This is a blog where I can write those things that interest me, including but not limited to, Nuclear Power, Climate Change, Engineering, Open Water Swimming and Economics.
75 posts
Latest Posts by jbheffernan - Page 2
at Cardwell Bay
On the 16th of June seven international clean energy organizations launched a major new campaign aimed at keeping nuclear power out–as in completely out–of all negotiations at the upcoming COP 21 climate talks in Paris in December. To me this is a really bad idea. Existing Nuclear technologies are the best way to decarbonise electricity production. Newer technologies, Small Modular Reactors especially, have the ability to decarbonise electricity production as well as other sectors. Two sectors that come to mind immediately are process heat and marine transport.
"The Martian" by Andy Weir
I'm just back from holiday. While away I read this really fun book titled "The Martian" written by Andy Weir. It is a great read, fast paced, full of action with suspense and light relief. For other Engineers like me it really brings home what we do which is to solve problems. I highly recommend this book!
Posing them will help you find work in two important ways.
Tonight was the first night of Open Water Swimming at RWSABC. A beautiful evening with sun, clear sky and no wind. We swam in the direction of the Battery Park. The tide was coming in so it was a hard swim out (35 min) but fast (15 min) coming back.😊
Do wolves save rivers? Are they saving Yellowstone? A popular YouTube video makes the case beautifully that they do, but things aren’t quite that simple. Have we all fallen spell to a good story?
Dome City Blog 6 - Ring Park
Something I feel strongly about is that it is important to spend time outside and to have public parks that are easily accessible from the Dome City. Therefore, I would like to see the Dome City surround by a ring of park land 500m wide.
This Ring Park would provide parkland with an area of 235 hectares (580 acres).
To put this into context, in London, Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens together are 253 hectares (625 acres) while New York's Central park is 341 hectares (843 acres). Of course, for the residents of the Dome City, would never be more than 500m horizontally from the Ring Park unlike residents of London and New York who could be much further away from these outstanding green spaces.
Some of the features i would hope to see in the Ring Park are sports fields with modest amounts of spectator seating for football, rugby, cricket, and field hockey. There should also be some outdoor tennis and basketball courts. Pitches and courts for these sports would also be available within the Dome City but with limited head room due to height restrictions of the levels in the Dome City. These are the sports I would choose but ultimately it would be for the residents to decide.
I would expect that we would make allotments available for residents who want them to grow their own fruits, vegetables, herbs and other plants.
There should be a wide range of play parks for children of all ages and I would include a skate park within the Ring Park.
I would hope that there would be a lake where water sports such as swimming and kayaking could take place.
Somewhere in the Ring Park we should have a cemetery.
Aside - I understand that the largest municipal cemetery in the whole of Europe is in Greenock, the town next to where I live. It is 31 hectares. If you are ever in Greenock and have a at a few hours visit this cemetery, it is fascinating - End aside
Within the Ring Park here should be a range of different habitats such as grasslands, forests and marshes. These habitats should become a haven for wildlife.
Footpaths and cycle ways would exist to encourage walking and cycling.
These are my initial suggestions and I think that the residents of the Dome City should have a say in what they want from the park.
Joe Heffernan - 8 April 2015
Dome City Blog 5 - Churches, mosques, synagogues & temples
We are coming to the end of the Easter Weekend as I write this. Therefore, it seems appropriate for me to comment on churches, mosques, synagogues and temples within the Dome City.
I believe that on balance religion is a power for good. As a practicing Christian I see the merit in having a set of beliefs and guides for living that encourage me to love my neighbour, to be honest and to be trustworthy.
If a Dome City is going to be a success it will need to be the sort of place people want to live. Having good neighbours is one of the factors that I would list as important to making a place somewhere that I want to live. Religion can play a role in this is 2 ways. The first is as a guide for peaceful living and the second is the way that religion brings people together for religious observations, celebrations and works.
