Archive for November 2008
Sustainable Energy (Video)
Posted by: Karl Ramjohn
Sustainable Energy
This might not add much to the debate and discussion on “Sustainable Energy”, but it has a somewhat different presentation format:
More videos on sustainable energy, climate and related: Geo Energy Network Media
Recent News on Energy and the Environment 28.11.08
Posted by: Karl Ramjohn
Some recent articles featured on the Energy Environment News Portal, on current and emerging issues related to energy and the environment
> US Government backs off drilling near national parks
> UK adopts world’s first binding carbon targets
> Egypt Wants Brazil’s Technology on Ethanol & Deep-Water Drilling
> EU negotiators close to deal on biofuels
> Africa, Europe seek to harmonise climate-change demands
> Revamped LEED ratings emphasize climate, energy conservation
Modelling civilization as “heat engine” could improve climate predictions
Posted by: Karl Ramjohn
An interesting article from Environmental Research Web (November 27, 2008) on a possible conceptual approach to modelling human activities (and the built environment) and how they interact with climate systems (and the natural environment).
—> Modelling civilization as ‘heat engine’ could improve climate predictions – environmentalresearchweb
The extremely complex process of projecting future emissions of carbon dioxide could be simplified dramatically by modelling civilization as a heat engine. That is the conclusion of an atmospheric physicist in the US, who has shown that changes in global population and standard of living correlate to variations in energy efficiency. This discovery halves the number of variables needed to make emissions forecasts and therefore should considerably improve climate predictions, he claims.
Computer models used to predict how the Earth’s climate will change over the next century take as their input projections of future manmade emissions of carbon dioxide. These projections rely on the evolution of four variables: population; standard of living; energy productivity (or efficiency); and the “carbonization” of energy sources. When multiplied together, these tell us how much carbon dioxide will be produced at a given point in the future for a certain global population. However, the ranges of values for each of the four variables combined leads to an extremely broad spectrum of carbon dioxide-emission scenarios, which is a major source of uncertainty in climate models.
Timothy Garrett of the University of Utah in the US believes that much of this uncertainty can be eliminated by considering humanity as if it were a heat engine (arXiv:0811.1855). Garrett’s model heat engine consists of an entity and its environment, with the two separated by a step in potential energy that enables energy to be transferred between the two. Some fraction of this transferred energy is converted into work, with the rest released beyond the environment in the form of waste heat, as required by the second law of thermodynamics.
However, the work is not done on some external task, such as moving a piston, but instead goes back to boosting the potential across the boundary separating the entity from the environment. In this way, says Garrett, the boundary “bootstraps” itself so that it can get progressively bigger and bigger, resulting in higher and higher levels of energy consumption by the entity.
Recent News on Energy and the Environment 16.11.08
Posted by: Karl Ramjohn
Some recent articles featured on the Energy Environment News Portal, on current and emerging issues related to energy and the environment
> New Research Expected To Make Photovoltaics More Efficient
> Is Carbon Capture and Storage the Fix?
> Developing nations “can cut emissions at low cost”
> Decline in Carbon Emissions from Spanish Energy Sector
> Nuclear Waste Protests Escalate in Germany
> Renewable Energy Race 1.0: Barack Obama vs. Dmitry Medvedev
Geothermal Energy Potential in the Caribbean Region
Posted by: Karl Ramjohn
From report by: Erouscilla P. Joseph, Seismic Research Unit, University of the West Indies, Trinidad & Tobago (March 2008)
> Link to report: http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/sids/2…rgy_joseph.pdf
The Lesser Antilles Island arc extends 850 km along the eastern edge of the Caribbean Plate. The islands have been largely built by volcanism above a subduction zone, as the Atlantic Plate is being subducted under the Caribbean Plate. There are at least 19 potentially “active” volcanoes in the Lesser Antilles. The thermal energy of these volcanic islands makes them of interest for geothermal exploration.
Although geothermal resources are abundant on several of the islands, apart from Guadeloupe which has a 4.5 MWe binary plant, geothermal development is still in the early stages for several reasons:
1. Geothermal development is not a priority in the energy policies of the island governments. Traditionally, the islands have depended on diesel generation, with the exceptions of Dominica and St.Vincent which use hydroelectric power.
2. None of the countries have geothermal laws; many do not have laws for the regulation of the electricity sector in particular.
