Saturday, January 10, 2009

Technosanity #22: First steps to installing a hub motor on a bicycle

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Continuing from Technosanity #21: Electric bicycle conversion kits I'm taking the first step to using a hub motor to electrify a bicycle. This is to put together the hub motor with tire and inner tube and mount it on the bicycle.

A hub motor kit replaces one of the wheels on the bicycle and for the most part is the same as a normal bicycle wheel. It is later steps, where the motor is wired up, and it begins to diverge from being a normal bicycle modification project.

Technosanity #22: First steps to installing a hub motor on a bicycle

Sunday, January 4, 2009

Technosanity #21: Electric bicycle conversion kits

own an Electra Townie 21 bicycle on which is mounted a Wilderness Energy hub motor. The motor is rated for 36 volts maximum of 35 amps and with this setup the maximum speed achieved was 18-20 miles/hr and the maximum range could be 30 miles or more per charge. With this bicycle my normal commute can be achieved using 0.3 kilowatt-hours of electricity and a 45 minute travel each way. The amount of energy required is ridiculously low when compared with my electric motorcycle, which requires 2.0 kilowatt-hours for the same trip, my gas motorcycle, which requires 0.1 gallons of gasoline, or my gas car, which requires 0.5 gallons of gasoline. There is however a tradeoff of time for miniscule energy use, the 45 minute travel time is much larger than the other vehicles require and a modern busy lifestyle doesn't seem to have time in it for longer commute times.

This podcast is a look at my bicycle as I begin converting a new bicycle. I recently bought a Crystalyte hub motor kit and over the next few podcast entries will be showing the process of converting an electric bicycle.

The battery pack is a Lithium Iron Phosphate pack, 36 volt 20 amp-hours, sold by PingPing. It is less than half the size and weight of an equivalent lead-acid battery pack. This is due to energy density advantages of lithium chemistry batteries.

The bicycle has a Cycle Analyst display unit for a dashboard, it shows speed and several types of measurement of electrical usage. It is an excellent unit which gives much useful information.

Electric bicycle conversions are very simple especially with hub motors. Using a hub motor kit the conversion process simply requires removing one wheel, replacing it with the hub motor, wiring the controller to the motor, and wiring a throttle and battery pack to the controller. There is little more required than that and as said above, over the next few podcast entries I will be converting a bicycle using a Crystalyte hub motor kit.

Technosanity #21: Electric bicycle conversion kits

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Technosanity #19: Knives into Butter

Each action, each deed, is like falling knives striking melted butter. Each action divides the present into the future and past, forever rendering the possible from the achieved. Each action seems to cut away possibilities, yet there are always infinite possibilities. Each action divides the present yet the present always exists immutable. The universe is built on a foundation so strong it can take the continuing rain of an infinite number of knives and survive. How can this be?

Technosanity #20: World Energy Outlook 2008

The World Energy Outlook is a yearly publication from the International Energy Agency giving the official projection of the future energy outlook. They just released the 2008 report and there are a couple slide decks available giving some hints of what is contained in the report.

WEO 2008 Presentation at COP 14 Side Event

Launch of World Energy Outlook 2008

World primary energy demand in the reference scenario - they say it's "unsustainable" without explaining why. World energy demand expands by 45% between now and 2030, a very rapid rise, an average rate of increase of 1.6% per year, with coal accounting for more than a third of the overall rise.

Demand for coal has been growing faster than any other energy source & is projected to account for more than a third of incremental global energy demand to 2030

World oil production by source is very scary. The IEA figures show a decline in crude oil production from the currently producing fields begining in 2008. er.. That decline has already begun? There is a growing gap in production of the currently producing fields and their claimed future oil production. What makes up that gap is crude oil from fields that are yet to be developed, and this includes use of enhanced oil recovery techniques. They further explain that 64 million barrels per day of capacity needs to be installed between 2007 and 2030, which is six times the current capacity of Saudi Arabia. From where will the money come to pay for this infrastructure even if the oil is there to fill the demand?

97% of the projected increase in emissions between now & 2030 comes from non-OECD countries –three-quarters from China, India & the Middle East alone

OECD countries alone cannot put the world onto a 450-ppm trajectory, even if they were to reduce their emissions to zero

These last two slides show that the problem is coming from the developing countries, primarily China and India. They are of course where the hugest quantity of industrialization is occuring.

World primary energy demand in the reference scenario - they say it's "unsustainable" without explaining why. World energy demand expands by 45% between now and 2030, a very rapid rise, an average rate of increase of 1.6% per year, with coal accounting for more than a third of the overall rise.

Demand for coal has been growing faster than any other energy source & is projected to account for more than a third of incremental global energy demand to 2030

World oil production by source is very scary. The IEA figures show a decline in crude oil production from the currently producing fields begining in 2008. er.. That decline has already begun? There is a growing gap in production of the currently producing fields and their claimed future oil production. What makes up that gap is crude oil from fields that are yet to be developed, and this includes use of enhanced oil recovery techniques. They further explain that 64 million barrels per day of capacity needs to be installed between 2007 and 2030, which is six times the current capacity of Saudi Arabia. From where will the money come to pay for this infrastructure even if the oil is there to fill the demand?

97% of the projected increase in emissions between now & 2030 comes from non-OECD countries –three-quarters from China, India & the Middle East alone

OECD countries alone cannot put the world onto a 450-ppm trajectory, even if they were to reduce their emissions to zero

These last two slides show that the problem is coming from the developing countries, primarily China and India. They are of course where the hugest quantity of industrialization is occuring.

