Thursday, July 23, 2009
Monday, June 1, 2009
Hemp homes to be built in government drive
Hemp homes to be built in government drive
Experimental homes made out of hemp are to be built under new government plans.
By Ben Leach
Last Updated: 1:04AM BST 01 Jun 2009
A prototype three-bedroom house, funded by the taxpayer, will go on show today. The home is part of a government drive to build more housing with a smaller carbon footprint.
The "renewable house" features walls made from Hemcrete - a mix of hamp and lime - and was built thanks to a £200,000 grant from the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC).
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The National Non-Food Crops Centre (NNFCC), which built the home, said building it used half the energy that building a traditional brick home would use.
It claims energy bills for the home owners would be as low as £150 a year, and predicts building on thousands of houses could begin soon.
Dr John Williams, head of materials at the NNFCC, told The Guardian: "The forecasts are that we could roll this out very quickly if someone places an order for 25,000 homes.
"Increasing numbers of farmers are growing hemp because it fits in with their current growing cycles between April and September and it is a good break crop for wheat.
"If just 1 per cent of the UK's agricultural land was used to grow hemp, it would be enough to build 180,000 homes per year."
The hemp house provides a cheaper alternative to traditional brick and mortar housing, with a build cost of £75,000 excluding groundworks.
The hemp absorbs carbon dioxide when it is growing and the NNFCC estimates that 110kg (242.5lb) of carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere, the equivalent of a return flight from Plymouth to Manchester, for every square metre of wall.
Experimental homes made out of hemp are to be built under new government plans.
By Ben Leach
Last Updated: 1:04AM BST 01 Jun 2009
A prototype three-bedroom house, funded by the taxpayer, will go on show today. The home is part of a government drive to build more housing with a smaller carbon footprint.
The "renewable house" features walls made from Hemcrete - a mix of hamp and lime - and was built thanks to a £200,000 grant from the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC).
Related Articles
*
New homes to be part-funded by Government
*
When things don't go quite according to plan...
*
Planning bottlenecks 'driving housebuilder overseas'
*
New threat to demolish Britons' Costa homes
*
Brown promises three million new homes
The National Non-Food Crops Centre (NNFCC), which built the home, said building it used half the energy that building a traditional brick home would use.
It claims energy bills for the home owners would be as low as £150 a year, and predicts building on thousands of houses could begin soon.
Dr John Williams, head of materials at the NNFCC, told The Guardian: "The forecasts are that we could roll this out very quickly if someone places an order for 25,000 homes.
"Increasing numbers of farmers are growing hemp because it fits in with their current growing cycles between April and September and it is a good break crop for wheat.
"If just 1 per cent of the UK's agricultural land was used to grow hemp, it would be enough to build 180,000 homes per year."
The hemp house provides a cheaper alternative to traditional brick and mortar housing, with a build cost of £75,000 excluding groundworks.
The hemp absorbs carbon dioxide when it is growing and the NNFCC estimates that 110kg (242.5lb) of carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere, the equivalent of a return flight from Plymouth to Manchester, for every square metre of wall.
The 100 year old electric car
The 100-Year-Old Electric Car
Alternative fuel cars are yesterday’s news to Jay Leno. He owns several that date back to nearly the dawn of the automobile era. (Click here for PM's special report on the real future of electric cars.)
It may not be aerodynamic, but the Baker Electric is a perfectly viable zero-emissions car.
By Jay Leno
Photographs by John Lamm
Published in the May 2007 issue.
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KEYWORDS
* plug in cars
* Jay Leno
* alternative energy
All the current interest in hybrids and other vehicles with some sort of alternative powertrain is kind of amusing to me. Oh, don't get me wrong. I'm all for pursuing other ways to power cars. (Click here to visit Jay's Green Garage!) But I smile because I've owned three alternative energy cars for years. The newest was built in 1925; the oldest, 1909. Each one is a rolling manifestation of a brilliant idea. Sadly, they were all way ahead of their time and all three makes failed.
My Baker Electric dates back nearly 100 years — and it's a late model. By then, the company had been selling electrics for more than a decade. Unlike other early cars, the Baker Electric needed no cranking, had no gasoline smell and was essentially maintenance-free. Not surprisingly, it was marketed to women. The interior of my Baker is rather froufrou, complete with a little makeup kit. Even though it's almost a century old, the car drives totally silently — like any modern electric vehicle. In fact, when I take it up into the hills, I have to be extra careful of deer. They usually just stand there and look in the windows, which makes the Baker my wife Mavis's favorite car.
