ApocaDocuments (9) for the "Recovery" scenario from this week
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Sun, Sep 19, 2010
from Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies:
Could precisely engineered nanoparticles provide a novel geoengineering tool?
In a nutshell, David's idea is to engineer discs around 10 micrometers across and 50 nanometers thick, with a core of aluminum, a top layer of aluminum oxide, and a bottom layer of barium titanate. Injected high enough into the atmosphere (so Brownian motion didn't muck things up) the discs should align with the lighter aluminum/aluminum oxide side facing up, and the heavier barium titanate side facing down. This is important, because the way these two surfaces interact with air molecules when the particles heat up - as they would do in sunlight - means that there would be a net force pushing the discs up (photophoresis). In effect, the particles would levitate to a stable position in the atmosphere, while keeping their shiny side to the sun - thus reflecting sunlight away from the earth (or increasing albedo).... The neat thing of course is that this is a concept that can be tested reasonably easily in the lab, using simulated atmospheres and prototype particles. And with advances in materials manufacturing in recent years, it shouldn't be too hard to make small batches of the discs.... In his paper, David estimates that around 10 billion kg of these nano-discs would be needed. That's a lot - but probably economically viable with large-scale investment in production and if the benefits were deemed important enough (David runs the figures assuming the cost of manufacture is less than 1 percent the cost of abating CO2 emissions, and arrives at a cost of less than $60/kg). ...
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Only $600,000,000,000 dollars, and I can still run my lights all night? Let's do it!
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Fri, Sep 17, 2010
from NASA, via HuffingtonPost:
Ozone Hole Has Stopped Growing, Should Be Restored By Mid Century According To UN Scientists
September 16 marks the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer, commemorated as the anniversary of that day in 1987 when the Montreal Protocol was signed, an international treaty created to limit and eventually ban CFCs and other substances that were discovered to have been depleting our ozone. And this year certainly brings cause for celebration.
In the "Scientific Assessment of Ozone Depletion 2010" report, UN scientists announced that the ozone layer in the upper atmosphere has ceased diminishing, attesting to the success of the Montreal Protocol. The scientists say the area of the ozone that has thinned out should largely be restored by mid century, AFP reports. ...
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It's as if... as if the world could get together to solve a common problem, in spite of cries from industry of economic hardship. What's up with that?
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Fri, Sep 17, 2010
from Low Tech Magazine:
Low-Tech Magazine
Low-tech Magazine refuses to assume that every problem has a high-tech solution. A simple, sensible, but nevertheless controversial message; high-tech has become the idol of our society.... The Museum of Old Techniques: For almost every electronic device or oil driven machine there used to be a low-tech alternative that was powered by human muscles, water or wind..... Wind powered factories: The Netherlands had 5 times more windmills in 1850 than it has wind turbines today. One of the most spectacular developments of industrial wind power technology occurred in the Zaan district, a region situated just above Amsterdam in the Netherlands. ...
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Isn't it more efficient to burn coal to make steam to turn turbines to power my electric scissors?
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Fri, Sep 17, 2010
from Guardian:
Carbon-absorbent foam triumphs at 2010 Earth Awards
An artificial foam inspired by the meringue-like nest of a South American frog has won the 2010 Earth Awards. The foam, which could help to tackle climate change, soaks up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and generates sugars that can be converted into biofuel.
The Earth Awards were set up in 2007 to bring together green start-ups strapped for cash with investors. Between March and May, over 500 designs were submitted to a panel of judges that included Richard Branson, Jane Goodall, David de Rothschild and Diane von Furstenberg.... The foam, which will be installed in the flues of coal-burning power plants, captures carbon dioxide and locks it away as sugar before it has a chance to enter the atmosphere and contribute to climate change. Due to its frothy structure, the foam can be up to five times more efficient than plants at converting carbon dioxide into sugar.... The secret to the foam's success is a protein that the Tungara frog uses as scaffolding in its foamy nests. "I read about a protein that the frog uses that allows bubbles to form in the nest, but doesn't destroy the lipid membranes of the eggs that the females lay in the foam, and realised that it was perfect for our own foam." ...
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See? Proof that CleanCoal™ is a reality! Or at least, just around the corner!
