Friday, February 29, 2008
SimLabs Has Done Runway Layout Simulations For Ivanpah Valley Airport
By Robert L. Candiotti
The Simulations Laboratories, or "SimLabs," at NASA Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California, has
already concluded real-time simulations to assess two layout alternatives for Ivanpah Valley Airport, the proposed "supplemental"
airport that will alleviate projected congestion at Las Vegas' McCarran International Airport.
Of the two plans,
SimLabs has concluded, for the long-term efficiency of Ivanpah Valley Airport, the Widely-Spaced Runway Plan - as opposed
to the Closely-Spaced Runway Plan - could better handle jet aircraft arrival and departure demands.
For more details,
see the Ivanpah Airport Inevitability page at the mother-site of this blog,
IvanpahValley.com.
4:12 pm pst
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Costa Rica's NatureAir Promotes Itself As A Carbon Neutral Airline
By Robert L. Candiotti
A small, regional airline based in San Jose, Costa Rica - named NatureAir
- markets itself as a "carbon neutral air carrier."
According to a Reuters article by Alister Doyle,
published May 16, 2007, NatureAir calls itself "the world's first
and only zero emissions airline."
The airline - with about 80 flights per day in Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Panama
- negates its carbon emissions through protection and reforestation of tropical forests in southern Costa Rica.
NatureAir pays farmers in southern Costa Rica about $60,000 annually to grow and protect
forests to soak up an equivalent of the carbon dioxide emitted by its fleet's burning of 480,000 gallons of fuel per year.
States a news release by PRWeb dated February 19, 2008, the global ecotourism industry recognizes the small Costa
Rican company as a model of sustainability, and that "National Geographic Adventure named NatureAir
as one of the top 35 greatest environmental ideas that have changed the world."
The efforts by NatureAir
are interesting and impressive, but one wonders if the general commercial aviation industry will be able to make much headway
following NatureAir's philosophy and business practices. It appears to be
undisputed that the world's airplanes are, in fact, significant contributors to global carbon emissions. Can large
airline companies with heavy, long-haul aircraft do anything similar to what NatureAir
has undertaken? To this writer, that is an interesting question.
Says Alister Doyle in the Reuters
story, "U.N. scientists say aviation, a fast-growing sector, emits about two per cent of world greenhouse gases blamed
for global warming that could bring more droughts, floods and rising seas."
4:22 pm pst
Friday, February 15, 2008
Six Months Have Passed Since The 2007 Inaugural Energy Symposium At UNLV
By Robert L. Candiotti
It has
been six months six I attended the 2007 Inaugural Energy Symposium at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. It was held at UNLV,
August 15-16, 2007.
This website, IvanpahValley.com, was launched on July 7, 2007, with an interest in the flat
desert between two tiny towns in Southern, Nevada - Jean and Primm - possibly becoming the location of a totally
new international airport.
The symposium clearly has guided the direction of IvanpahValley.com.
The
latest evidence is the new page on IvanpahValley.com - titled GREEN AIRPORT
- which was posted on February 12.
This morning, as on most mornings, I think my concern is justified
that Ivanpah Valley Airport could be a white elephant if it is not thoroughly designed with renewable/sustainable energy systems.
8:32 am pst
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Imagining Riding Las Vegas Monorail All The Way To McCarran International Airport
By Robert L. Candiotti
How many people who actually live in Las Vegas take the monorail?
Unfortunately, probably very few.
Yet, I am one of the few. I regularly take the Las Vegas Monorail. I often board at the station at Sahara and Paradise,
and get off at the MGM Grand. Next, from MGM, I catch a private bus to work in Primm, about a 40 minute ride south to the
Nevada/California border.
My favorite thing about the Las Vegas Monorail is that it is fast. It's also fun.
And interesting. For example, recently I happened to take the monorail when the CES (Consumer Electronics Show) was in
town. Riding the monorail nonstop were lots of people in costume giving away chotchkes. There was a festive mood on board. People
were loose and smiling. Even I was smiling. Suddenly, I was at my destination. The ride was just a few minutes. And
let me say, it is undeniably cool when you step off the monorail at MGM, and you're practically inside
the casino.
I do think about what it will be like if the monorail ever gets extended all the way to McCarran.
I think it will be great. Ideally, this is how I imagine going to the airport... From where
I live in The Lakes area of Las Vegas, ride the public CAT bus on Desert Inn Road (Route 213) to Sahara
Avenue , and Sahara (Route 204) east to Paradise Road. Then, board the Las Vegas Monorail to
get to McCarran International Airport.
$7.50 each way. Total. And the automobile
is left at home. No parking hassles, and no parking fees! I will certainly be a dedicated patron if the Las Vegas Monorail
reaches McCarran.
I also
ruminate over what an important part of the ground transportation system the Las Vegas Monorail to McCarran will
be when the supplemental Ivanpah Valley Airport - now undergoing the Environmental Impact Statement process - opens in
2017.
10:22 am pst
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Modern Trains Need To Be Part Of Ivanpah Valley Airport's Transportation Offerings
By Robert L. Candiotti
The Las Vegas Review-Journal, on January 24, 2006, ran a story by Benjamin Spillman about new roads
between Las Vegas and Ivanpah Valley Airport being planned by Clark County Department of Aviation (CCDOA).
Spillman
writes the CCDOA plans to spend $200 million on new roads that will serve commercial and leisure vehicles to and from Ivanpah
Valley Airport, as well as the small communities adjacent to the new airport to be located 30 miles
south of Las Vegas.
Also, separate from CCDOA's road plans, growth requirements will ensure that the I-15
is widened dramatically with additional lanes.
No doubt, new and enhanced roads will be necessary, but it is the
view of IvanpahValley.com that train systems must also be part of tommorow's transportation modes between
Primm, Ivanpah, Jean, McCarran, the Strip, Downtown and the broader city of Las Vegas.
Motorized vehicles alone
are not going to be adequate for the sharply increased movements of people and goods when Ivanpah Valley Airport does open
in 2017. After that, the supplemental airport will need to remain operational for decades into the future.
It seems if Ivanpah relies predominantly on autos, buses and trucks to go in and come out, the new airport
will probably be uninspiring and antiquated before it even opens.
Trains
are needed: It makes sense that the Las Vegas Monorail
gets extended to McCarran International Airport, and then a system like the humanistic MagneMotion Maglev
System - traveling on tracks around 100 mph - moves between McCarran and Ivanpah Valley Airport, going
possibly as far as Primm. Plus, by 2017, a full-size maglev train should be running
from Southern California to Primm, at the border of California and Nevada, or possibly as far as Ivanpah Valley Airport
further north.
The point
is, CCDOA is correct to start planning for the expansion and improvement of roads to Ivanpah, but, without train systems,
surface transportation will almost certainly be inadequate when the airport opens for business in 2017.
3:12 pm pst
