The hottest topic this week, besides the 100+ degree temperatures here in the South is the Waxman-Markley climate change bill which squeaked through the House by the skin of its teeth last week. This bill includes a cap-and-trade global warming reduction plan designed to reduce economy-wide greenhouse gas emissions 17 percent by 2020.
I'm a big fan of renewable energy and think that this is a good direction to move,however, we, as a nation, shouldn't be so open minded that our brains fall out.
The sad thing about all this hoopla about the need to have a climate change bill pass quickly is that there is a lot of misinformation being put out, including by our leaders, no doubt due to the complexity of the issues under discussion.
When ever is it prudent to do things quickly? Don't we teach our teenagers to think before doing or you can get into a whole bunch of trouble.
I plan, over the next few weeks, to go through the bill and highlight the good, the bad and the truly ugly for y'all and suggest what it could mean for our dirty footprint. So stay tuned!....
Rosemarie
Showing posts with label climate change. Show all posts
Showing posts with label climate change. Show all posts
Monday, June 29, 2009
Friday, February 27, 2009
Time for Change! Why not?
Sigh,
As I was researching alternative energy technologies (it's what I DO) I came across a short article about the potential for converting hurricane biomass to biomass fuel pellets.
I thought, wow! This would be the greatest thing since sliced bread for carbon footprint reduction. This wasn't the first time I heard this proposal. Professor Alex Green of Florida State University (FSU) has been spitting into the wind on this for years. Prof. Green is the father of biomass pyrolysis, a total expert as well as a really nice guy. Basically, he's right.
What else could be a win-win for a devastated area then to have all their down trees and other destroyed biomass collected, at no cost to either the owner of the property or to the local/regional government. Right now FEMA and the Corp of Engineers contracts with companies to remove this biomass and haul it to a landfill or burn it! There is no contract vehicle set up to use the biomass for CO2 reduction (which is part of the climate change initiative of the new administration).
We need to change that paradigm. Those of us in the south could care less about 'heating our homes' because, lets get real, a Georgia winter is 6 weeks long at most and our electricity is cheap (Nuclear) or those of us near major cities (like Atlanta) have natural gas! But Europe is really big into biomass pellets because all fossil fuels are EXPENSIVE for them. We, here in the south, have a product that we are presently landfilling (hurricane biomass) that could be easily converted into usable and EXPORTABLE fuels! But we are landfilling because it is the 'standard' option. Again, SIGH.
I'm posting my thoughts on this way before the 09 hurricane season. Why? If you think I'm right, now would be the time to write your congressman to suggest that they encourage FEMA and the Corp of Engineers to look to biomass removal contracts with companies that will use the biomass to make fuel pellets which will reduce our oil independence as well as make us an exporter not just an importer of stuff. Instead of landfilling it or burning. Oh, and yeah, this administration want's to reduce our CO2 footprint. Well duh. Using our hurricane debris is a no brainer to help do this!
Rosemarie
As I was researching alternative energy technologies (it's what I DO) I came across a short article about the potential for converting hurricane biomass to biomass fuel pellets.
I thought, wow! This would be the greatest thing since sliced bread for carbon footprint reduction. This wasn't the first time I heard this proposal. Professor Alex Green of Florida State University (FSU) has been spitting into the wind on this for years. Prof. Green is the father of biomass pyrolysis, a total expert as well as a really nice guy. Basically, he's right.
What else could be a win-win for a devastated area then to have all their down trees and other destroyed biomass collected, at no cost to either the owner of the property or to the local/regional government. Right now FEMA and the Corp of Engineers contracts with companies to remove this biomass and haul it to a landfill or burn it! There is no contract vehicle set up to use the biomass for CO2 reduction (which is part of the climate change initiative of the new administration).
We need to change that paradigm. Those of us in the south could care less about 'heating our homes' because, lets get real, a Georgia winter is 6 weeks long at most and our electricity is cheap (Nuclear) or those of us near major cities (like Atlanta) have natural gas! But Europe is really big into biomass pellets because all fossil fuels are EXPENSIVE for them. We, here in the south, have a product that we are presently landfilling (hurricane biomass) that could be easily converted into usable and EXPORTABLE fuels! But we are landfilling because it is the 'standard' option. Again, SIGH.
I'm posting my thoughts on this way before the 09 hurricane season. Why? If you think I'm right, now would be the time to write your congressman to suggest that they encourage FEMA and the Corp of Engineers to look to biomass removal contracts with companies that will use the biomass to make fuel pellets which will reduce our oil independence as well as make us an exporter not just an importer of stuff. Instead of landfilling it or burning. Oh, and yeah, this administration want's to reduce our CO2 footprint. Well duh. Using our hurricane debris is a no brainer to help do this!
Rosemarie
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