Labels: alaska, climate change, global warming, humor, oil

I've mentioned photographer Edward Burtynsky before. He's got a fresh new talk up on the TED website -- a short one, just under 4 minutes. The theme: oil's landscape. Check it out!

Labels: art, oil

One interesting thing I learned when reading Tyler Volk's CO2 Rising deserves a blog post of its own: It's called the Suess effect, after the Austrian chemist Hans Suess, a fellow who I've quoted here before. The basic idea here is that by burning fossil fuels (oxidizing fossil carbon), we are diluting the amount of ¹⁴C in the atmosphere of our planet. As you may be aware, ¹⁴C is produced continuously in the upper reaches of our atmosphere as nitrogen atoms get bombarded by solar particles (specifically, thermal neutrons). Hydrogen is a byproduct of the reaction. It goes something like this:
This ¹⁴C isn't stable over the geologic long-term: it spontaneously breaks down, via radioactive decay, with a half-life of about 5730 years. This property means that ¹⁴C is really useful for dating organic matter of the relatively recent geologic past, a time of particular interest to us, since that's when our species developed its distinctive cultures. But the short half-life means that by the time 60,000 years or so have gone by, there's so little left that it's no longer useful for radiometric dating.

Of course, most of the fossil fuels we use are far older than 60,000 years [A lot of the coal we use formed during the Carboniferous, about 360-299 million years ago], so their store of ¹⁴C long ago reverted to ¹⁴N. When we burn this carbon, we combine it with oxygen and send it into the atmosphere. Isotopically, this fossil carbon looks different from the rest of the carbon in the biosphere.

So overtime, as we burn low-¹⁴C fossil fuels, we would expect to see the total atmospheric ratio of ¹⁴C to other isotopes of carbon decrease. The carbon in the atomsphere becomes more and more enriched in ¹³C and ¹²C as low-¹⁴C coal, oil, and natural gas get oxidized.

In other words, the abundance ratios of these different isotopes of carbon provide a fingerprint for where all that extra carbon dioxide is coming from: it has to be from ¹⁴C-depleted sources, like old carbonaceous sedimentary deposits. For a nice graph illustrating this, click here.

Last thing: The Suess effect holds up only until the early 1950s because after that extra ¹⁴C produced during nuclear bomb testing starts to build up again, skewing the overall trend.

See also this image. (A high-res slide explaining the phenomenon, and detailing different natural repositories of carbon isotope data.)

References:

P.P. Tans, A.F.M. de Jong, and W.G. Mook. "Natural atmospheric ¹⁴C variation and the Suess effect," Nature 280, 826 - 828 (30 August 1979); doi:10.1038/280826a0

Labels: books, CO2, coal, isotopes, oil

Today, I present a guest post from my student Hope W., who described her experiences visiting the Chalk Point Generating Station in Maryland on our Environmental Geology field trip the weekend before last. The essay is posted here with her permission. Enjoy! -CB

The Chalk Point Generating Station is a coal burning power plant owned by the Mirant Corporation. Our guide during our tour was Greg Staggers, the plant manager. There were three main subject areas that Mr. Staggers talked to us about: power generation, the economic supply and demand, and environmental regulations and precautions.

Power Generation:
Mr. Staggers explained how the station has two different types of units. They have steam units and combustion units. Mr. Staggers described how the two different types of units are designed. He said that the steam units are like giant boilers, and that the combustion units are like jet engines. The plant has four steam units and seven combustion units, both types use fossil fuels to produce energy. Mr. Staggers explained how when power is first generated it is at too high of a voltage to be safely used by the public in homes or offices; and how the current has to be run through various lines to transformers and substations in order to be brought down from 20,000 volts (the level generated) to 110-220 volts (the level used in homes and offices.) Mr. Staggers pointed out the transformer field we drove past on the way in on the aerial photograph of the plant explaining that that’s where the process of conversion begins.

In response to Sophia's question about why the plant was built next to the water, Mr. Staggers explained the complex system for using water from the river to cool the equipment in the plant. As he talked in depth about this system he described how ideas improved through time and experience, as well as environmental regulations which lead the plant to finding more efficient and ecological ways of utilizing the river water. Later on when we took our tour through the plant we had the opportunity to see the some pipelines that the river water runs through. The water runs through the pipe-lines to cool the steam that is emitted during the power generation process. When the river water is released back into the river from the plant it has picked up no chemicals, and has only increased in temperature by approximately 20°F.

