Geoengineering – Love it or hate it, here are 2 views

Posted on September 28, 2009 by Doug Nicodemus

Hate it:

http://www.alternet.org/environment/142784/james_lovelock%3A_schemes_to_%27reverse%27_global_warming_could_lead_to_disaster

James Lovelock: Schemes to ‘Reverse’ Global Warming Could Lead to Disaster

By James Lovelock, The Guardian. Posted September 21, 2009.

Better, perhaps, to let the earth look after itself than try to regulate its system through mirrors, clouds and artificial trees.

The idea of serious scientists and engineers gathering to discuss schemes for controlling the world’s climate would a mere 10 years ago have seemed bizarre, or something from science fiction. But now, well into the 21st century, we are slowly and reluctantly starting to realise that global heating is real. We may have cool, wet summers in the UK, but we are fortunate compared with the Inuit, who see their habitat melting, and Australians and Africans who suffer intensifying heat and drought. We should not be surprised that public policy is edging ever nearer to geoengineering, the therapy our scientists are considering for a fevered planet.

Our senior scientific society, the Royal Society, met at the start of the month to launch the report “Geoengineering the Climate” and to hear from its representative scientists. The meeting was hosted by the president, Lord Rees, and the chairman was Professor John Shepherd, who chaired the study group. The goal, as Prof Shepherd explained in the Guardian in April, was to investigate theories of “intervening directly to engineer the climate system, so as to moderate the rise of temperature” and to “separate the real science from the science fiction”.

Geoengineering is about deliberately changing the air, oceans or land surface of the world to offset global heating with the hope of restoring the cooler world we enjoyed in the last century. We are now fairly sure that the Earth has grown hotter by about one degree Celsius as a consequence of our own action in taking away as farmland the forests and other ecosystems that previously acted to keep the Earth cool. We also have increased by 6% the flow of CO₂ into the air by burning coal, oil and natural gas. If we started global heating, can we reverse it by engineering?

Or Love it:

http://www.alternet.org/environment/142687/geo-engineering_could_save_the_planet_%C3%A2€%C2%A6_and_in_the_process_sacrifice_the_world_/

Geo-Engineering Could Save the Planet … and in the Process Sacrifice the World

By Jason Mark, Earth Island Journal. Posted September 24, 2009.

Having unintentionally warmed the planet, we may have little choice but to intentionally cool it back down. But at what cost?

Earth is busted. Like a supercomputer whose elaborate code has developed a few bugs, the core operating systems of the planet are frayed: Ocean populations are collapsing, forests are disappearing, soils have become thin. Perhaps most worrisome, the globe’s atmosphere, the ecosystem on which all other ecosystems depend, is overheating. The machinery of life appears to have malfunctioned.

Since the scale of the climate crisis became clear, the strategy for fixing this glitch has focused on remediation. To maintain the atmosphere’s equilibrium, we need to reduce our emissions of greenhouse gases. Our chief goal should be to return the climate to something approximating the pre-industrial status quo.

But what if such a return isn’t possible? What if the planet has gone permanently haywire? As the effects of climate change become obvious and global leaders remain unable to halt emissions, a growing number of scientists say we need to begin researching what’s called “geo-engineering” — ways to artificially reduce global temperatures and/or manipulate plants or the oceans to absorb huge amounts of CO2. Having unintentionally warmed the planet, we may have little choice but to intentionally cool it back down.

Even those most interested in geo-engineering say that the idea of deliberately deforming the planet in order to save it from ourselves is, as Stanford University‘s Ken Caldeira told NPR this summer, “scary.” Yet if we shy away from manipulating the whole globe and continue on our present course, we could be left with a burnt Earth unlike anything ever seen. The scientists who are encouraging government-funded research into geo-engineering are driven by a powerful motive: fear. All too aware of the implications of unchecked CO2 emissions — and worried that political systems aren’t moving quickly enough to respond to changes in the planet’s physical systems — these scientists say we may have no other option than to tinker with the sky.

As the atmospheric pressure mounts so will the clamor to DO SOMETHING.

The Northwest Passage Is Open For Business – How come the world is not outraged

Posted on September 25, 2009 by Doug Nicodemus

It’s Jam Band Friday ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZ-aJ1bWGLw )

http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/53899,news,the-northeast-passage-could-enable-russia-to-blackmail-europe

Two German cargo ships navigate the Northeast Passage

Climate change could open up the Northeast Passage and link European consumers to booming Asian markets. It could also give Russia the means to blackmail the West

By Roger Howard

FIRST POSTED SEPTEMBER 23, 2009

If climate change can have a silver lining, then some optimists might argue that it probably lies in the Northeast Passage. Last week two German cargo ships sailed part of its course, making their way along Russia’s Arctic coast from South Korea to Siberia, passing through the Bering Strait, with an ease that would have been unthinkable before local sea ice began to feel the heat of global warming.

Already speculation is rife that this heralds the advent of a major new shipping route, running through waters that are expected to eventually become ice-free for much of the year round. This route, it is said, will link Europe with booming Asian markets, slashing distances and journey times through the Suez and Panama Canals by as much as a third. Shippers could then pass their savings onto customers, who would benefit from lower prices in the high street.

Russia could block ships that belong to states that don’t toe the Moscow lineThe political price of an active Northeast Passage, however, may not be quite so attractive. For what no one has noticed is that it would effectively become a maritime, commercial pipeline – and the story of how the Kremlin views and uses its pipelines elsewhere is by now a highly familiar one.