3. Limited financing and the high cost of geothermal exploration has held back the projects in the feasibility stage.
4. There are no economic incentives for geothermal development.
5. The population, and consequently the markets, of the islands are small.
Related:
> Geothermal Energy and its Prospects for Future Development
> Negotiations to deal with Nevis geothermal energy
> St. Kitts & Nevis science teachers experience geothermal energy
> Dominica forging ahead with geothermal resource development
Sea Level Rise and Inundation of Coastal India
Posted by: Karl Ramjohn
A somewhat long, but interesting article by Dr. Nachiketa Das
—> Sea level rise and inundation of coastal India
Dr. Nachiketa Das: November 2, 2008
Global warming is making sea level rise. Sea level, however, will not rise appreciably overnight, not in months, not even in years. The rise will assume dangerous proportions only over a substantial length of time, perhaps over decades. The assertions are not designed to make you complacent my readers, but you need not panic either. The sensationalist movies and documentaries that you have been watching show the sea invading deep into eastern India, inundating the capital of West Bengal Kolkata, which as Calcutta was once the capital of British India. Moreover in these movies the ancient capital city of the state of Orissa, Cuttack that is situated at the apex of the Mahanadi delta some 70 km inland within a matter of seconds submerges under the invading sea. These movies have their own agenda, and have very successfully scared millions of viewers without ever telling much, as to how to combat the rising sea.
Sea and nature in general, have been more kind to us human beings, than we would care to admit. Nature always gives us plenty of warning before doing anything drastic, and by the same token, sea gives us a good many years to protect our landmass from her transgression. As sea level rise accelerates due to global warming, coastal India faces inundation. Although sea level rise is inevitable, the inundation of coastal India is not, and certainly it is not a fait accompli. If we decide to initiate collective action, in a scale comparable to the mass movement led by Mahatma Gandhi, we could successfully combat the rising sea, at least for a good few centuries. In this article I propose to discuss the various aspects of sea level rise, and emphasise the preventive measures that could be undertaken to save coastal India from the ravages of the rising seas.
— Rate of sea level rise
— Sea level rise is not uniform
— Maximum possible rise of sea level
— Sea level rise and coastal inundation
— Coastal inundation after the last ice age
— Losses due to sea level rise
— Achyutananda’s prophecy on sea level rise
— Measures to combat the rising seas
— The Netherlands is up to 6 m below sea level
— Let Coastal Works commence
Nanotechnology from an Industrial Ecology Perspective
Posted by: Karl Ramjohn
There has been much discussion in recent times of the possible impacts on health and the environment, associated with the emerging field of nanotechnology, for example:
> Nanotechnology Not That Green
> Nanotechnology’s Public Health Hazard
> Nano-pollution: the next scare story?
The following research paper provides a substance-flow analysis (SFA) of carbon nano-tubes from an industrial ecology perspective
Lekas, D. 2005. Analysis of Nanotechnology from an Industrial Ecology Perspective Part II: Substance Flow Analysis of Carbon Nanotubes. Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies. November 2005; 22 pp.
Link to full paper —> http://www.nanotechproject.org/file_…ed%20part2.pdf
1. Introduction
The “next plastic,” the future for electronics, a new energy storage material. Such descriptors have been given to the nanomaterial carbon nanotubes. These carbon atom cylinders with diameters under 100 nanometers are quickly becoming the focus of significant research and production around the world. Many people estimate that we will see high penetration of carbon nanotubes into everyday products in the near future. At the same time, however, many have expressed concern over the potential health risks from exposure to nanotubes. In order to better understand the scope of nanotube production, use, and destiny, particularly in terms of their impacts in the environment and on human health, this paper presents findings from an investigation into the feasibility of performing a substance flow analysis on carbon nanotubes.
A substance flow analysis (SFA) is a study of the flow of specific materials throughout the economy from cradle to grave. This approach has been called “a tool for analyzing the societal metabolism of substances,”. It examines and attempts to quantify the inputs of a substance or material into production, end-use applications, and ultimately end-of-life phases. Insight into the material inputs and outputs and other detail at one level or stage (e.g., production) may influence findings at other levels.
A SFA can be an appropriate tool when the material of interest is linked to a particular impact and thus warrants a more focused analysis on the “stocks and flows” and “concentrations in the environment,”. Because of the potential environmental and health impacts of carbon nanotubes (pending their penetration into products and uses), I hypothesized that the SFA approach would help shed light on the uncertain impacts. More specifically, I suspected that information on the quantity of carbon nanotubes produced would better inform understanding on the application of these substances into end uses, and that end-use information would improve the understanding of potential consequences of carbon nanotubes to users and in the environment.
2. Methodology
3. Nanotube Overview
4. Carbon Nanotube SFA Findings
5. Conclusions
GEO ENERGY NETWORK 