EC December 2010

ec@lists.wvsierraclub.org

9 participants
31 discussions

creative anti-ash ad
by Jim Sconyers 10 Dec '10

10 Dec '10

Now this is clever - if the stuff is so harmless, then take a few tons home! Jim Sconyers jim_scon(a)yahoo.com 304.698.9628 Remember: Mother Nature bats last. ----- Forwarded Message ---- From: Midge Sweet <sweetmidge(a)GMAIL.COM> To: COAL-COMBUSTION-WASTE(a)LISTS.SIERRACLUB.ORG Sent: Fri, December 10, 2010 2:13:53 AM Subject: Your home can be home to an extra helping of coal ash! Check out FACE's award-winning ad in the local paper, now on the Fall-line Alliance's website: http://faceenvironment.org/ -- Midge Sweet Georgians for Smart Energy Coalition 404-688-5430/w • 404-667-4476/cell www.georgiansforsmartenergy.org - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To unsubscribe from the COAL-COMBUSTION-WASTE list, send any message to: COAL-COMBUSTION-WASTE-signoff-request(a)LISTS.SIERRACLUB.ORG Check out our Listserv Lists support site for more information: http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/faq.asp Sign up to receive Sierra Club Insider, the flagship e-newsletter. Sent out twice a month, it features the Club's latest news and activities. Subscribe and view recent editions at http://www.sierraclub.org/insider/

1 0

Fwd: Newcomers Will Hold Sway in Many State Legislatures
by James Kotcon 08 Dec '10

08 Dec '10

Fascinating article. It suggests that, because so many legislators are inexperienced, lobbyists will have more influence than usual as newcomers will not know the process as well as the lobbyists do. We have our work cut out for us. JBK >>> Paula Carrell <paula.carrell(a)sierraclub.org> 12/8/2010 11:15 AM >>> --------------------------- cc:Mail Users----------------------------- ** Remember to DELETE the 'Sender: ...' lines above before REPLYing ** ---------------------------------------------------------------------- fyi http://www.governing.com/blogs/politics/newcomers-will-hold-sway-many-state… --- This message was sent by paula.carrell(a)sierraclub.org via http://addthis.com. Please note that AddThis does not verify email addresses. Make sharing easier with the AddThis Toolbar: http://www.addthis.com/go/toolbar-em ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To get off this list, send email to: LISTSERV(a)LISTS.SIERRACLUB.ORG Make the message text (not the Subject): SIGNOFF CONS-FRED

