OCMag - November.2010

Page 1

November.2010


Content Thepower of a star pg

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Theworld's largest solar farm

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pg

Glacier breaksin Peru, causing pg tsunami in Andes

2

Let cancer patients pg havethis pill

3

Nuclear vs Solar: Clash pg of theNumbers

4

Implementing a new pg concept in town

5

Index


The power of a star A photovoltaic module or photovoltaic panel is a packaged interconnected assembly of photovoltaic cells, also known as solar cells. The photovoltaic module, known more commonly as the solar panel, is then used as a component in a larger photovoltaic system to offer electricity for commercial and residential applications. Because a single photovoltaic module can only produce a limited amount of power, many installations contain several modules or panels and this is known as a photovoltaic array. A photovoltaic installation typically includes an array of photovoltaic modules or panels, an inverter, batteries and interconnection wiring. Photovoltaic systems are used for either on- or off-grid applications, and for solar panels on spacecraft.

World's largest solar farm

26 LARGEST

A solar in Spain consists of 120,000 solar panels over 100 hectares (247 acres). It also has a peak capacity of 20 megawatts and it can power up to 20,000 homes—making it the world's largest solar farm to date. The farm is expected to generate an estimated annual income of $28 million and reduce CO2 emissions by about 42,000 tons a year. Olmedilla Photovoltaic Park Strasskirchen Solar Park Lieberose Photovoltaic Park Puertollano Photovoltaic Park Moura photovoltaic power station Kothen Solar Park Finsterwalde Solar Park Waldpolenz Solar Park La Magascona & La Magasquila Arnedo Solar Plant Planta Solar Dulcinea Merida/Don Alvaro Solar Park Planta Solar Ose de la Vega

Spain Germany Germany Spain Portugal Germany Germany Germany Spain Spain Spain Spain Spain

Fotovoltaico Casas de Los Pinos Planta Solar Fuente Alamo DeSoto Next Generation Solar SinAn power plant Monalto di Castro PV power plant Arnprior Solar Generating Station Sarnia PV power plant Lucainena de las Torres Parque Fotovoltaico Abertura Solar Hoya de Los Vincentes Huerta Solar Almaraz Mengkofen Solar Park Parque Solar El Coronil 1

Spain Spain USA Korea Italy Canada Canada Spain Spain Spain Spain Germany Spain

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Glacier breaks in Peru, causing tsunami in Andes Marco Aquino (april - 2010)

LIMA (Reuters) - A huge glacier broke off and plunged into a lake in Peru, causing a 75-foot (23-meter) tsunami wave that swept away at least three people and destroyed a water processing plant serving 60,000 local residents, government officials said on Monday. Green Business The ice block tumbled into a lake in the Andes on Sunday near the town of Carhuaz, some 200 miles north of the capital, Lima. Three people were feared buried in debris. Investigators said the chunk of ice from the Hualcan glacier measured 1,640 feet by 656 feet. "This slide into the lake generated a tsunami wave, which breached the lake's levees, which are 23 meters high -- meaning the wave was 23 meters high," said Patricio Vaderrama, an expert on glaciers at Peru's Institute of Mine Engineers. Authorities evacuated mountain valleys, fearing more breakages. It was one of the most concrete signs yet that glaciers are disappearing in Peru, home to 70 percent of the world's tropical icefields. Scientists say warmer temperatures will cause them to melt away altogether within 20 years. In 1970, not far from Carhuaz, an earthquake triggered an avalanche of ice, rock and mud on the mountain of Huascaran that buried the town of Yungay, killing more than 20,000 people who lived below Peru's tallest peak, which sits 22,204 feet above sea level. (Writing by Luis Andres Henao; Editing by Peter Cooney)

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Info The Andes are the world's longest continental mountain range. It lies as a continuous chain of highland along the western coast of South America. It is over 7,000 km (4,300 mi) long, 200 km (120 mi) to 700 km (430 mi) wide and of an average height of about 4,000 m (13,000 ft).


