Generating electricity - A healthy way

From dawn to dusk, biking, working out in a gym is part of a daily routine for many around the world. People are obsessive in trying to build a healthier body and look better.


Wouldn't it be interesting if this energy spent by each could be harnessed and converted into useable means. Harmonious way to build a healthier society and contribute back to it.
Scientist and engineers have been researching ways to meet the every growing hunger for electrical power in the cheapest and efficient way. Various devices have been built over the years and tested to satisfy this increasing demand.


We often hear that the prison population is increasing and there are conflicts within these facilities. Imagine if these offenders were put to work and we could get them to work and generate some electricity. What an option would that be. I am sure some tax dollar will be rightly spend and in return ensuring fitness for these inmates. To recognize their contribution, low level offenders could get their sentence time shortened based on the amount of work they do. 


I was trying to do some search in this area. Guess what, I stumbled upon this brazilian prison cell which has done this effectively.


http://www.cbc.ca/news/offbeat/story/2012/07/10/brazil-inmates-generating-power.html


I guess this is a classic example which could be modeled around the world. We could further take this thought to all the gyms where electricity generated by the users could be used in-house. Symbiotic relationship at its best build and better body while generating energy for the generations to come.

California Central Valley - An interesting landscape

California is all not about its sprawling beaches, world famous wineries, hollywood and bountiful coast line. As one heads a hundred mile inwards from the coast, the  most talked about pleasant year round temperature changes to hot and dry. The scorching heat from the sun shoots the day temperature to above 100F. Amidst this lies a vast fields growing vegetables, fruits, nuts and above all milk and milk products. 
Central Valley has always played an important role in the overall economy of the state and the country.
During my recent drive through this central valley into the high sierras, I was amazed to see what this area provides for  us and how nice people around this place are. 
As we drove past the grapevine, the first thing I noticed was the dry and hot weather with dry and barren mountains.

Driving along CA 99, suddenly brings some pleasant sight with Almonds trees, vineyards, apricots, squash, okra and even lavender 

As we moved further north, the fields now also add large diary farms. This belt is the main source of the popular California Milk. 

Some interesting facts that I realized about California's milk production. 

• California leads the nation in total milk production. In 2010, California produced 40.4 billion pounds of milk – more than one-fifth of the nation’s total production. (California Department of Food and Agriculture - CDFA)
• Dairy farming is a leading agricultural commodity in California, producing $5.9 billion in annual sales in 2010. (CDFA)

The California grape crop accounted for more than 90 percent of the 2010 United States’ utilized grape production. 40% of the world raisins are from California San Joaquin valley. This is where the famous Sun-maid raisins has its head quarters and leads in the production of raisin. 

According to the USDA’s Economic Research Service, in 2010 California was the No. 1 exporter of agricultural commodities in the United States. Tree nuts were the No. 1 agricultural export for California, followed by fruits and vegetables.California accounted for nearly all the national production of almonds.

Even with all this hot and tough weather, this certainly is the place for all the cash crop and the milk that brings in the revenue for the state and the country. California is the top state in cash farm receipts in 2010, with $37.5 billion in revenue. The state accounted for 16 percent of national receipts for crops, and 7 percent of the U.S. revenue for livestock and livestock products.

Are we investing enough? or are we joining the band wagon?

A developed economy quickly takes ones mind to modern infrastructure be it the road, rail, air or water ways. US had been leading in this race to provide its people with the best in the world. However that is not true any longer. US now ranks the 23rd in terms of Infrastructure as many reports now show. The aging highways, bridges and over booked airports have added to commuters misery and it is only getting worse.


With the economic downturn, the infrastructure projects are always put on the back burner. The very key element on which this country runs. I wanted to see what has been spent in the last few decades even if we haven't done much in the last few years due to many reasons.


Based on research done by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the following pictures shows how spending on infrastructural projects have been done as compared to GDP.

The picture above show that US has been spending money both at the state and federal level. The picture below changes the view.

Now taking a look at the population growth along with the growth in the vehicular traffic, this looks scary. Highway Authority provides this outlook which provides a glimpse of what is going on

So what can be done to address this.


1. Raise road use or fuel tax - This is easier said than done. With a depressed economy this is the last thing any government would like to do.


2. Better management of Federal and State funds - Assigning proper responsibility and allocation of funds, some of the must need infrastructure projects can be done better.


3. Private and Public collaboration - As many developing and developed economies of the world have done, joint venture projects can be initiated and then a small fee can be levied for using this.


4. Promoting more public transportation projects - On a long run this becomes cost effective and also will reduce the dependency of individuals having to drive for hours regularly. This would reduce congestion and the existing infrastructure can be used effectively.


Sooner or later some of these things will need to done in this US too, otherwise this is soon going to be a positive catalyst to disaster.


Cities like Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Houston, Atlanta and many others have an extremely chocked roadways and airports. If we want to avoid a collapse, some drastic measure and may be hard choices needs to be taken.


I would like to love to hear what others feel about this and what suggestion you may have.

Changing Landscape - Going Green

America's heartland is changing with time. Amidst miles and miles of corn and soybean fields, the wind mill farms is a pleasant site. Going green and harvesting a renewable source of energy seems to have become the new mantra. Those familiar with this landscape will appreciate how quickly the green turns to yellow then all brown and grey. 

The wind farms along side the large farm land have not only given it a new dimension than being just termed as flat, but have also contributed to the energy grid.

What would be interesting is to see, how this green energy generation revolution picks up in the rest of the country and can we really reduce our dependency on energy generated from fossil fuel or nuclear power. The trend of installing large wind farms have picked up in the north west as solar farms have been successfully installed in the deserts of Nevada , California and Arizona.

Cultural Globalization - Are we able to preserve our Culture and Traditions?

Pick a person in the world and as you start understanding and talking to him/her, you will find out where he/she originates from , what is his/her culture and what were and are their traditions.
From the industrial revolution to the modern era, geographical boundaries have shrunk. In practically no time you move from one continent to another. Language barriers are no longer considered a major hindrance  from moving to another place and the world has become a multi-lingual, multi-cultural and multi-racial place than ever before.

Interestingly in the last few months, I have some across a few individuals here in the US, who have decided to move to places like the Philippines, Brazil and India for good. They have decided to make another country their new home. When I asked them about the cultural adjustments and differences they may face. The answer was "We are now a global village", "We can adopt to the new culture", "That is not an issue". Similarly individuals from the east have moved to the western world and made this their home.

Has this global mix suppressed our culture and traditions? Taking an example, ethnic wear and garments were very significant to a typical culture and were considered traditional. Changing times have made these ethnic wear limited to festivals, museums and special events. Very soon some of these can only be seen in printed books or museums only. Traditional  recipes have been now replaced with universal fast foods like pizzas and burgers. A lot of the younger generation is not even aware of foods that older generations have had taste buds for. Dialects were formed as people mixed between two different regions who spoke two different languages. English has become a global language today and slowly but surely people are forgetting their own traditional languages.

I am not against the change nor against adoption of  the new... however our adoption should not take away something we had and inherited ... Our culture and traditions should make us feel proud and not embarrass us.