<![CDATA[Grist - The Grist List]]> http://www.grist.org/kingdom/the-grist-list Grist Kingdom Feed en Copyright 2011-1999 Grist Thu, 24 Mar 2011 17:50:39 -0700 California going to sh*t—for green electricity http://feeds.grist.org/click.phdo?i=2bb6d153e9d099e6343f044389414e6d http://www.grist.org/article/2011-03-23-california-wants-to-turn-biosolids-into-green-electricity Thu, 24 Mar 2011 17:50:39 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/2011-03-23-california-wants-to-turn-biosolids-into-green-electricity by Todd Woody.

Recession-wracked California is truly going down the toilet.

For green energy, that is. In a gift to headline writers everywhere, the California Energy Commission on Wednesday handed out nearly $1 million to fund an experimental project to convert what it politely refers to as “biosolids” into electricity. In other words, sh*t.

Okay, we’ll suppress our inner 12-year-old boy now. This is serious sh*t. No, really, we’ll stop.

Biosolids are a nasty pollution problem; beyond human waste, they can also include a sludge of heavy metals and other toxins left over from wastewater treatment. While in some cases biosolids can be used as fertilizer for crops, they most often have to be disposed of in landfills.

“Existing options for using biosolids are limited (mainly land application and alternative daily cover in landfills) and face increasing environmental challenges that could eliminate those options,” the energy commission noted. “Current disposal practices often involve hauling biosolids long distances, which consumes transportation fuels, increases greenhouse gas emissions, and increases ratepayers’ costs for wastewater treatment.”

California produced 661,000 dry metric tons of biosolids in 2009, according to the energy commission. Ick.

Thus this new move to see if renewable energy can be spun from dross. The $999,924 (guess the state couldn’t cough up another $76 to make it an even million) allocated to the Delta Diablo Sanitation District in Northern California will help pay for a $4.7 million research project.

A Bay Area company called Intellergy will use “steam/carbon dioxide reforming” technology to vaporize liquid residues and gasify the organic solid portion of biosolids in an airlock chamber. The company will pump in steam and carbon dioxide to create a hydrogen-rich gas that could be used in fuel cells to generate electricity.

The process remains unproven, but if it works it could supply the growing number of Bloom Energy fuel cells being installed by Fortune 500 companies, particularly on the campuses of Silicon Valley tech giants like Google and Adobe.

“California continues to make significant strides in bioenergy research,” James Boyd, vice chair of the energy commission, said in a statement. “By studying how to use biosolids more effectively, California will generate energy from previously untapped waste streams and reduce the volume going into our state’s growing landfills.”

Related Links:

Food Studies: future terroir

Jerry Brown wishes we could treat clean energy like we treat stuffed lions

Could California Save 30 Percent or More on Solar Power?



]]> by Todd Woody.

Recession-wracked California is truly going down the toilet.

For green energy, that is. In a gift to headline writers everywhere, the California Energy Commission on Wednesday handed out nearly $1 million to fund an experimental project to convert what it politely refers to as “biosolids” into electricity. In other words, sh*t.

Okay, we’ll suppress our inner 12-year-old boy now. This is serious sh*t. No, really, we’ll stop.

Biosolids are a nasty pollution problem; beyond human waste, they can also include a sludge of heavy metals and other toxins left over from wastewater treatment. While in some cases biosolids can be used as fertilizer for crops, they most often have to be disposed of in landfills.

“Existing options for using biosolids are limited (mainly land application and alternative daily cover in landfills) and face increasing environmental challenges that could eliminate those options,” the energy commission noted. “Current disposal practices often involve hauling biosolids long distances, which consumes transportation fuels, increases greenhouse gas emissions, and increases ratepayers’ costs for wastewater treatment.”

California produced 661,000 dry metric tons of biosolids in 2009, according to the energy commission. Ick.

