World’s largest floating wind farm will be installed in Scotland with oil money

Offshore wind has come a long way in recent years, in large part because of how heavily the UK has invested in the technology. But most of this development has been with conventional wind technology, which requires that the turbines be mounted to the seafloor or lakebed in relatively 

shallow water.

The world’s largest floating offshore wind development will be installed off the coast of Peterhead after the application has been granted a marine licence by the Scottish Government. It is expected that the Hywind Scotland development could power up to 19,900 houses.

Norwegian Statoil propose developing a pilot park of five floating 6 MW turbines which is to be located approximately 25km off the coast of Peterhead with a generating capacity of 135GWh of electricity each year.

Unlike conventional turbines, Hywind turbines will be attached to the seabed by a three-point mooring spread and anchoring system. The turbines will be connected by an inter-array of cables and an export cable will transport electricity from the pilot park to shore at Peterhead.

“The ability to leverage existing infrastructure and supply chain capabilities from the offshore oil and gas industry create the ideal conditions to position Scotland as a world leader in floating wind technology.”

“Successfully developing floating turbines could enable Scotland to secure even more clean energy from offshore wind in the future. With the right political support for offshore wind and other renewable technologies, Scotland is well placed to become the EU’s first renewable electricity nation by 2030.Floating turbines have many attractive benefits, according to Renewable Energy World.

Another benefit is that floating platforms can generally be commissioned and assembled at the quayside, without the need for heavy-lift jackup or dynamic positioning (DP) vessels, further reducing the cost and risk of deployment activities.

“Eliminating offshore lifting operations also provides for decreased weather window restrictions on installation.” 

The fact that foundations are not necessary with floating technology also means that piling activities and sea life disturbance can be minimized—greatly reducing negative environmental impacts. Moreover, reduced geotechnical requirements mean that core sampling is only needed to test the seabed ahead of appropriate anchor selection, as opposed to the necessity of core sampling at every pile site.

According to research from the Carbon Trust, floating wind turbines could reduce the price of offshore wind to less than $150 megawatt-hours (MWh), and larger projects such as Hywind may drop the price even lower to $130-145 MWh. The current average price is $172 MWh.

“Floating wind represents a new, significant and increasingly competitive renewable energy source,” A key advantage of using floating wind platforms is that they allow developers access to previously inaccessible waters where there is stronger yet less turbulent winds—helping to reduce the overall cost of wind energy.


http://ecowatch.com/2015/11/03/floating-wind-farm-scotland
http://www.offgridquest.com/energy/wind-power
https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk

Upcoming celestial events

Missed the supermoon lunar eclipse? Here are some of the next best astronomical events visible from the UK with the naked eye:
October 21: Orionid meteor shower Some shooting stars associated with the shower are expected to be visible each night from October 16-30. At its peak the maximum rate of visible meteors could reach 25 per hour

November 18: Leonid meteor shower Some shooting stars are expected to be visible from November 15-20. Maximum rate of visible meteors from a dark location could reach 20 per hour
December 14: Geminid meteor shower Widely considered to be the best meteor shower of all, it will reach peak activity on this night. Maximum rate of meteors expected to be visible is around 100 per hour

January 3, 2016: Quadrantid meteor shower In 2016 the shower peaks on the night of the 3 January and morning of the 4 January. Maximum rate of visible meteors is expected to be around 80 per hour
May 9, 2016: Mercury in transit Mercury will move directly between the Earth and the Sun - an event which only occurs once every few years. Best viewed from North America, the eastern Pacific, New Zealand or south-eastern Australia, and parts of Europe, Asia and Africa.

Solar and Lunar Eclipses Worldwide – Next 10 years

Dates                       Object  Type Where is the eclipse visible

2015
27 Sep / 28 Sep 2015 Lunar  Total
Europe, South/West Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Pacific, Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Arctic, Antarctica


2016
8 Mar / 9 Mar 2016       Solar            Total
South/East Asia, North/West Australia, Pacific, Indian Ocean
23 Mar 2016 Lunar Penumbral
Much of Asia, Australia, North America, Much of South America, Pacific, Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Arctic, Antarctica
1 Sep 2016 Solar Annular
South in Asia, West in Australia, Much of Africa, Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Antarctica
16 Sep / 17 Sep 2016 Lunar Penumbral
Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa, West in South America, Pacific, Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Arctic, Antarctica



