New conference coming up?

Three co-authors and I have submitted a paper together for Education Without Borders, which is a conference in Dubai in March 2011. Zakir, Krispin and Leon are students at University of Calgary in Canada, and I´m representing NTNU.

Our paper is called "Rapid Disaster Relief Through Artificial Intelligence and Innovative Energy Supply Networks". So our paper is about solving challenges related to disaster relief. It´s a great concept!

In the process, I´ve written a text about climate change and increased risks of natural disasters. I´ll share some of my findings with you here, reciting what I wrote in some of my first drafts. It´s a good thing to think it through!

Natural disasters have challenged humanity throughout history. Industrialization has given us astonishing opportunities, but also responsibility and unforeseen challenges. Following the increased mobility and technological access, we risk a reinforced effect from natural disasters, escalating the frequency of occurrences, vulnerability of electronic equipment and widening the extent of the devastation (UN Environment Programme IPCC, 2009). In addition, we face disasters originated directly from man-made technology, such as trains or airlines crashing in remote areas, armed conflicts and war.

The photo is from the conference Leon and I attended in New Delhi, giving a presentation of our paper on geothermal energy.

LED in Trondheim

Trondheim has become a good city for spotting LED- diodes in public use. I want to give my thumbs up to the minds behind the projects for choosing the energy- saving technology instead of the traditional incandescent lamps. As much as 95 % of the energy sent into the old-fashioned lamps can be lost to the surroundings! So much heat is produced by the electric circuit that most is used for meaningless heat production instead of light.

LED- lights are much more efficient, as no heat is produced. Since all energy put into the system is used for producing light, great amounts of energy is saved. In Trondheim, LED- diodes are used in the new museum Rockheim (left), and from this year also in the Christmas decorations in the city centre. According to the local newspaper Adresseavisen it saves hundreds of thousands NOK in electricity bills. Thinking of the energy saved, it must be called a win-win situation!

And remember: the energy most friendly to the environment is the energy that is not used in the first place.

Green transport by sea and river

Transport by sea contributes to a large part of greenhouse gas pollution. There are several ways of avoiding this though: better planning, alternate fuels and a more efficient global network at sea. As consumers, there are also several steps you can take to go green at sea. Here are some examples:

Did you know that electric speed boats are quite popular? In Norway they´re still quite rare, but in warmer waters the use expands quickly. for more information, visit a speed boat site here.

The same principle goes for electric boats as electric vehicles: they move noiselessly forwards, contribute with no pollution in use and are very easy to navigate. The running costs are low due to the absence of gas bills.

The complete silent experience of navigating

through the waves makes a boat trip more

enjoyable than ever! Being able to listen to the waves instead of the motor is a bit like skiing instead of using a motorized snowmobile.

For the "real deal" experience, I still prefer rowing, which is even more friendly to the environment. Or the human body, for that matter. You might not get as far, but the experience is great! To the right is me on one of my special rowing trips. This time on the Ganges River in India!

End of term exam

I´ve got an exam coming up soon, so I´m currently deep into the world of philosophy. It varies from extraordinary interesting to frustratingly complex, but I´ve come over a lot of valuable theories. I especially love Aristotle´s philosophy regarding the golden mean. This will be the desirable middle between two extreme opposites, and works for just about anything in life.

Just think about it. Too much or too little of something is bound to go wrong. Wether we´re talking about exercising, food, work, studying, consumption and utilizing resources: balance works best. Too little leads to serious problems one way or another. And overdoing it is never good for anything!

Green advent calendar

I found a great advent calendar on the internet! Being run by an environment- related site, the questions will offer some interesting information. Go directly to the calendar here. It only exists in Norwegian, but don´t despair! Here is some help by the phenomenal Norwegian- English section of Google Translate!

The site environment.no is run by the environmental authorities of Norway. It´s a

great website for finding relevant, reliable information about environmental issues, based on facts and scientific research. I recommend you to take a look around!

The photo is from a skiing trip (cross country) in Bymarka. Love the sparkling snow in the moonlight!