Archive for the 'Environment' Category
Posted by Edward G. Lanza on 20 Aug 2008 | Tagged as: Energy, Environment
The New York Times:
Lured by state subsidies and buoyed by high oil prices, the wind industry has arrived in force in upstate New York, promising to bring jobs, tax revenue and cutting-edge energy to the long-struggling region. But in town after town, some residents say, the companies have delivered something else: an epidemic of corruption and intimidation, as they rush to acquire enough land to make the wind farms a reality.
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Posted by Edward G. Lanza on 06 Aug 2008 | Tagged as: Energy, Nuclear, Environment
The New York Times:
Senator John McCain toured a nuclear power plant in Michigan on Tuesday to highlight his support for the construction of 45 new nuclear power generators by 2030, a position that he said distinguished him from his Democratic rival, Senator Barack Obama.
Mr. McCain, an Arizona Republican, portrayed his support of nuclear energy as part of an “all-of-the-above approach” to addressing the nation’s energy needs at a time of $4-a-gallon gasoline. He called it “safe, efficient, inexpensive and obviously a vital ingredient in the future of the economy of our nation and in our mission to eliminate over time our dependence on foreign oil.”
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Posted by Edward G. Lanza on 24 Jul 2008 | Tagged as: Natural Gas, Water, Environment, Wastewater
Times Union (NY):
The gas in the Marcellus is held like bubbles in a brick of Swiss cheese. To extract it, a mixture of water, sand and chemicals is shot into the earth with such force it fractures the rock, releasing the bubbles to the surface. When the gas surfaces, so does the water - laden with natural toxins from the shale, including suspected cancer-causing compounds.
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Posted by Edward G. Lanza on 22 Jul 2008 | Tagged as: Electric, Environment
Lancaster New Era:
The state has fined PPL for two fish kills at its Brunner Island power plant along the Susquehanna River in York County, across from Bainbridge.
Previous fish kills had occurred at Brunner Island in 2002, 2005 and 2006.
In addition to a $77,500 fine for the two fish kills in October 2007 and this past March, the state Department of Environmental Protection has ordered PPL to take actions to prevent future fish kills.
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Posted by Edward G. Lanza on 20 Jul 2008 | Tagged as: Electric, Energy, Environment
The Daily News Journal:
Former Vice President Al Gore called Thursday for a “man on the moon” effort to switch all of the nation’s electricity production to wind, solar and other carbon-free sources within 10 years, a goal that he said would solve global warming as well as economic and natural security crises caused by dependence on fossil fuels.
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Posted by Edward G. Lanza on 15 Jul 2008 | Tagged as: Energy, Environment
The New York Times:
Exelon, the electric company based in Chicago, will promise on Tuesday to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 by an amount larger than its total emissions in 2008, in a bid to shape the debate on carbon dioxide rules and to get a jump on compliance…
The reductions in greenhouse gas emissions will come by making Exelon’s operations more efficient, cutting the energy use of its electricity customers and building low-carbon generators that would displace older, less-efficient plants, many operated by rivals, the company said.
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Posted by Edward G. Lanza on 10 Jul 2008 | Tagged as: General, Energy, Environment
Forbes:
At a high temperature and pressure, gasification converts coal, or other carbon fuels, into synthesis gas that is either burned in a turbine to produce electricity… or turned into other products, like diesel oil, fertilizer and pipeline-quality natural gas. In most cases pollutants such as sulfur and mercury are stripped out after the fuel gas has been synthesized.
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Posted by Edward G. Lanza on 20 Jun 2008 | Tagged as: Energy, Environment
The New York Times:
As the United States moves toward taking action on global warming, practical experience with carbon markets in the European Union raises a critical question: Will such systems ever work?
Backers of these markets, which involve setting limits on greenhouse gases and then allowing companies to buy and sell emission permits, see the approach as one of the cheapest and most effective ways to control the gases in advanced economies. The presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain have both endorsed the idea.
Yet in Europe, which created the world’s largest greenhouse gas market three years ago, early evidence suggests the whole approach could fail. Carbon dioxide emissions are still rising in many industries, not falling.
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Posted by Edward G. Lanza on 17 Jun 2008 | Tagged as: Electric, Energy, Environment
Dow Jones via CNN Money:
Exelon Corp., one of the largest U.S. power companies, is completing a plan that will make it carbon neutral, the company’s chairman said Monday.
Jon Rowe said the Chicago-based electricity delivery and generation company wouldn’t completely eliminate carbon emissions from its generation fleet.
However, he said, Exelon could achieve zero net emissions through a mixture of carbon offset projects, reduced use of natural gas plants and efficiency steps.
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Posted by Edward G. Lanza on 05 Jun 2008 | Tagged as: Energy, Environment
The New York Times:
Coal is abundant and cheap, assuring that it will continue to be used. But the failure to start building, testing, tweaking and perfecting carbon capture and storage means that developing the technology may come too late to make coal compatible with limiting global warming…
Plans to combat global warming generally assume that continued use of coal for power plants is unavoidable for at least several decades. Therefore, starting as early as 2020, forecasters assume that carbon dioxide emitted by new power plants will have to be captured and stored underground, to cut down on the amount of global-warming gases in the atmosphere.
Yet, simple as the idea may sound, considerable research is still needed to be certain the technique would be safe, effective and affordable.
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