Therefore, I would suggest that space be set aside for churches in the Dome City. In my mind, the obvious place for a Dome City in the UK would be near London. In Britian as a whole according to the Office of National Statistics, based on the 2011 census data, 59.3% stated that they are Christian, 25.1% of the population state that they have no religion, 7.2% did not respond to the question, 4.8% stated they are Muslim, 1.5% stated they were Hindu, 0.8% were Sikh, 0.5% were Jewish, 0.4% were Buddhist and 0.4% were other religions. If this were an accurate reflection of the people who chose to live in the Dome City it is clear to me that around 75% of the population would have a religious affiliation. Of course not all of them would be regular participants in their religious community but a reasonable number would be.
The data for the above paragraph was taken from http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171776_290510.pdf
In the spirit of interfaith pluralism I would suggest that the churches, mosques, synagogues and temples be placed close to each other, probably on the same level of the Dome City.
In Triumph of the City by Edward Glaeser it talks about a suburb of Houston called Woodlands. One of the things that intrigued me about this suburb is how the developer, George Phydias Mitchell, recognised the importance of religion for promoting social capital. The paragraph that captures this best for me has been extracted and is shown below:
One of the most interesting, and almost urban, aspects of The Woodlands’ management is its focus on social capital. The Woodlands works precisely because it is not a collection of isolated individuals; its social infrastructure has been designed to foster interpersonal connections. In 1975, Mitchell hired a Wharton-trained Lutheran minister to run The Woodlands Religious Community Incorporated, now called Interfaith, which was meant to “plan the religious community and all the human services in this new town.” The minister bought a motor scooter and followed moving vans , meeting new residents as they arrived. Interfaith made sure that The Woodlands provided appropriate space for social, particularly religious, activities. Because nothing sours an area like religiously motivated hatred, Interfaith makes sure that religious messages are kept positive. In the aftermath of the 9/ 11 attacks, Interfaith managed to get rabbis to pray for Palestinians and Islamic leaders to pray for Jews.
Glaeser, Edward (2011-03-18). Triumph of the City: How Our Greatest Invention Makes Us Richer, Smarter, Greener, Healthier and Happier (pp. 181-182). Macmillan Publishers UK. Kindle Edition.
Aside - Those interested in energy matters like I am will recognise the name "George Phydias Mitchell", this is the man credited with developing the techniques to extract natural gas from tight shales using hydraulic fracturing (fracking). - end aside
I would hope that a UK Dome City would encourage the same sort of thing taking into account the differences between American and British religious views and practices.
Joe Heffernan 6-April-2015
Dome City Blog 4 - Welwyn Garden City and my proposals for a Dome City
I have looked at an old map of Welwyn Garden City and I estimate that this town is around 7.5 square kilometers. The population according to Wikipedia is 43,000. Welwyn Garden City is considered that classic example of a “Garden City”. Recent proposals are to build 5 new Garden Cities in Southern Britain to help reduce the current chronic housing shortage. The proposals that I have read suggest that each of these cities would house around 15,000 people.
Garden Cities are attractive to people and politicians because they are considered to be great communities and a very pleasant place to live. If we accept that new Garden Cities are a good place to live what would that suggest about my proposals for a Dome City?
In a previous blog I worked out that the Geodesic dome I am proposing would have a area are within it of 25.3 square kilometres. assuming 43,000 people per 7.5 square kilometers this would allow a population of 143,000 people. As I have stated previously my goal wold be to have 100,000 people living in the city so the effective density of this dome city would actually be less than Welwyn Garden City.
I have visited Welwyn Garden City once to have lunch at my Prefessor's house when I was doing my MSc. While this visit was a long time ago and I wasn't paying really close attention I do remember my Professor's house as being in a quiet cul-da-sac with lots of green space around.
Assuming when get get the lighting within the centre of the dome right this suggests to me that the dome city could provide a very comfortable environment for it's residents.
Reasons that I would like to live in a dome city are:
The ability to walk everywhere within the city. There would certainly need to be elevators when one is going up or down more than a few levels but once on any level you would never be further than 500m from your destination.
