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google plans rational organised attack on replacing filthy fossil fuel

“ “Our goal is to produce one gigawatt of renewable energy capacity that is cheaper than coal. We are optimistic this can be done in years, not decades.” [...] said Larry Page, Google Co-founder and President of Products.”

“Cheap renewable energy is not only critical for the environment but also vital for economic development in many places where there is limited affordable energy of any kind," added Sergey Brin, Google Co-founder and President of Technology.”

the web address for the article above is
https://www.abelard.org/news/ecology0711.php#eco_google_281107





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$500,000 to go energy independent and carbon-free hydrogen electrolysis [page 2] [page 3]

A model for future decisions. The central question is, what are the optimal energy storage routes?

Hydrogen storage tanks. Credit: Tyler Barrick/Christian Science Monitor“Mike Strizki lives in the nation's [U.S.A.] first solar-hydrogen house. The technology this civil engineer has been able to string together - solar panels, a hydrogen fuel cell, storage tanks, and a piece of equipment called an electrolyzer - provides electricity to his home year-round, even on the cloudiest of winter days.

“Mr. Strizki's monthly utility bill is zero - he's off the power grid - and his system creates no carbon-dioxide emissions. Neither does the fuel-cell car parked in his garage, which runs off the hydrogen his system creates.”

“Romm is an advocate for clean-energy use - in recent books and articles he advocates a sharp cut in greenhouse-gas emissions within 10 years - but he's characterized hydrogen as an overhyped distraction that isn't ready yet to help toward that goal. He supports continued hydrogen research, but other technologies that are more developed could help the Earth much more and much sooner, he says.”

related material
distributed energy systems and micro-generation

the web address for the article above is
https://www.abelard.org/news/ecology0711.php#carbon_free_271107

exploding populations, changing temperatures lead to more migrations and thence to wars

From press release:

“The study revealed that as temperatures decreased centuries ago during a period called the Little Ice Age, the number of wars increased, famine occurred and the population declined.”

“Brecke, Zhang and colleagues in Hong Kong, China and the United Kingdom perceived a possible connection between temperature change and wars because changes in climate affect water supplies, growing seasons and land fertility, prompting food shortages. These shortages could lead to conflict -- local uprisings, government destabilization and invasions from neighboring regions -- and population decline due to bloodshed during the wars and starvation.”

the web address for the article above is
https://www.abelard.org/news/ecology0711.php#population_food__wars_251107

  Municipal utility horse and cart in Francethe return of the gee gee

“Today the group advises French towns interested in horses for city services. One project in northern France involves a pick-up route for glass bottles in the seaside resort of Trouville.”

“The project is backed by the Regional Horse Promotion Commission, which holds an annual convention in Trouville to promote horses for collecting recyclables, street sweeping, and even transporting children to school.”

Marker at abelard.org

Meanwhile, horses are starting to be banned on roads in Romania [Lead from DVH], and so the circle of life turns horses to cars to horses and back.

the web address for the article above is
https://www.abelard.org/news/ecology0711.php#urban_horses_221107

pollution and population pressures in china Two GoldenYak (tm) award.

Article is a recommended scan.

“Much of this enthusiasm stems from the widespread but misguided belief that what Beijing says goes[...] ”

“ Record growth necessarily requires the gargantuan consumption of resources, but in China energy use has been especially unclean and inefficient, with dire consequences. The coal that has powered China’s economic growth, for example, is also choking its people. As much as 90% of sulphur dioxide emissions and 50% of particulate emissions are the result of coal use.”

related material
comparing fertility rates and populations in europe and beyond
fossil fuel disasters

the web address for the article above is
https://www.abelard.org/news/ecology0711.php#china_pollution_population_141107

  ecological irresponsibility - waste and environment under ‘new’ labour

Management of municipal waste in Europe in 2003. Credit: defra.co.uk
From p.62 (72-76) of 128-page .pdf

the web address for the article above is
https://www.abelard.org/news/ecology0711.php#uk_waste_mismanagement_131107

  just another day for the filthy fossil fuel industry - european dependence on russian fossil fuel grows

“ "All the captains in the strait were warned about the storm at 1715 (9:15 a.m. Saturday EST) on November 10," Stepanenko said. "All of them had enough time to leave the dangerous area." ”

“A severe storm broke a Russian oil tanker in two between the Azov and Black Seas on Sunday, spilling fuel oil in what a Russian official said was an "environmental disaster."

