Red light visions in the Colorado skies

A strange shape-shifting triangle composed of red lights has been spotted in the night skies above the town of Lafayette, Colorado. Numerous reports have been flooding in to news stations and UFO websites such as www.uforadar.com and www.ufodigest.com. The triangle shape is common in UFO sighting, but it is unusual to have so many reports of the same incident. According to MUFON, a non-profit UFO classification and analysis organization, case # 28335 describes what first appeared to be three red dots in the sky in a triangle formation on March 20 moving slowly to the east, described by a witness in Broomfield - located in the southeastern corner of Boulder County.

"Then two of them veered off together, almost came to touch each other, then veered away and looked as if they were heading back toward the other red dot," the witness stated. "They were very far away and appeared to flicker in the night sky. I'm not sure if they're still outside within view as I wanted to come in and report it! Cars were stopped on our street (Miramonte Blvd. in Broomfield) watching what was a pretty eerie movement of three red lights in the sky."

New TransAlta wind project in Quebec

Calgary based TransAlta Corporation has announced plans for a $200+ million wind farm in the Gaspe region of Quebec. This will be the corporations second development in Quebec and they have already secured a 20-year power purchase contract with the Hydro-Quebec.

TransAlta is confidant that their dedication and innovation in the wind power industry will secure their place as one of the top wind power corporations in the country. This new development will output 66 megawatts, enough to power over 10,000 homes while their current project in the same region generates 99 megawatts powering over 15,000 homes.

This is a positive step forward for wind energy in Canada, as traditional energy sources are becoming more expensive and scarce and we look towards lowering emissions and pollutants in all areas and industries. I am proud to say that I fully support alternative green energy in Canada and around the globe, and it's pretty cool that Canada is becoming a leader in the green energy industries.

Read more at www.cbc.ca and www.transalta.com

Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival

"The annual Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival is a popular tradition in our city, bringing people of all ages and backgrounds together to celebrate the quintessential symbol of spring. As we prepare for Vancouver's 125th anniversary, please join me in congratulating the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival on this year's celebration and the 3,000 new flowering Birthday Blossom cherry trees being made available to property owners throughout the city.These commemorative trees will serve as a legacy for Vancouver's residents and visitors to enjoy for the next 125 years."

-Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson

Celebrate the coming of Spring in Vancouver by taking in the sights and sounds of the annual Cherry Blossom Festival. The troubles of the world should be left behind as you explore our beautiful city with your girlfriend or boyfriend. Spring is a time of transition, a time of optimism, of hope. Rebirth and rejuvenation come to mind, with longer days of sunny skies ahead, we embrace the future in a positive way.

I will attempt to enjoy the city as I move today, with the Whitecaps game on TEAM 1410 Radio, my beautiful girlfriend by my side and the sun blessing me with its warmth and vitamin d.

Earthquakes, Earthquakes, Everywhere

Mother Nature must be really pissed off, cause she's shiftin' plates all over the place! Japan's recent earthquake/tsunami combo is garnering so much media attention that we have forgotten about or ignored so many other earthquakes and natural disasters elsewhere in the world.

Christchurch, New Zealand was hit with a 6.3 magnitude earthquake and Queensland, Australia experienced devastating floods. Even Ethiopia, Thailand, Philippines, Vietnam, China and Brazil have experienced earthquakes in the last couple months.

Many would say that this is the beginning of the the end and that 2012 is the end of the world as we know it because some old school dudes decided that they had made enough calendars. Mother Nature is angry 'cause we've been sucking up all the oil and digging out all the diamonds and gold, setting off the equilibrium. The moon is getting closer, the earth is getting hotter, high demand for staple crops, oh and don't forget that ozone layer is still depleting despite our little carbon footprints.

Radiation detected on BC coast

The repercussions of Japans nuclear power plant issues are being felt as far away as British Columbia and California, and even though the amount of radiation detected is minute, it still has many residents scrambling to get their nuclear survival kits ready. Radiation was detected on the coast of BC over the past few days, calculated to be 0.0000005 millisieverts, which is a negligible amount and does not pose a health risk. Looks like we can still drink our milk and eat our spinach, but how much longer until a larger quantity of radiation makes it's way across the ocean? I hope it never happens, but definitely something to think about.

Thanks to the BC Centre for Disease Control and an anonymous source, we can find out more information about radiation and how to respond to a radiation emergency here, just in case!

Read more at www.theprovince.com

Wind power to the rescue!

I think we can all say by now that Japan is pretty messed up. Their dependence on nuclear power has led them down a dangerous path, and it's up to green energy to straighten things out.

