title: Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

text: Following a speech made by United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in December 2011 that America's foreign aid would be used to promote the protection of gay rights, the issue of LGBT rights became a significant political topic in Liberia. According to "The Guardian", "Since Clinton's remarks, Liberian newspapers have published numerous articles and editorials describing homosexuality as 'desecrating', 'abusive' and an 'abomination'." Liberian law made "voluntary sodomy" punishable by up to one year in prison, although it has not been used to prosecute anyone in several years.


title: Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

text: In February 2012, Bong County Senator Jewel Taylor proposed a bill that would carry a term of ten years in prison for homosexual activity, while a similar bill was introduced in the House of Representatives. On 19 March, Sirleaf addressed the issue, saying that she would not repeal the current law but would also not sign into law either of the two proposed bills. Sirleaf added, "We like ourselves just the way we are [...] We've got certain traditional values in our society that we would like to preserve." According to Tiawan Gongloe, Liberia's former Solicitor General, "If she tried to decriminalise the [current anti-gay] law it would be political suicide."


title: Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

text: In a letter to "The Guardian," Sirleaf's press secretary challenged the portrayal of her remarks in the media saying that: "There currently exists no law referencing homosexuality in Liberia, and as such the President could not be defending a law on homosexuality. The President is on record as saying [...] that any law brought before her regarding homosexuality will be vetoed. This statement also applies to an initial attempt by two members of the Liberian legislature to introduce tougher laws targeting homosexuality." The letter added "the status quo in Liberia has been one of tolerance and no one has ever been prosecuted under that [current] law," and went on to hint at future possible liberalization stating that "the President thinks that with the unprecedented freedom of speech and expression Liberia enjoys today, our budding democracy will be strong enough to accommodate new ideas and debate both their value and Liberia's laws with openness, respect and independence." "The Guardian" published a correction to its story: "'Nobel peace prize winner defends law criminalising homosexuality in Liberia' was updated to restore material cut in the editing process. The restored material clarifies the stance that President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is taking on laws concerning homosexuality in Liberia. That is: she refuses to dismantle the existing anti-sodomy law, while also saying she will refuse to sign two new bills that would toughen laws on homosexuality." The comments, letter, and clarification suggest that she considered the "status quo" for gay rights in Liberia to be one of "de facto" tolerance until the recent controversy, and did not support decriminalization of homosexuality, but also refused to support further criminalisation of homosexual acts which was being attempted in Liberia. She reaffirmed this view during an interview with Tony Blair.


title: Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

text: Upon her election to office, Sirleaf made her first foreign trip as President to neighboring Ivory Coast, meeting with Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo in an attempt to repair relations between the two countries following Côte d'Ivoire's support of the Movement for Democracy in Liberia during the Second Liberian Civil War. During the 2010–2011 Ivorian crisis, Sirleaf, as chairperson of the Mano River Union, supported ECOWAS's recognition of Gbagbo's opponent, Alassane Ouattara, as the winner of the disputed presidential election, but rejected calls for a military solution to the crisis.


title: Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

text: Sirleaf also forged close relations with the United States, Liberia's traditional ally. Following the establishment of United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) by the United States military, Sirleaf offered to allow the US to headquarter the new command in Liberia, the only African leader to do so. The command was eventually headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany. On 15 March 2006, President Sirleaf addressed a joint meeting of the United States Congress, asking for American support to help her country "become a brilliant beacon, an example to Africa and the world of what love of liberty can achieve."


title: Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

text: Sirleaf has also strengthened relations with the People's Republic of China, reaffirming Liberia's commitment to the One-China policy. In return, China has contributed to Liberia's reconstruction, building several transmitters to extend the Liberia Broadcasting System nationwide and constructing a new campus for the University of Liberia.


title: Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

text: Sirleaf is a member of the Council of Women World Leaders, an international network of current and former women presidents and prime ministers whose mission is to mobilize the highest-level women leaders globally for collective action on issues of critical importance to women and equitable development.


title: Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

text: During the 2011 Libyan civil war, Sirleaf added her voice to the international community who asked the previous Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi to cease the use of violence and tactics of political repression. However, she criticized the international military intervention in Libya, declaring that "violence does not help the process whichever way it comes". Her government later severed diplomatic ties with Libya, stating that "The Government took the decision after a careful review of the situation in Libya and determined that the Government of Colonel Gaddafi has lost the legitimacy to govern Libya."


title: Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

text: On 27 February 2015, President Sirleaf was expected to make a visit to U.S. President Barack Obama at the White House in Washington, D.C., according to an official online statement from the Office of the White House Press Secretary. Among other issues, they planned to discuss the hope to expeditiously close the recent 2013–2015 Ebola virus epidemic, which heavily affected Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea, and other areas in West Africa (and beyond in other countries due to importation of cases for treatment and some new infections), down to an ideal of zero reported cases in Liberia and nearby areas in the near future, with continuing monitoring and reporting, care, support, and fiscal and professional assistance. They also planned to discuss how to sustain and rebuild the healthcare infrastructure and the country's other difficulties in the wake of the massive outbreak's morbidity and mortality toll and impact on the area, as well as review progress that had been made and efforts to continue it.


title: Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

text: Following her victory in the 2005 election, Sirleaf pledged to promote national reconciliation by bringing in opposition leaders into her administration. Opposition politicians who joined her initial administration included Minister of Transport Jeremiah Sulunteh, Minister of Education Joseph Korto, and Ambassador to the United Nations Nathaniel Barnes. Sirleaf also appointed several women to high-level posts in her administration, with female ministers initially leading the Ministries of Finance, Law, Commerce and Industry, Gender and Development, and Youth and Sports. Sirleaf said that while she had planned on appointing an all-female cabinet, she had been unable to find qualified female candidates for every position.


title: Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

text: Upon her inauguration, Sirleaf promised that she would impose a "zero tolerance" policy on corruption within the government. Despite this, critics have argued that corruption remains rampant within Sirleaf's administration; Information Minister Lawrence Bropleh was sacked in 2008 over allegations that he had stolen more than $200,000 in state funds, while Internal Affairs Minister Ambullai Johnson, Sirleaf's brother, was dismissed in 2010 after the disappearance of funds for county development. Sirleaf herself has acknowledged that corruption in government remains, noting that her zero tolerance policy was hampered by the need to pass major economic reforms through the Legislature, a goal that would have been impeded by significant anti-corruption legislation and prosecutions. However, Sirleaf has rejected claims that she has failed to fight corruption, pointing to the establishment of the Liberian Anti-Corruption Commission and the restructuring of the General Auditing Commission.


title: Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

text: Sirleaf dismissed her entire cabinet from office on 3 November 2010, promising to reassemble the cabinet in as short a time as possible. She argued that the move was taken to give her administration a "clean slate" in preparation for the final year of her term, though critics argued that the move was aimed to bolster her chances at reelection by confronting corruption in her administration. By early December 2010, Sirleaf had reconstituted her entire cabinet, replacing seven of her nineteen ministers.


title: Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

text: Upon the inauguration of Sirleaf, the entire Supreme Court bench, which had been selected as part of the transitional government in 2003, stepped down, leaving Sirleaf to fill all five seats on the Court. Sirleaf nominated Johnnie Lewis, a Yale Law School graduate and former Circuit Court judge, for the office of Chief Justice. Lewis and three of Sirleaf's Associate Justice nominees, J. Emmanuel Wureh, Francis Korkpor and Gladys Johnson, were confirmed by the Senate on 2 March 2006. Sirleaf's nomination of Kabineh Ja'neh, a former leader in the rebel LURD movement, as Associate Justice received criticism from the opposition Congress for Democratic Change due to concerns over Ja'neh's human rights record during the civil war, and Ja'neh was not confirmed until 9 May.


title: Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

text: Following the death of Justice Wureh in July 2006, Sirleaf nominated Christiana Tah, a deputy minister at the Justice Ministry, to fill his seat. However, the Senate later rejected Tah's nomination, leading Sirleaf to nominate her Minister of Youth and Sports, Jamesetta Howard Wolokollie, who was confirmed. Justice Johnson retired from the Court on 26 March 2011 after reaching the constitutionally mandated retirement age of seventy. Sirleaf nominated Phillip A. Z. Banks, her former Minister of Justice and Chairman of the Law Reform Commission, to replace Johnson in August 2011. Banks was confirmed by the Senate on 20 August 2011.


title: Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

text: "Forbes" magazine named Sirleaf as the 51st most powerful woman in the world in 2006. In 2010, "Newsweek" listed her as one of the ten best leaders in the world, while "Time" counted her among the top ten female leaders. That same year, "The Economist" called her "arguably the best president the country has ever had." In 2010, Sirleaf released her first book, "This Child Will Be Great: Memoir of a Remarkable Life by Africa's First Woman President".


title: Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

text: In 2018, Johnson Sirleaf founded the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Presidential Center for Women and Development, which aims "to be a catalyst for change across Africa, by helping unleash its most abundant untapped power – its women". In 2019, Director-General of the World Health Organization Tedros Adhanom appointed Johnson Sirleaf as the WHO Goodwill Ambassador for the health workforce. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, she stepped down from this post to serve as co-chair (alongside Helen Clark) of the WHO’s Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response (IPPR). Also in 2020, she was appointed to the Development Advisory Council of the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation.


title: Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

text: In 1956, Ellen Johnson married James Sirleaf. They had four sons together before their divorce. She grew up as a Presbyterian, but later joined her husband's Methodist faith. Through her sons she has ten grandchildren.


title: Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

text: While attending college in the United States, Sirleaf became a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority and she is an honorary member of the Links, Incorporated. She is the aunt to American actress/comic Retta (born Marietta Sirleaf), best known for her role as Donna Meagle on the NBC comedy "Parks and Recreation".


title: Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

text: Several of her children served in the Liberian government. Her son Robert Sirleaf served as head of the National Oil Company of Liberia, Charles Sirleaf holds a senior position at the Central Bank of Liberia, and stepson Fombah Sirleaf heads the Liberian National Security Agency, with responsibility for internal security. Other members of the Sirleaf family are serving in other positions in government.


title: Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

text: In December 2021, James Sirleaf, one of the sons of Ellen Sirleaf, died in his residence in Liberia under unknown circumstances.


