Category Archives: air pollution

Energy Independence The Funny Way – A good time was had by all

Posted on by
Reply

Yes it is true. I am promoting a book I have never read. But you know what? I should have.

http://business-network-land.blogspot.com/2012/05/robert-danziger-funny-thing-happened-on.html

Robert Danziger: A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Energy Independence – Author Interview

Humorist and alternative energy pioneer Robert Danziger was kind enough to take the time to answer a few questions about his hilarious memoir about his life in the world of alternative energy, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Energy Independence.

The author finds the humor in such widely diverse places as Cal-Tech, the Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL), and of course in his own business ventures in the alternative energy field. A true renaissance man, the author has enjoyed more careers, and indulged in more laughter, than many people would experience in two lifetimes.

Thanks to Robert Danziger for his comprehensive and informative answers.

What was the background to writing this book A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Energy Independence?

Robert Danziger: At the gym a couple of years ago a young mother was supervising her two kids, five and eight years old. We struck up a conversation and she told me that she doesn’t let her kids watch the news anymore because the energy and environmental stories had given them repeated nightmares. Partisanship and the escalation of catastrophic rhetoric threatened the sense of security and safety she wants for her children.

My career has been inventing and developing solutions. I am fundamentally optimistic about new technology and our ability to respond to crisis. Scaring people doesn’t work and breeds resentment. I don’t want to be part of scaring kids to accomplish something.

The conversation with that young mother convinced me to take a year or so to listen to people from a broad range of ages, politics, and beliefs to try to find out what people agreed on, if anything. I found three things all of them, at least in these groups, agreed on without exception: people like to laugh; like music; and want energy independence and a clean environment when they are coupled with prosperity.

:}

Go there and read. More tomorrow.

:}

Oh If This Were True – Humans voluntarily give up fossil fuels

Posted on by
Reply

How cool would the world be if we actually stopped raping the Earth and started responsible stewardship instead. But I am suspicious around humans, so we will just have to see.

http://www.wheels.ca/news/peak-oil-are-we-looking-at-it-all-wrong/

Peak oil: Are we looking at it all wrong?

By as early as 2015, global demand for oil will begin to decline, some scientists say. Not because we’ll have run out of the fossil fuel, but because we just won’t need as much of it.

Published May 31, 2012

I don’t know about you, but when I’m skimming around on the Web and I catch sight of the phrase “Scientists now say” or “Some analysts find” I usually just click right on by. Because that article is going to be a bummer. Those analysts will find that the U.S. educational system is actually removing knowledge from children’s minds, and those scientists will turn out to say that pizza consumption is related to early-onset dementia. So I keep going until I find something about psychic twins or a baby raised by goats.

But it’s a good thing I broke with tradition when I came to the New Scientist article “Dump the pump: When oil will lose its luster.” Guess what these scientists and analysts now find? You know that whole problem with oil, how eventually it’s going to run out and trigger a global depression and maybe a breakdown of civilization and is it really such a good idea to bring children into this crazy world? Well don’t sweat it, everything’s going to be totally fine. It’s all going to be one hundred percent a-okay.

All right, that might be a somewhat simplistic rendering of the argument. What the scientists and analysts are arguing – and presenting evidence for – is that although we’ve been worrying this whole time about peak oil supply, the operative force will actually be peak oil demand. Due to a variety of factors – the article focuses mainly on advances in automotive fuel efficiency – global demand for oil is only going to keep increasing for a few more years, after which it will begin to decline and will continue on a downward path.

:}

I just printed the premise. Go there and read the rest. More Next week.

:}

Earth Day The Organization – I have probably posted about this group before

Posted on by
Reply

But posting every year gets it out there. I know that I have never posted anything from their blog. This is about Earth Day in India and I though it was cool because it shows how far the idea has spread.

http://www.earthday.org/blog/2012/05/01/guest-blog-corbett-foundation-mobilizes-india-earth-day-2012

Guest Blog: Corbett Foundation Mobilizes in India for Earth Day 2012

5/1/12 | Earth Day Network

Guest blog by: Zaara Kidwai

Between April 14 and 23, the Corbett Foundation (TCF) carried out a series of events and activities for Earth Day 2012 in Corbett, Kutch, Bandhavgarh and Kanha, India. We engaged schoolchildren here in a variety of interactive seminars and competitions designed to teach them and their communities about the importance of sustainable living and preserving the environment.

Throughout the week, the Corbett office of TCF organized activities such as environmental film screenings, presentations, health awareness sessions and quiz competitions for 6th-10th graders in 11 schools in and around the Corbett Tiger Reserve.

TCF–Kutch celebrated a one-day mega event on April 22 with children from two schools in Bhuj: Army Public School and Matruchaya Girls School. The event was organized in collaboration with the Gujarat Forest Department, Kutch West Division. A total of 125 students participated in the event, which included a screening of a film about conserving the Great Indian Bustard followed by a drawing and poster-making competition.

