Polar Blog » General Posts

Biomass

Adam — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 10:35:58 +0000

I normally don’t blog about news or events outside the “polar context” but a story in the Globe and Mail from Tuesday’s edition caught my eye. The story discussed the use of cow manure as means to produce “green electricity”. According to the story a dairy farm in southern Ontario plans to start biomass operation later this summer. In a nutshell, the dairy farm will use cow waste which emits methane gas as a by-product and the key ingredient to harness this new form of energy. Apparently each cow is capable to produce enough waste-to-energy to keep three 50-watt light-bulbs illuminated constantly. The initial capacity of the plant will be small approx. 300 kilowatts with the eventual goal to produce 1.3 megawatts (enough power to service 800 typical homes).

Here is a link to the article:

On the farm, a back-end solution to an energy crisis — Globe and Mail

Beef consumption = global warming

Adam — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 03:06:02 +0000

Up early this morning on my way to work I was reminded while listening to a talk show that scientists noted this past week that by reducing your personal beef intake one could theoretically help reduce the global warming problem. The underlining premise is an effort to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases utilized to produce the necessary feed to support the growth of the cattle until they are mature and ready for slaughter. Also, methane gas expelled by the cattle is another global warming problem. While you might laugh at this remark (as I did when I first heard about it) it is in fact plausible as there are billions worldwide!…(I don’t have precise figure but I distinctly recall reading this fact in the Ingenuity Gap by Thomas Homer-Dixon)

Here is a link to an article noting about reducing beef consumption:

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iPIJlPXnghgCwzOq1Tem6XSfWUoA

Here is a link about beef cattle and methane gas:

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=20772&Cr=global&Cr1=warming

America’s arctic position…

Adam — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 05:00:35 +0000

This past Tuesday at the close of a summit meeting held in Montebello, Quebec between the three leaders of North America, President Bush reiterated the official American position towards Canada’s sovereign claim to the Northwest Passage — it’s an international strait linking two oceans. While officially Canada and the United States still differ on this subject, former US ambassador to Canada, Paul Cellucci, recently acknowledged that he believes in the wake of the 9/11 events it’s in the best interest of the United States to consider the Northwest Passage part of Canada. Although it appears in this context diverging American opinions exist on the subject, I would be willing to assume that a common consensus will be reached to an eventual acceptance of Canada’s claims once a justified Canadian Arctic military position is defined i.e. PM Harper’s military promises — Arctic patrol vessels, deep-water port, etc.

Here is a link to an article on the subject:

http://www.thestar.com/comment/article/248110

North American summit

Adam — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 04:27:21 +0000

In the coming days the three leaders of North America (Canada, United States and Mexico) will be meeting in the small Quebec town of Montebello to discuss key issues relating to the expansion of economic cooperation amongst the three nations. Some of the most contentious issues likely to arise will be PM Harper reasserting Canada’s commitment to its sovereign claim to the famous Northwest Passage. This proclamation will be directed towards President Bush in the wake of the recent rise in international political rhetoric in making a stake to the resource-rich melting Arctic landscape. Although it has been well documented that the United States doesn’t recognize Canada’s claim due in part to a lack-luster security commitment, maybe a little Canadian hospitality will bring the two leaders a little closer to seeing eye-to-eye on the subject.

I’ve attached an article for further info:

http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=759cfc4e-df88-4bdb-84f0-5c4dd29ca822&k=0

Aviation impacting climate…

Adam — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 02:47:00 +0000

An Oslo University expert who studies how the aviation industry affects the atmosphere and in turn climate has noted that these relationships are a serious threat to the global environment as the industry is expected to grow substantially internationally over the next decade. What really grabbed my attention to this article was the reference that high altitude jet condensation trials that you can see in the sky on a clear day could contribute to the formation of cirrus clouds which warm the earth’s surface.

I’ve provided the link to the article:

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=503cac32-97b2-487f-9ef3-62c31bc97371