heat, which would otherwise be discarded, are diverted to a waste heat recovery system.

cogen-to-ceiling

 

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Here are the basics.  Waste heat in the form of steam exits the primary generator at temperatures around 1000 °F.  The recovery system takes that steam and pumps it around the campus, eventually taking the form of building heat, hot water, and energy to feed Homewood campus’s four chilling plants.  All in all, the waste heat recovery system is able to wring about 45 extra units of steam energy from the 65 units of waste leading to an overall plant efficiency of 75-85%, approximately double what BGE could provide.  (For you wonks out there, the total electric capacity of the system is 3.8\times10^{7} kWh/year and total steam capacity is 210\times10^{6} pounds per year.)

cb-energy-recovery

 

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set-point-viewer

 

“Cogen uses less energy to make electricity and heat and our process produces less greenhouse gases,” said Ed Kirk, a university energy engineer.  “Cogen reduces our energy use in one big chunk.”

The 4.2MW Power Plant, which opened in June 2010, is part of JHU’s plan to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 50% in the next 12 years.  “Our approach has us looking at energy efficiency, energy conservation, more sustainable energy choices and renewable energy,” added Mr. Kirk.

jhu-cogeneration-10-18-2010-chp-floor-plan_page_8

 

If this system seems like a no-brainer, then why doesn’t BGE do it itself?  The problem is that piping steam over long distances is an incredibly inefficient operation.  Much of the steam’s heat will be lost in the process.  That’s not to say utilities don’t do it.  It’s just that circumstances have to be right.  For example, Con Edison, New York City’s utility provider, uses a collection of cogeneration plants to heat around 100,000 densely packed buildings in Manhattan.  This explains the familiar image of steam rising through city sewer grates.  It also explains why cogeneration plants must be closely located to end-users.

Closer proximity also lessens transmission and distribution losses over power lines and provides greater security in unstable energy markets.   The high energy requirements and dense arrangements of college campuses, hospitals, military bases, etc. make them attractive candidates for this type of technology.

The Homewood cogeneration unit joins a small handful of others in the region.  Two have been installed at Johns Hopkins Hospital and a couple others are at the University of Maryland at College Park and Mercy Medical in central Baltimore.

The limiting factor prohibiting everyone from installing cogen plants is cost.  The Homewood campus was fortunate in that it had a large, unused space directly above one of its on-site combustion turbines.  The facility cost $7.5 million to install and will pay for itself in energy savings in about seven years.

jhu-cogeneration-10-18-2010-chp-floor-plan_page_4

 

Despite the plant’s net energy savings, this project was not always economically viable.  It was Maryland’s deregulation of electric utilities in 1999 that turned the tide.

“When electricity was deregulated, electricity prices rose,” said Craig Macomber, Chief Engineer at the Power Plant.  “At the same time, natural gas prices were falling.  These two conditions made our project feasible.”

mr-macomber-shows-off-cogen-engine

 

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The Homewood campus remains reliant on electricity purchased from BGE.  According to Mr. Macomber, when all things are considered the total amount of Homewood’s energy generated by the power plant is 20% in the summer and 30% in the winter.

Increased energy efficiency will lower the university’s carbon footprint by 8,650 metric tons per year, important for mitigating global climate change.  This falls in line with the goals of the JHU Office of Sustainability, whose stated mission is “to make Johns Hopkins University a showpiece of environmental leadership by demonstrating smart, sensible, and creative actions that promote the vision of sustainability.”

 

Photography

Milky Way over Santa Barbara

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My latest photograph was shot from atop California’s Santa Ynez Mountains on August 13, 2013.  The band of the Milky Way galaxy is visible over a field of antennas while the full moon reflects off the Pacific Ocean.  The halo of light in the center near the horizon is the city of Santa Barbara.  To the left of the city, a red light from the top of a nearby mountain glows.  The dots of light near the moon’s reflection are from oil rigs.  If you look carefully, you’ll see a handful of streaks (i.e. planes, meteors, satellites) as well.

This view was stitched together from 16 separate 30-second exposures.  About 180 degrees is subtended between the left and right while the top center was the sky’s zenith.  As such, this image captures about one quarter of the entire sky.  I was using a Nikon D7000 with a 11.0- 16.0 mm f/2.8 Tokina lens at a focal length of 11.0 mm.  f/3.5;  ISO 400;  Gitzo tripod with Really Right Stuff ball head.

ClimateEnergyPolitics

Climate and Energy Primary Sources

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There are tons of organizations that have done research related to energy, climate and policy.  Over the years I’ve aggregated a (non-comprehensive) list of those agencies.  If you would like to suggest additions, either post them in the comments or tweet them to me @mspecian and I’ll update the list.

