Braveheart  

The Scotsman has a report on the development of massive tidal power projects in Scotland.

IT HAS been described as the "greatest untapped source of energy Scotland has ever had", capable of generating enough electricity for every home and business in the country several times over.

But while the Pentland Firth has been too deep and too dangerous to exploit, the race is now on to develop machines that will harness this "underwater hurricane" and fundamentally change Scotland. Not only could it provide endless supplies of electricity for Scotland and beyond, but spare energy could be used to convert rubbish into environmentally friendly biofuel for cars, trains and airplanes, slashing greenhouse gas emissions and ridding the country of landfill sites.

In August, the world's largest tidal-current generator will be installed on Northern Ireland's Strangford Lough and, next year, ScottishPower will start testing an underwater turbine in the Pentland Firth itself. ScottishPower believes its system could generate up to a gigawatt (GW) of electricity - equivalent to all of Scotland's wind farms put together, or the power produced by the Hunterston B nuclear power station.

But Professor Stephen Salter, who wrote an energy review for the SNP extolling the potential of the Pentland Firth, believes the actual amount of energy could be as high as ten to 20GW. He was turned down by the previous Scottish Executive for funding to investigate the potential of installing a tidal machine at depths previously considered out of reach, but believes the SNP government could be more receptive. He said: "If we could do this, we could get twice the electricity Scotland uses at peak demand - it's absolutely enormous. The Pentland Firth is the Saudi Arabia of marine energy. But, if you are in London, energy from the Pentland Firth is a long way away and there's no cable to get it to your voters."

Prof Salter, of Edinburgh University, has developed a form of cylindrical turbine which he believes would be able to go deeper than ever before, where the Pentland Firth's most powerful currents are found. The water in the fastest- moving channels is about 70 metres deep. His machines operate down to 50m, while seabed-based turbines could be used in the bottom 20m.

The Firth would generate energy in four regular tidal pulses a day, often generating large amounts of power in the middle of the night. Fuel cells or large industrial batteries could be used to store spare electricity, but Prof Salter said it could be used for a process which can turn waste into gas or liquid fuel.

Martin Wright, managing director of Marine Current Technologies, said the Pentland Firth was the "Mount Everest" for the industry. He added: "There's no doubt it is a stupendously energetic area and the technology will have to be appropriate. "The big prize is the very fast-moving water in 60m to 70m of water. You are putting units in the equivalent of an underwater hurricane there.

Bruce Sterling points to an article in Metropolis Magazine on Bloomeberg's vision for a green New York - "Calling All Designers - Cities need your skills to take them into a carbon-free future". Bruce also points to an article blaming "anarchists" for invading a rave party and beating up Underworld's Rick Smith. Since when do anarchists attack dance parties ? Sounds more like a mob of fascists on the rampage to me...

“It’s the early 1850s. Plans are drawn up for an enormous Central Park, at a time when much of Manhattan was open fields and forest. Some propose a much smaller park. Where do you stand?

“[It’s] the 1890s. Plans are drawn up for a subway system that goes all the way into northern Manhattan. Some say it will cost too much. And who needs a subway in the countryside? What do you say?

“[It’s] 1931, the middle of the Great Depression. Plans are drawn up for a new Midtown mega-­project. As Gershwin wrote, ‘They all laughed at Rockefeller Center.’ Are you laughing, too?”

Thus Mayor Michael Bloomberg wrapped up his vision statement for a “greener, greater New York” on Earth Day 2007.

Each of his historic examples was the work of visionary planners, architects, landscape architects, engineers, and investors. They created the New York that millions have been drawn to for two centuries. Our human resources are as great, or greater, than they were in the past. We’re poised to build the sustainable twenty-first century—as Mayor Mike envisions in his 127 proposed projects, many of them impacting the design community: the creation of parks, retrofitting buildings, making schools community-friendly, new transit, and more housing.

As cities look to become carbon free—seeking cleaner ways to grow and prosper—they stand to become magnets for investors, intellectuals, travelers, and new settlers. Will the design community respond to the challenge of building the twenty-first-century city? Will they rally around the mayor’s plan? Will other leaders be able to see beyond their own egos? Will we all be able to keep in mind the Kenyan proverb the mayor read at the American Museum of Natural History, where he delivered his speech: “The Earth was not given to you by your parents; it was loaned to you by your children”?

The first Earth Day began as a teach-in on April 22, 1970, with 20 million participants nationwide; we don’t know how many of them were designers. In the Internet age, the 2010 Imperative, Webcast in February, was the first global emergency teach-in; it sought to bring design education into the green movement. This event attracted a quarter of a million designers, students, educators, and their allies from 48 countries. Thousands of visitors continue to share their thoughts on the subject on the movement’s Web site. All this was organized in the office of one passionately committed architect, Ed Mazria, by a few dedicated people with laptops.

This gives me hope that the design community will rally to make New York and other cities “greener” and “greater.” We have the infrastructure in place. Our local AIA chapter is a dynamic organization concerned with quality-of-life issues. From their accessible street-front headquarters, they reach out to allied professions as well as the public with rich and provocative programs on the built environment. They have a public voice that is poised to make Mayor Mike’s vision a reality. **

Here are a handful of Mayor Bloomberg’s 127 initiatives for a more sustainable New York City. Read the full list of proposals at www.nyc.gov/planyc.