Moscow would benefit from this commercial pipeline in the Arctic Ocean in two distinct ways. On the one hand it could potentially charge exorbitant transit revenues – thinly disguised as ‘icebreaker fees’, even when such escort is unnecessary – on ships that move through what it regards as its own ‘national waters’. Earlier this year, Russia was levying an extortionate $16 fee on every ton of oil cargo, compared with the meagre $1 that Finland charged Baltic shipping.

( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMXqn42AykM )

( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VK3ehJ22qOU&feature=related )

( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DWcV9b5K-o )

I remember when they were together…not the continents… Theresa and Anders

Weatherstripping – Having a leaking house does not make sense

Posted on September 17, 2009 by Doug Nicodemus

It is an obvious point…the trouble really is in the temperate zones of the world. In theory where it is really hot most of the time you want either a totally open house or a totally closed house. In a predominately cold climate you definitely want a totally closed house. However where you have nice Springs and Falls humans like to “open up the house and air things out”. Thus weather stripping.

http://home.howstuffworks.com/home-improvement/repair/how-to-apply-weatherstripping.htm

How to Install Weatherstripping

If you had a 6-inch-square hole in the middle of your front door, you would certainly do something in order to plug it up. Yet there are thousands of homes in which a 1/8-inch-wide crack exists all the way around the door, and this gap is just about the equivalent air loss of that 6-inch-square hole. Letting these cracks exist is like throwing dollars out the door or window. Fortunately, weatherstripping can reduce your heating/cooling bills by as much as 30 percent while reducing drafts that can cause discomfort.

Your home may or may not need weatherstripping. Luckily, there are some very simple ways to find out. If you can feel cold air coming in around doors and windows on a windy day, you know the answer. If you are uncertain, you can create your own windstorm at the precise spot where you suspect air might be leaking. Go outside with a handheld hair dryer and have a helper inside move his or her hands around the door and/or window frame as you move the hair dryer.

Learn More

You may discover that all your doors and windows are airtight. Or you may find a door or window that is airtight around three edges but needs help along the fourth edge. What you will probably conclude, however, is that your home has several drafty areas that would benefit from weatherstripping.
In this article, we’ll show you how to install weatherstripping on all parts of your house. We’ll also examine the various types of weatherstripping, which is our first order of business

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weatherstripping

Weatherstripping

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

Weatherstripping is the process of sealing openings such as doors, windows, and trunks from the elements. The goal of weatherstripping is to prevent rain and water from entering by either blocking it outright or by blocking most of it and returning or rerouting it. A secondary goal of weatherstripping is to keep interior air in, thus saving energy with heating and air conditioning.

The materials used in weatherstripping are thresholds, a piece of material, either a sweep or a J-hook, to match the door to the threshold, and the actual weathstripping itself.

Every exterior door, or door to an uninsulated room such as an attic, must be weatherstripped as required by code enforcement in various states of U.S.:}

There is so much of it out there:

http://www.randysurleymfg.com/

Randy Surley Manufacturing Company has a wide variety of commercial and residential weather stripping materials suitable for any circumstance. Our product line consists of perimeter weather stripping for doors and windows such as cushion and spring bronze, kerf, brush, and pile. We also have a wide variety of thresholds including interlocking, saddles, aluminum, and brass. We also carry many different door bottoms, sweeps, and seals. We are continually expanding our product line to meet your needs. Contact us if you do not see what you are looking for.
Manufacturer and supplier of premium weather stripping and door thresholds for interior and exterior applications for both commercial and residential jobs.

http://www.foamtapes.net/?gclid=CKGI456G-ZwCFQMNDQod4Uwqbw

Now You Can Buy Tapes Online From The Industry’s Leading Manufacturers at Competitive Prices!

Choose a category from below, use the toolbar on your left to select by material or go directly to our FAQ’s

	Gasket Tape
	Adhesive-Backed, closed cell foam and sponge tapes designed to prevent the escape of gas or liquid.

	Weatherstripping Tape
	Adhesive-Backed, open or closed cell foam and sponge tapes designed to protect an interior from external extremes in temperature.

	Mounting Tape
	Closed cell foam tapes with adhesive on both sides, designed to bond irregular surfaces together, primarily for mounting lightweight objects to surfaces.

	Glazing Tape
	Specially engineered double-coated mounting tapes designed specifically for mounting glass into window sashes.

	Flashing Tape
	Uncured Butyl Rubber tape designed to provide long-term, watertight window and door installations.

http://www.technologylk.com/products.aspx?category_dept=301&category_ID=1209&source_ID=google&keyword=Door_Weatherstripping&gclid=COGxyMqG-ZwCFSXyDAod0EjKbw
:}

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=howTo&p=Improve/Weatherstripping.html

Weatherstripping Windows and Doors

Skill Level: Beginner

You may not think that those small cracks and crevices around your doors and windows are a very big deal. But, did you know that a 1/8″ space between a standard exterior door and its threshold is equivalent to a two square inch hole in the wall? Closing those gaps can save you up to 15 percent in heating and cooling costs and also can reduce the demand on your heating and cooling system. Best of all, you can probably weatherstrip your entire home in a single day. Lowe’s is happy to provide this information as a service to you.

WHoooof

Mafia Sinks Nuclear Waste – Some stories defy catergorization

Posted on September 16, 2009 by Doug Nicodemus

So I was preparing another post on weatherization and I was searching through Digg and Peak Oil for such stories…probably on window replacement or maybe weather stripping and I came across this WTF story that I just had to post.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8257912.stm

Mafia ‘sank ships of toxic waste’

By Duncan Kennedy
BBC News, Italy

A shipwreck apparently containing toxic waste is being investigated by authorities in Italy amid claims that it was deliberately sunk by the mafia.

An informant from the Calabrian mafia said the ship was one of a number he blew up as part of an illegal operation to bypass laws on toxic waste disposal.