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Thu, Sep 16, 2010
from CWRU, via EurekAlert:
Case Western Reserve researcher discovers new 'anti-pathogenic' drugs to treat MRSA
Menachem Shoham, PhD ... has identified new anti-pathogenic drugs that, without killing the bacteria, render Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) harmless by preventing the production of toxins that cause disease.... Dr. Shoham identified a bacterial protein, known as AgrA, as the key molecule responsible for the release of toxins. AgrA, however, needs to be activated to induce toxin production. His goal was to block the activation of AgrA with a drug, thus preventing the cascade of toxin release into the blood that can lead to serious infections throughout the body.... "It is possible to inhibit virulence of MRSA without killing the bacteria," continued Dr. Shoham. "Such anti-pathogenic drugs may be used for prophylaxis or therapy by themselves or in combination with an antibiotic." ...
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Excellent! So it's only Mostly Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus!
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Thu, Sep 16, 2010
from Guardian:
An alternative to the new wave of ecofascism
It is time to acknowledge that mainstream environmentalism has failed to prevent climate catastrophe. Its refusal to call for an immediate consumption reduction has backfired and its demise has opened the way for a wave of fascist environmentalists who reject democratic freedom.
One well-known example of the authoritarian turn in environmentalism is James Lovelock, the first scientist to discover the presence of ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons in the atmosphere. Earlier this year he told the Guardian that democracies are incapable of adequately addressing climate change. "I have a feeling," Lovelock said, "that climate change may be an issue as severe as a war. It may be necessary to put democracy on hold for a while." His words may be disturbing, but other ecologists have gone much further. Take for example Pentti Linkola, a Finnish fisherman and ecological philosopher. Whereas Lovelock puts his faith in advanced technology, Linkola proposes a turn to fascistic primitivism. Their only point of agreement is on the need to suspend democracy.... Humanity can avert climate catastrophe without accepting ecological tyranny. However, this will take an immediate, drastic reduction of our consumption. ... Only by silencing the consumerist forces will both climate catastrophe and ecological tyranny be averted. Yes, western consumption will be substantially reduced. But it will be done voluntarily and joyously. ...
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I bet Wall Street gets behind this plan!
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Tue, Sep 14, 2010
from Huffington Post:
Scientists Find Drugs That May Fight White Nose Syndrome
Scientists may have found some ways to help the nation's bats, which are being wiped out by a novel fungal disease.
Lab tests show that several drugs can fight the germ and that some antiseptics might help decontaminate areas where bats live or the shoes and hands of people who visit them, researchers reported at an infectious-diseases conference Sunday.
"Both of those are critical elements. The decontamination is in my mind the most immediate need," because people may be helping to spread the disease, called white-nose syndrome, said Jeremy Coleman, who heads the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's response to the problem.... One type, the little brown bat, "was the most common bat in the Northeast and typically the most common bat in the nation, and they've been just completely decimated," Coleman said. In some areas, "we're down to 3 percent of the original population."... Trying to handle surviving bats for treatment may stress them more than the disease does. And bats' habitats have other important plant and animal life that could be harmed by spraying antiseptics, Coleman said.
"You don't want to go in and bomb a cave with an antifungal because you could be impacting other species," he said. ...
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Maybe there's light at the end of the bat-tunnel.
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Mon, Sep 13, 2010
from Guardian:
Solar panels you can install with a clear conscience
Toxic pollution and links to the arms trade - not all solar panel suppliers are ethically sound. Simon Birch offers some consumer guidance. With the government offering to pay you - and some companies even offering to fit them for free - you may be considering installing solar photovoltaic panels on your roof. But if you are, would you really want to buy one from a company that's been responsible for one of the biggest recent environmental cock-ups on the planet or one that's up to its neck in the arms trade?
No of course you wouldn't. To help shoppers navigate this particular ethical-minefield in its latest buyers' guide, Ethical Consumer magazine has identified those solar-power panels that you can stick on your roof with a clean conscience and those that you may just want to leave on the shelf.
The best buys are GB-Sol, Solarcentury, SolarWorld and Yingli Solar. ...
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I just go with whatever's cheapest.
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Mon, Sep 13, 2010
from Carnegie Institution via ScienceDaily:
Carbon Mapping Breakthrough
By integrating satellite mapping, airborne-laser technology, and ground-based plot surveys, scientists from the Carnegie Institution's Department of Global Ecology, with colleagues from the World Wildlife Fund and in coordination with the Peruvian Ministry of the Environment (MINAM), have revealed the first high-resolution maps of carbon locked up in tropical forest vegetation and emitted by land-use practices. These new maps pave the way for accurate monitoring of carbon storage and emissions for the proposed United Nations initiative on Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD). ...
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How wonderful that we can actually watch the horror unfold!
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