title: Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

text: She was accused in 2014 of interfering with a criminal investigation involving her stepson Fombah Sirleaf and the security agency. Her Minister of Justice Christiana Tah resigned in October 2014, accusing President Sirleaf of interference with the criminal investigation into the illegal seizure of money from Korean businessmen by the NSA in a warrantless hotel raid in July 2014.


title: Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

text: In 2019, her son, Charles Sirleaf, was charged with economic sabotage through the unlawful printing of local currency to the value of $75 million USD. The investigation was carried out by investigative auditing firm Kroll.


title: Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

text: In November 2017, an investigation conducted by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalism cited Sirleaf among the list of politicians named in "Paradise Papers" allegations.


title: Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

text: In 2011, Sirleaf was jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize with Leymah Gbowee of Liberia and Tawakkol Karman of Yemen. The three women were recognized "for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women's rights to full participation in peace-building work."


title: Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

text: Sirleaf was conferred the Indira Gandhi Prize by Indian President Pranab Mukherjee on 12 September 2013. In 2016, she was listed as the 83rd-most powerful woman in the world by "Forbes" magazine.


title: Dolma

text: Dolma (Turkish for “stuffed”) is a family of stuffed dishes associated with Ottoman cuisine, and common in modern national cuisines of regions and countries that once were part of the Ottoman Empire. Some types of dolma are made with whole vegetables, fruit, offal or seafood, while others are made by wrapping grape, cabbage, or other leaves around the filling. Wrapped dolma are known as "sarma". They can be served warm or at room temperature.


title: Dolma

text: Stuffed vegetable dishes have been a part of Middle Eastern cuisine for centuries. Recipes for stuffed eggplant have been found in Medieval Arabic cookbooks and, in Ancient Greek cuisine, fig leaves stuffed with sweetened cheese were called . The word dolma, of Turkish origin, means "something stuffed" or "filled". (Turkish taxis are called "dolmuş" for similar reasons). In some of the former Ottoman countries, native names have been retained or have blended with Turkish language terms, for example, in the Arab states of the Persian Gulf and Damascus, stuffed leaves are called "mahshi yabraq" or "mahshi brag", a combination of the Turkish word for leaf ("yaprak") and the Arabic term for stuffed ("mahshi").


title: Dolma

text: Several dolma recipes were recorded in 19th-century Iran by Naser al-Din Shah Qajar's chef, including stuffed vine leaves, cabbage leaves, cucumbers, eggplants, apples, and quinces, with varied fillings prepared with ground meat, sauteed mint leaves, rice and saffron. Iraqi Jewish families have a version of dolma with sweet and sour flavors that were not found in other versions. Dolma are part of cuisine of the Sephardic Jews as well. Jews in the Ottoman Empire used locally grown grape leaves and adopted the Turkish name of the dish.


title: Dolma

text: During winter months cabbage was a staple food for peasants in Persia and the Ottoman Empire, and it spread to the Balkans as well. Jews in Eastern Europe prepared variations of stuffed cabbage rolls with kosher meat—this dish is called "golubtsy" in Russian, "holubtsi" in Ukrainian, "gołąbki" in Polish and "holishkes" in Yiddish. As meat was expensive, rice was sometimes mixed in with the meat. Jews in Europe would sometimes substitute barley, bread or kasha (barley porridge) for the rice. In the Persian Gulf, basmati rice is preferred, and the flavor of the stuffing may be enhanced using tomatoes, onions and cumin. Cabbage rolls entered Swedish cuisine (where they are known as "kåldolmar") after Charles XII, defeated by the Russians at the battle of Poltava, returned to Sweden in 1715 with his Turkish creditors and their cooks.


title: Dolma

text: Dolma dishes are found in Balkan, Southern Caucasian, Middle Eastern, North African, Mesopotamian, Persian, Israeli, Turkish, Maghrebi and Central Asian cuisine.


title: Dolma

text: There are many varieties of the "zeytinyağlı" (with olive oil) and "sağyağlı" (with clarified butter) "dolmas". The "zeytinyağlı" dolmas are usually stuffed with rice and served cold with a garlic-yogurt sauce, but variations with meat based fillings are served warm, often with tahini or avgolemono sauce.


title: Dolma

text: The origins of stuffed vine leaves are unknown. They can be made with meat or grain fillings, and served with garlic yogurt, "tarbiya" or sweet and sour sauces made with pomegranate syrup and sour cherries. They are known as "dolmeh" in Iran, "dolmades" in Greece, "tolma" in Armenia, "yarpaq dolması" in Azerbaijan and "yebra" in Syria. Egyptians call this main course mahshi (also spelled mashi or mashy). but traditionally, cabbage is used in the winter and vine leaves are used in the summer. Stuffed vine leaves without any meat, called "yalancı dolma" in Turkish, are served at room temperature.


title: Dolma

text: In Persian cuisine is a dish of cabbage rolls stuffed with beans and tart fruits. It is wrapped with cabbage leaves, and stuffed with red beans, garbanzo beans, lentils, cracked wheat, tomato paste, onion and many spices and flavorings. Cabbage rolls are called Pasuts tolma (պասուց տոլմա) (Lenten dolma) in Armenian where they are of seven different grains – chickpea, bean, lentil, cracked wheat, pea, rice and maize. Armenian cooks sometimes use rose hip syrup to flavor stuffed cabbage rolls. Cabbage rolls also known as "kalam dolmasi" in Azerbaijan


title: Dolma

text: "Mülebbes dolma" is a historic recipe from the Ottoman era. "Halep dolması"—named for Aleppo—is a dish of eggplants stuffed with a meat and rice filling that is flavored with spices and either sour plum flavoring syrup or lemon juice. "Şalgam dolma" are stuffed Russian turnips.


title: Dolma

text: "Enginar dolması" is stuffed whole artichoke hearts. They may be stuffed with seasoned rice or ground meat cooked in fresh tomato sauce with aleppo pepper. Celery root may be substituted for the artichoke.


title: Dolma

text: A regional specialty from Mardin is a mixed dolma platter. The sumac and Urfa pepper seasoned rice filling is first wrapped with onion layers, vine leaves, and cabbage. The remainder of the rice is used to fill eggplant, zucchini, and stuffing peppers. The wrapped onion dolma are added on the bottom of a deep cooking pot and the stuffed vegetables, cabbage rolls, and stuffed vine leaves are layered on top of the onion dolmas. The entire pot of dolmas are cooked in sumac flavored water.


title: Dolma

text: There are also seafood variants of dolma. Stuffed mussels or Midye dolma may be filled with rice, onion, black pepper and pimento spice


title: Dolma

text: The filling for "kalamar dolma" (stuffed calamari) is made from Halloumi cheese, onion, fresh bread crumbs, garlic and parsley. The whole tentacle is stuffed with the mixture and fried in a butter, olive oil and tomato sauce. For another variation a whole small squid may be stuffed with a bulgur and fresh herb mixture and baked in the oven.


title: Dolma

text: "Uskumru dolma" (stuffed mackerel) is a staple of Istanbul cuisine. The version that was traditionally prepared by Armenian cooks is particularly well-regarded. After the fish is prepared by carefully separating the skin from the meat, the meat is sauteed with onions, currants, dried apricots, almonds, hazelnuts, pine nuts, walnuts, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, ginger, fresh herbs and lemon juice. The entire mixture is stuffed into the whole, intact skin. The stuffed mackerel is then either baked or preferably grilled long enough to brown the skin.


title: Dolma

text: Sardines ("sardalya") may be stuffed with a filling of kashar cheese, tomato, onion, dill and parsley. In Turkey, stuffed sardines may be served as a mezze platter at traditional taverns called "meyhane".


title: Dolma

text: There are several varieties of dolma made with offal. "Dalak dolması", widely considered a delicacy of Armenian origin, is spleen stuffed with rice that has been seasoned with allspice, salt, pepper, mint, parsley and onion. It may be served an accompaniment with anise-flavored liquor like arak, rakı, ouzo or oghi.


title: Dolma

text: "Mumbar dolma" is intestine stuffed with a moist mixture of ground meat, rice, pepper, cumin and salt. The stuffed intestine is then boiled in water until it is cooked thoroughly, after which it may be sliced and fried in butter before serving.


title: Dolma

text: There are some fruit-based dolmas as well like "şekerli ayva dolması" (stuffed quinces with a rice and currant filling, flavored with coriander, cinnamon and sugar) and "pekmezli ayva dolması" (meat and bulgur stuffed quince flavored with a traditional Turkish syrup, similar to molasses, called "pekmez"). "Pekmez" is also an ingredient in the meat-based variants of "elma dolması" (stuffed apples) and "sarı erık dolması" (stuffed yellow plums). Iranian Azerbaijanis and Persian Jews may serve stuffed quince, called "dolma bay", as a Sabbath meal or during Sukkot.


title: Dolma

text: One filling for stuffed apples is made from a high-quality cubed lamb shoulder called "kuşbaşı", ground lamb, and rice. First black grapes are boiled together with sumac—the resulting sumac flavored grape juice is drained and reserved. The "kuşbaşı" lamb is cooked in this sumac flavored grape juice. The apples are stuffed with a mixture of ground lamb combined with rice, salt, pepper and layered in a pot on top of the cooked chunks of "kuşbaşı". The apples are cooked in the remaining sumac flavored grape juice. Dried apricots and blanched almonds are added to the pot near the end of the cooking process. A meatless variant of the filling is made from a sauteed mixture of diced apples, diced pears, walnuts, hazelnut, currants, cinnamon, cloves, and star anise. The hollowed out apples are stuffed with the mixture and baked in the oven. This version may be garnished with powdered sugar.


title: Dolma

text: Stuffed melons were part of the Ottoman palace cuisine. The recipe survives in modern Yemenite and Armenian cooking.


title: Dolma

text: Assyrians prepare meatless dolmas for Lent. When traditional ingredients are not available, the Armenian Christian community in West Bengal celebrates Christmas with "potoler dorma", a local variation from Anglo-Indian cuisine. Stuffed vegetables called "gemista" or "tsounidis" are also common in Greek cuisine.


