S. B. Baruch’s research while affiliated with Rio Branco Institute and other places

Toxic substances concerns have been viewed through the rearview mirror of past practices using individual pollution disciplines. Environmental control is experiencing a fundamental change. For electric utilities, an example is the merging of air, water, and solid waste monitoring requirements under a ''toxic-sensing'' umbrella. The emergence of new devices, which can reliably measure in the parts per billion range, have created increased regulatory interest in surveillance of fossil fuel and nuclear power plants. From an historical viewpoint, this paper traces the development of toxic substance awareness to the implementation of toxic substances control. This is followed by a present-future environmental control trends analysis.

An analysis was made of unique technical issues to be considered in siting solar-thermal energy systems in small communities. Four systems are described: central receiver, parabolic trough, parabolic dish, hemispherical bowl. The difference between central receiver systems and distributed receiver systems are indicated with reference to current applications. Finally, a technical siting comparison is made of the four systems defined, including overall efficiency, end use, land requirements, failure rates, safety considerations, energy backup systems and capital costs.