Wind Power

The recent blogging about the Gulf oil leak (both here, and around the web) reminded me of this great commercial for alternative energy.

Double Jeopardy?

The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is an environmental disaster, and cleaning it up takes more than simply plugging a leak and mopping it up. Photo galleries try to capture the extent and degree of the damage. But what of the hundreds of thousands of gallons of chemicals being dumped into the Gulf as a chaser? The New York Times has a piece about this necessary evil.

Even in the best cases, dispersants are applied in what might be termed a lose-lose strategy. Scientists make the calculation that it is better to have the ocean filled with low concentrations of the dispersant chemicals — which are in themselves mild to moderate poisons — than to have dense oil on the surface or washing up onshore, places where it is most likely to harm wildlife.

Companies are protective of their dispersant formulas, and in some cases these chemicals have had their approval pulled in other countries. Speakeasy Science has some details on a few of the chemicals in use, based on MSDS information. Right now, this is preferable to a vast, suffocating oil slick but it will be important to continue to monitor the area long after the clean-up is complete. As the NYT describes it, this is "one of the largest and most aggressive experiments with chemical dispersants in the history of the country, and perhaps the world."

Drill Baby, Drill

This comes from the blog Fake Science ("For when the facts are too confusing") which is full of 'educational' posters like this one, some of which are quite funny. They seem to have missed Step 3.5 though: wring the oil out of waterfowl and other marine life.

Eco-labels

I have come to the realization a while ago that while my vote is important, how I vote with my money has more impact on how the world works. Money makes the world go around. I therefore try to buy products with less environmental impact. This is not always easy. I admit that I just look around for green coloured packaging, then quickly look for some key words, if they are there the product is in my grocery cart.
I have noticed that there are way too many eco-labels, making comparison between different environmentally conscious products difficult. [Unfortunately it doesn't occur that often that there is a selection of different brands making claims of environmental responsibility for the same product. Usually a particular store will stock only one environmental responsibility marketed product for a particular item.] There are so many eco-labels, in fact, that there is a searchable database of eco-labels here, and a list of all the north american eco-labels here. I guess getting into the certification racket is a good business or something. There are some pretty obscure and small time certification labels. Why does something have to just be salmon safe, for example? Shouldn't products just be environmentally responsible in general?
In any case, I have found that one of the most ubiquitious and apparently respected North American eco-label is EcoLogo, which is celebrating it's 20th year in 2008. It was started by the Candian Federal Government in 1988. Look for it.

Recycling Myths Debunked

Ran across this quick read about the realities of recycling on digg.com. Bottom line is that recycling makes more sense than ever. Although I have read that the 'economic crisis' has recently caused a drastic reduction in demand for recyclable waste.

Carbon Capture in Canada

From the province that brought you the dirtiest fuel ever, oil from the tar sands, comes a University of Calgary made solution. They have made a carbon capture device that sounds pretty good from what I've read (and hardly understand). Apparently 1 square meter of scrubber removes the equivalent of carbon dioxide produced by one person.
If you want to check the specs of this beast be sure to check out the discovery website as they have an interactive website containing some details on various aspects of the "Tower".
I am really glad to see Alberta investing in some of these technologies, hopefully with the idea that they can develop some in house solutions to some big problems that they are a major part of.

Bike commuters CO2 production

I heard recently someone declare, on CBC radios 'crosscountry checkup' (mp3 of that program on the proposed carbon tax), that a meat eating bicycle commuter produces more carbon emissions than a vegetarian SUV commuter. Turns out its not quite true according to this calculation investigating the exact same claim. However it is quite shocking how energy intensive a omnivorous diet actually is in this day of industrialized agriculture. Basically a full vegan diet saves about 1.5 tonnes of carbon emissions, while an SUV can produce over 3 tonnes of carbon emissions. So it's actually close enough that it depends on how long your commute actually is. I guess this leaves the question, could you do both? Probably not since vegetarians are so notoriously physically weak. I have yet to see one on UFC.
BTW check out how great a site New Zealand has for consumer information about choosing a good vehicle with safety, fuel economy and emissions as criteria. Compare this to the only equivalent Canadian site I could find.

OMG!!! Canadians SERIOUSLY Worried About High Gas Prices!!!

Yup that's right, according to a Globe and Mail survey, the high price of gas is now Canadian's number one concern. Last year's top issue, the environment ("like OMG, Al Gore figured out that New Orleans is sinking because of global warming!!!"), has been relegated to third place. According to Gloria Galloway this is like total bad news for the Liberal's carbon tax proposal:

"This shift could make it more difficult for Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion to sell the carbon-tax plan he unveiled last week, a complex scheme to cut greenhouse-gas emissions that will be the cornerstone of his party's platform in the next election."