Japans nuclear power plants have not taken well to the recent earthquake/tsunami combo and are already leaking radiation, contaminating the local milk and spinach. Unaffected were the nations wind farms, quietly working away providing a steady power source to help contain the radiation and neutralize the risk of a nuclear meltdown. This illustrates the need for the worlds nations to take a deeper look into wind power as a sustainable and viable power source.

Laneway homes, an amusing alternative!

We all know that Vancouver house prices are through the roof, and most people that buy do so with the plan to rent out the basement or upstairs in order to help pay that huge mortgage, or gauge of death as it could be loosely translated to. To help with the population density problem that has fallen upon Vancouver, the city has recently allowed homeowners to convert their garages to small homes, called laneway homes. These 400 to 800 square feet homes are perfect for couples or single occupants that want their standalone privacy in a convenient location without having to live in a generic beehive condo. The laneway homes also provide the homeowner with some additional mortgage help without giving up their family privacy by sharing an entrance or laundry with their tenant.

A few companies have started to create new designs for laneway homes that can be constructed when new houses are built or just added on to the end of an existing property. One of these local companies is Lanefab, started by Mat Turner and Bryn Davidson whose designs have already garnered attention from CBC, CTV, Globe & Mail, Scout and Western Living among others. Check out their site at http://www.lanefab.com/ for more information.

I fully support these ideas and innovations to address the housing and density issues that we all face here in Vancouver, and only I hope more cities will take note and make laneway homes more than just a topic of conversation in the near future.

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We're blue, We're white...

...we're funkin' dynamite, Van-couv-er-er, Van-couv-er-er!!

The Whitecaps did not fail to impress the 22,000 plus crowd for their home opener against Toronto FC under sunny skies this Saturday at Empire Field. Their entry into the MLS had the entire city wearing blue and white and fans singing their anthems as they walked down the streets. This is a proud day for the Whitecaps organization and huge step forward for soccer in Vancouver and Canada as a whole. More Canadians play soccer than any other sport, including hockey, and the country is counting on the Whitecaps induction into the MLS to boost interest in the sport and to push the development of homegrown talent.

Big ups to the Southsiders, the Whitecaps FCs most dedicated fans, for providing a electrifying atmosphere and chanting the home team to victory. To support your Vancouver Whitecaps FC, go to www.southsiders.ca and for more information about the Whitecaps FC, go to www.whitecapsfc.com

GO WHITECAPS!

Mercedes to build $50M fuel cell plant in Burnaby!

Quoted from The Vancouver Sun

METRO VANCOUVER - Mercedes Canada today announced it will manufacture all its fuel cell stacks for its pre-commercial hydrogen fuel cell vehicles at a new $50 million plant opposite the Automotive Fuel Cell Cooperation (AFCC) building on North Fraser Way in Burnaby,

The plant is expected to be in operation by 2013 and its production will be shipped to Germany for installation into a fleet of vehicles that will be assembled that year.

Mercedes Benz officials said the plant was the first of its kind worldwide said they expected to put fuel cell vehicles into commercial production in about 2016.

© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

Is nuclear power really new and clear?

Is nuclear power really the right way to go? In my opinion, no it is not. The recent reactor issues in Japan are said to be not quite as bad as Chernobyl, which was the worst nuclear disaster ever. We would hope that modern technology would drasticly reduce the risk of nuclear meltdowns or disasters, but it still seems to be pretty difficult to keep these power plants safe. To add insult to injury, the CBC has just reported a leak at the nuclear power plant in Pickering, Ontario. Apparently, the risk to the public is reported as "negligible", but it still doesn't sit right with many Canadians. It's surprising that in this world of green energy generation, that nuclear power is still an option for many countries. BC and Saskatchewan have reported that two huge wind farms have recently been brought online and are now supplying power their respective grids. Such modern green technologies are embraced by Western Canada and the rest of the world should really take note. I have been promoting green energy for years as a renewable and efficient energy source and the current media coverage of these nuclear issues should create another push towards worldwide green energy implementation.

Chinese battle for microblog supremacy

Quoted from www.ft.com

In the autumn of 2009, when the Chinese web portal Sina launched its microblog, the new platform was barely noticed in the worldwide online cacophony. People were already sending more than 20m tweets a day on Twitter.

But while China may have had a late start, homegrown services resembling Twitter are now gaining such momentum in the world’s most populous internet market that they are bound to change the local industry landscape.

“There is a real war of the microblogs going on,” says Charles Zhang, chief executive of Sohu, one of China’s largest web portals and one of Sina’s fiercest rivals.