Current energy trends are patently unsustainable —socially, environmentally, economically

Oil will remain the leading energy source but...
  • The era of cheap oil is over, although price volatility will remain
  • Oilfield decline is the keydeterminant of investment needs
  • The oil market is undergoing major and lasting structural change, with national companies in the ascendancy

To avoid "abrupt and irreversible" climate change we need a major decarbonisation of the world’s energy system
  • Copenhagen must deliver a credible post-2012 climate regime
  • Limiting temperature rise to 2°C will require significant emission reductions in allregions & technological breakthroughs
  • Mitigating climate change will substantially improve energy security

The present economic worries do not excuse back-tracking or delays in taking action to address energy challenges

Technosanity #20: World Energy Outlook 2008

Links:  World Energy Outlook

Links:  International Energy Agency

Links:  WEO 2008 Presentation at COP 14 Side Event

Links:  Launch of World Energy Outlook 2008

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Technosanity #18: Matt Simmons discussing oil supply disruptions

Matt Simmons is Chairman of Simmons & Company International, a specialized energy investment banking firm. Mr. Simmons' recently published book Twilight in the Desert: The Coming Saudi Oil Shock and the World Economy has been listed on the Wall Street Journal's best-seller list. He has also published numerous energy papers for industry journals and is a frequent speaker at government forums, energy symposiums and in board rooms of many leading energy companies around the world. Mr. Simmons is married and has five daughters. His hobbies include watercolors, cooking, writing and travel.

His presentation is to warn of a 'run on the bank' as it applies to oil supplies. He warns of how this can cause a major disruption very quickly and which is a gravely serious problem. There's an analogy to how quickly the financial system melted down.

Slides: http://www.aspo-usa.org/aspousa4/proceedings/Simmons_Matthew_ASPOUSA2008.pdf

The meltdown demonstrated various flaws in the financial system which had been built. The lack of regulation, the high leverage figures, it all made for a nonresiliant system which collapsed like a house of cards. There was an illusion that the bigger the financial institution the more it was too big to fail, but we saw giants fall.

Risk is a very real thing. Leverage can be dangerous. Audited financial numbers do not always represent genuine reality.

In the oil industry there is even less knowledge about the true situation. In the financial system there is regulation and required disclosures, even as much of that system has been deregulated. In the oil industry there is no regulation, there is no federal reserve, no watchdogs, etc.

Just like the quick collapse of the financial system, can the oil industry also go through a quick collapse and what is the effect if it does? The question to be concerned over is how resiliant is the oil delivery system to disruption. How easily can oil supplies be disrupted? How much cushion is in the system to even out disruptions? What alternatives do we have if oil supply is disrupted to us? What is the effect on our daily life?

The system collapsing means we could still have oil in the ground but have a society unable to function to the level required to deliver it to market as a finished product.

Energy Oxymorons:

"We need Energy independence" -- 100% impossible to create

"Technology is a game changer" -- Technologies have zero impact on these risks

"Drill our way out of this mess" -- No spare rigs and no places to drill where oil can be retrieved easily

"Energy system is efficient and transparent" -- Much hidden data rather than the great transparency of the financial system

Technosanity #18: Matt Simmons discussing oil supply disruptions

Links:  Matt Simmons bio

Links:  http://www.aspo-usa.org/aspousa4/proceedings/Simmons_Matthew_ASPOUSA2008.pdf

Friday, October 31, 2008

Technosanity #17: QA session with Ken Verosub, Jeremy Gilbert

Q&A session with Ken Verosub and Jeremy Gilbert immediately following the presentations they gave and which were broadcast in immediately prior Technosanity Podcast episodes.

Technosanity #17: QA session with Ken Verosub, Jeremy Gilbert

Technosanity #16: Peak Oil Global Overview, An American Wake Up Call

A presentation at ASPO-USA 2008 by Mr. Jeremy J Gilbert, Managing Director, Barrelmore Ltd Jeremy Gilbert. Jeremy is the recently retired Chief Petroleum Engineer from British Petroleum (BP) where he was responsible for the company's worldwide petroleum engineering performance and associated research and development program. He joined BP in 1964.

His topic is a general overview of Peak Oil, specifically focusing on why it is time for America to wake up to Peak Oil. There have been a series of wake up calls, but has much changed?

While America has slept on: 2001: Discovery rates continue decades-long fall; Calculations suggest reserves can’t meet demand projections; Some recognition of political, investment risk in developing resources. 2008: No improvement in resource situation; New, more accurate, calculations of supply define earlier and clearer peak; Political will to increase supply clearly absent; prices not stimulating investment to increase supply

There are three problems: Geology, Investment, Policy of main producers. These, taken together, make the future of oil very difficult

Why are there still political leaders like Newt Gingrich or Henry Kissinger continuing to say there is no problem.

It's not a problem which higher oil prices will fully solve. According to these leaders or to most economists it is a simple problem of supply and demand. Higher demand will cause a higher price and it will do two things, incentivize customers to cut back, and incentivize energy producing countries to look for more oil or to use alternative methods. But this ignores a deeply serious problem, that in oil field after oil field it has been observed that oil production reaches a peak at the midway point, and then inevitably goes into a production decline. No amount of money will change the issue that the planet cannot provide more oil.

Technosanity #16: Peak Oil Global Overview, An American Wake Up Call

Links:  http://www.aspo-usa.org/aspousa4/proceedings/Gilbert_Jeremy_ASPOUSA2008.pdf

Links:  Mr. Jeremy J Gilbert, Managing Director, Barrelmore Ltd