Michele Kearney's Environmental Blog - Environmental degradation and waning natural resources including energy resources threaten U.S. security. And the loss of renewable natural resources, including forests, fresh water, fish and fertile soils, can drive political instability and conflict in the developing world, and around the globe. In short, natural resoures, energy and the environment are national security issues.
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Saturday, June 18, 2011
News in Brief: Earth & Environment Earth’s bulging waistline, plus ancient mangrove swamps and new threats from wildfires in this week’s news
News in Brief: Earth & Environment
Earth’s bulging waistline, plus ancient mangrove swamps and new threats from wildfires in this week’s news
Friday, June 17, 2011
Social media and nuclear energy
Social media and nuclear energy
http://ansnuclearcafe.org/It’s not the same as selling donuts, cars, or promoting sports entertainment
By Dan Yurman
Shutting Down U.S. Nuclear Plants Would Have Daunting Effect on Economy and Environment, Says Carnegie Mellon Expert
Shutting Down U.S. Nuclear Plants Would Have Daunting Effect on Economy and Environment, Says Carnegie Mellon Expert
UN body to consider drastic action on climate change
UN body to consider drastic action on climate change
EDITORIAL: U.N. climate propaganda exposed Industry lobbyists behind ‘scientific’ claims in IPCC press release
EDITORIAL: U.N. climate propaganda exposed
Industry lobbyists behind ‘scientific’ claims in IPCC press release
The entire world will soon depend on renewable energy so governments ought to start subsidizing these industries immediately. So said the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in a report released Tuesday. The study’s conclusion was such a blockbuster that the panel issued a press release last month previewing the finding. “Close to 80 percent of the world’s energy supply could be met by renewables by mid-century if backed by the right enabling public policies a new report shows,” it proclaimed.
Mississippi river flooding predicted to cause biggest dead zone ever recorded
Mississippi river flooding predicted to cause biggest dead zone ever recorded
Washington DC (SPX) Jun 17, 2011
The Gulf of Mexico's hypoxic zone is predicted to be the largest ever recorded due to extreme flooding of the Mississippi River this spring, according to an annual forecast by a team of NOAA-supported scientists from the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium, Louisiana State University and the University of Michigan. The forecast is based on Mississippi River nutrient inputs compiled annually
The Gulf of Mexico's hypoxic zone is predicted to be the largest ever recorded due to extreme flooding of the Mississippi River this spring, according to an annual forecast by a team of NOAA-supported scientists from the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium, Louisiana State University and the University of Michigan. The forecast is based on Mississippi River nutrient inputs compiled annuallyThe Arctic Imperative: Alaska Summit Convenes Sunday to Examine Development and Policy Implications of the Arctic's Expanding Access
The Arctic Imperative: Alaska Summit Convenes Sunday to Examine Development and Policy Implications of the Arctic's Expanding Access
Thursday, June 16, 2011
The Unintended Impacts of Natural Gas on Food & Transportation: Web chat with David Hughes, Richard Gilbert and Michael Bomford
The Unintended Impacts of Natural Gas on Food & Transportation: Web chat with David Hughes, Richard Gilbert and Michael Bomford
Staff, Energy Bulletin
Read the transcript from our live webchat about natural gas. David Hughes (author of Will Natural Gas Fuel America in the 21st Century?), Michael Bomford and Richard Gilbert answer questions from readers.
Record Food Prices Linked to Biofuels
Record Food Prices Linked to Biofuels
by Kevin Bullis
Reports from the WTO and USDA show that corn supplies are influenced by biofuel subsidies and mandates.
Read More »
by Kevin Bullis
Reports from the WTO and USDA show that corn supplies are influenced by biofuel subsidies and mandates.
Read More »
http://www.technologyreview.com/energy/37848/?nlid=4611
Book Review: BP and the world's biggest oil spill
Book Review: BP and the world's biggest oil spill
In Too Deep: BP and the Drilling Race that Took it Down. By Stanley Reed and Alison Fitzerald. Bloomberg Press, hardcover, 226 pp with index. US$21.95
BP, one of the world's largest integrated energy companies, was cleared June 15 to buy 30 percent of Reliance Industries' oil and gas blocks for $7.2 billion. Across Asia, BP has exploration and production facilities in China, Indonesia, Vietnam and Pakistan. It manufactures chemicals in China, South Korea and Malaysia. It leads in the production of liquefied natural gas in China through joint ventures. It manufactures solar panels in India and markets lubricants and oil products throughout the region, with major retail operations in India and China.
Given the breadth and depth of BP's Asian operations, Asia collectively ought to pay attention to what happened on April 20, 2010, when the Deepwater Horizon blew up in the Gulf of Mexico, killing 11 men working on the platform and injuring 17 others. The Macondo Prospect well that the Deepwater Horizon was drilling would pour an average estimated 53,000 barrels of crude per day into the Gulf, ultimately spilling about 4.9 million barrels before the well was finally capped three months later, on July 15. It was the world's biggest oil spill ever.
The story of BP's disaster is told by Stanley Reed, the London bureau chief of Business Week, now owned by Bloomberg, and Allison Fitzgerald, a Bloomberg investigative reporter, in a book appropriately titled In Too Deep: BP and the Drilling Race that Took it Down, because it points out that although the Deepwater Horizon was the worst of BP's environmental disasters, it wasn't the first, and it appears to have stemmed from a culture that demanded far too many shortcuts in the race to capture a significant percentage of the world's fossil fuels, in ever-deeper water.
"The story behind the Macondo blowout is more than a story about technical failures or human error," the two write. "The root cause, we found, may lie in BP's particular corporate culture, which depends on and even celebrates risk-taking. The company's corporate DNA is different from its competitors, where engineering principles dominate. BP is more of a financial culture. BP is very creative at finding oil and persuading governments to open their doors. Bt is sometimes less good at everyday operations."
