Category Archives: energy education

When BP Messes Up They Do It Big – But bad gasoline that is crazy

Posted on by
Reply

First they destroy the Gulf of Mexico and now they are after your car. When these things happen, they always appear clueless. Really.

I was going to write about the drought today again, but there are some stories that you can not pass up.

http://consumerist.com/2012/08/bps-bad-gas-made-it-into-200-stations-in-chicago-area-affecting-at-least-7000-customers.html

BP’s Bad Gas Made It Into 200 Stations In Chicago Area, Affecting At Least 7,000 Customers

By on August 23, 2012 10:00 AM

Since the news hit this week that tainted gas from a BP fuel storage facility in northwest Indiana could be causing drivers to have problems with their vehicles, it seems BP had to scramble a bit to get a gauge on how bad the situation is. The company has churned out a few press releases in the last few days, and has now alerted customers and the media that about 200 retail gas outlets in Indiana and the Chicago area had a case of bad gas.

In the first few hours after the tale of bad gas spread, customers were having a hard time getting an actual BP representative on the phone, much less someone who would have the skill to address the situation. We must say since that point, the company has been trying to get a better handle on the tainted gas, as well as launching a web site for consumers with issues.

In the latest statement from a company spokesman, BP handed down the numbers of 200 retail outlets that were supplied with off-specification regular-grade gasoline, aka the stuff you’d likely fill up with, as well as 20 sites in the Milwaukee area:

The company continues to go through its shipping records and is contacting retailers who may have loaded tanker trucks with the off-specification fuel and is replacing it with on-specification product.

This fuel, sourced from BP’s Whiting, Indiana and Milwaukee, Wisconsin gasoline storage terminals, contained a higher than normal level of polymeric residue, which can lead to hard starting and other drivability issues.

:}

Go there and read. More tomorrow.

:}

Utility Companies Are Struggling Against Global Warming – Since they helped cause it you would think they would have a plan

Posted on by
Reply

But that would mean that monopoly utilities were smart and they are not. Now that the problem has been shoved in their face by the warming up of the sun, they want to talk about it. Great.

http://www.pgecurrents.com/2012/08/07/climate-change-comes-to-the-power-industry/

August 7, 2012
Climate Change Comes to the Power Industry

By Jonathan Marshall

With temperatures setting new records across the country, and over half of the continental United States now experiencing serious drought, global warming is no longer just a prediction of climate scientists. It’s a reality, here and now.

Though every sector of human activity is feeling the impact, electric utilities are feeling them especially keenly, as they struggle to keep up with peak summer demand for air conditioning. At the same time, heat and drought threaten to curb their ability to generate and transmit power in the first place.

As Matthew Wald reported in his Green blog, one power plant in the Midwest was recently curtailed and another shut down altogether because river water levels dropped too low for their cooling intake valves. This was no fluke. A number of Texas power plants reduced their output in 2011 due to water shortages. Three years earlier, many more plants throughout the drought-stricken Southeast came close to shutting down.

:}

Go there and read. More tomorrow.

:}

Global Warming Causes The Illinois Drought – This will probably last until May 2014

Posted on by
Reply

Why do I say that. Because the Sun is finally into its warming phase. The Sun always has 4 cycles: cooling, quietude, warming and maximus. These cycles inhabit an 11 year cycle most probably related to the creation of some of the heavier elements in its core. What does change in no known sequence is which is bigger the cooling cycle or the warming cycle and I suppose some brief time periods of equilibrium. For the last 30 years (almost 3 full cycles) the cooling side of the cycle has been bigger than the heating cycle and the last quietude was almost 2 full years which I believe is the biggest in recorded history. Here is the point. The planet should be cooling but it isn’t. During the cooling we still had some pretty hot years. Why. There is no other thing to blame, but humans. Now that the Sun is heating up and for the next 3 years or so, Watch Out!

http://www.examiner.com/article/drought-affects-nation-s-energy-prices

If you think the drought of summer 2012 is only increasing the prices of the nation’s corn and grain supplies, you’re missing a large part of the picture. Drought reaches into every corner of American pockets, affecting even the cost of driving a car and what we pay for air conditioning.

