EC December 2008

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12 participants
50 discussions

FW: NYT (Friedman -- While Detroit Slept)
by James Kotcon 05 Jan '10

05 Jan '10

From my father-in-law. JBK >>> "Bob Elliott" <rdelliott(a)socal.rr.com> 12/12/2008 7:29 AM >>> <http://www.nytimes.com/> <http://www.nytimes.com/> The New York Times <http://www.nytimes.com/> _____ December 10, 2008 Op-Ed Columnist While Detroit Slept By <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/opinion/editorialsandoped/oped/columnists/tho maslfriedman/index.html?inline=nyt-per> THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN As I think about our bailing out Detroit, I can't help but reflect on what, in my view, is the most important rule of business in today's integrated and digitized global market, where knowledge and innovation tools are so widely distributed. It's this: Whatever can be done, will be done. The only question is will it be done by you or to you. Just don't think it won't be done. If you have an idea in Detroit or Tennessee, promise me that you'll pursue it, because someone in Denmark or Tel Aviv will do so a second later. Why do I bring this up? Because someone in the mobility business in Denmark and Tel Aviv is already developing a real-world alternative to Detroit's business model. I don't know if this alternative to gasoline-powered cars will work, but I do know that it can be done - and Detroit isn't doing it. And therefore it will be done, and eventually, I bet, it will be done profitably. And when it is, our bailout of Detroit will be remembered as the equivalent of pouring billions of dollars of taxpayer money into the mail-order-catalogue business on the eve of the birth of eBay. It will be remembered as pouring billions of dollars into the CD music business on the eve of the birth of the iPod and iTunes. It will be remembered as pouring billions of dollars into a book-store chain on the eve of the birth of Amazon.com and the Kindle. It will be remembered as pouring billions of dollars into improving typewriters on the eve of the birth of the PC and the Internet. What business model am I talking about? It is Shai Agassi's electric car network company, called Better Place. Just last week, the company, based in Palo Alto, Calif., announced a partnership with the state of Hawaii to road test its business plan there after already inking similar deals with Israel, Australia, the San Francisco Bay area and, yes, Denmark. The Better Place electric car charging system involves generating electrons from as much renewable energy - such as wind and solar - as possible and then feeding those clean electrons into a national electric car charging infrastructure. This consists of electricity charging spots with plug-in outlets - the first pilots were opened in Israel this week - plus battery-exchange stations all over the respective country. The whole system is then coordinated by a service control center that integrates and does the billing. Under the Better Place model, consumers can either buy or lease an electric car from the French automaker Renault or Japanese companies like Nissan (General Motors snubbed Agassi) and then buy miles on their electric car batteries from Better Place the way you now buy an Apple cellphone and the minutes from AT&T. That way Better Place, or any car company that partners with it, benefits from each mile you drive. G.M. sells cars. Better Place is selling mobility miles. The first Renault and Nissan electric cars are scheduled to hit Denmark and Israel in 2011, when the whole system should be up and running. On Tuesday, Japan's Ministry of Environment invited Better Place to join the first government-led electric car project along with Honda, Mitsubishi and Subaru. Better Place was the only foreign company invited to participate, working with Japan's leading auto companies, to build a battery swap station for electric cars in Yokohama, the Detroit of Japan. What I find exciting about Better Place is that it is building a car company off the new industrial platform of the 21st century, not the one from the 20th - the exact same way that Steve Jobs did to overturn the music business. What did Apple understand first? One, that today's technology platform would allow anyone with a computer to record music. Two, that the Internet and MP3 players would allow anyone to transfer music in digital form to anyone else. You wouldn't need CDs or record companies anymore. Apple simply took all those innovations and integrated them into a single music-generating, purchasing and listening system that completely disrupted the music business. What Agassi, the founder of Better Place, is saying is that there is a new way to generate mobility, not just music, using the same platform. It just takes the right kind of auto battery - the iPod in this story - and the right kind of national plug-in network - the iTunes store - to make the business model work for electric cars at six cents a mile. The average American is paying today around 12 cents a mile for gasoline transportation, which also adds to global warming and strengthens petro-dictators. Do not expect this innovation to come out of Detroit. Remember, in 1908, the Ford Model-T got better mileage - 25 miles per gallon - than many Ford, G.M. and Chrysler models made in 2008. But don't be surprised when it comes out of somewhere else. It can be done. It will be done. If we miss the chance to win the race for Car 2.0 because we keep mindlessly bailing out Car 1.0, there will be no one to blame more than Detroit's new shareholders: we the taxpayers. _____ Make your life easier with all your friends, email, and favorite sites in one place. Try <http://www.aol.com/?optin=new-dp&icid=aolcom40vanity&ncid=emlcntaolcom00000 010> it now.

