Showing posts with label world changing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label world changing. Show all posts
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Thursday, December 18, 2008
coal is the culprit
SAN FRANCISCO — Maybe your old truck isn't responsible for destroying the planet after all.
New climate change scenarios quantify the idea that oil is only a small component of the total global warming problem — the real problem is coal.
If the world replaced all of its oil usage with carbon-neutral energy sources, ecologist Kenneth Caldeira of Stanford University calculated that it would only buy us about 10 years before coal emissions warmed the planet to what many scientists consider dangerous levels.
"There's an order of magnitude more coal than oil. So, whether there is a little more oil or a little less oil will change the details in, say, when we reach two degrees warming, but it doesn't change the overall picture," Caldeira said Wednesday at the American Geophysical Union annual meeting.
Many of the efforts to "green" our world's infrastructure have focused on the importance of changing the world's transportation systems. Indeed, one of the images of environmental destruction is the car-choked freeways of Los Angeles — and hybrid vehicles like the Toyota Prius have become a badge of environmental pride.
But as the latest projections show, when it comes to global warming, oil is a bit player on a stage dominated by the massive amounts of coal burning, particularly in the United States and China.
"If we want to change the overall shape of the global warming curve and instead of having it go up, stabilize and eventually go down, we need to deal with coal," Caldeira said.
The real global warming culprit — as James Hansen and his colleagues at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies have long argued — is burning coal to generate electricity.
"Oil and gas by themselves don't have enough carbon to keep us in the dangerous zone [of global warming] for very long," said Pushker Kharecha, a scientist and colleague of Hansen at NASA GISS.
While both Kharecha and Caldeira stopped short of saying that the world's oil usage didn't matter, Caldeira seemed to capture their joint sentiment when he called the combustion of oil a "second-order effect."
Liquid fuels are so relatively insignificant that no matter what, nothing we put in our cars is likely to change the basic story of climate change. Even if oil ran out tomorrow and humans began converting coal in its solid form to a liquid you could put in a car — a worst-case scenario for environmentalists — the global warming contribution of that fuel is almost negligible.
Caldeira calculated that swapping out oil for liquified coal would only push the world to dangerous levels of global warming two years earlier than the world's best business-as-usual estimates. Either one is dwarfed by the carbon dioxide emissions from traditional coal burned for electrical generation and industrial production.
"I don't want to say it's not important what we do to replace oil. And this is where I'm being policy prescriptive: It would be far better to replace it with renewables than with coal liquefaction," Caldeira said. "But the big problem is the huge amounts of coal that we're likely to burn this century and release into the atmosphere in the absence of policy."
It's clear: The King of Global Warming Problems is King Coal.
via Wired Read More..
New climate change scenarios quantify the idea that oil is only a small component of the total global warming problem — the real problem is coal.
If the world replaced all of its oil usage with carbon-neutral energy sources, ecologist Kenneth Caldeira of Stanford University calculated that it would only buy us about 10 years before coal emissions warmed the planet to what many scientists consider dangerous levels.
"There's an order of magnitude more coal than oil. So, whether there is a little more oil or a little less oil will change the details in, say, when we reach two degrees warming, but it doesn't change the overall picture," Caldeira said Wednesday at the American Geophysical Union annual meeting.
Many of the efforts to "green" our world's infrastructure have focused on the importance of changing the world's transportation systems. Indeed, one of the images of environmental destruction is the car-choked freeways of Los Angeles — and hybrid vehicles like the Toyota Prius have become a badge of environmental pride.
But as the latest projections show, when it comes to global warming, oil is a bit player on a stage dominated by the massive amounts of coal burning, particularly in the United States and China.
"If we want to change the overall shape of the global warming curve and instead of having it go up, stabilize and eventually go down, we need to deal with coal," Caldeira said.
The real global warming culprit — as James Hansen and his colleagues at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies have long argued — is burning coal to generate electricity.
"Oil and gas by themselves don't have enough carbon to keep us in the dangerous zone [of global warming] for very long," said Pushker Kharecha, a scientist and colleague of Hansen at NASA GISS.
While both Kharecha and Caldeira stopped short of saying that the world's oil usage didn't matter, Caldeira seemed to capture their joint sentiment when he called the combustion of oil a "second-order effect."
Liquid fuels are so relatively insignificant that no matter what, nothing we put in our cars is likely to change the basic story of climate change. Even if oil ran out tomorrow and humans began converting coal in its solid form to a liquid you could put in a car — a worst-case scenario for environmentalists — the global warming contribution of that fuel is almost negligible.
Caldeira calculated that swapping out oil for liquified coal would only push the world to dangerous levels of global warming two years earlier than the world's best business-as-usual estimates. Either one is dwarfed by the carbon dioxide emissions from traditional coal burned for electrical generation and industrial production.
