The demand for electricity can be met in two different ways. The main method is to build large centralized projects to generate and transmit the electricity required. Many of these projects have caused unpleasant environmental effects such as air or radiation pollution and the flooding of large areas of land.
Distributed generation creates power on a smaller scale at locations on the electricity network. These sites often generate electricity as a byproduct of other industry such as using gas from landfills to power turbines.
Rotating turbines attached to electrical generators produce most commercially available electricity. Turbines are driven by a fluid which acts as an intermediate energy carrier. The fluids typically used are:
Combined cycle gas turbine plants are driven by both steam and gas. They generate power by burning natural gas in a gas turbine and use residual heat to generate additional electricity from steam. These plants offer efficiencies of up to 60%.
Small electricity generators are often powered by reciprocating engines burning diesel fuel, biogas or natural gas. Diesel generators are often used for backup power, usually at low voltages. Biogas is often combusted where it is produced, such as a landfill or wastewater treatment plant, with a reciprocating engine or a microturbine, which is a small gas turbine.
Unlike the solar heat concentrators, photovoltaic panels convert sunlight directly to electricity. Although sunlight is free, solar panels cost a lot of money to make and have only a 10-20% conversion efficiency. Until recently, photovoltaics were most commonly used in remote sites where there is no access to a commercial power grid, or as an extra electricity source for individual homes and businesses. Recent advances in manufacturing efficiency and photovoltaic technology, combined with subsidies driven by environmental concerns, have dramatically accelerated the deployment of solar panels. Installed solar capacity is growing by 30% per year in several regions including Germany, Japan, California and New Jersey.
Casey Kasem
Casey Kasem (born Kemal Amin Kasem; April 27, 1932– June 15, 2014) was an American radio personality, music historian, actor, and voice artist. He is known for his many voice roles in cartoons and for being a public radio personality.
Kasem was born Kemal Amin Kasem in Detroit, Michigan, on April 27, 1932, to Lebanese immigrant parents. They settled in Michigan, where they worked as grocers. Kasem graduated from Northwestern High School in Detroit and Wayne State University.
Kasem's career began in the radio business in the 1950s in Flint, Michigan. He then made his first movie appearance in "Easy Rider" in 1967.
He was the host of the weekly "American Top 40" radio show from 1970 to 1988, and again from March 1998 until January 10, 2004. Ryan Seacrest is now the host. Kasem is the host of two weekly radio shows, "American Top 20 with Casey Kasem" and "American Top 10 with Casey Kasem".
Kasem did the voice of many advertisements, has done many voices for "Sesame Street", and is the voice of 'Shaggy' for the animated television show "Scooby-Doo".
Kasem retired in 2009 because of old age and health concerns.
Kasem married Linda Myers in 1972. The couple had three children. Kasem then married Jean Thompson in 1980. The couple had one child. Kasem lived in Washington state.
Kasem was a Democrat. He narrated television ads for 1972 president candidate George McGovern's campaign.
On May 12, 2014, Kasem was declared missing by a Los Angeles court judge ordered an investigation for his whereabouts. Soon after, Kasem was found alive in Washington state.
Kasem suffered from Parkinson's disease and an early form of dementia.
On June 6, 2014, Kasem was in critical but stable condition at a hospital in Washington state hospital, receiving antibiotic treatment from blood pressure and bedsores. He also suffered from Lewy body disease, the most common type of progressive dementia after Alzheimer's and was bed-ridden.
Kasem died in Gig Harbor, Washington from complications of dementia and sepsis, aged 82. On August 14 it was reported in the Norwegian newspaper "Verdens Gang" that Kasem was going to be buried in Oslo. The funeral administration of Oslo, Norway confirmed that Kasem was buried at Vestre Gravlund in Oslo on December 16, 2014.
Bloc Party
Bloc Party are a British indie rock band. The band has four members: Kele Okereke sings and plays rhythm guitar, Russell Lissack plays the lead guitar, Justin Harris plays bass guitar and Louise Bartle plays the drums. The band's music has been compared to bands such as the Cure, Gang of Four and the Strokes.
The band formed during the 1999 Reading Festival. They tried many different names before they chose Bloc Party. Moakes joined after reading an advertisement in "NME" magazine. Tong was picked through an audition. The band was first noticed when the gave BBC Radio 1 DJ Steve Lamacq and Franz Ferdinand's lead singer Alex Kapranos a copy of its music demo, "She's Hearing Voices". Later it was released as a single.
In February 2005, the band released its debut album, "Silent Alarm". It received excellent reviews from many critics, and made "NME"'s Album of the Year list. The album was successful enough to reach platinum status in the UK a year later. The band released its second album, "A Weekend in the City", in 2007. This album reached number two on the UK album chart and number twelve on the "Billboard" 200. In August 2008, the band released their third album, "Intimacy". 4 years later, in 2012, the band released their fourth album, Four, and in 2016, the band released their fifth album, Hymns.
Russell Lissack and Kele Okereke first met in 1998 in Essex. They saw each other again in 1999 at the Reading Festival and then decided to form a band. Bass guitar player Gordon Moakes joined after answering an advertisement in "NME", and drummer Matt Tong joined after an audition. They were called Union at the start, the band chose to call themselves Bloc Party in September 2003 as another way of saying "block party". The band have said in interviews that the name was not supposed to be related to the Soviet Bloc or the Canadian political party Bloc Québécois. However, Gordon Moakes said on the group's official Internet forum that the name was made by joining the eastern "Blocs" and the western "parties", in the political sense. Moakes also said that the name was not chosen only for this reason, but because it "looked, sounded, and seemed fine, so we went with it."
In November 2003, Bloc Party had their song "The Marshals Are Dead" featured on a compilation album called "The New Cross" released by Angular Recording Corporation. They then released their debut single "She's Hearing Voices" on the record label Trash Aesthetics, which was new at the time.
The band were first noticed after lead singer Okereke went to a Franz Ferdinand concert in 2003. He gave a CD of "She's Hearing Voices" to both lead singer Alex Kapranos and Radio One DJ Steve Lamacq. Afterwards, Lamacq played the song on his radio show. He called the track "genius", and he invited them to record a live session for the show. The success of the track led to the release of another single, "Banquet", which was released by Moshi Moshi Records. They went on to sign with independent label Wichita Recordings in April 2004.