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huge coal ash sludge spill in Tennessee
by Jim Sconyers 07 Jan '09

07 Jan '09

Jim Sconyers jim_scon(a)yahoo.com 603.969.6712 Remember: Mother Nature bats last. --- On Tue, 12/23/08, Dave Cooper <davecooper928(a)yahoo.com> wrote: From: Dave Cooper <davecooper928(a)yahoo.com> Subject: [Dave Coopers Mountain Top Removal Roadshow] Huge environmental disaster in Tennessee - Coal Ash spill To: "Mountaintop Removal Road Show list" <mountaintopremovalroadshow(a)lists.riseup.net> Date: Tuesday, December 23, 2008, 8:05 AM Friends, There was a huge and terrible environmental disaster in Tennessee yesterday. The Tennessee Valley Authority, better known as TVA, has a coal-burning power plant located near Harriman, Tennessee, along Interstate 40 between Knoxville and Nashville. The stuff that is left over after TVA burns their coal is called coal ash. Coal ash contains mercury and dangerous heavy metals like lead and arsenic - materials found naturally in coal are concentrated in the ash. TVA has a huge mountain of this coal waste material stored in a gigantic pile next to their Harriman (Kingston) power plant, alongside a tributary of the Tennessee River. On Monday morning Dec. 22 around 1:00 am, the earthen retaining wall around this mountain of coal ash failed and approximately 500 million gallons of nasty black coal ash flowed into tributaries of the Tennessee River - the water supply for Chattanooga TN and millions of people living downstream in Alabama, Tennessee and Kentucky. This Tennessee TVA spill is over 40 times bigger than the Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska, if local news accounts are correct. *** This is a huge environmental disaster of epic proportions. To see an amazing aerial video of the spill - the big hunks and chunks in the river are mounds of coal ash: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGmVCABMRRQ There is better aerial footage but you have to watch an Applebees commercial first - go to the link below, then scroll down to the "Most Popular" section and find the button that says "aerial footage" http://www.wbir.com/video/default.aspx?aid=74330 The local media are downplaying the spill, but the Nashville newspaper (The Tennessean) has a decent article, posted below. When I first saw the 300 million gallon Martin County coal sludge spill in Kentucky in October 2000 I was outraged. I was sure that it would be a national news story, but it never was, because the coal companies and local law enforcement blocked the road leading to the spill and kept the media out. The national media was confused because they didn't know what "coal sludge" was. And ....the big national environmental groups didn't do enough to bring media attention to the Martin County disaster. Thats not going to happen this time, because we have 1. You Tube 2. Bloggers 3. Digital cameras 4. You! Please help - we need volunteers to take pictures and video of the spill and post them on the web. We need first hand accounts and documentation of the spill. We need letters to the editor. We need calls and emails to our leaders in Washington and Nashville and Frankfort and to President-Elect Obama. Please fwd this email to other concerned people and the news media. *** There is no such thing as clean coal! Look at the video of this spill. "Clean Coal" is The Big Corporate Lie. This horrific disaster in Tennessee can be the turning point in our nation's struggle to build a new network of clean modern renewable sources of energy, like wind and solar power - but we have to raise awareness of this disaster immediately. Thanks for reading. Here is the Tennessean's coverage: http://www.tennessean.com/article/20081223/GREEN02/812230370/1001/RSS6001 Flood of sludge breaks TVA dike Collapse poses risk of toxic ash By Anne Paine and Colby Sledge • THE TENNESSEAN • December 23, 2008 HARRIMAN, Tenn. — Millions of cubic yards of ashy sludge broke through a dike at TVA's Kingston coal-fired plant Monday, covering hundreds of acres, knocking one home off its foundation and putting environmentalists on edge about toxic chemicals that may be seeping into the ground and flowing downriver. One neighboring family said the disaster was no surprise because they have watched the 1960s-era ash pond's mini-blowouts off and on for years. About 2.6 million cubic yards of slurry — enough to fill 798 Olympic-size swimming pools — rolled out of the pond Monday, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. [There are 200 gallons per cubic yard so this is about 500 million gallon - Dave] Cleanup will take at least several weeks, or, in a worst-case scenario, years. The ash slide, which began just before 1 a.m., covered as many as 400 acres as deep as 6 feet. The wave of ash and mud toppled power lines, covered Swan Pond Road and ruptured a gas line. It damaged 12 homes, and one person had to be rescued, though no one was seriously hurt. Much remains to be determined, including why this happened, said Tom Kilgore, president and CEO of the Tennessee Valley Authority. "I fully suspect that the