Comments In the belly has made

where to get the salt

From the (local to you, TP, if I remember correctly) Houston Chronicle:

Salt Excavation in East Texas

Better to dewater the salt slurry effluent and use it for thermal storage than pump it into a saline aquifer, I think.On World's biggest solar power tower to open in Spain posted 11 months ago 11 Responses

much belated thanks

Sprout72, appreciate the information.  Sorry it took so long to acknowledge. On House passes bailout plan with extensions for renewables, sends to Bush's desk posted 12 months ago 5 Responses

no actual response

I assume than no has failed to notice that Mr. Green has no response to the factual content of Mr. Romm's posting.  It's just "wah, wah, he called me names."On The American Enterprise Institute: Still crazy with denial and delay posted 1 year ago 5 Responses

another Muller mistatement

Wind turbine installed capacity is exploding in China (if only they could get them hooked up to the grid!).

Apparently it is cheap enough for China.

With someone like Muller advising the next president we'll continue to be in the same boat we are now--watching other countries manufacture and export renewable technologies to us.

And I will second the praise of Jim Hansen.  I actually just saw him speak today at the Geological Society of America Joint Meeting.  The case for 350ppm as the target for "safe" atmospheric CO2 concentration and the need to build no more non-CCS coal plants was compelling, and built on clear scientific evidence.  For Muller--shilling his book purporting to advocate to the next president--to belittle someone for being an advocate looks like petty jealousy to me.On Author and physicist Richard A. Muller chats with Grist about getting science back in the White Hous posted 1 year, 1 month ago 15 Responses

Which PHEVs?

I haven't heard any discussion about whether aftermarket plug-in conversion qualify for the tax credit, or if it only applies for factory PHEVs like the Volt.

Anyone know?On House passes bailout plan with extensions for renewables, sends to Bush's desk posted 1 year, 1 month ago 5 Responses

darth has it wrong again

No major spills from Katrina?

Katrina oil slicks

Not to mention onshore spills, 7 million gallons, I believe.  You might ask someone from St. Bernard Parish if there were any spills.

Curious what these new drilling and production technologies are that you are referring to.  I know O&G flacks keep talking about them, but I haven't seen any step changes in technology during the last 10 years, anyway.

Also, supposedly the market has already accounted for several billion barrels of scope for recovery from the Tupi discovery in Brasil's Santos Basin (with plenty of infrastructure), yet prices have continued to climb.  Don't you think that undiscovered, exploration-risked volumes many years from production would have even less impact on the market?  Immediately drop?  I don't think so.  On Gingrich mounts campaign to support domestic oil drilling posted 1 year, 6 months ago 59 Responses

looks like calvin trollby is back

Before the WWII war chem industry was converted into the post-WWII ag chem industry, organic ag was the only ag that fed the world.  So much for "never."  It is likely to be that way again as the cost of feedstock for chemag goes up and response to application thereof declines.

And, in a pre-emptive for-what-its-worth, I'd be happy to compare my "country people" bona fides against anyone's.On Study: transgenic soy brings lower yields than conventional posted 1 year, 7 months ago 25 Responses

doesn't work for me either...

...I just figured it was me.  I'm pretty sure I have flash installed, most everything else works.On Friday music blogging: Cloud Cult posted 1 year, 7 months ago 7 Responses

creep? harsh!

Personally, I pretty much dismiss anyone who doesn't know the difference between climate and weather...On Skeptic stage dad to impressionable teen daughter: 'MOTIVATION!' posted 1 year, 7 months ago 31 Responses

natural geothermal systems...

...seem not to deplete, at least over human scales.  Specific geysers at Yellowstone, for instance, have remained active for some time.  There are definitely changes in some geysers' activity (even dormant phases) but I believe those reflect changes in plumbing systems more than cooling of the heat reservoir, as evidenced by rapid changes after earthquakes for instance.

