Sorry if “douchebag” is an offensive term to anyone.   This level of idiocy and blatant disregard for law and order and the rights and lives of others is simply too disgusting to not use such a word.

Via MSNBC:

Greenpeace Closes Down BP Petrol Stations in Central London Energy Protest

LONDON – As BP CEO Tony Hayward resigned under a cloud Tuesday, thousands of British motorists got an unexpected reminder of the oil spill that’s wreaked havoc in the Gulf of Mexico.

Protesters with the environmental group Greenpeace said they shut off fuel supplies at 46 BP gas stations across London just in time for the morning rush-hour. Small teams of activists used a standard shut-off switch to stop the flow of fuel oil at the targeted stations. The switches were then removed to prevent most BP outlets in the capital from opening.

And to ensure there was no chance of drivers buying gas, demonstrators in fluorescent vests and helmets locked green metal fences around some sites.

“What BP needs to do is not just change CEOs it needs to actually come up with a new strategy,” Greenpeace U.K.’s chief executive John Sauven said at one of the shuttered stations in Camden, north London.

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Molten salt is great for nuclear reactors, but it can’t do much for solar…

Via Business Green:

What is claimed to be the world’s first solar thermal concentration plant to use molten salt as the heat transfer fluid has been opened by Italian energy company Enel in Sicily.

The 5MW Archimede plant – named after the rows of huge parabolic mirrors used to capture the sun’s rays – is also claimed to be the first to integrate a combined-cycle gas facility and a solar thermal power plant for electricity generation.

The solar thermal power plant comprises a field of about 30,000m2 of mirrors that concentrate sunlight on to 5.4km of pipe carrying the molten salt fluid. The thermal energy harvested by the system produces high-pressure steam that is channelled into the turbines of the power plant to produce electricity, reducing the consumption of fossil fuels and, as a result, enhancing the environmental performance of the combined-cycle plant.

The solar collectors (the parabolic mirrors and pipes or receivers), together with a steam generator and two heat storage tanks – one cold and one hot – make up the solar portion of the system.

When the sun shines, the thermal fluid drawn from the cold tank is circulated through the network of parabolic collectors, where it is heated to a temperature of 550°C and injected into the hot tank, where the thermal energy is stored. The fluid is then drawn from the hot reservoir to produce steam at high pressure and temperature, which is sent to Enel’s nearby combined-cycle plant, where it contributes to electricity generation.

The molten salts used in the system are a mixture of sodium nitrates and potassium, which can retain heat for prolonged periods. This enables the plant to generate electricity at any time of the day and in all weather conditions until the stored energy is depleted.

To be precise, this is not the first time molten salts have been used in a solar power application. The supposed claim to fame here is that molten salts are being used for heat collection, heat transfer and storage, where as in the past they were usually limited to heat storage. Also, this is supposed to be a real “power plant,” as opposed to a research facility, as this has been done before in various prototype and pilot plant locations.

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In 1979 Three Mile Island experienced a partial meltdown of one of its reactor cores due to a coolant system failure and operator error.   The actual reactor vessel, though internally damaged, held, and the additional layers of protection offered by the containment structure also held, but were not even needed.   Nobody died, nobody was injured, no property outside the plant was damaged.   To this day, many hold it up as an example of the horrors of nuclear energy.

Meanwhile, a form of “renewable” energy around the country has been destroying homes and snuffing out lives from the very beginning with little fanfare.

The Lake Delhi dam was built in the 1920’s as a hydroelectric generating facility.   In the late 1960’s, the facility began to show its age and the operator didn’t have the capital to replace or refurbish the turbines, leading to most of the electrical generating capacity going offline in 1973.   Had the Delhi dam been a nuclear facility, the owners would have been required to have a fund set aside for its decommissioning, thus assuring that it would not be left a derelict hulk that endangers the community.

But it wasn’t nuclear, so there it sat, turbines rusting and no power being produced.   Instead, operations of the dam were turned over to the “Lake Delhi Recreational Association,” who apparently had no interest in generating electricity  and was not at all equipped to maintain or repair the dam.  The former hydroelectric dam, which held back a ten mile long lake seems to have sat under the control of the equivalent of a neighborhood association, and received little if any maintenance or inspection.