The sunken vessel has been found 30km (18 miles) off the south-west of Italy.

The informant said it contained “nuclear” material. Officials said it would be tested for radioactivity.

Murky pictures taken by a robot camera show the vessel intact and alongside it are a number of yellow barrels.

Labels on them say the contents are toxic.

The informant said the mafia had muscled in on the lucrative business of radioactive waste disposal.

But he said that instead of getting rid of the material safely, he blew up the vessel out at sea, off the Calabrian coast.

He also says he was responsible for sinking two other ships containing toxic waste.

Experts are now examining samples taken from the wreck.

Other vessels

An official said that if the samples proved to be radioactive then a search for up to 30 other sunken vessels believed scuttled by the mafia would begin immediately.

Tree Hugger and the New York Times adds this:

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/09/toxic-waste-ship-sunk-mafia-found-italy.php

calabria coast photo
Somewhere out there are more toxic waste ships waiting to be found. Photo: Peter Rohleder via flickr.

This may sound like a pretty good TV crime show plot, but this is non-fiction: Reuters reports that Italian authorities have discovered a ship containing 180 barrels of toxic waste (some of which may be radioactive), which was purposely sunk by the Mafia, off Italy’s southern coast. What’s more, it’s suspected there are 32 more vessels waiting to be found:

The ship was discovered after a former member of the ‘Ndrangheta organized crime organization tipped off police — the informant was personally responsible for sinking this ship and two others.

The 360′-long vessel is about 18 miles off the coast of Calabria, in 1600′ of water. Based on TV images, at least one barrel has fallen off the ship and it now empty on the sea floor.

Since tighter environmental regulations in the 1980s, illegal dumping of toxic waste has been embraced by the Mafia as another lucrative income stream.

Mafia Has Used Somalia As Dumping Ground for 20 Years
Here’s the broader connection here: Since the 1990s the Mafia have been known to dump toxic waste in the waters off Somalia — where the utter lack of government means it costs one-tenth that of dumping in Europe. In 2004, toxic and radioactive waste washed up on Somali beaches, causing illness in local people. This toxic waste dumping is also cited by local fisherman as contributing to declining fish stocks in the region, thereby pushing people to piracy.

The New York Times and the Associated Press adds this:

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/09/15/world/AP-EU-Italy-Toxic-Mafia.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=mafia%20sink%20ships&st=cse

Giordano said the former mobster, Francesco Fonti, from the Calabria-based ‘ndrangheta crime syndicate, has claimed the mob sank ”hundreds” of barrels of illegally disposed of waste.

The prosecutor, based in Paola, Calabria, has promised that if analyses do turn up toxic substances, the hunt would be on for more sunken ships.

Fonti claims mobsters made millions of dollars illegally dumping radioactive and other toxic wastes for northern Italian businesses. Fonti has said he himself has been involved in the alleged sinking of three vessels, including the ship the robotic diver is now filming.

In recent interviews, Fonti’s face was blackened out to protect his identity, since he is under state protection.

Fonti claims the ship being filmed was carrying 120 barrels of radioactive waste when he alleged he used explosives to sink it some 20 miles (32 kilombers) off the Calabrian coast in 1992.

Investigators have long looked into claims that Italy’s southern-based crime syndicates, including the Naples-area Camorra and the ‘ndrangheta ran illegal rackets disposing of toxic wastes, including in clandestine land dumps.

The plot of the Italian hit movie ”Gomorrah” revolved around a Camorra racket that dumped toxic refuse in farmland near Naples.

Greenpeace and the Italian environmental group Lega Ambiente have been compiling lists over the last few decades of ships that have disappeared off Italy and Greece as they pursue reports of boats laden with toxic substances being sunk.

A Greenpeace official, Alessandro Gianni, told Associated Press Television News in an interview Tuesday that in the ’90s, his organization tried to learn the fate of ships that might have been involved in toxic dumping.

So that is the story of Somalian Piracy…Since the various organized crime families are world wide now how much of this has been going on. The Russians sank a Chinese Ship in January. Another Russian Ship went “astray” in July. Has the Mafia turned the high seas into their personal toxic dumping ground? Better question to ask is, did Big Businesses like the Nuclear Power Plants of the world turn to the Mafia to dump their toxic waste…hmmmmm?

Yahoo Attacks The Illinois State Fair – Well not really but my Yahoo account was attacked

Posted on August 27, 2009 by Doug Nicodemus

The reason this Post is so late in the day is because I opened my web browser today and it showed that I had 35 messages waiting for me. Someone had unleashed a worm on my address book and it was busy sending all my friends spam. Some of it dangerous spam. I was mortified. I spent over 2 hours checking to make sure it was originating on my computer. People sent some of it back to me so I could see what the heck was spewing out of my account. Then in consultation with my computer expert Afredo I determined that just changing my email password could halt the attack…So I did and it ended. I had to blow off lunch with David Lasley, Dave Fuchs and the Sangamon County Democrats just to get to here…Damnit.

There were some things that I saw at the Illinois State Fair that I did not really care for. One of those things was the prominence of Biofuel in both of Governor Pat Quinn’s tents. We all know that biofuel, especially ones made from foods, distract people from getting rid of the internal combustion engine. It also drives up food prices so this:

and this:

were NOT appreciated.

Though the latest craze in biofuels is watermellons that are farm waste:

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2009/08/26/watermelon-fuel.html

Watermelon Juice: The New Fuel?

Michael Reilly, Discovery News

Fill ‘er Up | Discovery News Video

Aug. 26, 2009 — A staple of backyard barbecues and summer time snacks, watermelon is also a promising new source of renewable energy.