amount of rain we've had in the last eight to 10 days, plus the freezing weather … might have had something to do with this," he said in a news conference Monday on the site. The area received almost 5 inches of rain this month, compared with the usual 2.8 inches. Freeze and thaw cycles may have undermined the sides of the pond. The last formal report on the condition of the 40-acre pond — an unlined, earthen structure — was issued in January and was unavailable Monday, officials said. Neighbors Don and Jil Smith, who have lived near the pond for eight years, said that nearly every year TVA has cleaned up what they termed "baby blowouts." Ashen liquid similar to that seen on a much larger scale in Monday's disaster came from the dike, they said. "It would start gushing this gray ooze," said Don Smith, whose home escaped harm. "They'd work on it for weeks and weeks. "They can say this is a one-time thing, but I don't think people are going to believe them." The U.S. Coast Guard, EPA, Tennessee Emergency Management Agency and Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation were among agencies that responded to the emergency. Toxic irritants possible Coal is burned to produce electricity at the Kingston Fossil Plant, notable for its tall towers seen along Interstate 40 near the Harriman exit in Roane County. Water is added to the ash, which is the consistency of face powder, for pumping it to the pond. The ash is settled out in that pond before the sludge is moved to other, drier ponds, Kilgore said. Coal ash can carry toxic substances that include mercury, arsenic and lead, according to a federal study. The amount of poisons in TVA's ashy wastes that could irritate skin, trigger allergies and even cause cancer or neurological problems could not be determined Monday, officials said. Viewed from above, the scene looked like the aftermath of a tsunami, with swirls of dirtied water stretching for hundreds of acres on the land, and muddied water in the Emory River. The Emory leads to the Clinch, which flows into the Tennessee. Workers sampled river water Monday, with results expected back today, but didn't sample the dunelike drifts of muddy ash. That could begin today, officials said, and the potential magnitude of the problem could make this a federally declared Superfund site. That would mean close monitoring and a deep, costly cleanup requiring years of work. "We'll be sampling for metals in the ground to see what kind of impact that had," said Laura Niles, a spokeswoman for the EPA in Atlanta. "Hopefully, it won't be as bad as creating a Superfund site, but it depends on what is found." Stephen Smith, with the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy in Knoxville, said those concerned about water and air quality have tried for years to press for tighter regulation of the ash. The heavy metals in coal — including mercury and other toxic substances — concentrate in the ash when burned, he said. "You know where that is now," he said. "It's in that stuff that's all over those people's houses now." Chemicals and metals from coal ash have contaminated drinking water in several states, made people and animals sick in New Mexico, and tainted fish in Texas and elsewhere, according to Lisa Evans, an attorney with Earthjustice, a nonprofit national environmental law firm that follows the issue. "It's discouraging because this is an easy problem to fix," she said. Ash could be recycled by using it to make concrete and at the very least should be placed in lined, state-of-the-art landfills, she said. Plant is still operating TVA's Kilgore said that chemicals in the ash are of concern, but that the situation is probably safe. The power plant is still operating, sending the ash to a larger pond on the site. "There are levels of chemicals in there that we are concerned about," Kilgore said. "We don't think there's anything immediate of danger because most of that's contained, but that's why we have sampling folks out." Officials were monitoring a water intake that serves Kingston City and is only a few miles downstream from the Kingston plant, but said no problem had been noted there as of Monday afternoon. The power producer, which oversees the Tennessee River system, had slowed river flow in the area, releasing less water from key dams, so the pollution might be better contained for possible cleanup. TVA has insurance for an event like this, spokeswoman Barbara Martucci said, but what the cleanup cost is and how much insurance will pay remains to be determined. Otherwise, ratepayers in Tennessee could bear much of the costs. TVA provides virtually all the electricity in the state, along with parts of six others. Contact Anne Paine at 615-259-8071 or apaine(a)tennessean.com. Dave Cooper The Mountaintop Removal Road Show http://www.mountainroadshow.com/ 608 Allen Ct. Lexington KY 40505 (859) 299 5669 Call for a volunteer presentation in your community!This is an informational monthly email about mountaintop removal. To unsubscribe, send a blank email to: mountaintopremovalroadshow-unsubscribe(a)lists.riseup.net Thanks!

