Archive for January, 2009
« Previous Entries Next Entries »Water Jobs Bleg
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
Okay folks, I need some help here…
I get emails from students, bankers, professionals, et al. who are seeking jobs in the water industry.
Many of them make the perfectly valid point that “water” is becoming more important. Many of them assume that jobs should surface in proportion to this increasing importance, but many [...]
Severn tidal power shortlist contains two lagoon proposals
Submitted by The Low Carbon Kid Blog
Up to 5% of UK electricity could be generated
Both controversial barrages and innovative tidal lagoons favoured by conservationists have made it onto the shortlist of schemes to generate electricity in the Severn estuary. If the largest were to go ahead, it could produce enough electricity to supply all of [...]
“5,000 to 7,000 more offshore wind turbines” - report
Submitted by The Low Carbon Kid Blog
Environmental study to inform location of future offshore energy developments
A new Government study of the UK’s shores has recommended that between 5,000 to 7,000 more offshore wind turbines could be installed. This would be enough to power the equivalent of almost all the homes in the UK (assuming 3.6MW [...]
Lagosian bottle opener
Submitted by everydaytrash
Ok kids, I’m back from Nigeria. The most everydaytrash-worthy item I came across while on the road in ever-resourceful Africa? This handy bottle opener pounded out of a piece of Aluminum tubing that once served to line the windows of a nearby building.
Pounded aluminum bottle opener
Neighborhood building
Bottle opener in action
Just look at all [...]
Border Issues
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
I have lamented the failure to integrate planning for ecological areas that cross the US/Mexican border (e.g., the Colorado River/Delta, Salton Sea and tires (!)), but other areas are also in trouble.
CC sent me some information on the water problems at the El Paso/Ciudad Juárez border. Basically, they share an aquifer and [...]
ZanAqua
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
MC sent me a link to ZanAqua, a start-up that’s selling a small distiller (20gal/hr) that uses efficient technology to “produce” clean water from dirty water at a cost of about $1,300/AF.
There are two caveats to this technology:
You need a source of water — potentially gray water or other industrial effluent.
You need [...]
Missing the Point
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
This story (via DW) shows how the right diagnosis can come with the wrong treatment:
The world is in danger of running out of “sustainably managed water”, according to Peter Gleick, the president of the Pacific Institute and a leading authority on global freshwater resources.
[snip]
A key element to tackling the crisis, say experts, [...]
What Manpower Shortage?
Submitted by R-Squared Energy Blog
Much has been made of the manpower shortage in the oil industry. I have been interviewed about it, I have written about it, and I saw it first hand when I was working for ConocoPhillips in Aberdeen, Scotland. Recruiting people was very difficult, and contractors - especially process engineers - were [...]
Amazing Ethanol Lawsuit Against Oil Companies
Submitted by R-Squared Energy Blog
I did a double-take when I saw this headline:
Ethanol Lawsuit Proceeds against Oil Companies
It turns out that oil companies - forced to use ethanol in gasoline despite many protests - are now being sued because ethanol blends can corrode fiberglass tanks in boats.
NAPLES, Fla. — A Florida lawsuit against six oil [...]
i(am not my)Phone
Submitted by PlasticLess.com Blog
A lot of the suggestions that I have made about reducing plastic consumption involve going back to older versions of stuff. I suggested cast iron frying pans instead of Teflon. I suggested a metal safety razor instead of the latest penultimate multi-blade disposable razor. I am not going to suggest that we [...]
Weekend Discussion: River Restoration
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
NOTE: This post will stay here until Sunday night. Posts for Saturday and Sunday morning go below this post.
Dear Aguanauts,
Discussion posts allow you to discuss your beliefs on a topic — to share your understanding, experience and opinions — without worrying about what’s right or what others think. (Check out last week’s [...]