"I don't want to say it's not important what we do to replace oil. And this is where I'm being policy prescriptive: It would be far better to replace it with renewables than with coal liquefaction," Caldeira said. "But the big problem is the huge amounts of coal that we're likely to burn this century and release into the atmosphere in the absence of policy."
It's clear: The King of Global Warming Problems is King Coal.
via Wired Read More..
Friday, November 21, 2008
kolding denmark: wastewater recycling
I have toured to The Kolding Pyramid, an urban renewal project on Jutland Denmark, a fantastic site. An early predecessor to John Todd's Living Machines is the bioremediation project conducted in Kolding Denmark begun in 1992. Unfortunately not adopted countywide or not setting a new standard for wastewater treatment in Denmark, the urban ecology project did prove useful and workable. No further development, experiments and adaptation of the technology is needed, the only barrier is implementation on a larger scale.
The purpose of the Danish study was ecological rennovation measures to beyond the Danish standard for an urban renewal location which preserved the existing buildings and street facade. A 'bioworks pyramid' for water treatment, fish-farming and house plant nursery was built on site. The project was an all inclusive sludge removal--grey and black water treatment facility in the inner courtyard of one city block.
More information on Kolding.
Read More..
The purpose of the Danish study was ecological rennovation measures to beyond the Danish standard for an urban renewal location which preserved the existing buildings and street facade. A 'bioworks pyramid' for water treatment, fish-farming and house plant nursery was built on site. The project was an all inclusive sludge removal--grey and black water treatment facility in the inner courtyard of one city block.
More information on Kolding.
Read More..
Thursday, November 20, 2008
co2 reduction ideas
Researchers at the Columbia University in Oman have discovered that Peridotite rocks found 20 kilometers under the surface of Earth can be tapped to capture and store vast amounts of CO2. This rock that makes up most of the Earth’s mantle is sometimes brought to the surface with tectonic movements then reacting with atmospheric gases to form calcium carbonate and magnesium carbonate rocks. A possible solution may be to push CO2 underground and let the rock below the surface convert it. The rocks in Oman can capture 10,000 to 100,000 tons of carbon per year, and if better technology is brought to use, the same rocks would be able to capture 4 billion tons of carbon dioxide per year.
Read More..
Read More..
Friday, October 3, 2008
sarah silverman and the great schlep
This is a little over the top--but I thought what the hell right? That is the way Sarah Silverman would like it. So....I'm posting it--it's funny.
financial crisis of 2008: campbell harvey: duke university
Campbell R. Harvey
Professor of Finance
The Fuqua School of Business, Duke University
His summary:
Over the past year, we have bounce from one problem to the next. It is time to develop a comprehensive and proactive set of policies. These policies will greatly reduce the chance of severe damage to the real economy and contribute to increased confidence in our financial institutions.
The proposed TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program) is insufficient. We need a more comprehensive initiative that focuses on all key drivers of the real economy.
1. Treasury should not pay "hold to maturity" prices for troubled assets. The price should be set in between the fire-sale and hold to maturity. This insures a fair price for both the government and the financial institution. It reduces the cost of the program.
2. Establish a Bank Capitalization Fund (BCF) with the goal of purchasing amount equity of all viable financial institutions. This equity injection can be done quickly and will immediately impact the availability of loans.
3. Immediately fund the BCF investment fund with $200-$300 billion.
4. BCF should expire in 7 years.
5. Management of any government purchase of troubled assets should not be outsourced.
6. Recapitalize the FDIC both in anticipation of future failures and to instill confidence among depositors.
7. Immediately increase the FDIC maximum insured amount to $300,000 to reduce the chance of bank runs by large depositors.
8. Fed/Treasury needs to quickly put in place the staff to handle the potential of 750-1,000 bank failures.
9. Reestablish the Resolution Trust Corporation. This entity is mandated to dispose of assets of failed financial institutions.
10. Government incented principal resets of mortgages. Resets determined by banks and both have the option to recover some of the reset if the house price appreciates.
11. Two year moratorium on mortgage prepayment penalties.
12. Explicit quid pro quo for banks participating in TARP that credit should not be cut off from non-financial companies, particularly, small and medium sized companies that are the engine of growth and jobs in our economy. Read More..
Professor of Finance
The Fuqua School of Business, Duke University
His summary:
Over the past year, we have bounce from one problem to the next. It is time to develop a comprehensive and proactive set of policies. These policies will greatly reduce the chance of severe damage to the real economy and contribute to increased confidence in our financial institutions.
The proposed TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program) is insufficient. We need a more comprehensive initiative that focuses on all key drivers of the real economy.
1. Treasury should not pay "hold to maturity" prices for troubled assets. The price should be set in between the fire-sale and hold to maturity. This insures a fair price for both the government and the financial institution. It reduces the cost of the program.
2. Establish a Bank Capitalization Fund (BCF) with the goal of purchasing amount equity of all viable financial institutions. This equity injection can be done quickly and will immediately impact the availability of loans.