Advanced Energy Economy

Alliance for Climate Protection

American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy

American Energy Innovation Council

American Security Project

American Wind Energy Association

Better Buildings Neighborhood Program from DOE

Bloomberg

Bloomberg New Energy Finance

Bureau of Labor Statistics

Carbon Tracker Initiative

Center for American Progress

Center for Climate Strategies

Center for Investigative Reporting

Chinese Renewable Energy Industries Association

Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM)

Climate Nexus

Clinton Foundation

CLIVAR

Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research – Climate Change, Agriculture, and Food Security

Cooperative Institute for Climate and Satellites

E3G – Change Elements for Sustainable Development

EcoGeek.org

Economics and Equity for the Environment (E3)

Economic Outlook Group

Energy Information Administration

Energy Self Reliant States

Environmental Defense Fund
Environmental Protection Agency

Environmental Research Letters

Environment American

EUMETSAT

European Wind Energy Association

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

Forecast the Facts

Friends of the Earth UK

German Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEW)

Global CCS Institute

Global Warming Policy Foundation

Google Earth Engine

Green Scissors Project

Greenwire

GTM Research (and energy consultancy)

The Guardian

Hart Research

Institute for Local Self Reliance

Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs (in Beijing)

Insurance Information Institute

International Council on Clean Transportation

International Research Institute for Climate and Society

InVEST – Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services & Tradeoffs

ITIF

Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory

League of Conservation Voters

Major Economies Forum

MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change

Munich Re’s Geo Risks Research

MyCity+20

National Center for Atmospheric Research

National Drought Mitigation Center

National Latino Coalition on Climate Change

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) – National Climatic Data Center

National Renewable Energy Laboratory

National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy

National Wildlife Federation

Natural Resources Defense Council

The Nature Conservancy
North American Reliability Corporation

Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnership

Pecan Street – R&D on advanced technologies, advanced energy systems, and human interactions with them

Reuters

Rocky Mountain Institute

Safe Climate Campaign

Scott Polar research Institute at Cambridge University

Sierra Club

Solar Energy Industries Association

Southwest Climate Change Network

Surface Ocean Lower Atmosphere Study (SOLAS)

Union of Concerned Scientists

United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

University Corporation for Atmospheric Research

US Climate Change Science Program

US Defense Department

US Energy Information Administration

US Global Change Research Program

US Historical Climate Network (USHCN)

US Snow and Ice Data Centre (NSIDC)

US Transportation Department – Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration

Visual Carbon

World Climate Research Programme

World Resources and Environmental Law

World Resources Institute

Zero Emissions Platform

 

 

Journals

 

Environmental Research Letters

Journal of Climate

Journal of Geophysics Research

Geophysical Research Letters

Nature Geoscience

Pro Wrestling

ROH Bests SCUM in Steel Cage Warfare – The ROH Report

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These are live spoilers and impressions from the fourth and final ROH TV taping filmed from the Du Burns Arena in Baltimore on June 23.  This episode will air this weekend.

————————————————

WHAT TO WATCH:  The Steel Cage Warfare match was awesome.  Watch the whole thing.  The visual of the streamers draped over the top of the cage was very cool.

————————————————

Match 1: The American Wolves def. Mike Sydal & guy I don’t recognize (he’s white with blonde hair, wore similar ring gear as Sydal and had a similar physique) in 5:40.  This was a decent, competitive match.  The blonde guy looked good during his two flurries with Davey.

The story of the match was Sydal’s team’s use high-flying maneuvers like Sydal’s top turnbuckle moonsault to the floor, his tilt-a-whirl spinning whirlwind DDT on Edwards and both men’s matrix-style dodges and tandem offense (like double hip tosses and dropkicks) while the Wolves used power and speed – dropkicks, chops, etc.  After Sydal and Edwards traded elbows to the face, Davey came off the top with the double stomp for the pin.

————————————————

Usually ROH schedules the intermission between the 2nd and 3rd of the 4 TV tapings.  But since they needed lots of time to set up the cage for the main event, they didn’t give us our 20 minute break until midway through the fourth taping.  The audience was coming off hot show the night before at Best in the World, the weather was rather warm in Baltimore and we were on plastic chairs or unpadded bleachers the whole time.  Overall, it was tough to get through.  Thankfully, the main event was worth the inconvenience.

————————————————

Match 2: ROH (Michael Elgin, Jay Lethal, BJ Whitmer & Kevin Steen) def. S.C.U.M. (Jimmy Jacobs, Rhett Titus, Cliff Compton & Rhino) in Steel Cage Warfare in 25 minutes – Per the stipulation, S.C.U.M. must disband.  This match had a War Games elimination format.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: S.C.U.M. played dirty by throwing salt in eyes, tying Elgin to the cage, having Matt Hardy and Steve Corino interfere and even using a fireball.  When Steve Corino introduced lighter fluid, Jacobs tried to stop him.  Kevin Steen took advantage and finished off Jacobs with the package piledriver to become the sole survivor.