title: Dolma

text: Muslim families often serve dolma as part of the "iftar" meal during Ramadan and during the Eid al-Fitr celebrations that mark the end of the holy month. Large pots of dolma are prepared during the Novruz festival.


title: Thermoelectric generator

text: A thermoelectric generator (TEG), also called a Seebeck generator, is a solid state device that converts heat flux (temperature differences) directly into electrical energy through a phenomenon called the "Seebeck effect" (a form of thermoelectric effect). Thermoelectric generators function like heat engines, but are less bulky and have no moving parts. However, TEGs are typically more expensive and less efficient.


title: Thermoelectric generator

text: Thermoelectric generators could be used in power plants to convert waste heat into additional electrical power and in automobiles as automotive thermoelectric generators (ATGs) to increase fuel efficiency. Radioisotope thermoelectric generators use radioisotopes to generate the required temperature difference to power space probes.


title: Thermoelectric generator

text: In 1821, Thomas Johann Seebeck discovered that a thermal gradient formed between two different conducting material (has electromagnetic property) can produce electricity. At the heart of the thermoelectric effect is the fact that a temperature gradient in a conducting material results in heat flow; this results in the diffusion of charge carriers. The flow of charge carriers between the hot and cold regions in turn creates a voltage difference. In 1834, Jean Charles Athanase Peltier discovered the reverse effect, that running an electric current through the junction of two dissimilar conductors could, depending on the direction of the current, cause it to act as a heater or cooler.


title: Thermoelectric generator

text: The typical efficiency of TEG's is around 5–8%. Older devices used bimetallic junctions and were bulky. More recent devices use highly doped semiconductors made from bismuth telluride (BiTe), lead telluride (PbTe), calcium manganese oxide (CaMnO), or combinations thereof, depending on application temperature. These are solid-state devices and unlike dynamos have no moving parts, with the occasional exception of a fan or pump to improve heat transfer. If the hot region is around 1273K and the ZT values of 3 - 4 are implemented, the efficiency is approximately 33-37%; allowing TEG's to compete with certain heat engine efficiencies.


title: Thermoelectric generator

text: As of 2021, there are materials (some containing widely available and inexpensive arsenic and tin) reaching a ZT value > 3; monolayer <chem>AsP3</chem> (ZT = 3.36 on the armchair axis); n-type doped <chem>InP3</chem> (ZT = 3.23); p-type doped <chem>SnP3</chem> (ZT = 3.46); p-type doped <chem>SbP3</chem> (ZT = 3.5).


title: Thermoelectric generator

text: Thermoelectric power generators consist of three major components: thermoelectric materials, thermoelectric modules and thermoelectric systems that interface with the heat source.


title: Thermoelectric generator

text: Thermoelectric materials generate power directly from the heat by converting temperature differences into electric voltage. These materials must have both high electrical conductivity (σ) and low thermal conductivity (κ) to be good thermoelectric materials. Having low thermal conductivity ensures that when one side is made hot, the other side stays cold, which helps to generate a large voltage while in a temperature gradient. The measure of the magnitude of electrons flow in response to a temperature difference across that material is given by the Seebeck coefficient (S). The efficiency of a given material to produce a thermoelectric power is simply estimated by its “figure of merit” zT = SσT/κ.


title: Thermoelectric generator

text: For many years, the main three semiconductors known to have both low thermal conductivity and high power factor were bismuth telluride (BiTe), lead telluride (PbTe), and silicon germanium (SiGe). Some of these materials have somewhat rare elements which make them expensive.


title: Thermoelectric generator

text: Today, the thermal conductivity of semiconductors can be lowered without affecting their high electrical properties using nanotechnology. This can be achieved by creating nanoscale features such as particles, wires or interfaces in bulk semiconductor materials. However, the manufacturing processes of nano-materials are still challenging.


title: Thermoelectric generator

text: Thermoelectric generators are all-solid-state devices that do not require any fluids for fuel or cooling, making them non-orientation dependent allowing for use in zero-gravity or deep-sea applications. The solid-state design allows for operation in severe environments. Thermoelectric generators have no moving parts which produce a more reliable device that does not require maintenance for long periods. The durability and environmental stability have made thermoelectrics a favorite for NASA's deep space explorers among other applications. One of the key advantages of thermoelectric generators outside of such specialized applications is that they can potentially be integrated into existing technologies to boost efficiency and reduce environmental impact by producing usable power from waste heat.


title: Thermoelectric generator

text: A thermoelectric module is a circuit containing thermoelectric materials which generate electricity from heat directly. A thermoelectric module consists of two dissimilar thermoelectric materials joined at their ends: an n-type (with negative charge carriers), and a p-type (with positive charge carriers) semiconductor. Direct electric current will flow in the circuit when there is a temperature difference between the ends of the materials. Generally, the current magnitude is directly proportional to the temperature difference:


title: Thermoelectric generator

text: where formula_2 is the local conductivity, S is the Seebeck coefficient (also known as thermopower), a property of the local material, and formula_3 is the temperature gradient.


title: Thermoelectric generator

text: In application, thermoelectric modules in power generation work in very tough mechanical and thermal conditions. Because they operate in a very high-temperature gradient, the modules are subject to large thermally induced stresses and strains for long periods. They also are subject to mechanical fatigue caused by a large number of thermal cycles.


title: Thermoelectric generator

text: Thus, the junctions and materials must be selected so that they survive these tough mechanical and thermal conditions. Also, the module must be designed such that the two thermoelectric materials are thermally in parallel, but electrically in series. The efficiency of a thermoelectric module is greatly affected by the geometry of its design.


title: Thermoelectric generator

text: Thermoelectric generators are made of several thermopiles, each consisting of many thermocouples made of a connected n-type and p-type material. The arrangement of the thermocouples is typically in three main designs: planar, vertical, and mixed. Planar design involves thermocouples put onto a substrate horizontally between the heat source and cool side, resulting in the ability to create longer and thinner thermocouples, thereby increasing the thermal resistance and temperature gradient and eventually increasing voltage output. Vertical design has thermocouples arranged vertically between the hot and cool plates, leading to high integration of thermocouples as well as a high output voltage, making this design the most widely-used design commercially. The mixed design has the thermocouples arranged laterally on the substrate while the heat flow is vertical between plates. Microcavities under the hot contacts of the device allow for a temperature gradient, which allows for the substrate’s thermal conductivity to affect the gradient and efficiency of the device.


title: Thermoelectric generator

text: For microelectromechanical systems, TEGs can be designed on the scale of handheld devices to use body heat in the form of thin films. Flexible TEGs for wearable electronics are able to be made with novel polymers through additive manufacturing or thermal spraying processes. Cylindrical TEGs for using heat from vehicle exhaust pipes can also be made using circular thermocouples arranged in a cylinder. Many designs for TEGs can be made for the different devices they are applied to.


title: Thermoelectric generator

text: Using thermoelectric modules, a thermoelectric system generates power by taking in heat from a source such as a hot exhaust flue. To operate, the system needs a large temperature gradient, which is not easy in real-world applications. The cold side must be cooled by air or water. Heat exchangers are used on both sides of the modules to supply this heating and cooling.


title: Thermoelectric generator

text: There are many challenges in designing a reliable TEG system that operates at high temperatures. Achieving high efficiency in the system requires extensive engineering design to balance between the heat flow through the modules and maximizing the temperature gradient across them. To do this, designing heat exchanger technologies in the system is one of the most important aspects of TEG engineering. In addition, the system requires to minimize the thermal losses due to the interfaces between materials at several places. Another challenging constraint is avoiding large pressure drops between the heating and cooling sources.


title: Thermoelectric generator

text: If AC power is required (such as for powering equipment designed to run from AC mains power), the DC power from the TE modules must be passed through an inverter, which lowers efficiency and adds to the cost and complexity of the system.


title: Thermoelectric generator

text: Only a few known materials to date are identified as thermoelectric materials. Most thermoelectric materials today have a zT, the figure of merit, value of around 1, such as in bismuth telluride (BiTe) at room temperature and lead telluride (PbTe) at 500–700 K. However, in order to be competitive with other power generation systems, TEG materials should have a zT of 2–3. Most research in thermoelectric materials has focused on increasing the Seebeck coefficient (S) and reducing the thermal conductivity, especially by manipulating the nanostructure of the thermoelectric materials. Because both the thermal and electrical conductivity correlate with the charge carriers, new means must be introduced in order to conciliate the contradiction between high electrical conductivity and low thermal conductivity, as is needed.


title: Thermoelectric generator

text: When selecting materials for thermoelectric generation, a number of other factors need to be considered. During operation, ideally, the thermoelectric generator has a large temperature gradient across it. Thermal expansion will then introduce stress in the device which may cause fracture of the thermoelectric legs or separation from the coupling material. The mechanical properties of the materials must be considered and the coefficient of thermal expansion of the n and p-type material must be matched reasonably well. In segmented thermoelectric generators, the material's compatibility must also be considered to avoid incompatibility of relative current, defined as the ratio of electrical current to diffusion heat current, between segment layers.


title: Thermoelectric generator

text: When the compatibility factor from one segment to the next differs by more than a factor of about two, the device will not operate efficiently. The material parameters determining s (as well as zT) are temperature-dependent, so the compatibility factor may change from the hot side to the cold side of the device, even in one segment. This behavior is referred to as self-compatibility and may become important in devices designed for wide-temperature application.


title: Thermoelectric generator

text: Many TEG materials are employed in commercial applications today. These materials can be divided into three groups based on the temperature range of operation:


title: Thermoelectric generator

text: Although these materials still remain the cornerstone for commercial and practical applications in thermoelectric power generation, significant advances have been made in synthesizing new materials and fabricating material structures with improved thermoelectric performance. Recent research has focused on improving the material’s figure-of-merit (zT), and hence the conversion efficiency, by reducing the lattice thermal conductivity.


title: Thermoelectric generator

text: Researchers are trying to develop new thermoelectric materials for power generation by improving the figure-of-merit zT. One example of these materials is the semiconductor compound ß-ZnSb, which possesses an exceptionally low thermal conductivity and exhibits a maximum zT of 1.3 at a temperature of 670K. This material is also relatively inexpensive and stable up to this temperature in a vacuum, and can be a good alternative in the temperature range between materials based on BiTe and PbTe. Among the most exciting developments in thermoelectric materials was the development of single crystal tin selenide which produced a record zT of 2.6 in one direction. Other new materials of interest include Skutterudites, Tetrahedrites, and rattling ions crystals.