Thus this new move to see if renewable energy can be spun from dross. The $999,924 (guess the state couldn’t cough up another $76 to make it an even million) allocated to the Delta Diablo Sanitation District in Northern California will help pay for a $4.7 million research project.

A Bay Area company called Intellergy will use “steam/carbon dioxide reforming” technology to vaporize liquid residues and gasify the organic solid portion of biosolids in an airlock chamber. The company will pump in steam and carbon dioxide to create a hydrogen-rich gas that could be used in fuel cells to generate electricity.

The process remains unproven, but if it works it could supply the growing number of Bloom Energy fuel cells being installed by Fortune 500 companies, particularly on the campuses of Silicon Valley tech giants like Google and Adobe.

“California continues to make significant strides in bioenergy research,” James Boyd, vice chair of the energy commission, said in a statement. “By studying how to use biosolids more effectively, California will generate energy from previously untapped waste streams and reduce the volume going into our state’s growing landfills.”

Related Links:

Food Studies: future terroir

Jerry Brown wishes we could treat clean energy like we treat stuffed lions

Could California Save 30 Percent or More on Solar Power?



]]> New York’s bike lanes are ‘homegrown terrorism,’ say red-faced opponents http://feeds.grist.org/click.phdo?i=37ed05b0a06e84b66ad5cafc8e5062c2 http://www.grist.org/biking/2011-03-21-new-yorks-bike-lanes-are-homegrown-terrorism-say-red-faced-oppon Mon, 21 Mar 2011 14:54:10 -0700 http://www.grist.org/biking/2011-03-21-new-yorks-bike-lanes-are-homegrown-terrorism-say-red-faced-oppon by Jess Zimmerman.

“Share the Road” has one potential fatal flaw: It involves sharing, which a lot of purported adults haven’t really mastered. Matthew Shaer’s exhaustive history of the NYC bike lane struggle, in this week’s New York magazine, shows just how much people have to mature before a community—even Brooklyn—can become truly bike-friendly. Step one: Stop calling bike lanes “homegrown terrorism.”

Basically, the pro side says that bike lanes have increased the number of people who bike to work, decreased bike accidents, and calmed down traffic. The con side says that safer streets are slower streets, lane usage and safety numbers are lies, bikers are dangerous jerks sometimes and holier-than-thou always, and… well, this:

“The anarchy that has been allowed to prevail is astonishing. According to butterfly theory, according to chaos theory, I am sure that the level of emotional and psychological damage wrought by the bicycle far exceeds the damage done by cars.” And then [reformed bike shop owner Jack] Brown goes there: “It is homegrown terrorism. The cumulative effect is equivalent to what happened on 9/11.”

The rhetoric is high on both sides—or at least it’s perceived that way. “[The cyclists] think that we’re a bunch of old, crotchety rich people that don’t understand that they deserve to have a bike lane on our street,” says an anti-bike lane activist. And according to Shaer in New York, views of the anti-lane Post can be summed up thus: “[T]he bike-lane rollout [is] an invasion of socialist-leaning, Eurocentric, limp-wristed Lycra warriors.”

Some of this criticism is well-founded: The part about bikers sometimes behaving like dicks on wheels is no exaggeration. (Still, are they any worse than people in cars?) But the terrorism thing is ... a little over the top. (Another opponent describes bike lanes as “monstrous.”)

In fact, bike lane haters seem to lean heavily on ad hominem in general, dismissing the actual data—bike lanes in NYC have led to a 16 percent reduction in bike accidents and increased the number of bike commuters —as lies and fudging.

Shaer sums up the problem:

The [Department of Transportation] can put in bike lanes by the thousands, but the more important transformation will be internal: We are going to have to learn to accept a decrease, however minuscule, in our individual freedoms. For bike lanes to really work, New Yorkers are going to have to learn to share.

With all the buttwad behavior on display, what are the chances? New York’s “Don’t Be a Jerk” bike etiquette campaign might help—but only if both sides take it to heart.

