The Gulf Oil Spill: Set Backs

Spill Update:

Now over 3.5 million gallons of oil have been released from BP's failed oil exploration well in the Gulf of Mexico. BP attempted to lower a cofferdam or 'funnel' over the broken well piping and capture the majority of the leaking oil. However, during the lowering of the cofferdam, engineers noticed that ice or more specifically gas hydrates have formed in the piping of the cofferdam stopping it up. BP officials have moved the cofferdam some distance from the oil leak, where it is currently resting on the sea floor until engineers can come up with a solution that will allow it to work as intended or another solution that might work better.

Other options have been developed to stop up the leaking well piping and potentially the blow out preventer such as by plugging the piping with shredded tires, golf balls and other objects. Additionally it has been speculated that a smaller or different shaped cofferdam may be able to cap of some of the oil leak without having the gas hydrate issues that the larger one suffered. (news articles BBC, AP, Reuters)

Gas Hydrates:

Gas hydrates are found abundantly around the world on the sea floor and in the subsurface. These hydrates are naturally occurring in area like the sea floor due to the cold temperatures and high pressures that occur in these environments of the world. “Gas hydrates are clathrate compounds. A clathrate is simply a structure in which water molecules under certain conditions bond to form an ice-like cage that encapsulates a gas molecule, known as a guest molecule. When that guest is a methane molecule, you have methane hydrate.” (link) Gas hydrates are very flammable, and unstable which is what is causing concern for the BP engineers.

Gas hydrates are likely formed by microbial reduction of CO2 in the oceans, and these hydrates can form relatively quickly as we have seen with the cofferdam in this oil spill crisis. Methane is a hot topic as far as energy security issues go being that is the main ingredient in natural gas, which is widely used for domestic heating, and cooking needs. However, do to the unstable nature of these hydrates and the role that methane plays as a greenhouse gas have givin rise to concerns regarding climate impacts due to its release into the atmosphere. Methane/natural gas is much more efficient energy source that oil or coal, yet it is 25 times more destructive to our atmosphere than CO2. For more information on methane refer to this link. (link)

Surprising Turn of Events:

In the days following the this unfortunate turn of events, all news agencies reported that the Obama administration had put a ban on further oil drilling offshore, due to the inherent risks involved in the industry and the potential for additional releases and spills, until a full review had been conducted of the incident. However, this account was rather misleading I have come to find out. The Guardian has reported that, similar to the BP exploration well, environmental reviews have been waived on additional new offshore drilling projects. This is striking being as though we have seen that equipment can fail, rigs can sink, and that it is very difficult to control what is going on at great depths in the ocean. Check out the article.

Conclusions:

After 19 days still no progress has been made to contain this oil spill, and coast lines throughout the Gulf are beginning to see the effects first hand, arriving on their beaches. Shore birds, and sea life are being impacted and the extent of the damage has yet to be assessed. So far all mitigation strategies have failed and 5,000 barrels of oil are still being released into the Gulf. To make matters worse, in an era of government where the environment and its stewardship were large issues, we are seeing a blind eye being turned to big oil in America. I guess money is still the big motivator as far as governmental policies are concerned. Yes we can...doesn't mean we will.

What We Talk About When We Talk About Coal

Coal

So coal. Coal was created through the decomposition of plants that were likely living in swampy areas many many millions of years ago. These plants died and were eventually covered with dirt and rock, thus preserving the energy in the plants, and over millions of years of decomposition, combined with pressure formed coal. Coal is a dark colored usually black or brown, combustible form of rock. Commercially coal is mined and transported to areas where it is processed and used to produce energy. The main types of mines are either surface mines which are basically just large excavations or underground mining which requires digging a tunnel or mine shaft in order to excavate coal stored at depth. There are 4 types of coal and each very in there value based on the amount of carbon the coal contains which in turn effects the amount of energy that can be generated through its combustion. According to the United States Department of Energy, coal is the leading fuel of energy production in the country, accounting for nearly half of all energy produced.

Coal as Energy

Coal is used for many different things from the production of steel, aluminum, paper, and concrete. It is also used to create chemicals such as creosote, fertilizers, aspirins, dyes, soaps, plastics and the list goes on. Another major use of coal is for energy production.

