Shift from coal to gas sees CO2 drop in U.S.

[Smidge204]

Shift from coal to natural gas sees CO2 drop in U.S. as global levels peak

CO2 emissions in the United States in 2011 fell by 92 Mt, or 1.7%, primarily due to ongoing switching from coal to natural gas in power generation and an exceptionally mild winter, which reduced the demand for space heating. US emissions have now fallen by 430 Mt (7.7%) since 2006, the largest reduction of all countries or regions.

Step by step, things appear to be improving! Now we just need to replace the natural gas with something... :roll:
=Smidge=

 

[lkkms2]

At the same time, we have an increase in coal exports

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=U.S._coal_exports" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[Herm]

Dont forget the German and Japanese retreat from clean Nuclear.

Start planting some trees to suck up all that extra CO2, do your part and become an vegetarian.. shame on you if you have any kids, double shame if you have more than one... and driving a Leaf plus having solar panels does not begin to atone for your sins against the planet.

 

[Smidge204]

At the same time, we have an increase in coal exports

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=U.S._coal_exports" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Rising coal exports does not automatically translate to more coal being burned, nor does it automatically translate to increased CO2 emissions if it does. China's coal plants, for example, have invested heavily in carbon sequestering and they continue to invest with every plant they build. In light of that I'd much prefer coal be burned in China than in the US.

Ideally nobody would burn coal, but I'll take what I can get.

Start planting some trees to suck up all that extra CO2, do your part and become an vegetarian.. shame on you if you have any kids, double shame if you have more than one... and driving a Leaf plus having solar panels does not begin to atone for your sins against the planet.

You forgot the part about killing yourself to prevent further damage. :roll: Antinatalist trolling at its finest.
=Smidge=

 

[sparky]

Start planting some trees to suck up all that extra CO2

Not the worst advice since trees have lots of benefits but probably too much anthro CO2, for trees to make a dent.

...do your part and become an vegetarian..

While I'm not a vegetarian, we, as a family have looked into the environmental impact of different types of meat and have greatly reduced our meat eating and almost eliminated beef from our household diet. That was actually pretty easy. I realized there's only a few cuts of beef I really like and when I have it on occasion, I really enjoy it.

...shame on you if you have any kids, double shame if you have more than one... and driving a Leaf plus having solar panels does not begin to atone for your sins against the planet.

Triple shame on me I guess! Among the benefits of having solar panels and driving a LEAF was that my kids were able to see how painless it was to add PV to my roof (they helped me install) and drive on rooftop electricity instead of oil. And they see how much fun it is driving an EV. I suspect they're now converts. I never felt any need to atone for sins against the planet, as I think the planet (biosphere anyway) will get on just fine given a few millennia without the human thrashing. I have felt some need to atone to my children's future children since they're the ones who'll likely be dealing with the worst of the pollution and resource depletion. I figure the best I can do is expand the small steps we as a family have been doing, stay informed and be open to new ways. Most of all, I tried to show my kids that even a formerly conservative cynic like myself can become proactive about a less wasteful lifestyle and avoid letting that cynicism extinguish their own attempts to enjoy life and build a better future.

 

[DesertDenizen]

.. shame on you if you have any kids, double shame if you have more than one...

This is the real key. I have panels and a Leaf but this is a lesser benefit to the planet than my choice not to have any kids. A childless person driving a humvee and heating and cooling their house to extremes benefits the planet more than a Leaf driving recycling eco focused parent.

 

[Herm]

I was just teasing about the kids, someone needs to pay for my social security!

Trees are a good idea, and biofuels grown in a responsible fashion (not in a dessert or California) without damaging the soil or making people starve. Aerating the oceans or injecting sulfur compounds high into the atmosphere (smog to bounce sunlight back into space) will take care of global warming, if it ever shows up and we get desperate enough.

I would like to see oaks covering the US again, they will keep the squirrels happy

 

[coolfilmaker]

Too bad this will lead to more global warming. The natural gas that escapes during natural gas production is more than an order of magnitude worse than coal.

 

[Smidge204]

Too bad this will lead to more global warming. The natural gas that escapes during natural gas production is more than an order of magnitude worse than coal.

While it is absolutely true that methane is much worse a GHG than CO2, it's (criminally) unclear just how much "leakage" there is. Watt-for-watt, burning methane produces considerably less CO2 than burning coal... so the question that needs to be investigated is how all the ancillary GHG emissions from the extraction and transportation of these fuels compare. Coal mining is exceptionally damaging to the environment, so even with all of natural gas extraction's faults I still consider it an improvement.

And I hold out for mass scale biogas production, which would be a drop-in (and renewable) replacement for natural gas. Converting from petroleum to methane is a relatively easy transition while natural gas prices are low and supplies are plentiful, and that makes the next step of converting to biomethane that much easier. I view that as a better strategy than jumping directly to liquid biofuels.

Trees are a good idea

There are probably better options if carbon sequestering is your primary goal. You'd want something that grows a lot of mass quickly, require no maintenance and without completely raping the landscape of nutrients. We commonly call these things "weeds." Grow 'em, harvest 'em, bury 'em. Stuff them into old coal mines for irony's sake!

Trees have their own advantages of course.
=Smidge=

 

[Stoaty]

Aerating the oceans or injecting sulfur compounds high into the atmosphere (smog to bounce sunlight back into space) will take care of global warming, if it ever shows up and we get desperate enough.

Herm, Herm, Herm... just when I thought there was hope you might learn something. First of all, global warming is showing up in spades. It's fingerprints are all over the place, if you care to look. Second injecting sulfur compounds into the atmosphere would be a dangerous experiment, and it would do nothing for the increasing acidity of the ocean caused by excess CO2 (which is a very serious concern in its own right).