TCF-Bandhavgarh organized a nature walk for school children followed by a visit to an interpretation center. They also distributed solar lanterns to the Kulohawah village, located inside the Bandhvagrah Tiger Reserve, and organized an exhibition of traditional crafts.

TCF-Kanha organized an environmental awareness rally and a roadside clean-up in which 70 students and villagers from four villages participated. The rally started in Manjitola village; then, participants marched to the Mukki gate of the Kanha Park. Along the way, students chanted slogans like “Save Earth, Save Life, One Earth, One Chance.”

We hope our efforts will motivate people around us to adopt an environmentally-friendly lifestyle.

:}

Go there and read. More tomorrow.

:}

Trying To Figure Out Lawn Mowing – Here at least is some help with the numbers

Posted on by
Reply

I know lawn mowing seems trivial in some respects, but for this blog it is purposeful behavior. Behavior that can be modified. Mowers do not start themselves nor do they drive around by themselves. So for millions of us every time you start a mower think about it. Do you really need to do this and is this mower the right one for the job?

http://www.peoplepoweredmachines.com/faq-environment.htm

Cleaner Air : Gas Mower Pollution Facts

Push Mower Comparison Chart

EPA Statistics: Gas Mowers represent 5% of U.S. Air Pollution

Each weekend, about 54 million Americans mow their lawns, using 800 million gallons of gas per year and producing tons of air pollutants. Garden equipment engines, which have had unregulated emissions until the late 1990’s, emit high levels of carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds and nitrogen oxides, producing up to 5% of the nation’s air pollution and a good deal more in metropolitan areas.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), a new gas powered lawn mower produces volatile organic compounds and nitrogen oxides emissions air pollution in in in one hour of operation as 11 new cars each being driven for one hour.

Gardeners Spill More than the Exxon Valdez

And speaking of gas, the EPA estimates that over 17 million gallons of fuel, mostly gasoline, are spilled each year while refueling lawn equipment. That’s more than all the oil spilled by the Exxon Valdez, in the Gulf of Alaska. In addition to groundwater contamination, spilled fuel that evaporates into the air and volatile organic compounds spit out by small engines make smog-forming ozone when cooked by heat and sunlight.

Calculate Your Gas Mower’s Emissions

Until 1995, lawnmower emissions were unregulated. Older more powerful, less efficient two-cycle engines release 25-30% of their oil and gas unburned into the air. Gas mowers emit hydrocarbons and oxides of nitrogen (the principle ingredients of smog), particulate matter (damaging to the respiratory system), carbon monoxide (a poisonous gas) and carbon dioxide (contributing to global warming). The health toll includes cancer as well as damage to lungs, heart, and both the immune and detoxification systems. Plus smog inhibits plant growth. Lawnmowers are currently subject to EPA’s Phase 2 regulations. These requirements have reduced volatile organic compounds and nitrogen oxides emissions by over 70 percent from unregulated levels. EPA’s Phase 3 regulations take effect in 2012 for lawnmowers and will result in additional reductions in these pollutants.

:}

Go there and read. More tomorrow.

:}

Wind And Solar Cheaper Than Coal – Or so says Michigan

Posted on by
Reply

Since we are in a Utility state of mind this week, the PSC of Michigan just released this report according to the folks at AWEA.

http://www.awea.org/blog/index.cfm?customel_dataPageID_1699=14546

Mich. Public Service Commission: Renewable energy cheaper than coal

Posted: 2012-03-02 Tom Gray

We often run “Fact check” articles on this blog when fossil-fuel-funded “experts” exaggerate the cost of electricity generated with wind power (for a particularly bald-faced recent example, see Fact check: American Enterprise Institute epic FAIL on study of wind costs, Feb. 29), but perhaps this one should be titled “Reality check.”

Reality: the Michigan Public Service Commission (PSC) recently issued a report that finds that electricity generated from renewable energy sources, at an average cost of $91 per megawatt-hour (9.1 cents/kilowatt-hour), is almost one-third cheaper than the cost of electricity from a new coal-fired power plant ($133 per MWh, or 13.3 cents/kWh).

Further, the report notes, “The actual cost of renewable energy contracts submitted to the Commission to date shows a downward pricing trend.  This was the case as of the filing of this report in February of 2011 and continues to be the case, as the two most recent contracts approved by the Commission for new wind capacity have levelized costs of $61-$64 per MWh.  This is significantly lower than the levelized costs of the first wind contracts submitted in 2009.” (emphasis added)

The report is one in a series required annually from the Commission to the state legislature, reporting on the impact of the state’s Renewable Energy Standard (RES), which requires utilities to obtain 10 percent of the electricity they provide from renewable energy sources by 2015.

Other highlights from the report:

– While utilities are allowed to charge customers extra for renewable energy, customers are also seeing savings due to wind.  Said the Commission, “While … surcharges have an impact on electric rates, there are also economic benefits attributable to an increase in renewable energy generation sources and improved energy efficiency. As noted in previous sections, the cost of energy generated by renewable sources continues to decline and is cheaper than new coal-fired generation.

:}

Go there and read. More tomorrow.

