Category Archives: Energy

Energy

Replace concrete with petroleum waste?

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The Guardian suggests that concrete is to become such a big issue in terms of cost and environmental impact that petroleum waste will seem friendly and cheap by comparison. First you have to consider the problem:

Cement is one of the most environmentally hazardous materials in the world, adding more carbon dioxide to the atmosphere than the entire weight of the global airline industry. According to the Sustainable Development Commission, 4% of Co2 is caused by aviation. Depending on how conservatively you do the sums, cement-based building materials, including concrete and asphalt, account for between 5% and 10% of all carbon dioxide emissions.

And then, here is a possible solution, proposed by UKM, a partner of Shell, the Anglo-Dutch oil giant that holds the patent to the proposed material:

When crude oil is “cracked” into its components, the top of the refinement process produces petrol, followed by diesel, light fuel oil and then heavy fuel oil. At the bottom of the barrel lies a “fraction” of blackened waste material. It is hard and sticky and of scant economic worth.

“The standard way of dealing with this low-grade oil is to mix it with light fuel oil to make more heavy fuel oil,” says Robinson [director of UKM], sketching a diagram of the process on a notepad. “It gets burnt off and doesn’t have to be treated as a waste. But that burning causes further CO2 emissions that cause global warming. In our wildest dreams we don’t think we will replace concrete. But in certain applications where concrete isn’t as good, like in heavy industrial roads or in salt water environments, we can replace it. That would in itself be fantastic for the environment.”

Something tells me that even if this is a solution to today’s concrete problems (pun intended), it might introduce far greater problems to resolve tomorrow.

I’m no petroleum waste expert, and thus maybe I’m wrong about the future hazards. I guess if nothing else at least we can see Shell trying to solve some of the same issues as those mentioned by worldchanging.org.

Energy, Security

Disease clusters, radiation and cell towers

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Many years ago I worked in a research building that was located above a giant plasma generator. Everyone who had worked there for more than five years and who sat fairly near the thing (the floor above, the office next door) were said to be suffering from cancer or other illness. One woman passed away suddenly in her 50s. The generator drew so much energy that on hot days the central organization would ask the operator to turn it off so they could run the air conditioners. Who knows how much the thing emitted. Don’t think it was ever measured. Some employees were smokers, most did not exercize regularly, and so forth, but a correllation seemed too strong to be coincidence.

There aren’t many plasma generators around but what if the same effects can be documented in people who work or live near cell-towers? And what if those people happen to be important enough that a sudden deterioration of their health could cause serious financial impact to a big organization? The latest news from Australia is rather shocking:

Australian Medical Association president Mukesh Haikerwal said there was no proof of a connection but “if you get clusters of disease it’s sensible to investigate.”

Dr John Gall, from private health company Southern Medical Services, which has been called in to assess the sick, said last night three of those affected had tumours showing symptoms consistent with radiation.

But he said there was no causal link with the building based on preliminary observations.

A spokesman for state Health Minister Bronwyn Pike said WorkCover would investigate the matter and the Department of Human Services would provide any expertise needed.

RMIT chief operating officer Steve Somogyi said testing was carried out on the building after the first two of the seven tumours were reported in 1999 and 2001. It found radiation and air quality levels within recommended guidelines.

Hmmm, who set those guidelines again and based on what evidence? Funny how experts can sometimes use a lack of data as proof of something that doesn’t exist, rather than proof of uncertainty. In network security, it can often be worse to have false negatives than false positives. And if you ever run a honeypot system you have to be careful to never assume that a lack of bears in the honeypot (it sounds better than attackers who like honey, if you know what i mean) proves that there is not threat of bears, let alone a bear already sleeping in your bed. And from that perspective, maybe it wasn’t radiation from the towers, but something in the food, furniture or decorations…

Energy, History, Poetry, Security

Touareg Poems

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The enigmatic Touareg people have been struggling for survival for over forty years. Drought and state repression menace their future. And from that VW names a giant SUV after them. Why?

The Germans have interesting names for their cars. The Bora is a cold, north to northeast wind that blows down from the mountains of Hungary and across the Adriatic Sea. The Passat is a tradewind and also may be an old name for a trader’s sailboat. And of course the warm desert winds that blow from Africa across the Mediterranean are known as the Scirocco. Apparently VW claims the Golf is some sort of transliteration of gulf stream currents, but that seems like a stretch to me.