Indeed. As John Browne, later to become Lord Browne, sought to transform BP into a profit machine, maintenance of the company's far-flung operations suffered so badly that when other companies took over BP leases, they found maintenance to be so poor that they were alarmed, the authors write. As early as 2000, it was facing problems in the company's operations in Scotland. Browne was CEO from 1995 to 2007. An explosion at BP's massive Texas City refinery on March 23, 2005, took the lives of 16 workers. Shoddy maintenance after BP took over the oil pipelines at Prudhoe Bay resulted in two major oil spills.
"Because of Texas City and Alaska," the authors write, "and a series of smaller infractions, congressional investigators, the Labor Department and the Justice Department have constantly monitored BP refineries and pipelines. The company paid a US$50 million criminal fine for the Texas City disaster, and another US$12 million for Alaska. It remained on criminal probation when the Deepwater Horizon exploded. OSHA (The US Occupational Safety and Health Administration) in June 2010 fined the company another US$50 million for failing to fix the problems at Texas City, one of the conditions of its probation."
BP's safety violations, the authors write, far outstrip any of those recorded by its rivals and several industry officials and investigators say the company's record can't be justified by its size. They point to Exxon Mobil, the poster child for previous environmental irresponsibility when the Exxon Valdez supertanker went ashore in Prince William Sound In Alaska, spilling somewhere between 260,000 and 750,000 barrels of crude into Alaska's pristine waters in what was then termed one of the most devastating human-caused environmental disasters ever.
When Lord Browne turned operations over to the luckless Tony Hayward in 2007, Hayward set out to correct the institutional problems that Brown had bequeathed to him. He didn't have a lot of success. In From June 2007 to February 2010 – even before the Deepwater Horizon blew up – OSHA had fined BP for 760 "serious and willful" violations of worker safety. The next worst offender in the oil industry, the authors write, was Sunoco, which had just eight during the same period.
In January 2010, congressional investigators detailed five events over the previous 18 months detailing continuing maintenance problems including an explosion that sent 14 and 28-foot lengths of pipe flying through the air to land 900 feet away. Two BP contract workers on the North Slope were crushed to death by their own vehicles.
During the three months in which crude flowed unchecked into the gulf, ruining the shrimping industry, oiling hundreds of miles of what has been called the Redneck Riviera and delivering up a massive political crisis for US President Barack Obama, Hayward would eventually become the congress's favorite punching bag before being ousted in favor of Robert Dudley, a traditional Texas oilman who is now running what used to be a quintessential British company.
The Exxon Valdez spill was dwarfed by the Deepwater Horizon disaster by a factor of nearly 100. But, the authors write, the Alaskan disaster initiated a dramatic change in the way Exxon Mobil approached its drilling and exploration methods. The US energy giant, now gun-shy, has regularly walked away from unpredictable or unstable sites rather than dare another environmental catastrophe.
It remains to be seen if BP, whose roots go back 100 years when it was founded as the Anglo-Persian Oil Co., and which in its heyday was powerful enough to get the British and American governments to bring down regimes that got in its way, will change its culture as Exxon Mobil has done. Out of the purview of prying western eyes – the hot glare of television cameras in the Gulf, Texas and the North Slope – oil companies can get up to considerable mischief. The oil majors' activities in Nigeria, for instance, have been called an even bigger disaster than Deepwater Horizon. The oil industry's activities across the globe are responsible for huge environmental disasters. What they are up to in some Asian countries remains to be seen.
In Deep Water is a valuable record of BP's disastrous stewardship. But it has to be said that the book is also a frustrating read that required serious editing. Far too often the authors double back on themselves, inserting unrelated passages of history here and there that break up the flow of the narrative. Passages are repeated verbatim, as if the authors were cutting and pasting lots of material and sometimes repeating stuff. The book, published by the Bloomberg Press, appears to be a new entry by Bloomberg into a game previously dominated by Wall Street Journal reporters who were better organized, or perhaps better edited. If it goes into a second edition, one hopes the mistakes will be cleaned up.
Given the breadth and depth of BP's Asian operations, Asia collectively ought to pay attention to what happened on April 20, 2010, when the Deepwater Horizon blew up in the Gulf of Mexico, killing 11 men working on the platform and injuring 17 others. The Macondo Prospect well that the Deepwater Horizon was drilling would pour an average estimated 53,000 barrels of crude per day into the Gulf, ultimately spilling about 4.9 million barrels before the well was finally capped three months later, on July 15. It was the world's biggest oil spill ever.
The story of BP's disaster is told by Stanley Reed, the London bureau chief of Business Week, now owned by Bloomberg, and Allison Fitzgerald, a Bloomberg investigative reporter, in a book appropriately titled In Too Deep: BP and the Drilling Race that Took it Down, because it points out that although the Deepwater Horizon was the worst of BP's environmental disasters, it wasn't the first, and it appears to have stemmed from a culture that demanded far too many shortcuts in the race to capture a significant percentage of the world's fossil fuels, in ever-deeper water.
"The story behind the Macondo blowout is more than a story about technical failures or human error," the two write. "The root cause, we found, may lie in BP's particular corporate culture, which depends on and even celebrates risk-taking. The company's corporate DNA is different from its competitors, where engineering principles dominate. BP is more of a financial culture. BP is very creative at finding oil and persuading governments to open their doors. Bt is sometimes less good at everyday operations."