 

Related Links:

David Byrne, Janette Sadik-Khan on why New Yorkers fight over bike lanes

Designers launch high-fashion bicycle labels

True confessions of a bicycle scofflaw



]]> by Jess Zimmerman.

“Share the Road” has one potential fatal flaw: It involves sharing, which a lot of purported adults haven’t really mastered. Matthew Shaer’s exhaustive history of the NYC bike lane struggle, in this week’s New York magazine, shows just how much people have to mature before a community—even Brooklyn—can become truly bike-friendly. Step one: Stop calling bike lanes “homegrown terrorism.”

Basically, the pro side says that bike lanes have increased the number of people who bike to work, decreased bike accidents, and calmed down traffic. The con side says that safer streets are slower streets, lane usage and safety numbers are lies, bikers are dangerous jerks sometimes and holier-than-thou always, and… well, this:

“The anarchy that has been allowed to prevail is astonishing. According to butterfly theory, according to chaos theory, I am sure that the level of emotional and psychological damage wrought by the bicycle far exceeds the damage done by cars.” And then [reformed bike shop owner Jack] Brown goes there: “It is homegrown terrorism. The cumulative effect is equivalent to what happened on 9/11.”

The rhetoric is high on both sides—or at least it’s perceived that way. “[The cyclists] think that we’re a bunch of old, crotchety rich people that don’t understand that they deserve to have a bike lane on our street,” says an anti-bike lane activist. And according to Shaer in New York, views of the anti-lane Post can be summed up thus: “[T]he bike-lane rollout [is] an invasion of socialist-leaning, Eurocentric, limp-wristed Lycra warriors.”

Some of this criticism is well-founded: The part about bikers sometimes behaving like dicks on wheels is no exaggeration. (Still, are they any worse than people in cars?) But the terrorism thing is ... a little over the top. (Another opponent describes bike lanes as “monstrous.”)

In fact, bike lane haters seem to lean heavily on ad hominem in general, dismissing the actual data—bike lanes in NYC have led to a 16 percent reduction in bike accidents and increased the number of bike commuters —as lies and fudging.

Shaer sums up the problem:

The [Department of Transportation] can put in bike lanes by the thousands, but the more important transformation will be internal: We are going to have to learn to accept a decrease, however minuscule, in our individual freedoms. For bike lanes to really work, New Yorkers are going to have to learn to share.

With all the buttwad behavior on display, what are the chances? New York’s “Don’t Be a Jerk” bike etiquette campaign might help—but only if both sides take it to heart.

 

Related Links:

David Byrne, Janette Sadik-Khan on why New Yorkers fight over bike lanes

Designers launch high-fashion bicycle labels

True confessions of a bicycle scofflaw



]]> Awesome chart puts nuclear radiation in perspective http://feeds.grist.org/click.phdo?i=b9099020079e64fcf6f2b287979229f9 http://www.grist.org/article/2011-03-21-awesome-chart-puts-nuclear-radiation-in-perspective Mon, 21 Mar 2011 12:09:05 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/2011-03-21-awesome-chart-puts-nuclear-radiation-in-perspective by Jess Zimmerman.

(Click to embiggen.)

Hungry for some perspective on the nuclear situation? This mindblowing chart of relative radiation doses, made by XKCD‘s Randall Munroe, is basically a Total Perspective Vortex. It’s got something for everyone: Proponents of nuclear power can point to the difference between living near a nuke plant and living near a coal plant—or between living near a nuke plant and just living in Colorado. Opponents can point out just how devastating Chernobyl was, on a scale of one to super-dead. And people who are easily freaked out can use it as an excuse to move into a Faraday cage until the end of time.

Related Links:

Batteries are not the future of green cars, says smartest guy in room

Plug-in Prius not worth it, economically

Only bulldozers and bison can save Detroit now



]]> by Jess Zimmerman.

(Click to embiggen.)

