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"First they laugh at you,
then they ignore you, then they fight with you, then you win."
-- Ghandi
Cuomo's Coalition of Twelve States,
the District of Columbia, and the City of New York Sues EPA for Refusing
to Adopt Pollution Controls, Violating Clean Air Act ~ Today's Action is
the Latest Front in New York's Effort to Fight Global Warming
NEW YORK, NY (August 25, 2008) - Attorney General Andrew
M. Cuomo today announced he is suing the federal Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) for failing to adopt regulations that control emissions of
global warming pollution from oil refineries. Cuomo is leading a group of
twelve states, the District of Columbia, and the City of New York in a
suit that challenges the EPA's refusal to require new or renovated oil
refineries to install technologies that control global warming pollution,
in violation of the Clean Air Act.
The EPA's refusal to control pollution from oil
refineries is the latest example of the Bush Administrations do-nothing
policy on global warming, said Cuomo. Oil refineries contribute
substantially to global warming, posing grave threats to New York's
environment, health, and economy. As long as the Bush EPA continues its
blatant violation of the Clean Air Act and its shameful refusal to control
global warming pollution, I will continue to fight them aggressively on
all fronts.
Cuomo's suit announced today charges that the EPA
violated the Clean Air Act when it refused to issue standards - known as
New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) - for controlling global warming
pollution emissions from oil refineries. These standards ensure that new
or renovated sources of air pollution install state-of-the-art emissions
control technologies. The Clean Air Act specifically requires the EPA to
adopt NSPS for oil refineries, as well as power plants and other major
stationary sources, if the EPA determines they emit air pollution that
poses a danger public health and welfare. Nonetheless, on June 24, 2008,
the EPA finalized new air pollution control regulations for oil refineries
without setting a NSPS for global warming pollution.
Oil refineries account for over 3% of the total energy
consumption in the United States. Due to their large energy consumption,
oil refineries are major sources of carbon dioxide, accounting for almost
15% of the carbon dioxide emitted from industrial processes nationally.
These refineries also emit large amounts of methane, an especially potent
global warming pollutant.
The suit announced today by Cuomo is the latest front in
the battle that New York and other states are waging to force the EPA to
use its authority under the Clean Air Act to control sources of global
warming pollution. For example, Cuomo is leading coalitions of states in
lawsuits to require the EPA to set NSPS for global warming pollution
emissions from power plants and to uphold the right of states to regulate
pollution emissions from automobiles.
I am committed to using the power of my Office to step
in when the federal government has failed to take action on critical
issues affecting New York, said Cuomo. The EPA's repeated failure to
control global warming pollution will not go unchallenged by New York
State.
Today's challenge was filed in the federal Court of
Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Joining Cuomo in the action
are California, Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, Maine, New
Hampshire, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington, as
well as the District of Columbia and the City of New York. The suit seeks
to vacate the EPA's decision not to control oil refinery emissions of
global warming pollution and to order the EPA to adopt proper NSPS.
Although no petroleum refineries operate within New York State, major
contributors to global warming are an acute concern to the State as they
pose severe threats to its environment, public health, and economy.
The case is being handled by Assistant Attorneys General
Morgan Costello and Michael Myers of the Environmental Protection Bureau,
under the supervision of Special Deputy Attorney General for Environmental
Protection Katherine Kennedy.
There has been no shortage of
coverage in the media in recent years about the costs of fuel prices and
how it relates to the cost fluctuation of a barrel of crude oil. Indeed,
these costs can be directly attributed to the outdated energy policies we
adhere to. However, what is not often mentioned is the human costs that
these energy policies present to us. While some people are paying at the
pump for these policies, others are paying with their lives.
There is no doubt that adverse health effects can be traced
to air pollution and the burning of fossil fuels. But what are even less
known are the health effects of the workers who labor in the processing of
these resources. The 2008 Olympics in Beijing put a world spotlight on the
adverse air quality in one of the world’s most notorious criminals in the
crime of pollution. And while we threaten the sustainability of our
earth’s ozone layer and ability to produce enough oxygen for our spiraling
population in the future, even today lives are at risk.
