yet
another filthy fossil fuel industry disaster - the killing fields of coal
[22/02/2009]
“Beijing - A gas explosion killed at least 74 miners and injured
more than 100 at a coal mine in the northern Chinese province of Shanxi
on Sunday, the government and state media said.” [Quoted from
monstersandcritics.com]
Meanwhile, back in the anglo-saxon socialist jungle:
[19/02/2009]
“EVEN as public opinion in the US turns against coal, judges have
overturned a ban on blasting away mountaintops to get at seams.
“In the central Appalachians, including West Virginia, mining
companies have lopped up to 300 metres off hundreds of mountains, destroying
biologically diverse hardwood forest. The debris is often dumped into
valleys, sometimes burying streams in the process.” [Quoted from
newscientist.com]
[22/02/2009]
“A global protest against UK plans to build new coal power plants
is being launched today by campaigners from more than 40 developing
countries accusing the government of being a "climate criminal".
“They have written an open letter to energy and climate change
secretary Ed Miliband that follows repeated warnings from UK groups
that the decisions to approve new coal power plants and the expansion
of Heathrow airport would damage the nation's position in international
negotiations when it tries to persuade other countries to cut global-warming
emissions.
“The 27 groups, including campaigners from India, Brazil, Indonesia,
the Philippines and Uganda, say they are "alarmed" that the
UK government is considering allowing new coal plants to be built, including
one at Kingsnorth in Kent. They blame emissions from rich countries
for causing global warming and the "increased floods, droughts,
sea-levels and disease" that threaten the livelihoods of "hundreds
of millions of people".
“ "Coal power is the most climate-polluting way to generate
electricity," continues the letter. "New coal power stations
in the UK will exacerbate the impacts of climate change on impoverished
communities in the south[ern hemisphere] ... A decision to support new
coal power stations will confirm the UK as a climate criminal in the
international climate-change negotiations.” [Quoted from guardian.co.uk]
cleaning stack gases via algae and recycling the results - short film
4:56 mins
“An algae photobioreactor on the roof of MIT university. The
clear polycarbonate tubes are approx 3 meters high, and 10-20 centimeters
in diameter. It removes upto 86% of the NOx and 40% of the CO2.”
[Quoted from youtube.com]
“This photobioreactor you see here on the roof of MIT, has since
been dismantled and reassembled in Naboomspruit (now called Mookgopong)
South Africa at a biodiesel plant.” [Quoted from motorhomesnews.org]
suggestion
that chinese earthquake killing 10s of 1000s may have been triggered by
three gorges dam
“Build a Dam: Water is heavier than air, so when the valley behind
a dam is filled, the crust underneath the water experiences a massive
change in stress load. For example, the Hoover Dam area experienced
hundreds of quakes as Lake Mead filled. University of Alaska seismologist
Larry Gedney explained, "Since [the dam] reached its peak of 475
feet in 1939, the level of seismicity has fluctuated in direct response
to water level. None of the shocks has been particularly damaging --
the largest was about magnitude 5 -- but the area had no record of being
seismically active." Other examples of dam-caused quakes abound
and Klose's research indicates that about one-third of human-caused
earthquakes came from reservoir construction. This science has raised
fears that the recent earthquake in China was caused by the filling
of the Three Gorges Dam reservoir, although no conclusive evidence has
been presented.” [Quoted from blog.wired.com]
Dams are one of the more dangerous forms of
energy production.
Dam failures can be major killers.
Some tropical dam reservoirs are estimated
to substitute methane, a much more potent greenhouse gas, for CO2
produced by the normal vegetation decomposition.
Dams silt up over time.
Considerable water evaporation loses are caused
by some dams, salination occurs, productive land can be lost and river
flows can be interrupted.
Major rivers, like the Chinese Yellow River,
often do not reach the sea any longer.
“At present, China has 85,160 reservoirs. From 1954 to 2005,
a total of 3,486 reservoir dams collapsed. Each year, many reservoirs
experience flood damage. In 2004 alone, 7,286 reservoirs experienced
flood damage and are in need of repair.
“According to China Newsweek reports, among the 85,000 plus reservoirs in
China, over 30,000 (35 percent) have problems but continue to be operational,
constituting a major hidden danger in water resource facilities.”
[Quoted from democraticunderground.com]
“Dramatic improvements in U.S. air quality over the last two
decades have added 21 weeks to the life of the average American, researchers
reported on Wednesday.
