Cold Snaps in the North and East, Rain in the West...

Our turbulent weather is again demonstrating new, and more devastating characteristics...and again the question is being asked..."Is this an effect of Global Warming, and if so...why so damn cold?"

Dive into OCEANS from Disneynature -- The studio that brought you EARTH -- for a spectacular story about remarkable creatures under the sea. Stunning images await as you journey into the depths of a wonderland filled with mystery, beauty and power. It's an unprecedented look at the lives of these elusive deepwater creatures through their own eyes. Incredible state-of-the-art underwater filmmaking will take your breath away as you migrate with whales, swim alongside a great white shark and race with dolphins at play. Filled with adventure, comedy and drama, OCEANS is a fascinating and thought-provoking experience you'll never forget.

The hottest summer on record

We have just moved through the hottest summer on record... so, is it Global Warming?
There are a great many who argue that from either the 'yes' or 'no' side...

What do you think?

Global Warming, or just part of an upturn in the normal cycle?

The Gulf after the leak...

The Gulf of Mexico has taken its share of pollution over the years, and perhaps the worst of it is the most recent oil leak...spill...I don't know what to call it... Gusher!

Now that it is stopped we need to take a deep breath and figure out what needs to be done in the future to prevent this type of catastrophe. And we need to look well past the leak...we need to look at drilling design requirements, containment measures, recovery tools, new methods for less environmentally destructive disbursement... hell, we need to look at everything involved with recovering from this type of disaster because it has happened before (bet you didn't know that) and it will undoubtedly happen again.

The BP Gulf Oil Spill, as it turns out was so large it was visible from Space as it was a spill the size of Rhode Island, photographed by NASA satellites...it really is an issue we will have to address for decades to come.

So...haven't we learned from the past?

1911: Lakeview Gusher
Drilling at Lakeview Number One well was started by the Lakeview Oil Company on January 1, 1909. As the drilling continued and only natural gas was found, the Lakeview company partnered with Union Oil Company which wanted to build storage tanks on Lakeview property.[2]
While modern well-drilling techniques have advanced safety features such as blowout preventers that reduce the chances of a gusher, early twentieth-century drilling technology could not contain the high pressures encountered at Lakeview. The gusher began on March 14, 1910, as the drill bit reached 2,440 ft (740 m).[3]
The well casing is a steel pipe-liner that contains oil as it is pumped from the depths. During drilling, the casing also guides the drill bit and drive shaft in a roughly straight line. Pressure blew at least part of the casing out, along with an estimated 9 million barrels (1.4×106 m3) of oil, before the gusher was brought under control 18 months later in September 1911.[4]


1979: Ixtoc I was an exploratory oil well being drilled by the semi-submersible drilling rig Sedco 135-F in the Bay of Campeche of the Gulf of Mexico, about 100 km (62 mi) northwest of Ciudad del Carmen, Campeche in waters 50 m (160 ft) deep.[2] On 3 June 1979, the well suffered a blowout resulting in the fourth largest oil spill in history.Mexico's government-owned oil company Pemex (Petróleos Mexicanos) was drilling a 3 km (1.9 mi) deep oil well when the drilling rig Sedco 135F lost drilling mud circulation.

In modern rotary drilling, mud is circulated down the drill pipe and back up the well bore to the surface. The goal is to equalize the pressure through the shaft and to monitor the returning mud for gas. Without the counter-pressure provided by the circulating mud, the pressure in the formation allowed oil to fill the well column, blowing out the well. The oil caught fire, and Sedco 135F burned and collapsed into the sea.[2]
At the time of the accident Sedco 135F was drilling at a depth of about 3,600 metres (11,800 ft) below the seafloor.[5] The day before Ixtoc suffered the blowout and resulting fire that caused her to sink, the drill bit hit a region of soft strata. Subsequently, the circulation of drilling mud was lost resulting in a loss of hydrostatic pressure.[6] Rather than returning to the surface, the drilling mud was escaping into fractures that had formed in the rock at the bottom of the hole. Pemex officials decided to remove the bit, run the drill pipe back into the hole and pump materials down this open-ended drill pipe in an effort to seal off the fractures that were causing the loss of circulation.

These aren't the only spills...but they are examples of super spills...and they demonstrate that we should have learned, as with the Exxon Valdise and now the New Horizon... Oil may be valuable...but our earth is precious!

We need to solve these problems before they happen...not after they are in play.

More Oil... lets politicise it!!!