I'm curious what concern elbarto has about deep fractures?  Lubrication possibly causing small earthquake swarms?  I believe those have been observed, don't know if the magnitude is sufficient to cause alarm.  I guess I would stay away from major active faults.

I've wondered about the effect greater adoption of geoexchange (aka geothermal heatpump) would have on the near-surface heat profile.  I would expect that with prolonged use the heat pumped in during summer would tend to raise temperatures, reducing efficiency (more pronounced, say, in the South where heat withdrawl during winter would be much less).

Interesting fact:  near-surface profiles of temperature vs. depth (say the upper 10-30 m or so?) at undisturbed locations can be inverted to give a history of surface climate, tending to smooth out short time scale variations.  As one might expect, they provide further evidence of recent warming.On Cost of solar cells may be driven down dramatically posted 1 year, 8 months ago 36 Responses

Mr. Dewey

Airlines, aircraft manufacturers, energy companies, and millions of private investors are still placing their bets on the cost-effectiveness of air travel and a long-term supply of fossil fuels.

The airlines are already whining about the high cost of fuel (and looking to their pilots and others to make more or continued wage concessions).  Aircraft manufacturers are worried about the effect of high fuel prices on their customers, fighting amongst themselves for a share of the smaller pie, and looking to the continued good market in warcraft (and complaining loudly when they don't get a lucrative tanker contract, for instance).

And energy companies?  The are admitting that there will be a peak in oil production and are scrambling to get the last few concessions available to non-NOC entities, while throwing cash at politicians to open up every possible public land to exploration and exploitation.  They have quite the er...business model, in that scarcity of their product makes the price go up and compensate for their declining production.  Maybe it is a good bet, but it doesn't mean that low-energy transportation choices don't get more attractive when costs go up (as evidenced by increases in Amtrak ridership).

And if you want to talk about subsidies, well, there is a lot of room to talk about what the parties you have listed are receiving.On Reducing your carbon footprint from travel posted 1 year, 8 months ago 41 Responses

eyes wide open

But better yet, why not a mandate for no new coal plants?  If there should be any mandate for CCS it should be that it be required for existing coal plants as a requirement for extension of their licensing (tough as that would be for post-combustion CO2 extraction).

Regarding sequestration into oil-bearing strata:

Mobility of gas is of course quite a bit different that oil, and just because oil has been trapped doesn't mean that gas will not be able to diffuse out.  Indeed, sometimes variations in gas-oil ratios are the result of selective leakage of gas from a trap.

Poorly abandoned and undocumented oil wells can themselves be a conduit for leakage of CO2.

I think it telling that the oil&gas industry now prefers to talk about carbon capture and storage rather than CC and sequestration, explicitly for the reason that they might expose themselves to more liability if they imply that storage is permanent.

Oil-bearing (or, for that matter, saline aquifers) with suitable structure for a trap are probably unlikely to exist in close proximity to the power plant which needs to dispose of CO2.  A whole pipeline infrastructure will need to be developed to transport to the point of disposal.

And finally, I don't know if you are suggesting oil-bearing reservoirs as a CCS sink for the purpose of displacing residual oil for recovery.  Some people (O&G companies) do.  I think that is just wrong.On The blind alley of more coal posted 1 year, 8 months ago 19 Responses

gas storage v2.0

Meanwhile, back in the real world...On The blind alley of more coal posted 1 year, 8 months ago 19 Responses

NAHB Model Green

I'm not particularly impressed by certification from the National Association of Homebuilders.  Apparently they found it just too much to meet LEED standards so they came up with their own brand of certification.  Why bother, for instance, with pesky requirements for FSC lumber when you can just go with the timber industry's "certified" lumber?

30% energy savings is really no big deal.  That's an awfully low bar (especially if they did really mean that it would use 30% of a typical Street of Dreams home, which if twice as big should imply at least a 50% savings).On Victim of Seattle arsons reaffirms commitment to green building posted 1 year, 9 months ago 9 Responses

trolls and sock puppets

Whatever your agenda is, this is not the forum for it anyway.  Please stop taking-up unfertile page-space and go eleswhere.