After coal is mined it is then transported to coal fired power plants, where the coal is pulverized, or reduced to a powder for combustion. This helps to increase the speed by which it burns. The coal is then used to heat water turning it to steam. The steam is then pressurized and used to turn turbines which in turn generates electricity. However, in the combustion of coal, many gaseous byproducts and further many non gaseous byproducts are produced and for many years they were done so without any emissions controls. Aside from oil, coal is the most polluting energy source on the planet. These byproducts are what makes coal a problem as far as energy production goes. For the sake of the rest of this blog lets stick to the gaseous byproducts of coal.

The gaseous byproducts of coal combustion include but are not limited to: NOx or nitrogen oxides a precursor to ground level ozone and smog, S02 or sulfur dioxide which has been attributed to the acid rain, mercury which is released in small particles and can stay airborne for up to a year, and CO2 or carbon dioxide which greatly contributes to climate change. There are many other gaseous byproducts all having impacts human health and the environment.

Clean Coal

What is clean coal you might ask. We have all heard it touted about on the news and in the presidential debates but what is it, and does it offer solutions to the problems that coal poses? Well the answer is that clean coal is this fantastic idea that basically applies different technologies to clean or capture emissions that result from the combustion of coal in the energy production process. Clean coal technology is largely centered around the concept of carbon capturing, which is the removal of CO2 from coal emissions and taking that CO2 and storing it underground, permanently. The youtube video below explains how this works and what is required. Basically, captured CO2 is pumped deep below the earths surface in to a permeable rock or soil, where it would be stored. This, in essence, would allow for coal to be utilized as an energy source on into the foreseeable future, without the consequences of contributing to climate change. Here is an article that explain these technologies:http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4468076.stm

Even with carbon capture and sequestration technologies in place coal is not a responsible energy source for large scale energy production. Its dirty, its not renewable, production is environmentally devastating, even with emissions controls coal energy production is more polluting than other conventional energy sources, that and the fact that clean coal technologies are not economically viable and not proven to work. In my opinion, it seems as thought the money spent toward the exploration of these ideas and techniques would be better off spent making a transition to renewable energy sources which are proven to work, and are more economically viable.

Earth - The Sequel

I really enjoyed this. I support an environmental group called Environmental Defense Fund. It seems like a pretty good non-profit, and it has a good message. Its more of a yes we can than a doom and gloom group.

Anyways, I want this book and I think everybody should watch this short video and if possible the longer version.

Scientists warn of 'irreversible' climate shifts

The Seattle Times has been, from time to time, reporting on different instances and facets of this problem known to many as climate change. This most recent article is pretty startling, but for those who know me this should not be new news. I have been ranting about these potential problems for years now, largely falling on def ears but as more and more coverage is being made by large news sources I hope that the numbers of disbelievers quickly dwindles.

"We know from scientific evidence that climate change is a reality and that climate change will have damaging effects on the economy all over the world," said Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, one of the politicians attending the scientific conference. "Therefore we need an agreement and we need an agreement this year." Actually we needed an agreement about 10 years ago and likely would have seen one if Al Gore had become president, buts that's a whole additional argument.

The long and the short is that human induced changes to the climate are real, have become largely irreversible, and will have far reaching impacts across the globe and no nation will be spared. Some nations will be better off than others, small island nations will be wiped away and we are likely to see many other massive lifestyle impacts occur globally.

Here is a link to the times article.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2008835298_apeudenmarkclimatechange.html

Here is a link to another, very similar article with predictions regarding the fate of the rain forests, also know as the lungs of the world.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7940532.stm

In our lifetimes we will see the greatest amount of change anybody could have ever foretold. Not just technological changes but changes in the very landscapes around us, the processes of the world and the climate. These articles are just the tip of the ice berg. There is a much more startling reality underlying all of these predictions. If these changes do indeed take place we will see CO2 levels sky rocket, this will last for a nearly indefinite period of time, unless it triggers an ice age or other major event, in which case we could be on the verge of the next mass extinction.