Indeed. As John Browne, later to become Lord Browne, sought to transform BP into a profit machine, maintenance of the company's far-flung operations suffered so badly that when other companies took over BP leases, they found maintenance to be so poor that they were alarmed, the authors write. As early as 2000, it was facing problems in the company's operations in Scotland. Browne was CEO from 1995 to 2007. An explosion at BP's massive Texas City refinery on March 23, 2005, took the lives of 16 workers. Shoddy maintenance after BP took over the oil pipelines at Prudhoe Bay resulted in two major oil spills.
"Because of Texas City and Alaska," the authors write, "and a series of smaller infractions, congressional investigators, the Labor Department and the Justice Department have constantly monitored BP refineries and pipelines. The company paid a US$50 million criminal fine for the Texas City disaster, and another US$12 million for Alaska. It remained on criminal probation when the Deepwater Horizon exploded. OSHA (The US Occupational Safety and Health Administration) in June 2010 fined the company another US$50 million for failing to fix the problems at Texas City, one of the conditions of its probation."
BP's safety violations, the authors write, far outstrip any of those recorded by its rivals and several industry officials and investigators say the company's record can't be justified by its size. They point to Exxon Mobil, the poster child for previous environmental irresponsibility when the Exxon Valdez supertanker went ashore in Prince William Sound In Alaska, spilling somewhere between 260,000 and 750,000 barrels of crude into Alaska's pristine waters in what was then termed one of the most devastating human-caused environmental disasters ever.
When Lord Browne turned operations over to the luckless Tony Hayward in 2007, Hayward set out to correct the institutional problems that Brown had bequeathed to him. He didn't have a lot of success. In From June 2007 to February 2010 – even before the Deepwater Horizon blew up – OSHA had fined BP for 760 "serious and willful" violations of worker safety. The next worst offender in the oil industry, the authors write, was Sunoco, which had just eight during the same period.
In January 2010, congressional investigators detailed five events over the previous 18 months detailing continuing maintenance problems including an explosion that sent 14 and 28-foot lengths of pipe flying through the air to land 900 feet away. Two BP contract workers on the North Slope were crushed to death by their own vehicles.
During the three months in which crude flowed unchecked into the gulf, ruining the shrimping industry, oiling hundreds of miles of what has been called the Redneck Riviera and delivering up a massive political crisis for US President Barack Obama, Hayward would eventually become the congress's favorite punching bag before being ousted in favor of Robert Dudley, a traditional Texas oilman who is now running what used to be a quintessential British company.
The Exxon Valdez spill was dwarfed by the Deepwater Horizon disaster by a factor of nearly 100. But, the authors write, the Alaskan disaster initiated a dramatic change in the way Exxon Mobil approached its drilling and exploration methods. The US energy giant, now gun-shy, has regularly walked away from unpredictable or unstable sites rather than dare another environmental catastrophe.
It remains to be seen if BP, whose roots go back 100 years when it was founded as the Anglo-Persian Oil Co., and which in its heyday was powerful enough to get the British and American governments to bring down regimes that got in its way, will change its culture as Exxon Mobil has done. Out of the purview of prying western eyes – the hot glare of television cameras in the Gulf, Texas and the North Slope – oil companies can get up to considerable mischief. The oil majors' activities in Nigeria, for instance, have been called an even bigger disaster than Deepwater Horizon. The oil industry's activities across the globe are responsible for huge environmental disasters. What they are up to in some Asian countries remains to be seen.
In Deep Water is a valuable record of BP's disastrous stewardship. But it has to be said that the book is also a frustrating read that required serious editing. Far too often the authors double back on themselves, inserting unrelated passages of history here and there that break up the flow of the narrative. Passages are repeated verbatim, as if the authors were cutting and pasting lots of material and sometimes repeating stuff. The book, published by the Bloomberg Press, appears to be a new entry by Bloomberg into a game previously dominated by Wall Street Journal reporters who were better organized, or perhaps better edited. If it goes into a second edition, one hopes the mistakes will be cleaned up.
Creatures not adapting to environmental changes in Antarctic, study finds
Creatures not adapting to environmental changes in Antarctic, study finds
Organisms found in the Antarctic region are not quick to adapt to changes in the environment, new international research shows. The study, carried out by 200 scientists from 15 countries, is the culmination of a 7-month expedition on board the Polarstern vessel of the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) for Polar and Marine Research in the German-based Helmholtz Association.
Organisms found in the Antarctic region are not quick to adapt to changes in the environment, new international research shows. The study, carried out by 200 scientists from 15 countries, is the culmination of a 7-month expedition on board the Polarstern vessel of the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) for Polar and Marine Research in the German-based Helmholtz Association.
Landsat 5 satellite sees Mississippi River floodwaters lingering
Landsat 5 satellite sees Mississippi River floodwaters lingering
In a Landsat 5 satellite image captured June 11, 2011, flooding is still evident both east and west of the Mississippi River near Vicksburg, Miss. Standing water is most apparent, however, in the floodplain between the Yazoo and Mississippi rivers north of Vicksburg.
In a Landsat 5 satellite image captured June 11, 2011, flooding is still evident both east and west of the Mississippi River near Vicksburg, Miss. Standing water is most apparent, however, in the floodplain between the Yazoo and Mississippi rivers north of Vicksburg.
