Mexico: La Paz will be a 100% solar city at the end of 2015

When a new solar plant start producing electricity by the end of 2015, La Paz, on Mexico, will become a 100% solar city. The Aura central Solar I, Latin America's largest solar plant, began operations last year and already provides 64% of the electricity that the city of 200,000 inhabitants need. With Grupotec I starts work, the Mexican city's energy needs are to be fully supplied with solar energy.

For a medium-sized city like La Paz, the bet on renewable energy is a major breakthrough. The Solar Aura I replaced an old power station and can provide energy to 164,000 inhabitants of the town. The new central Grupotec I will provide between 40 to 42% of the energy necessary to La Paz, through 97,000 photovoltaic panels and an installed capacity of 30 megawatts, as well as a storage capacity of 11 megawatts, writes the Inhabitat.

As the central Solar I, Grupotec Aura I will have a power purchase contract of 20 years with the local electric company. The energy will be sold at a rate equal to the cost of production and the price of electricity to the end-customer should remain unchanged.

Photo: Creative Commons/Macaronimami

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Largest truck in the world is equipped with electric motors Siemens

The largest truck in the world is at the service of a coal mine in Siberia and has the peculiarity of being powered by four electric motors. The vehicle can carry more than 500 tonnes â€" the equivalent of seven Airbus A320-200 aircraft.

The engines that allow the vehicle to move are the result of a technology developed by Siemens-Siemens Train Automation System â€" which has been implemented in less than 2 years. The drive system consists of four electric motors of 1,200 kW each. The technology, in addition to more ecological, allows you to increase the transport capacity by about 25%, and a significant reduction of costs per tonne and increased operational efficiency, indicates Siemens said in a statement.

The vehicle is owned by BelAZ and has 20 meters long, 10 wide and 8 tall, running at a maximum speed of Deadman/h when empty. The truck runs on eight tires, which were designed in such a way that each can withstand a load of 100 tons.

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Scientists map genome of bowhead whales for the first time

Bowhead whales, Baleana mysticetus, is the mammal with the greatest longevity and can reach the 210 years. The longevity of this whale has almost no comparison with most mammals and even inside of cetaceans, their average life expectancy stands out in several years by comparison with other species.

Now and for the first time, scientists were able to map the complete AND bowhead whales. Researchers from two different studies have joined efforts and identified the genome of this species by comparing it with the minke whale â€" a species which may have a lifespan between 30 and 50 years.

The comparison of the two genomes has enabled scientists to identify two gene mutations in the DNA of bowhead whales: the ERCC1 and PCNA, genes related to longevity and cancer resistance and DNA repair, writes the Dodo.

The study was conducted in the Liverpool Centre for Genomics Research, with collaboration of scientists from Alaska, Spain, South Korea, Denmark and Ireland.

According to João Pedro Magalhães, Portuguese researcher at the University of Liverpool who led the study, the conclusions drawn from the study of the DNA of this species of whale can contribute to the study of human genetics. For example, drugs that can activate human genes similar to those found on bowhead whales can be used to combat serious diseases.

Bowhead whales has a population relatively stable thanks to the introduction, in 1986, of a moratorium that regulates fishing subsistence purposes only. There are an estimated 24,900 these whales roam the Arctic and subarctic waters.

Foto: Ross Bishop/Creative Commons

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Wakati: the solar refrigeration for developing countries

Technically, Wakati is not a refrigerator-why does not use cooling-, but the function is equal to: preserve foods. In developing countries, where electricity is scarce and expensive, a medium that can preserve food for longer can have a big impact on income and way of life of the most disadvantaged populations.

The Wakati is a species of sterile box, solar-powered, which lets you store and ventilate the food. For the preservation is possible, the small three-watt solar panel on top of the box lets you feed a fan which gradually evaporates a small reservoir of water, creating a damp and cool environment inside the Wakati.

In addition to airing, the device has no temperature control mechanism, so that is not a solution to long-term food preservation. However, the fact that allow increase in a few days the conservation of food in these countries is a big step. Products that have one or two days of validity in hot climates can be preserved during ten days in Wakati. Thus, families can have products in food conditions own for more days and farmers also have more time to sell their products before they are unfit for consumption.

Currently, have already been provided about 100 systems in areas of Haiti Wakati, Uganda and Afghanistan, writes the TreeHugger.

The Wakati was developed by Arne Pauwels, within the framework of a master's project at the University of Antwerp, where he studied product development. The implementation of technology was possible through various partnerships with companies and non-governmental organizations.

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Increasing acidification of the oceans is threatening populations of mussels

World populations of mussels can be threatened as climate change are making the oceans increasingly acidic. A new research has revealed that the mussels that form in acidic waters have more fragile shells.

The increase of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere makes the oceans more acidic and causes a reduction of the concentration of minerals that the mussels need to develop their shells, indicate the scientists at the University of Glasgow, Scotland, who published the study in the journal of the Royal Society Interface.

The study further concluded that the mussels may have a built-in biological defense mechanism that drives the development of shells when water temperatures rise by about 2 degrees Celsius.

"What we discovered in the course of the investigation is that the highest levels of acidity in their habitats have a negative impact on the ability of mussels to develop their shells", indicate the researchers in a statement, quoting the Guardian.

Foto: The Original Happy Snapper/Creative Commons

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Africa's largest wind farm will supply 1.5 million homes

The largest wind farm in the African continent, the Tarfaya Energy Project, began to produce energy from the Atlantic coast south of Morocco. About 8,900 acres, the 131 wind turbines must prevent the emission of 990,000 tons of carbon dioxide every year.

The project began construction in 2013 and was recently completed, being a partnership between GDF Suez and Nareva Holding. With a cost of about €452 million, the Tarfaya farm should produce enough energy to power 1.5 million homes in Morocco.

Each of the 131 turbines have the capacity to produce 2.3 megawatts of electricity, for a combined total of 15% of the goal of wind power that the Government of Morocco wants to have implemented in 2020, writes the Inhabitat. Over the next five years, the Moroccan Government has plans to install other wind farms to generate 2,000 megawatts of electricity that will be distributed by the national electricity grid. When these projects are completed, 42% of electrical capacity of Morocco will come from renewable sources.

Foto: jacilluch/Creative Commons

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Tourism in Antarctica is putting in jeopardy penguins

About 10,000 people travel every year to the Antarctic, for tourism or research, and bring something more than cameras. According to a team of scientists led by Wray Grimaldi, the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand, were found several infectious agents in the penguins-bacteria such as salmonella and e. Coli, virus as West Nile or Avipoxvirus have been found in captive penguins since 1947-what is jeopardising the fragile local biodiversity.

"The effects of the growth of the tourism industry and the presence of researchers will have consequences. The Penguins are highly susceptible to infectious diseases, "explained the New Scientist Grimaldi.

The scientist explains that outbreaks of these bacteria and virus have killed thousands of penguins over the years. The boots of tourists and researchers are one of the main vectors of transmission.

Another theory for this puts migrant animals the cause of these outbreaks, once the milder climate have attracted biodiversity never before seen in this region.

Foto: David Stanley/Creative Commons

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