I thought I would share this very informative article about Shell.
Finding the truth behind Shell’s public relations campaign for Arctic drilling | Climate Connections.
Biogas, the Forgotten Free Renewable Energy | ecogreen4us
I have mentioned over the years the benefits of Bio-digesters, the fact they produce methane whilst also providing nitrogen rich fertiliser. Other countries have embraced this technology, even in the poorest parts of South America. There, households are providing themselves with cheap energy from their own organic waste.
But in the UK, they prefer to invest in incineration of waste and biomass (mostly from imported wood), which emits CO2, particulates (dust). Addition waste incineration emits dioxins, furans and other pollutants.
I have put forward several options for bio-digester plants to Nigel Murphy, Manchester City Councillor for the Environment. But, I am always rebuffed with why the council will not invest in bio-digesters. One of the reasons is the Viridor, who took over the waste management services were supposed to incorporate Anaerobic Digester plants at their waste treatment plants for organic waste. But I have not heard or found any evidence that these plants are operational.
I did alert Nigel Murphy to a project in Glasgow where the residents food waste went into In-Vessel composting units. Thus avoiding CO2 from transportation of the waste and providing compost for a community garden. I mentioned that instead of just composting the food waste, use it to produce energy as well. But the Council does not seem to be interested in investing for the long term future, but only in the short term profits of developers.
CDP-Cities-2012-Global-Report.pdf (application/pdf Object)
The Carbon Disclosure Project, Cities-2012 has just been published. I have only skim-read it, but one glaring error is the fact it has a report from Greater Manchester not the City of Manchester. Further down in the Appendix, it does have the City of Manchester but the data relates to Greater Manchester. So, how reliable can we believe this document to be. As usual it is mostly about what City Authorities say they are going to do, not what they have actually achieved. With regards to the City of Manchester, basically nothing.
CDP-Cities-2012-Global-Report.pdf (application/pdf Object).
The did issue a report criticising the UK Governments lack of action on making reporting of carbon emissions mandatory.
Lack of UK Government action on mandatory reporting disappointing
Shale Gas (fracking)
On Thursday 31st June, I attended a presentation given by Ed Hough of the British Geological Society at the University of Manchester. As well as giving an insight into the the geology behind shale gas and its history. When was introduced, the person doing the introduction made reference to another lecturer who dismissed what had been reported in the media as being absolute rubbish. Which did cause a few titters amongst some of the audience.
He did give the reasons why companies and some governments are keen to pursue the exploitation of this resource. The UK is expected by 2020 to import 80% of its fuel from overseas. That 40% of primary energy is derived from gas. That the UK has very little storage capacity, together leading to a supply gap. He did mention the fluctuation of gas prices, but made no reference to the future markets and commodity traders causing these large variations in price. He emphasised that the UK was sitting on a potential 20 trillion Cubic Feet of shale gas.
There was a list of all the companies interested in shale gas extraction in the UK. And a chart was produced showing the amount of fluid used and it which was produced from a report from the GWPC. The chart showing the amount of fluids used, is courtesy of the EPA.
Ed Hough, try to play down the amount of chemicals used as of being a small percentage of the amount of total fluids used, 3,000,000 gallons. But it is not the percentages you should be looking at the actual amount in gallons used. For example, Hydrochloric Acid which is a highly corrosive liquid, amounts to 3,690 gallons. These fluids are injecting in at a rate of approximately 45 gallons per minute over the initial drilling and fracking process. Ed Houghs, like All Consultancy: http://www.all-llc.com/publicdownloads/ALLShaleOverviewFINAL
try to play-down the toxic and environmental damaging aspects of these chemicals by stating they are used in domestic processes. Would you drink a thimble of Ethylene Glycol, an anti-freeze which is highly toxic? He also went on to dismiss other concerns reported in the media, groundwater contamination by methane and other pollutants, methane escaping to air, correct treatment of waste water, contamination of water courses, radioactive waste (gamma rays) and earthquakes. That in well maintained and sealed wells most of these issues are improbable or very unlikely. Like the, Fukushima or Deep Water Horizon.
I think Ed Houghs gave himself away when he said he was working with these companies and did say, ‘we’, a few times. Nothing was said of Global Warming or Climate Change as Marc Hudson of Manchester Climate Monthly pointed out to Ed Houghs, during question time. As Lawrence said after the presentation, geologists are there to find resources for companies to exploit.
