Oil Spill Problems

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/05/25/oil.spill.interior/index.html

This article is rather infuriating, showing the massive corruption that exists within regulatory organizations. With such massive environmental degradation caused by this oil spill, I hope some of the regulators who let this happen are held accountable.

Group Blog

I know this isn't energy based but I think this is too important to pass up.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/05/12/arizona.ethnic.studies/index.html?hpt=T2

This link leads to an article at CNN talking about a new law from our most progressive state, Arizona. This time, instead of sanctioning state run racial profiling and discrimination, they now have decided to retcon history and refuse teaching "ethnic studies" that paints the US in a bad light. SB1070 was terrible, but this is unbelievable! Arizona has signed into action a law that will ban the teaching of Native American history focusing on the abuses by the US government, such as the rape and murder of native populations, and the breaching of numerous treaties. Latino-American studies focusing on the oppression of Latino peoples, and any teaching that paints a positive outlook on groups such as the Black Panthers could feasibly be banned as well.

I want to get all the opinions of the people in the group here and I hope to hear from other students in the class as well.

-Schu

New Bill Proposes Veto of offshore Drilling

According to the Bill proposed Wednesday, coastal states are now being given to power to veto offshore drilling. Amongst immigration controversy about not pressing this bill specially during the issues concerning the immigration and also the oil spill. President Obama says he will work diligently to getting this bill passed. I also posted an offshore drilling video for those who want to fully understand it.

Cop Watching in Phoenix

http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/05/11/phoenix.copwatch.arpaio/index.html?hpt=C1

The link I posted is to a CNN article about average citizens in Arizona fighting against SB1070. These individuals are watching the police closely to watch for signs of racial profiling, which they claim has been going on for years, but may be exacerbated by this new law. From an environmental justice standpoint, I find it really interesting to see how people in Arizona are reacting to this new law. I hope that more people will take to the streets like these Cop Watchers and help bring this unjust law down!

-Schu

Pheonix Sun's Team Fights Against Injustice



The NBA has not exactly been the most political of all organizations. Aside from a couple players here and there throughout the past, there has never really been a political stand of any sort. I was actually very impressed, proud, and exhilarated that these high paid athletes put good use to their fame and influence. In their upcoming game they will be wearing these specially jerseys to display their belief on the upcoming issues towards AZ state. They are going to be paying homage to the diversity and more specifically the great latino players that are part of the league.

Google keeps making news!

On Monday Google said it’s invested $38.8 million into 169.5 MW worth of wind projects developed by NextEra Energy Resources in North Dakota. It was the search engine giant’s first direct investment in a wind power project and the money came out of Google Inc., in contrast to previous investments out of its philanthropy arm, Google.org.

Earth2Tech got a chance to ask Rick Needham, Google’s green business operations manager, 10 questions about the company’s plans for the wind power project.

Earth2Tech: Why did Google make its first direct investment into utility-scale clean power into these particular projects?
Needham: We’re aiming to accelerate the deployment of renewable energy in a way that makes good business sense. These particular projects were attractive because they offered good returns for our capital, based on the risks of the projects, and allowed us to partner with experienced developers and investors. They also use turbines that take advantage of the excellent wind resources in the area and are able to use existing transmission capacity, resulting in low cost clean energy.

Earth2Tech: Why make this investment now, two and a half years after you first launched RE
Needham: Our RE

Earth2Tech: Does Google plan to make more investments into clean power projects?
Needham: Yes, we hope to find more opportunities to invest in renewable energy projects that provide attractive returns and use the latest technologies to push the envelope for delivering low cost clean energy.

Earth2Tech: Google has said this is a financial investment. What kind of return is Google expecting to get?
Needham: We won’t disclose projected returns, but do expect to earn an attractive return as well as free up capital to enable future wind projects.

Earth2Tech: Is this Google’s first clean power investment that hopes to make money?
Needham: No. We also hope to make money on our investments in early stage renewable energy technology companies as well. Earning returns means the companies have been successful in developing low cost renewable energy solutions.

Earth2Tech: Is there any connection to Google’s energy subsidiary here and the ability to buy and sell electricity on wholesale markets?
Needham: This investment is not related to Google Energy. Google is interested in procuring more renewable energy as part of our carbon neutrality commitment, and the ability to buy and sell energy on the wholesale market could give us more flexibility in doing so. We created Google Energy so we can have more flexibility in procuring power for Google’s own operations, including our data centers. This investment was not made with Google Energy and does not provide renewable energy for our portfolio.

Earth2Tech: Google has said it expects to invest hundreds of millions of dollars into clean power startups and projects. How much has Google invested into clean power and energy projects and startups to date?
Needham: Through our philanthropic arm, Google.org, we’ve invested more than $45 million in clean energy technologies, including advanced wind, solar thermal, and enhanced geothermal systems. Our investment in the North Dakota wind farms is for $38.8 million.