1 0

Wyoming's fed-bucking approach to environmental policy
by Paul Wilson 07 Dec '10

07 Dec '10

Info Frack forward Wyoming's fed-bucking approach to environmental policy News - From the October 01, 2010 issue of High Country News<http://www.hcn.org/issues/42.17> by Cally Carswell Document Actions <http://www.hcn.org/issues/42.17/frack-forward/image_viewer> On Sept. 15, Wyoming activated new rules requiring energy companies to identify the chemicals they inject underground to break up rocks in order to free trapped oil and gas. Critics suspect that the process -- known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking -- can contaminate groundwater. Evidence has been elusive, though, in part because drilling companies have been allowed to keep their chemical recipes largely secret. The new rules -- the nation's strictest -- were a surprisingly easy sell in Wyoming, where extractive industries almost single-handedly keep state coffers plump and exercise proportional political clout. At Democratic Gov. Dave Freudenthal's behest, the state's Oil and Gas Conservation Commission unanimously signed off on them in June. Though Halliburton protested some, most in the industry seemed unfazed. At the end of this month, the Associated Press reported that drillers even seemed "eager to comply." Anticipating similar moves by President Obama's Environmental Protection Agency, which recently increased its scrutiny of fracking, Wyoming wrote the rules as a message to the feds: Your help is not needed here. Federal "meddling" has always irked Wyoming's leaders. But under Freudenthal, the state has favored a curious strategy for fending off federal regulators: Beat them to the punch with its own cutting-edge environmental policies. In 2007, with a lawsuit pending over the U.S. Fish and Wildlife's decision not to list the greater sage grouse as endangered, Freudenthal ordered state officials, conservationists and industry reps to map the bird's vital habitat. Within those "core areas," the state has tightly restricted oil, gas and wind development, all thought to disrupt grouse breeding -- a significant improvement over the Bureau of Land Management's style of developing first and dealing with impacts later. It's not a perfect plan -- core areas are strategically penciled to exclude the best gas patches, say critics, making places like the Powder River Basin sacrifice zones. And Freudenthal has called the grouse "one of the ugliest, stupidest birds I ever knew." Still, he's willing to defend it to protect Wyoming's natural gas industry. His office estimates that a listing would subject 83 percent of gas producers to new regulations. "What we live on in this state is mineral revenues," said Freudenthal energy advisor Aaron Clark in 2009, "and we would be subjecting a lot of that to the vagaries of the Endangered Species Act." For now, the plan has kept federal regulation at bay. When the Interior Department this year again declined to protect the grouse, officials commended Wyoming's efforts. And Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has encouraged other states with sagebrush habitat to adopt the core-area model. Wyoming hopes the feds will be similarly seduced by its new fracking law, as well as pioneering rules developed over the last two years for future carbon capture and sequestration projects. Shannon Anderson, a lawyer for the Powder River Basin Resource Council, a local environmental group, calls the latter "generally good rules." But they're less cautious than similar rules drafted by the EPA, which aim to protect drinking water by considering only deep, briny aquifers as potential carbon storage sites. Wyoming's rules could allow injections in shallow geologic formations, potentially even those that overlie drinking water sources. "They were designed to beat EPA and hopefully get them to follow, rather than dictate, Wyoming's approach," Anderson says. It's encouraging to see Wyoming advance environmental regulation instead of relax it, as the previous governor did to ease coalbed methane development, and as the Bush-Cheney administration did with fracking. But local environmentalists caution that the new policies aren't necessarily evidence that Wyoming's gone green. "All these rules are baby steps in terms of what we really need to accomplish to address the impacts we have in the state," Anderson says, adding that Wyoming is in "an already compromised position." Between 2001 and 2005, sage grouse populations near coalbed methane development in the Powder River Basin declined by 82 percent. Freudenthal refuses to moderate Wyoming's anti-wolf stance, jeopardizing the state's chances to manage the animals. And requiring frackers to disclose their chemicals won't protect groundwater if drillers remain exempt from the Safe Drinking Water Act. "The idea is to get these rules in place and stop Congress from passing (comprehensive legislation), which would actually protect public health and safety," Anderson says. Imperfect as it may be, Wyoming's breakaway approach to environmental regulation is gaining favor among some surprising constituencies. Last month, Cathy Woollums, an executive of MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co., a coal-reliant utility behemoth, came to the Wyoming Legislature with an unexpected request: Regulate greenhouse gases. Congressional inaction is creating too much uncertainty in the utility business, she said. And, in any case, MidAmerican would rather answer to Wyoming than the EPA. -- Paul Wilson Sierra Club 504 Jefferson Ave Charles Town, WV 25414-1130 Phone: 304-725-4360 Cell: 304-279-1361 "There is no forward until you have gone back" ~Buddha "In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous" ~ Aristotle

3 2

Re: [EC] Wyoming's fed-bucking approach to environmental policy
by DSGJr＠aol.com 07 Dec '10