Was the name “Touareg” intended to draw attention to their survival or elevate world consciousness about these people? Doubtful. That’s about as likely as Porsche trying to help Cayenne drivers learn to add a little spice to their palate. Was it the Germans making light of yet another French colonial debacle of international proportions? Nah. Marketing is probably just marketing and someone thought the Touareg (for those who have heard of them) represent strength and survival in harsh conditions; exactly the sort of thing that a soccer mom driving around suburban American can really appreciate. Hmmm, when will a car company name one of their vehicles “the soccer mom”?

Incidentally, someone recently said to me that they think cars shouldn’t be named after people at all. I agree! The “New Yorker” was a horrible name for a car and certainly did no justice to inhabitants of that fine city. In its original incarnation it was a 19 foot 5000 pound monster with a 440 cubic inch engine that burned gasoline like it would never disappear. Does that say “New Yorker” to you?

Touareg in Indigo

Alas, a web search for Touareg brings up 10,000 pointers to an automobile. Well, who knows what the impact of that will be, but I just thought I might be able to do my part and bring a little attention back to international history as well as poetry by talking about the real people here.

In brief: the Touareg (who call themselves Kel Tamsheq) live in the southern Sahara, dispersed across the borders of several countries including Algeria, Mali, Libya, and Niger. Despite this separation they share a common language apparently related to Berber. They are perhaps most known historically for establishing the north African city Timbuktu in the 10th century near the Niger river and fostering trade including scholarship, literature and books.

They were essentially tribes of caravans around the Sahara with agricultural work performed by non-Touareg serfs. Fast forward several hundred years to their fierce resistance to French colonization in the 1890s — colonial guns against swords of the nomads. The French feared them as raiders, which led to massacres of the nomadic minority. They were thus forced to sign treaties that led to oppression by the state. Their attempt to gain autonomy during the Mali independence movement in the 1960s failed and so they struggled as dislocated minorities through severe African drought in the 1970s and 1980 that devastated their livelihood. With little or no control of government, and rampant corruption, foreign aid rarely was distributed where it was needed most.

Their suffering resulted in a cultural revival and rebellion. By the start of the 1990s the Touareg attempted again to gain more autonomy in Niger and Mali through armed resistance. This led many into years of rebel training camps, imprisonment and even exile to Mauritania, Algeria and Burkina Faso. The mid-1990s, finally saw cease-fire agreements and they are apparently doing better under President Konare.

Touareg in IndigoI think. Anyway, the Touareg are said to be famous for their literature, wit and poems, especially women’s love songs, but I have had a hard time finding any examples that aren’t buried away in impenetrable ethnographic tomes. Instead I have been listening to an all-woman call-and-response group called Tartit (apparently their name means “united” or “union”). Some of the more interesting things about the Touareg traditions include the fact that despite the prevalence of Islamic influence only men wear veils. Women are also allowed to divorce and choose their own husbands. And perhaps most shocking is that men aren’t allowed to play the tinde (drum). Yes, I’m being sarcastic, although I have to admit that women drummers are rare in Western culture and almost unheard of in military/marching bands. Touareg men instead play an imzad (guitar) or tehardent (violin). Thus they appear to be a people known for wit, pride and fearlessness and the women clearly play a dominant/respected role. All this tells me that their lyrics and poetry may have some interesting insights and matrilineal perspectives that we would be wise to preserve before it is too late. My favorite song so far is Holiyane Holiyana, that is said to tell the story of a man who seduced women by advising them to beware of him. I might have botched the translation, though.

If only I could find someone who could point me to the language of the Touareg poems…perhaps next year I’ll have to attend the Festival in the Desert and sit among the indigo robes in the sand.

And if anyone’s looking for a real mind-bender, check out the MIT puzzle pages called Timbuktu. I especially like the History Lesson puzzle, which reminded me of the news about the code buried in the da Vinci ruling not to mention Scott Crosby’s infamous method of hiding DeCSS code in a news report about the DeCSS trial itself.

Energy, Security

Lawnmowers, risks and rebates

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If you care about air quality, you also probably cringe every time someone brings up the subject of recreational or utility gas-powered engines. These workhorses are notoriously inefficient and designed with virtually no emission controls whatsoever, although historically they have the odd distinction of being called “less costly” because they pollute more.