“Reducing fine particles given off by automobiles, diesel engines,
steel mills and coal-fired power plants have added as much as 15 percent
of the 2.72 years of extra longevity seen in the United States since
the early 1980s, they wrote in the New England Journal of Medicine.
“Changes in smoking habits are the biggest reason why Americans
are living longer, said Arden Pope, an epidemiologist at Brigham Young
University in Utah who led the study.
“Improved socioeconomic conditions, judged partly by the proportion
of high school graduates living in an area, rank next. But cleaner air
was a big factor.
“ "It's stunning that the air pollution effect seems to
be as robust as it is after controlling for these other things,"
Pope said in a telephone interview.
“Using life expectancy, economic, demographic and pollution data
from 51 metropolitan areas, Pope and his colleagues found when fine-particle
air pollution dropped by 10 micrograms per cubic meter, life expectancy
rose by 31 weeks.”
“A survey of chief financial officers of 100 U.S. oil and gas
exploration and production companies found that nearly nine of 10 executives
predicted renewable energy to gain a larger share of the market in the
next five years with better than 1 in 5 executives expecting the share
to more than double.
“The telephone survey conducted for BDO Seidman LLP, a leading
accounting and consulting firm, also found that nearly two-thirds of
the executives favored controls on carbon dioxide emissions, the leading
pollutant linked to global warming, although a third of them said they
preferred state over federal regulation.
“Only 37 said that industry should be left to "self regulation"
when it comes to greenhouse gases, according to the survey, which was
provided to The Associated Press.”
—
“When asked what market share renewable energy - solar, wind,
biofuels and hydroelectric power - is expected to have in five years,
64 percent of the corporate financial officers said it would grow to
between 8 percent and 12 percent. Twenty-two percent of the executives
said they expect the market share to grow to between 13 percent and
more than 16 percent.
“Currently these renewable sources count for about 7 percent
of U.S. energy production, according to the Energy Information Administration.”
“Worldwide changes to forests, farmlands, waterways, and air
are being driven by the need to provide food, fiber, water, and shelter
to more than six billion people. Global croplands, pastures, plantations,
and urban areas have expanded in recent decades, accompanied by large
increases in energy, water, and fertilizer consumption, along with considerable
losses of biodiversity. Such changes in land use have enabled humans
to appropriate an increasing share of the planet's resources, but they
also potentially undermine the capacity of ecosystems to sustain food
production, maintain freshwater and forest resources, regulate climate
and air quality, and ameliorate infectious diseases.”
“The report analyzes the impact of growing four crops--corn,
soy, wheat, and cotton, which account for 70% of farmed acres in the
Unites States--from 1987 to 2007. ”
—
“The production of four major crops now requires significantly
less land, water, and energy per bushel or bale than it did 20 years
ago, marking progress toward sustainable agriculture...”
—
“...the rate of soil loss per amount of grain or cotton grown
has declined between 30% and 70%. This is due mainly to the adoption
of no-till farming, in which the fields are not plowed multiple times
for weed control. Less plowing means less soil blows or washes away.”
—
“...the amount of energy spent on farming has fallen by 40% to
60%, probably because farmers who plant genetically modified crops are
driving tractors less frequently to spray pesticides and herbicides.
Irrigated water use dropped by 20% to 50%, the report found, and carbon
emissions fell by about 30%.” [Quoted from sciencenow.sciencemag.org]
“He said "what business needs to recognise is that
the third runway is just not going to happen. There is such a coalition
of forces against it. There's such an environmental case against."
”
But it’s not going to happen, just like everything
the Clown claims.
“ Ed Miliband, the energy and climate change secretary, was claiming
a partial victory because yesterday's deal included a target to limit
greenhouse gas emissions from flying - the government announced it intended
to ensure total UK aviation emissions are brought beneath 2005 levels
by 2050. Its committee on climate change has been tasked with reviewing
how this should be achieved.
That is, the usual government rubbish. Any “emission
standards” would be frigged to meet the demands of the aircraft industry.
“David Cameron will set out his vision today for a low carbon
Britain built around a £1bn investment in a hi-tech National Grid
that would include putting "smart meters" in every home in
the UK.”
—
“He said his party had already held talks with National Grid officials
and would be in a position to approve the investment as soon as it came
to office. The smart meters would also allow consumers to feed the electricity
they generate through solar panels into the grid.”