Let cancer patients have this pill REUTERS (september - 2010) One more day — or week, or month, or perhaps even a year. It may not seem like much time, but patients with incurable cancer know better. For Christi Turnage of Mississippi, who lives with stage IV breast cancer, it means seeing her daughter start kindergarten, celebrating her 27th wedding anniversary, and watching her sons graduate from college. Her family and her oncologist credit her quality of life for the past two years to the drug Avastin, a biologic that combats cancer by cutting off the blood supply to tumors. But advanced breast cancer patients like Turnage have been forced to spend precious time battling something else: the possibility that federal regulators will vote today to remove approval of Avastin for their treatment. If officials with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration are wise, they will overrule the agency’s cancer-drug advisory panel, which voted 12-to-1 last month to recommend denying a valuable clinical option to advanced breast cancer patients. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, an estimated 40,000 women die from breast cancer each year. The panel concluded that the costly drug doesn’t eke out enough extra lifetime among breast cancer patients to justify its use and risks. This ignores all the “super responders” — the patients who reap significant benefits from Avastin. Scientists have no way of identifying these people in advance, and they could be devastated if they are denied the medicine. Indeed, the Susan G. Komen for the Cure and Ovarian Cancer National Alliance – recently sent a joint letter to the FDA urging the government to keep it as a choice best made by a woman and her doctor. Two years ago, the FDA fast-tracked approval of Avastin for metastatic breast cancer two years ago, and since then it has been prescribed to about 17,500 women a year with the disease. The drug, which earned FDA approval for the treatment of colon, lung, kidney and brain cancer, is the world’s best-selling cancer drug. A clinical trial that took place from December 2001 and May 2004 found that Avastin boosted the amount of time that breast cancer patients lived without the disease spreading or worsening. The drug in combination with chemotherapy delayed tumor growth for about 11 months, which was more than five months longer than chemo alone. Follow-up studies indicated a less robust response, yet still found an average delay in tumor growth to between one and three months. But even if Avastin does not, “on average,” extend life for breast cancer patients, that “average” is composed of patients who respond in dramatically different ways. Avastin is a better alternative than the status quo for breast cancer patients, and can be truly transformative for some. No wonder Avastin-users are desperately writing letters, circulating petitions and, like Turnage’s 19-year-old son Josh, posting videos on YouTube pleading their case. Avastin is their last hope. The FDA should make sure it is not their lost hope.

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Nuclear vs Solar: Clash of the Numbers ENN.com (September - 2010) A very interesting and controversial study emerged recently, comparing nuclear and solar costs no less. The study, "Solar and Nuclear Costs — The Historic Crossover", was prepared by John O. Blackburn and Sam Cunningham for NC Warn, a climate change nonprofit watchdog. The paper, focused on the costs of electricity in North Carolina (US), describes the solar photovoltaic (PV) business, summarizing its history of sharply declining prices, along with the very different path taken in recent years by nuclear power, whose costs have been steadily rising.

The conclusion is that as of 2010, North Carolina is witnessing a historic crossover between the price of nuclear power and that of solar PV. The crossover is said to be happening at 0.16 $/kWh. It is important to note that these costs are calculated as net figures after subsidies. Where do the numbers come from? The study collected figures from local solar industry sources, to come up with a "capital cost" for solar PV electricity, and relied on a study on nuclear price trends by Mark Cooper's, "The Economics of Nuclear Reactors: Renaissance or Relapse?", for a comparison with nuclear power.

The "net prices" are then obtained by deducting from those "capital costs" whatever forms of subsidies, rebates and tax credits are available in the US. This means the conclusions of such study are not about a Levelized Cost Of Electricity (LCOE) comparison, but rather about the final cost to consumers, given the existing incentives. A lot of discussion could be triggered by this method alone, as its results are heavily dependent on the local level of support to either technology. Nonetheless, there is much more interesting data from this paper than just its controversial conclusions. Capital costs of both sources of energy (before subsidies, a sort of levelized cost) are indeed discussed, but what is even more interesting (and as yet most unnoticed by the media) is the scale of the comparison. We’ll see why.

The figures shown for solar energy are explained in the report's appendix, and calculated for a very small 3kW (peak) PV system with the following parameters: $6,000/kW installed cost, 6% borrowing rate, 25-year amortization period, 18% capacity factor (meaning 1,560 kWh/kWp per year), and a 15% derating factor to account for system losses. From these values, a capital cost of 35¢/kWh results as the current electricity price of a residential PV installation. Then, by taking into account the 30% and 35% Federal and state tax credits (yielding a net system cost of $8,190 from the original $18.000), the authors calculate a net production cost of 15.9¢/kWh.

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onecompany Implementing a new concept in town by Jane G. Brown

In the spring of 2009, a team of professionals began implementing a new concept of schools of English in Blumenau. And so, a professional language school came to be in the beginning of 2010. The concept is simple and neat. The World's best material, a friendly and cozy environment and a team of highly experienced teachers form the core of the school. And there is no better name to convey this message than, one company. An integral part of its mission, is to establish

the

school

as

the

benchmark for professional English teaching, coaching and consultancy. This level of expertise and competence is achieved by a full understanding the staff has, of the needs and objetives of the aprentices. The school offers their students a range of short, medium and long term solutions for their specific learning needs. For more information visit our website (www.onecompany.com.br) and learn about our courses, method and solutions. info@onecompany.com.br

(47) 3035.6000 / (47) 3041.0068 Assim se fala InglĂŞs

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