I also own what can be considered an ancestor of today's hybrids, an Owen Magnetic. First seen at the auto show in New York City in 1915 — just about the time that Baker Electric gave it up — the Owen Magnetic has a gas engine and an electric generator.
This drivetrain was the brainchild of George Westinghouse. The engine powers the generator, which creates a large magnetic force field be-tween the engine and drivewheels. There's no mechanical transmission. The driver moves a rheostat through four quadrants — a lot easier than shifting, and grinding, the straight-cut gears of the day — and the car moves ahead progressively, giving occupants that odd feeling you get when you try to push similar-pole magnets against each other. Both Enrico Caruso and John McCormack drove Owen Magnetics.
Owens were expensive and really sophisticated. They had an advanced, 24-volt electrical system when most cars had only 6 volts. And Owen Magnetics had a black box called "the brain." There's a big warning label right on it that reads, "Do not attempt to fix this or alter it. Only the factory can do this." Of course, the factories were located in Cleveland and Wilkes-Barre, Pa. That was a big help. And so the Owen Magnetic failed in 1921.
My newest alternative fuel car is a 1925 Doble steamer. When it was built, it seemed that Abner Doble had solved all the problems that plagued steam cars of the day. Before the Doble, you had to be part engineer, part plumber to drive a steamer. First, the boiler had to be lit off with a blowtorch; then it took time — and more time — for the steam to build up enough pressure to do anything.
When he was only 19, Doble surprised the Stanley brothers, of Stanley Steamer fame, by inventing a modern condenser for his first steam car. The car uses 525 ft. of steel coil (the height of a 50-story office building) and one spark plug. Turn the key and an electric motor forces air up through a venturi, then through a carburetor, which throws gasoline in the middle of the huge coil, and the spark ignites it. The real genius is that in the bottom of the boiler there's a metal tray with a row of quartz rods. As heat increases, the tray expands, pushing the rods forward and shutting off the burner. As everything cools, the quartz rods contract and the burner cycles on again. It's dead reliable. Thanks to the Doble's astronomical torque, something like 1000 lb.-ft., there's no need for a clutch or transmission, and the car can go nearly 100 mph. And — get this — my Doble even meets today's emissions standards. Because it's a closed system, with 2 million BTU, combustion is complete: It burns everything.
+ Click to enlarge
Jay Leno holds Baker Electric battery
Dealing with the original alkaline batteries in the Baker Electric — as invented by Edison — doesn't require an engineering degree. But then again, replacements aren't readily available.
But every car was really a prototype. Abner Doble would turn one out, and his investors and board of directors would say, "This is great, Abner; it's perfect." But he would always want to change something. So in 1931, in the midst of the Depression, Doble went out of business.
People ask me what I think is the future of the automobile. Well, let's see what's out there. Hybrids are interesting because they make their own electricity and use it at the point of generation. But a hybrid has to carry two drive systems, which adds weight and complexity and seems counter to the whole purpose.
I'm not too bullish on electric cars as the way of the future. Modern electric cars go roughly 100 miles on a charge, about the same as my Baker; so I don't see much progress there. I think electricity is a great power source for a car. But the problem is, how do you get it?
Thomas Edison invented the alkaline battery. My Baker still has some original alkaline batteries. These have lead plates and use acid; we wash them out and refill them regularly and I'll use them indefinitely. But even Edison realized the future of the automobile was elsewhere. Legend has it that back in 1896, at a dinner party, he passed a note to his friend Henry Ford. Essentially it said, "The electric car is dead."
Alternative fuel cars are yesterday’s news to Jay Leno. He owns several that date back to nearly the dawn of the automobile era. (Click here for PM's special report on the real future of electric cars.)
It may not be aerodynamic, but the Baker Electric is a perfectly viable zero-emissions car.
By Jay Leno
Photographs by John Lamm
Published in the May 2007 issue.
EmailEmail Print RSS 2.0
Buzz up!
Buzz up!
this story
ALSO SEE...
* Exclusive 100 MPG Hummer H3 Plug-In Test Drive—EV Prototype on Track for 2011 Production
* 2011 Chevrolet Volt Prototype Test Drive: Smooth-Driving EV Good Enough to Save GM?
* U.S. Natural Gas Boom: The Race to Tap Shale's Potential
* Home Brewed Biodiesel Tips: Preventing Fires
* San Francisco and Portland Mayors Face off on EV Infrastructure
See more...