I live in Scotland where it rains alot. The dome city will provide a roof over my head at almost all times allow me to be outside of my house much more. I would hope that this would encourage more "outdoor" activities like sport, walking, cafes, open air concerts etc.
I feel that since people would walk around more that they would come into contact with their neighbours on a more regular basis. I would hope and expect that this would engender better feelings of community.
I wouldn't need to own a car for day to day living.
Given the high population density I would see that public services would be easier and less expensive to provide. Examples are:
With a electrical power plant located very close to the city combined heat and power is a real possibility. The energy provider would be able to supply district heating at relatively low cost.
I imagine that garbage collection could be made more efficient since people could carry their waste and recyclables to larger bins.
Schools could also share facilities much more easily. In addition, parents would have a greater choice of schools for their children since every school is accessible on foot by any child.
Waste could be disposed of in an incinerator located within the city providing additional district heating options and reducing the amount of waste going to landfill.
Sewers could be smaller since they would not have to deal with rainfall.
I am sure there are more examples that I haven't thought of yet but I hope these do show you how costs could be reduced and services improved.
I hope you have found this interesting.
The Economist | Land-shackled economies: The paradox of soil via @theeconomist
BUY land, advised Mark Twain; they’re not making it any more. In fact, land is not really scarce: the entire population of America...
Thoughts on our visit to Prague
Helen and I returned from our holiday in Prague last night. We had a good time, I’ve returned feeling relaxed and somewhat recharged.
I liked Prague a lot and I was thinking about what makes it such a nice city (for tourists like us).
In no particular order:
1 - Friendly and honest people. 2- A great city centre for walking around. 3 - Good public transport. 4 - Green space easily accessible from the city centre. 5 - Good affordability. 6 - A compact city centre with plenty of bars, pubs and Restaurants.
I will discuss this more in my future blogs.
Thoughts on Prague
We just came back from a break in Prague. We had a good time by walking around a lot, eating & drinking and being with each other. Given my interest in dome cities what would I take away from the visit to guide me about my dome city design. This is a list of things go liked about Prague and I would hope that these things would be available (if required) in a dome city. 1 - Great walk ability 2 - green space easily accessible from the city centre 3 - affordability 4 - friendly and honest people 5 - good public transport 6 - a lively centre in the evenings with plenty of entertainment, bars and places to eat I will discuss these things more in future blogs.
Check out @jbheffernan's Tweet:
We walked the Greenock Cut today. The weather was beautiful.
Bears, wolves, lynx and wolverines are flourishing in Europe, largely in humanized landscapes and not in parks. Can North America learn from the “coexistence model” that characterizes the continent’s approach to conserving big carnivores?
Dome City Blog 3 - Energy production in the city
In today's blog I plan to talk about energy production and use within a Dome City.
In general, residents of cities use less energy per capita, then people in rural areas. Some reasons for this are:
Distances travelled can be less,
Mass transportation systems can work well,
Shared walls in housing lead to lower heating requirements,
If energy sources are located in the city then combined heat and power can be used, and
Less resources are used to provide infrastructure for high density populations compared to low density ones.
A Dome City should have nearby power resources large enough to cover the needs of the population for electricity, heating, cooling and local transport within the city. Transport away from the city would most probably provided in standard cars and trucks powered by gasoline and diesel.
I would propose that the Dome City has a electricity power station sited just beside it. This power station would be located close enough to the Dome City to allow the waste heat, which arises from electricity production, to be used to provide hot water, heating and if required, cooling, to the city. This is known as combined heat and power (CHP) or as cogeneration. When a Dome City is sited in a tropical location then a "trigeneration" systems which includes refrigeration could be provided. The typical efficiency of thermal power plants for electricity is 30% to 40%. This waste heat represents a significant resource. District heating would be feature of the Dome City. This heat supplied to residents and business would form another source of income for the city.
