Sci/tech tidbits in and around New Hampshire
There’s lots of carbon trapped in the soil, and we really want it to stay there
Remember when carbon was just another listing on the periodic table that nobody mentioned unless they were geeks making a “carbon-based life form” joke? Ah, those were the days. Now we can’t move without bumping into news about carbon dioxide or carbon equivalents or...
Is biomass power good or bad for the environment? The answer is …
As you may have heard, there is great debate at the moment about how and whether to support biomass energy, a fancy term for burning chopped-up trees to generate heat and power. The debate centers on a complex tangle of economic questions involving jobs and costs. But...
Manufactured home coop in Upper Valley to get 132 KW solar array
Note; This is a lightly edited version of a press release from Vermont Law School - I cut out the gratuitous quotes - but it seems pretty legit. Mascoma Meadows, a 50-unit resident-owned manufactured-home cooperative in Lebanon, N.H., will soon use solar power to...
Biocontrol seems to have solved the winter moth problem in Massachusetts
Want some good environmental news? Sure you do! How about this: "After 14 years of effort, we have successfully converted winter moth, a major new defoliator invading eastern New England, into a non-pest, presumably on a permanent basis. ... We have averted what was...
It’s surprisingly hard to create a systems so blind people can vote independently
The state will be rolling out tablet-based voting systems for New Hampshire’s sight-impaired voters at Tuesday’s election and that should make it easier for them to cast ballots privately and independently – but maybe not too quickly. “You can read everything at once,...
Database says only 19 NH schools have solar panels
Schools are an obvious place to put solar panels, since they use most of their power during the day and have big, flat roofs. But upfront funding is a problem. A national database (here) lists 19 New Hampshire schools with installed solar, a couple of them private but...
The power-line drone is cool – but holy cow, what a camera!
Eversource is rolling out a program where it uses quadracopter drones to do some transmission-line inspections. As I note in my story (read it here) these are replacements for helicopter inspections because they have to flown within line of sight of the ground...
The science establishment doesn’t support the Ig Nobels (for shame!)
Marc Abrahams, founder of the Ig Nobel Awards, drew a standing-room-only crowd to Science Cafe NH in Concord last night - in fact, we had to turn a few people away. I can't take notes while moderating so I can't give you a blow-by-blow of the two entertaining hours,...
Can a three-story building be net-zero with its own solar panels?
People tend to over-estimate how much electricity is put out by solar panels, so I was very dubious when I heard that a 29-unit apartment complex coming to West Lebanon would get all of its energy, including heating and cooling, strictly from panels on the building....
Emerald ash borer has spread so much in NH that quarantines are no longer worth it
Five years after the invasive insect known as the emerald ash borer was first spotted in Concord, it has spread so far throughout the state that officials may end the quarantine which tried to contain it. The move would not be a surprise since scores of other states...
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