07 Dec '10

Both bills being proposed for regulating Marcellus shale drilling in WV -- the DEP bill and the Judiciary Subcommittee A bill -- require the listing of frac fluid contents. don garvin In a message dated 12/7/2010 10:05:18 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, fyoung(a)mountain.net writes: Thanks, Paul. Would that WV's leaders be as pro-active. Doing the "right things"- even for the wrong reason- is better than the "sue the feds" approach West Virginia takes to natural resource extraction regulation. Frank Young ----- Original Message ----- From: _Paul Wilson_ (mailto:pjgrunt@gmail.com) To: _WV Chapter Energy Committee_ (mailto:EC@osenergy.org) Sent: Wednesday, October 13, 2010 10:20 AM Subject: [EC] Wyoming's fed-bucking approach to environmental policy Info Frack forward Wyoming's fed-bucking approach to environmental policy News - _From the October 01, 2010 issue of High Country News_ (http://www.hcn.org/issues/42.17) by Cally Carswell Document Actions (http://www.hcn.org/issues/42.17/frack-forward/image_viewer) On Sept. 15, Wyoming activated new rules requiring energy companies to identify the chemicals they inject underground to break up rocks in order to free trapped oil and gas. Critics suspect that the process -- known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking -- can contaminate groundwater. Evidence has been elusive, though, in part because drilling companies have been allowed to keep their chemical recipes largely secret. The new rules -- the nation's strictest -- were a surprisingly easy sell in Wyoming, where extractive industries almost single-handedly keep state coffers plump and exercise proportional political clout. At Democratic Gov. Dave Freudenthal's behest, the state's Oil and Gas Conservation Commission unanimously signed off on them in June. Though Halliburton protested some, most in the industry seemed unfazed. At the end of this month, the Associated Press reported that drillers even seemed "eager to comply." Anticipating similar moves by President Obama's Environmental Protection Agency, which recently increased its scrutiny of fracking, Wyoming wrote the rules as a message to the feds: Your help is not needed here. Federal "meddling" has always irked Wyoming's leaders. But under Freudenthal, the state has favored a curious strategy for fending off federal regulators: Beat them to the punch with its own cutting-edge environmental policies. In 2007, with a lawsuit pending over the U.S. Fish and Wildlife's decision not to list the greater sage grouse as endangered, Freudenthal ordered state officials, conservationists and industry reps to map the bird's vital habitat. Within those "core areas," the state has tightly restricted oil, gas and wind development, all thought to disrupt grouse breeding -- a significant improvement over the Bureau of Land Management's style of developing first and dealing with impacts later. It's not a perfect plan -- core areas are strategically penciled to exclude the best gas patches, say critics, making places like the Powder River Basin sacrifice zones. And Freudenthal has called the grouse "one of the ugliest, stupidest birds I ever knew." Still, he's willing to defend it to protect Wyoming's natural gas industry. His office estimates that a listing would subject 83 percent of gas producers to new regulations. "What we live on in this state is mineral revenues," said Freudenthal energy advisor Aaron Clark in 2009, "and we would be subjecting a lot of that to the vagaries of the Endangered Species Act." For now, the plan has kept federal regulation at bay. When the Interior Department this year again declined to protect the grouse, officials commended Wyoming's efforts. And Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has encouraged other states with sagebrush habitat to adopt the core-area model. Wyoming hopes the feds will be similarly seduced by its new fracking law, as well as pioneering rules developed over the last two years for future carbon capture and sequestration projects. Shannon Anderson, a lawyer for the Powder River Basin Resource Council, a local environmental group, calls the latter "generally good rules." But they're less cautious than similar rules drafted by the EPA, which aim to protect drinking water by considering only deep, briny aquifers as potential carbon storage sites. Wyoming's rules could allow injections in shallow geologic formations, potentially even those that overlie drinking water sources. "They were designed to beat EPA and hopefully get them to follow, rather than dictate, Wyoming's approach," Anderson says. It's encouraging to see Wyoming advance environmental regulation instead of relax it, as the previous governor did to ease coalbed methane development, and as the Bush-Cheney administration did with fracking. But local environmentalists caution that the new policies aren't necessarily evidence that Wyoming's gone green. "All these rules are baby steps in terms of what we really need to accomplish to address the impacts we have in the state," Anderson says, adding that Wyoming is in "an already compromised position." Between 2001 and 2005, sage grouse populations near coalbed methane development in the Powder River Basin declined by 82 percent. Freudenthal refuses to moderate Wyoming's anti-wolf stance, jeopardizing the state's chances to manage the animals. And requiring frackers to disclose their chemicals won't protect groundwater if drillers remain exempt from the Safe Drinking Water Act. "The idea is to get these rules in place and stop Congress from passing (comprehensive legislation), which would actually protect public health and safety," Anderson says. Imperfect as it may be, Wyoming's breakaway approach to environmental regulation is gaining favor among some surprising constituencies. Last month, Cathy Woollums, an executive of MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co., a coal-reliant utility behemoth, came to the Wyoming Legislature with an unexpected request: Regulate greenhouse gases. Congressional inaction is creating too much uncertainty in the utility business, she said. And, in any case, MidAmerican would rather answer to Wyoming than the EPA. -- Paul Wilson Sierra Club 504 Jefferson Ave Charles Town, WV 25414-1130 Phone: 304-725-4360 Cell: 304-279-1361 "There is no forward until you have gone back" ~Buddha "In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous" ~ Aristotle ____________________________________ _______________________________________________ EC mailing list EC(a)osenergy.org http://osenergy.org/mailman/listinfo/ec

1 0

Fw: [WVHCBOARD] Fwd: [wvpanhandlenaturalists] (PVAS) INTRODUCTION TO MARCELLUS SHALE GAS DRILLING
by Frank Young 06 Dec '10