According to a new study, leftover watermelons from farms’ harvests could be converted into up to 9.4 million liters (2.5 million gallons) of clean, renewable ethanol fuel every year destined for your car, truck, or airplane’s gas tank.

Agriculturally, watermelon is a peculiar fruit — each year farmers across the country leave between 20 and 40 percent of their crop to rot on the ground. These are the ugly ducklings of the lot; though perfectly fine on the inside, the misshapen or blemished melons simply won’t sell at the grocery store.

“If a crow lands on a melon, takes two pecks at the rind, and then flies away, it’s no good,” Wayne Fish of the United States Department of Agriculture in Lane, Oklahoma said. “I had farmers telling me, ‘I’m leaving one-fifth of my melons on the land. Is there anything I can do with them?'”

Across the United States, he estimated that 360,000 tons of watermelons spoil in fields every year.

Some local growers wondered whether the waste melons could be turned into ethanol, the clean-burning fuel derived from plant sugars. In a series of new experiments published yesterday in the journal Biotechnology for Biofuels, Fish and a team of researchers showed that they can.

What’s more, watermelon juice may turn out to be the perfect way to optimize industrial-scale production of ethanol from corn, molasses and sugar cane.

Then there was this. What the hell. This causes Earth Quakes in Texas yet it makes it to the State Fair?

Fracking is Coming to Decatur. People better get ready for it:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,526233,00.html

Drilling Eyed as Possible Culprit Behind Texas Earthquakes

Sunday, June 14, 2009

CLEBURNE, Texas — The earth moved here on June 2. It was the first recorded earthquake in this Texas town’s 140-year history — but not the last.

There have been four small earthquakes since, none with a magnitude greater than 2.8. The most recent ones came Tuesday night, just as the City Council was meeting in an emergency session to discuss what to do about the ground moving.

The council’s solution was to hire a geology consultant to try to answer the question on everyone’s mind: Is natural gas drilling — which began in earnest here in 2001 and has brought great prosperity to Cleburne and other towns across North Texas — causing the quakes?

“I think John Q. Public thinks there is a correlation with drilling,” Mayor Ted Reynolds said. “We haven’t had a quake in recorded history, and all the sudden you drill and there are earthquakes.”

At issue is a drilling practice called “fracking,” in which water is injected into the ground at high pressure to fracture the layers of shale and release natural gas trapped in the rock.

There is no consensus among scientists about whether the practice is contributing to the quakes. But such seismic activity was once rare in Texas and seems to be increasing lately, lending support to the theory that drilling is having a destabilizing effect.

On May 16, three small quakes shook Bedford, a suburb of Dallas and Fort Worth. Two small earthquakes hit nearby Grand Prairie and Irving on Oct. 31, and again on Nov. 1.

Energy and the Illinois State Fair – Dancing inbetween the rain drops

Posted on August 25, 2009 by Doug Nicodemus

Cathy

and I went to the Illinois State Fair

To see the Butter Cow.

This year’s fair was really weird weather wise. It rained when Cathy and I normally go on Monday and Tuesday – Senior’s Day and Agriculture Day respectively. So by the time we made it on Friday most everything was gone. Embarrassingly we did not make it to Conservation World where all the cool kids and our friends hang out. We did make it to the Expo Building where home efficiency seemed to be the order of the day:

We met this nice man from Energy Doctor. A business that offers to tighten your envelop and use other measures as a package to reduce your energy consumption. They started in Iowa but have 5 offices now. Please visit them at:

http://www.energydoctorinc.com/index.html

Then we saw the purdy little girl at the Anderson Windows booth:

http://www.andersenwindows.com/

And we saw the people from Peoria Siding:

http://www.peoriasiding.com/pages/siding.php

And the Four Seasons solar space:

http://www.fourseasons.com/?source=gaw09cxbrS13&kw=4+seasons&KW_ID=P161761933&creative=2879208154&type=search&keyword=4%20seasons&adid=2879208154&placement=&gclid=CMWmhMOxv5wCFQ7xDAodjGQnnw

OH I mean this Four Seasons:

http://www.fourseasonssunrooms.com/

Having exhausted ourselves we went across the street to Mehan’s food stand and got a corn dog and a lemon shake up. They are celebrating 75 years at the Illinois State Fair…Congratulations

Lighting Things On Fire Fascinates Humans – Burning things is stupid

Posted on August 21, 2009 by Doug Nicodemus

(it’s jam band friday and i saw eva hunter last night so – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2i8vaWoIVN4 – )

Everyone who is human has started a fire. It is primal, but now it is deadly. The “off gases” of combustion are changing the planet Earth’s composition to the point that much of the animal world will not be able to live in it.

http://redyak.com/video/BurningThings/BurningThings.htm

(speaking of hot – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOx6QGJaNFA&feature=related -)

While we are hooked on burning things the rest of the world moves on:

http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2248232/china-poised-seize-clean-tech

China poised to seize clean tech crown

Report from The Climate Group argues China is set to dominate the global market for low-carbon technologies

James Murray, BusinessGreen, 21 Aug 2009

China’s position as one of the world’s pre-eminent clean tech hubs was underlined yesterday, with the release of a major new report from The Climate Group arguing that the country has already secured a lead over many of its global rivals in the race to develop and implement low-carbon technologies.

The report, which updates a similar study from last year, concluded that despite the onset of the global recession, Chinese clean tech firms are continuing to record impressive growth, aided in no small part by the government’s decision to focus much of its $585bn (£354bn) stimulus package on low-carbon projects.