The Spin Doctors are all trying to make a big Political Gain from the BP Oil Well disaster. There are several questions that might need to be asked when it comes to this in the future, but right now we need to stay focused on solving this disasterous problem.

There needs to be more engagement of skimmers; subsurface suctioning; fluid seperation, not chemical breakup with toxic mixtures.... The Gulf of Mexico is one of our finest resources for sea food, oil, recreation and more...and like it or not, in the short term we need to harvest all of these elements ... not throw them away...and that means CLOSE THE WELL.

The US Government is not...and should not...be in the oil well business. Those who are, however, need to solve this problem and develope the technologies to prevent these problems in the future, or to solve them if they come along.

I do not believe that there was Criminal Intent at any point in the chain of events that caused the accident, so we need to stay focused on solutions...not prosecution.

Memorial Day ...

Congratulations and Thanks to all of us who served loyaly and made it home... and my thanks and best thoughts for those who are serving overseas and in combat zones today.

We solute all of the Men and Women who place themselves in harms way for love of country.
sincerely,
Scott Bradley, LCDR (ret)

What is in a 42 gallon barall of crude oil?

Source: American Petroleum Institute (www.api.org). Figures are based on 1995 average yields for US refineries. Though one 'barrel contains 42 gallons of cruce oil, the refined volume increases due to added chemicals introduced during the refining process.Processing gains raise the volume by 2.2 gallons to a total of 44.2 gallons overall.

15 inches of rain in one hour!

I must admit I am glad I am not living in Nashville right now. While they have blue skys today, they also are going to continue to flood as their rivers are rising to more than 10 feet above flood stage.

Is this Global Warming? Well, as best defined...global warming is viewed by changing weather patterns and unexpected storms of extream force.

Let's send our best wishes to these Americans who are being hit by these really crazy patterns.

Oil still flowing...

There are oil rigs in operation throughout the world, not just off of our coasts but in the North Sea, the Persian Gulf, Arabian region, and Indian Oceans... South Pacific... even the Red Sea.

This catastrophy may be the worst in years, but the question has been raised ... is it the last? And for that matter, is it the worst potentially?

What we know for sure is that it ... the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico... has been dumping from 20,000 to 50,000 gallons of crude oil into the Gulf for two weeks today...and may not be shut down for several more weeks.

Your government needs to know how you feel. Should we allow coastal oil drilling or not...and if yes...should we put more secure programs in place? That is to say, is it good enough now, or not?

Earth Day... there really is a reason!

Clean Water Act: A great example of good Governing!

The Clean Water Act of 1977 was established to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nations's waters so that they can support "the protection and propagation of fish, shellfish, and wildlife and recreation in and on the water."

This Act is the legal cornerstone of surface water quality protection in the United States and established the basic structure for regulating discharges of pollutants into US waters. It gave the E{PA the authority to implement pollution control programs such as setting water standards for industry, and made it unlawful for any person to discharge pollutants from a point source into navigable waters, unless a permit was obtained under its provisions. It set quality standards for all contaminants in surface waters, funded the construction of sewage treatment plants, and recognized the need for planning to address the critical problems posed by non-point source pollution.

One of the most successful environmental laws, the Clean Water Act has made most of the nation's waters once again safe for fishing, swimming, and drinking. Utilities, Inc. staunchly upholds the Act's enviornmental mission by observing its laws and dedicating its resources toward improving water quality in the United States.

So, What about fuel cells...specifically...what about the Bloom Box?

Fuel cell apps in action. VERY EXPENSIVE...but it could come down.

Fuel cell technology was most recently on the tech media's radar last year when the Department of Energy proposed cutting research for fuel-cell vehicles, which have been touted for many years as the ultimate green car solution. Mobile fuel cells have formidable technical challenges, notably storing enough hydrogen for a long driving range, and the lack of a hydrogen distribution infrastructure. Bloom Energy CEO KR Sridar told reporters at least twice during last week's press conference that the technology was not developed for cars, an indication of how much people associate fuel cells with vehicles.

Bloom Energy is using fuel cells for stationary power, which is arguably a better application for the technology. For starters, stationary fuel cells can use the natural gas lines already in place for fuel. The Bloom Energy Server can run on different fuel sources, including biogas, a gas made from organic materials. And they can be strung together, much the way servers are clustered to boost processing muscle. An initial customer, eBay, for example, is using a five 100 kilowatt boxes--each about the size of a parking space, to power 15 percent of its headquarters in San Jose, California.