Earth2Tech: Is Google working on any of its own wind technology development, the way it has a side project to develop a solar thermal receiver?
Needham: In some places today wind power can already be competitive with other forms of energy, but more innovation will further reduce the cost of power. One challenge to deploying significantly more wind power is getting wind power from where the generation is (where the wind blows) to where the loads are (where energy is used), which something we’re also interested in exploring.

Earth2Tech: What does Google expect the cost of the clean power will be that comes out of the NextEra wind projects?
Needham: We don’t disclose the cost of the power, but it is competitive with other forms of energy and is being purchased by a few separate offtakers in the region.

Earth2Tech: Will Google use the NextEra wind farms for an R&D test facility for anything?
Needham: We do not have any current plants to use the NextEra wind farms for any R&D testing.

Obama Energy Policy

http://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/energy-and-environment

The major guidelines of Obama's energy plan are laid out here. If this policy comes to fruition, it would mean a much greener America, and, as one of his points emphasizes, would help lower income citizens have more effective access to electricity.
Here's hoping these will come to pass!

I just came across this!!!
Apparently people invented the battery around 248 BCE! It's called the Baghdad Battery. This is an amazing energy source. I just can't believe something I thought was so modern has been around for so long.
About a dozen have been discovered and no one really knows what they were used for. It's a mystery.

World Mysteries - Strange Artifacts, Baghdad Battery

http://www.world-mysteries.com/sar_11.htm

In 1936, while excavating ruins of a 2000-year-old village near Baghdad, workers discovered mysterious small vase. A 6-inch-high pot of bright yellow clay dating back two millennia contained a cylinder of sheet-copper 5 inches by 1.5 inches. ...

Hey Everyone!

I found a cool Youtube video...its on Geothermal energy for dummies.lol it was very informative though- if you have no prior knowledge of this type of energy. I also thought it was really cool that Iceland runs on a lot of geothermal energy. It is very economic and good for the Earth :).Below is a link to the Geothermal energy and Iceland Geothermal energy:

Geothermal energy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ajqiPe_9Ko&feature=related

Iceland Geothermal Energy: (for this one you can skip the first 30seconds)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRAQrDduaU0

Nuclear Energy v. Coal

http://blogs.denverpost.com/eletters/2010/04/09/the-safety-of-coal-vs-nuclear-energy/

Link to an interesting concept regarding nuclear energy v. coal energy. Though there is the problem of waste associated with nuclear energy, it does not kill people like mining incidents do in the coal industry. Also, coal power produces an insane amount of pollution. Though it would be nice to convert to pollution free energy sources, such as wind or solar, in the interim period, doesn't it make sense to convert to a less polluting source of energy?

-Schu

Cool Green House

Hey guys, I found this interesting article from a Green house that is in the process of being made by students of the University of Michigan. I thought it was something different where the house uses multiple ways to function, not just the sun. For instance this "WaterShed" runs on: sun, water, wind AND "waste" Pretty cool, now I am curious to see the final result! Here is the link to the website:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100421214408.htm

Proactivity of Going Green- TV Show Sending Out A Message

TV show "10 Things I Hate About You" on Fox Family displayed the going green efforts of one of their leading characters, while also presenting many interesting facts throughout the episode. The young adult show, also displayed the mockery of other teens who do not understand the prospective dangers of not trying to find ways to help the environment. The one eye opening faction which caught my interest is of how much pollution occurs in the meat industry. No one I know really sought out how that industry plays a role because of how essential it is in our daily lives to be eating meat. Watch the show and gain comic relief, while also learning some interesting facts.

Google leading the way?

 I think a great example of corporate social responsibility is what Google has done in terms of clean efficient data centers and energy usage. The firm is known for its creativity, and does everything from alternative energy R&D to goat aided lawn mowing! (see image below of one of Google's fields)





The search giant takes efficiency very seriously as demonstrated by their site:

 How efficient is our infrastructure? Google-designed data centers use about half the energy of a typical data center. As a result, the energy used per Google search is very small; to be precise, we currently use about 1kJ (0.0003 kWh) of energy to answer the average query. This translates into roughly .2g of CO2 (for non-metric users, that's 0.007 ounces). Not only is energy use very small, web searches often take the place of more carbon- and time-intensive activities, such as driving a car to a library or spending hours navigating shopping malls.

To put these numbers into perspective, we've calculated the CO2 emissions of some everyday activities and compared them to "Google searches":

Activity	Google searches
CO2 emissions of an average daily newspaper (100% recycled paper)	850
A glass of orange juice	1,050
One load of dishes in an EnergyStar dishwasher	5,100
A five mile trip in the average U.S. automobile	10,000
A cheeseburger	15,000
Electricity consumed by the average US household in one month	3,100,000

CO2 emissions, birth & death rates by country, simulated real-time

A visual real-time simulation that displays the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, birth rates, and death rates of every country in the world...it's fucking crazy.

http://www.breathingearth.net/

Hello world!

Let's start a conversation about environmental justice and energy.