:}

Climate Change Professor’s New Book Shows The World The Length That Deniers Will Stoop To, To Smear Someone Speaking The Truth

Posted on by
Reply

While this book is interesting in its presentation of the Climatological Facts, I think the most telling details are how viciously the deniers attack people through the web.

http://cassandralegacy.blogspot.com/

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Long live the hockey stick! Climate science fights back.

Ugo Bardi teaches physical chemistry at the University of Florence, in Italy.

Repeat something a sufficient number of times and, eventually, people will believe it, no matter whether it is true or not. It is one of the most effective tricks of propaganda and it has been used more than once against science, for instance in the demonization of the “Limits to Growth” study. During the past few years, it has been applied repeatedly, even obsessively, against the “hockey stick,” the reconstruction of past temperatures on which Michael Mann and coworkers had been working from the 1990s.

It is rare in the history of science that a single piece of experimental evidence has been the object of so many attempts of demolition. Yet, all the serious reviews of the original data have basically confirmed the initial results. Being unsuccessful in demolishing the science, the attacks have moved against the scientist, Michael Mann himself, who has been subjected to an unbelievable denigration campaign, defamed, insulted, and even physically threatened. Recently, the campaign against Mann has targeted his new book, “The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars”, with a large number of negative reviews and derogatory remarks which appeared in the reviews of the book on the Amazon site. Most of these seem to be the work of web identities created expressly for this purpose, i.e. “sock puppets“.

:}

Go there and read. The interview after the text is excellent. More tomorrow.

:}

Natural Gas Industry Does Better For The Environment

Posted on by
Reply

I do not normally trumpet the oil and gas industries innovations but this seems like a good one.

http://www.dvn.com/CorpResp/initiatives/Pages/Valve%20Reductions.aspx#terms?disclaimer=yes

Tiny valve offers huge environmental impact

Big things do, indeed, often come in small packages.

A prime example of this axiom is the new valve that Devon has begun installing on its older wells. The device shows promise of revolutionizing the industry’s ability to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Roughly the size of an adult pinkie finger, the valve has the added benefit of eliminating waste, allowing Devon to sell more of the natural gas it produces.

 

Early results have been dramatic. Devon has replaced about 700 valves, all in Wyoming. Each device has reduced methane emissions by about 50 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per valve. That figure is equal to taking nine cars off the road. Devon plans to replace about 2,300 more valves in Wyoming and 700 in Western Oklahoma and the Texas Panhandle.

In 2010, the American Carbon Registry approved the methodology associated with the new valve as the first carbon offset methodology for the oil and natural gas industry. That designation sets the stage for Devon to mitigate future costs of obtaining carbon credits should Congress pass cap-and-trade legislation.

Each valve costs about $300. That cost is recovered quickly – usually within three months – by capturing and selling the natural gas that was vented using the older technology.

“The device literally pays for itself before the invoice comes due,” said Darren Smith, a manager of Devon’s Environmental, Health and Safety department.

The new technology is designed specifically to replace outdated valves on older wells. Devon’s newer wells, including all of the company’s wells in the Barnett Shale, already feature low-bleed valves.

:}

Go there and read. More tomorrow.

:}

2 Nuclear Power Plant failures in 2 Days – So nuclear power is still safe right

Posted on by
Reply

So in the Illinois case an INSULATOR fell off a transformer and shut down the plant. This is a little bit more than a missed inspection. This is more like they ignored the problem until it broke. Not very encouraging if you ask me. In the case of the California plant, it sprung a little leak. I mean really it leaks. Shouldn’t someone stick their finger in it till they get it fixed.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/01/31/146137547/illinois-nuclear-power-plant-shuts-down-unit-after-power-loss

Illinois Nuclear Power Plant Shuts Down Unit After Power Loss

by

Backup diesel generators are powering one of the two nuclear reactors at the Byron Station facility in northern Illinois. Unit Two came offline yesterday after it inexplicably lost power. The facility’s operator, Exelon, declared the incident an “unusual event” – the lowest of four emergency status declarations set by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Fire crews were called to the site, about 25 miles outside of Rockford, as smoke was seen from the top of the facility building, according to WREX-TV. But the NRC told the Chicago Tribune the smoke was from a transformer and fire crews didn’t find a fire.

:}

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/01/unit-shut-down-at-san-onofre-nuclear-plant.html

San Onofre nuclear power plant unit shut down after potential leak

January 31, 2012 |  6:54 pm

L.A. NOW

Southern California — this just in

« Previous Post | L.A. NOW Home | Next Post »

San Onofre nuclear power plant unit shut down after potential leak

January 31, 2012 |  6:54 pm
Officials at the San Onofre nuclear power plant shut down one of the facility’s two units Tuesday evening after a sensor detected a possible leak in a steam generator tube.

The potential leak was detected about 4:30 p.m., and the unit was completely shut down about an hour later, Southern California Edison said.

“The potential leak poses no imminent danger to the plant workers or the public,” utility spokeswoman Jennifer Manfre told The Times.

 

:}

Go there and read. More tomorrow.

:}