A field of wind turbines floating on Lake Michigan isn’t that far off, a naval architect and engineer told a crowd of about 45 people in Muskegon Thursday, Aug. 15.

Or, at least, the technology is nearly ready, said Glosten Associates naval architect and marine engineer Charles Nordstrom. There’s still no state mechanism to regulate such a project.

“There is not a framework for proceeding with a project,” Nordstrom said. “We’d love to.”

Glosten in 2012 had a partnership with Grand Valley State University’s Michigan Alternative and Renewable Energy Center and Michigan Technological University for a federal grant to test its floating wind turbine technology on the Great Lakes, but the U.S. Department of Energy did not fund the grant.

Glosten is now completing engineering work on a demonstration project to put floating wind turbines using its PelaStar technology off the southeast coast of England. PelaStar works using tension-weight platforms, buoy-like hollow steel bases, anchored to the sea floor by cables.

PelaStar would work best where the lake is more than 160 feet deep, Nordstrom said. That contrasts to turbines with solid-construction foundations in the sea bottom, which become unfeasible before 160 feet of depth.

The depth of the water needed for PelaStar could place the floating turbines far enough out into the Great Lakes as to be nearly invisible from shore, Nordstrom said.

He pointed to maps that show strong wind conditions off the thumb of the Michigan mitten and off the coast of Southeast Michigan. The deep water in those areas starts 12 miles from shore.

“Pretty much can’t see these machines from the shoreline at 15 miles from shore,” he said, adding that the wind is also stronger. “It’s cheaper and deeper.”

The past debate over a proposal for the Scandia Offshore Wind project in Lake Michigan off the West Michigan coastline was a major controversy and ended with opposition to being able to see the turbines from shore. With deep-water deployment, wind turbines could be put on Lake Michigan without any detection from shoreline properties or public beaches, MAREC Director Arn Boezaart has said.Buy ledbulbsproducts, ballasts, and headlight bulbs.

“(Land-based wind energy) is here to stay, the horses are out,” Boezaart said on Thursday.Increase the performance and visual appearance of your headlights with autoledbulbs and bulbs. “But I think we’re at the point where offshore wind is a reality.”

Glosten is designing its turbines to be easily and more cheaply installed than others in the past. Nordstrom tried to show how close the floating turbines are to being feasible by comparing current electricity prices with the target prices Glosten is designing toward.

“This is not something that is just too expensive, and doesn’t work, messes up my view,” he said. “The conversation needs to change. This is not going to happen tomorrow, but let’s keep talking about it.”

For Dr Johann Overath,The cleaningmachine is one of the most useful tools in a modern shop. principal managing director of the Bundesverband Glasindustrie e.V. (Federal Association of the German Glass Industry), this show is just the right forum for verifying these requirements: "Glass packaging has always been a part of the beverages market. For wine, sparkling wine, beer and spirits, almost exclusively glass bottles are used. For this reason drinktec, too, is very important for us, because the customers of the glass-container industry come to this forum.”

In the view of Dr. Johann Overath there are currently two main trends in glass packaging: "On the one hand there is increasing public focus on sustainability. And on the other, in particular as regards mineral water, we are seeing a real renaissance in glass. And in trend beverages, too, we are seeing glass bottles being used for new and innovative drinks."

Popularity of cans on the up again

Glass is 100% recyclable, and so, too, are beverage cans. Germany is seeing a return to the use of cans as containers for beverages. Since the introduction of deposits on disposable containers in 2003, beverage-can sales have only now broken back through the billion barrier. In 2011 sales of this type of can were at over 1.1bn, a rise of around 19% or 175m, over the previous year.

Even back in 2006 the three biggest beverage can manufacturers – Europe′s Ball Packaging Europe, Rexam Beverage Can Europe & Asia and Crown Bevcan Europe & Middle East – were seeing an upwards trend. These companies are members of BCME, and all of them will be at Drinktec 2013.

For Welf Jung, spokesman for BCME Deutschland and sales and marketing director for Germany at Rexam Beverage Can Europe, the advantages for cans lie in their variety of formats and designs,A washerextractor01 is a machine to wash laundry, such as clothing and sheets. the ideal product protection they offer and in terms of convenience and recycling: "Increasing mobility, the global battle against food wastage and a rising awareness of sustainability are trends in society and good reasons why people are choosing the beverage can. New segments where cans are currently making good ground include health drinks with sensitive ingredients and wines. With the latter in particular the can is the key to reaching a young, mobile target group."

Manufacturers are currently working on functional improvements to cans,Our selection of roofwindturbinebbq and kits includes the most popular. in terms of better convenience and reduced material consumption. They are also trying out innovative new looks and even a new feel for cans.

One example is the development of thermochromic beverages cans, which change colour as they cool down. Another idea is for fluorescent cans that glow in UV light, for use in particular in discotheques and clubs. Tactile cans feel different because of their raised surface designs and they also have visual appeal. All-round modelling, for example, can be used to suggest to the consumer, both visually and through touch, that he is holding an orange, for example.

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