The study found that while the Chinese government is resisting international calls to set carbon emission targets, it is delivering good progress against domestic targets to improve energy efficiency, having cut the energy intensity of the economy 60 per cent since 1980.

(did i mention seriously talented – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6PJUoNp0tY&feature=related -)

Yet still we must send smoke into the very air we breath and without which we can not survive.

http://www.dgate.org/~brg/death/index2.html

We like to burn things!

So one fine Saturday, recently, (to be exact it was the third of February, 1996), we were kinda bored, and we were messing around with some hard drives, trying to get them to work. One of ’em was completely dead — no spin-up, no blinking light, no nothing. The computer said it was a Micropolis but couldn’t tell us more than that. So we figured, the thing’s toast, right? And we figured, we’re on the third floor, right? Cool. Open da window. (Remember, it was -6 degrees F out that night!) ;-> Well, enough of my ranting, why dontcha look at the pictures! (If you are using a text-only browser, you might as well quit now. We took 87 pictures for this thing, and they *ARE* the good part, OK???)

(did I say beautiful – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQ7KDVtxcXA&feature=related -)

We throw so much up in the air, SOX, NOX, Natural gases like methane, butane, and propane, and dangerous particulates like mercury. Yet everyone wants to worry about carbon. I guess that is as good a place as any to start:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_carbon_dioxide_emissions_per_capita

List of countries by carbon dioxide emissions per capita

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

CO₂ emission per capita per year per country

This article relies largely or entirely upon a single source. Please help improve this article by introducing appropriate citations of additional sources. (September 2008)

This is a list of countries by carbon dioxide emissions per capita from 1990 through 2006. All data were calculated by the US Department of Energy’s Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center (CDIAC), mostly based on data collected from country agencies by the United Nations Statistics Division.

Countries are ranked by their metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions per capita in 2006.

(great band too – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBnfxOovUVA&feature=related )
They even have a FaceBook page dedicated to it. You too can make your own Flamethrower!

Burning Things

Homemade Flamethrower

haha i encourage you all to try this… pam + water gun = pure entertainment!

Length:0:09

Burning Things

Burnt things

11 new photos

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RECENT ACTIVITY

Burning Things discussed I am a pyromaniac. I burn these things: on the Burning Things discussion board.

Burning Things edited their Founded and Company Overview.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4InbNOJqqy8&feature=related

I like her very much.

Why Rightwing Fundamentalism Is So Environmentally Destructive

Posted on August 20, 2009 by Doug Nicodemus

Why are Conservatives so stupid. Usually right away I get accused of name calling and class warfare. I usually respond that I am not questioning their intelligence so much as I am questioning their larger view of the world. I point out there is a class war going on and most of us are losing it. In much the same way that the VERY Rich slave holders perpetuated the fighting and hatred of the less wealthy poor whites and blacks, the world destroyers and the mega wealthy must have the lower classes fighting and bickering over “tree huggers” and Cap and Trade. This is what the fundamentalists miss. For lofty ideals that do not exist like “personal freedom” they are watching the only world that we have slip away for the enrichment of the very few.

Further more as I have said for 30 years it is not the “little guy” that is to blame for things like destabilizing the climate and acidifying the oceans. It is in this order, The militaries of the world, the Airline Industry, the Big Smoke Stack users (mainly megawatt coal fired electrical plants), and the Shipping industry. That is it. The little guy can ride his stinky garden tractor, fire up his stinky grill and drive his F150 to work everyday if he wants to. THINK about it for a moment. The aforementioned Earth wreckers want the burdened pushed off on the public. It means they get to keep on polluting because we STOP.

http://www.usnews.com/articles/business/economy/2007/11/14/the-10-biggest-carbon-dioxide-polluters.html

The 10 Biggest Carbon Dioxide Polluters

By Marianne Lavelle

Posted November 14, 2007

Ten large companies generate more than one third of the 2.8 billion tons of carbon dioxide emitted each year by U.S. electric power

generators, according to figures in a first-of-its-kind database unveiled Wednesday.

American Electric Power, based in Columbus, Ohio, and Southern Co. of Atlanta, which run the largest coal power plants in the country, top the list of U.S. companies responsible for greenhouse gas emissions from electricity, according to data compiled by the Center for Global Development, a global economic development think tank in Washington, D.C.

The database, called CARMA or Carbon Monitoring for Action, culls for the first time data both from government regulators around the world and commercial databases to provide an up-to-date look at the state of CO₂ from power production—which accounts for one quarter of all carbon emissions. (The database doesn’t look at other large sources, like transportation and manufacturing.) Here are the top sources of greenhouse gas emissions from electricity generation in the United States:

The 10 Biggest Carbon Dioxide Polluters

COMPANY	TONS OF CO₂ PER YEAR
1. American Electric Power	174 million
With 5 million customers in 11 states from Ohio to Texas, its biggest carbon emissions come from its Gavin coal plant in Cheshire, Ohio.
2. SOUTHERN	172 million
Has 4.3 million customers in the Southeast and owns the top three carbon-emitting power plants in the country: Scherer, in Juliet, Ga.; Miller in Quinton, Ala.; and Bowen in Cartersville, Ga.
3. (tie) AES CORP.	108 million
Has power plants from New York to California, with the worst emissions from its Petersburg, Ind., plant.
3. (tie) DUKE ENERGY	108 million
Serves 4 million customers in the Carolinas, Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana. Its Gibson plant in Owensville, Ind., is the nation’s fourth-largest carbon emissions source in the power sector.
5. TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY	101 million
The nation’s largest public power company serves the 8.7 million residents of the Tennessee Valley. Its Cumberland City, Tenn., plant ranks eighth in the nation in CO₂ emissions.
6. NRG ENERGY	82.7 million
A wholesale power producer that operates in deregulated electricity markets throughout the country, its W.A. Parish plant in Thompsons, Texas, is the nation’s No. 5 carbon emissions source.
7. XCEL ENERGY	76.1 million
With 3.3 million customers in the West and Midwest, its largest carbon generator is its Sherburne County plant in Becker, Minn.
8. MIDAMERICAN ENERGY HOLDINGS	70.9 million
A Warren Buffett Berkshire Hathaway company, MidAmerican serves customers in Iowa, Illinois, and South Dakota, with its largest CO₂ emissions from the Jim Bridger plant in Point Of Rocks, Wyo.
9. PROGRESS ENERGY	68.1 million
Based in Raleigh, N.C., its plant in Roxoboro, N.C., is its biggest emissions source.
10. DOMINION RESOURCES	66.6 million
Dominion is based in Virginia, with operations stretching into the Northeast and Midwest. Its biggest carbon emissions source is its Mount Storm, W.Va., plant.