3. Immediately fund the BCF investment fund with $200-$300 billion.
4. BCF should expire in 7 years.
5. Management of any government purchase of troubled assets should not be outsourced.
6. Recapitalize the FDIC both in anticipation of future failures and to instill confidence among depositors.
7. Immediately increase the FDIC maximum insured amount to $300,000 to reduce the chance of bank runs by large depositors.
8. Fed/Treasury needs to quickly put in place the staff to handle the potential of 750-1,000 bank failures.
9. Reestablish the Resolution Trust Corporation. This entity is mandated to dispose of assets of failed financial institutions.
10. Government incented principal resets of mortgages. Resets determined by banks and both have the option to recover some of the reset if the house price appreciates.
11. Two year moratorium on mortgage prepayment penalties.
12. Explicit quid pro quo for banks participating in TARP that credit should not be cut off from non-financial companies, particularly, small and medium sized companies that are the engine of growth and jobs in our economy. Read More..
Thursday, September 25, 2008
ted talks: paul stamets: 6 ways mushrooms can save the world
Paul Stamets: 6 ways mushrooms can save the world!
Also watch these other fascinating talks from TED--they are truly ideas worth spreading:
Robert Ballard: Exploring the ocean's hidden worlds
Adam Grosser: A new vision for refrigeration
Dan Dennett: Ants, terrorism, and the awesome power of memes
Brian Greene: The universe on a string
Isabel Allende: Tales of passion
Aubrey de Grey: Why we age and how we can avoid it
Sirena Huang: Dazzling set by 11-year-old violinist
Ross Lovegrove: The power and beauty of organic design
E.O. Wilson: TED Prize wish: Help build the Encyclopedia of Life
Janine Benyus: 12 sustainable design ideas from nature
David Deutsch: What is our place in the cosmos?
Mark Bittman: What's wrong with what we eat
David Gallo: Underwater astonishments
Ron Eglash: African fractals, in buildings and braids
Paul MacCready: Flying on solar wings
Edward Burtynsky: Earth's manufactured landscapes
Cameron Sinclair: Open-source architecture to house the world
Eve Ensler: Finding happiness in body and soul
Brewster Kahle: A digital library, free to the world
and more...... Read More..
Also watch these other fascinating talks from TED--they are truly ideas worth spreading:
Robert Ballard: Exploring the ocean's hidden worlds
Adam Grosser: A new vision for refrigeration
Dan Dennett: Ants, terrorism, and the awesome power of memes
Brian Greene: The universe on a string
Isabel Allende: Tales of passion
Aubrey de Grey: Why we age and how we can avoid it
Sirena Huang: Dazzling set by 11-year-old violinist
Ross Lovegrove: The power and beauty of organic design
E.O. Wilson: TED Prize wish: Help build the Encyclopedia of Life
Janine Benyus: 12 sustainable design ideas from nature
David Deutsch: What is our place in the cosmos?
Mark Bittman: What's wrong with what we eat
David Gallo: Underwater astonishments
Ron Eglash: African fractals, in buildings and braids
Paul MacCready: Flying on solar wings
Edward Burtynsky: Earth's manufactured landscapes
Cameron Sinclair: Open-source architecture to house the world
Eve Ensler: Finding happiness in body and soul
Brewster Kahle: A digital library, free to the world
and more...... Read More..
obama 08: yes we can
Designers For Obamais a community art project for Obama supporters, where designers can submit posters, visitors can rate and comment, and each is available for download and to print in a variety of sizes.
I would like some one to do an OBi-bama kenobi.
Read More..
I would like some one to do an OBi-bama kenobi.
Read More..
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Monday, June 9, 2008
san francisco green map
The global Green Map movement, developed first by Wendy Brawer for New York City 15 years ago to encourage environmental awareness and sustainability consciousness is spreading. Today there are more than 400 Green Map projects in 51 countries helping people locate sustainable urban and rural places. I love the San Francisco site and think that every city and town/community should have a resource like the Green Map. Nearly 400 San Francisco site references are iconized and classified into more than 40 categories including:
farmers markets, community and school gardens
buried creeks and waterways
recycling and reuse centers
permaculture and sustainable agriculture education institutions
local environmental and community groups
public squares, bike lanes, and non-car transportation options
environmentally sound architecture and design projects
green schools and kid friendly eco spots
solar and other renewable energy techologys
biodiesel stations
wildlife habitats and natural features
toxic hot spots, abandon mines, and radioactive pollution areas
native Californian sites
Read More..
farmers markets, community and school gardens
buried creeks and waterways
recycling and reuse centers
permaculture and sustainable agriculture education institutions
local environmental and community groups
public squares, bike lanes, and non-car transportation options
environmentally sound architecture and design projects
green schools and kid friendly eco spots
solar and other renewable energy techologys
biodiesel stations
wildlife habitats and natural features
toxic hot spots, abandon mines, and radioactive pollution areas
native Californian sites
Read More..
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