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Energy Commitee Call Tuesday evening at 6 PM?
by Jim Sconyers 30 Dec '08

30 Dec '08

info below Jim Sconyers jim_scon(a)yahoo.com 603.969.6712 Remember: Mother Nature bats last. --- On Sun, 12/28/08, Jim Sconyers <jim_scon(a)yahoo.com> wrote: From: Jim Sconyers <jim_scon(a)yahoo.com> Subject: Re: [EC] Energy Commitee Call Tuesday evening at 6 PM? To: "James Kotcon" <jkotcon(a)wvu.edu>, EC(a)osenergy.org Cc: mdavis(a)wvu.edu Date: Sunday, December 28, 2008, 5:51 PM For conference call: Tuesday 12.30.2008, 6:00 PM Dial-in: 866-501- 6174 Enter conference code: 1005700 re hydro: seems to be a lot of interest in hydro, not just low-head; is there a definition of "low impact hydro"? Jim Sconyers jim_scon(a)yahoo.com 603.969.6712 Remember: Mother Nature bats last. From: James Kotcon <jkotcon(a)wvu.edu> To: EC(a)osenergy.org Cc: mdavis(a)wvu.edu Sent: Sunday, December 28, 2008 4:29:49 PM Subject: [EC] Energy Commitee Call Tuesday evening at 6 PM? It looks like this may be our best shot at a call. I propose Tuesday evening at 6 PM. I hope we will finish by 7 PM. Jim S., do you have the info for setting up this call? JBK Among the Agenda items needing a decision, action, assignments, and brainstorming, please be thinking about the following. let me know if you have any additional topics to be discussed. 1) PATH/TrAIL fundraising letter 2) Other PATH fundraising actions, grants, etc. 3) Proposed budget for 2009 (We have discussed the potential for hiring an organizer to do grassroots development/membership around PATH, as well as legal and technical costs of appeals.) 4) PATH New Matter Form (to be circulated soon) 5) Coal-To-Liquids plant in Mingo County 6) Carbon Capture and Sequestration at Mountaineer Plant/Mason County 7) NIETC Comments to FERC (Due Dec. 31) 8) 2009 state legislative agenda (PSC reform, Green Buildings, RPS, EEPS, etc.) 9) Energy Committee Membership (Who is interested in continuing, suggest new members, etc.) 10) Future PATH public meetings (Feb) and Sierra Club Transmission Line Legal Forum (March) 11) Marcellus Shale 12) Low Impact Hydro power? 13) More Action? _______________________________________________ EC mailing list EC(a)osenergy.org http://osenergy.org/mailman/listinfo/ec

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Energy Commitee Call Tuesday evening at 6 PM?
by James Kotcon 30 Dec '08

30 Dec '08

It looks like this may be our best shot at a call. I propose Tuesday evening at 6 PM. I hope we will finish by 7 PM. Jim S., do you have the info for setting up this call? JBK Among the Agenda items needing a decision, action, assignments, and brainstorming, please be thinking about the following. let me know if you have any additional topics to be discussed. 1) PATH/TrAIL fundraising letter 2) Other PATH fundraising actions, grants, etc. 3) Proposed budget for 2009 (We have discussed the potential for hiring an organizer to do grassroots development/membership around PATH, as well as legal and technical costs of appeals.) 4) PATH New Matter Form (to be circulated soon) 5) Coal-To-Liquids plant in Mingo County 6) Carbon Capture and Sequestration at Mountaineer Plant/Mason County 7) NIETC Comments to FERC (Due Dec. 31) 8) 2009 state legislative agenda (PSC reform, Green Buildings, RPS, EEPS, etc.) 9) Energy Committee Membership (Who is interested in continuing, suggest new members, etc.) 10) Future PATH public meetings (Feb) and Sierra Club Transmission Line Legal Forum (March) 11) Marcellus Shale 12) Low Impact Hydro power? 13) More Action?