Within the processing centers where fossil fuels are
converted, such as coal factories and oil refineries, every day workers
encounter the dangerous realities of an obsolete energy paradigm. Among
the most common materials used in the fixtures of these factories is
asbestos. While asbestos was banned in the late 1970’s by the Consumer
Product Safety Commission, it still exists in nearly all facets of
American and foreign industry. Older fixtures built with asbestos have not
been replaced and represent a clear hazard to those who encounter them
each day.
Asbestos formed insulation compounds around piping and
boilers, as well as a myriad of other products which required a resistance
to temperature transfer. As these materials become abraded by age or
damage, asbestos fibers can easily be released into the air, posing a
serious hazard for surrounding workers. In recent years, there has been an
influx of
pleural mesothelioma (a rare but deadly cancer caused by
asbestos exposure) and other respiratory complications as a result of
occupational exposures in fuel processing centers. However,
mesothelioma
is not the only hazard our energy policies pose. It’s just another
consequence of a dirty business. At this point as a country we can go one
of two ways. We can stay on the course we’re on, which is a dead end. Or
we can move out of fossil fuels and into a new era of practical and
sustainable energy, saving not only the earth for our posterity but the
lives of our workers today.
Ramea is the site
of a five-year innovative research and development project for an isolated
wind-hydrogen- diesel generation system, among the first of its kind in
the world. This project is focused on developing an
environmentally-friendly energy solution to be used in small, isolated
electrical distribution systems. The project builds on the existing,
successful wind-diesel system that has been operating in Ramea since 2004.
The new Environmental
Energy Technology Centre (EETC) between Rotherham and Sheffield should see
all its power provided by a 225kW turbine. And, even when the wind does
not blow, the turbine should be able to provide the building's power needs
through a hydrogen fuel cell system. The system will generate hydrogen
from excess power from the wind turbine through an electrolyser, which can
then turned back into electricity by the fuel cell during periods of low
wind speed. ...It should be the largest wind-to-hydrogen power system in
the UK, and is being seen as a "proof of concept" development with hopes
that it could help kick-start the use of hydrogen as an alternative power
source to fossil fuels.
"[John MaCain
thinks] Americans are so stupid — so bloody stupid — that if you just
show them wind turbines in your Olympics ad they’ll actually think you
showed up and voted for such renewable power — when you didn’t." Thomas Friedman, author and
New York Times columnist
Eight Strikes and You’re Out Thomas Friedman
The New York Times
August 12, 2008
THE OIL
WAR STEPS TO CENTER STAGE Commentary by Richard D. Masters
August 14, 2008
Many visitors to the
International Clearinghouse for Hydrogen Commerce will be unaware of the
obvious: that the Russian President, Dmitri Medvedev remains essentially
the head of Gazprom, the state oil company, hand-picked by Alexandar
Putin, former head of the Soviet KGB. Opposite him in this Georgian
conflict is the U.S. president George W. Bush, the son of the former head
of the CIA, a family itself awash in Saudi oil wealth. His second is, of
course, Dick Cheney, who, before becoming Vice President, ran the oil
services firm Halliburton, the major beneficiary of grossly inflated,
no-bid Iraq War government contracts. Backing them in their actions is the
entire former conservative party, which has long sold out to the
international oil interests, serving as a monolithic
voting bloc and
mouthpiece for Big Oiland a bulwark against any hope for an actual alternative energy
economy.
We are now witnessing the early orchestration of growing
military confrontations over US-Saudi and Russian-held oil, each
respectively discovering that, in addition to protecting their foreign
stake-holds from local rebellion of the disenfranchised, the arms-rattling
of worthy adversaries can dramatically raise the price of oil in the global
markets where they are deeply entrenched. All this, of course, adds to
the glee of their weapons makers who constantly struggle behind the scenes to create
a more dangerous world desirous for their lucrative, anti-human goods.
We were warned by U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
We were warned by U.S. President Thomas Jefferson.
One might think Americans would recognize this cynical
nightmare but instead they salivate like Pavlov's dogs when the numbers
spin like jackpots on Exxon's fuel pumps and their children march off in
patriotic fervor as if they were defending their own country against
invasion, rather than to seize foreign oil fields and pipeline routes for
Big Oil's profit.
