Energy & the Environment News and Discussions

weatheriscool
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Using ocean plastic waste to power ocean cleanup ships
https://techxplore.com/news/2021-11-oce ... ships.html
by Bob Yirka , Tech Xplore
A team of researchers from Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and Harvard University believes that the plastic amassing in floating islands in the oceans could be used to power the ships that are sent to clean them up. In their paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the group describes how ocean plastics could be converted to ship fuel.

Prior research has shown that millions of tons of plastics enter the ocean each year—some of it is ground into fragments and disperses, and some of it winds up in colossal garbage patches floating in remote parts of the ocean. Because of the danger that such plastics present to ocean life, some environmentalists have begun cleanup operations. Such operations typically involve sending a ship to a garbage patch, collecting as much as the ship will hold and then bringing it back to port for processing. In this new effort, the researchers suggest it would be far more efficient and greener to turn the plastic into fuel for both a processing machine and for uninterrupted operation of the ships.

The researchers note that the plastic in a garbage dump could be converted to a type of oil via hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL). In this process, the plastic is heated to 300–550 degrees Celsius at pressures 250 to 300 times that of sea-level conditions. The researchers have calculated that a ship carrying an HTL converter would be capable of producing enough oil to run the HTL converter and the ship's engine. Under their scenario, plastic collection booms would be permanently stationed at multiple sites around a large garbage patch, able to load the plastic it collects onto ships.

The researchers acknowledge that burning the oil produced would release carbon into the atmosphere, but note that the amount emitted would still be less than that emitted by a ship burning conventional oil making trips back and forth to ports. They also note that HTL does produce a small amount of solid waste, which would have to be taken back to port, likely every few months—excess fuel produced by the HTL could be used for these trips.
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The Most Detailed Map of Cancer-Causing Industrial Air Pollution in the U.S.

By Al Shaw and Lylla Younes,
November 2, 2021

It’s not a secret that industrial facilities emit hazardous air pollution.

A new ProPublica analysis shows for the first time just how much toxic air pollution they emit — and how much the chemicals they unleash could be elevating cancer risk in their communities.

ProPublica’s analysis of five years of modeled EPA data identified more than 1,000 toxic hot spots across the country and found that an estimated 250,000 people living in them may be exposed to levels of excess cancer risk that the EPA deems unacceptable.

The agency has long collected the information on which our analysis is based. Thousands of facilities nationwide that are considered large sources of toxic air pollution submit a report to the government each year on their chemical emissions.

But the agency has never released this data in a way that allows the public to understand the risks of breathing the air where they live. Using the reports submitted between 2014 and 2018, we calculated the estimated excess cancer risk from industrial sources across the entire country and mapped it all.

https://projects.propublica.org/toxmap/


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weatheriscool
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Mountaintop removal worse for endangered species than initially thought

by Defenders of Wildlife
https://phys.org/news/2021-11-mountaint ... ought.html
A new study published today by journal PLOS ONE has revealed that mountaintop removal mining poses a more serious and widespread threat to endangered species and people than was previously understood. The researchers from Defenders of Wildlife's Center for Conservation Innovation (CCI) and conservation technology nonprofit SkyTruth, combine water-quality data with satellite imagery of mountaintop removal mining activity to estimate the full extent of water-quality degradation attributable to the practice at the landscape level.

"This research really emphasizes the interconnectedness of ecosystems and how distant human activity can have ripple effects that aren't immediately apparent," said CCI's Senior Conservation Data Scientist Mike Evans. "Being able to assess impacts at a landscape scale opens a completely new door for conservation."

Mountaintop removal is a coal-mining method that clearcuts forests and then uses explosives to remove top soil and bedrock, which is often dumped in nearby valleys. The method's negative impacts on water quality is well known, but this research is now revealing the extent of the damage.

The research found that chronic and acute toxicity thresholds for chemicals like aluminum, copper, lead and manganese as well as acidity levels in streams were exceeded thousands of times—including in areas of critical habitat—far removed from where the mines actually are. Previously, it was thought impacts were contained to the immediate area around mines.
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caltrek
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Consumption in the G20 Nations Causes Particulate Air Pollution Resulting in Two Million Premature Deaths Annually
by Keisuke Nansai, Susumu Tohno, Satoru Chatani, Keiichiro Kanemoto, Shigemi Kagawa, Yasushi Kondo, Wataru Takayanagi & Manfred Lenzen
November 2, 2021