……

Strikingly, three Chinese power companies, South Africa’s giant Eskom, and India’s NTPC all generate more CO₂ emissions than any single U.S. firm—underscoring the shared challenge posed by global climate change. The largest, Huaneng Power International of China, has emissions 68 percent higher than American Electric Power’s.

I am quoting extensively from the article because it makes the point rather well. It is well researched and Lavelle is a good writer. In a startling 2 paragraphs she cuts through all the smoke and the fog to the heart of this story.

One of the most striking findings in the data, says David Wheeler, a Center for Global Development senior fellow who led the research, is how concentrated the problem is among a relatively few large power generators. He said the top 100 companies worldwide produce 57 percent of CO₂ emissions coming from the power sector. The top 30 companies produce 30 percent of the total. “On the one hand, it’s sobering,” he says. “But it might be hopeful. You could actually assemble the CEOs of those firms, and there might be many channels through which they can organize and address this as a group themselves. I think that’ll be critical to a solution.”

Wheeler was a former lead economist in the World Bank’s Development Research Group, where his team used public disclosure as a strategy to generate pressure from lenders and communities for pollution reduction in China, Indonesia, and the Philippines. Wheeler says his team similarly hopes the CARMA data will be used not only by environmental groups but by institutional and private investors and insurers, to encourage power companies to use less coal and oil and shift to renewable resources

If you want to check the data here is the CARMA site:

http://carma.org/

About CARMA

Posted by Christopher Frazier on March 25, 2006

Frequently Asked Questions
CARMA’s Partners
All About Icons
Plant-Specific Information
Citation Policy
CARMA Version Tracker

At its core, Carbon Monitoring for Action (CARMA) is a massive database containing information on the carbon emissions of over 50,000 power plants and 4,000 power companies worldwide. Power generation accounts for 40% of all carbon emissions in the United States and about one-quarter of global emissions. CARMA is the first global inventory of a major, emissions-producing sector of the economy.

CARMA is produced and financed by the Confronting Climate Change Initiative at the Center for Global Development, an independent and non-partisan think tank located in Washington, DC.

The objective of CARMA.org is to equip individuals with the information they need to forge a cleaner, low-carbon future. By providing complete information for both clean and dirty power producers, CARMA hopes to influence the opinions and decisions of consumers, investors, shareholders, managers, workers, activists, and policymakers. CARMA builds on experience with public information disclosure techniques that have proven successful in reducing traditional pollutants.

Yet yet at least one of the social values issues also comes into play and that is abortion. Now I could go on and on about a woman’s right to control her body and how god does not play an active role in the world so birth is not a “miracle”. But the fact is that the main hatred of abortion by the various world’s religions is based on their desire for world domination. The idea being that once the world is “totally” christian for instance then NIRVANA will arrive. But what this ignores is the Over Population that this has caused. The world population stands at 9 billion people. The Earth has a carrying capacity of about a billion people soooooo at some point there is going to be a huge die off. Probably when my niece Taylor is in her 30s or 40s. I just want to say to my mother and others like her…don’t you realize that you are killing Taylor off?

http://www.overpopulation.org/cgi-bin/cgiwrap/popaware/article.pl?display_subsection%%%NewsDigest_NewsItem%%1

If we don’t halt population growth with justice and compassion, it will be done for us by nature,
brutally and without pity – and will leave a ravaged world.”
Nobel Laureate Dr. Henry W. Kendall

While I Was Gone Many Energy and Environmental Things Happened

Posted on August 17, 2009 by Doug Nicodemus

I was so tempted to post them but I swore that for the first time in 2 years I would take a break. Tomorrow I may even post some vacation photos (shock) and we will be going to the State Fair so there will be pictures of that too (awe). Maybe if you are lucky a picture of the Butter Cow. Anyway in a nutshell here are some of the things I missed:

http://www.sj-r.com/homepage/x772302426/Dozens-show-up-for-jobs-at-former-Monterey-coal-mine

Dozens show up for jobs at former Monterey coal mine

By DEB LANDIS

THE STATE JOURNAL-REGISTER

Posted Aug 14, 2009 @ 08:51 PM

Last update Aug 14, 2009 @ 11:24 PM

WILLIAMSVILLE — Ron Semplowski of Gillespie has been laid off three times in the last four years.

Friday, Semplowski and three members of his extended family who also are unemployed drove an hour to Williamsville for a jobs fair for the Shay No. 1 coal mine that will operate out of the former Monterey coal mine facilities in Macoupin County between Carlinville and Gillespie.More than 50 applicants showed up by 9 a.m., according to the company.