Mr. Staggers told us about four of the units that get run; units 1 and 2 which are combustion units and units 3 and 4 which are steam units. When running at full capacity units 1 and 2 operate at 90% efficiency, burn 2.5 million pounds of coal per hour, and use 14 megaWatts of the energy produced to operate; and when units 3 and 4 are running at full capacity the burn 650 gallons of oil per minute. Mr. Staggers informed us that the enormous pile of coal we saw on our way in would last for 45 days if the plant were running at full capacity.

Economic Supply and Demand:
In the 1990's the system was deregulated, which basically means that the power generation, wholesaling of the utility, and the supply distribution were all split up. So when the Chalk Point station produces energy they sell it to PJM a 'middleman' who will then sell it to the suppliers like Dominion Power etc. who then sell and distribute the supply to the public. I mentioned the transformer field earlier in this paper in reference to the generation process, but the transformer field has economic implications as well. The transformer field is also where the producers pass of the ownership of the energy to the middleman.

Mr. Staggers explained the bidding system for establishing the market value for each day. In the bidding system if you are over producing you get paid the difference in price from your morning bid in real time. During the tour we got to see the control rooms where the market price rates were being adjusted in real time. In response to Dustin's question about how they know when to produce Mr. Staggers explained how the middle men suppliers make that call based on the morning bids and the actual demand by the public, when the suppliers make the decision about production levels they call the plant to inform them of how much they need to be producing.

In terms of the national economy coal is the cheapest in explicit costs, in equivalent quantities the price for coal is 1/3 that of oil and natural gas prices, which is why more than 50% of the U.S.'s power is generated by coal. In terms of the local economy the Chalk Point station produces a 500 thousand volt ring around D.C. It is estimated that in the next five years 1 million homes will be added to the market that the Chalk Point station caters to.

The demand for coal is influenced by seasonal changes which gives it a cyclical demand. Callan asked if the increased attention on alternative methods of energy has affected the demand for coal in terms of reduction. Mr. Staggers said that no such change has been apparent and that the cyclical trend has followed a predictable pattern.

Environmental Regulations and Precautions:
Mr. Staggers told us about the regulations the plant has been mandated to conform to, as well as what the plant has done of their own accord for the sake of the environment. Some of the changes that the plant made in the past include setting up new stack facilities in 1982 because of environmental regulations. When the clean air act was passed in 1992 brought down their level of pollutants they were releasing into the atmosphere from 1.4 to .7 Further regulations such as; the separated overfire air controls in 2000, selective auto-catalystic reduction in 2007, and selective catalystic reduction in 2008 brought the pollutant rate down to .06. All of the methods above have dropped total output capacity by some amount.

The plant has also put up two boundary nets to protect fish from the areas where hot water is released and two more boundary nets as well as a fine mesh screen to prevent the fish from getting sucked up into the pumps for the cooling system. The plant has many systems in place to reclaim energy where they can to avoid waste, such as how they use residual heat from the coal burning process to heat the incoming air from its current temperature to be closer to the temperature required for being used as an infuser in the combustion process. The plant is in the process of building a "scrubber" which will reduce the sulfur emissions by 98%. The method this "scrubber" will use will allow the plant produce and collect gypsum which the plant will sell for its use in drywall. The plant also has a system set up to collect ash by a precipitation method; the ash collected is also sold for its use in drywall.

The plant has continuous emissions monitors which monitor emission levels of CO2, SO2, and NOx. The data from the monitors is sent quarterly to the State and the E.P.A. In the control room Callan asked a question about the plant's ppm output of CO2. Mr. Staggers said that measure by percentage and he did not know the output in ppm . This discussion lead to a very clear statement by Mr. Staggers that he wasn't convinced that it really made a difference. Mr. Staggers informed us that the plant's output of CO2 is 12% of flue gas volume, which Callan calculated to be 120,000 ppm. From Mr. Staggers' point of view as a producer of a commodity it is hard to see much else besides bottom line explicit costs. This was not his position out of greed, but out of responsibility to keep the company running so he has a job to provide for his family, and his employees as well. On the other hand, scientists cannot escape the implicit costs of CO2 emissions.

There needs to be a level headed discussion in a neutral setting were the two groups can learn to understand each other and start to cooperate. We as individuals and a nation must step up and set the example. When we start working together we will create the safe harbor necessary for understanding and cooperation to grow and flourish.

Labels: coal, energy, environmental, maryland, nova, oil, teaching

President Obama is acting to (potentially) improve the fuel efficiency of cars manufactured in the United States. The official announcement will apparently come later today, but somehow the newspapers always find out first.