Hungry for some perspective on the nuclear situation? This mindblowing chart of relative radiation doses, made by XKCD‘s Randall Munroe, is basically a Total Perspective Vortex. It’s got something for everyone: Proponents of nuclear power can point to the difference between living near a nuke plant and living near a coal plant—or between living near a nuke plant and just living in Colorado. Opponents can point out just how devastating Chernobyl was, on a scale of one to super-dead. And people who are easily freaked out can use it as an excuse to move into a Faraday cage until the end of time.

Related Links:

Batteries are not the future of green cars, says smartest guy in room

Plug-in Prius not worth it, economically

Only bulldozers and bison can save Detroit now



]]> World Wildlife Fund gets in bed with McDonald’s, gives birth to darling sustainability program http://feeds.grist.org/click.phdo?i=5c2756518dbf15e3d42fc1697aec877c http://www.grist.org/sustainable-food/2011-03-18-world-wildlife-fund-gets-in-bed-with-mcdonalds-gives-birth-to-da Mon, 21 Mar 2011 07:00:26 -0700 http://www.grist.org/sustainable-food/2011-03-18-world-wildlife-fund-gets-in-bed-with-mcdonalds-gives-birth-to-da by Christopher Mims.

McDonald’s is going to be less bad for the future of life on Earth, it promises. With the help of the World Wildlife Fund, the 32,000-store chain has pledged to do the following to improve its sourcing of raw materials:

Ban beef that comes from within the “Amazon Biome,” aka Brazil’s rainforest.
No more soy from the deforested remnants Amazon Rainforest, either. Soy is used in chicken feed. (The bad news is, we’ll still be eating chicken nuggets that were originally soybeans.)
“Coffee and wood fibers for product packaging will also be sourced from third-party certified, sustainable sources.”
Switch from regular palm oil (aka the blood of slaughtered baby orangutans) to certified sustainable palm oil. (But again, what’s the point if they’re still feeding you food doctored with PALM OIL?)

Read more:

“McDonald’s launches plan to green its menu,” The Independent

Related Links:

Critical List: Spilt oil tars New Zealand shores; climate change is a top issue for Europeans

Valdez redux? Scientists sound alarm over key Gulf fish species

Big Food exerts unhealthy influence on America’s nutritionists



]]> by Christopher Mims.

McDonald’s is going to be less bad for the future of life on Earth, it promises. With the help of the World Wildlife Fund, the 32,000-store chain has pledged to do the following to improve its sourcing of raw materials:

Ban beef that comes from within the “Amazon Biome,” aka Brazil’s rainforest.
No more soy from the deforested remnants Amazon Rainforest, either. Soy is used in chicken feed. (The bad news is, we’ll still be eating chicken nuggets that were originally soybeans.)
“Coffee and wood fibers for product packaging will also be sourced from third-party certified, sustainable sources.”
Switch from regular palm oil (aka the blood of slaughtered baby orangutans) to certified sustainable palm oil. (But again, what’s the point if they’re still feeding you food doctored with PALM OIL?)

Read more:

“McDonald’s launches plan to green its menu,” The Independent

Related Links:

Critical List: Spilt oil tars New Zealand shores; climate change is a top issue for Europeans

Valdez redux? Scientists sound alarm over key Gulf fish species

Big Food exerts unhealthy influence on America’s nutritionists



]]> Sorry, but the U.S. isn’t about to wean itself off of nuclear http://feeds.grist.org/click.phdo?i=af2936c4235304d423dce381fb8188ff http://www.grist.org/energy-policy/2011-03-18-sorry-but-the-u.s.-isnt-about-to-wean-itself-off-of-nuclear Sat, 19 Mar 2011 11:00:27 -0700 http://www.grist.org/energy-policy/2011-03-18-sorry-but-the-u.s.-isnt-about-to-wean-itself-off-of-nuclear by Christopher Mims.

The reality is, the United States doesn’t have the option to walk away from nuclear power, which supplies almost 9% of the nation’s energy and about 20% of its electricity. [...] Nuclear energy’s drawbacks are glaring at the moment, but it’s worth remembering that no major source of energy the United States is using comes without a heavy cost.

