maryland archives - planet forward - 克罗地亚vs加拿大让球 //www.getitdoneaz.com/tag/maryland/ inspiring stories to 2022年卡塔尔世界杯官网 tue, 07 mar 2023 19:39:29 +0000 en-us hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.6.1 mitigation measures underway for town of many floods: maryland’s historical ellicott city //www.getitdoneaz.com/story/mitigation-measures-underway-town-many-floods/ sun, 15 nov 2020 17:06:17 +0000 http://dpetrov.2create.studio/planet/wordpress/mitigation-measures-underway-for-town-of-many-floods-marylands-historical-ellicott-city/ the community of ellicott city, md is working together to protect against future devastating floods.

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growing up in maryland, walking down historical ellicott city’s main street and window shopping at locally owned businesses with a nice cup of hot chocolate in hand has always been one of my favorite ways to spend a day. however, most of those businesses that i and many other marylanders have loved visiting in the past are now boarded up with their reopening status in jeopardy.

flooding causes the most damage in the u.s. as compared to other natural disasters – about $5 billion each year – according to the national severe storms laboratory.

even during a pandemic, the ellicott city community is working hard to protect from even more damage than what it has already endured.

ellicott city has always been prone to major flooding, with the earliest recorded major flood in 1868, according to the baltimore sun archives.

more floods came throughout the years, and just when the city thought it was finally recovering, it faced one of the worst ones yet in 2016.

and another in 2018.

i remember checking my phone and suddenly seeing photographs and videos of the place i visited the week before now completely underwater.

in a matter of seconds, my family and friends were on high alert, calling their loved ones to make sure they weren’t out at the bars that night. i marked myself “safe from the ellicott city floods” on facebook.

i was shocked, mostly because i had never witnessed a flood this close to home––literally––before. i had also never paid too much attention to ellicott city’s geographical aspects and why it is so prone to flooding.

the city is located in a valley, and during storms, water is funneled down and drained into streams at the bottom of the slope. the most recent two floods were too much for the city’s old drainage system to handle and differed from past floods because instead of slowly rising up, water rushed downwards, putting main street underwater at a faster rate.

i asked myself if the city could ever recover.

hopefully, with the help of the ellicott city watershed master plan, this will be possible in the near future.

the plan outlines both structural and nonstructural flood mitigation measures, mostly all large-scale.

these developments include removing/replacing trees to prevent debris buildup and relocating outdoor storage containers to remove potential obstructions, as well as the bigger construction plans of four dry flood mitigation facilities within the stream channel and a tunnel to divert water from parking lots directly to the patapsco river.

an interactive map of howard county allows the public to view the details and status of each project in the area.

screenshot of howard county flood mitigation map
(screenshot from howard county flood mitigation interactive map)
many flood mitigation projects are underway throughout the county.

howard county is also creating “high ground access points,” an updated emergency public alert system, and detailed relocation/migration plans to aid the community when another flood strikes, the plan adds.

i didn’t see these floods firsthand, and i can’t imagine what it was like for someone who did.

human-driven global warming worsens the environmental factors that contribute to flooding, leading to heavier precipitation, more frequent hurricanes, and stronger storms, according to the nrdc.

knowing that something this devastating could happen as close as it did to my home urges me more than ever to do my part.

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sun and water, a winning combination //www.getitdoneaz.com/story/sun-and-water-a-winning-combination/ wed, 19 oct 2011 13:21:40 +0000 http://dpetrov.2create.studio/planet/wordpress/sun-and-water-a-winning-combination/ the university of maryland’s watershed home took first place at the solar decathlon 2011. see what innovations took them straight to the top!

video produced by: sara snyder and bridgett lynn

to join the conversation: #thinkfwd
talk about your solar ideas with us: @ssnyd and @bridgettplynn


want to keep track of team thinkfwd?

team thinkfwd is a group of fifteen students from frank sesno’s class at the george washington university. see all of their videos here: visit the member page

 

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plasma-based hydrogen generation from sea water //www.getitdoneaz.com/story/plasma-based-hydrogen-generation-from-sea-water/ sat, 16 jul 2011 10:30:39 +0000 http://dpetrov.2create.studio/planet/wordpress/plasma-based-hydrogen-generation-from-sea-water/ advanced plasma industries (api) is an innovative technology research & development company based in maryland, u.s.a. our expertise centers on plasma research and extends to numerous additional areas.