My preferred method of dealing with electricity production would be with Nuclear Power. Nuclear Power is a low-carbon form of electricity production that is not so climate dependent compared to wind or solar. Furthermore, while wind and solar can be excellent sources of low-carbon electricity at the right locations, these forms of energy production are intermittent. This intermittentcy requires back up power sources to cover the times when these renewable sources cannot provide power.
There are proposals for new smaller reactors known as Small Modular Reactors (SMRs). By definition these reactors have electricity outputs of less than 300 MWe (Megawatts electrical). The suggested size of these reactors varies from 2 MWe for the UPower proposal to 130 MWe for the B&W MPower proposal. The system that I would most want to see would be 3 number NuScale 45 MWe reactors to provide electricity and heat to the city. A combined output of 135 MWe would generally provide more power than the city would require. I would estimate that the city will consume around 100MWe. However, the additional supply could be used to entice power hungry industries to move to the city. Some energy intensive industries are data centres or heavy manufacturing. Alternatively, the additional supply above the needs of the city would be a useful source of income for the city.
The NuScale reactors have a refueling cycle of around 2 years. Refueling would be staggered such that no more than one reactor is off line at any one time. In the UK, the city should be connected to the National Grid and any shortfall in power during a refueling shut-down could be supplied from the grid.
The use of 3 number SMR's has the advantage of "right-sizing" the plant to the population of the Dome City. The Dome City will take several years to build. Once the lower levels have been constructed I would expect that people would begin to move in. However, to reach the full population of around 100,000 people will take a number of years. Initially a single reactor would provided for power. The second and third would follow in later years when the population as grown large enough to justify the additional generating capacity.
I would very much hope that the power station for the city be owned and operated by the municipality.
I appreciate that there will be some reading this blog that are opposed to or afraid of nuclear power. In addition, the NuScale SMR is still in the design and licensing phase. We are still waiting for the first one to be constructed. An alternative to an SMR that would accomplish much the same ends is to have a Combined Cycle Gas Turbine (CCGT) power plant producing electrical power for the city.
This brief outline on the supply of electrical power and heat to a proposed Dome City has set out what I consider to be the "best" option. The compact nature of the Dome City would allow Combined Heat and Power to be feasible. The power station would have 2 sources of income. One comes from the Electricity produced and the second is the hot water and heat supplied. This would increase it's financial performance and make it easier to find financing for this aspect of Dome City development.
Dome City Blog 2 - What is my vision for a Dome City? Why might we build one?
The Guardian newspaper Reported on 6 October 2014, in an article by Nicholas Watt, that Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats are proposing 5 new garden cities between Oxford and Cambridge. He suggested that this would provide around 50,000 new houses. He was quoted as saying: “Garden cities are a vital cornerstone of our plan to boost house building to 300,000 homes a year – enough to meet demand and keep prices in reach – while still protecting our precious green space and preventing urban sprawl. Our plan is to build a series of high quality new towns and cities where people want to live, with green space, sustainable transport and spacious homes."
