Solar Math Update
I installed roof top solar on my house in July 2017 and wrote a blog about it promising to provide an update in a few months. I did not get to it until now, but after more than two years of operation it is even more fun to revisit the project to see how it… Read more »
Liberty Meats
By a weird coincidence my sister, Annemarie, came across this story that my father, Henk van Hemmen, wrote on Veteran’s Day in 2004. “Liberty” Meats Looking into the history of warfare and battle ground victories it is a well-known fact that in general terms, the army that is well-fitted out and well-fed will have a tremendous… Read more »
Barbados: The Goldilocks Approach to Sustainability
Mathematically, worldwide sustainable energy is a real possibility, but it will require a very significant change in thinking, attitudes, efforts, and financial commitments to accomplish. All over the world we are encountering experiments, trials, and even significant changes in human attitudes, but, so far, we cannot point at an integrated success story of societal change…. Read more »
500 Years of Circumnavigation
On September 20, 1519 the Spanish fleet Armada de Molucca, under the command of Fernão de Magalhães (more famously known as Magellan), set sail to find a passage to the Far East by sailing around the tip of South America. By the time the single vessel carrying 18 survivors returned to Spain, they may have… Read more »
Global Partnership for Ocean Wave Energy Technology (GPOWET)
The Global Partnership for Ocean Wave Energy Technology (GPOWET) (pronounced “jeep – o – wet”)is a United Nations – Multi-Stakeholder Partnership formed to bring commercially-viable, utility scale ocean wave energy conversion (WEC) technology solutions to humanity. The founding members are Martin & Ottaway Inc. (M&O), SurfWEC LLC, and the Stakeholder Forum (SF). We believe by… Read more »
“Sustainable Energy – without the hot air” David J.C. MacKay (1967-2016) – Wave Resource Review
Sustainable Energy – without the hot air is an excellent text covering the various renewable power sources and their potential contribution to the energy supply mainly focused on the United Kingdom. One statement that I consider to be a significant error is on page 73, where MacKay states “The fetch required to stoke up big… Read more »
SurfWEC Alternate Configuration #1
The patented SurfWEC variable-depth platform (US Patent 8093736 B2 enabling the Shoaling Feature and Storm Load Avoidance Feature) is applicable to other generic WEC concepts including flapper/surge devices. Economic analysis of traditional bottom-mounted flapper/surge devices drives the existing designs into the boutique power generation realm rather than the sustainable energy triad. This is a… Read more »
Waves to Water Prize SurfWEC video
Environmental Game Theory, A Story About Endangered Birds
The wreck had spilled some heavy fuel oil and wildlife had been affected. The wreck was on the beach, waves were about 12 feet high and it was unlikely we would get a tow wire out to the tug offshore that day. I had asked a DEP employee to lay out an area of about… Read more »
The Mechanics of a Tank Barge Explosion
If there is a marine explosion, chances are Martin & Ottaway gets a call. An explosion investigation is hard work and requires a huge amount of data collection. It can be an exhausting and often confusing task. Today there are great tools to quickly build a model, but even with the best tools (drones, laser… Read more »