As the War in Iraq has demonstrated, inherently
vulnerable oil pipelines are the first target of convenience against oil
export either by those who regard export as theft of national treasure or
those hoping to manipulate world markets through artificial shortages. Is there really a defense against pipeline destruction between
worthy adversaries? Possibly not, in which case pipelines become an easy
on-off switch for high oil prices.
My treatise for ten years has been that none of this is
necessary. We should simply switch over to the use of domestic energy.
Even renewable hydrogen, long derided as too expensive an alternative, has now
become cheaper than gasoline.
So why are we engaged in these foreign adventures that place
our populations at risk? We who are so capable. We who put men on the moon
again and again in the previous century?
The answer seems simple, if disturbing. We have lost control
of our government. It has become an imperial power, answerable only to Big
Oil. We must discard it in November or forfeit our claim to democracy
forever.
In the meantime, I encourage all citizens to endorse the
Pickens' Plan.
“Russians treasured the fact they had
a monopoly on oil and gas pipelines from Central Asia, as it gave them
considerable clout,” said Marshall I. Goldman, a senior scholar for
Russian studies at Harvard and the recent author of “Petrostate: Putin,
Power, and the New Russia.” “By agreeing to having an oil pipeline,
Georgia made itself more vulnerable.”
A big concern for the future is what will happen to oil from
Kashagan, the giant oil field in the Caspian Sea that holds over 10
billion barrels of reserves. Located off Kazakhstan, Kashagan is the most
ambitious attempt to date by Western companies to develop new supplies in
the Caspian. It will be at least five years before oil starts flowing from
there, but the operating consortium, which includes Exxon Mobil and
ConocoPhillips, plans to transport some of Kashagan’s oil through the BTC
pipeline.
The Pipeline War
Russian Bear Goes for West's Jugular Svetlana Skarbo and Jonathan Petre
Daily Mail (UK) August 10, 2008
After a day of heightening
international tensions, Georgian leaders claimed that the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan
pipeline, which transports oil from the Caspian Sea to Turkey, had been
attacked. ...Their claims came after Russian jets struck deep into the
territory of its tiny neighbour, killing civilians and ‘completely
devastating’ the strategic Black Sea port of Poti, a staging post for oil
and other energy supplies. ...The pipeline is 30 per cent owned by
BP and supplies 1 per cent of the world’s oil needs, pumping up to a
million barrels of crude per day to Turkey.
"At a time when
unemployment is at a four-year high and the economy needs every stimulus
it can get, a rapid extension of the credit should be on any economic
priority list for Congress." Randall Swisher, Executive
Director American Wind Energy
Asociation
Policy Uncertainty Weighs on Wind Industry Christine Real de Azua
AWEA
August 14, 2008
FRIEDMAN ROASTS MACAIN OVER RENEWABLE
ENERGY
"Senator McCain did not show up for the crucial vote on July 30, and the
renewable energy bill was defeated for the eighth time. In fact, John
McCain has a perfect record on this renewable energy legislation. He has
missed all eight votes over the last year — which effectively counts as a
no vote each time." Thomas Friedman
Eight Strikes and You’re Out Thomas Friedman
The New York Times
August 12, 2008
The U.K. Backtracks "Mayor [Boris] Johnson has just scrapped
the biggest hydrogen vehicle project in this country. It is one thing for
the London mayor to talk green, but he is clearly turning into a one man
environmental disaster." Darren Johnson, Member of Parliament
New London Mayor Cancels 60 Fuel Cell Vehicle Order BBC
August 7, 2008
U.K. Kyoto
commitment
all bluster, no substance ‘‘The
overall message is fairly grim unless we do something radical. We need
fewer, shorter reports and more action from the Government.’’ Professor Rod Smith Chairman of the Future Railway Research
Centre
UK Transport Expert Calls for Government
to Fund Hydrogen Research
Process and Control Today
December 13, 2007
Prof Smith is among a growing number of transport
experts that believe the UK will fail to meet even its first carbon
reduction target, let alone a 60% reduction by 2050.
Researchers are
using nano-sized catalysts to vastly improve the production of hydrogen
through water electrolysis a vastly more efficient process. The goal is to
make it practical and cost-effective to produce hydrogen from water and
electricity for existing industrial uses and for fueling the
next-generation hydrogen-fueled vehicles.