For companies that need on-site power, fuel cells are already in use because they are very reliable. Fuel cells could power data centers, for example, because of their reliability and the potential to supply DC power directly to electronic equipment. Since they are relatively clean sources of power, fuel cells can receive state subsidies, as they do in California.
Bloom is not alone. In getting so much media attention, Bloom Energy certainly benefited from its connections to high-profile investors, such as John Doerr of famed venture capital company Kleiner, Perkins, Caulfied & Byers. Kleiner's connections probably helped line up initial customers for Bloom, including Google, Walmart, Staples, FedEx--all companies which have invested in alternative energy sources for financial and environmental reasons. But Bloom Energy is not the only company making fuel cells for stationary power.

FuelCell Energy, which is based in Danbury, Connecticut, is already selling fuel cell power systems for commercial customers, which fuel cells that can run range from 300 kilowatts to 2.8 megawatts. Another is start-up ClearEdge Power, which recently introduced a smaller fuel cell for homes or small businesses to make electricity and heat. Panasonic is developing fuel cells for homes, which also use natural gas to make both electricity and hot water.

Where Bloom Energy stands out is the design and materials it's using in its fuel cells, which offers the potential to lower costs with higher manufacturing volume. The core of Bloom Energy's technology is a solid oxide fuel cell, which takes fuels and oxygen from the air to make an electrical current.

One technical challenge with this type of fuel cell is that they operate at very high temperatures. That allows for greater efficiency in energy conversion but also requires engineers to deal with high heat. Bloom has designed the system to recycle the heat generated from the energy conversion in the process of mixing incoming natural gas with steam, which is needed with this type of fuel cell. So instead of using the heat to make hot water, for example, the heat is fed back into make electricity, according to the company.

Another significant technical achievement is that Bloom Energy's system doesn't use expensive materials, notably platinum which is used as a catalyst in many types of fuel cells. Bloom Energy is cagey on exactly what it uses but says that the fuel cells use a ceramic made from sand and inks. Researchers have been trying to make fuel cells without platinum for years. Another company trying to make a low-cost fuel cell catalyst is SunCatalytix, a spin-off from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, although it's a very different technical approach.
Cost. So why all the fuss over a well understood technology? Because Bloom Energy has said that it can deliver its electricity at between 8 cents and 10 cents per kilowatt-hour, including the cost of ongoing maintenance. In many place of the country, that's cheaper that the grid rate. Because fuel cells are their own source of juice, they also offer back up power in the case that there is a grid outage.

According to Bloom Energy's data, companies which purchase this sort of system can earn back the initial outlay of between $700,000 and $800,000 for a 100 kilowatt system in three to five years. A 100-kilowatt system could be enough to power 10 U.S. homes or a small business, such as a Starbucks, according to the company. But keep in mind, that its stated cost per kilowatt assumes subsidies as high as 50 percent of the initial cost and natural gas prices of $7 per million BTUs, according to an interview. Still, Sridhar claims it can drive down the cost steadily and that it can compete without subsidies.

Peak Oil!

The term Peak Oil is one that seems mysterious to most of us... as we really don't know what it means.

So lets ask... what is it? and lets answer... Peak Oil means that the world has reached beyond the half-way point for oil production...we have peaked our production and can't expect oil to last... There is truly an energy crisis coming, one that will come not because OPEC has turned off their deliveries...but one that comes because the world supply of oil is on a rapidly declining ramp.

This is why we need to develop alternative energy at a much faster rate then we have been, and why we need to improve mechanical performance for biofuel burning engines (you know, those engines that are using bio-diesel and gas with bio fuel additives) as these fuels do not burn as efficiently as petro-based fuels.Peak Oil... that is the term that means we are running out of time. Really that simple.

Truth in Humor...

While we laugh, there is truth in the message...here is another example.

Here we are in a new year and each of us has his or her own path to follow. But as we go down that path we find that we converge at several spots along the way. Fighting pollution and conservation are examples of those points where we can act to make a difference.

For instance, recycling things like aluminum, glass, and plastics, really recycling...not just once in a while...will reduce the impact on our trash and reduce the use of energy at the same time...
As an example, here is the deal on Aluminum...it is the most prevalent metal on earth...much more than iron for instance...but it takes a great deal of energy to make aluminum from scratch because it is found in a variety of rocks rather than a near pure state. We find that recycling generates high quality aluminum without all of the energy use...less then half actually...and lots less carbon release. That is a win-win... and its only one example.

So...you recycle glass, cans, plastics, aluminum on a regular basis and your land fill or waste management program gets a break, the environment gets a break, and the energy consumed is reduced...giving us all a break.

Simple actions like this make a world of difference... for us and future generations.