AEP to Retire 6 GW of Coal Generation Amid EPA Regulation Concerns
AEP to Retire 6 GW of Coal Generation Amid EPA Regulation Concerns
http://www.powermag.com/POWERnews/3775.html?hq_e=el&hq_m=2222006&hq_l=4&hq_v=0153ace58aCoastal Energy 'pleasantly surprised' by new Bua Ban oil well offshore Thailand
Coastal Energy 'pleasantly surprised' by new Bua Ban oil well offshore Thailand
SAUDI OIL HUB SEEN AS BEING VULNERABLE;Security status a mystery 5 years after attack foiled, secret cables show;SAUDI: Attack by Iran feared;
SAUDI OIL HUB SEEN AS BEING VULNERABLE;Security status a mystery 5 years after attack foiled, secret cables show;SAUDI: Attack by Iran feared;
Arctic holds promise for the future says Douglas-Westwood
Arctic holds promise for the future says Douglas-Westwood
Explosion at Louisiana chemical complex forces residential evacuation
Explosion at Louisiana chemical complex forces residential evacuation
US panel passes bill to fast-track Keystone XL Pipeline decision
US panel passes bill to fast-track Keystone XL Pipeline decision
Landsat Satellite Images Compare Before and After Springfield Tornado
| Landsat Satellite Images Compare Before and After Springfield Tornado Greenbelt MD (SPX) Jun 14, 2011 - Satellites provide a lot of useful information and the Landsat 5 satellite captured an image of the long damage track created on June 1, 2011 when a tornado tracked from Springfield to Sturbridge, Mass. An earlier image is now available from 2010 that enables people to more clearly see the damage path the June 2011 twister created on its eastward track. A Landsat 5 satellite image from Oct ... more | This is a Landsat 5 satellite image of the area between Springfield and Sturbridge, Mass. taken on June 5, 2011 that clearly shows the light-colored tornado track. Credit: NASA/USGS, Earth Observatory/Jesse Allen See the full size before and after image GSFC |  |
New NASA Map Reveals Tropical Forest Carbon Storage
New NASA Map Reveals Tropical Forest Carbon Storage
Pasadena CA (JPL) Jun 01, 2011 - A NASA-led research team has used a variety of NASA satellite data to create the most precise map ever produced depicting the amount and location of carbon stored in Earth's tropical forests. The data are expected to provide a baseline for ongoing carbon monitoring and research and serve as a useful resource for managing the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. The new map, created from ground- ... more
Pasadena CA (JPL) Jun 01, 2011 - A NASA-led research team has used a variety of NASA satellite data to create the most precise map ever produced depicting the amount and location of carbon stored in Earth's tropical forests. The data are expected to provide a baseline for ongoing carbon monitoring and research and serve as a useful resource for managing the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. The new map, created from ground- ... more
Satellite maps useful to track habitat
Satellite maps useful to track habitat
Sydney (UPI) Jun 14, 2011 - Satellite imagery can be used to quickly map indirect effects of the predator-prey relationship on the animals' habitats, an Australian researcher says. Freely, available satellite photos of the Earth's surface allows scientists and researchers to examine landscape features, such as lagoon habitat at Heron Island, located within Australia's Great Barrier Reef, that Elizabeth Madin said ... more
Sydney (UPI) Jun 14, 2011 - Satellite imagery can be used to quickly map indirect effects of the predator-prey relationship on the animals' habitats, an Australian researcher says. Freely, available satellite photos of the Earth's surface allows scientists and researchers to examine landscape features, such as lagoon habitat at Heron Island, located within Australia's Great Barrier Reef, that Elizabeth Madin said ... more
Canadian Microbolometer Sensor Focusing on Oceans, Fires and Volcanoes
Canadian Microbolometer Sensor Focusing on Oceans, Fires and Volcanoes
Longueuil, Canada (SPX) Jun 14, 2011 - Canada's Earth Observation Program reached new heights Friday with the successful launch of the 4th Argentinian Satelite de Aplicaciones Cientificas (SAC-D) aboard a Delta II rocket. The New InfraRed Sensor Technology (NIRST) instrument, jointly developed by Canada and Argentina, will be put into low Earth orbit together with seven other instruments on this five-year international partners ... more
http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Canadian_Microbolometer_Sensor_Focusing_on_Oceans_Fires_and_Volcanoes_999.html
Longueuil, Canada (SPX) Jun 14, 2011 - Canada's Earth Observation Program reached new heights Friday with the successful launch of the 4th Argentinian Satelite de Aplicaciones Cientificas (SAC-D) aboard a Delta II rocket. The New InfraRed Sensor Technology (NIRST) instrument, jointly developed by Canada and Argentina, will be put into low Earth orbit together with seven other instruments on this five-year international partners ... more
http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Canadian_Microbolometer_Sensor_Focusing_on_Oceans_Fires_and_Volcanoes_999.html
Scientists predict rare 'hibernation' of sunspots
Scientists predict rare 'hibernation' of sunspots
Washington (AFP) June 15, 2011 - US scientists say the familiar sunspot cycle seems to be entering a hibernation period unseen since the 17th century, a pattern that could have a slight cooling effect on global temperatures. For years, scientists have been predicting the Sun would by around 2012 move into solar maximum, a period of intense flares and sunspot activity, but lately a curious calm has suggested quite the opposi ... more
Washington (AFP) June 15, 2011 - US scientists say the familiar sunspot cycle seems to be entering a hibernation period unseen since the 17th century, a pattern that could have a slight cooling effect on global temperatures. For years, scientists have been predicting the Sun would by around 2012 move into solar maximum, a period of intense flares and sunspot activity, but lately a curious calm has suggested quite the opposi ... more
Chilean Volcano Plume Moving Around the World
Chilean Volcano Plume Moving Around the World
Greenbelt MD (SPX) Jun 16, 2011 - Since its eruption in early June, several NASA satellites have captured images of the ash plume from the eruption of the Chilean Volcano called Puyehue-Cordon Caulle and have tracked it around the world. NASA has collected them in the NASA Goddard FLICKR image gallery that shows the progression of the plume around the southern hemisphere. The Puyehue-Cordon Caulle Volcanic Complex includes ... more
Greenbelt MD (SPX) Jun 16, 2011 - Since its eruption in early June, several NASA satellites have captured images of the ash plume from the eruption of the Chilean Volcano called Puyehue-Cordon Caulle and have tracked it around the world. NASA has collected them in the NASA Goddard FLICKR image gallery that shows the progression of the plume around the southern hemisphere. The Puyehue-Cordon Caulle Volcanic Complex includes ... more
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Authorities push review of Corridor Resources' Gulf of St. Lawrence drilling approval
Authorities push review of Corridor Resources' Gulf of St. Lawrence drilling approval
MWCC subsea oil spill capping stack adds water depth
MWCC subsea oil spill capping stack adds water depth
Railroads bump up Montana transport services to support growing Bakken Shale oil production
Railroads bump up Montana transport services to support growing Bakken Shale oil production
Oil spill source eludes authorities in the US Gulf of Mexico
Oil spill source eludes authorities in the US Gulf of Mexico
FOREST EUROPE Report Reveals Trends in Sustainable Management and Challenges Ahead
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Record Wildfire Season Impacting the U.S.
