Thursday, May 22nd, 2008
Unbeknownst to many people (ourselves included), garbage dumps can be a meaningful source of alternative energy production. As the waste that is piled up in a landfill breaks down, it releases copious amounts of methane gas (whose greenhouse effect is 20 times worse than CO2). Consequently, landfill operators have begun to install pipe systems that capture these gasses in order to use them in energy production. Once captured, the methane (aka “biogas”) is burned in a traditional power generation process. Although the burning of methane releases CO2, this is substantially less harmful to the environment than the methane in its original state.
The recent surge in waste-to-energy projects stems from federal tax incentives and state laws requiring the use of certain percentages of clean energy. However, opponents complain that biogas is not actually a renewable energy source since it is derived from human excess (trash). While these critics are literally correct since human waste is not created by Mother Earth, it seems silly to denigrate attempts to turn a negative (human garbage and excess) into a positive (an energy source that reduces the greenhouse effect).
As with most forms of alternative energy production, we were not surprised to learn that this waste-to-energy process is most developed in Europe. We can only hope that the next administration and Congress will implement policies that will encourage alternative energy development. Maybe then, hearing about innovative processes like turning waste-to-energy will no longer be such a surprise to us and our readers.
Photo credit.
Sphere: Related Content
Posted in Energy, General, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Science and Innovation | No Comments »
Friday, April 18th, 2008
A study conducted by a research team at Purdue University ranked U.S. cities based upon their aggregate carbon emissions. According to this article, the calculations were based upon CO2 outputs from the burning of fossil fuels from sources including factories, power plants, roads, etc.
An assistant professor involved with the study stated, “It’s interesting that the top county, Harris, Texas, is on the list because of industrial emissions, but the second highest CO2 emitting county, Los Angeles, California, is on the list because of automobile emissions. So it’s not just cars, and it’s not just factories, that are emitting the carbon dioxide, but a combination of different things.”
This project was funded by the federal government and involved Purdue University, Colorado State University and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
The numbers next to the city names are for millions of tons of carbon emitted per year.
1. Harris, Texas (Houston), 18.625 million tons of carbon per year
2. Los Angeles, Calif. (Los Angeles), 18.595
3. Cook, Ill. (Chicago), 13.209
4. Cuyahoga, Ohio (Cleveland), 11.144
5. Wayne, Mich. (Detroit), 8.270
6. San Juan, N.M. (Farmington), 8.245
7. Santa Clara, Calif. (San Jose), 7.995
8. Jefferson, Ala. (Birmingham), 7.951
9. Wilcox, Ala. (Camden), 7.615
10. East Baton Rouge, La. (Baton Rouge), 7.322
11. Titus, Texas (Mt. Pleasant), 7.244
12. Carbon, Pa. (Jim Thorpe), 6.534
13. Porter, Ind. (Valparaiso), 6.331
14. Jefferson, Ohio (Steubenville), 6.278
15. Indiana, Pa. (Indiana), 6.224
16. Middlesex, Mass. (Boston metro area), 6.198
17. Bexar, Texas (San Antonio), 6.141
18. Hillsborough, Fla. (Tampa), 6.037
19. Suffolk, N.Y. (New York metro area), 6.030
20. Clark, Nev. (Las Vegas) 5.955
Photo credit.
Hat tip to MetroRiderLA.com
Sphere: Related Content
Posted in General, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Los Angeles | No Comments »
Friday, February 29th, 2008
New York City Mayor Bloomberg continued to provide leadership in implementing policies intended to curb greenhouse gas emissions when he announced that all 10,000 of the city’s black town cars (also known by their politically incorrect nickname “Gypsy cabs,” due to the fact that they often cruise the city picking up passengers) would be required to increase their fuel efficiency standards to 30 miles per gallon by 2010. (They currently average around 13 miles per gallon.)
The result will be that these town cars are going to have to shift to hybrid technology in order to meet the strict requirements, which are intended to reduce their emissions by 50%. Mayor Bloomberg has a history of taking a strong leadership position on environmental issues, highlighted by his comprehensive plan to reduce the city’s aggregate carbon emissions by 30% by 2030, which also includes requiring all 13,000 of the city’s yellow cabs to be hybrids by 2012. (more…)
Sphere: Related Content
Posted in Energy, General, New York, Politics, Transportation | No Comments »
Thursday, February 21st, 2008
This could be the future if two scientists from Los Alamos National Laboratory are correct. They have recently expanded on a previously suggested technology whereby regular air would be taken and blown across a chemical mixture of potassium carbonate which would then absorb the CO2 from the air. The harvested CO2 would then be put through a series of chemical reactions which would ultimately turn it into fuel that could then be used to power car or jet engines. This gasoline would basically be the same as that derived from drilled oil.
However, unlike the current method of drilling for oil, with this new method, all of a car’s emissions would be directly offset by the CO2 that was harvested in its creation, thereby making the fuel truly carbon neutral.
(more…)
Sphere: Related Content
Posted in Energy, General, Science and Innovation, Transportation | No Comments »