The researchers are using tiny particles of nanometals that
are almost perfectly spherical in shape. The mass production of these
particles is enabled through patented, gas phase condensation method. The
size and shape of the nano particles are proving to be ideal in the
electrolysis process since they increase the amount of reactive surface
area for the catalysts used in the electrolyzers that produce the
hydrogen. By increasing the surface area of the catalysts, the efficiency
of the electrolysis process has been improved to 85 percent.
Fuel cells based on the new
superlattice electrolyte are being touted as far more efficient and
cheaper for use in automobiles.
"The Spanish researchers could
measure the ionic conductivity of their superlattice material, but they
couldn't explain it," said Maria Varela of Oak Ridge's Materials Science
and Technology Division. "Our direct images show the crystal structure
that accounts for the material's conductivity. We can actually see the
strained, yet ordered, interface structure and how it opens up much wider
pathway for the ions.
ORNL Researchers Analyze Material with 'Colossal Ionic Conductivity'Oak Ridge's National Laboratory
July 31, 2008 The molecular model of the ion-conducting
material shows that numerous vacancies at the interface between the two
layers create an open pathway through which ions can travel.
OAK RIDGE, Tenn., July 31, 2008 — A new material characterized at the
Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory could open a
pathway toward more efficient fuel cells.
The material, a super-lattice developed by researchers in
Spain, improves ionic conductivity near room temperature by a factor of
almost 100 million, representing "a colossal increase in ionic
conduction properties," said Maria Varela of ORNL's Materials Science
and Technology Division, who characterized the material's structure with
senior researcher Stephen Pennycook.
The analysis was done with ORNL's 300 kilovolt Z-contrast
scanning transmission electron microscope, which can achieve
aberration-corrected resolutions near 0.6 angstrom, until recently a
world record. The direct images show the crystal structure that accounts
for the material's conductivity.
"It is amazing," Varela said. "We can see the strained, yet
still ordered, interface structure that opens up a wide pathway for ions
to be conducted."
Solid oxide fuel cell technology requires ion-conducting
materials -- solid electrolytes -- that allow oxygen ions to travel from
cathode to anode. However, existing materials have not provided
atom-scale voids large enough to easily accommodate the path of a
conducted ion, which is much bigger than, for example, an electron.
"The new layered material solves this problem by combining
two materials with very different crystal structures. The mismatch
triggers a distortion of the atomic arrangement at their interface and
creates a pathway through which ions can easily travel," Varela said.
Other fuel cell materials force ions to travel through tight
pathways with few spaces for the ions to occupy, slowing their progress.
Rather than forcing the ions to jump from hole to hole, the new material
has "lots of vacant spaces to be occupied," said Varela, so the ions can
travel much more quickly.
Unlike previous fuel cell materials, which have to achieve
high temperatures to conduct ions, the new material maintains ionic
conductivity near room temperatures. High temperatures have been a major
roadblock for developers of fuel cell technology.
The research team with Spain's Universidad Complutense de
Madrid and Universidad Politécnica de Madrid produced the material and
observed its outstanding conductivity properties, but the structural
characteristics that enable the material to conduct ions so well were
not known until the material was put under the ultra-high resolution
microscopes at ORNL.
The paper, a collaboration between researchers at the
Universities of Madrid and at ORNL, was published today in Science.
ORNL is managed by UT-Battelle for the Department of Energy.
Colossal Ionic Conductivity at Interfaces of Epitaxial ZrO2:Y2O3/SrTiO3
HeterostructuresScienceAugust 1, 2008 The search for electrolyte materials with high oxygen
conductivities is a key step toward reducing the operation temperature
of fuel cells, which is currently above 700°C. We report a high lateral
ionic conductivity, showing up to eight orders of magnitude enhancement
near room temperature, in yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ)/strontium
titanate epitaxial heterostructures. The enhancement of the conductivity
is observed, along with a YSZ layer thickness–independent conductance,
showing that it is an interface process. We propose that the atomic
reconstruction at the interface between highly dissimilar structures
(such as fluorite and perovskite) provides both a large number of
carriers and a high-mobility plane, yielding colossal values of the
ionic conductivity.