Record Wildfire Season Impacting the U.S.
State Farm Urges Property Owners to Plan Ahead for Wildfires
Mississippi floods expand gulf's dead zone
Mississippi floods expand gulf's dead zone
Washington (UPI) Jun 14, 2011 - The Gulf of Mexico's dead zone is expected to be larger than average in 2011 because of the extreme flooding of the Mississippi River, an annual forecast said. The forecast by a team of NOAA-supported scientists from the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium, Louisiana State University and the University of Michigan predicts the area could measure 8,500- to 9,421 square miles, an are ... more
Washington (UPI) Jun 14, 2011 - The Gulf of Mexico's dead zone is expected to be larger than average in 2011 because of the extreme flooding of the Mississippi River, an annual forecast said. The forecast by a team of NOAA-supported scientists from the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium, Louisiana State University and the University of Michigan predicts the area could measure 8,500- to 9,421 square miles, an are ... more
GM rice spreads, prompts debate in China
GM rice spreads, prompts debate in China
Beijing (AFP) June 15, 2011 - Genetically modified rice has been spreading illegally for years in China, officials have admitted, triggering a debate on a sensitive aspect of the food security plan in the world's most populous nation. Two strains of GM rice were approved for open-field experiments but not commercial sale in 2009. In January, the agriculture ministry said "no genetically modified cereals are being grown i ... more
http://www.seeddaily.com/reports/GM_rice_spreads_prompts_debate_in_China_999.html
Beijing (AFP) June 15, 2011 - Genetically modified rice has been spreading illegally for years in China, officials have admitted, triggering a debate on a sensitive aspect of the food security plan in the world's most populous nation. Two strains of GM rice were approved for open-field experiments but not commercial sale in 2009. In January, the agriculture ministry said "no genetically modified cereals are being grown i ... more
http://www.seeddaily.com/reports/GM_rice_spreads_prompts_debate_in_China_999.html
Chile volcano could get worse, as travel woes grow
Chile volcano could get worse, as travel woes grow
Santiago (AFP) June 14, 2011 - A Chilean volcano spewing dangerous ash high into the sky, sowing air travel havoc from South America to Australia for the past week, could have even more intense eruptions in the days to come, government geologists warned. "It is possible there will be a return to increased eruptive activity" of the Puyehue volcano in southern Chile's Andes mountains, which started belching fumes on June 4, ... more
Santiago (AFP) June 14, 2011 - A Chilean volcano spewing dangerous ash high into the sky, sowing air travel havoc from South America to Australia for the past week, could have even more intense eruptions in the days to come, government geologists warned. "It is possible there will be a return to increased eruptive activity" of the Puyehue volcano in southern Chile's Andes mountains, which started belching fumes on June 4, ... more
Japan finds radiation traces in whales
Japan finds radiation traces in whales
Tokyo (AFP) June 15, 2011 - Japanese whale hunters have found traces of radioactive caesium in two of the ocean giants recently harpooned off its shores in the Pacific Ocean, a fisheries agency official said Wednesday. Two minke whales culled off the northern island of Hokkaido showed readings of 31 becquerels and 24.3 becquerels of caesium per kilogram, he said, adding that the cause may be the accident at the Fukushi ... more
http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Japan_finds_radiation_traces_in_whales_999.html
Tokyo (AFP) June 15, 2011 - Japanese whale hunters have found traces of radioactive caesium in two of the ocean giants recently harpooned off its shores in the Pacific Ocean, a fisheries agency official said Wednesday. Two minke whales culled off the northern island of Hokkaido showed readings of 31 becquerels and 24.3 becquerels of caesium per kilogram, he said, adding that the cause may be the accident at the Fukushi ... more
http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Japan_finds_radiation_traces_in_whales_999.html
Scientists urge curbing ‘black carbon’
Scientists urge curbing ‘black carbon’ A ban on traditional wood burning stoves and stopping leaks from long distance gas pipelines are among measures that could help slow global temperature rises in coming years, a group of leading atmospheric scientists has found. Such measures would curb so-called black carbon, a major component of soot, and ground level ozone, a big part of urban smog, says a new study coordinated by the United Nations Environment Programme and World Meteorological Organisation. The report was released in Bonn, where delegates from more than 190 countries are struggling to make progress in the latest round of talks under the UN …
http://link.ft.com/r/G8OTZZ/
http://link.ft.com/r/G8OTZZ/
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
The Scientific Consensus for Climate Change Liberal Values
| The Scientific Consensus For Climate Change Liberal Values By Ron Chusid Scientific societies and scientists have released statements and studies showing the growing consensus on climate change science. A common objection to taking action to reduce our heat-trapping emissions has been uncertainty within the ... |
Cutting smog and soot could have fast and broad benefits - UN backed report
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Economy outweights environment in gas drilling, poll finds
| Economy outweighs environment in gas drilling, poll finds abc27 Health News from AP Entertainment News from AP By Myles Snyder - email A majority of Pennsylvanians say the economic benefits of natural gas drilling outweigh the environmental impacts, according to a new poll. The survey by Quinnipiac University found ... |
Major Drop In Solar Activity Predicted
Major Drop In Solar Activity Predicted
Boulder CO (SPX) Jun 15, 2011 - A missing jet stream, fading spots, and slower activity near the poles say that our Sun is heading for a rest period even as it is acting up for the first time in years, according to scientists at the National Solar Observatory (NSO) and the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL). As the current sunspot cycle, Cycle 24, begins to ramp up toward maximum, independent studies of the solar inter ... more
Boulder CO (SPX) Jun 15, 2011 - A missing jet stream, fading spots, and slower activity near the poles say that our Sun is heading for a rest period even as it is acting up for the first time in years, according to scientists at the National Solar Observatory (NSO) and the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL). As the current sunspot cycle, Cycle 24, begins to ramp up toward maximum, independent studies of the solar inter ... more
Gulf Oil Spill Leads to New Seafood Safety Protocols
| Gulf Oil Spill Leads to New Seafood Safety Protocols Food Product Design The latter mindset was critical in establishing protocol for reopening areas for fishing and seafood harvesting following the Gulf oil spill. Sensory analysis became the standard test for reopening various areas; chemical analyses also were used. ... |
Curb soot and smog to keep Earth cool, says UN
Curb soot and smog to keep Earth cool, says UN
Sharply reducing emissions of soot and smog could play a critical role in preventing Earth from overheating, according to a UN report released on Tuesday.