According to EPA analysis [reported in 1998], the small engine regulation will increase the cost of equipment by an average of $5-7 per unit, but durability will improve and fuel efficiency will increase for most small engines. These improvements in engine technology may offset the increase in cost.

It all comes back to what you value, right? If raw power is all you are after, then you essentially only measure one type of output — a very artificial test, like measuring the color of a steak but ignoring the taste. Simply put, good engineers are encouraged to factor in common risk (noise, toxins, wear, lost input/efficiency), if they want to measure and report the real output(s).

I think I was first alerted to the problem more than a decade ago when travelling by small-engine rickshaws in Asia that belched plumes of poisonous petroleum exhaust. The inefficiency of these engines was staggering at the macro level, but because the real risk and costs were not properly burdened by the operators the micro level had a “cheap” formula working to their favor. Fortunately the greater good was brought to bear and these monsters were eventually outlawed in some cities, like Kathmandu, because of the obvious noise/air pollution risk to the general population. I also remember a story on NPR about snowmobile engine opponents. A single operator was said to be creating as much pollution as 1,000 automobiles. That’s just compounded by the habit of some to replace their exhaust with race pipes that have “higher output”. Talk about inefficiency!

The most popular area for winter visitors is located around Old Faithful, most accessible from the West Entrance to the park, where as many as 1200 snowmobiles can pass through during any given day. Here the exhaust is so thick that it is considered harmful to the park rangers operating the tollbooths. The tollbooths have been coated in Plexiglas, and fresh-air is pumped inside to protect the rangers from the harmful fumes. Unfortunately, the park’s wildlife does not have a way to escape the fumes, and is constantly subjected to their harmful levels.

Anyway, this came up today because I read about a “lawnmower buyback program” in the Silicon Valley:

In the spring and summer, gasoline-powered lawn mowers create an estimated nine tons of air pollution every day in the Bay Area. Grass trimmings also make up a significant portion of the waste that gets buried in local landfills. By switching to an electric mulching mower or push mower, you can save time and money while cutting down on air pollution and yard waste.

This spring, the Air District is sponsoring mower exchange events in Santa Clara and Contra Costa counties. Rebates of up to $150 are available to those who wish to exchange their old gas-powered mowers for new air pollution-free electric ones.

Interested participants should bring their mowers, drained of gas and oil, to a participating Home Depot store at the date and time listed below. You must turn in your old mower for recycling to get a discount. You can attend either event, provided that you are a resident of the nine-county Bay Area.

May 6th, 8a – 12p
Campbell Home Depot
480 E. Hamilton Ave.
(408) 866-1900

May 20th, 8a – 12p
Pittsburg Home Depot
2300 N. Park Blvd.
(925) 476-1900

Lawn Mower Buy-back events are on a first-come, first-served basis, for as long as supplies last.

Very cool. Such is life that incentives have to be created like this to offset the dynamic of today’s American chic. The “victory garden” seems like some sort of unpalatable fantasy rather than a hot topic in the US. The pride many have in wasteful consumption is tied to individual calculations of short-term expense as well as pleasure; it’s like the cluelessly lavish parties that ran right up to the market crash in 1929. In fact I was at a gathering just last night where a very wealthy woman said she was trying to fight the chilly weather by driving her giant SUV more often and revving the engine whenever possible.

The reality is that it is hard to off-set this kind of idiocy without some kind of carrot because the average American consumers clearly do not desire to think through the big picture implications of their actions. And if you follow the US energy company line of reasoning, consumers and the providers should be allowed to create toxic conditions in order to make a decent living, and the government should then step in to pay for the cleanup. It’s the rickshaw driver model, but in America the rickshaw driver parent corporations have more power over the government than vice versa, so don’t expect the Bush administration to enact the kind of ban on harmful emissions that Asian countries have shown they are willing to make.

Incidentally, I wonder how many people will buy a gas mower on craigslist (about $25-$125 right now) just to get the buyback rebate? I mean if you don’t have any mower at all that’s a chance to prevent someone else from using a gas mower. This seems oddly similar to when large technology companies buy emissions credits in order to support renewable energy innovation as well as block other companies from polluting past their allocation.

And that’s my ramble for today. Now, how do we start setting financial incentives to reduce the number of vulnerable applications that are released to the public?