* Use solar energy in city buildings.
* Adapt unused schools and hospitals for use as new housing.
* Restore underused or vacant waterfront land.
* Plant one million trees in vacant lots.
* Manage traffic with congestion pricing in Manhattan.
* Introduce biodiesel into the city’s truck fleet.
* Reforest 2,000 acres of parkland.
* Promote cycling.
* Open schoolyards as public playgrounds.
* Update 100-year floodplain maps to adapt to climate change.
* Convert asphalt into multiuse turf fields.
* Reintroduce ribbed-mussel beds.
* Create or enhance a public plaza in every community.
* Promote brownfield redevelopment.
* Reduce emissions from boilers in public schools.

TreeHugger has a post on an unexpected mechanism for carbon sequestration - the new ecosystems forming off icebergs calving off Antarctica.

Scientists have discovered that the recent surge in the number of Antarctic icebergs, prompted by rising temperatures, has resulted in the creation of vast new ecosystems of plankton, seabirds and krill. They believe they could play a key role in absorbing the excess carbon dioxide emissions driving global warming.

By using photosynthesis, the species in these ecosystems are able to take carbon from the atmosphere and convert it into carbohydrates and, thus, new life. "I think it can be a substantial contribution" to reducing carbon dioxide levels, Kenneth Smith Jr. of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, the project's leader, said. "These things have been ignored forever."

The icebergs form when glaciers moving across Antarctica are broken up through the accumulation of dust and nutrient-rich dirt. This nutrient-rich dirt provides a key source of nutrients to support the proliferation of plankton and algae. Krill feed on the plankton and seabirds, such as Cape petrels and Antarctic fulmars, in turn feed on the krill. ...

While promising, these results don't necessarily indicate that icebergs play an essential role in regulating global carbon dynamics. "While icebergs may be important on a local scale, I seriously doubt that their impact needs to be accounted for in global carbon budgets," said Kevin R. Arrigo, a geophysicist at Stanford University not involved in the study.

Green Car Congress reports that Shell has abandoned a shale oil project because it is uneconomic. Suprise, surprise.

Shell has withdrawn an application for a mining permit on one of its three oil-shale research and demonstration leases for economic reasons. Shell has been working on its In-Situ Conversion Process (ICP) for oil shale for more than two decades—ever since the collapse of the first run at oil shale in the 1980s.

Under the in-situ process, Shell drills holes into the resource, inserts electric resistance heaters, and heats the subsurface to around 343º C (650º F) over a 3- to 4-year period. During this time, very dense oil and gas is expelled from the kerogen and undergoes a series of changes, including the shearing of lighter components from the dense carbon compounds, the concentration of available hydrogen into these lighter compounds, and the changing of phase of those lighter more hydrogen rich compounds from liquid to gas.

To keep groundwater away from the process (which would affect the heating), and to keep byproducts of the process away from the groundwater flow, Shell proposes to freeze the groundwater to create a subsurface ice barrier. (The creation of subsurface ice barriers to prevent water flow is a mining technique.

Shell spokeswoman Jill Davis said the withdrawal of a permit on one of its three oil-shale research and demonstration leases was done for economic reasons: Costs for building an underground wall of frozen water to contain melted shale have “significantly escalated.” “We are being more cautious and more prudent,” Davis said. “Because of the nature of research you have challenges. With that in mind, it is taking a little longer to build a freeze wall than we planned.”

The Guardian has an article about a UN report warning the Darfur conflict heralds an era of wars triggered by climate change (however its a just one in a long list of wars triggered by lust for oil).

The conflict in Darfur has been driven by climate change and environmental degradation, which threaten to trigger a succession of new wars across Africa unless more is done to contain the damage, according to a UN report published yesterday.

"Darfur ... holds grim lessons for other countries at risk," an 18-month study of Sudan by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) concludes.

With rainfall down by up to 30% over 40 years and the Sahara advancing by well over a mile every year, tensions between farmers and herders over disappearing pasture and evaporating water holes threaten to reignite the half-century war between north and south Sudan, held at bay by a precarious 2005 peace accord.

Links:
The Guardian - Boeing in talks on next wave of fuel-efficient planes
Tribbie - EU airline project seeks greener skies
Engineering News - ‘Dead’ biofuel-from-algae initiative leaves a stink. South African licensee of GreenFuels' biodiesel from algae technology has collapsed. Hopefully we see someone else actually try and build some plants somewhere to see if the concept works.
The Independent - Britain's first zero-carbon houses - radiators not included
AP - Iraqis water down the draft oil law. Still haven't handed over the oil.
India Times - India to form crude oil reserve of 5 mmt
WSJ - Eni, Gazprom Sign Deal To Build Europe Gas Pipeline
BBC - Gazprom bid to cut off China gas
Bloomberg - IEA Studies Safety Net for Natural-Gas Supply
Merco Press - Argentine industry with no energy for fourth day running
Market Watch - Argentina president threatens oil companies amid diesel shortage reports
CVBT - Drought reaches state of emergency in part of California's Central Valley
AP - Norway presents 'world's most ambitious' climate change plan. Green groups say it is worthless.
PeakOil.com - Matt Savinar on Coast to Coast with Art Bell This Saturday
Daily Kos - The Friday GITMO Bombshell You Missed
Village Voice - New Orleans v. Iraq
The Australian - Glastonbury activism alive and well