Although hydropower is a good economic and renewable source of energy, no government subsidies jumped in to repair the dam and thus several private attempts to repair the dam and put it back into service generating power went bust over the years.

Finally in 2008, it seemed that the plant would be brought back online.   It had the potential to generate electricity, but since it was not wind or solar, it took a while to get regulatory approval to even begin the refurbishment for power generation.   Yes, that’s right, the process to just get approval to begin refurbishment takes years!

By 2010, it looked like the plant was about ready to come back online.   Unfortunately, as it was being refurbished it was discovered that the years of neglect had not been kind to the Delhi dam and was in worse shape than anyone could have imagined.   Sediment had built up against the dam, at least one gate was severely damaged by a past flood and the integrity of the dam was called into question.  In 2009, the Federal Government allocated 2.5 million for critical repairs on the dam, in part because of the safety issue it presented.   The state of Iowa came up with another one hundred thousand dollars to begin a dredging and improvement plan last April.

But apparently, it wasn’t enough, because this morning, this happened:

Right now, how much damage this dam failure has caused remains unknown.   Details are sketchy, but officials are already calling it “catastrophic.”    At least a few homes are already reported destroyed and upwards of 700 could be in danger.    At least fifty homes have already reported some level of damage and the flood has also been blamed for extensive power outages.  Due to evacuations, it is hoped that deaths will be avoided.

The dam was not a nuclear facility, however, so don’t expect to read about this on the front page of the newspaper.  In fact, don’t expect to read about it on the second page either.   It may not even make the first section of your newspaper and if you don’t live in the US, it likely won’t make it to your newspaper at all.    After all, it’s just a dam and those fail all the time.   Small consolation to those whose lives have been washed away.

At least it was only water and not coal ash.

For those who don’t know, I just got home from a week in Las Vegas where I attended The Amazing Meeting with The Amazing James Randi, Adam Savage, the Great Johnny Thompson, Dr. Michael Shermer, Phil Plait “The Bad Astronomer,” Richard Dawkins and numerous other world-renowned skeptics, critical thinkers and science promoters.

Of course, it was a hoot.   It also involved quite a bit of intellectual stimulation, partying, drinking, running around, socializing and precious little sleep or down time.   Now back home, I figured it was time to crash for the evening before a storm of posting on the meeting, all those who helped pull it off and what my thoughts are on the future of skepticism, which I will say, is quite bright.

Then this shit hit the presses…
Infants Ingest Nearly 80 Times Safe Level of Dioxin

Yes, it is the “Environmental Working Group,” who have managed to gain credibility and also get a lot of media attention by going after a variety of unproven and over-played environmental issues. They’re the same group that made a big stink about cell phone radiation levels without providing much reason why anyone should worry about them.

While dioxin is indeed worth concern, at least in some circumstances, the press release from the EWG is riddled with unsubstantiated claims.

But, I’m simply too tired. Anyone want to take a closer look at the data?

This is the Playpump:

The basic idea is that children in Africa play on a manually driven merry-go-round, not unlike those found in many playgrounds and enjoy themselves, not even thinking of it as work, but in the process they pump water out from a well into a tank so that it can be used by their communities.   Of course, there’s no doubt water wells provide a much healthier alternative to carrying water miles or using surface streams and ponds for water, and the makers of the Playpump claim it is superior to the traditional hand-operated pumps that have generally been used to provide water because it’s powered by children playing as they would anyway.

Seems like a good idea, right?
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Via the New York Times:

MIT Researchers See Natural Gas as the Choice for Lower Carbon Emissions
Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are encouraging U.S. policymakers to consider the nation’s growing supply of natural gas as a short-term substitute for aging coal-fired power plants.

In the results of a two-year study, released today, the researchers said electric utilities and other sectors of the American economy will use more gas through 2050. Under a scenario that envisions a federal policy aimed at cutting greenhouse gas emissions to 50 percent below 2005 levels by 2050, researchers found a substantial role for natural gas.