title: Thermoelectric generator

text: Besides improving the figure-of-merit, there is increasing focus to develop new materials by increasing the electrical power output, decreasing cost and developing environmentally friendly materials. For example, when the fuel cost is low or almost free, such as in waste heat recovery, then the cost per watt is only determined by the power per unit area and the operating period. As a result, it has initiated a search for materials with high power output rather than conversion efficiency. For example, the rare earth compounds YbAl has a low figure-of-merit, but it has a power output of at least double that of any other material, and can operate over the temperature range of a waste heat source.


title: Thermoelectric generator

text: To increase the figure of merit (zT), a material’s thermal conductivity should be minimized while its electrical conductivity and Seebeck coefficient is maximized. In most cases, methods to increase or decrease one property result in the same effect on other properties due to their interdependence. A novel processing technique exploits the scattering of different phonon frequencies to selectively reduce lattice thermal conductivity without the typical negative effects on electrical conductivity from the simultaneous increased scattering of electrons. In a bismuth antimony tellurium ternary system, liquid-phase sintering is used to produce low-energy semicoherent grain boundaries, which do not have a significant scattering effect on electrons. The breakthrough is then applying a pressure to the liquid in the sintering process, which creates a transient flow of the Te rich liquid and facilitates the formation of dislocations that greatly reduce the lattice conductivity. The ability to selectively decrease the lattice conductivity results in reported zT value of 1.86, which is a significant improvement over the current commercial thermoelectric generators with zT ~ 0.3–0.6. These improvements highlight the fact that in addition to the development of novel materials for thermoelectric applications, using different processing techniques to design microstructure is a viable and worthwhile effort. In fact, it often makes sense to work to optimize both composition and microstructure.


title: Thermoelectric generator

text: Thermoelectric generators (TEG) have a variety of applications. Frequently, thermoelectric generators are used for low power remote applications or where bulkier but more efficient heat engines such as Stirling engines would not be possible. Unlike heat engines, the solid state electrical components typically used to perform thermal to electric energy conversion have no moving parts. The thermal to electric energy conversion can be performed using components that require no maintenance, have inherently high reliability, and can be used to construct generators with long service-free lifetimes. This makes thermoelectric generators well suited for equipment with low to modest power needs in remote uninhabited or inaccessible locations such as mountaintops, the vacuum of space, or the deep ocean.


title: Thermoelectric generator

text: Besides low efficiency and relatively high cost, practical problems exist in using thermoelectric devices in certain types of applications resulting from a relatively high electrical output resistance, which increases self-heating, and a relatively low thermal conductivity, which makes them unsuitable for applications where heat removal is critical, as with heat removal from an electrical device such as microprocessors.


title: Thermoelectric generator

text: While TEG technology has been used in military and aerospace applications for decades, new TE materials and systems are being developed to generate power using low or high temperatures waste heat, and that could provide a significant opportunity in the near future. These systems can also be scalable to any size and have lower operation and maintenance cost.


title: Thermoelectric generator

text: The global market for thermoelectric generators is estimated to be US$320 million in 2015 and US$472 million in 2021; up to US$ 1.44 billion by 2030 with a CAGR of 11.8%. Today, North America captures 66% of the market share and it will continue to be the biggest market in the near future. However, Asia-Pacific and European countries are projected to grow at relatively higher rates. A study found that the Asia-Pacific market would grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 18.3% in the period from 2015 to 2020 due to the high demand of thermoelectric generators by the automotive industries to increase overall fuel efficiency, as well as the growing industrialization in the region.


title: Thermoelectric generator

text: Small scale thermoelectric generators are also in the early stages of investigation in wearable technologies to reduce or replace charging and boost charge duration. Recent studies focused on the novel development of a flexible inorganic thermoelectric, silver selenide, on a nylon substrate. Thermoelectrics represent particular synergy with wearables by harvesting energy directly from the human body creating a self-powered device. One project used n-type silver selenide on a nylon membrane. Silver selenide is a narrow bandgap semiconductor with high electrical conductivity and low thermal conductivity, making it perfect for thermoelectric applications.


title: Thermoelectric generator

text: Low power TEG or "sub-watt" (i.e. generating up to 1 Watt peak) market is a growing part of the TEG market, capitalizing on the latest technologies. Main applications are sensors, low power applications and more globally Internet of things applications. A specialized market research company indicated that 100,000 units have been shipped in 2014 and expects 9 million units per year by 2020.


title: Groundwater

text: Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available freshwater in the world is groundwater. A unit of rock or an unconsolidated deposit is called an aquifer when it can yield a usable quantity of water. The depth at which soil pore spaces or fractures and voids in rock become completely saturated with water is called the water table. Groundwater is recharged from the surface; it may discharge from the surface naturally at springs and seeps, and can form oases or wetlands. Groundwater is also often withdrawn for agricultural, municipal, and industrial use by constructing and operating extraction wells. The study of the distribution and movement of groundwater is hydrogeology, also called groundwater hydrology.


title: Groundwater

text: Typically, groundwater is thought of as water flowing through shallow aquifers, but, in the technical sense, it can also contain soil moisture, permafrost (frozen soil), immobile water in very low permeability bedrock, and deep geothermal or oil formation water. Groundwater is hypothesized to provide lubrication that can possibly influence the movement of faults. It is likely that much of Earth's subsurface contains some water, which may be mixed with other fluids in some instances.


title: Groundwater

text: Groundwater is often cheaper, more convenient and less vulnerable to pollution than surface water. Therefore, it is commonly used for public water supplies. For example, groundwater provides the largest source of usable water storage in the United States, and California annually withdraws the largest amount of groundwater of all the states. Underground reservoirs contain far more water than the capacity of all surface reservoirs and lakes in the US, including the Great Lakes. Many municipal water supplies are derived solely from groundwater. Over 2 billion people rely on it as their primary water source worldwide.


title: Groundwater

text: Use of groundwater has related environmental issues. For example, polluted groundwater is less visible and more difficult to clean up than pollution in rivers and lakes. Groundwater pollution most often results from improper disposal of wastes on land. Major sources include industrial and household chemicals and garbage landfills, excessive fertilizers and pesticides used in agriculture, industrial waste lagoons, tailings and process wastewater from mines, industrial fracking, oil field brine pits, leaking underground oil storage tanks and pipelines, sewage sludge and septic systems. Additionally, groundwater is susceptible to saltwater intrusion in coastal areas and can cause land subsidence when extracted unsustainably, leading to sinking cities (like Bangkok)) and loss in elevation (such as the multiple meters lost in the Central Valley of California). These issues are made more complicated by sea level rise and other changes caused by climate changes which will affect the water cycle.


title: Groundwater

text: Groundwater is fresh water located in the subsurface pore space of soil and rocks. It is also water that is flowing within aquifers below the water table. Sometimes it is useful to make a distinction between groundwater that is closely associated with surface water and deep groundwater in an aquifer (sometimes called "fossil water").


title: Groundwater

text: Groundwater can be thought of in the same terms as surface water: inputs, outputs and storage. The natural input to groundwater is seepage from surface water. The natural outputs from groundwater are springs and seepage to the oceans. Due to its slow rate of turnover, groundwater storage is generally much larger (in volume) compared to inputs than it is for surface water. This difference makes it easy for humans to use groundwater unsustainable for a long time without severe consequences. Nevertheless, over the long term the average rate of seepage above a groundwater source is the upper bound for average consumption of water from that source.


title: Groundwater

text: Groundwater makes up about thirty percent of the world's fresh water supply, which is about 0.76% of the entire world's water, including oceans and permanent ice. About 99% of the world's liquid fresh water is groundwater. Global groundwater storage is roughly equal to the total amount of freshwater stored in the snow and ice pack, including the north and south poles. This makes it an important resource that can act as a natural storage that can buffer against shortages of surface water, as in during times of drought.


title: Groundwater

text: Groundwater is naturally replenished by surface water from precipitation, streams, and rivers when this recharge reaches the water table.


title: Groundwater

text: Groundwater can be a long-term 'reservoir' of the natural water cycle (with residence times from days to millennia), as opposed to short-term water reservoirs like the atmosphere and fresh surface water (which have residence times from minutes to years). Deep groundwater (which is quite distant from the surface recharge) can take a very long time to complete its natural cycle.


title: Groundwater

text: The Great Artesian Basin in central and eastern Australia is one of the largest confined aquifer systems in the world, extending for almost 2 million km. By analysing the trace elements in water sourced from deep underground, hydrogeologists have been able to determine that water extracted from these aquifers can be more than 1 million years old.


title: Groundwater

text: By comparing the age of groundwater obtained from different parts of the Great Artesian Basin, hydrogeologists have found it increases in age across the basin. Where water recharges the aquifers along the Eastern Divide, ages are young. As groundwater flows westward across the continent, it increases in age, with the oldest groundwater occurring in the western parts. This means that in order to have travelled almost 1000 km from the source of recharge in 1 million years, the groundwater flowing through the Great Artesian Basin travels at an average rate of about 1 metre per year.


title: Groundwater

text: The high specific heat capacity of water and the insulating effect of soil and rock can mitigate the effects of climate and maintain groundwater at a relatively steady temperature. In some places where groundwater temperatures are maintained by this effect at about 10 °C (50 °F), groundwater can be used for controlling the temperature inside structures at the surface. For example, during hot weather relatively cool groundwater can be pumped through radiators in a home and then returned to the ground in another well. During cold seasons, because it is relatively warm, the water can be used in the same way as a source of heat for heat pumps that is much more efficient than using air.


title: Groundwater

text: The volume of groundwater in an aquifer can be estimated by measuring water levels in local wells and by examining geologic records from well-drilling to determine the extent, depth and thickness of water-bearing sediments and rocks. Before an investment is made in production wells, test wells may be drilled to measure the depths at which water is encountered and collect samples of soils, rock and water for laboratory analyses. Pumping tests can be performed in test wells to determine flow characteristics of the aquifer.