Meanwhile, Virginia's budget shortfall has led to the elimination of pollution inspectors, which means that instead of the usual inspection of 1400 sites in the Commonwealth this year, the reduced staff will likely get to 800 or so. In Maryland, by contrast, the article describes how the governor is actually increasing funding for the oversight of power plants. An interesting contrast from two Democratic governors (one of whom is now moonlighting as the head of the DNC).

PS - My Prius is less efficient in the cold. I've been hovering between 46.5 and 47.0 mpg for the past couple of weeks. Brrr.

Labels: energy, environmental, maryland, news, oil, prius, virginia

A quick note for fellow Virginians: CNN reports on the new efforts by the Bush administration to drill for oil offshore from the Old Dominion.

Labels: environmental, news, oil, petroleum, politics, virginia

Labels: climate change, environmental, global warming, humor, oil, politics

Here's a good cartoon from Tom Toles (Washington Post) that I ran across today:

And if you like that, also see this one and this one.

Labels: art, climate change, humor, oil

Another event that may be of interest to DC area readers:
Learn why plug-in hybrid cars (PHEV) hold such great promise as a means to reduce the costs of driving, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and reduce our national reliance on petroleum. What are current PHEV drivers experiencing (the good and the not-so-good) and what are the barriers to bringing PHEV’s to market. Plug-in hybrid passenger vehicles are not yet in production, but what we might expect to see from automotive companies in the next few years. The term "plug-in hybrid" has come to mean a hybrid vehicle that can be charged from a standard electrical wall socket.

I won't be able to make it because of Historical Geology class Tuesday nights, but I encourage the rest of you to go, and enjoy!

Labels: climate change, global warming, oil, prius, tech

DC-area residents:

The fall "Walkingtown DC" schedule is now online: see if your schedule permits you to join one of these many excellent walking tours of our fair city. (I'm leading the History Before History one.) Free and open to the public.

NOVA's Alexandria campus is hosting a National Alternative Fuel Vehicle Day event on Saturday, September 20th, from 11am-3pm. The Alexandria campus is at 3001 North Beauregard Street, Alexandria, VA 22311. The flyer I got today on this event says, "Come Speak with Experts and See for Yourself Alternative Fuel & Advanced Technology Vehicles." Free and open to the public.

A reminder that this Friday afternoon, I'll be leading a public geology hike along the Billy Goat Trail, starting from the Great Falls Tavern Visitor Center (C&O Canal NHP) at 12:30pm, going til 4:30pm or so. Maybe 5pm. Free and open to the public.

Also, the first GSW meeting of the academic year is next Wednesday evening...

Labels: action, geology, gsw, oil, prius

An article in today's Washington Post explores the constant feedback that Prius drivers get about their fuel consumption -- and how that may be one of the main reasons that Prii* get lower gas mileage than other vehicles. I've noted this phenomenon before, so I thought I'd pass along a link to the article.

* "Prii" = plural of "Prius," at least in my world.

Labels: action, environmental, oil, prius, tech

Last week, my friend Michelle loaned me her copy of Farewell, My Subaru, a humorous account of a year spent trying to live locally. The author, Doug Fine, buys a ranch in New Mexico, then converts it to solar power and solar heated water, and raises goats and vegetables. And, yes, he trades in his Subaru for a R.O.A.T. (Ridiculously Oversized American Truck), which runs on vegetable oil. Along the way, he has lots of mishaps (many involving the goats) and finds love, happiness, and satisfaction. In general, he has a nice reflective time of it, accumulating enough experiences and insight to warrant a book. He's also got a great sense of humor. Recommended.

Labels: books, environmental, oil

On my drive out to Shenandoah National Park this weekend, I hit a new milestone with my Prius' fuel efficiency. It turned over 50.0 mpg: this is the running average since I bought the car, about 4000 miles worth of accumulated data. Then it ticked up to 50.1, and then I got to Sperryville and began driving up the Blue Ridge. Up, up, up the hill means fuel efficiency goes down, down, down. That's a steep hill. When I got up to Skyline Drive, it was down to 48.8 again. But then using the principles of hypermiling, I got it back up to 50.1 over the course of the drive back to DC.

Driving the Prius is like a game, where you're constantly challenging yourself to get more miles out of every gallon of gas. The dashboard display shows you your moment-to-moment fuel efficiency, and you can tailor your driving second by second to maximize your distance to gasoline ratio. It's a whole different experience as compared to driving a car without a dashboard readout, and I find myself much more mentally engaged in the driving process.