“Because national energy use is substantially reduced, the share represented by gas is projected to rise from about 20 percent of the current national total to around 40 percent in 2040,” said the MIT researchers. When used to fire a power plant, gas emits about half of the carbon dioxide emissions as conventional coal plants.

The report asserts the impact of national policies that place an economic cost on greenhouse gas emissions would, first and foremost, be a reduction in energy use across the United States. It would flatten demand in the electricity sector.

….

Gas is an option for cutting power plant emissions and addressing global warming in the short term. But the researchers warned that the gas cushion shouldn’t distract policymakers from addressing the need for nuclear power and carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) technology for coal-fired generation.

“Though gas frequently is touted as a ‘bridge’ to the future, continuing effort is needed to prepare for that future, lest the gift of greater domestic gas resources turn out to be a bridge with no landing point on the far bank,” the report says. “Barriers to the expansion of nuclear power or coal and/or gas generation with CCS must be resolved over the next few decades so they are capable of expanding to replace natural gas in generation.”

…
Economics favor vehicles run on natural gas

Automakers that take the plunge into compressed natural gas vehicles would see a significant jump in demand under a national climate policy that makes carbon dioxide emissions costly. Biofuels are expected to advance, but it’s unclear how quickly and at what cost to important food crops. But even with biofuels in the picture, MIT projects natural gas vehicles will be 15 percent of the private vehicle fleet by 2050.

New shale gas fields could reconfigure the national map of gas producers and consumers. Gas production in the Marcellus Shale and other burgeoning gas fields in the Northeast, stretching from New England through the Great Lake states, is set to rise 78 percent by 2030. Under a carbon price regime, the researchers said gas production matches increasing gas consumption.

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Recently Greenpeace issued “seven steps to a future fueled by renewable energy.” At least one writer at ZDNet seems to have eaten the whole thing up saying:

I know how some of you feel about Greenpeace, but let me assure you that this is not mere rhetoric. The report was research and written in conjunction with scientists from the Institute of Technical Thermodynamics at the German Aerospace Centre, and its focus is on how to phase out fuels and cut carbon dioxide emissions without compromising “energy security.” It offers several prospective scenarios for what COULD happen — sort of like the ghost of our energy future.

Having read the report, I can tell you that it could happen, and monkeys could also fly out of my butt, as Wayne of Wayne’s World would say. It’s based on a number of extreme assumptions, including the assumption that unlimited amounts of money can be spent by governments to “create jobs” with zero negative economic impacts. It also makes unrealistically optimistic projections for renewable energy efficiency and capacity factor.

All in all, the proposal is more of the same pie in the sky rhetoric about things that those of us with rational mindsets and some level of technical knowledge know are just never going to happen. Many of the steps proposed are just plain naive and others are likely to be counter-productive.

Since many out there still actually trust groups like this, here is why these just can’t stand:

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The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico caused by the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon and the subsequent failure of the blowout preventer is, admittedly, a pretty bad oil spill.   It’s certainly not the worst oil spill in world history, although it does rank fairly high.   The worst spill in history is likely the 1991 Gulf War Oil spill, which not only was at least a big as the Deepwater Horizon spill, but also occurred in a more contained and near-shore area, further increasing the impacts.

There’s no doubt that the Deepwater Horizon spill has and will continue to have major local and regional impacts in the Gulf region.   The ecology of the Gulf coast has already suffered and will continue to do so.   Businesses like fishing and shrimp as well as tourism will take a hit.   However, in a few years, most of the major effects will be gone.   There will still be some lingering effects, and in some areas, tar-drenched sands will remain just beneath the surface.   It will be decades before the evidence of the event is no longer visible.

The well itself will continue to be the subject of capture and containment efforts.  These efforts will likely contain most of the oil in the months to come, although there will surely be setbacks and failures, as the jury rigged system is used to contain as much of the oil as possible.   Thankfully these efforts are only temporary.  The leak will eventually be brought to a complete stop when relief wells are completed.    There are already two being drilled about as fast as possible.  A contingency plan is in place to utilize only one for complete containment if one of the two fails.