title: Groundwater

text: The characteristics of aquifers vary with the geology and structure of the substrate and topography in which they occur. In general, the more productive aquifers occur in sedimentary geologic formations. By comparison, weathered and fractured crystalline rocks yield smaller quantities of groundwater in many environments. Unconsolidated to poorly cemented alluvial materials that have accumulated as valley-filling sediments in major river valleys and geologically subsiding structural basins are included among the most productive sources of groundwater.


title: Groundwater

text: Fluid flows can be altered in different lithological settings by brittle deformation of rocks in fault zones; the mechanisms by which this occurs are the subject of fault zone hydrogeology.


title: Groundwater

text: Groundwater is the most accessed source of freshwater around the world, including as drinking water, irrigation, and manufacturing. Groundwater accounts for about half of the world's drinking water, 40% of its irrigation water, and a third of water for industrial purposes.


title: Groundwater

text: Another estimate stated that globally groundwater accounts for about one third of all water withdrawals, and surface water for the other two thirds.


title: Groundwater

text: As of 2010, the top five countries by volume of groundwater extraction were India, China, the US, Pakistan, and Iran.


title: Groundwater

text: Aquifers that provide sustainable fresh groundwater to urban areas and for agricultural irrigation are typically close to the ground surface (within a couple of hundred metres) and have some recharge by fresh water. This recharge is typically from rivers or meteoric water (precipitation) that percolates into the aquifer through overlying unsaturated materials.


title: Groundwater

text: Municipal and industrial water supplies are provided through large wells. Multiple wells for one water supply source are termed "wellfields", which may withdraw water from confined or unconfined aquifers. Using groundwater from deep, confined aquifers provides more protection from surface water contamination. Some wells, termed "collector wells", are specifically designed to induce infiltration of surface (usually river) water.


title: Groundwater

text: In general, the irrigation of 20% of farming land (with various types of water sources) accounts for the production of 40% of food production. Irrigation techniques across the globe includes canals redirecting surface water, groundwater pumping, and diverting water from dams. Aquifers are critically important in agriculture. Deep aquifers in arid areas have long been water sources for irrigation. A majority of extracted groundwater, 70%, is used for agricultural purposes.


title: Groundwater

text: In India, 65% of the irrigation is from groundwater and about 90% of extracted groundwater is used for irrigation.


title: Groundwater

text: Occasionally, sedimentary or "fossil" aquifers are used to provide irrigation and drinking water to urban areas. In Libya, for example, Muammar Gaddafi's Great Manmade River project has pumped large amounts of groundwater from aquifers beneath the Sahara to populous areas near the coast. Though this has saved Libya money over the alternative, desalination, the aquifers are likely to run dry in 60 to 100 years. Aquifer depletion has been cited as one of the causes of the food price rises of 2011.


title: Groundwater

text: First, flood mitigation schemes, intended to protect infrastructure built on floodplains, have had the unintended consequence of reducing aquifer recharge associated with natural flooding. Second, prolonged depletion of groundwater in extensive aquifers can result in land subsidence, with associated infrastructure damageas well as, third, saline intrusion. Fourth, draining acid sulphate soils, often found in low-lying coastal plains, can result in acidification and pollution of formerly freshwater and estuarine streams.


title: Groundwater

text: Groundwater is a highly useful and often abundant resource. Most land areas on Earth have some form of aquifer underlying them, sometimes at significant depths. In some cases, these aquifers are rapidly being depleted by the human population. Such over-use, over-abstraction or overdraft can cause major problems to human users and to the environment. The most evident problem (as far as human groundwater use is concerned) is a lowering of the water table beyond the reach of existing wells. As a consequence, wells must be drilled deeper to reach the groundwater; in some places (e.g., California, Texas, and India) the water table has dropped hundreds of feet because of extensive well pumping. The GRACE satellites have collected data that demonstrates 21 of Earth's 37 major aquifers are undergoing depletion. In the Punjab region of India, for example, groundwater levels have dropped 10 meters since 1979, and the rate of depletion is accelerating. A lowered water table may, in turn, cause other problems such as groundwater-related subsidence and saltwater intrusion.


title: Groundwater

text: Another cause for concern is that groundwater drawdown from over-allocated aquifers has the potential to cause severe damage to both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystemsin some cases very conspicuously but in others quite imperceptibly because of the extended period over which the damage occurs. The importance of groundwater to ecosystems is often overlooked, even by freshwater biologists and ecologists. Groundwaters sustain rivers, wetlands, and lakes, as well as subterranean ecosystems within karst or alluvial aquifers.


title: Groundwater

text: Not all ecosystems need groundwater, of course. Some terrestrial ecosystemsfor example, those of the open deserts and similar arid environmentsexist on irregular rainfall and the moisture it delivers to the soil, supplemented by moisture in the air. While there are other terrestrial ecosystems in more hospitable environments where groundwater plays no central role, groundwater is in fact fundamental to many of the world's major ecosystems. Water flows between groundwaters and surface waters. Most rivers, lakes, and wetlands are fed by, and (at other places or times) feed groundwater, to varying degrees. Groundwater feeds soil moisture through percolation, and many terrestrial vegetation communities depend directly on either groundwater or the percolated soil moisture above the aquifer for at least part of each year. Hyporheic zones (the mixing zone of streamwater and groundwater) and riparian zones are examples of ecotones largely or totally dependent on groundwater.


title: Groundwater

text: A 2021 study found that of ~39 million investigated groundwater wells 6-20% are at high risk of running dry if local groundwater levels decline by a few meters, oras with many areas and possibly more than half of major aquiferscontinue to decline.


title: Groundwater

text: Fresh-water aquifers, especially those with limited recharge by snow or rain, also known as meteoric water, can be over-exploited and depending on the local hydrogeology, may draw in non-potable water or saltwater intrusion from hydraulically connected aquifers or surface water bodies. This can be a serious problem, especially in coastal areas and other areas where aquifer pumping is excessive.


title: Groundwater

text: Subsidence occurs when too much water is pumped out from underground, deflating the space below the above-surface, and thus causing the ground to collapse. The result can look like craters on plots of land. This occurs because, in its natural equilibrium state, the hydraulic pressure of groundwater in the pore spaces of the aquifer and the aquitard supports some of the weight of the overlying sediments. When groundwater is removed from aquifers by excessive pumping, pore pressures in the aquifer drop and compression of the aquifer may occur. This compression may be partially recoverable if pressures rebound, but much of it is not. When the aquifer gets compressed, it may cause land subsidence, a drop in the ground surface.


title: Groundwater

text: In unconsolidated aquifers, groundwater is produced from pore spaces between particles of gravel, sand, and silt. If the aquifer is confined by low-permeability layers, the reduced water pressure in the sand and gravel causes slow drainage of water from the adjoining confining layers. If these confining layers are composed of compressible silt or clay, the loss of water to the aquifer reduces the water pressure in the confining layer, causing it to compress from the weight of overlying geologic materials. In severe cases, this compression can be observed on the ground surface as subsidence. Unfortunately, much of the subsidence from groundwater extraction is permanent (elastic rebound is small). Thus, the subsidence is not only permanent, but the compressed aquifer has a permanently reduced capacity to hold water.


title: Groundwater

text: The city of New Orleans, Louisiana is actually below sea level today, and its subsidence is partly caused by removal of groundwater from the various aquifer/aquitard systems beneath it. In the first half of the 20th century, the San Joaquin Valley experienced significant subsidence, in some places up to 8.5 metres (28 feet) due to groundwater removal. Cities on river deltas, including Venice in Italy, and Bangkok in Thailand, have experienced surface subsidence; Mexico City, built on a former lake bed, has experienced rates of subsidence of up to 40 cm (1'3") per year.


title: Groundwater

text: For coastal cities, subsidence can increase the risk of other environmental issues, such as sea level rise. For example, Bangkok is expected to have 5.138 million people exposed to coastal flooding by 2070 because of these combining factors.


title: Groundwater

text: If the surface water source is also subject to substantial evaporation, a groundwater source may become saline. This situation can occur naturally under endorheic bodies of water, or artificially under irrigated farmland. In coastal areas, human use of a groundwater source may cause the direction of seepage to ocean to reverse which can also cause soil salinization.


title: Groundwater

text: As water moves through the landscape, it collects soluble salts, mainly sodium chloride. Where such water enters the atmosphere through evapotranspiration, these salts are left behind. In irrigation districts, poor drainage of soils and surface aquifers can result in water tables' coming to the surface in low-lying areas. Major land degradation problems of soil salinity and waterlogging result, combined with increasing levels of salt in surface waters. As a consequence, major damage has occurred to local economies and environments.


title: Groundwater

text: Aquifers in surface irrigated areas in semi-arid zones with reuse of the unavoidable irrigation water losses percolating down into the underground by supplemental irrigation from wells run the risk of salination.


title: Groundwater

text: Surface irrigation water normally contains salts in the order of or more and the annual irrigation requirement is in the order of or more so the annual import of salt is in the order of or more.


title: Groundwater

text: Under the influence of continuous evaporation, the salt concentration of the aquifer water may increase continually and eventually cause an environmental problem.


title: Groundwater

text: For salinity control in such a case, annually an amount of drainage water is to be discharged from the aquifer by means of a subsurface drainage system and disposed of through a safe outlet. The drainage system may be "horizontal" (i.e. using pipes, tile drains or ditches) or "vertical" (drainage by wells). To estimate the drainage requirement, the use of a groundwater model with an agro-hydro-salinity component may be instrumental, e.g. SahysMod.


title: Groundwater

text: Seawater intrusion is the flow or presence of seawater into coastal aquifers; it is a case of saltwater intrusion. It is a natural phenomenon but can be caused or worsened by anthropogenic factors, such as sea level rise due to climate change. In the case of homogeneous aquifers, seawater intrusion forms a saline wedge below a transition zone to fresh groundwater, flowing seaward on the top. These changes can have other effects on the land above the groundwater. For example, coastal groundwater in California would rise in many aquifers, increasing risks of flooding and runoff challenges.