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/oct/06/nick-clegg-promises-10-garden-cities-built-train-line-oxford-cambridge
It is my view that dome cities could help to accomplish this aspiration of 300,000 homes per year. Of course this is no use if no one would want to live in a dome city. I have spoken to a few people and most of them are initially reluctant to consider living in a dome city. First and foremost a dome city must be a place that is pleasant to live. Briefly allow me to set out what I think a dome city will offer. In my first blog of this series I proposed that a dome city is a geodesic dome 1 km in diameter and 500m high. This first pass proposal would have around 48 equally spaced levels and a population density of 3860 people per square kilometre to house a total of around 100,000 persons. To put this into context, this is a population density of Birmingham, UK or Miami, FL. However, given the compactness of the site there will not be a need for cars within the dome. I would suggest that lanes of about 4m in width will provide space for people to walk and cycle everywhere within the level. Levels would be linked with elevators, escalators, stairs and ramps. Walking and cycling are good for one's health. In addition, I think these activities can foster a better sense of community because we are seeing and interacting with a fellow citizens as we walk and cycle. When we're in our car our interaction is minimal. I hope that this form of structure is feasible from a structural engineering point of view. This isn't something I can answer at this stage so it could be something that destroys the feasibility of this proposal. My second biggest concern would be to provide light to the centre of the dome, especially in the lower levels where the centre could be upto 500m from the edge. I am hopeful that we could replicate daylight conditions during daylight hours with modern low energy lighting. This lighting would follow the outdoor lighting levels so there will be a form of night in the dome with street lights for the residential areas. Lighting is another aspect of the proposed design that I still have to investigate so it could be a show stopper. Housing would mainly be in the form of single family dwellings. In most cases people would not share any walls with their neighbours. These homes could be prefabricated and built in a factory environment within the dome. They should have outstanding design and flexible layouts and features. I would hope that the initial residents would order a bespoke home to suit their exact needs. These houses would then be delivered to their final location with only hook up and final fit out required. This factory construction could greatly improve quality. The housing should have high energy efficiency. I would hope that we could make these homes very affordable. Beside factory construction, another factor that could lead to lower cost is less need for waterproofing of the roof since the dome itself provides this. I would propose that there be a power station adjacent to the dome city to provide electricity for the city. The waste heat that arises from electricity production could be easily used for the supply of hot water all year round and heating in winter. I was recently in Reykjavik. Iceland for a short holiday. Hot water is never in short supply there and it make for some wonderful swimming opportunities. Swimming is something I greatly enjoy. This power source will form the topic of a future blog. I would hope that we can provide extensive public spaces with opportunities for recreation such as sports like football, hockey (field and ice), bowls, tennis, badminton, basketball, swimming, ping pong etc... We wouldn't want to neglect cultural aspects and there should be plenty of areas where these activities are encouraged and allowed. To foster one facet of a vibrant and caring community, religions would be encouraged to provide churches/mosques/temples for their people to celebrate their religious beliefs in. Public halls would also be a feature of the dome to encourage clubs, bands, youth groups and other organizations that allow us to build a civil society and connect with our fellow citizens. Around each level in the dome, I would want to see a buffer of unbuilt space to allow people to see the sky and feel the wind on their face. Given that Britain is a temperate country I do not envisage very much glazing on the exterior of the structure. These buffer zones may become the places where the community goes for a stroll every evening. I was once in Rostov on Don, and the Rostovian make this a regular habit when I was visiting. I would propose that here be a green belt at least 500m wide around the base of the dome. This green belt would mainly be in the form of park land but some of it should be set aside for allotments, a community farm, and outdoor sporting facilities like grass football and rugby pitches. With a population of around 100,000 people, good public transport links would be viable. In addition, I expect that some of the residents will still need cars for commuting and excursions. An extensive parking garage would need to be provided. I would also hope that some sort of car sharing/rental scheme arises to allow access to cars for those who don’t need to own a car. However, within the dome city, cars will not be required so some of the building area that is currently turned over to allow cars, trucks and buses to move around in modern cities becomes available for people. Transport in the dome, for heavy goods, deliveries and for those with limited mobility, would be provided using electric vehicles. With 100,000 people living in the dome there is an extensive demand for public