Current drought conditions

The United States is experiencing the most severe drought, with the highest percentage of land affected by it, in over 60 years, according to the National Climatic Data Center‘s July 17 report. (See August 5 Palmer drought severity map at left. Yellow = moderately dry, orange = severely dry, red = excessively dry.)

Parched conditions have now led to disaster declarations in more than half the counties in the nation–1,584, in 32 states–this growing season. The declarations make these areas eligible for government aid, including low-interest emergency loans to hold the line until farms and ranches recover.

And the ripple effects of this brutal weather will extend farther than the farms in the Midwest, where corn and soybean crops are failing. It will affect meat production nationwide as well because pasture and grazing land has been blighted, forcing farmers and ranchers to seek other–and more expensive–feed for cows and other animals.

In some areas, cattle have to be fed with next year’s grain reserves because local pasture lands have dried up. Almost four million acres of federal conservation land has been opened for haying and grazing. Crop insurers have also begun to provide penalty-free 30-day grace periods on 2012 premiums.

:}

Go there and read. More tomorrow.

:}

America 9th In The World – I am not sure whether I believe this or not

Posted on by
Reply

ACE3 rarely ever gets very much wrong.  But the idea that the UK was the most efficient country in the world and the USA was 9th? There is something very wrong about that.

http://www.energycircle.com/blog/2012/08/15/us-takes-9th-place-energy-efficiency-out-of-12

U.S. Takes 9th Place in Energy Efficiency! (Out of 12).

By Will – August 15th, 2012

A new report from the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE) ranked the energy efficiency of the world’s 12 largest economies. The U.S., unfortunately, ranked 9 out of 12.

So while we were out dominating at the Olympics, we were quietly slipping behind on a metric that, if improved, would yield a substantial benefit  for our country — economically as well as environmentally.

So how did we do on the specifics?

  • 9th overall in energy efficiency
  • 9th in terms of “national effort” in energy efficiency
  • 6th in industrial energy efficiency
  • 4th in building energy efficiency
  • 12th in transportation efficiency

With our penchant for gas guzzlers and the unpopularity of public transportation over here, it’s easy to see how we came in dead last in transportation.

But a shimmer of hope there is the 4th place ranking we got in building energy efficiency — our best category, and not all that shabby really. (We would have almost gotten a medal if building energy efficiency were an Olympic event.) While we’ve previously lamented our slow progress in implementing energy efficiency in buildings, and have shaken our heads as federal tax credits have been cut and legislation aimed at improving energy efficiency has stalled, it looks like we’re actually doing okay in the field of building efficiency compared to the rest of the world’s developed countries.

:}

Go there and read. More next week.

:}

Recycling By Anyother Name – Moves us to a steady state economy

Posted on by
Reply

Methane is the single biggest greenhouse gas that never gets talked about because environmentalists see it as a “bridge” to a clean energy future. Making power from food refuse makes complete sense. I hate to say it but backyard composters, as well meaning as they are, just throw the stuff up in the air.  Ashley Halligan sent me this article:

http://blog.softwareadvice.com/articles/cafm/resource-recovery-facilities-economic-efficient-energy-supply-1071212/

Resource Recovery Facilities: An Economic And Efficient Energy Supply

by Ashley HalliganProperty Management Analyst, Software Advice
July 12, 2012

Although the number of U.S. landfills has steadily declined since 1990, the size of landfills has increased. In fact, Americans generated 250 million tons of municipal solid waste (MSW) in 2010 alone. It’s thus no surprise that MSW landfills are our third-largest, human-generated source of methane emissions. But this is more an opportunity than it is a problem.

Many landfills are becoming resource recovery facilities–places where waste or byproducts are reclaimed and converted into energy. Captured by wells installed throughout a landfill, naturally-occurring methane emissions (or landfill gas–LFG) can be converted into multiple energy sources, including electricity, a replacement for fossil fuels in industrial operations, or upgraded to pipeline-quality gas. Methane’s heat can also be used directly. Of the approximately 2,400 operating or recently closed MSW landfills in the U.S., 535 (around 22 percent) currently have resource recovery projects.

To learn more about these projects and the benefits they deliver, I spoke to several industry experts–including David Specca, Assistant Director for Bioenergy and Controlled Environment Agriculture at the Rutgers University EcoComplex, and Barry Edwards, Director of Engineering and Utilities at Catawba County–and looked at three examples of successful projects.