As for the oil, it will cause harm to the region but not to the global hydrosphere.   It will disperse and become more and more dilute with distance from the spill and as it does, it will break down chemically.  The churning action of the ocean combined with the action of bacteria and sunlight will decompose the thick oil into smaller and smaller hydrocarbons.   These will eventually oxidize either in the ocean or after evaporating into the atmosphere.   They won’t rain back down with normal precipitation and won’t enter the freshwater streams, reservoirs or aquifers of the world.

This spill, severe though it may be to the localized region is NOT the end of the world.  It’s not doomsday.  It’s not going to lead to the extinction of humanity or a large portion of mankind.   It won’t leave the earth sterile and devoid of life nor will it make the earth crash into the sun or cause the atmosphere to ignite.

HOWEVER, If you are convinced that this is the case, perhaps because you saw someone saying it on a poorly edited Youtube video or because you just like living in a world dominated by irrational fear, then this is the place to post about it. Now you have no excuse to post completely off-topic crap in other blog posts!

A post recently ran in Slashdot regarding plans to import solar energy to Europe from northern Africa.  It referenced this Reuters article about the plans to build a massively expensive trans-Mediterranean electrical cable, which is planned to begin transmission of power in five years as the first step in the project.  Needless to say, the “nerds” at Slashdot are all over this like it as realistic.

From the article:

The European Union is backing projects to turn the plentiful sunlight in the Sahara desert into electricity for power-hungry Europe, a scheme it hopes will help meet its target of deriving 20 percent of its energy from renewable sources in 2020.

“I think some models starting in the next 5 years will bring some hundreds of megawatts to the European market,” Oettinger told Reuters after a meeting with energy ministers from Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia.

He said those initial volumes would come from small pilot projects, but the amount of electricity would go up into the thousands of megawatts as projects including the 400 billion euro ($495 billion) Desertec solar scheme come on stream.

“Desertec as a whole is a vision for the next 20 to 40 years with investment of hundreds of billions of euros,” said Oettinger. “To integrate a bigger percentage of renewables, solar and wind, needs time.”

The EU is backing the construction of new electricity cables, known as inter-connectors, under the Mediterranean Sea to carry this renewable energy from North Africa to Europe.

Some environmental groups have warned these cables could be used instead to import non-renewable electricity from coal- and gas-fired power stations in north Africa.

“This is a good question but not a question to destroy our project,” Oettinger said. “This question must be answered by a good answer and so we need ways to ensure that our import of electricity is from renewables.”

He said he believed it was technologically possible to monitor electricity imports to the EU and establish if they come from renewable sources or fossil fuels. “This question must be solved in the next years,” he said.

SOLAR SUBISIDIES

The Desertec consortium includes major firms such as Siemens, RWE and Deutsche Bank. They are expected to seek public money for the project.

Yes, you did read right about the money that the EU plans to invest in this.  That is billion, with a B.   Hundreds of billions of Euro.   The money is all going to come from governmental subsidies (assuming they don’t go bankrupt first).  While it’s common practice to tout the private investment in these projects as being a sign of the business potential of solar power, the fact is that this is not being done because these energy sources have any realistic potential in the market.   The investors will recoup all they put into this and then some at the expense of European tax and rate payers.

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This ignoramus is the type we generally find on the “opposition” side.

Nothing angers me more than idiots who don’t know what they’re talking about walking around and talking like they have some kind of authority

Well, “Rick” let me first assure you that there’s no reason to worry about the nuclear plant at Chalk River, because there is no such plant. There is a research and isotope production reactor there, however. You know why it was allowed to run without the mandated triple-redundant cooling system? Because the reactor is quite important to producing medical isotopes and shutting it down would create a shortage.

Of course, it was shut down anyway when it sprung a leak and hence the world now has a shortage of medical isotopes. This wouldn’t be a big deal if either of the two replacement reactors built right nextdoor to it were online, but because of people like yourself, they’re not. It also would not be a huge deal if other countries had built more medical research reactors, but again, anti-nuclear groups have managed to stunt that, so now we’re reliant on mostly 40 year old reactors.

Pat yourself on the back, idiot.

Finally, repeat after me “I replaced the old cloudy water with new clear water.” That is how you say “nuclear” just like “new clear.”