services like schools, hospitals, police, fire fighters. The city will need to provide services like energy, waste disposal, water and sewerage. Retail space would be needed to supply the needs to of the dome. Light manufacturing would be encouraged as well as service industries. I would hope that the dome city becomes a magnet for some that will form new businesses because they are attracted to the high density, good communication links and high quality of the community. I would hope that it does not simply become a dormitory for commuters working in a nearby city. Some people tell us to buy land, because they're not making any more of it. For a dome city the land area at the base of this dome is 0.785 square kilometres (194 acres, 78.5 hectares). With the 48 levels the building area available within the dome is 25.3 square kilometres (6250 acres, 2530 hectares). This has increased the available land area by a factor of 32. The total land take assuming we have a 500m green belt around the site is 3.14 square kilometers. This particular blog prompted by the extract shown below from The Economist magazine dated 04/10/2014 Having workers in the right places is critically important to generating more and better jobs. In both the rich and the emerging world unmet demand for housing is a significant constraint on growth. In developing economies many large cities have outgrown their capacity to house their populations, resulting in sprawling slums that harbour crime and disease. India’s government, for example, tightly restricts land use, making new construction costly and modern housing extremely expensive. In rich countries restrictions on the supply of housing can be just as pernicious. In economically dynamic places such as New York and London the shortage of housing is a serious constraint on growth in output and highly paid jobs. Inadequate investment in infrastructure exacerbates the problem. As roads and trains become more crowded, residents grow wary of agreeing to new developments, and so it goes on. Taken from: The Economist, Special report: The world economy, In this special report - The third great wave, Article Title: Means and ends - How governments can deal with the labour imbalance, Oct 4th 2014 | From the print edition I hope this blog has made you consider dome cities as one possible way to address this problem of having workers in the right place. Dome City Blog Number 2 12 October 2014 Joe Heffernan
Dome City Blog 1 - An idea for higher density cities
I have been thinking a lot about what we need for new housing and cities. I have been thinking about this for a number of reasons. One reason is that the UK is critically short of housing. The government and others are keen to see a large number of new homes built. Personally I support this idea. Another reason was my recent visit to Changchun, China. This is a very large city by UK standards. The greater metro area has a population of 7.6 million while the city itself has a population of 3.9 million based on 2010 data. That was the 5th tiime I’ve been to Changchun and I always enjoy my time there. However, I think this is a city ruined by the car. I like to walk or cycle whenever I can. Modern cities, for the most part, make this difficult and unpleasant. It is difficult because of the distances involved and it is unpleasant because cars and pedestrians/cyclists don’t mix so well. In brief here is the questions I am thinking about and some of the answers that I am arriving at. What if we built a city that was housed in a geodesic dome with a diameter of 1km at the base? A geodesic dome has the shape of a half-sphere. It was popopularizedy R. Buckminster Fuller. I have chosen this structural form because I understand that it is very efficient from a structural engineering point of view. I have some simple back of the envelope type calculations to see how many people this city in a dome could house. Assume that we made the thickness of the floors separating levels as 1.5m (5 feet) and that we had clear space of 9m (29.5 feet) between levels. This would provide 48 levels for constructing our city. The land area at the base of this dome is 0.785 square kilometers (194 acres, 78.5 hectares). With the 48 levels as described above the land area available within the dome is 25.3 square kilometers (6250 acres, 2530 hectares). The population density of the the dome were the same as New York City at 27,778 people per square mile (10,716 people per square km) then it could house 271,000 people. With a lower density of say, 10,000 people per square mile (3860 people per square km) then it could house 97,700 people. This lower population density figure of 10000 people per square mile is the almost the same value as for population densities of Miami,Florida and Birmingham, England. I would suggest that there should be a significant green belt around this dome city. I would like to suggest at least 500m of park and wild lands around the base (excepting transport links). I will continue these ideas in my next blog. Dome City - Blog 1 5 October 2014 Joe Heffernan
Tonight's sunset at the Boat Club.
We saw this in Reykjavik - read the sign and I hope you smile 😊
Reykjavik Harbour - weather was beautiful today.
Today's highlight was Gullfoss Waterfall!
We went to the Blue Lagoon today. I do love hot springs.
There were dolphins or porpoises off The Esplanade in Greenock last night - or maybe Nessie on holiday 😊
Helen and I cycled from Kirkintilloch to Falkirk and back. The total distance was about 50km. 😊
A lovely night for open water swimming along The Esplanade in Greenock. 😊
We did a really fun hill walk today. This is Tinto Hill from the Wiston side. The walk was around 5km with 450m of elevation gain.