2017
10 Feb / 11 Feb 2017 Lunar Penumbral
Europe, Much of Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Pacific, Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Arctic, Antarctica
26 Feb 2017 Solar Annular
South/West Africa, Much of South America, Pacific, Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Antarctica
7 Aug / 8 Aug 2017 Lunar Partial
Much of Europe, Much of Asia, Australia, Africa, West in South America, Pacific, Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Antarctica
21 Aug 2017 Solar Total
West in Europe, North/East Asia, North/West Africa, North America, North/West South America, Pacific, Atlantic, Arctic

2018
31 Jan 2018 Lunar Total
North/East Europe, Asia, Australia, North/East Africa, North America, North/East South America, Pacific, Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Arctic, Antarctica
15 Feb 2018 Solar Partial
South in South America, Pacific, Atlantic, Antarctica
13 Jul 2018 Solar Partial
South in Australia, Pacific, Indian Ocean
27 Jul / 28 Jul 2018 Lunar Total
Much of Europe, Much of Asia, Australia, Africa, South in North America, South America, Pacific, Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Antarctica
11 Aug 2018 Solar Partial
North/East Europe, North/West Asia, North in North America, Atlantic, Arctic

2019
5 Jan / 6 Jan 2019 Solar Partial
East in Asia, Pacific
20 Jan / 21 Jan 2019 Lunar Total
Europe, Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Pacific, Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Arctic
2 Jul 2019 Solar Total
South in North America, Much of South America, Pacific
16 Jul / 17 Jul 2019 Lunar Partial
Much of Europe, Much of Asia, Australia, Africa, South/East North America, South America, Pacific, Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Antarctica
26 Dec 2019 Solar Annular
East in Europe, Much of Asia, North/West Australia, East in Africa, Pacific, Indian Ocean

2020
10 Jan / 11 Jan 2020 Lunar Penumbral
Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa, Much of North America, West in South America, Pacific, Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Arctic
5 Jun / 6 Jun 2020 Lunar Penumbral
Much of Europe, Much of Asia, Australia, Africa, South/West South America, Pacific, Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Antarctica
21 Jun 2020 Solar Annular
South/East Europe, Much of Asia, North in Australia, Much of Africa, Pacific, Indian Ocean
4 Jul / 5 Jul 2020 Lunar Penumbral
South/West Europe, Much of Africa, Much of North America, South America, Pacific, Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Antarctica
29 Nov / 30 Nov 2020 Lunar Penumbral
Much of Europe, Much of Asia, Australia, North America, South America, Pacific, Atlantic, Arctic
14 Dec 2020 Solar Total
South in Africa, Much of South America, Pacific, Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Antarctica

2021
26 May 2021 Lunar Total
South/East Asia, Australia, Much of North America, South America, Pacific, Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Antarctica
10 Jun 2021 Solar Annular
Much of Europe, Much of Asia, North/West Africa, Much of North America, Atlantic, Arctic
18 Nov / 19 Nov 2021 Lunar Partial
Much of Europe, Much of Asia, Australia, North/West Africa, North America, South America, Pacific, Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Arctic
4 Dec 2021 Solar Total
South in Australia, South in Africa, South in South America, Pacific, Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Antarctica

2022
30 Apr 2022 Solar Partial
South/East South America, Pacific, Atlantic, Antarctica
15 May / 16 May 2022 Lunar Total
South/West Europe, South/West Asia, Africa, Much of North America, South America, Pacific, Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Antarctica
25 Oct 2022 Solar Partial
Europe, South/West Asia, North/East Africa, Atlantic
8 Nov 2022 Lunar Total
North/East Europe, Asia, Australia, North America, Much of South America, Pacific, Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Arctic, Antarctica

2023
20 Apr 2023 Solar Total
South/East Asia, Australia, Pacific, Indian Ocean, Antarctica
5 May / 6 May 2023 Lunar Penumbral
South/East Europe, Much of Asia, Australia, Africa, Pacific, Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Antarctica
14 Oct 2023 Solar Annular
West in Africa, North America, South America, Pacific, Atlantic, Arctic
28 Oct / 29 Oct 2023 Lunar Partial
Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa, North America, North/West South America, Pacific, Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Arctic, Antarctica