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Re: [EC] Some more info on CO2
by James Kotcon 29 Dec '08

29 Dec '08

There is a lot of potential in algae to sequester CO2, however, in most cases, the algae is used as an oil feedstock for liquid transportation fuels. Hence this merely delays the time before the fossil carbon hits the atmosphere. The key is to use sequestration on biomass-derived fuels, then pump the sequestered CO2 back underground. Such a process produces a net reduction in atmospheric CO2. I have heard of some truly impressive rates of CO2 sequestration from algae, but the energy source is still sunlight, and that means the area needed for algae ponds to sequester all the CO2 from a coal-fired power plant would be truly huge (as in many square miles). I am not aware of any algae sequestration project that would sequester more than a tiny fraction of the CO2 from a coal-fired plant. I would like to see a lot more research in this area, but I do not see it being a commercially viable technology on the scale needed in the foreseeable future. JBK >>> Michael Price <greyhawkwv(a)verizon.net> 12/29/2008 6:32 PM >>> This site has some interesting info. mike http://peswiki.com/index.php/Directory:CO2_Sequestration

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Re: [EC] CO2/ Algae
by Michael Price 29 Dec '08

29 Dec '08

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CO2/ Algae
by Michael Price 29 Dec '08

29 Dec '08

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Getting Renewable Power to the People - the Grid
by Jim Sconyers 28 Dec '08

28 Dec '08

Grids... Jim Sconyers jim_scon(a)yahoo.com 603.969.6712 Remember: Mother Nature bats last. Getting Renewable Power to the People by David R. Baker The Southern California desert could produce a gusher of renewable energy. Strong sunlight bathes its open plains, even in winter. Powerful winds stream through its mountain passes. Fractures in the earth along the San Andreas Fault heat pools of underground water - the perfect fuel for geothermal power plants. There is, however, a problem. Most Californians don't live there. Click here to read more on our site CommonDreams.org is an Internet-based progressive news and grassroots activism organization, founded in 1997. We are a nonprofit, progressive, independent and nonpartisan organization. About Us | Donate | Contact Us| Sign-Up To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good.

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PATH New Matter Form
by James Kotcon 26 Dec '08

26 Dec '08

Attached is a draft of the PATH New Matter Form. Please mark up any comments, and we will discuss this on the Energy Committee Conference Call. It is looking like this will occur at 7 PM on either Monday or Tuesday evening, but no ideal time when everyone can be on the call has presented itself yet. JBK

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Please Respond-Energy Committee Conference Call
by James Kotcon 25 Dec '08

25 Dec '08

I would like to schedule a conference call to make plans for the 2009 Sierra Club Energy Committee Campaigns, and just realized that the Holidays are going to create scheduling conflicts for some people. Among the Agenda items needing a decision, action, assignments, and brainstorming, please be thinking about the following. let me know if you have any additional topics to be discussed. 1) PATH/TrAIL fundraising letter 2) Other PATH fundraising actions, grants, etc. 3) Proposed budget for 2009 (We have discussed the potential for hiring an organizer to do grassroots development/membership around PATH, as well as legal and technical costs of appeals.) 4) PATH New Matter Form (to be circulated soon) 5) Coal-To-Liquids plant in Mingo County 6) Carbon Capture and Sequestration at Mountaineer Plant/Mason County 7) NIETC Comments to FERC (Due Dec. 31) 8) 2009 state legislative agenda (PSC reform, Green Buildings, RPS, EEPS, etc.) 9) Energy Committee Membership (Who is interested in continuing, suggest new members, etc.) 10) Future PATH public meetings (Feb) and Sierra Club Transmission Line Legal Forum (March) 11) More Action? Please let me know which of the following times/dates you will be available: Saturday, Dec. 27, 11 AM Saturday, Dec. 27, 7 PM Sunday, Dec. 28 1 PM Sunday, Dec. 28 7 PM Monday, Dec. 29 7 PM Tuesday, Dec. 7 PM Wed. Dec. 31, 1 PM Wed. Dec. 31 6 PM Only available after Jan. 1 My apologies for any inconvenience. I really should have done this sooner, and will try to schedule this when the most people can participate. Jim Kotcon 304-293-8822 (office) 304-594-3322 (home) P.S. If you are no longer interested in working on this committee, let me know that too, and we can find replacements.

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EC December 2008