"We must end the Age of Oil in our
time." Senator Barak Obama
Lansing, Michigan
August 4, 2008
-- THE END OF THE CARBON AGE --
ELECTROLYSIS
BREAKTHROUGH "Solar power has always been a limited,
far-off solution. Now we can
seriously think about solar power as unlimited and soon." Daniel Nocera, Henry Dreyfus Professor of
Energy at MIT
'Major Discovery' from MIT Primed
to Unleash Solar-Hydrogen Revolution Massachusetts Institute of Technology
July 31, 2008
"This
is a major discovery with enormous implications for the future prosperity
of humankind. The importance of their discovery cannot be
overstated since it opens up the door for developing new technologies for
energy production thus reducing our dependence for fossil fuels and
addressing the global climate change problem." James Barber, Ernst Chain Professor of
Biochemistry
at Imperial College London.
Chemist Daniel Nocera, head of the
M.I.T.'s Solar Revolution Project, focused on one side of the equation:
splitting water into its constituent hydrogen and oxygen molecules. This
can be done well, but it remains difficult to actually separate the
molecules. But Nocera and postdoctoral fellow Matthew Kanan discovered it
could be accomplished by simply adding the metals cobalt and phosphate to
water and running a current through it.
In contrast to platinum, cobalt
and phosphate cost roughly $2.25 an ounce and $.05 an ounce, respectively.
In Situ Formation of an Oxygen-Evolving Catalyst in Neutral Water
Containing Phosphate and Co2+
July 31, 2008 Matthew W. Kanan and Daniel G. Nocera, Dept of
Chem, MIT Science
In natural photosynthesis,
energy from sunlight is used to rearrange the bonds of water to O2
and H2-equivalents. The realization of artificial systems
that perform similar "water splitting" requires catalysts that produce O2
from water without the need for excessive driving potentials. Here, we
report such a catalyst that forms upon the oxidative polarization of an
inert indium tin oxide electrode in phosphate-buffered water containing
Co2+.
ANOTHER BLACK DAY FOR AMERICA Republican Senators vote as a bloc to protect oil
profits
from the threat of limitless renewable energy --
RDM
Renewable Energy Tax Credit Legislation Voted Down
in U.S. Senate Renewable Energy World
July 31, 2008 “Time is running out to extend the solar tax
credits and without passage in the immediate future, tens of thousands of
jobs and billions of dollars will be lost in new solar investment. Already
companies are putting projects on hold and preparing to send thousands of
jobs overseas — real jobs that would otherwise be filled by American
workers. Failure to extend the solar tax credits is a severe blow to an
industry that has proven to be an economic engine for the U.S. at a time
when we need it most."
Rhone Resch, President, Solar Energy Industries Association
“With today’s technology, we can
produce hydrogen for less than the cost of gasoline.… The technology to
create hydrogen cheaply has been around for quite some time. The challenge
is to get it to the fueling stations.” Patrick Serfass, National Hydrogen
Association
Clean-burning, Cheap-hydrogen Cars
Start High-profile Road Trip
Meggan Clark
KeepMECurrent July
31, 2008
What these tax
credits are designed to do is to stimulate investments by many players in
solar and wind so these technologies can quickly move down the learning
curve and become competitive with coal and oil — which is why some people
are trying to block them. As Richard K. Lester, an energy-innovation
expert at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, notes, “The best
chance we have — perhaps the only chance” of addressing the combined
challenges of energy supply and demand, climate change and energy security
“is to accelerate the introduction of new technologies for energy supply
and use and deploy them on a very large scale.”
Eight Strikes and You’re Out Thomas Friedman The
New York Times August 12,
2008
REPUBLICANS NOW
TARGET THE LAST VESTIGES OF AMERICA'S WILDERNESS, PARKS AND COASTLINES FOR
OIL EXPLOITATION BY THEIR INTERNATIONAL MASTERS WHILE THEY STEADFASTLY
REFUSE TO ALLOW A TRANSITION TO RENEWABLE FUELS, EVEN AS U.S. CITIZENS AND
BUSINESS SLOWLY STRANGLE ON RISING GASOLINE AND DIESEL COSTS.