title: Groundwater

text: Aquifers near the coast have a lens of freshwater near the surface and denser seawater under freshwater. Seawater penetrates the aquifer diffusing in from the ocean and is denser than freshwater. For porous (i.e., sandy) aquifers near the coast, the thickness of freshwater atop saltwater is about for every of freshwater head above sea level. This relationship is called the Ghyben-Herzberg equation. If too much groundwater is pumped near the coast, salt-water may intrude into freshwater aquifers causing contamination of potable freshwater supplies. Many coastal aquifers, such as the Biscayne Aquifer near Miami and the New Jersey Coastal Plain aquifer, have problems with saltwater intrusion as a result of overpumping and sea level rise.


title: Groundwater

text: Polluted groundwater is less visible, but more difficult to clean up, than pollution in rivers and lakes. Groundwater pollution most often results from improper disposal of wastes on land. Major sources include industrial and household chemicals and garbage landfills, industrial waste lagoons, tailings and process wastewater from mines, oil field brine pits, leaking underground oil storage tanks and pipelines, sewage sludge and septic systems. Polluted groundwater is mapped by sampling soils and groundwater near suspected or known sources of pollution, to determine the extent of the pollution, and to aid in the design of groundwater remediation systems. Preventing groundwater pollution near potential sources such as landfills requires lining the bottom of a landfill with watertight materials, collecting any leachate with drains, and keeping rainwater off any potential contaminants, along with regular monitoring of nearby groundwater to verify that contaminants have not leaked into the groundwater. In some areas, the groundwater can become contaminated by arsenic and other mineral poisons.


title: Groundwater

text: Groundwater pollution, from pollutants released to the ground that can work their way down into groundwater, can create a contaminant plume within an aquifer. Pollution can occur from landfills, naturally occurring arsenic, on-site sanitation systems or other point sources, such as petrol stations with leaking underground storage tanks, or leaking sewers.


title: Groundwater

text: Movement of water and dispersion within the aquifer spreads the pollutant over a wider area, its advancing boundary often called a plume edge, which can then intersect with groundwater wells or daylight into surface water such as seeps and springs, making the water supplies unsafe for humans and wildlife. Different mechanism have influence on the transport of pollutants, e.g. diffusion, adsorption, precipitation, decay, in the groundwater. The interaction of groundwater contamination with surface waters is analyzed by use of hydrology transport models.


title: Groundwater

text: The danger of pollution of municipal supplies is minimized by locating wells in areas of deep groundwater and impermeable soils, and careful testing and monitoring of the aquifer and nearby potential pollution sources.


title: Groundwater

text: Around one-third of the world's population drinks water from groundwater resources. Of this, about 10 percent, approximately 300 million people, obtains water from groundwater resources that are heavily polluted with arsenic or fluoride. These trace elements derive mainly from natural sources by leaching from rock and sediments.


title: Groundwater

text: Water management agencies, when calculating the "sustainable yield" of aquifer and river water, have often counted the same water twice, once in the aquifer, and once in its connected river. This problem, although understood for centuries, has persisted, partly through inertia within government agencies. In Australia, for example, prior to the statutory reforms initiated by the Council of Australian Governments water reform framework in the 1990s, many Australian states managed groundwater and surface water through separate government agencies, an approach beset by rivalry and poor communication.


title: Groundwater

text: In general, the time lags inherent in the dynamic response of groundwater to development have been ignored by water management agencies, decades after scientific understanding of the issue was consolidated. The effects of groundwater overdraft may take decades or centuries to manifest themselves. The science has been available to make these calculations for decades; however, in general water management agencies often ignore such effects that have longer timeframes. Management agencies need to define and use appropriate timeframes in groundwater planning. This will mean calculating groundwater withdrawal permits based on predicted effects decades, sometimes centuries in the future.


title: Groundwater

text: For example, a modelling study investigated a situation where groundwater extraction in an intermontane basin withdrew the entire annual recharge, leaving ‘nothing’ for the natural groundwater-dependent vegetation community. Even when the borefield was situated close to the vegetation, 30% of the original vegetation demand could still be met by the lag inherent in the system after 100 years. By year 500, this had reduced to 0%, signalling complete death of the groundwater-dependent vegetation.


title: Groundwater

text: In the United States, laws regarding ownership and use of groundwater are generally state laws. Regulation of groundwater to minimize pollution of groundwater is addressed in both state and federal law; in the latter case, through regulations issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).


title: Groundwater

text: The groundwater regulation is controlled and maintained by the central government and four organizations; 1) Central Water Commission, 2) Central groundwater, 3) Central groundwater Authority, 4) Central Pollution Control Board.


title: Groundwater

text: A significant portion of Canada’s population relies on the use of groundwater. In Canada, roughly 8.9 million people or 30% of Canada's population rely on groundwater for domestic use and approximately two thirds of these users live in rural areas.


title: Groundwater

text: A large federal government groundwater initiative is the development of the multi-barrier approach. The multi-barrier approach is a system of processes to prevent the deterioration of drinking water from the source. The multi-barrier consists of three key elements: Source water protection, drinking water treatment, and drinking water distribution systems.


title: Groundwater

text: Groundwater is an important water resource for the supply of drinking water, especially in arid countries.


title: Groundwater

text: Groundwater may not be confined only to Earth. The formation of some of the landforms observed on Mars may have been influenced by groundwater. There is also evidence that liquid water may also exist in the subsurface of Jupiter's moon Europa.


title: Renault Mégane

text: The Renault Mégane () is a small family car produced by the French car manufacturer Renault for model year 1996, and was the successor to the Renault 19. The Mégane has been offered in three- and five-door hatchback, saloon, coupé, convertible and estate bodystyles at various points in its lifetime, and having been through four generations is now in its fifth incarnation.


title: Renault Mégane

text: The first generation was largely based on its predecessor, the 19, and utilized modified versions of that car's drivetrain and chassis. The second and third generations were based on the Renault–Nissan C platform. The fourth generation is based on the CMF-CD platform, as used by the Renault Talisman and Renault Scénic.


title: Renault Mégane

text: In November 1996, the Mégane Scénic compact MPV was introduced, using the same mechanical components as the hatchback Mégane. For 2002, the Mégane entered its second generation with a substantial redesign taking place, and was voted European Car of the Year for 2003, whilst also becoming the first car in its class to receive a five star Euro NCAP rating.


title: Renault Mégane

text: The Mégane entered its third generation in 2008, with another totally different design being used; the saloon version of the Mégane became known as the Renault Fluence for this generation, and it was introduced in 2009. The fourth-generation Mégane was launched in 2015, with sales commencing in 2016.


title: Renault Mégane

text: In 2021, Renault revealed a battery electric version known as the Mégane E-Tech Electric, which takes on a crossover exterior design.


title: Renault Mégane

text: Development of the X64 began at the beginning of 1990, with the first sketches of X64 programme being drawn during the first six months of 1990. Very quickly, several themes were outlined and developed into four small scale (1/5) models by September 1990.


title: Renault Mégane

text: The designs retained were developed around four themes. Theme A: a six light version, evoking the Laguna; Theme B: a model with a markedly cuneiform line; Theme C: another design with ellipse shaped glasswork and rear notch; Theme D: a model with the same elliptical glazing and rounded rear.


title: Renault Mégane

text: In March 1991, all four styling proposals were developed into full scale (1:1). Theme C by Michel Jardin was chosen by Le Quement and frozen for production in April 1992. The first prototypes were built and presented to management in December 1992. Approximately 432 prototypes were built (at Rueil assembly) and destroyed during development.


title: Renault Mégane

text: In June 1993, Renault purchased production tooling for the X64, with the first test unit being assembled at the Douai plant in October 1994, and pre production units being constructed from December 1994 to the middle of 1995.


title: Renault Mégane

text: The Mégane I was unveiled in September 1995, at the Frankfurt Motor Show, as a replacement for the Renault 19. The car was essentially a reskin of its predecessor, and carried over the 19's floorpan, engines, transmissions and chassis design, albeit with much modification.


title: Renault Mégane

text: Taking its name from a Renault concept car shown in 1988, the Mégane further developed the new corporate styling theme introduced by Patrick Le Quément on the Laguna, most notably the "bird beak" front grille – a styling cue borrowed from the Renault 16 of the 1960s. Renault decided to add an acute accent to the vehicle name (Mégane), in order to assert its European identity, in a context of growing competition of newer car manufacturers coming from Japan.


title: Renault Mégane

text: As with the 19 and the 11 before it, the Mégane was produced at Renault's Douai plant in northern France starting in July 1995, and at the Spanish plant of Palencia. Market launch began on 15 November 1995 in France, and 15 December 1995 for the coupé. Sales in the United Kingdom commenced in April 1996.


title: Renault Mégane

text: Safety was a key focus of the Mégane I, Renault's first car reflecting their new focus of selling on safety.


title: Renault Mégane

text: It featured a pillar mounted three-point seatbelt for the middle rear occupant (replacing the common 'lap strap'), standard front belt pre tensioners and load limiters, driver's airbag (passenger airbag from 1996) and an impressive safety structure – a specification ahead of all rivals in 1995, e.g. VW Golf Mk 3, Opel Astra F, Ford Escort etc. Some features, such as the three-point middle belt, had debuted on the Renault 19 safety concept vehicle (and this feature entered production on the Renault Laguna before the Mégane).


title: Renault Mégane

text: The car also benefited from Renault's first "System for Restraint and Protection" (SRP), essentially a system of careful optimisation of occupant restraint by interaction of the seat, seatbelt, pretensioner, load limiter and airbag. The Mégane I achieved a best in class four star crash test rating in the 1998 round of testing by Euro NCAP.


title: Renault Mégane

text: Power came from the Renault E type ("Energy") engine in 1.4 L and 1.6 L, and the F-type unit in both 1.9 L diesel and 2.0 L petrol forms, although this time around there was a wider variety of 16 valve derivatives. A 1.9 L diesel engine in both normally aspirated and turbocharged forms was also available.


title: Renault Mégane

text: Renault also produced a limited number of Renaultsport edition Phase 1's with the Renaultsport bodywork; however, these were very rare. The Renaultsport kit was available to purchase for a short time direct from Renault France, but has now been discontinued, thus their value has increased.