Read more:

“Nuclear, oil, gas or coal? Pick your energy poison,” USA Today   

Related Links:

Batteries are not the future of green cars, says smartest guy in room

Plug-in Prius not worth it, economically

Only bulldozers and bison can save Detroit now



]]> by Christopher Mims.

The reality is, the United States doesn’t have the option to walk away from nuclear power, which supplies almost 9% of the nation’s energy and about 20% of its electricity. [...] Nuclear energy’s drawbacks are glaring at the moment, but it’s worth remembering that no major source of energy the United States is using comes without a heavy cost.

Read more:

“Nuclear, oil, gas or coal? Pick your energy poison,” USA Today   

Related Links:

Batteries are not the future of green cars, says smartest guy in room

Plug-in Prius not worth it, economically

Only bulldozers and bison can save Detroit now



]]> How to deck your bike out like a Victorian gentleman http://feeds.grist.org/click.phdo?i=b76dc1810e68c77aac0d9a189d915786 http://www.grist.org/biking/2011-03-18-how-to-deck-your-bike-out-like-a-victorian-gentleman Fri, 18 Mar 2011 13:54:25 -0700 http://www.grist.org/biking/2011-03-18-how-to-deck-your-bike-out-like-a-victorian-gentleman by Jess Zimmerman.

You may not rock a velocipede, but that’s no reason why you shouldn’t be tooling around town looking like Sherlock Holmes. Step one: handsome vintagey leather bike accessories. Step 2: tweed helmet hat. Grow, purchase, or rent a handlebar mustache and get ready to pretend the last 200 years never happened.



Read more:

”Beautiful Leather Bike Accessories from Walnut Studiolo,” Core77

 

Related Links:

Batteries are not the future of green cars, says smartest guy in room

Plug-in Prius not worth it, economically

Only bulldozers and bison can save Detroit now



]]> by Jess Zimmerman.

You may not rock a velocipede, but that’s no reason why you shouldn’t be tooling around town looking like Sherlock Holmes. Step one: handsome vintagey leather bike accessories. Step 2: tweed helmet hat. Grow, purchase, or rent a handlebar mustache and get ready to pretend the last 200 years never happened.



Read more:

”Beautiful Leather Bike Accessories from Walnut Studiolo,” Core77

 

Related Links:

Batteries are not the future of green cars, says smartest guy in room

Plug-in Prius not worth it, economically

Only bulldozers and bison can save Detroit now



]]> How plastic could help save the environment http://feeds.grist.org/click.phdo?i=7a289a3358231390d4d3de107c9bf1d3 http://www.grist.org/green-living-tips/2011-03-18-how-plastic-could-help-save-the-environment Fri, 18 Mar 2011 13:08:35 -0700 http://www.grist.org/green-living-tips/2011-03-18-how-plastic-could-help-save-the-environment by Jess Zimmerman.

Plastic isn’t the problem, you are, says science writer Susan Freinkel. Freinkel argues that plastic could actually help save the environment—it takes less energy to produce than many other materials, it makes a lot of green tech possible, and it replaces materials that are “sustainable” only because they come from destroying animals or trees. We just have to start appreciating it and stop throwing it away.

The problem is our disposable culture, not what we’re disposing, says Freinkel. It’s not plastic’s fault that we compulsively toss out bags and bottles after a single use. That’s dumb, wasteful behavior no matter the material.

Read more:

”Plastic: Too Good to Throw Away,” The New York Times

Related Links:

Batteries are not the future of green cars, says smartest guy in room

Plug-in Prius not worth it, economically

Only bulldozers and bison can save Detroit now



]]> by Jess Zimmerman.

Plastic isn’t the problem, you are, says science writer Susan Freinkel. Freinkel argues that plastic could actually help save the environment—it takes less energy to produce than many other materials, it makes a lot of green tech possible, and it replaces materials that are “sustainable” only because they come from destroying animals or trees. We just have to start appreciating it and stop throwing it away.