MANY SHORT-SIGHTED AMERICANS SUPPORT THIS PILLAGE AT THE EXPENSE OF THEIR
CHILDREN'S HERITAGE. THEY MUST ASK THEMSELVES, "IF WE DRAIN THE LAST OF
NORTH AMERICA'S OIL WITHOUT DEVELOPING A RENEWABLE ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE
NOW, WHILE WE CAN STILL AFFORD TO DO IT,
WHAT WILL OUR CHILDREN HAVE LEFT? WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THEM IF WE FAIL TO
REPLACE OUR EXHAUSTED OIL RESERVES WITH SUSTAINABLE ALTERNATIVES? WHO WILL
RULE THEM IF WE LEAVE THEM HELPLESS?"
-- RDM
Bush Plays Host at Camp David to Ruler of Dubai Ben Feller
AP
August 3, 2008
The UAE has few political freedoms
for its citizens, which makes Bush's warm treatment somewhat awkward in
the face of his push to seed democracy, particularly in the Arab world.
Exxon Posts Record $11.68 Billion Profit Steve Hargreaves
CNNMoney
July 31, 2008
Several bills have been introduced
in Congress to enact a "windfall" profits tax on these earnings, or at the
very least eliminate manufacturing tax exemption oil companies now enjoy.
Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama wants to tax oil
companies at a special rate every time crude goes over $80 a barrel. Most
plans would either use this newfound tax money to fund investments in
renewable energy, or give it to low income Americans struggling with high
energy prices. But so far those efforts have been blocked - mainly by
Republicans - who say raising taxes on oil companies will only discourage
investments in finding new oil and raise the price of crude.
HYDROGEN MINING
SEEN AS A NEW BRIDGE TO HYDROGEN
ECONOMY
"Game-Changing" Technology Provides Renewed Impetus for Hydrogen Economy
and U.S. Energy Security
HYDROGEN-FROM-COAL
IN-SITU TECHNOLOGY EFFECTIVELY QUADRUPLES U.S. COAL
RESERVES!
Process pulls hydrogen-laden gas from unreachable
and unminable coal seams without risk to miners or harm to the environment
More energy in US coal than top 10 oil-producing
countries!
Vast Amounts of Hydrogen
Could be Drawn from American Coal
Using Environmentally Benign
In-Situ Technology from National Lab
-- NO SHAFTS, OPEN PITS OR MINING --
"AUTOMATIC" SUBTERRANEAN REACTION
RELEASES SYNGAS; SYNTHETIC NATURAL GAS
OR HYDROGEN IS PRODUCED
CARBON IS CAPTURED; CO2 IS SEQUESTERED Richard D. Masters International Clearinghouse for Hydrogen Commerce
July 27, 2008
When Dr. S. Julio Friedmann
informed the participants of the Laramie conference that the 50 billion
tons of minable coal reserves in Wyoming's Powder River Basin could be
increased by a factor of six,
to 307 billion tons, you could hear a pin drop. When he said this could be
done without actually mining the coal, without gasifiers, without
significantly disturbing the environment; that it could be financed for
only three-quarters of the typical capital expense of coal plants and operated for only
half the usual costs; that the process would essentially cut pollution in
half, dramatically reduce the release of mercury, use no industrial acid processes, greatly reduce water
consumption, avoid contamination of water tables, result in no CO2 pollution
by employing carbon capture and sequestration; that the
actual energy extracted would be greater than any conventional mining
technology and the most prized commodity would be cheap, essentially
unlimited synthetic natural gas -- jaws dropped. A particularly poignant
observation was that one of these power plants incorporating partial carbon
sequestration would always be cheaper to build and operate than a
conventional coal plant without carbon sequestration, resulting in cleaner
emissions than a natural gas power plant -- another nail
pounded firmly in the coffin of conventional, dirty coal power.
It was as if a
benevolent god had descended and announced that America's energy crisis
could soon be over.
Manna was falling from heaven. Wyoming's coal was about to become a national energy
juggernaut. And anyone involved in this new technology was about to become
very busy and very rich. Not only that, but for the participants of the
4th Annual Hydrogen Implementation Conference presented by the
Mountain
States Hydrogen Business Council, Friedmann appeared to be upgrading the
fabled bridge to the hydrogen economy, previously served only by natural
gas, to a double-decker Golden Gate where both natural gas and cheap
synthetic natural gas from coal would work in concert to bring about the
transition even faster.