____________________________
Ashley M. Halligan
Facility Management Analyst
Software Advice

(512) 539-0016
ashley@softwareadvice.com

By the way, we’re hiring…

:}

Go there and read. More tomorrow.

:}

Fukushima Update – Mutated butterflies…oh my

Posted on by
Reply

I was going to put up a piece by a woman in Austin today about recycling electronics and then start in on global warming and the drought here in Illinois but then this popped up. I mean it is the biggest nuclear disaster of this decade and the effects of the radiation are going to be with us for thousands of years. So just like the Ukrainian wolves that we have been watching, the Japanese butterflies bear watching too.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57492524/report-mutated-butterflies-found-near-fukushima/

August 13, 2012 10:52 PM

Report: Mutated butterflies found near Fukushima

Disaster in Japan

(CBS News) A group of scientists in Japan made a surprising discovery by finding large numbers of specimens of pale grass blue butterflies that had mutated.

In a report in the Scientific Reports journal, the scientists said their research concluded that “that artificial radionuclides from the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant caused physiological and genetic damage to this species.” The scientists said their findings were not expected.

“It has been believed that insects are very resistant to radiation,” lead researcher Joji Otaki from the University of the Ryukyus, Okinawa, told the BBC. “In that sense, our results were unexpected.”

:}

Go there and read. More tomorrow.

:}

Solar And Coal – You would not think they go together

Posted on by
Reply

I say this is a stretch. It is just the coal companies to throw a little sop to what “green” means. You judge for yourself.

http://www.earthtechling.com/2010/07/hybrid-solar-coal-plant-being-tested-in-colorado/

Hybrid Solar Coal Plant Being Tested In Colorado

by

As much as we all want coal as an energy source to go away completely, we also know it will take the government and private sector sometime (too long in our opinion) to fully move to clean energy sources. In the meanwhile, methods need to be developed which can minimize the impact of fossil fuel usage on the environment. One such pilot project is going on near Grand Junction, Colorado, at Xcel Energy’s Cameo Generating Station using a unique solar-coal hybrid design.

Xcel Energy said it has connected a parabolic-trough solar technology system developed by Abengoa Solar to its coal power plant. This system concentrates solar energy to provide heat for producing supplemental steam for electric power production, which Xcel Energy feels will help lower the usage of coal as an energy source at this facility while also testing the commercial viability of concentrating solar power thermal integration and lowering carbon dioxide emissions.

This project is believed to be the world’s first known demonstration of the hybrid solar-coal approach using the parabolic-trough solar approach. It is part of a larger program by Xcel Energy to test promising new technologies with potential to lower greenhouse gas emissions and result in other environmental improvements. The company said this program allows it the opportunity to test these technologies and evaluate their cost, reliability and environmental performance at a demonstration scale before determining whether they should be deployed more widely

:}

Go there and judge for yourself. More next week.

:}

Solar Power In New Mexico – What better of a place to set up shop

Posted on by
Reply

Yes I know about the fire at the Chevron Plant in the Bay area and what that adds to the idea that the oil and gas industry is purposely taking gasoline processing capacity offline as demand for gasoline falls to keep prices high. But solar is so much more peaceful and zen like.

This type of progress is just stunning. We are on the way to becoming a renewable country. Now if the rest of the world will follow suit.

http://www.kob.com/article/stories/S2296947.shtml

New Mexico’s largest solar plant opens in Carlsbad

Posted at: 09/22/2011 6:10 PM | Updated at: 09/22/2011 6:16 PM
By: Joe Bartels, KOB Eyewitness News 4

Carlsbad officials unveiled the largest solar power project in New Mexico on Thursday.

Three of the five solar power plants in Southeast New Mexico went online, feeding enough electricity over the next 20 years to power almost 200,000 homes.

Eddy and Lea counties added the additional energy source to their already impressive portfolio.

“We have, of course, nuclear, we have bio fuels being produced down here, a vibrant oil and gas industry that’s doing fantastic and now we have solar,” said John Waters of Eddy County Economic Development.

The 100 acres of photovoltaic panels will track the sun’s movement in the sky for the next 20 to 30 years.