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-26348-y

Abstract:
(Nature)Worldwide exposure to ambient PM2.5 causes over 4 million premature deaths annually. As most of these deaths are in developing countries, without internationally coordinated efforts this polarized situation will continue. As yet, however, no studies have quantified nation-to-nation consumer responsibility for global mortality due to both primary and secondary PM2.5 particles. Here we quantify the global footprint of PM2.5-driven premature deaths for the 19 G20 nations in a position to lead such efforts. G20 consumption in 2010 was responsible for 1.983 [95% Confidence Interval: 1.685–2.285] million premature deaths, at an average age of 67, including 78.6 [71.5–84.8] thousand infant deaths, implying that the G20 lifetime consumption of about 28 [24–33] people claims one life. Our results indicate that G20 nations should take responsibility for their footprint rather than focusing solely on transboundary air pollution, as this would expand opportunities for reducing PM2.5-driven premature mortality. Given the infant mortality footprint identified, it would moreover contribute to ensuring infant lives are not unfairly left behind in countries like South Africa, which have a weak relationship with G20 nations.
Introduction
To achieve planetary health1, a world that is healthy for both the global biosphere and human civilization, the critical challenge is to mitigate the human health hazards, as well as suppress the environmental impacts created by socioeconomic activities, reining in the latter to within the Earth’s environmental tolerance. Among the many environmental problems affecting human health, the greatest threat is that posed by the inhalation of particles with an aerodynamic diameter of 2.5 μm or less, abbreviated to PM2.52. According to the World Health Organization (WHO)3, in 2016 respiratory and cardiovascular diseases and cancer caused by exposure to ambient PM2.5 were responsible for approximately 4.2 million premature deaths, i.e., deaths occurring before the average age of death in thepopulation concerned. The majority of these deaths were in countries with low and middle incomes3, while 91% of the global population lives in areas where air quality is below WHO guidelines4. The loss to the global workforce due to premature deaths attributable to PM2.5 was equivalent to 225 billion US dollars in 20135. While the reduction in air pollution due to the COVID-19 pandemic6 has mitigated human health impacts somewhat, it is neither sufficient nor lasting7,8,9.
References
1.
Whitmee, S. et al. Safeguarding human health in the anthropocene epoch: report of The Rockefeller Foundation–Lancet Commission on planetary health. Lancet 386, 1973–2028 (2015).
PubMed Article PubMed Central Google Scholar
2.
Health Effects Institute. State of Global Air 2018. Special Report. (Health Effects Institute, Boston, MA, 2018).
3.
WHO. Ambient (outdoor) air pollution, https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-shee ... and-health (2018).Return to ref 3 in article
4.
WHO. Evolution of WHO air quality guidelines: past, present and future. (Copenhagen, 2017).
5.
World Bank and Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. The Cost of Air Pollution: Strengthening the Economic Case for Action. (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2016).
6.
Lenzen, M. et al. Global socio-economic losses and environmental gains from the Coronavirus pandemic. PLoS One 15, e0235654. (2020).
7.
He, G. J., Pan, Y. H. & Tanaka, T. The short-term impacts of COVID-19 lockdown on urban air pollution in China. Nat. Sustain. 3, 1005–1011 (2020).
8.
Silver, B., He, X. Y., Arnold, S. R. & Spracklen, D. V. The impact of COVID-19 control measures on air quality in China. Environ. Res. Lett. 15, 084021 (2020).
9.
Wang, P. F., Chen, K. Y., Zhu, S. Q., Wang, P. & Zhang, H. L. Severe air pollution events not avoided by reduced anthropogenic activities during COVID-19 outbreak. Resour. Conserv. Recy. 158, 104814 (2020).
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caltrek
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Mutant Microbe Produces Carbon-Neutral Biofuel
by Talia Ogliore-Wustl
November 4, 2021

https://www.futurity.org/microbes-biofu ... er-265166/

Introduction
(Futurity) Scientists have modified a microbe so it can produce a biofuel using only three renewable and naturally abundant source ingredients: carbon dioxide, solar panel-generated electricity, and light.

The microbe, called Rhodopseudomonas palustris TIE-1 (TIE-1), produced a biofuel, n-butanol, that is an authentically carbon-neutral fuel alternative that can be used in blends with diesel or gasoline.

“Microorganisms have evolved a bewildering array of techniques to obtain nutrients from their surrounding environments,” says Arpita Bose, associate professor of biology at Washington University and lead author of the paper in Communications Biology.

“Perhaps one of the most fascinating of these feeding techniques uses microbial electrosynthesis (MES). Here we have harnessed the power of microbes to convert carbon dioxide into value-added multi-carbon compounds in a usable biofuel.”

“The fuel we made, n-butanol, has a high energy content and low tendency to vaporize or dissolve in water without combustion,” says first author Wei Bai, a PhD graduate of McKelvey Engineering’s energy, environmental, and chemical engineering department who worked as a research assistant in the Bose lab from 2015-2020. “This is especially true when compared with ethanol, which is a commonly used biofuel.”
Last edited by caltrek on Tue Nov 09, 2021 10:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Yuli Ban
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The proportion of electricity the United States gets from solar and wind nearly quadrupled between 2011 and 2020. While geothermal generation remained relatively flat, the three technologies combined for an annual increase of nearly 15 percent over that stretch.