“Russia's state-run Vesti-24 channel quoted the latest data from state environment agency Rosprirodnadzor as saying some 2,000 tonnes of fuel oil had spilt.”

Then come the excuses:

“But Emergencies Ministry spokesman Viktor Beltsov told Reuters not more than 1,200 tonnes had leaked into the sea.”

“ "This problem may take a few years to solve. Fuel oil is a heavy substance and it is now sinking to the seabed," he said.”

“The likely effects of the spill were not immediately clear. A spill over 700 tonnes is considered large, but the biggest ones run into the tens or even hundreds of thousands.”

“ The hull of another oil tanker, Volganeft-123, cracked after being hit by high waves. Maxim Stepanenko, Novorossiisk transport prosecutor, told Russian television this tanker was afloat and its oil products were not leaking.”

Suitable to purpose? ‘Safety’ ‘standards’ in the filthy fossil fuel industry?

“The tanker, designed primarily for rivers and in service since 1978, was carrying 4,000 tonnes of fuel oil in total, officials were quoted by media as saying.”

Who cares? The world as a dustbin.

"Almost at the same time as the Volganeft-139 broke up, a freighter
carrying 2,000 tonnes of sulphur sank in the same storm, off the port
of Kavkaz overlooking the Kerch Strait from the Russian side."
....
"Several hours later, another freighter carrying sulphur sank off
Kavkaz..."

But don’t worry...

“ "Sulphur is a very inert chemical, and we hope that in the water it will not form any substances dangerous to humans," Mitvol said.”

the web address for the article above is
https://www.abelard.org/news/ecology0711.php#russian_fossil_fuels_111107

 the curse of fossil fuel filth is ever with us

“Emissions from ocean-going ships are responsible for about 60,000 deaths a year from heart and lung-related cancers, according to research published on Wednesday that calls for tougher fuel standards.

“Shanghai, Singapore and Hong Kong, three of the world's five busiest ports, were likely to suffer disproportionate impacts from ship-related emissions, said the study, published in Environmental Science and Technology, a journal of the American Chemical Society.

“For a long time there's been this perception that ship emissions are out there in the ocean and they don't really affect anyone on land and I think this study shows that this is clearly false," said David Marshall, senior counsel at the Boston-based Clean Air Task Force, which co-commissioned the study. ”

the web address for the article above is
https://www.abelard.org/news/ecology0711.php#ship_pollution_091107

filthy fossil fuel company moves a medieval church - the auroran sunset

Medieval church is moved to allow strip mining. Image credit: mariograul
Medieval church is moved to allow strip mining. Image credit: mariograul

“A 700-year-old church began its slow journey to a new home Thursday, moving at just over one mph atop a huge flatbed truck as it was transported from an eastern German village being turned over to open-pit coal mining.

“The Emmaus Church, first mentioned in historical documents in 1297, reached the edge of its home village of Heuersdorf outside Leipzig on its way to the town of Borna, some seven miles away.”


“The coal mining company Mibrag is paying $4.2 million to move the church after the regional legislature approved plans to mine some 50 million tons of coal to supply the electrical power station at Lippendorf near Leipzig.

“Village authorities fought the destruction of the town for years, but lost in Germany's Constitutional Court in 2005. Most of the 320 residents have already been resettled.”

Strip mining almost reaching the medieval chuch. Image credit: Reuters.

“ [...] Indeed, the German Federal Institute for Geosciences had for decades indicated that the German black coal reserves comprise 23 to 24 billion tonnes. In the year 2004, this was adjusted to 183 million tonnes, i.e. reduced by 99 percent. By way of explanation, it was noted that speculative resources were now no longer taken into account. In the intensive debate over the future of German black coal mining, this data played no role whatsoever, although the debate as to whether mining should continue at a constant level was thus done away with. For lignite, there have also been dramatic devaluations of more than 80 percent. Germany is the world's largest lignite producer. There are similar tendencies, if not on such a massive scale, in Great Britain and Poland, for example” [Quoted from energywatchgroup.org]

Lignite mining. Image credit: groenerik
Lignite mining. Image credit: groenerik

related material
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energy economics and fossil fuels— how long do we have?
house moving
Heuersdorf: A Medieval German Village Threatened by Lignite Mining

the web address for the article above is
https://www.abelard.org/news/ecology0711.php#forced_church_move_011107


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