Curiously, even serendipitously, the promise of a vast new
domestic supply of synthetic natural gas would seem to complement the much
vaunted
plan of T. Boone Pickens, which calls for a massive expansion of wind
power to allow natural gas to dominate transportation fuel and
significantly reduce U.S. dependence on imported oil.
Friedmann is the leader of the
Carbon Management Program at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory,
which has been researching Underground Coal Gasification (UCG) for 30
years, building 16 syngas pilots in the U.S. over that period. Although the
basic technology is not new, it was historically unable to make inroads
against $10/bbl oil or $1.50/therm natural gas. But now, Friedmann claims,
it is cheaper to produce synthetic natural gas from coal using UCG than to
purchase
wellhead natural gas
at $8 per 1,000,000 BTU.
"There's actually been a power plant in Uzbekistan that's
been running for 49 years, continuously, on this technology," says
Friedmann, referring to the UCG facility in Angrenskaya, Uzbekistan.
The Republic of South Africa's Eskom is
building a 2100 MW power plant in Majuba,
scheduled to go online with 350 MW in 2011, and build up to 2100 MW in
2013,
using UCG to extend the resource life of the "exhausted" Majuba colliery,
which closed in 1993. This closing forced the existing 4110 MW power plant
near Amersfoort to begin importing higher-priced coal from Witbank,
contributing to South Africa's current energy crisis.
Friedmann cautioned that the UCG process had to be carefully
engineered and managed to avoid subsidence and water table contamination.
He pointed to LLNL's second UCG pilot plant at Hoe Creek in Wyoming,
where, in the 1970s, the water table was contaminated when a gasification
cavity collapsed, connecting coal to a previously unconnected aquifer.
This was a direct result, said Friedmann, of "bad site selection, bad
management and bad operation." Yet he felt assured that the series of 31
successful pilot projects (and one additional failure) following that
pioneering debacle had provided the knowledge to avoid future problems.
"UCG appears to be really promising for hydrogen generation,
especially in Wyoming, in the mountain states," says Friedmann. "The
Powder River Basin is a terrific national endowment. We're nuts not to
think about it in some serious way.
"Wyoming has a terrific sequestration resource. The Powder
River Basin, Rock Springs Uplift, Bighorn Basin, you name it. There's a
terrific opportunity here for combining these technologies for hydrogen
production in some sensible way, not to mention the opportunities in
enhanced oil recovery and enhanced gas recovery as well."
Low-Cost, zero carbon H2 production: Underground Coal
Gasification with Carbon Capture & Sequestration
Dr. S. Julio Friedmann, Carbon Management Program, LLNL
As wind energy continues to expand
across the U.S. heartland, rural America is likely to experience a
revitalization not experienced since the homestead land grabs of the 19th
century. Green jobs - high-quality employment for environmentally
sustainable industries - and related spin-off opportunities are
proliferating across West Texas.
Former Vice President Al Gore has
challenged the United States to shift its entire electricity sector to
wind, solar and geothermal power within 10 years. "This goal is
achievable, affordable and transformative," Gore said during a speech at
the Daughters of the American Revolution Constitution Hall in Washington.
"It represents a challenge to all Americans in every walk of life: to our
political leaders, entrepreneurs, innovators, engineers and to every
citizen."
Alternative Energy Expert Tai Robinson
Discusses the Hierarchy of Automotive Fuels
The Standing Committee on Emission Regulation — under the Ministry of
Shipping, Road Transport & Highways — today approved addition of hydrogen
to CNG (compressed natural gas) for use in vehicles. The proposal is to
use CNG with 20 per cent hydrogen content. When this gets notified, India
will become the first country to use this mix on a commercial basis and
take a definitive step towards enhancing the use of renewable energy in
automobiles.
An urgent message from the League of
Conservation Voters 7/17/08
We're so
deep in a hole, you'd think we'd stop drilling...
Unfortunately not everyone
agrees. Big Oil's allies in Congress are trying to scoop up more land for
drilling—including the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Later today,
President Bush is expected to go so far as to repeal the long-standing
executive ban on offshore drilling put in place by his own father.
This is not only an
environmental disaster, it will give us zero relief from gas prices and
will pad Big Oil's bottom line. That's a raw deal.