Section Archive
KEYWORDS
* plug in cars
* Jay Leno
* alternative energy
All the current interest in hybrids and other vehicles with some sort of alternative powertrain is kind of amusing to me. Oh, don't get me wrong. I'm all for pursuing other ways to power cars. (Click here to visit Jay's Green Garage!) But I smile because I've owned three alternative energy cars for years. The newest was built in 1925; the oldest, 1909. Each one is a rolling manifestation of a brilliant idea. Sadly, they were all way ahead of their time and all three makes failed.
My Baker Electric dates back nearly 100 years — and it's a late model. By then, the company had been selling electrics for more than a decade. Unlike other early cars, the Baker Electric needed no cranking, had no gasoline smell and was essentially maintenance-free. Not surprisingly, it was marketed to women. The interior of my Baker is rather froufrou, complete with a little makeup kit. Even though it's almost a century old, the car drives totally silently — like any modern electric vehicle. In fact, when I take it up into the hills, I have to be extra careful of deer. They usually just stand there and look in the windows, which makes the Baker my wife Mavis's favorite car.
I also own what can be considered an ancestor of today's hybrids, an Owen Magnetic. First seen at the auto show in New York City in 1915 — just about the time that Baker Electric gave it up — the Owen Magnetic has a gas engine and an electric generator.
This drivetrain was the brainchild of George Westinghouse. The engine powers the generator, which creates a large magnetic force field be-tween the engine and drivewheels. There's no mechanical transmission. The driver moves a rheostat through four quadrants — a lot easier than shifting, and grinding, the straight-cut gears of the day — and the car moves ahead progressively, giving occupants that odd feeling you get when you try to push similar-pole magnets against each other. Both Enrico Caruso and John McCormack drove Owen Magnetics.
Owens were expensive and really sophisticated. They had an advanced, 24-volt electrical system when most cars had only 6 volts. And Owen Magnetics had a black box called "the brain." There's a big warning label right on it that reads, "Do not attempt to fix this or alter it. Only the factory can do this." Of course, the factories were located in Cleveland and Wilkes-Barre, Pa. That was a big help. And so the Owen Magnetic failed in 1921.
My newest alternative fuel car is a 1925 Doble steamer. When it was built, it seemed that Abner Doble had solved all the problems that plagued steam cars of the day. Before the Doble, you had to be part engineer, part plumber to drive a steamer. First, the boiler had to be lit off with a blowtorch; then it took time — and more time — for the steam to build up enough pressure to do anything.
When he was only 19, Doble surprised the Stanley brothers, of Stanley Steamer fame, by inventing a modern condenser for his first steam car. The car uses 525 ft. of steel coil (the height of a 50-story office building) and one spark plug. Turn the key and an electric motor forces air up through a venturi, then through a carburetor, which throws gasoline in the middle of the huge coil, and the spark ignites it. The real genius is that in the bottom of the boiler there's a metal tray with a row of quartz rods. As heat increases, the tray expands, pushing the rods forward and shutting off the burner. As everything cools, the quartz rods contract and the burner cycles on again. It's dead reliable. Thanks to the Doble's astronomical torque, something like 1000 lb.-ft., there's no need for a clutch or transmission, and the car can go nearly 100 mph. And — get this — my Doble even meets today's emissions standards. Because it's a closed system, with 2 million BTU, combustion is complete: It burns everything.
+ Click to enlarge
Jay Leno holds Baker Electric battery
Dealing with the original alkaline batteries in the Baker Electric — as invented by Edison — doesn't require an engineering degree. But then again, replacements aren't readily available.
But every car was really a prototype. Abner Doble would turn one out, and his investors and board of directors would say, "This is great, Abner; it's perfect." But he would always want to change something. So in 1931, in the midst of the Depression, Doble went out of business.
People ask me what I think is the future of the automobile. Well, let's see what's out there. Hybrids are interesting because they make their own electricity and use it at the point of generation. But a hybrid has to carry two drive systems, which adds weight and complexity and seems counter to the whole purpose.
I'm not too bullish on electric cars as the way of the future. Modern electric cars go roughly 100 miles on a charge, about the same as my Baker; so I don't see much progress there. I think electricity is a great power source for a car. But the problem is, how do you get it?
Thomas Edison invented the alkaline battery. My Baker still has some original alkaline batteries. These have lead plates and use acid; we wash them out and refill them regularly and I'll use them indefinitely. But even Edison realized the future of the automobile was elsewhere. Legend has it that back in 1896, at a dinner party, he passed a note to his friend Henry Ford. Essentially it said, "The electric car is dead."
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
graffoto: photorealistic graffiti to make you drool AMAZING!!