title: Renault Mégane

text: The estate version of the original Mégane was only available in LHD form, with no RHD variants being built, this could be due to the greater popularity of the Scenic in those markets. The estate was added with the facelift of 1999, although pre-facelifted Mégane estates were sold from 1998 in Turkey, where it was manufactured.


title: Renault Mégane

text: In Japan, Renault was formerly licensed by Yanase Co., Ltd., but in 1999 Renault acquired a stake in Japanese automaker Nissan. As a result of Renault's purchase, Yanase canceled its licensing contract for all Renault models sold in Japan, including, but not limited to, the Mégane I, in 2000, and Nissan took over as the sole licensee for Renault cars.


title: Renault Mégane

text: A mild facelift in spring 1999 gave the Mégane I a modified grille, more advanced safety features and upgraded equipment, and 16 valve engines were used across the range. An Estate body style was also launched in mainland Europe with the facelift. The production continued for the Latin America Market, where it was sold alongside the Mégane II line at a considerably lower price until 2011.


title: Renault Mégane

text: In countries, such as Argentina and Colombia, the Mégane I was available until 2010, sold as a sedan and an estate, but in Venezuela, it was available only as a sedan. It features as the top line of the model the LA04 engine (16 valves, 1.6 litres and 110 HP), and was produced by both Renault Colombia and Renault Argentina, in where it was one of the best selling cars to date.


title: Renault Mégane

text: It is a car with more advanced safety features, upgraded equipment and more. The Mégane I had a lower price than the Mégane II.


title: Renault Mégane

text: In Venezuela, it was only available in one version: Unique, with a five-speed manual gearbox or a four-speed automatic one. Both of these were equipped with Abs and other extra equipment including driver and passenger front airbags, foglights, leather seats, electric mirrors and electric windows. In Argentina, not every version had features such as electric windows, electric mirrors or airbags.


title: Renault Mégane

text: During the 1990s, Renault Sport developed a rally car for the Formula 2 Kit Car regulations. This was the Clio Williams Maxi, which was the first car truly developed for the F2 Kit Car category, and first appeared in 1996. However, rivals such as Citroën and Peugeot soon introduced bigger and more powerful cars, which resulted in Renault producing an F2 version of the Mégane in 1996. The Maxi Mégane officially represented the brand in French Championship rallies in 1996 and 1997 with drivers like Philippe Bugalski, Jean Ragnotti or Serge Jordan, and the British Rally Championship from 1996 to 1999, with Grégoire De Mévius, Alain Oreille, Robbie Head, Martin Rowe, and Tapio Laukkanen. Both the French and British rally teams also compete in the World Rally Championship.


title: Renault Mégane

text: After the works programme was discontinued, many privateers continued to use the car. It was also used in the FIA 2-Litre World Rally Cup, which Renault won in 1999. The car used a special version of the Renault F7R engine, and had a seven speed Sequential manual transmission.


title: Renault Mégane

text: Its most notable result was an outright victory in the 1996 Tour de Corse in the hands of Philippe Bugalski and his co driver Jean-Paul Chiaroni (in a year where the Tour de Corse was a FIA 2-Litre World Rally Cup only event); but it also helped Renault to the FIA 2 Litre World Rally Cup of Manufacturer's title in 1999.


title: Renault Mégane

text: In other high level competitions, Renault took back to back manufacturer's and driver's titles in the British Rally Championship in 1998 and 1999, whilst they also took the European Rally Championship in 1999.


title: Renault Mégane

text: The Mégane II was launched in September 2002 for the 2003 model year, and marked a completely new fresh start. The two cars bear very little resemblance, the new vehicle having been inspired by the manufacturer's new design language first seen in the Avantime.


title: Renault Mégane

text: The new Mégane was voted European Car of the Year for 2003, fighting off stiff competition from Japan's Mazda 6 and PSA's Citroën C3, and achieved a five star safety rating in the Euro NCAP crash tests, the first small family car to do so.


title: Renault Mégane

text: The Mégane II and the Laguna were both showcases for a great deal of innovative technologies Renault launched at the beginning of the 2000s; the Renault Card keyless ignition system, standard on the Mégane II, was a first in this class and has since been widely adopted.


title: Renault Mégane

text: Similarly, the option of a panoramic glass sunroof is another area in which Renault led where others followed. In June 2003, the first ever live crash test using a real driver rather than a crash test dummy featuring the Mégane II was conducted by "Top Gear".


title: Renault Mégane

text: In Brazil, Renault launched a flex fuel version, called "Hi-Flex", which is able to run either with unleaded gasoline (petrol) or ethanol. Like the Brazilian Scénic and Clio versions, the Mégane's engine can work with any mix of gasoline and ethanol, due to the use of an electronic control module.


title: Renault Mégane

text: The flex version has a 16V 109 hp (110 PS) (113 hp (115 PS) with ethanol) 1.6-litre inline-four engine developed and produced in Brazil, but the 2.0 litre version does not allow ethanol use, because its engine is made in France.


title: Renault Mégane

text: As with the previous Mégane, the range of models is wide; there is a three and five door hatchback available, named "Sport Hatch" and "Hatch" respectively, there is a four-door saloon/sedan (Sport Saloon), a five-door estate (Sport Tourer / Grandtour), and to replace both the Mégane Coupe and Convertible, a new retractable hardtop coupe designed by Karmann.


title: Renault Mégane

text: Unlike its predecessor, the Mégane II was not licensed by Yanase Co., Ltd. for the Japanese market, as Renault had acquired a stake in Nissan when the Mégane I was still in production. Instead, the Mégane II was licensed by Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. and sold exclusively through "Nissan Red Stage Store" locations.


title: Renault Mégane

text: The RenaultSport (RS) versions of the three door and five door Mégane hatchbacks were introduced, equipped with a turbocharged petrol 2.0 L 16v engine producing and Turbocharged diesel 2.0L dCi 16V engine producing 175 PS (129 kW;173 hp). Along with the engine, changes were made to the front and rear suspension geometry to improve handling, and the model features a deeper, wider front bumper. The Mégane Renault Sport competes in the hot hatch segment of the market.


title: Renault Mégane

text: The Hatchback model was revised at Motor Show Brussels in January 2006, the Wagon and Convertible model was debut at Geneva Motor Show in March 2006, with changes in interior trim (e.g. a new revised instrument cluster with the speedometer moved to the right and the tachometer moved to the left), specification levels and most notably, a new front nose. A new front suspension system borrowed from the Mégane 2.0 was adopted, improving the driving performance. Also, the Nissan Sentra B16 is based on the platform from 2006 of the Renault Mégane.


title: Renault Mégane

text: During its first full year of sales, the Mégane II topped the French sales charts, with 198,874 registered in 2003. It has also sold very well in Britain, being the nation's fourth most popular car in 2005 and the nation's fifth most popular car in 2004 and 2006. In 2007, however, it dipped to eighth place, with just over 55,000 examples being sold.


title: Renault Mégane

text: Thanks to the locally assembled 4-door model, the Mégane has been the best-selling car in Turkey from 2004 to 2006.


title: Renault Mégane

text: In January 2011, it was reported that the Mégane II had the highest rate of MOT failures in the United Kingdom for cars first taking the test in 2007. While in German ADAC breakdown statistics, the Mégane scored very well, surpassing such cars as the Ford Focus, Honda Civic and Opel/Vauxhall Astra. The model of 2008 achieved third place in its class, after the BMW 1 Series and Audi A3.


title: Renault Mégane

text: The third generation was launched in the end of 2008, to keep the range competitive. In October 2008, both the five door hatchback and Mégane Coupé were officially put on sale. The two models have different designs; the Coupé has a sporty design, while the five door model is more conservative.


title: Renault Mégane

text: No automatic transmission is offered, with it being replaced by a continuously variable transmission.


title: Renault Mégane

text: A five-door estate version was introduced in June 2009, and was named the Sport Tourer. Another addition to the range came in the form of the Coupé Cabriolet in June 2010. That year also saw the addition of a 1.4 L turbocharged engine being added to the range.


title: Renault Mégane

text: Production of the Mégane's saloon derivative, the Fluence, began in Argentina in 2011, at the firm's Córdoba plant. The Mégane III was also made available for sale in Argentina that year, but was produced in Turkey, and imported into the country. In Brazil, the Fluence replaced the Mégane in Renault's lineup from 2011 onwards.


title: Renault Mégane

text: The Mégane III underwent its first facelift in January 2012, which also introduced three new engines; a 1.2 L turbocharged petrol engine, a new version of the 1.5 L dCi engine, and a new 1.6 L dCi engine.


title: Renault Mégane

text: Another facelift followed for 2014, with a more powerful version of the 1.2 L turbocharged engine going on sale, whilst the styling of the hatchback, coupé and estate versions was updated to match Renault's new model range.


title: Renault Mégane

text: Higher specification Mégane feature the same 2.0 dCi engine as the Mégane II. However, after 2015 the 2.0 dCi was no longer offered.


title: Renault Mégane

text: The fourth generation Mégane was launched at the September 2015 Frankfurt Motor Show, with sales starting in July 2016. The vehicle is larger and based on an all-new CMF-CD platform shared with the Renault Scénic and Renault Talisman. The Mégane IV follows the latest design language, which has been seen on the Clio IV, Captur, Espace V and Talisman.


title: Renault Mégane

text: An estate version (Mégane Sport Tourer/Grand tour) was revealed at the 2016 Geneva Motor Show. The four door fastback saloon version called the Mégane Sedan later in July of the same year.


title: Renault Mégane

text: The fourth generation Mégane is larger and lower than its predecessor. The suspension is made of MacPherson struts on the front and a torsion beam on the rear. Brakes are discs on both axles. The driver can select between five driving modes that change the car set up.


title: Renault Mégane

text: Most Mégane's models have a head up display and a seven-inch screen (replaced with an 8.7-inch touchscreen in some trim levels).


title: Renault Mégane

text: Options include adaptive cruise control, automated emergency braking, lane departure warning, speed limit warning, blind spot monitoring, automatic headlights, reversing camera, parking sensors and a hands free parking system.


title: Renault Mégane

text: Speaking about the car, Renault's chief designer Laurens van den Acker said, "Renault can produce cars with a Latin skin and a German heart". It has nine engines available (four petrol and five diesel) with power outputs between and .