“We drove 65 miles, and the mine is probably two miles from my house,” Semplowski said. Rodney Rosentreter, who is also from Gillespie, said: “None of us has experience in coal mining, but we have other job experiences.” Such jobs, said the Semplowski and Rosentreter family members, have included work with automotive, insulation and pork-producing companies.

http://www.sj-r.com/entertainment/x1528792918/A-E-Notebook-A-new-Lincoln-musical-and-a-documentary-on-coal
Check out ‘Coal Country’ at Brew &View

Liberty Brew & View film series will host a screening of the documentary “Coal Country” at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Capital City Bar & Grill, 3149 S. Dirksen Parkway. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Admission is free.

The film is about modern coal mining and tells the stories of miners, activists who are battling coal companies in Appalachia, coal company officials and others involved in the industry. The film addresses questions related to the nation’s energy needs and the environmental impact of coal mining.

I have it on good authority that the cinematographer will be there to discuss his work

http://www.sj-r.com/homepage/x1528792006/Ameren-to-lay-off-80-at-Illinois-power-plants

Ameren to lay off 80 at Illinois power plants

By TIM LANDIS (tim.landis@sj-r.com)

THE STATE JOURNAL-REGISTER

Posted Aug 12, 2009 @ 03:08 PM

Last update Aug 12, 2009 @ 11:17 PM

More than 80 jobs at Ameren Corp. power plants in Illinois will be eliminated by the spring of next year as the poor economy continues to drive down demand for electricity, the company announced Wednesday.The cuts include 47 jobs at the Meredosia power plant, approximately 60 miles northwest of Springfield. Wednesday’s announcement came three weeks after the company announced it would cut 55 jobs in its Illinois energy marketing operations.Laid-off workers will be offered transfers, if possible, or severance packages and job-search assistance, according to the company.

“While we regret having to take this action, the challenges we face demand a new model for our merchant generation business. We must build a leaner, more streamlined organization that can more effectively compete in today’s difficult economy where we see much lower prices for our power,” said a statement from Chuck Naslund, president and CEO of Ameren Energy Resources Co.

Naslund said the company also has cut about $1 billion worth of construction projects that had been planned from 2010 to 2013.

http://www.sj-r.com/homepage/x1558733451/Wind-farm-neighbors-to-petition-for-greater-distance

Wind farm neighbors to petition for greater distance

By TIM LANDIS (tim.landis@sj-r.com)

THE STATE JOURNAL-REGISTER

Posted Aug 11, 2009 @ 11:30 PM

A group of Sangamon County residents plans to file petitions this week asking that developers of a commercial wind farm be required to put greater distance between turbines and non-participating property owners.Approximately 450 signatures have been collected for submission to the county board and a county zoning appeals board, Cathy Bomke of Sangamon County Citizens for Wind Rights said Monday.The petitions ask that the current 1,200-foot setback requirement from the property of non-participating landowners be increased to a mile, although Bomke said the mile figure is open to discussion.

“One mile is where we started based on research on health, safety and property values. It’s not cut in stone. It’s a starting point for us,” Bomke said.

Bomke said a few petitions still must counted, but that the group hopes to file the request as early as Wednesday.

“What we’re asking for is a simple review of the setbacks. We’re not trying to stop anything here,” Bomke said.

American Wind Energy Management Corp. continues signing up property owns and conducting tests for the Meridian Wind Farm, a utility-scale project that in the first phase would have as many as 200 turbines in an area roughly between New Berlin and Pleasant Plains.

http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/partner/renewable-energy-world-north-america/news/article/2009/08/renewable-energy-world-conference-expo-exceeded-growth-and-attendance-expectations?cmpid=rss

August 13, 2009

Renewable Energy World Conference & Expo Exceeded Growth and Attendance Expectations;

Continued Strong Growth in 2010 Is Expected

March 30, 2009/Tulsa, OK

More than 4,000 renewable energy professionals from 75 different countries gathered in Las Vegas, Nevada for the sixth annual Renewable Energy World North America conference and expo March 10-12. With more than 225 companies exhibiting, both the exhibit and attendance numbers reflected significant increases over a year ago. Next year’s numbers are again expected to increase. A total of over 5,000 attendees and 300 exhibitors are expected at the Renewable Energy World North America conference and expo in Austin, Texas, February 23-25, 2010.

Renewable Energy World North America is owned and managed by PennWell Corporation and is the largest all-renewable conference and exhibition in the world. Conference sessions covered issues related to wind, solar, biomass, hydroelectricity, geothermal and hydrogen technologies, projects and finance.

“Renewable Energy World North America has shown exceptional growth in recent years and 2009 was no exception,” said Richard Baker, senior vice president of power for PennWell. “Our association partners, corporate sponsors and growing number of exhibitors are instrumental in making this the premiere all-renewable event in the world. Our host utility, NV Energy, exceeded expectations when it came to their support and involvement.”

Exhibitors also reported results that exceeded expectations. “Following our successful launch to the utility industry at DistribuTech, we were excited to keep the momentum going with our debut presence at Renewable Energy World 2009 in Las Vegas,” said Therese Wells, Director of Marketing for Ice Energy. “The visibility and exposure we generated there among key influencers has been invaluable for us as we establish the importance of energy storage as a key enabling technology for the renewable industry. We are excited to be back again in 2010. From DistribuTech to PowerGen to Renewable Energy World, PennWell’s global energy conferences

are a fundamental cornerstone of our event strategy.”

“Renewable Energy World and Power-Gen are the premier power industry trade shows in the United States,” said Chris Huntington, Vice President of Business Development for SkyFuel. “For SkyFuel, these are the crucial venues in which to meet the customers, suppliers and developers with whom we hope to create a new paradigm in the power industry; one in which utility scale solar power is no longer a marginal alternative but a mainstream option.”