Those findings come from a report released Tuesday by the nonprofit Environment America Research and Policy Center and the nonpartisan research organization Frontier Group. The analysis also found that if the current growth rate continues, wind, solar and geothermal would meet current electricity demand levels by 2035 — which is when President Biden aims to have an entirely fossil-fuel-free grid.

“The pace of progress is continuing to pick up,” said Emma Searson, an author of the new report. “That’s exactly what we need to see in years to come.”
And remember my friend, future events such as these will affect you in the future
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Yuli Ban wrote: Tue Nov 09, 2021 10:20 pm
The proportion of electricity the United States gets from solar and wind nearly quadrupled between 2011 and 2020. While geothermal generation remained relatively flat, the three technologies combined for an annual increase of nearly 15 percent over that stretch.

Those findings come from a report released Tuesday by the nonprofit Environment America Research and Policy Center and the nonpartisan research organization Frontier Group. The analysis also found that if the current growth rate continues, wind, solar and geothermal would meet current electricity demand levels by 2035 — which is when President Biden aims to have an entirely fossil-fuel-free grid.

“The pace of progress is continuing to pick up,” said Emma Searson, an author of the new report. “That’s exactly what we need to see in years to come.”
"Current growth rate" still assumes linear growth. Given recent trends, the more likely scenario will be exponential growth which means it's going to grow at least to the second power of a quadruple. 2035 is still a very conservative estimate, I'll bet.
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Florida has rejected a plan to drill for oil in the Everglades

November 6, 2021 at 7:49 AM EDT

State environmental regulators ruled the proposed well could impact water supplies and endangered species, such as the Florida panther.

The state has denied a request to dig exploratory oil wells near the Everglades.

A ruling by the state Department of Environmental Protection on Friday rejected the application by Trend Exploration of North Fort Myers. The letter states drilling the wells could adversely impact water supplies and wildlife in the area, which includes habitat for the endangered Florida panther.

Read more: https://wusfnews.wusf.usf.edu/environme ... -the-state


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/\ Thank god some beneficial institutions are functioning in some ways in some places in this country. My state is corrupted by the oil and natural gas industry. Even when photographic, video and chemical testing evidence have been provided to the PA Department of Environmental Protection that fracking has poisoned water supplies and water tables they have effectively responded by saying that if a given oil company in question doesn't agree that they have violated environmental protections then they haven't. Every governor for over a decade has been bought. The state senate is corrupt. Some municipalities and cities have taken action but they can only do so much. There has been some progress of late but the damage is done already and I have zero faith in this political systems ability to solve the problem.

https://www.pittsburghcurrent.com/state ... orruption/

Statewide Investigating Grand Jury finds Corruption

The Jury learned, “DEP employees often elected not to inspect reported violations; some employees would just call the well’s operator, and rely on his version of events. And even in cases where investigation did show that a violation had occurred and that groundwater had been tainted, DEP employees typically chose not to notify neighboring landowners, who would have had no way to know there was a problem. Even today, there is apparently no policy that requires DEP to notify unsuspecting neighbors that a nearby resident’s water was found to be contaminated, and therefore that their water could be contaminated as well.”
What is startling is that this isn't even corruption by the definition of some leftist radical like myself. This corruption by the definition of established legal precedent within the United States, which really doesn't set a high bar for itself considering lobbying is legal.
weatheriscool
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Newly developed compound may enable sustainable, cost-effective, large-scale energy storage
https://techxplore.com/news/2021-11-new ... ctive.html
by Beijing Institute of Technology Press Co., Ltd
To produce a cost-effective redox flow battery, researchers based at the South China University of Technology have synthesized a molecular compound that serves as a low-cost electrolyte, enabling a stable flow battery that retains 99.98% capacity per cycle. They published their approach on August 14 in the Energy Material Advances.

Comprising two tanks of opposing liquid electrolytes, the battery pumps the positive and negative liquids along a membrane separator sandwiched between electrodes, facilitating ion exchanges to produce energy. Significant work has been dedicated to developing the negative electrolyte liquid, while the positive electrolyte liquid has received less attention, according to corresponding author Zhenxing Liang, professor in the Key Laboratory of Fuel Cell Technology of Guangdong Province, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, South China University of Technology.

"Aqueous redox flow batteries can realize the stable electrical output for using unsteady solar and wind energy, and they have been recognized as a promising large-scale energy storage technology," Liang said. "Electroactive organic merit of element abundance, low cost and flexible molecular control over the electrochemical features for both positive and negative electrolytes are regarded as key to developing next-generation redox flow batteries."

Liang and his team focused on TEMPO, a chemical compound with easily reversed oxidation states and high potential for energy, a desired quality in positive electrolytes.
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