Fun Times Ahead
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
I cannot say how happy this Executive Order makes me:
MEMORANDUM FOR THE HEADS OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES
SUBJECT: Freedom of Information Act
A democracy requires accountability, and accountability requires transparency. As Justice Louis Brandeis wrote, “sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants.” In our democracy, the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), [...]
Spas, Water and Life
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
A blogger sent me her post on spas:
I’m interested in developing community around spa and putting the water back into spa. The difference is that I’m talking about doing this on the basis of a set of values and view of sustainability that much of the spa world may have abandoned.
…In the [...]
Ethanol and Free Trade
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
Emmanuel over at IPE Zone [a great blog!] regrets that Obama is likely to continue the twin evils of a subsidy for corn ethanol and a tariff on “unfairly cheap” Brazilian sugar ethanol. A pity, since the best solution to two wrongs is to end both.
Bottom Line: I Hope that Obama will [...]
Let It Flow
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
via JN, we get the flipside of “wasting” water:
Rice Lake officials [are] asking residents to keep water running to prevent pipes from freezing.
The city has asked its 3,400 water customers to leave at least one faucet open with a small stream until further notice — a move that will waste an estimated [...]
British Climate Change Skeptics
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
…at the Institute of Economic Affairs have put out an 87 page booklet — “Climate Change Policy: Challenging the Activists” in which they question the conventional wisdom and the policies under consideration:
Certainly, the public pronouncements of politicians and the detailed central planning and regulations that they propose seem predicated upon the belief [...]
Something Completely Different
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
via JWT), we’ve got some nice footage with lakes and waterfalls….
wingsuit base jumping.
Bottom Line: Don’t try this at home
Rating 3.00 out of 5
[?]
More Different
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
Don’t watch this with the kids around…
Bottom Line: Although the French may be able to “increase supply” with this method, the rest of the world is not so lucky. We will have to settle for raising prices to reduce demand at/below supplies.
Rating 3.00 out of 5
[?]
Ethics and Water
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
Speaking of water managers out of control, Aquadoc mentions “ethics” in this WaterWired post:
Several years ago, I listened to a talk by a Federal scientist about climate change in the Southwest. After the talk, he was unusually candid. What really annoyed him was seeing Western governors trekking to DC, hats in hands, [...]
Where Did All the Water Go?
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
In response to my post on water billing, JWT sent this:
I note your water usage with interest. There are two of us living in a single story 2,000 square foot house. We have water saving everything, but beyond that, we don’t make any special effort to conserve water. We do have two [...]
The End of the Western Population Boom?
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
[Warning! Feisty post today. This Mississippi thing pisses me off!]
Phoenix is losing people from a slowing economy — not because of water shortages.
When will scarce water slow or reverse growth in dry places? I don’t think it ever will — mainly because there is so much slack in the system. Many crops [...]
Science!
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
“Plants do not make the powerful greenhouse gas methane, according to new research that contradicts a controversial finding made in 2006. Instead, plants appear to merely be passing gas, so to speak, originally made by soil microbes.”
More interesting is this report, which
analyzes the impact of growing four crops–corn, soy, wheat, and cotton, [...]
Shower Incentives
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
A reader who works at a utility sent me this letter [click to enlarge]:
The writer is anxious that clubs do more to conserve water because other members do not have the intrinsic desire to conserve that he has (the “20/80 rule“). But clubs may not want to ask members to conserve if [...]
Buying Olive Oil
Submitted by PlasticLess.com Blog
We love olive oil and we are lucky enough to live in region where it is made. In fact, much of Tunisia looks like a screen cap of the PC game Ceasar III, or more accurately a screen cap of what the game would look like after you let it run while [...]
Cafeteria Trays Drop Out of US Universities
Submitted by PlasticLess.com Blog
The elimination of trays at a number of university cafeterias was a green initiative, but it wasn’t about plastic. It was a simple idea that has been reducing food waste in several schools in recent months.
Some diners are upset, but most institutions are happy with the result. Students who are on full [...]
