What the Frack?

You may have heard about it on the news recently: Fracking. The long term for it is Hydraulic Fracturing. Its a process by which millions of gallons of chemicals and water are pumped deep into gas-containing shale rock to fracture it and let the gas seep to the surface for collection. Its the biggest boon to the Natural Gas industry in decades, and is helping to drive down energy prices across the USA, which happens to be one of the largest sources of natural gas energy in the world. Heres a neat diagram showing how fracking works

On the surface, the process seems innovative and safe, but deep below the ground the chemicals, such as Methanol, are seeping into water tables and contaminating important aquifers in the northeast and Rocky Mountain west states, where the largest reserves of natural gas lie. Many gas companies claim the water stays deep underground, but natural capillary forces move the chemicals and contaminated water upward into looser surface layers where aquifers lie. Such chemicals are often highly poisonous and toxic to both the environment and to us Humans. These normally shouldn't be used in these instances, but thanks to a loophole in an energy bill passed by the Bush Administration and hurried through congress by Dick Cheney and Halliburton, these chemicals are not monitored by the E.P.A. and thus can be used without regulation, polluting the environment without any liability to the natural gas companies.

To make matters worse, since the recession hit 3 years ago, gas companies have been baiting landowners with high-paying contracts to use their land for fracking. A one-time installation of a fracking well can pay off in a short amount of time to the company while leaving the landowner with slowly degrading well water and hazardous chemicals. In the popular documentary Gasland, one homeowner in Pennsylvania is able to light his faucet tap water on fire simply due to the high concentration of gas and methanol seeping into his wellwater. Its disgusting, and people don't yet know how hazardous fracking really is. We urgently need to spread awareness of this problem and combat this situation before it gets out of hand and we're left with poisoned citizens and degraded watersheds across the U.S., simply because we wanted cheap gas.

The New Generation of Space Exploration

You may have heard recently that SpaceX has unveiled their latest rocket, the Falcon Heavy, to much praise by the press. It's brand-spanking-new thruster technology and payload ability makes it by far the cheapest orbital transport craft yet to be made. At a staggering $1,000 per pound to lift into orbit, it is changing the young game of commercialized space exploration. If the average human weighs 150 pounds, then it would only cost $150,000 to send a man to space, compared to the millions for NASA and other space missions. This may seem like a lot of money to the layman, but in space terms, its dirt cheap. This means that the new Falcon Heavy rocket can carry huge payloads; twice as much as the closest competitor the Delta IV heavy, for a third of its price. Good news for the mega-rich who hope to one day sail to the International Space Station for the price of a well-optioned Porsche 911. Heres the rocket up close:

All this excitement brings me to some good news: Companies like SpaceX and Virgin galactic represent the first examples of sustainable business dealing with space travel, and now that such corporations are taking it upon themselves to push the limits of space travel, this has changed the economy of space. Along with Obama's plan to take money away from traveling to the moon, and allowing private business to develop orbital space stations and transport vehicles, NASA now has more room in their budget to refresh aging technology, improve the space infrastructure, develop new technologies for Solar Power to provide energy to space stations, and invent newer, more efficient means of moving our society into space and opening up a new frontier. When the news came down that we weren't going back to the moon, it was taken as a bad omen, but more and more we are realizing that it is not just closing a door to the moon, but opening another door to the rest of the Universe.

Source

A New Ozone Hole over the Arctic?

Yes, but also no.

Recently the World Meteorological Organization sent out a warning to Scandanavian countries, warning of increased UV exposure. This is due to a recent discovery of a shallow ozone layer hole over the North Sea and Scandanavia. The ozone hole is as a result of the unusually cold winter, which caused a very cold stable high pressure to form over Scandanavia, sending frigid air into europe, and stabilizing the stratosphere, preventing ozone from forming in the typically unstable environment found in the ozone layer. Long story short: The cold winter in europe has led to a minor ozone hole. Its nowhere near the strength or size of the antarctic ozone hole, but then again, nobody really lives in the Antarctic, while tens of millions live in Scandanavia, Great Britain, and the rest of northern Europe. It's important to be aware of this, especially with the looming threat of climate change.