title: Renault Mégane

text: The Renault Mégane Sedan, launched in July 2016, resembles the Talisman, but with the front section of the Mégane IV hatchback and a fastback like sloping roofline. It has more space for the back seat passengers than the hatchback and a larger boot, with a claimed volume of 508 litre.


title: Renault Mégane

text: It is sold on the African continent, the Middle East, various Eastern Asian and Australian markets. Within Europe, it is offered in several countries including Turkey, Italy, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Serbia, Greece, Georgia and Ireland, but neither France or the United Kingdom.


title: Renault Mégane

text: Depending on the market, there are two petrol engines and three diesel engines offered, with power outputs ranging from 90 to 130 bhp. Only the mid range engine is suitable to be matched with the dual clutch six speed transmission.


title: Renault Mégane

text: The Mégane Sedan is facelifted in February 2021, some months after the hatchback and the estate. It receives a new 115 hp petrol engine.


title: Renault Mégane

text: The Mégane GT is a high performance version based on the hatchback model with 1.6-litre I4 diesel and petrol powertrains. As standard, it incorporates a four-wheel steering system (4Control) and dual-clutch automatic gearbox with optional paddle shifting. It also has a slightly different design for the interior and the exterior.


title: Renault Mégane

text: The Mégane R.S was introduced in September 2017 and went on sale in 2018. Based on the hatchback model, it is powered by a 1.8-litre turbocharged engine from the previous generation, with tweaks done by Renault F1 engineers. The engine produces and torque, with an option of two transmissions, which are six-speed manual or a six-speed dual-clutch automatic.


title: Renault Mégane

text: The Mégane R.S Trophy-R was launched in July 2019. Resembles a track racing version of the Mégane RS Trophy, it was developed using Renault Sport's motorsport expertise resulting in the fastest ever front-wheel drive production car lap of the Nurburgring at 7 mins 40.1 seconds.


title: Renault Mégane

text: The Trophy-R features a turbocharged 1.8-litre engine mated to six-speed manual gearbox, a weight reduction of , an Öhlins race suspension set-up, a carbon composite bonnet with NACA duct and modified aerodynamics. Only 500 Trophy-R cars were made, 30 of which will be fitted with the optional carbon ceramic brakes and rims.


title: Renault Mégane

text: Before being discontinued, the Renault Mégane RS will be available in 2024 in a limited edition named "Ultime". A photo showing the livery was leaked on the web in November 2022.


title: Renault Mégane

text: In 2020, the Mégane was refreshed with facelift, with minor changes to the exterior design, a 9.3-inch touchscreen, and a plug-in hybrid version in both estate and hatchback variants marketed as the Mégane E-Tech.


title: Renault Mégane

text: The Megane E-Tech Electric is a battery electric car using the Mégane nameplate that was launched in February 2022. It is built on a dedicated electric vehicle platform called the CMF-EV.


title: Renault Mégane

text: In 1996, a compact MPV called the Mégane Scénic was introduced. It was renamed to Scénic during a facelift in 1999.


title: Renault Mégane

text: In September 2020, the rebadged version of the South Korean-made Renault Samsung XM3/Arkana was launched in former Yugoslavian countries as the Mégane Conquest due to negative connotations with the Serbian historical war criminal Arkan.


title: The Presidents of the United States of America (band)

text: The Presidents of the United States of America (occasionally referred to as PUSA, PotUSA, The Presidents of the USA or simply The Presidents) were an American alternative rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1993. The three-piece group's initial line-up consisted of vocalist and bassist Chris Ballew, drummer Jason Finn, and guitarist Dave Dederer. The band became popular in the mid-1990s for their hits "Lump" and "Peaches"—released in 1995 and 1996, respectively—which helped their self-titled debut album go 3× platinum.


text: The group broke up for the first time in late 1997 because their singer Chris Ballew wanted a solo career; they performed a farewell concert early the next year. They reunited in 2002. In 2004, Dederer left the group and was replaced by Andrew McKeag. The Presidents privately disbanded in 2015, and the news was made public a year later.


text: The band was formed in late 1993 by Chris Ballew (bass guitar and lead vocals) and Dave Dederer (guitar and backup vocals), who met while attending The Bush School in Seattle. Ballew had previously been in a punk-busker band called Egg, who wrote many songs that would later be turned into PUSA songs. Initially a drummerless duo, Ballew and Dederer performed a half-dozen or so shows in 1993 as "The Lo-Fis", "The Dynamic Duo", and "Pure Frosting". Ballew eventually came upon the name "The Presidents of the United States of America". Shortly after settling on their name, Ballew and Dederer added drummer Jason Finn; the band played their first show as a trio at Seattle's Romper Room in early December 1993. At the time, Finn was also the drummer in the band Love Battery, who had recently changed record labels from Sub Pop to Atlas Records, an A&M subsidiary.


text: The Presidents recorded a ten-song cassette, "Froggystyle," in early 1994 in one day at Laundry Room Studios. The band sold the cassette at shows in 1994. Finn also sold the cassette from behind the bar of Seattle's Comet Tavern, where he tended bar.


text: In 1994, the band signed with the independent Seattle label PopLlama Records and released their self-titled debut in the following year. The band also released a limited edition blue vinyl 7" single, "Fuck California", on C/Z Records. Columbia Records signed the band shortly thereafter and re-released the album in late July 1995. Driven by the singles "Lump", "Peaches", and "Kitty", their debut album has been certified triple Platinum by the RIAA.


text: A follow-up album, "II," received similar praise, but did not match the commercial success that the Presidents' debut album had, though it was still certified gold in the US.


text: Throughout 1995, 1996 and 1997, the band made worldwide tours to support their first two albums. In 1996, MTV aired a previously recorded live concert of the band from Mount Rushmore for Presidents Day. They were introduced with: "Ladies and gentlemen, the Presidents of the United States." In addition to relentless touring in the U.S. and Canada, PUSA made multiple tours of Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. They also made many appearances in major print media and on radio and TV, including multiple appearances on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" and the "Late Show with David Letterman" in the U.S. The Presidents turned down an offer to perform on "Saturday Night Live" in the fall of 1995 because the date conflicted with Ballew's wedding, but later made an appearance on the eleventh episode of "Mad TV" in January 1996. The band began the program with a skit called "Public Domain", performed "Lump" later in the show and "When the Saints Go Marching In" during the end credits.


text: The band broke up in January 2000 as Ballew quit to spend more time with his young family and explore other musical terrain. "Pure Frosting," a final album composed of new songs, covers, and demos, was released in 1998. The CD also contained videos for "Lump", "Peaches", "Mach 5", and "Dune Buggy".


text: "Pure Frosting" featured two songs that had previously been used in a movie and as a television show theme. "Video Killed the Radio Star" was included on the soundtrack for "The Wedding Singer", while "Cleveland Rocks", originally recorded by Ian Hunter, was chosen as the theme song for "The Drew Carey Show." Another song on the album, "Man (Opposable Thumb)", appeared in the Nickelodeon-produced motion picture "Good Burger" but was not directly written or performed for the film.


text: The Presidents also wrote the theme song for the 1998 TV movie "My Date with the President's Daughter". They also performed a cover of the "George of the Jungle" theme song for the 1997 movie of the same name. This performance is not available on any of their albums.


text: In 1998, the group appeared on the album "Happy Hour" by Japanese female rockers Shonen Knife (also a three piece); they did backing vocals on the song "Sushi Bar".


text: The Presidents also collaborated with Sir Mix-A-Lot as Subset, a short-lived rock and hip-hop band. They had a brief tour and recorded several songs, but never released an album. The band broke up because Sir Mix-A-Lot wanted to take the band in a harder, more electronic direction, but Finn and Dederer were not interested.


text: The Presidents reunited in 2000 to release a new single, "Jupiter", on MUSICBLITZ Records. Because of the single's popularity, the label convinced the band to release a new album. "Freaked Out & Small" was released that year to critical praise. The band did not tour on or promote the album, which quietly sold 25,000 copies as MUSICBLITZ, an early digital music player, quickly went bankrupt.


text: Afterward, the band members once again went their own ways. Ballew continued to produce and record his own work, becoming a children's artist under the name Caspar Babypants and collaborated with Tad Hutchison of The Young Fresh Fellows as The Chris and Tad Show. Also during this time, The Young Fresh Fellows recorded a song, "Good Times Rock 'N' Roll", about The Presidents, which appeared on the 2001 album "Because We Hate You".


text: In 2003, the band once again reformed. In August 2004, the band released "Love Everybody" on their newly formed indie label PUSA Inc. As with their previous albums, it received praise from many critics. Two singles from the album have been released through the Apple iTunes Store. In late 2004, the rights to the debut album were returned to the band, who have since reissued the album through PUSA Inc. twice: once as a tenth-anniversary edition with extra tracks, and again in the spring of 2006 in a low-price edition.


text: Andrew McKeag, Seattle guitarist (formerly of Uncle Joe's Big Ol' Driver, Shuggie, The Black Panties and others), joined the band on guitar in late 2004, as an occasional live-performance stand-in for Dave Dederer, who had expressed an interest in spending more time with his family. Since late 2007, McKeag started touring full-time with the band, and later replaced Dederer. Dederer has played live with the band in concerts in Seattle on occasion.


text: In November 2007, the band's next album, "These Are the Good Times People", was announced; it was released on March 11, 2008. They performed a live webcast celebrating the album's release by Easy Street Records. In December 2007 KEXP played the new song "Bad Times". On February 1, 2008, 107.7-The End, a Seattle radio station, played "Mixed Up S.O.B.", the first single from the Presidents' new album. The music video for the song was directed by "Weird Al" Yankovic. On June 15, 2008, they played for Pet-Aid 2008 in Oregon.


text: In October 2008, "Lump" was released on the video game "Rock Band 2". "Ladybug", "Feather Pluck'n", and "Dune Buggy" were released as downloadable content for the game on November 4, 2008. In the summer of 2009, The Presidents performed in San Diego at the North Park Music Thing Music & Media Festival which only showcases local bands.


text: In August 2010, The Presidents performed at Skokie's Backlot Bash outside of Chicago. In September 2010, they played during halftime of the UW-Syracuse game at Husky Stadium.