What might be useful here is if people divert their attention away from gas price signs and political documentaries for a second and do some thinking. Hmmmm....maybe these issues are somehow linked? Maybe the larger issue is economic dependence on burning fossil fuels? Hey look - every time we use a litre, there's a litre less left in the world!!! And hey, pollutants are released at the EXACT SAME TIME!!!

Politicians - what Canadians need is a visionary plan that engineers us an escape from the sinking ship that is the fossil fuel economy and builds us a new one. Neither pansy-ass environmentalist appeasement measures nor short-term gasoline price-fixing measures are going to cut it.

Urban Birdwatching

The Peregrine Falcon is often called the fastest animal on earth, reaching speeds of up to 320 km/h during an aerial dive. It is also an example of successful conservation efforts. Widespread use of DDT severely affected the Peregrine population, putting the bird on the endangered species list. The chemical altered adult breeding behaviour, and its accumulation in bird tissues led to inadequate calcium and more fragile eggs. In the 70s, a DDT ban and conservation programs helped the bird make a comeback and in 1999 it was removed from the endangered species list. Today it enjoys 'least concern' status.

One doesn't have to go far to see the Peregrine Falcon in the wild. While historically they built their nests on cliffs in coastal areas, they've also adapted to life in the big city. Replacing the cliffside with a highrise and with an ample pigeon population to feast on, the falcon is also at home in an urban setting. Here in Ottawa, a downtown nest can be found at the Crowne Plaza Hotel (Lyon Street) where they are monitored by the Ottawa Field-Naturalists club and the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources. Two new chicks were hatched there earlier this month.

Paper recycling

I have recently heard someone say that recycled paper produces just as much environmental issues as virgin paper products. I'm sure that this isn't a surprise but I haven't found much to support that. I did find a relatively decent summary of the environmental impact of recycled paper vs virgin paper. While its clear that recycled paper is still not environmentally neutral it leaves less impact that cutting down more trees. It is however still more expensive. So if more paper is recycled by consumers this brings down the material cost even more for recycled paper making it more competitive.
I did find a wikipedia entry on recycling criticism but the arguments seem pretty weak and not as well referenced.

Drinking the Rideau

I live in a city that, like many cities, has a river running through it. A quick informal poll I conducted suggested that no one would drink water from the Rideau River in Ottawa Ontario. This is disturbing to me especially since I think of Canada as having great fresh water resources. It also just pisses me off that it is acceptable and expected that the water is unsuitable to drink. What exactly is wrong with Rideau water? It is the drinking water to the community of Smith Falls, but they are quite a bit more upstream. All municipalities along the Rideau dispose of treated waste water into the Rideau. However the health of the river must not be that bad because I fish there and catch many bass and I've heard that there are walleye. Also I have seen two large snapping turtles in the Rideau suggesting that even long lived animals aren't dying of toxic pollutants. The Rideau Valley Conservation Authority has a great website explaining water quality and legal aspects about the river. They also have available their sampling data that you can check out with the Watershed Information System. It is a pretty amazing source of information and it gives you water quality data for specific sampling spots along the river. Unfortunately they don't sample within the city of Ottawa and the data is just that, data with no explanation of significance. Fortunately the Rideau Roundtable, a non-profit group of enviromentalists, provides some great data about the river that is more easily digested. Basically the only thing that might be a problem is periodic high levels of E.coli, probably a consequence of waste water but that is not addressed. Low metals, lower phosphorus than ever before since data has been recorded. There are some invasive species but nothing that harmful. Also nitrates are rising slightly but apparently still at acceptable levels.Next time I'm fishing I'm going to drink a cup of it. I'll report back with any symptoms.

New Canadian Carbon Legislation Pays off for Oil Tycoons

Talk about jumping on a business opportunity. Only days after the federal government announced its latest plan for climate change, which stipulates 18% reductions in industrial CO2 production by 2010 and the payment of carbon taxes, Norway's Statoil today bought itself $2.2 billion worth of the Canadian oil sands. Interestingly, Statoil leads the world in carbon sequestration technology, and has previous experience in dealing on carbon markets through the EU emission trading scheme. The Norewegian state-owned oil company is one of the fastest growing in the world. Calgary oil tycoon and world's 382nd richest man, Clayton Riddell, (pictured above) and his company Paramount Resources Ltd. will make nearly $1 billion off this deal. Now that's what I call timing the market.