Sharply reducing emissions of soot and smog could play a critical role in preventing Earth from overheating, according to a UN report released on Tuesday.
New biofuel sustainability assessment tool and GHG calculator released
New biofuel sustainability assessment tool and GHG calculator released
Various biofuels, first hailed as a way to a sustainable energy supply, have since fallen out of favor because of the overall negative impact they have on the environment, mainly due to the production of the biogenic fuels – as they should be more aptly termed. Now researchers at Empa, the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, have together with their colleagues at the Swiss Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels (RSB) and the HTW Berlin, Germany, developed an online tool to assess the sustainability of biofuel production.
Various biofuels, first hailed as a way to a sustainable energy supply, have since fallen out of favor because of the overall negative impact they have on the environment, mainly due to the production of the biogenic fuels – as they should be more aptly termed. Now researchers at Empa, the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, have together with their colleagues at the Swiss Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels (RSB) and the HTW Berlin, Germany, developed an online tool to assess the sustainability of biofuel production.
How is the Arctic Ocean changing?
How is the Arctic Ocean changing?
On coming Wednesday, 15 June, the research vessel Polarstern of the German Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in the Helmholtz Association will set off on its 26th arctic expedition. Over 130 scientists from research institutions in six countries will take part in three legs of the voyage. First of all, at long-term stations oceanographers and biologists will investigate how oceanic currents as well as the animal and plant world are changing between Spitsbergen and Greenland. Beginning in August, physical, biological and chemical changes in the central Arctic will be recorded. RV Polarstern is expected back in Bremerhaven on 7 October.
On coming Wednesday, 15 June, the research vessel Polarstern of the German Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in the Helmholtz Association will set off on its 26th arctic expedition. Over 130 scientists from research institutions in six countries will take part in three legs of the voyage. First of all, at long-term stations oceanographers and biologists will investigate how oceanic currents as well as the animal and plant world are changing between Spitsbergen and Greenland. Beginning in August, physical, biological and chemical changes in the central Arctic will be recorded. RV Polarstern is expected back in Bremerhaven on 7 October.
The EPA's War on Jobs Coal is from Earth, Lisa Jackson is from mercury.
The EPA's War on Jobs
Coal is from Earth, Lisa Jackson is from mercury.
[ RadSafe ] Solution to Global Warming Found Wanting
[ RadSafe ] Solution to Global Warming Found Wanting
FUKUSHIMA, THE LEFT, AND NUCLEAR POWER by Stuart King
We encourage respectful and thoughtful discussion of their arguments in our Comments section.
These articles were first published in the Summer 2011 issue of the British journal Permanent Revolution.
FUKUSHIMA, THE LEFT, AND NUCLEAR POWER
by Stuart King
These articles were first published in the Summer 2011 issue of the British journal Permanent Revolution.
FUKUSHIMA, THE LEFT, AND NUCLEAR POWER
by Stuart King
Coast Guard, BOEMRE investigate oil slick offshore Louisiana
Coast Guard, BOEMRE investigate oil slick offshore Louisiana
Increased Oversight: BOEMRE changes offshore oil and gas inspections program
Increased Oversight: BOEMRE changes offshore oil and gas inspections program
Carbon Capture Technology Successfully Deployed at Coal-fired Power Plant
Carbon Capture Technology Successfully Deployed at Coal-fired Power Plant
Technology Will Capture 150,000 Tons of CO2 Annually
PR Newswire
NEW YORK, June 13, 2011
NEW YORK, June 13, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Mitsubishi Heavy Industries America, Inc. (MHIA) announced today the successful start of operations of a 25 Megawatt carbon capture facility at Southern Company's Plant Barry, owned and operated by Alabama Power.
(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110613/PH19163-a )
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110613/PH19163LOGO-b )
This facility utilizes the KM CDR Process®* capture technology, jointly developed by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. and The Kansai Electric Power Co., Inc.
Built in collaboration with Southern Company, it is the world's largest Carbon Capture and Sequestration facility attached to a coal-fired power plant using a proven capture technology. It will capture approximately 150,000 tons of CO2 annually (500 tons/day) for permanent underground storage in a deep saline geologic formation.