07/05/09
graffoto: photorealistic graffiti to make you drool
[this page contains a lot of pictures. apologies if your computer cries due to the hard work but i'd rather that happen than have to split the fucker into seperate pages, resulting in the annoying kind of multi-page article i personally cannot stand. thanks]
a huge amount of people don't realise just how artistically and technically incredible graffiti can be these days, and a depressingly large section of society still believe this kind of street art consists purely of text and tags, crudely sprayed onto public toilet walls. after seeing a piece by belin here in manchester, i've spent the past year or so pretty much addicted to the subject of photorealistic graffiti (aka graffoto), whether it be on walls, floors or canvas, and thought i'd point you in the direction of some incredible artists and collectives. the fact that these people are able to produce designs of this quality using a spraycan absolutely astounds me and i have a huge amount of respect for all those who manage it.
where possible i've included links to the artist's website/myspace/flickr page but in some cases i'm still unaware of them. if you happen to know any that i've missed, let me know and i'll add them. also, if i haven't included a 'photo source' link it means the picture is from the artist's site.
onto the talent.
pretty good huh?
it's maybe worth noting that ma'claim (no.2) is a collective of graffiti artists of which tasso (no.3) and akut (one half of herakut, no.4) are members. tasso was also the person originally responsible for the word 'graffoto'.
these 8 are just the tip of an exquisitely sprayed iceberg - i'll post some other artists' work in the near future.
a huge amount of people don't realise just how artistically and technically incredible graffiti can be these days, and a depressingly large section of society still believe this kind of street art consists purely of text and tags, crudely sprayed onto public toilet walls. after seeing a piece by belin here in manchester, i've spent the past year or so pretty much addicted to the subject of photorealistic graffiti (aka graffoto), whether it be on walls, floors or canvas, and thought i'd point you in the direction of some incredible artists and collectives. the fact that these people are able to produce designs of this quality using a spraycan absolutely astounds me and i have a huge amount of respect for all those who manage it.
where possible i've included links to the artist's website/myspace/flickr page but in some cases i'm still unaware of them. if you happen to know any that i've missed, let me know and i'll add them. also, if i haven't included a 'photo source' link it means the picture is from the artist's site.
onto the talent.
1. belin
[website]
2. ma'claim
[website]
3. tasso
4. herakut
5. fate
[website]
6. neve
7. trans
[flickr]
8. berok
pretty good huh?
it's maybe worth noting that ma'claim (no.2) is a collective of graffiti artists of which tasso (no.3) and akut (one half of herakut, no.4) are members. tasso was also the person originally responsible for the word 'graffoto'.
these 8 are just the tip of an exquisitely sprayed iceberg - i'll post some other artists' work in the near future.
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Thankyou for these photos. The graffitii you show here are certainly somewhat more sophisticated than the repetitive barely legible 'signatures' - I guess these are what you refer to as 'tags' - that blight my daily journey into London.
But that is setting the bar pretty low. These works are derivative and banal, and in some cases poorly executed -herakut's goateed man has a serious disfigurement. And presumably they are subject to the same criticism of all graffiti -- they are a defacement of someone else's property. It's somewhat illuminating, isn't it, that of all the millions of people who own their own house, not one has acted on the desire to spraypaint their own fence or wall. These 'artists' of stolen space are scarcely treading new ground.
But that is setting the bar pretty low. These works are derivative and banal, and in some cases poorly executed -herakut's goateed man has a serious disfigurement. And presumably they are subject to the same criticism of all graffiti -- they are a defacement of someone else's property. It's somewhat illuminating, isn't it, that of all the millions of people who own their own house, not one has acted on the desire to spraypaint their own fence or wall. These 'artists' of stolen space are scarcely treading new ground.
banal?! incredible, i literally couldn't disagree with you more. these designs are unique and inspired and for someone to label them as banal makes absolutely no sense to me, even when that someone seemingly has a problem with the artform itself. and as for herakut's work being poorly executed, i think you're either completely missing the point or successfully attempting to wind me up. if i wasn't so sure that you'll never like this kind of shit i'd suggest you check out their work on flickr here. the subjects they feature are painted beautifully and while aspects of their work offer a skewed view of reality, they are all executed amazingly well.
re: legalities, you presume incorrectly. not all graffiti is illegal and i'm almost certain that all of these pieces have either been sprayed on property with prior consent, commissioned by the property-owners themselves (imagine that!) or sprayed onto canvas. unless they stole the canvas before they started i see no problem.
finally, i'd love to know where you found this statistic: 'of all the millions of people who own their own house, not one has acted on the desire to spraypaint their own fence or wall'. i'll bet you all the spraypaint in the world that this is extremely far from the truth.
re: legalities, you presume incorrectly. not all graffiti is illegal and i'm almost certain that all of these pieces have either been sprayed on property with prior consent, commissioned by the property-owners themselves (imagine that!) or sprayed onto canvas. unless they stole the canvas before they started i see no problem.
finally, i'd love to know where you found this statistic: 'of all the millions of people who own their own house, not one has acted on the desire to spraypaint their own fence or wall'. i'll bet you all the spraypaint in the world that this is extremely far from the truth.