Would that they would take their own advice...On Today: Christopher Castro posted 1 year, 9 months ago 68 Responses

2004

The concern is that a parallel announcement will occur on his next MTP appearance...On First time tragedy, second time farce ... what about the third? posted 1 year, 9 months ago 8 Responses

offshore cleanup

Removal at the end of life is usually the requirement for offshore installations of any kind.

Of course if it is some oil or gas production platform in the Gulf a sweetheart "rigs to reefs" deal is arranged, in which most removal costs are avoided and an opportunity for corporate greenwashing is provided.

And yeah, I feel good about nearly carbon-free power production displacing expensive coal.On Draft EIS for Nantucket Sound wind project is positive posted 1 year, 10 months ago 35 Responses

speaking of strong people brought low

My refugee friends, family, and I broke down at the 2006 JazzFest (New Orleans) when Bruce sang City of Ruins.  I can hardly type even now, remembering.

City of Ruins Video
On Start your weekend with The Boss posted 1 year, 11 months ago 6 Responses

Oh Brian, Brian...

Why can't you consistently be on the side of good and right?  So much potential, only sometimes realized.  I understand it is a hard thing to be progressive in a state like Montana, and you are a whole sight better than Judy "Lapdog of Industry" Martz, and I think you really get climate change, but this whole coal-to-liquids preoccupation you have is, well, beneath you.

 Butte Coal to LiquidOn Governors urge federal action on global warming posted 1 year, 12 months ago 2 Responses

Um, have you missed the self-criticism?

I still don't get where your sensitivity to criticism of Canadian tar sand development comes from.  There is plenty of discussion--and criticism--about US destruction on these (virtual) pages.  

Tar sand development really sucks.  It shouldn't be immune from condemnation because it is in Canada.

Besides, I think there is a pretty clearly implied criticism of the US, since in effect we are (again) exporting our CO2 emissions.  And since much of the direction for the Canadian tar sand activities come from corporate headquarters in--you guessed it--Houston.On Is there really so much money in environmental devastation that it can't be stopped? posted 2 years ago 10 Responses

who we are to say

Well, no, we aren't the number one offender as far as energy exploitation goes.  Not that we (and by we, I mean energy companies in the US) wouldn't jump at the chance to be the number one offender if there were tar sands as easily mined as in Alberta.  

My impression is that Canadian energy attitudes parallels in many ways those in the US, with generally a western exploitation bias and eastern environmental alarm.

US environmentalists criticise US energy policy and actions all the time.  Why shouldn't we also criticise similarly-stupid actions elsewhere?  I think that not doing so would be hypocritical.

For symmetry, I welcome non-US criticism of US energy policy and actions, hoping that eventually the combination of internal embarrassment and external ridicule actually leads to change.On Canada's version of liquid coal posted 2 years, 1 month ago 4 Responses

Re: CO2 sequestration

Note that fossil energy companies in general no longer call it "sequestration."  Now it is CCS (carbon capture and storage).  This is not unintentional:  "sequestration" implies very long timescales, while "storage" gives a lot of wiggle room, perhaps approaching not so long.

Another way in which to look like you are doing something while actually making no real commitment.  But, hey, they sure could use some public funding for that...On Brain food for your day of rest posted 2 years, 1 month ago 4 Responses

tankless/solar thermal combo

I understand that combining tankless water heaters with passive solar thermal is a pretty well established technology.  The key is to use a tankless unit that can modulate its heating all the way down to zero to keep the outflow at the desired temperature (i.e., not over-heat the already pre-heated water).

Bosch, for instance, makes units like this.

Goodsearch (or other favorite engine) on combined solar thermal tankless water heater.On On-demand water heaters rock posted 2 years, 2 months ago 15 Responses