2024
24 Mar / 25 Mar 2024 Lunar Penumbral
South/West Europe, East in Asia, Much of Australia, Much of Africa, North America, South America, Pacific, Atlantic, Arctic, Antarctica
8 Apr 2024 Solar Total
West in Europe, North America, North in South America, Pacific, Atlantic, Arctic
17 Sep / 18 Sep 2024 Lunar Partial
Europe, South/West Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Pacific, Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Arctic, Antarctica
2 Oct 2024 Solar Annular
Much of South America, Pacific, Atlantic, Antarctica

Biggest Moon Myths for the 'Supermoon' Total Lunar Eclipse

Some of these myths are simple misconceptions, such as the notion that the moon is perfectly round (it's not), or that it lacks gravity (all celestial bodies exert some gravitational force). Other myths are more conspiracy-oriented, such as the idea that the Apollo moon landings were faked.

Myth 1: The supermoon eclipse heralds the end of the world

"Throughout human history, people have always thought that things in the sky that they didn't understand were either signs of apocalypse or good luck, or the gods were angry or pleased," Noble said. "Lunar tetrads are simply the result of orbital dynamics and geometry — no need to invoke the supernatural or the end of the world."

Myth 2: The moon grows larger during moonrise

Supermoons can appear 30 percent brighter and up to 14 percent larger than typical full moons. Learn what makes a big full moon a true 'supermoon' in this Space.com infographic.

Rather, the reason the moon looks larger near the horizon is due to an optical effect known as the Ponzo illusion.

"The human mind judges an object's size based on its background," Noble said. "We think of things on the horizon as being further away from us, so our brains fool us into thinking the moon must be bigger."

Myth 3: The moon has a 'dark side'

As the moon orbits Earth, it keeps one face perpetually turned toward the planet. This fact has prompted some to refer to the distant lunar hemisphere as the "dark side" of the moon, as popularized by a 1973 Pink Floyd album of the same name. However, this label is false, because during the new-moon phase, when the surface pointed toward Earth is all but unseen, the "dark" hemisphere is pointed toward the sun.

While lunar "back side" is acceptable, "far side" is the preferred term among scientists, said Sarah Noble, who served as program scientist for NASA's Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) mission, which ended in April 2014 when the orbiter intentionally crashed into the surface of the moon.

Several missions have orbited the moon and provided a great deal of information about the far side. Most recently, NASA'S Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) has obtained imagery and topography of the entire moon, including the far side.

Myth 4: The moon has no gravity

Freewheeling astronauts on the moon may give observers the idea that Earth's companion has no gravity, but that would be false. Everything with mass has gravity, and the strength of an object's gravitational field is determined by its mass.

The moon is much less massive than Earth; the Apollo astronauts who explored its surface experienced gravity just 17 percent as strong as that of their home planet.

Smaller objects, such as asteroids and Mars' tiny moons Phobos and Deimos, have much weaker gravity still.

Myth 5: 'The man in the moon' 

Many people claim to see "the man in the moon" on the lunar surface. On the near side, lava flowed from volcanoes that were active from one to four billion years ago into craters and basins created by impacts, forming dark regions called "mare."

"Because of a psychological phenomenon called pareidolia, humans tend to interpret patters as familiar things, particularly faces, so we see the man in the moon," 

Pointed out that other cultures see a rabbit rather than a human face, inspiring the name for the recent Chinese lander, Yutu, which means "Jade Rabbit." The rabbit was mentioned during the Apollo 11 landing in 1969, when the following conversation took place between mission control in Houston and Michael Collins, the astronaut who remained in the lunar orbiter:

Myth 6: Humans didn't actually land on the moon

Noble said the most common myth she is asked about is the idea that the Apollo missions never landed on the moon. Naysayers claim that the necessary technology did not exist to make such a trip possible in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Noble said she normally responds to these claims by pointing to her research looking at the rocks and soils returned by the Apollo astronauts, and how they differ from terrestrial rocks.

But modern lunar missions have helped to provide further evidence for the historic missions.

"Another great response is the images from LRO that actually show the footprints and flags we left behind," 

Ref:

https://www.google.com.sa

 http://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse

http://www.space.com

Full Blood Moon Message

The Final Blood Moon and Lunar Eclipse

    The normal perigee full moon, or supermoon (L), and appearing red during a total lunar eclipse (R)                    over Wiesbaden, Germany  Photo: EPA/Fredrik Von Erichsen

If you saw it you can tell your grandchildren in later years. If not, have a quick scan through our gallery or through the liveblog below, and then tell the grandchildren.