The problem is our disposable culture, not what we’re disposing, says Freinkel. It’s not plastic’s fault that we compulsively toss out bags and bottles after a single use. That’s dumb, wasteful behavior no matter the material.

Read more:

”Plastic: Too Good to Throw Away,” The New York Times

Related Links:

Batteries are not the future of green cars, says smartest guy in room

Plug-in Prius not worth it, economically

Only bulldozers and bison can save Detroit now



]]> Is your area solar-ready? Check out this gorgeous map http://feeds.grist.org/click.phdo?i=1dd820041ccd6394d2af54143d85987a http://www.grist.org/solar-power/2011-03-18-is-your-area-solar-ready-check-out-this-gorgeous-map Fri, 18 Mar 2011 13:05:46 -0700 http://www.grist.org/solar-power/2011-03-18-is-your-area-solar-ready-check-out-this-gorgeous-map by Jess Zimmerman.

The places you would go to get some sun aren’t necessarily the places with the most potential for solar energy. The Southwest is a giant hotspot; Florida and Hawaii are only okay. Check out this map to find the solar potential where you live.

Read more:

”Good Sun,” Xcel Energy

Related Links:

Batteries are not the future of green cars, says smartest guy in room

Plug-in Prius not worth it, economically

Only bulldozers and bison can save Detroit now



]]> by Jess Zimmerman.

The places you would go to get some sun aren’t necessarily the places with the most potential for solar energy. The Southwest is a giant hotspot; Florida and Hawaii are only okay. Check out this map to find the solar potential where you live.

Read more:

”Good Sun,” Xcel Energy

Related Links:

Batteries are not the future of green cars, says smartest guy in room

Plug-in Prius not worth it, economically

Only bulldozers and bison can save Detroit now



]]> Representative warns against ‘overreacting’ to tsunami by saving lives or whatever http://feeds.grist.org/click.phdo?i=c339d1505e04427ddb6f2eb25c600e0f http://www.grist.org/politics/2011-03-18-congressman-warns-against-overreacting-to-tsunami-by-saving-live Fri, 18 Mar 2011 12:49:18 -0700 http://www.grist.org/politics/2011-03-18-congressman-warns-against-overreacting-to-tsunami-by-saving-live by Jess Zimmerman.

Shorter Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.): “If the GOP cuts tsunami monitoring, people will die.”

If you cut on detection of tidal waves, volcanic eruptions, severe weather events, weather buoys, satellite observation and weather patterns, those sorts of things, people will die.

Shorter Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa): “Come on, let’s not overreact to a few thousand people dying by trying to prevent more deaths.”

The tsunami warning centers, it’s really—the timing of that really puts attention on the subject matter ... I think we often over-react to emergencies, especially natural disasters.

Read more:

“Rep. Peter DeFazio: People Will Die From GOP Cuts To NOAA, Disaster Response Programs,” ThinkProgress
”Rep. Steve King Not In Favor Of Restoring Tsunami Funding, Warns Against ‘Over-Reacting’,” ThinkProgress

Related Links:

Batteries are not the future of green cars, says smartest guy in room

Plug-in Prius not worth it, economically

Only bulldozers and bison can save Detroit now



]]> by Jess Zimmerman.

Shorter Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.): “If the GOP cuts tsunami monitoring, people will die.”

If you cut on detection of tidal waves, volcanic eruptions, severe weather events, weather buoys, satellite observation and weather patterns, those sorts of things, people will die.

Shorter Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa): “Come on, let’s not overreact to a few thousand people dying by trying to prevent more deaths.”

The tsunami warning centers, it’s really—the timing of that really puts attention on the subject matter ... I think we often over-react to emergencies, especially natural disasters.

