Readers here know that I generally refrain from taking cheap shots at the oil and gas industry. I try to keep in mind that, whether we like it or not, fossil fuels make up the vast majority of the world’s energy supply, and that until we can come together as a civilization and make them obsolete, we rely on them every days of our lives.
Having said that, I think it’s imperative to ensure we never lose sight of the dangers. To that end, I call attention to the fact that the federal government is warning residents in a small Wyoming town with extensive natural gas development not to drink their water, and to use fans and ventilation when showering or washing clothes in order to avoid the risk of an explosion. It seems that EPA researchers found benzene, metals, naphthalene, phenols and methane in wells and in groundwater.
The work that Brazil has done in renewable energy is legendary. Clean energy – mainly ethanol made from huge sugarcane fields — accounts for more than 85.4% of their domestically supplied energy.
The country stands as a model of decision making that spans the public and private sectors. After the volatility of the oil markets of the 1970s, Brazil made concentrated attack on developing alternative sources of energy. In addition to powering its fleets with a minimum of gasoline, Brazil has been extremely effective in diversifying its energy portfolio with wind and hydrokinetics.
It is for this reason that I can think of no better host for an energy conference. One of the directors of the Renewable and Alternative Energy in the Southern Cone asked me to let readers know about it, and I said I’d be happy to; just click the link above.
Some of the recent conversations here have touched on the idea of geoengineering, i.e., taking pro-active steps to mitigate the greenhouse gas problem more aggressively than simply cutting emissions. This is a hot topic, if I may use the pun, in many of the current conferences on sustainability – albeit a fiercely controversial one.
Rightfully, the concept of shooting particles into the mesosphere (the layer above the stratosphere) to shield the Earth from incident sunlight that is melting the polar icecaps is quite contentious, yet I personally recommend that everyone have at least a surface level of understanding of the topic. To that end, here’s one of the magnificent “Ted Talks” by scientist David Keith, who, in 16 minutes, presents the basics of the subject in a quite accessible way.
We are imposed to lead a mechanical life. Whether we accept or not, we are being forced to live more and more sedentary and mechanical life. Right after waking up, including our exercise which is customized by ourselves to suit our imposed mechanical lifestyle. After the so called our time, till we go out for work – travelling, working, watching Television or any other almost all the dimensions of so called entertainment and till sleeping, everything is mechanical. It is only weekends we get and these weekends also like exercise depends on several other parameters of our life.
These are the main reasons behind our passive lifestyle – accepting what is offered by the system and our thought process revolves around this restricted circle itself and not beyond. Discipline is an important dimension for life but, that should not be an imposed or compromised dimension of life. This weakens our thought process and in the long run, we cease to think and this will continuously reduces our emotional and spiritual quotient. But, do we need these two dimensions in our life ? Answer is a big Yes, as these two dimensions in equilibrium with our intelligence quotient keeps our life in the worthy dimension. Read More »
But the Politicians don’t trust Science to believe it is Reasonable. Please read it all don’t stop without the entire picture! There is a SOLUTION to “Global Warming”
The efforts of Humans to control carbon-dioxide emissions and thereby reduce global warming is at most a few percent (95%)most of the emissions come from plants at night and some is converted back to oxygen and the carbon used in the plants in daylight. Our feeble efforts will have little effect.
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According to the publication Energy Intelligence Finance, $150 billion per year is being spent globally on renewable power. That’s a stunning figure and it shows that, even with last year’s cap-and-trade capitulation in Washington, green energy is thriving. Of course, if you’re an American, you have to be concerned, because so much of that money is being spent OUTSIDE the U.S., and thus America is losing out on millions of permanent new jobs are being lost.
NREL spokesperson George Douglas contibuted to the book’s chapter on the US federal governement’s laboratories. As one might expect, there are many non-profit organizations of different types that make important contributions to the quest for clean energy: government agencies, NGOs, trade associations, etc. The handful of such groups that have contributed to this book speak to the important work they are doing to develop key technologies and to adopt rational policy by which renewables can be moved forward in a concerted and responsible way.
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory, or NREL, is the only federal laboratory dedicated to the research, development, commercialization and deployment of renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies. I was delighted to speak with spokesperson George Douglas.
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