Anyhow, yesterday, after a jaunt into NOVA to do some work, I was driving up the Rock Creek Parkway, and it ticked over to 50.2. Ooh boy! Goody, goody, I thought to myself. I should take a photo of that and put it on my blog, where I brag about what a minimal petroleum consumer I am.

But, because this is springtime in DC, the display had a fine layer of pollen all over it. So I pulled out a paper towel to wipe away the pollen. The problem is, the pressure of the paper towel on the touch-sensitive screen activated the "RESET" button. Instantly, my hard-won 50.2 mpg disappeared, to be replaced with 0.0. Aargh!

While I appreciated knowing the overall fuel efficiency of the car, I'm now realizing the benefit of hitting RESET: Now my numbers aren't "bogged down" with my early days of inefficient Prius-driving technique. The new average will reflect what I'm actually driving, not my overall mpg legacy. I knew that I was driving more efficiently than 50.2, since the numbers kept going up over time, but I wasn't sure how much more efficiently. Now that I've reset the system, I can get a more accurate bead on my day-to-day fuel efficiency.

Since the reset, I've driven 18 miles, a slight majority of it uphill. The numbers look promising:

Labels: oil, prius

In an article in Newsweek, the hosts of NPR's "Car Talk" talk about the car of the future.

Turns out that the Tappet Brothers, one of whom doesn't even own a car (!), are lobbying Congress for increased automobile fuel efficiency. They're also starring in a new episode of the PBS series Nova. And they have some advice for you, the consumer: "Get a Prius."

FYI, since we're talking about it -- a quick update on my "Pious" seems in order. Its current fuel efficiency (running average since I bought the car in December) is:

Labels: action, climate change, global warming, oil, petroleum, prius, tech, tv

Three days ago, NPR aired a segment about how geology students can make lots of money.

Here's the description: All Things Considered, March 21, 2008. With the price of oil, gold and other metals at near record levels, these are heady times at the Colorado School of Mines. Employers are falling all over themselves to hire new graduates. Who'd have thought that being a geologist would make you so popular - and bring you $80,000 a year to start?

Labels: geologists, oil

Oil has hit $100/ barrel before, but it dropped back down to mere double-digits before the close of the market. Not so today: When the closing bell rang, "light sweet crude" was at $100.01. Blame Hugo Chavez, or blame Hubbert's Peak. It's some expensive stuff.

Labels: economics, oil, petroleum

A friend forwarded me a link to this interesting article in Mother Jones. After reading my discussion of Prius-induced fuel-conscious driving techniques on this blog, my friend recollected the Mother Jones profile subject, Wayne Gerdes, who gets 59 m.p.g. just by driving really, really consciously. He includes some maneuvers in his repertoire that are pretty dangerous, but the point is that he doesn't even need a hybrid to acheive these sorts of fuel efficiencies. Check it out.

Labels: oil, prius, products

An update on the Prius that I've been driving for 1.5 months. I've spun its wheels about 1300 miles now. It's getting a running average of about 47.5 miles out of each gallon of gasoline. For those who haven't seen one before, this is the fuel consumption display that is set in the middle of the dashboard:

One of the things that driving a Prius has taught me is that fuel efficiency varies a lot. On cold mornings, driving up my hill in DC, I'm getting like 7 miles per gallon. But then out on the highway on a flat stretch, going 65 mph, I get 100 miles per gallon. Huge disparity there. As much as having an innovative engine, I think some of my success with the (relatively) low gas mileage is learning how to maximize efficiency through my own driving habits. This little dashboard display is constantly telling me whether I'm getting as much as I can be out of my gasoline, and I can adjust my pedal position or coasting strategy accordingly. It's more brainwork than driving my old Corolla used to be, but it's also kind of engaging to be thinking about. Anyhow, it's still giving me good gas mileage and a lot of positive vibes.

Also: another geo-blogger, Jim Repka, wrote about his Prius in a recent post.

Labels: oil, prius

We've been expecting this for a while, but now it's finally happened. Happy new year, everybody: oil costs a hundred dollars a barrel!

Oil prices have quadrupled since 2003, for multiple reasons. At its simplest, though, it's Day One in Economics 101: there's less of a supply (that's what non-renewable resource means) and there's more of a demand (especially due to nascent industrialization in China and India). Everybody wants more of what there is less & less of -- so we pay more for it.

Coverage: New York Times, Fox News, CNN, & Washington Post.

Labels: economics, oil, petroleum