Green Purr

February 20, 2012
by Helen
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Radioactive waste as fuel

Is nuclear energy generation “clean or dirty” energy?  It’s a question that pops up every now and then.  And every time some one I speak to is of the opinion that it is a clean form of energy generation I’m always surprised.  And will always continue to be.  More than likely. 

That argument mostly follows the same trend – it generates little or no air or water pollution, no fossil fuels are used, the waste is safely disposed of and, and… And that’s where I usually think: Really?  How? No one I know of has solved the waste disposal issue. And how long will it take to decompose? Hundreds of years you say?  And the potential of leakage and contamination of ground water systems is how high? Mining and transportation of the uranium/plutonium as well as the construction of the actual nuclear power facility generates  fossil fuel pollution.

“Over its lifecycle a nuclear power station produces as much carbon dioxide as a gas-fired power station”.  Quoted  from the website Transition Culture:  Ten reasons why nuclear was a mistake – even before Fukushima.

That’s not even talking about the risks the actual nuclear plants pose.  Yes, I know, not every nuclear power plant will end up like Fukushima or Chernobyl, but the risks are there.  As far as I know, many of them in the US are built on coastal fault plates to take advantage of the water availability for cooling.  You can see where the coastal nuclear power stations are relative to high seismic activity locations here . Yikes!

It’s not clean.  It’s cleaner in certain aspects yes, but by fair not the best answer to our energy needs. 

Tangents and mini rant aside (!), GE Hitachi’s Prism reactor (a fast reactor) could possibly solve a bit of the radioactive waste problem of nuclear power generation, by using it as fuel.  It’s still a technology in development, but a potentially industry changing one.  Maybe I’ll look at nuclear differently in a few years time if clever engineers and scientists clean it up. 

Read the full story here.

 

 

January 26, 2012
by Helen
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Amendment to the South African Weather Services Act

Sometimes (ok, often) I think the world is going mad!  The SA government is attempting to pass the Access to Information Bill (aka the secrecy bill, more info here ), which would result in undermining democracy in our country and hiding already extensive government corruption. The US government is trying to censor the internet (for an amazingly simple explanation check out The Oatmeal’s page here).  Now the SA government wants to pass an amendment to the Weather Services Act of all things! 

What is it with this need to scramble and criminalise transparency all of a sudden?

The bit that I understand to be ridiculous is that unless you get permission from the SA Weather Service, it will be a criminal offence to issue warnings about pollution (air pollution specifically it seems) related matters.  If an independent body tests and monitors the air quality of a certain area and sees the need to notify affected parties regarding the potentially negative effects of certain unknown pollutants (or levels of known ones), it may be in contravention of this bill (if it’s passed) and be subjected to criminal charges.  Simplistically, one could be contravening a law by exercising a constitutional right (the right to clean air).  

Hopefully the good people at the Centre for Environmental Rights will help iron this silly mess out.

A good explanation on why this proposed amendment will be detrimental to environmental management can be found on the CER website here.  You can read the proposed amendment to the bill here  and the submissions made to Parliament by the CER here.

January 20, 2012
by Helen
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Weekly Finds 2 – 2012

Half way through January already!

 This week’s finds:

  • I’ve know about spider silk being an incredibly strong material that can be used to make things like Teflon strong armour for ages.  Crazy scientists are breeding genetically modified GOATS with SPIDERS so that they can produce spider silk!  I’d be pretty upset litte baby goat on that farm. Full article
  • Carbon tax on flights to and from Europe are going to push the cost of travel up. :-(  It just gets harder to travel nowadays from the deep (African) South!  While I agree in principle, sort of, is it really going to help? Full article 
  • If the Boswellia trees were really doomed, Frankincense became more of a legend.  Full article
  • Not exactly new news, but even kids are improving solar energy technology using mathematical patterns.  Full article

Happy Hot Weekend!

h

January 16, 2012
by Helen
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The Sahara’s Solar Energy Potential

We all know solar energy is the most abundant source of renewable energy. It is also unfortunately not the most optimally harvested, stored and transmitted source.  I mostly understand the inhibiting factors that have stopped modern society from tapping solar power more efficiently, but I have to wonder why there hasn’t been an exponential amount more interest and money thrown at developing it.  Especially when 2 projects claim they could provide a massive percentage of the world’s energy from the world’s largest desert! The Sahara Solar Breeder Project claims it can provide 50% of the world’s energy, while (Desertec) claims that it can provide a humble 15% of Europe’s energy.  Both projects seem massively impressive, but will they deliver?