Read more:

“Rep. Peter DeFazio: People Will Die From GOP Cuts To NOAA, Disaster Response Programs,” ThinkProgress
”Rep. Steve King Not In Favor Of Restoring Tsunami Funding, Warns Against ‘Over-Reacting’,” ThinkProgress

Related Links:

Batteries are not the future of green cars, says smartest guy in room

Plug-in Prius not worth it, economically

Only bulldozers and bison can save Detroit now



]]> Japan’s wind farms save its ass while nuclear plants founder http://feeds.grist.org/click.phdo?i=30d8008e0054482ff0c0f2a3ec01c30e http://www.grist.org/renewable-energy/2011-03-18-japans-wind-farms-save-its-ass-while-nuclear-plants-flounder Fri, 18 Mar 2011 11:54:26 -0700 http://www.grist.org/renewable-energy/2011-03-18-japans-wind-farms-save-its-ass-while-nuclear-plants-flounder by Christopher Mims.

If Japan’s wind turbines were to get a new theme song, it would be Wagner’s “Ride of the Valkyries”, and it would ring out from the hills upon which they stand triumphantly, unscathed by the the country’s earthquake/tsunami double whammy, lifting their skinny, still-turning blades like antennas to heaven.

While Japan’s water-dependent nuclear power plants suck and wheeze and spew radioactive steam, “there has been no wind facility damage reported by any [Japan Wind Energy Association] members, from either the earthquake or the tsunami,” says association head Yoshinori Ueda.

Even the country’s totally badass Kamisu offshore wind farm, with its giant 2 MW turbines with blades big as the wings on a jumbo jet, and only 186 miles from the epicenter of the largest quake ever recorded in Japan, survived without a hiccup thanks to its “battle proof design.” As a result, the nation’s electric companies have asked all of its wind farms to increase power production to maximum, in order to make up for the shortfalls brought about by the failure of certain other aging, non-resilient 20th-century technologies.

Unlike conventional power plants, wind turbines don’t have to be situated close to sources of water (always a liability), and their simplicity means fewer potential points of failure.

Bonus: when they break down, no one has to give their life to keep them from turning one of the world’s most densely populated countries into a radioactive hellscape!

Read more:

“Battle-proof Wind Farms Survive Japan’s Trial by Fire,” The Huffington Post

Related Links:

What life is like inside the Fukushima evacuation zone

Used fuel-efficient compact cars increase 30 percent in value

Three energy developments that are changing your life—and not in a good way



]]> by Christopher Mims.

If Japan’s wind turbines were to get a new theme song, it would be Wagner’s “Ride of the Valkyries”, and it would ring out from the hills upon which they stand triumphantly, unscathed by the the country’s earthquake/tsunami double whammy, lifting their skinny, still-turning blades like antennas to heaven.

While Japan’s water-dependent nuclear power plants suck and wheeze and spew radioactive steam, “there has been no wind facility damage reported by any [Japan Wind Energy Association] members, from either the earthquake or the tsunami,” says association head Yoshinori Ueda.

Even the country’s totally badass Kamisu offshore wind farm, with its giant 2 MW turbines with blades big as the wings on a jumbo jet, and only 186 miles from the epicenter of the largest quake ever recorded in Japan, survived without a hiccup thanks to its “battle proof design.” As a result, the nation’s electric companies have asked all of its wind farms to increase power production to maximum, in order to make up for the shortfalls brought about by the failure of certain other aging, non-resilient 20th-century technologies.

Unlike conventional power plants, wind turbines don’t have to be situated close to sources of water (always a liability), and their simplicity means fewer potential points of failure.

Bonus: when they break down, no one has to give their life to keep them from turning one of the world’s most densely populated countries into a radioactive hellscape!

Read more:

“Battle-proof Wind Farms Survive Japan’s Trial by Fire,” The Huffington Post

Related Links:

What life is like inside the Fukushima evacuation zone

Used fuel-efficient compact cars increase 30 percent in value

Three energy developments that are changing your life—and not in a good way



]]>