MHIA President & CEO Mitch Morimoto stated, "This is a significant milestone and is part of our strategic effort to commercialize our KM CDR Process® CO2 technology. Coal is abundant and relatively cheap, so it is important for world energy security and environmental protection to develop technologies and to find ways to preserve coal as a fuel source. The KM CDR Process® is just one of a suite of technologies we have been developing toward making coal an environmentally acceptable fuel for the future."
MHI's KM CDR Process® technology uses an advanced solvent called KS-1 to capture the CO2 from a flue gas stack. The flue gas is directed to the KM CDR Process® where the KS-1 solvent reacts with and captures the CO2. CO2 can then be separated from the KS-1 and compressed for pipeline transport.
Captured CO2 will be supplied to the Southeast Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership and transported roughly 11 miles by pipeline before injection 9,500 feet below the Citronelle Oil Field operated by Denbury Resources. The CO2 will remain underground, permanently trapped in the geologic formation.
*The KM CDR Process is a registered trademark of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd., in Japan, the United States of America, the European Union (CTM), Norway, Australia, and China.
About Mitsubishi Heavy Industries America, Inc.
MHIA is a wholly owned subsidiary of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (Japan) MHIA's divisions include Transportation Systems, Tire Machinery, Aircraft Product Support, Corrugating Machinery, Machine Tools, Environmental Systems and Injection Molding Machinery. MHIA affiliates include MLP U.S.A., Inc. (Printing Presses), Mitsubishi Engine North America, Inc. (Engines and Turbo-chargers), Mitsubishi Power Systems America, Inc., (Power Systems), Intercontinental Jet Service Corp. (Sales, Repair and Maintenance of MU-2 and MU-300 Aircraft) and Crystal Mover Services, Inc. (Operation and Maintenance of Automated People Movers).
Related Links:
http://www.mitsubishitoday.com
http://www.mhi.co.jp/en
http://www.kepco.co.jp/english/
http://www.southerncompany.com/
SOURCE Mitsubishi Heavy Industries America, Inc.
(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110613/PH19163-a )
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110613/PH19163LOGO-b )
This facility utilizes the KM CDR Process®* capture technology, jointly developed by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. and The Kansai Electric Power Co., Inc.
Built in collaboration with Southern Company, it is the world's largest Carbon Capture and Sequestration facility attached to a coal-fired power plant using a proven capture technology. It will capture approximately 150,000 tons of CO2 annually (500 tons/day) for permanent underground storage in a deep saline geologic formation.
MHIA President & CEO Mitch Morimoto stated, "This is a significant milestone and is part of our strategic effort to commercialize our KM CDR Process® CO2 technology. Coal is abundant and relatively cheap, so it is important for world energy security and environmental protection to develop technologies and to find ways to preserve coal as a fuel source. The KM CDR Process® is just one of a suite of technologies we have been developing toward making coal an environmentally acceptable fuel for the future."
MHI's KM CDR Process® technology uses an advanced solvent called KS-1 to capture the CO2 from a flue gas stack. The flue gas is directed to the KM CDR Process® where the KS-1 solvent reacts with and captures the CO2. CO2 can then be separated from the KS-1 and compressed for pipeline transport.
Captured CO2 will be supplied to the Southeast Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership and transported roughly 11 miles by pipeline before injection 9,500 feet below the Citronelle Oil Field operated by Denbury Resources. The CO2 will remain underground, permanently trapped in the geologic formation.
*The KM CDR Process is a registered trademark of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd., in Japan, the United States of America, the European Union (CTM), Norway, Australia, and China.
About Mitsubishi Heavy Industries America, Inc.
MHIA is a wholly owned subsidiary of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (Japan) MHIA's divisions include Transportation Systems, Tire Machinery, Aircraft Product Support, Corrugating Machinery, Machine Tools, Environmental Systems and Injection Molding Machinery. MHIA affiliates include MLP U.S.A., Inc. (Printing Presses), Mitsubishi Engine North America, Inc. (Engines and Turbo-chargers), Mitsubishi Power Systems America, Inc., (Power Systems), Intercontinental Jet Service Corp. (Sales, Repair and Maintenance of MU-2 and MU-300 Aircraft) and Crystal Mover Services, Inc. (Operation and Maintenance of Automated People Movers).
Related Links:
http://www.mitsubishitoday.com
http://www.mhi.co.jp/en
http://www.kepco.co.jp/english/
http://www.southerncompany.com/
SOURCE Mitsubishi Heavy Industries America, Inc.
CONTACT: Michael Ivey, Michael_Ivey@mhiahq.com (Washington Office) or Toshihiko Kano, Toshihiko_Kano@mhiahq.com (Washington Office), +1-202-828-1212, or Steven Holton, Steven_Holton@mhiahq.com (Environmental Systems Division) Web Site: http://www.mitsubishitoday.com
Environmentalists Score Victory: Court Says DEQ Must Test and Monitor Produced Waters, Protect Public From Dangerous Pollutants
Environmentalists Score Victory: Court Says DEQ Must Test and Monitor Produced Waters, Protect Public From Dangerous Pollutants
PR Newswire
NEW ORLEANS, June 13, 2011
"LEAN has worked on the environmental and human health impacts of produced waters throughout its 25-year history. We thank the court for recognizing the problems with this process and for being a guardian of the environment," said LEAN Director Mary Lee Orr.