Sandstorms,  as yet non-existant technology, international relations and massive funding requirements are but a few of the hurdles to be overcome to ensure this potential is achieved.

(Sorry CleanTehnica, your desert pic was too hilarious not to re-use!)

h

January 6, 2012
by Helen
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Weekly Finds 1 – 2012

   

Hello internet!  Now that I’m back from holiday where I barely touched a phone, never mind a computer, I’m overwhelmed by all the articles on the net of what great technological potential 2011 delivered.  There’s always such a lot happening that it’s impossible to keep up with the latest concepts and ideas. 

A few of the ones that got my brain humming:

 Happy January!

October 30, 2011
by Helen
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The Price of Bottled Water

Water is our most precious resource.  We literally can’t live without it.  In modern society we are lucky enough to have safe, drinkable water magically appear out of little fixtures we turn, press, lift or even just wave our hands in front of!  We’re also lucky enough to buy it off the shelf in pretty translucent packaging. But most of us don’t know how much bottled water is actually costing us.

A National Geographic article provides some stats that make me think thrice before buying bottled water.  There’s a little buzz doing the rounds that is meant to help you consciously think about the consequences of each purchase you make, by asking yourself a few questions before you purchase anything: do you really need it, can be recycled or reused, can a more footprint-friendly version of the item be found?

The stats mentioned in the article are specific to the US, but they speak to all of us anyway:

  • It takes 17 million barrels of crude oil to produce the 29 million bottles that purchased annually
  • Only a tiny 13% of the annual usage of bottles is recycled, which means they end up in landfills, polluting streams and oceans.  The end up polluting the atmosphere too by releasing toxic substances and gases when they start decomposing (which takes a few hundred years)
  • It is estimated that the total annual energy cost (transportation, refrigeration, sourcing) of water is over 50 million barrels of oil
  • Tests have proved that bottled water is not free from contaminants

Drinking tap water (filtered preferably) is the most foot print-friendly way.  Reusing the bottles is an option as long as you take precautions to not encourage bacteria growth in the bottles.  Recycling them is another option.  If you must use bottled water, why not buy those handy stainless steel camping ones and fill them with tap or filtered water?

You can read the 2 original articles here and here.

October 11, 2011
by Helen
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Climate Change and Chocolate

Climate change is serious.  All the far reaching, life changing massive effects of it – deforestation, loss of food security, rising sea levels, depletion of fresh water sources – its all bad. 

The end of the world for me though (and I’m sure for so many others) will be when climate change affects the availability of chocolate.

 Yes, you heard right! The major chocolate producing countries may start experiencing production problems as early as 2030.  Such glum news.  A world without chocolate is not going to be a happy place.

Read the whole article here.

September 30, 2011
by Helen
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Long time no post!

Hello!

Due to studies, a back injury and (yes! yes! I’ll admit I’m flawed!) a teensy bit of the lazy gene showing its strength, I’ve not posted in a while. 

I’ll be posting some green news soon!

Happy Spring! (If you’re in the Southern Hemisphere)

 

September 2, 2011
by Helen
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Weekly Finds 4

This week’s interesting finds:

  • Plants are waging little wars against the predators that munch them.  Strangely enough they get help from their predators’ enemies. 
  • Electric highway recharging stations are to be rolled out.  AND powered by wind!
  • Gold nanoparticles have allegedly helped researchers boost the efficiency of organic photovoltaic cells by 20 percent
  • Newspapers may become the next biofuel.
  • Natural swimming pools, big ponds really, are safer and healthier for the environment, for your garden, your skin, your eyes…everything really because they do not contain any harsh chemicals. 

Happy Reading!