[ Jimmy Jacobs and BJ Whitmer started the match. ]

Jacobs and Whitmer spent five minutes throwing each other into the cage.  Whitmer’s suplex roll into a fisherman suplex got a two count.

[ Rhett Titus entered. ]

Whitmer threw Titus around the cage for a while.

[ Michael Elgin entered. ]

Titus and Jacobs attempted to take out Elgin, but he was too strong.  Elgin delivered a double back suplex followed by his ridiculous Samoan drop/fallaway slam combination on both men.  (crowd chanted for Elgin)

[ Cliff Compton entered. ]

Compton tossed salt in Elgin’s eyes and tied Elgin to the cage Tommy Dreamer-style.  With Elgin incapacitated, Jacobs, Titus and Compton triple teamed Whitmer and hit a Young Bucks-style spike piledriver on him.

[ Whitmer was eliminated at 10:30 ]

[ Jay Lethal entered. ]

Lethal had a chair.  Titus got hit, Compton got a dropkick version of the Van Daminator and Jacobs got the Lethal Combination onto it.  Lethal took out a pair of clippers and freed Elgin.

[ Rhino entered. ]

Rhino immediately gored Elgin.  He tried to gore Lethal, but Lethal sidestepped and Rhino hit Titus instead.  Jay hit the Lethal Injection on Rhino.

[ Rhino was eliminated. ]

[ Kevin Steen entered.  The match was now 3-on-3. ]

Before Steen could enter the ring, Matt Hardy attacked him from behind and threw him into the barricade.  With the cage door open, the men starting slipping out and the match just broke down.  Jacobs slammed the cage door into Lethal’s head.  Steen attacked Hardy with a chair.  Elgin sideslammed Compton onto the exposed floor.  Jacobs and Titus slid a table into the ring and leaned it up in the corner.

Back in the ring, Titus attempted a powerbomb on Lethal, but Jay slipped out the other side.  He hit Titus with a superkick followed by a Lethal Injection.

[ Titus was eliminated at 19:00.  The match was now Jacobs & Compton vs Elgin, Lethal & Steen. ]

As Steen destroyed Hardy with a cane on the outside, Lethal got hit in the back with a chair and was speared through the table.  Compton pinned Lethal.

[ Lethal was eliminated at 20:30.  The match was now Jacobs & Compton vs Elgin & Steen. ]

Everyone got back in the ring.  Compton tried to escape over the top of the cage, but Elgin followed.  Elgin stood on the top turnbuckle, grabbed Compton off the cage and delivered a powerbomb into the middle of the ring.  SICK!  (crowd: this is awesome!)

[ Compton was eliminated at 22:15.  The match was now Jacobs vs Elgin & Steen. ]

Steve Corino entered the ring and THREW A FIREBALL IN ELGIN’S FACE!

[ Michael Elgin was eliminated.  The match was down to Jacobs vs Steen. ]

Steen tried to powerbomb Corino, but Matt Hardy hit him with the Twist of Fate.  With Jacobs out in the corner and Hardy stalking around, Corino reentered the ring with a briefcase.  He opened it to reveal LIGHTER FLUID which he started spraying on Steen.  (crowd: you sick fuck!)  Jacobs implored Corino to stop, but Corino back elbowed him.  As Corino tried to light the matches, Nigel McGuinness stormed the ring.  Nigel and Corino faced off and threw off their clothing to prepare for a fight.  Corino piefaced Nigel, but then Nigel clotheslined the hell out of him.  The crowd went nuts.

Hardy kicked Nigel in the gut, but Steen was there to hit Hardy with the package piledriver.  Nigel got up and threw Jacobs into Steen’s arms.  Steen nailed another package piledriver and pinned Jacobs for three.

[ Jimmy Jacobs was eliminated.  The match ended at the 25 minute mark. ]

Streamers filled the ring.  Nigel and Steen embraced.  Kevin Kelly celebrated like a madman at ringside.  Adam Cole came to the entrance ramp to observe.  He surveyed the scene, rubbed his hands together for a few moments and returned backstage.  Nigel continued to celebrate with fans at ringside.  Steen mockingly shook Hardy’s limp hand and exited the ring.

(crowd: na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye)

NIGEL: It’s been a long time coming.  The era of S.C.U.M. is over!  Get these pieces of trash out of the ring.  Out!  Out!  Out!  (crowd: out out out)

Three officials drove Corino and Hardy out of the ring, through the crowd and straight out of the building.

(crowd: na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye)

Bobby Cruise announced that this was the most important event ROH history and reminded the live audience how they could watch ROH on local TV and encouraged us to visit rohwrestling.com.  What a Wonderful World played as the crowd filed out.

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