api envisions numerous areas of opportunity leveraging our expertise. we propose a new paradigm for research that holds promise to fundamentally energize collaboration and economic development for api and the other locales where we anticipate operations. it is based on a foundation of plasma r&d and is centered on hydrogen, clean coal, lithium, and rare earth element production.

this technology can use solar/wind energy to power the hydrogen production for combustion engines, fuel cells and electric power plants. it is the first technology that is 100% efficient and creates no pollution whatsoever.

plasma-based hydrogen generation is a proprietary plasma-based system to be developed which will generate hydrogen from sea water using less energy than electrolysis with no catalyst, exotic metals and not create any harmful waste materials.

the process and science involved is still too new to have received a patent, though a patent application is in train, hence the details provided by the api are general in nature, so as not to jeopardize api’s intellectual property.

general information about the process is as follows:

• the process has been named “ecp-amf”
• the technology is scalable from micro to macro size, so could be sized to suit a pilot project.
• it will not require a large energy input to trigger the process.
• the source seawater/brine/fresh water will not need to be supplied to the process at an elevated temperature nor in a vapor state unlike present technologies.
• the process will operate at temperatures around 6k°c but will be designed to handle much higher temperatures.
• with appropriate hydrogen storage and trained operators the system could be operated safely in a built-up area.
• initial calculations indicate that ≈10kwhr of energy input to the system would be required to manufacture 1kg of hydrogen. [note that the theoretical minimum demand for electrolysis is ≈38kwhrs/kg h2 but the actual demand from commercial electrolysers is ≈54kwh to 80kwh, depending on their size and efficiency] • if the system were manufacturing ≈5kg hydrogen per hour, the instantaneous power demand might be ≈40kw.
• unique plasma physics path never not taken by any company or university in the world.
• the technology will also produce hydrogen and oxygen cheaply, quickly, and in high volumes from sea water, fresh water or brine.
• the energy content of hydrogen is nearly three times that of gasoline.
• energy content of 1 kg hydrogen 141.9 mj (hhv) = 39.4 kwh 20kwh electrical input to produce 100 kwh hydrogen output an hour 2.67 kg hydrogen produced an hour 23, 402 kg’s a year = 922 mwh’s a year.
• this portable technology can use solar / wind energy to power the hydrogen production for combustion engines, fuel cells and electric power plants.
• it is the first technology that is 100% efficient and creates no pollution or toxic waste whatsoever. hundreds to thousands of gallons of fresh drinkable clean water every hour.
• we already have interest from new zealand, taiwan, japan, puerto rico, europe and others.
• 2 universities have signed on to do collaboration research with api inc.
http://colossalstorage.net/api

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recycling electronic waste right in your neighborhood //www.getitdoneaz.com/story/recycling-electronic-waste-right-in-your-neighborhood/ tue, 04 jan 2011 13:58:38 +0000 http://dpetrov.2create.studio/planet/wordpress/recycling-electronic-waste-right-in-your-neighborhood/ bethesda green teamed up with montgomery county to collect e-waste for recycling.

on a cold, dreary sunday afternoon, 641 vehicles drove through the whitman high school parking lot to drop off tons of e-waste for recycling. a big shout out to the whitman green team for helping move traffic and unloading cars.

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replicate rockville ice arena’s record-setting solar roof //www.getitdoneaz.com/story/replicate-rockville-ice-arenas-record-setting-solar-roof/ wed, 15 dec 2010 17:04:19 +0000 http://dpetrov.2create.studio/planet/wordpress/replicate-rockville-ice-arenas-record-setting-solar-roof/ hot as ice- the rockville ice arena has the largest solar paneled roof in maryland . check it out!

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we are way behind //www.getitdoneaz.com/story/we-are-way-behind/ mon, 22 feb 2010 20:16:06 +0000 http://dpetrov.2create.studio/planet/wordpress/we-are-way-behind/ a view from maryland governor martin o’malley on why we need to explore more options in nuclear technology.

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