By the end of last year, 63m people, almost 14 per cent of the country’s 457m web users, had taken to microblogs, according to China Internet Network Information Center, the state web registrar.

Analysts estimate that number has more than doubled over the past two months as Sina’s microblog, called Weibo, hit 100m users alone by the end of February.

Half a dozen other Chinese internet companies run similar products, with Tencent and Sohu being Sina’s most serious competitors. All of them are thriving because Twitter is blocked in China. But the popularity of the tool means that those internet companies that have established themselves as main ‘homes’ for Chinese web surfers in the past are at risk of losing that valuable position.

That risk is clearest for Tencent, the world’s third-largest internet company by market capitalisation, which has built itself into a formidable social networking company through QQ, its instant messaging tool with more than 630m active accounts. Baidu, the company which runs China’s leading online search engine, could be challenged for its dominant share of the country’s online advertising market.

Read the full article at Financial Times here

Warning: Beer costs to increase by 30%

The worlds consumers are soon going to feel the effects of the rise in price of agricultural commodities such as wheat, corn and barley. Many of the processed and pre-packaged foods we eat contain these staples, and due to poor crop yields, increased demand and natural causes, we are soon going to have to pay for it. The cost of these commodities has been steadily rising for some time now, but it usually takes about a year for increase to show up at the consumer level. The most painful cost increase that will affect most of us in the Americas is barley, which has risen almost 30% since 2009. Barley is the main ingredient for beer, of which Americans consume about 80 litres per capita per year while Canada is not far behind at around 70 litres per capita per year. Currently, a six pack of Pilsner is considered a bargain at $12.45 at the cold beer and wine store and I can't imagine paying $16 or $17 dollars for the finest of cheap beers.

Replacement kidney printed live onstage!

Wow! This is the future! No more organ donors needed, but thank you for your generosity! Tissue engineers are now able to use a patients own tissue to print a new organ using a desktop inkjet printer that uses cells instead of ink. This technology is incredible and almost unbelievable, but right now it is possible to print new organs on demand as we need them. For more info, check out www.popsci.com.

BCs Largest Wind Farm Up and Running

Quoted from www.plutonic.ca

Plutonic Power Corporation (TSX: PCC) and GE Energy Financial Services, a unit of GE (NYSE: GE), have achieved commercial operations at their second major renewable energy project, British Columbia's largest wind farm, a major milestone in their growth collaboration. The Dokie Wind project is now fully operational, providing clean energy to BC Hydro under a 25-year Electricity Purchase Agreement (EPA). Plutonic's and GE's Dokie General Partnership has received confirmation from BC Hydro that the project has achieved commercial operations as of February 16, 2011, thereby meeting its guaranteed commercial operation date commitment under the EPA.

During 13 months of construction, GE and managing partner Plutonic oversaw erection of 43 wind turbines, construction of an electric substation, installation of seven kilometres of transmission lines, and created more than 200 construction and permanent jobs to finish the C$228 million project - Plutonic's and GE Energy Financial Services' first Canadian wind farm. The project is located 1,100 kilometres northeast of Vancouver near Chetwynd in the foothills of the Canadian Rocky Mountains, an area with world-class wind speeds.

"The now fully operational Dokie Wind project represents an important new growth platform for us and a significant milestone in the Plutonic-GE partnership," said Donald McInnes, Vice-Chairman and CEO of Plutonic Power. "We thank the West Moberly First Nations, Halfway River First Nation, Saulteau First Nations and McLeod Lake Indian Band for their collaboration, and gratefully acknowledge the dedication and effort demonstrated by all the men and women involved in the construction of the Dokie Wind farm."

The Dokie Wind project is capable of generating 320,000-340,000 MWh per year - enough energy to power about 34,000 homes. The project helps British Columbia reach its goal of meeting growing energy needs through the development and use of clean or renewable electricity. In November 2010, the companies began operation of their East Toba River and Montrose Creek project, British Columbia's largest run-of-river hydroelectric power plant.

"By combining GE's experience as an energy investor and Plutonic's development skills, and by consistently reaching out to impacted stakeholders, we were able to turn a once-challenged project into what is now British Columbia's largest operating wind farm," said Mark Tonner, Managing Director and leader of Canada at GE Energy Financial Services.

The Dokie General Partnership has met all of the precedent conditions contained under the ecoEnergy Renewable Power program. Accordingly, the Dokie General Partnership expects to receive the $10/MWh grant on all energy sales starting February 9, 2011 for a ten year period.