Saturday, May 14, 2016

Hyperloop Firms are Both Progressing in the High Speed Transport Systems

Hyperloop is a propsed system to transport cargo and passengers in a elevated system via vacuum tubes. The system which also uses magnets to propel the tube 760 miles per hour , which would carry people or cargo from Los Angeles to San Francisco in 30 minutes. Hyperloop Transportation Technologies also known as (HTT), recently unveiled magnetic technology that will allow the pods to levitate and move. The system was developed by Lawrence Livermore Labs with HTT. HTT has exclusively licensed the system for their Hyperloop project. The way the system works is that pods will be propelled by an electric motor and the magnetic field created by permanent magnets will help the capsules levitate. Also, when the pods decelerate, the energy created will be used to recharge the batteries of the motor. There are no designed plans to make have this system in California or anywhere in the US, but it is clear that it can be a rival system to the CalHighSpeed Rail system. It will also be less expensive to construct and to use. Additionally, it will cost much much less to construct. The Hyperloop system will utilize passive levitation system which will eliminate the need for power stations along the Hyperloop track. This further cuts down on construction and further makes the system less expensive and energy efficient. This past January, HTT filed for construction permits of the first full-scale five-mile hyperloop track in Quay Valley, California, which is in central California. The company is also crowd sourcing its funding and they have over 10,000 people self funding the project. This Hyperloop system is quickly and quietly becoming a real system. Although many say it will be best used in cargo transport, which will cut down on long haul truckers. Increasingly, technology is eliminating jobs near and long term.

Thursday, May 5, 2016

Clean Energy Firm SunEdison files for Bankruptcy

SunEdison is a solar and wind company that was worth almost $10 billion less than a year ago. It has a mountain of debt to deal with. It has filed for Chapter 11 reorganization in the hopes to keep it afloat. It has $300 million in new financing to continue current projects, pay wages and keep things afloat. Recently its stock SUNE was at $33 a share but it has dropped under 30 cents a share. The company had made some solar plans in the Antelope Valley, but they have done more solar and wind in South Korea and Germany. They also have two subsidiaries TerraForm Power and Terra Global with inroads in Brazil, India and China. The bankruptcy doesn’t involve these two spinoffs. There have been other solar energy bankruptcies and one a few years ago in the Antelope Valley on the far-east side in High Vista Area. First Solar operates several solar farms in Antelope Valley and it is publically traded, but a number of other solar firms are private enterprises.