Every
week, we can expect a new, outrageous drilling provision. And we urgently
need your support to stop them! Please give today—there will be votes on
drilling in the next TWO weeks.
Big Oil's cronies in
Congress are using high gas prices as an excuse for this greedy land grab,
and they plan to make this a major campaign issue. Even some of our
pro-environment friends in Congress are feeling pressure to support
drilling legislation. But renowned oil businessman T. Boone Pickens is
publicly broadcasting a different message: "I've been an oilman all my
life, but this is one emergency we can't drill our way out of."
We believe
that the facts will triumph over the fear mongering, but we need your
support to keep up the fight and deliver our message to Congress:
America simply can't drill its way out of this
problem. Our supply (less than 3% of world oil reserves) can't possibly
keep up with our demand (25% of world oil consumption). A few drops of
oil, up to a decade away from making it to market, cannot alleviate our
pain at the pump.
There are almost 70 million acres of proven
reserves in Big Oil's possession where absolutely no drilling is taking
place. As long as gas prices continue to rise, so does the value of the
reserves they're sitting on.
We need consumer choices, such as plug-in
hybrids and other fuel efficient cars—not a greater addiction to oil.
Cutting subsidies for Big Oil and giving rebates to consumers would be
true short-term relief.
The ban on offshore
drilling, which has enjoyed bipartisan support for decades, is in real
danger. Both President Bush and Senator John McCain have recently
reversed their position and now support this land grab.
Your support today will
allow us to conduct valuable polling in battleground states on this issue,
lobby key Members of Congress, and place ads to educate consumers that
drilling will not provide them with the relief they need.
Thank you, Norman, for
your continued support of the League of Conservation Voters. We'll never
match Big Oil's resources dollar-for-dollar. But backed by your
commitment, I know we will be able to build a clean energy future.
A phased urban roll-out, known as the
“urban center concept,” was employed to gradually create fueling networks
serving 20 urban centers. Southern California and the Northeast (centered
around New York City) were targeted for early infrastructure introduction
(around 2012 to 2015) during Phase I (“Initial Introduction”). Their
concentrated market potential and populations, numbering around 20 million
people each, are significantly greater than other urban centers. The next
phase, called Targeted Regional Growth, would focus on an additional eight
selected cities with populations ranging from 4 to 10 million people.
Three early corridors—Los Angeles-to-San Francisco; New
York-Boston-Washington, DC; and Chicago-to-Detroit—are also recommended
for inclusion in this phase. Phase III, Inter-Regional Expansion, expands
the infrastructure to 10 additional urban centers with populations of 1.5
to 5 million and adds more corridors connecting the urban centers and
enabling some cross country travel. ...Under Policy Case 3, the analysis
suggests that industry could begin generating a profit as early as 2017.
Policies would also help to reduce the cost of hydrogen to a level well
below gasoline on a cost-per-mile basis, and encourage the build-out of
hydrogen fueling stations.
NEWS YOU WILL NEVER SEE! "We Told You So!" Say Republicans
as Sun Stops Shining
Mid East Saber-Rattling Causes Wind kW/h Cost to Spike
New U.S. Wind Farms Cause Millions in Africa to Starve
Republicans Agree Oil is the Problem, Endorse Renewables
Wind Turbine Wreck Pollutes 100s of Miles of Coastline
Army to Protect Wind Farm Routes; Draft Reinstated
Military On High Alert for Terrorists at Wind Farm
Asthma Epidemic Blamed on Solar, Wind Turbines
Newly Empowered Democrats Refuse Oil Pay-Offs Chad Invades Sudan: Seizes Solar,
Wind Resources
Smog Alert Idles Wind Farm; Schools Closed
"We're Addicted to Wind Power," Says Bush
BUILDING A WORLD THAT WORKS
TM
WWW. HYDROGENCOMMERCE .COM
"I
thought we took care of New York..."
THE OIL
WAR STEPS TO CENTER STAGE
‘‘The
overall message is fairly grim unless we do something radical. We need
fewer, shorter reports and more action from the Government.’’
“Because
Bush’s Environmental Protection Agency continues to wantonly ignore its
duty to regulate pollution, California is forced to seek judicial action.”
"Oil! 
"Oil!