 

[Smidge204]

Aerating the oceans or injecting sulfur compounds high into the atmosphere (smog to bounce sunlight back into space) will take care of global warming, if it ever shows up and we get desperate enough.

Herm, Herm, Herm... just when I thought there was hope you might learn something.

Sorry, can't resist;

=Smidge=

 

[Herm]

Weeds, trees, lichens/mosses and algae all have their place.. and bioengineering will help.

We already have vast production of bio-methane, unfortunately most of it is just vented to the atmosphere in open sewage and water treatment ponds.

 

[AndyH]

Weeds, trees, lichens/mosses and algae all have their place.. and bioengineering will help.

Help what? :shock: Too often when we try to lead nature around by the nose it costs us dearly. Our mantra should be "WORK WITH" nature first and foremost!

We already have vast production of bio-methane, unfortunately most of it is just vented to the atmosphere in open sewage and water treatment ponds.

Most is - but that's slowly changing. Some parts of the world have been purposely 'farming' all those anaerobic microbes for many years. It looks like some of us in the 'developed' world are slowly learning as well. :lol:

2004:

After 25 years of persistent work, Marin County rancher Albert Straus has figured out a way to run his dairy farm, organic creamery and electric car from the manure generated by his herd of 270 cows.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/05/14/BAGJG6LG3R15.DTL&ao=all

2008:

Covered Anaerobic Ponds (CAP) incorporate many improvements on traditional anaerobic ponds. They require much less land area than the anaerobic ponds that are currently used in New Zealand and are capable of consistently providing a higher degree of digestion and biogas production.
Moreover, CAP are much easier to operate, and are more economical than other anaerobic digester technologies.

http://www.biogas.org.nz/Publications/WhosWho/biogas-pond-booklet.pdf

2010:

For SAWS, the partnership with Ameresco allowed for the gas plant to be constructed at a minimal cost to the utility, and now that the plant is operational, SAWS is scheduled to receive $200,000 a year for the rights to the gas from the solid waste. SAWS estimates 900,000 cubic feet of gas will be created every year from San Antonio’s waste.

http://www.kens5.com/news/local/New-SAWS-gas-digester-makes-cash-o-105308883.html

2012:

UPS has added 10 large biomethane diesel trucks to its dedicated 2012 London Olympics fleet. With Olympic organizers striving to put on the greenest and most ethical games ever and the city struggling to find find ways to control air pollution, the addition to UPS’s fleet is a dose of good news. For UPS, this announcement adds to the logistic giant’s commitment to turn “Brown” more “green.”

http://inhabitat.com/ups-expands-london-olympics-fleet-to-include-biomethane-vehicles/

 

[Smidge204]

2010:

For SAWS, the partnership with Ameresco allowed for the gas plant to be constructed at a minimal cost to the utility, and now that the plant is operational, SAWS is scheduled to receive $200,000 a year for the rights to the gas from the solid waste. SAWS estimates 900,000 cubic feet of gas will be created every year from San Antonio’s waste.

http://www.kens5.com/news/local/New...2 per gallon gasoline, 26mpg average) [/size]

 

[Herm]

If you composted your own poop you may get enough methane for cooking, if you eat lots of fiber .. forget about your car and hot water heater.. use solar for that.

I guess you could compost backyard grasses as well, lots of that in Florida.

 

[AndyH]

The "31,260 cars off the road" claim is also dubious... I doubt the average Texan drives only 140 feet per year!

It's a silly comment to make regardless, since the gas won't be sequestered but is intended to be burned. No virtual cars are coming off the road anytime soon.

 

[AndyH]

If you composted your own poop you may get enough methane for cooking, if you eat lots of fiber .. forget about your car and hot water heater.. use solar for that.

I guess you could compost backyard grasses as well, lots of that in Florida.

Expand it a bit farther and it makes more sense. Local food, backyard chickens, toss in a dairy goat, and annual backyard methane is more stable.
http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel_biogas.html

Capture some of the tons of food that goes out the back door of restaurants, bakeries, and grocery stores each day and we can do better yet.

The amount of food wasted in the United States is staggering. In 2010, more than 34 million tons of food waste was generated, more than any other material category but paper. Food waste accounted for almost 14 percent of the total municipal solid waste stream, less than three percent of which was recovered and recycled in 2010. The rest —33 million tons— was thrown away, making food waste the single largest component of MSW reaching landfills and incinerators.

http://www.epa.gov/osw/conserve/materials/organics/food/fd-basic.htm

And the effluent from the digester is fantastic fertilizer that's field ready. Energy security, much less expensive energy, removing a significant waste stream from our landfills, and production of fertilizer to close the loop - what's not to like about that?!

Take it to another level - there are folks here in the US today that are using a small portion of their harvest to distill ethanol for all their road and farm engines. The 'waste' from the ethanol process, the 'distillers grain,' is used both as a high quality animal feed and as a feed for the methane digester. The digester provides gas for cooking and the on-demand water heater. And the 'waste' from the digester is fertilizer for his fields.

 

[Herm]

Andy, did someone hack your account?.. you are talking about making fuel out of food!

Next you will be campaigning for Romney, I'm glad you are growing

 

[Stoaty]

Andy, did someone hack your account?.. you are talking about making fuel out of food!

Always taking things out of context (on purpose, I suspect)... Andy was talking about using wasted food that would otherwise go into a landfill.

 

[thankyouOB]

Herm has a never-funny, gig-the-libs streak that he cannot control.
you could call it right-wing tourette's syndrome.