One of the biggest threats of climate change isn't just increased temepratures, but increased volatility in the atmosphere. This means that much colder-than-normal winters are quite possible, and may already be happening. It'll be another decade before we can be sure of this, but if the pattern of cold winters continues over northern Europe, we may be looking at an ozone issue far greater than the Antarctic ozone hole.

There is good news though! The hole is minor, and highly anomalous, and with spring rapidly approaching, the stratosphere is once again mixing up and the hole is dissipating, so don't worry; though it is still something to watch in the coming years.

Source

Landslides in California Should Serve as a Warning

We may be pushing the limits of how we develop the land. It seems to be that land developers may be getting too greedy and neglecting the dangers of shaping the land to meet their desires for building houses and collecting money from homeowners. Recently in Hercules, CA on the east side of the SF Bay, 8 homes have been condemned due to a waterlogged hill sliding down and destroying retaining walls abutting the properties. We see this all too often: Homes in California, built against steep hillsides, taken down and demolished after the rainy season slickens the soil and causes land and mudslides. Who can't recall seeing pictures on the news of multi-million dollar hoems in Malibu falling into the sea, and landslides covering hillside developments?

Link to SFGate Article

I think its time we take a look at how little we care about the land we are building on and using, and be mindful of where we develop. Building homes should be about the environment you are entering, not how much money a young professional couple is willing to plunk down in turn for a cookie cutter box on a steep hillside. Maybe we should look at more responsible, denser development. Clean, green apartment buildings that use less energy per square foot than massive homes that suck up Air Conditioning expenses every single day. Look at the city of Vancouver: often ranked in the top 5 best cities to live in, most of its residents live in high-rise apartment buildings with gleaming blue reflective glass, passive heating systems, and short, simple commutes.

Where would you rather live?

It's become so bad in the states that now China, who is fast on track to overtake the US in economic development, is building massive American-style subdevelopments made of multi-thousand square foot homes that suck up almost as much energy as American homes. We shouldnt be leading by this example. I say we should make an effort to ditch the suburban sprawl and create a more energy-efficient city-based society. That way, we can return the once sprawling farmland back to its original status, and bring people closer together, cut down on driving, increase productivity, and create a better energy society. Thats what i want.

The End of Nuclear Power?

I really hope that those in charge of our energy supply make the right decision, and STAY with nuclear power. Ever since the catastrophe at the Fukishima-Dai Ichi plant in Japan, the main focus of news coverage has been how dangerous nuclear power can be. However, I think we should look at this differently. This plant has 6 very large nuclear reactors, housed in a facility that is over 40 years old, on the coast with little protection, and has withstood a THIRTY FOOT tsunami that has knocked out all 3 backup power supplies. Even through all of this, nobody has died from radiation sickness, and the highest levels of radiation measured outside the evacuated zone has been minor fractions below the federal limit for caution, let alone danger. Think about it this way: if you had a Coal Power Plant hit by such a force of water, you would wash thousands of tons of coal, tillings, and hazardous chemicals into the water supply, causing untold amounts of sickness and environmental damage. The same goes for Oil. Its almost as if we've forgotten about the Deepwater Horizon spill last year: a loose security door caused a massive explosion and the release of over a hundred million gallons of oil, covering beaches and leaving behind environmental damage that still hasn't been fully accounted for. I think we should do the right thing and choose the safer option for energy, one that emits zero greenhouse gases, provides cheap and long-lasting energy, and becomes safer every day with research.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703576204576226524171107988.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

New video from the Japanese Tsunami

Its been over 2 weeks since the horrific event, and now that we are all wrapped up around the nuclear pseudo-disaster (no radiation deaths or sicknesses reported yet), we seem to be forgetting the real disaster that has struck Japan: The tsunami. new video released today shows an overhead view as water rushes in through a river and pours into a once-vibrant coastal city. As the user who posted the video puts it: "Its the most daunting Tsunami vid I've seen", and I agree with him. All we can hope is that enough people evacuated or got to high ground before this hit. keep your thoughts with the people of Japan until they can recover and rebuild.