For the full decision go to: http://www.kreweoftruth.com/web/data/documents/2010_CA_1640_Decision_Appeal.pdf
World's Largest Power Plant CCS Project Is Capturing Carbon
World's Largest Power Plant CCS Project Is Capturing Carbon
PR Newswire
ATLANTA, June 13, 2011
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20080801/SOCOLOGO)
Located at Plant Barry near Mobile, Ala., the CCS facility is the world's largest for a coal-fired generating power plant. It will capture approximately 150,000 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) annually – or the equivalent of emissions from 25 MW – for permanent underground storage in a deep saline geologic formation.
"This is a significant milestone in our continuing efforts to research, develop and implement 21st century coal technologies," said Southern Company Chairman, President and CEO Thomas A. Fanning. "Because coal is a low-cost and abundant natural resource, it is important for Southern Company and the industry to preserve coal as a fuel source."
Commencing operations of the Barry CCS project further solidifies Southern Company's position as the industry leader in carbon capture and storage research and development. In addition to the Barry CCS project, the company is:
- Managing the U.S. Department of Energy's National Carbon Capture Center in Alabama, testing the next generation of technologies to capture carbon dioxide emissions.
- Building a commercial-scale, 582-MW generating plant in Kemper County, Miss., using local lignite and the company's Transport Integrated Gasification (TRIG™) technology, with 65 percent carbon capture and re-use.
- Drilling wells to assess geologic suitability for carbon storage at other power plants
- Partnering with universities to train the next generation of CCS engineers and to provide advanced geologic testing capabilities
Global Harvest Initiative: Embracing Science-Based Technologies Critical To Increase Agricultural Productivity and Enhance Global Food Security
Global Harvest Initiative: Embracing Science-Based Technologies Critical To Increase Agricultural Productivity and Enhance Global Food Security
Monday, June 13, 2011
New quakes rock New Zealand's Christchurch
New quakes rock New Zealand's Christchurch
Christchurch, New Zealand (AFP) June 13, 2011 - A series of strong quakes, including a 6.0-magnitude tremor, rocked New Zealand's Christchurch on Monday, causing one building to collapse and fraying nerves in the stricken city. Prime Minister John Key said power had been cut to some 6,000 homes after the quakes, in which 10 people were injured by falling debris but no-one killed, according to initial figures gathered from emergency person ... more
Christchurch, New Zealand (AFP) June 13, 2011 - A series of strong quakes, including a 6.0-magnitude tremor, rocked New Zealand's Christchurch on Monday, causing one building to collapse and fraying nerves in the stricken city. Prime Minister John Key said power had been cut to some 6,000 homes after the quakes, in which 10 people were injured by falling debris but no-one killed, according to initial figures gathered from emergency person ... more
Satellite study helps thirsty Sahel
Satellite study helps thirsty Sahel
Paris (AFP) June 12, 2011 - Embattled farmers in the Sahel countries of West Africa can take heart from a new study that should boost the accuracy of rainfall prediction in one of the world's most fragile regions. Sharp differences in moisture in small patches of land can trigger precious rain, says the paper, published online on Sunday in the journal Nature Geoscience. Researchers from Britain, France and Australi ... more
Paris (AFP) June 12, 2011 - Embattled farmers in the Sahel countries of West Africa can take heart from a new study that should boost the accuracy of rainfall prediction in one of the world's most fragile regions. Sharp differences in moisture in small patches of land can trigger precious rain, says the paper, published online on Sunday in the journal Nature Geoscience. Researchers from Britain, France and Australi ... more
Planet's soils are under threat warns University academic
Planet's soils are under threat warns University academic
Sheffield, UK (SPX) Jun 13, 2011 - The planet's soils are under greater threat than ever before, at a time when we need to draw on their vital role to support life more than ever, warns an expert from the University of Sheffield in the journal Nature. Professor Steve Banwart from the University's Kroto Research Institute, will be helping to tackle this challenge as part of a new programme of international research, called C ... more
Sheffield, UK (SPX) Jun 13, 2011 - The planet's soils are under greater threat than ever before, at a time when we need to draw on their vital role to support life more than ever, warns an expert from the University of Sheffield in the journal Nature. Professor Steve Banwart from the University's Kroto Research Institute, will be helping to tackle this challenge as part of a new programme of international research, called C ... more
Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne Helps Boost Satellite Designed to Measure Salt Concentrations in World Oceans
Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne Helps Boost Satellite Designed to Measure Salt Concentrations in World Oceans
Statoil all set to develop Valemon field in the North Sea
Statoil all set to develop Valemon field in the North Sea
Petrobras confirms new hydrocarbons discovery in Espirito Santo Basin
Petrobras confirms new hydrocarbons discovery in Espirito Santo Basin
Financial Times Energy 6/13
| FT.com - Energy |
| Red tape cut for smaller power suppliers |
| http://link.ft.com/r/CTBPCC/ |
| MINING - Tensions deepen for ENRC as two directors dismissed |
| http://link.ft.com/r/CTBPCC/ |
| Horizon close to buying APR Energy |
| http://link.ft.com/r/CTBPCC/ |
| Biohazard: barons of subsidy |
| http://link.ft.com/r/CTBPCC/ |
| Tokyo grows green curtains to save power |
| http://link.ft.com/r/CTBPCC/ |
FT.com - Mining |
| ENRC: dirty laundry |
| http://link.ft.com/r/CTBPCC/ |
Stanford climate scientists forecast permanently hotter summers
Stanford climate scientists forecast permanently hotter summers
The tropics and much of the Northern Hemisphere are likely to experience an irreversible rise in summer temperatures within the next 20 to 60 years if atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations continue to increase, according to a new climate study by Stanford University scientists. The results will be published later this month in the journal Climatic Change.
The tropics and much of the Northern Hemisphere are likely to experience an irreversible rise in summer temperatures within the next 20 to 60 years if atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations continue to increase, according to a new climate study by Stanford University scientists. The results will be published later this month in the journal Climatic Change.
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