Post-totality, 4:38am BST, mid-Norfolk, UK -- just before the clouds rolled in...

The perigee full moon, or supermoon, appears red besides a spire of the Cologne cathedral  Photo: EPA

The partially eclipsed blood moon over Las Vegas  Photo: Reuters

The blood red moon over Glastonbury  Photo: Getty

Super Blood Moon in its partial phases over #Iowa.

'Super Blood Moon' sits over Kelpies

Observers in the British Isles have to wait until the morning of Monday, January 21 2019 for the next total lunar eclipse visible from these shores, but it will only be a "normal" one.
Eclipse facts
The supermoon, where Earth's satellite is near its minimum distance from our planet, means that the Moon will appear 7-8% larger in the sky.
The moon may look rust-coloured during a total lunar eclipse - giving rise to its nickname Blood Moon. This is because the Earth's atmosphere scatters blue light more strongly than red light, and it is this red light that reaches the lunar surface
During the eclipse, the Moon lies in front of the stars of the constellation Pisces

Rare supermoon lunar eclipse began at 1:10am (BST)
• Clear skies over much of the UK allowed fantastic views
• The celestial event had not occurred since 1982 - and will not be repeated until 2033.
Stargazers in Scotland have been treated to a good view of Sunday night's lunar eclipse and "supermoon".
A supermoon occurs when the Moon is in its closest part of orbit to Earth, making it appear larger in the sky.

In the beginning there was total love, unity and perfection. The universe was complete within itself, a unified field of Being. There was no awareness of itself, it merely was. It encompassed everything but was nothing. Then there was a sudden change: a spark of desire was ignited — the desire was to know itself. This desire propelled the forces of the universe to separate into two contrasting parts. These two parts are known as the masculine and feminine energies, the Masculine being of will and expansion and the feminine of nurturing and receptivity. And thus duality was born.

During this journey of expansion and exploration, the universal consciousness could only learn about itself through direct experience — by experiencing all aspects of what it can be. So, during the recent cycles we have been experiencing, we – the universe – have been learning about the different aspects of ourselves through separation. We have experienced the feminine without the masculine and the masculine without the feminine. During these times, we have embodied one of the other, and collectively learned to suppress the energy of the opposite. A perfect example of this is matriarchal versus patriarchal times. During the times of matriarchy, we lived in harmony with the earth and nature, we built our societies on the understanding of nurturing and receptivity, but we did not expand our collective selves or direct our will toward new directions. This left the masculine energy suppressed and wounded, and that suppressed energy rebelled. More recently, we have lived under patriarchal rule, where our will and direction has been prioritized, suppressing the divine feminine and her nurturing nature and wounding the feminine energy of the earth in the process.

We all carry within ourselves a deep wound and sense of lack rooted in that original separation; that formation of duality. This feeling is what propels us to explore in the search for completeness and perfection. However, that feeling that can only be fulfilled through the balance of the feminine and masculine energies within ourselves. We are now at the point in our evolution where we are finding the missing parts of ourselves. Many of us have been soul-searching and healing these wounded parts of ourselves, loving and forgiving all aspects of ourselves. Through our devotion to the wisdom of this inner unification, we have begun bringing balance and harmony into our lives. This is the reunion of the feminine and masculine, a process through which we will continue to expand in new directions (masculine) while nurturing (feminine) those around us and the Earth we are a part of.

With the Full Blood Moon and Lunar Eclipse in Aries (new directions), the final blood moon of the tetrad, we are being offered a new beginning. It is time to embody the unified masculine and feminine within ourselves, and to begin manifesting it into our world; through the philosophies we embody (Saturn in Sagittarius), the decisions we make (Mercury Retrograde in Libra), the structures we build in our lives (Pluto in Capricorn), and the influence we choose to have on the world around us.

Donald Urquhart captured images of the "supermoon" and eclipse over Dumfries

Donald Urquhart

NOTE--This phenomenon of the lunar eclipse and "supermoon" together was last observed in 1982 and will not come again until 2033.

Ref: http://raisingvibrationsastrology.com

        http://www.bbc.com/news