It’s all part of a plan to create clean, renewable energy and jobs.

“What we have is a facility that employed people for a significant amount of time, and will continue to do so over the next 20 to 30 years,” said Robert Reichenberger, Sun Edison spokesperson. “These panels and this facility are expected to last that long so we will continue to need people on the jobsite to monitor the project.”

Out of the three power plants online, two of them are in Jal and one is in Carlsbad.

The two offline – in Eunice and Monument – are expected to be generating power by the end of 2011.

“It shows we’re ahead of the rest of the state in this type of energy production and we like to think of ourselves in Southeastern New Mexico, particularly Eddy County as being a major contributor to the energy industries across the country,” said Waters.

:}

Go there and watch the video. More tomorrow.

:}

Even In Botswana They Like Solar – Though this one is smaller than the first proposal

Posted on by
Reply

About 2 years earlier there is evidence in the literature that the Botswana government let bids for a 200 megawatt facility. So why this one is for a little over a meg., I got no idea. And there are no pretty pictures either.

http://www.botswanaguardian.co.bw/newsdetails.php?nid=3400&cat=BG%20News

Category Name BG News
News Name Solar plant boosts relations with Japan
Author BY LETTY MASUNGA
Date 17-02-2012

BG correspondent The P85 million 1.3MW Photovoltaic Power station in Phakalane will not only serve to diversify the country’s energy sources but also boost the country’s economic relations with Japan. The Japan-sponsored clean energy plant is expected to be complete in September this year. The plant is part of government’s investment in the energy sector. Speaking during a progress tour of the Power Station on Wednesday, Mineral and Water Affairs minister, Ponatshego Kedikilwe said: “This arrangement will not only boost our economic relations with Japan but will be beneficial in the diversification of energy sources,” as it will lessen the pressures of rampant energy shortage. Phillimon Dhafana, the Manager of the Planning and Projects in Rural business unit from Botswana Power Corporation, explained that the power plant would generate uncultivated solar power. Dhafana told the Botswana Guardian that, “our country experiences plenty of heat that these power plant will harness and convert to solar energy that will benefit the whole country.”

Dhafana said the difference between Morupule power station and this new project is that the solar power plant produces clean energy while the Morupule plant emits coal gases, which destroy the greenhouse. The power station is expected to be complete in September.

:}

More next week.

:}

Solar Powered Fruits And Vegetables – Two facilities in a row, that is amazing

Posted on by
Reply

Yep, it is true. This company has an incredible commitment to the environment or is it cheap power. Maybe it is both. Who cares? Lets hope it spreads.

http://www.pv-magazine.com/services/press-releases/details/beitrag/usa–34-mw-conergy-plants-for-largest-carrot-producer-worldwide_100007946/#axzz22Ox7OYNk

USA: 3.4 MW Conergy plants for largest carrot producer worldwide

31. July 2012 | By:  Conergy

Conergy is achieving additional successes in global solar growth markets. In the USA, the system supplier secured two major orders for three power plants with a first phase total capacity of 3.4 megawatts for the world’s largest carrot producer Grimmway Enterprises Inc.

Additional plants totaling 2.3 megawatts may follow at other Grimmway facilities in the future. In 2010, Conergy already helped Grimmway to produce ‘greener carrots’ by installing a 230 kilowatt plant in Arvin, California. At 3.4 megawatts, the new order is 14 times the size of the first Conergy power plant on the Grimmway farm.

30% of the power demand of the Grimmway farms covered by Conergy power plants

By the end of 2012, Conergy will have completed construction of the first three solar power plants with a total capacity of 3.4 megawatts on three carrot plantations in the Californian Central Valley, in Malaga, Bakersfield and Lamont. In a second phase, two other solar energy plants with a total capacity of 2.3 megawatts may follow at other Grimmway facilities. The 4,760 Conergy PM modules at the three power plants will be producing millions of kilowatt hours of clean power every year. This will allow the company to reduce its electricity costs, and it will cover 30% of the power demand at its carrot farms, including its 100% organic farm. In addition, the power plants will prevent the emission of more than 2,700 tonnes of damaging CO2. This makes for ‘greener carrots’ in two ways: through purely organic growing methods and through clean energy generation.

:}

Go there and read. More tomorrow

:}