Well, at any rate SOME people like their houses painted... that's why they have all those painted monasteries in Romania. :-)
e.g. see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Biserica_Arbore... .
e.g. see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Biserica_Arbore... .
nice photo.
too many people seem scared to break from the norm. 'hang on. you've got money and you didn't buy a bare-walled mcmansion? you filthy pig'.
i'd pay good money for graffiti of the quality seen above to be painted on my house.
too many people seem scared to break from the norm. 'hang on. you've got money and you didn't buy a bare-walled mcmansion? you filthy pig'.
i'd pay good money for graffiti of the quality seen above to be painted on my house.
just as a sidenote, in response to Graffiti painting on houses,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:KelburnCastle01...
Kelburn Castle Scotland, cant remember if youve featured this before or not
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:KelburnCastle01...
Kelburn Castle Scotland, cant remember if youve featured this before or not
another awesome post DD, and a very well written response to the close minded and offensive comment left by nrich123.
I for one would be honoured to have art of this caliber on any property that i own, I will also say that stating tags are "setting the bar pretty low" is a ridiculous statement, sure a quick scrawl on a bare wall is nothing amazing, but some of the most impressive graffiti art that i have seen has been the tags dreamt up by these artists.
I guess its all down to personal opinion and everyone is entitled to their own, but no matter where these pieces of art are and the legality of their creation, you cant deny the massive amount of talent displayed by these artists, keep it up
I for one would be honoured to have art of this caliber on any property that i own, I will also say that stating tags are "setting the bar pretty low" is a ridiculous statement, sure a quick scrawl on a bare wall is nothing amazing, but some of the most impressive graffiti art that i have seen has been the tags dreamt up by these artists.
I guess its all down to personal opinion and everyone is entitled to their own, but no matter where these pieces of art are and the legality of their creation, you cant deny the massive amount of talent displayed by these artists, keep it up
Sometimes I watch the freight trains go by here.Some of the box cars have some really nice art on them.Lots of them say where they are from(Canada,Texas,Minnisota etc) and it seems they are basically talking to each other in an art form lol.
Never mind the negative comments.
Van Gogh also got his share when he was still alive.
Most of this is pure brilliance.
Van Gogh also got his share when he was still alive.
Most of this is pure brilliance.
thank you for this overview of great photorealistic graffiti artists!
Here is a link to more photos of the art of herakut and their drawings in Nuremberg!
Here is a link to more photos of the art of herakut and their drawings in Nuremberg!
Ronseal's marketing team are obviously slipping. Their message hasn't got to nrich123 who comments "It's somewhat illuminating, isn't it, that of all the millions of people who own their own house, not one has acted on the desire to spraypaint their own fence or wall." They must be gutted after spending all that money on advertising http://www.ronseal.co.uk/howto/fence_spray.jsp
@ nrich 123
Almost every piece you see from (for example) Belin is done on commission (it's the man's job, Can you believe that?!)... Check this movie (outrages movie of this 'vandal' Belin who trashes a school wall. Unbelievable none of the teachers stopped him...): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iktoMSVPqyg&fe...
Even crazier: these vandals had the time to illegally (quote: It's somewhat illuminating, isn't it, that of all the millions of people who own their own house, not one has acted on the desire to spraypaint their own fence or wall.) paint almost an entire building!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzKp97SjWD4
Sorry for my bad English.
Almost every piece you see from (for example) Belin is done on commission (it's the man's job, Can you believe that?!)... Check this movie (outrages movie of this 'vandal' Belin who trashes a school wall. Unbelievable none of the teachers stopped him...): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iktoMSVPqyg&fe...
Even crazier: these vandals had the time to illegally (quote: It's somewhat illuminating, isn't it, that of all the millions of people who own their own house, not one has acted on the desire to spraypaint their own fence or wall.) paint almost an entire building!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzKp97SjWD4
Sorry for my bad English.
quality, I like this, I saw something like this on http://www.hire-a-graffiti-artist.co.uk It maybe the same?
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