The Keynote Session on March 10 featured Roberto Denis, Senior Vice President of Energy Supply for NV Energy. Following his remarks he was joined on stage by the executive directors of each of the leading renewable industry trade associations for a lively roundtable discussion on the economic stimulus, federal and state policy initiatives and technological breakthroughs. Roundtable participants included Denise Bode, CEO of the American Wind Energy Association; Douglas Durante, Executive Director of the Clean Fuels Development Coalition; Karl Gawell, Executive Director if the Geothermal Energy Association; Linda Church-Ciocci, Executive

Director of the National Hydropower Association; Julia Hamm, Executive Director of the Solar Electric Power Association; and Rhone Resch, President & CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association. Edwin F. Feo, Partner in the law firm Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy LLP also took part.

Archived video coverage of the event is available by visiting Renewable Energy World.com, the event’s flagship media sponsor.

The 2010 event is scheduled for February 23-25 in Austin, Texas. For more information, visit the Renewable Energy World North America web site at www.renewableenergyworld-events.com.

This is what we have to look forward to:

http://www.conferencealerts.com/energy.htm

August 2009

17 Preparing for a NERC Audit Chicago IL
18 United We Stand / Building A Sustainable Economy – Conference & Trade show Washington DC
18 National Renewable Energy Summit 2009 Kuching Malaysia
21 Beyond the Brain VIII: Self and Death – What Survives? Canterbury United Kingdom
24 High Voltage Transmission Conductors Conference – (?69 kV) Chicago IL
24 Oil and Gas Boot Camp™ Houston Texas
25 Utility Scale CSP–Breaking Barriers and Lowering Cost Denver CO
26 ICESE 2009 – International Conference on Electrical Systems Engineering London Other
26 CESSE 2009 – International Conference on Computer, Electrical, and Systems Science, and Engineering London Other
26 CESSE 2009 – International Conference on Computer, Electrical, and Systems Science, and Engineering Singapore Singapore
26 ICEE 2009 – International Conference on Energy and Environment Singapore Singapore
26 The 3rd International Conference on Fermentation Technology for Value Added Agricultural Products Khon Kaen Thailand
27 Australian Institute of Hotel Engineers Gold Coast Australia
28 International Workshop on Empirical Methods in Energy Economics (EMEE09) Jasper Canada
30 SYNERGY AND TECHNICAL DEVELOPMENT in Agricultural Engineering Gödöllõ Hungary
31 The Indian Sugar Summit New Delhi India
31 Sustainable Energy Technology (SET) 2009 Aachen Germany
SET 2009 conference brings together leadingacademics and industrial partners and provides thelatest developments in sustainable technologies inthe energy, built environment, transport, waste &industry to stimulate new collaboration.

Windows Are Just Plain Stupid – If you want to see outdoors go outside

Posted on August 7, 2009 by Doug Nicodemus

(it is jam band friday – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFzZXvivo4c )

I know, I know…during the winter you can gather all that heat and store in something like a Trombe Wall but then you get into all this summer winter trade offs. You end up having to “shut off” the windows in the summer. There is a natural lighting argument and I am sure that in a work environment there is a health factor in there too. For homes however you can supply the light with light tunnels and avoid the solar load. Again health wise, if you want to feel one with nature – Go for a walk.

( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2c-iMqlA_w&feature=related )
:}

http://www.celsias.com/article/report-energy-efficiency-could-save-us-whopping-12/

http://digg.com/science

Energy Efficiency Could Save U.S. a Whopping $1.2 Trillion

A new report finds that the low-hanging fruit of energy efficiency is the “single most promising resource” in pursuing energy affordability and security.

In addition to the tremendous savings potential for consumers and businesses, the report (pdf), by the global consulting firm Mckinsey and Company , finds that elevating energy efficiency to a national priority could also spur the creation of 600,000-900,000 long-term green jobs and reduce our overall energy consumption by 23 percent.

What are the implications of the above findings? Energy efficiency is an enormous (and enormously cheap) energy resource for the U.S., “but only if the nation can craft a comprehensive and innovative approach to unlock it.”

One of those barriers is seed money; the $1.2 trillion wouldn’t come for free. The investment, according to the report’s authors, would be about $522 billion over the next ten years, not including program implementation. But an investment of that scale could slash energy consumption in 2020 by 9.1 quadrillion BTUs, or 23% of projected demand, potentially avoiding up to 1.1 gigatons of greenhouse gas emissions annually.

Mckinsey and Company found that substantial gains in efficiency could be made by:

1. Recognizing true potential of energy efficiency and prioritizing;
2. Encouraging old as well as new approaches to efficiency at both national and regional levels;
3. Identifying ways to provide the upfront funding for energy efficiency plans and programs;
4. Building collaborative processes with utilities, regulators, government agencies, manufacturers and consumers, and;
5. Fostering innovation in the development and deployment of energy efficiency technologies to sustain ongoing productivity.

Overcoming Significant and Persistent Barriers

To unlock the potential outlined in the report, “significant and persistent barriers” need to be addressed to spur demand for energy efficiency and adopt wide-ranging energy management systems and practices. Sounds easy enough, right? Not so fast, say the report’s authors.

First off, the easiest gains in energy efficiency have already been made and much of the low-hanging fruit has already been picked. Since 1980, energy consumption per unit of floor space has decreased 11% in the residential sector, 21% in the commercial sector and 41% in the industrial sector. But while significant advancements have been made, the report strongly suggests we are not done — largely because of the persistent social, structural and institutional barriers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5ms95iEQ8Q&feature=related

I will be on vacation for next week and I may or may not post.