Figure 6 depicts a horizontal well, which is composed of both vertical and horizontal legs. The depth and length of the well varies with the location and properties of the gas-containing formation. In unconventional cases, the well can extend more than a mile below the ground surface.
Friends of Chorlton Meadows
There is an event on at Chorlton Ees which some people may be interested in:
Wildlife taster session – Sat 2nd June 10.30 to 12.30 at Chorlton Ees. This will be an introduction to the From Grey to Green project, explaining why it is important to record flora and fauna. There will be a walk around the local area demonstrating how the course will teach people to identify and record wildlife. The aim is to explain to people how they can contribute to protecting sites and conserving species through recording and to encourage people to sign up for future courses.
Interview: Mary Heaney of MMU
My thoughts on Manchester Climate Monthly’s recent article on Manchester Metropolitan University.
MCFly co-editor Arwa Aburawa interviews Mary Heaney, Director of Services at Manchester Metropolitan University, whose responsibilities include the environmental sustainability agenda
Besides saving money, what are the reasons MMU is taking green action?
Money isn’t actually the top priority for us in terms of sustainability – it’s our corporate social responsibility. We are an organisation that devotes it self to the next generation and we think it’s absolutely incumbent upon us to be responsible in the way we operate and look at the way that we function from everything from the amount of chemicals the cleaners use to me pulling down the blinds when I leave that this room is bearable the next day to the way we operate our labs. It’s about being part of the solution, I guess.
Another top motivator that MMU talk about is that preparing students for new realities and embedding green thinking makes them…
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New Report Busts “Carbon Neutral Biomass” Myth
Another report emphasizing the real reason companies are pushing t o build biomass plants. They are not carbon neutral nor are they clean and green.
A new report from Carbon Trade Watch shows how the massive push by government and industry toward biomass power generation (and the subsidies it receives) is based on the erroneous believe that biomass produces no emissions or is low-emission. As the report makes clear, this is nonsense and in addition to emissions throughout the supply chain that put biomass on a par with fossil fuels, the rush to biomass in dedicated power stations or to co-fire with coal is creating new genetically modified monoculture tree plantations and is increasing deforestation in some of the most biodiverse parts of the planet.
With a demand for biomass in the UK predicted to be 80 million tonnes burned each year, and the UK stock only 10 million tonnes, now is the time for urgent action to stop industrial biomass power generation before it’s too late.
You can download the Nothing Neutral Here report for all the details, and read through the…
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Koch Brothers’ Activism Protects Their 50-Year Stake in Canadian Heavy Oils | InsideClimate News
An article which exposes the Koch brothers involvement in Canadian Tar-Sands and their attempts to ridicule climate change.
Koch Brothers’ Activism Protects Their 50-Year Stake in Canadian Heavy Oils | InsideClimate News.
New Statesman – Acknowledging the scale and urgency of the challenge we face
An article from John Broderick from the Tyndall Centre raising awareness that to combat Climate Change, we urgently need to reduce our energy consumption and how we use that energy. Something the Government and Manchester City Council do not seem to understand. Manchester City Council continue to let property developers build to the lower energy efficiency standards and ensure they include measure like rain water harvesting and grey water recycling. Walk around Manchester after midnight and see all the wasted energy from unnecessary lighting on, in buildings and outside them. The profusion of illuminated and automated advertising hoardings. And yet, the Council still talk about their ‘Manchester – A Certain Future’, without taking any real action.
New Statesman – Acknowledging the scale and urgency of the challenge we face.
In Manchester we have the council investing in the expansion of Manchester Airport, promising it will bring jobs and improve the local economy. Neither is true, especially when the majority of people who work at the Airport do not come from Manchester. And Airports suck money out of the local economy, with people flying and spending their money abroad. Manchester City Council has made very little progress towards a low carbon future, even though Siemens has it one of it’s Headquarters in Manchester.
This post is by Nick Mabey, chief executive and a founder director of E3G. It was first published on Guardian Sustainable Business.
Walking into Westminister tube station, members of parliament currently find themselves surrounded by a phalanx of purple adverts announcing that “The road to economic growth is … a flight path”. This is just the most visible manifestation of a massive business-led campaign arguing the importance of increased airport capacity to the UK economy.
At one level you have to admire the chutzpah of the British Airports Authority (BAA) in making this argument. New airport capacity is irrelevant to UK economic recovery and will not provide a single additional job before the end of the decade. With business passengers making up only 12% of total UK flights it is also clear that absolute capacity constraints are not a material business issue. But at least BAA’s opportunism is understandable…
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patricktsudlow 