06 Dec '10

Jim and all- FYI. I am sending this mostly to add to the picture of how many groups are concentrating on this. Like the Eveready Bunny, It just keeps growing and growing and growing .................... :-) Frank -------------------------------------------------------- From: WVHCBOARD(a)yahoogroups.com [mailto:WVHCBOARD@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Cynthia D. Ellis Sent: Monday, December 06, 2010 6:28 PM To: West Virginia Highlands Conservancy Subject: [WVHCBOARD] Fwd: [wvpanhandlenaturalists] (PVAS) INTRODUCTION TO MARCELLUS SHALE GAS DRILLING ------ Forwarded message ---------- From: Kathy Bilton <kathy(a)fred.net> Date: Mon, Dec 6, 2010 at 6:19 PM Subject: [wvpanhandlenaturalists] (PVAS) INTRODUCTION TO MARCELLUS SHALE GAS DRILLING To: Potomac Valley Audubon <info(a)potomacaudubon.org> INTRODUCTION TO MARCELLUS SHALE GAS DRILLING The Sleepy Creek Watershed Association invites PVAS members and friends to the SCWA Semi-Annual General Membership Meeting on December 9, 2010 to hear a presentation on the extraction of natural gas from Marcellus Shale and its impacts on our land and water. John M. S. King, Environmental Resource Analyst for the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, will offer a community education session on the subject to include its benefits and drawbacks at 7 p.m. at the Morgan County Board of Education at 247 Harrison Street. Although there has been natural gas drilling in West Virginia and neighboring states for years, Marcellus Shale extraction relies on new technologies that pose significant and numerous threats to water quantity and quality. Volunteer monitoring groups in the state are calling for strong government regulation to guide the industry. Leasing land for drilling can be lucrative for landowners who receive both signing bonuses and royalties, but these drilling activities use huge amounts of water and numerous dangerous chemicals. The drilling issue is causing divisiveness in communities as some landowners refuse to sign leases because of their concerns about environmental damage. Join SCWA to learn about the issue before it presents itself in Morgan County. All members are urged to attend, and the public is welcome. There will be a short business meeting before the program to elect officers. Refreshments will be served. For more information, call Gale Foulds at 304 258 6155. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wvpanhandlenaturalists/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wvpanhandlenaturalists/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: wvpanhandlenaturalists-digest(a)yahoogroups.com wvpanhandlenaturalists-fullfeatured(a)yahoogroups.com <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: wvpanhandlenaturalists-unsubscribe(a)yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ -- Cynthia D. Ellis RR 1 Box 163 Red House, WV 25168 304 586-4135 cdellis(a)wildblue.net How did it get so late so soon? It's night before it's afternoon. December is here before it's June. My goodness how the time has flewn. How did it get so late so soon? Dr. Seuss -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 10.0.1170 / Virus Database: 426/3300 - Release Date: 12/06/10 __._,_.___ Reply to sender | Reply to group | Reply via web post | Start a New Topic Messages in this topic (2) Recent Activity: Visit Your Group Working since 1967 for the conservation and wise management of West Virginia's natural resources MARKETPLACE Stay on top of your group activity without leaving the page you're on - Get the Yahoo! Toolbar now. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hobbies & Activities Zone: Find others who share your passions! Explore new interests. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Get great advice about dogs and cats. Visit the Dog & Cat Answers Center. Switch to: Text-Only, Daily Digest . Unsubscribe . Terms of Use. __,_._,___

1 0

CONFIDENTIAL: Beyond Coal Campaign Plan for 2011
by James Kotcon 06 Dec '10

06 Dec '10

PLEASE DO NOT FORWARD THIS BEYOND THE ENERGY COMMITTEE. I was just on a conference call with Club leaders regarding the details of the Beyond Coal Campaign Plan for the Northeast in 2011. Of 78 actions/issues in the NE, 12 are in WV. These include our priority campaigns such as PATH and the Mingo CTL, as well MTR, and the WVU SSC's goals for the Presidents Climate Commitment. They have added some plans to push for closures of old dirty plants such as Phil Sporn, and others, and the goal is to get the PSC to approve plans by the end of 2011 to shut them down at some not-to-distant time in the future. There will also be a significantly larger push for alternative energy, as well as efficiency, than in the past. I asked about the Club's position on the CCS facility at the Mountaineer plant, but forgot to ask about coal ash as a separate set of targets. What else do we want the Club to do in WV? Is this realistic as a "work plan"? I was interested to see how many states have a "Beyond Coal" organizer, which West Virginia does not. We do have the Marcellus organizer, and I am curious if we can get that renewed, or get some longer-term resources. At the same time, there will be a continuing emphasis on legal and technical issues, so we need to recognize how much the Club is already doing in WV. Whaddya Think? Jim Kotcon

2 1

Fw: Dispute in Pennsylvania Town Highlights EPA's Coal Ash Dilemma
by Jim Sconyers 06 Dec '10

06 Dec '10

Jim Sconyers jim_scon(a)yahoo.com 304.698.9628 Remember: Mother Nature bats last. ----- Forwarded Message ---- From: Lisa Graves-Marcucci <lgmarcucci(a)ENVIRONMENTALINTEGRITY.ORG> To: COAL-COMBUSTION-WASTE(a)LISTS.SIERRACLUB.ORG Sent: Mon, December 6, 2010 9:33:35 AM Subject: Dispute in Pennsylvania Town Highlights EPA's Coal Ash Dilemma This story, published by the Center for Public Integrity, highlights some of my western PA colleagues and the dangers plaguing their small community. Dispute in Pennsylvania Town Highlights EPA's Coal Ash Dilemma:http://www.publicintegrity.org/blog/entry/2735/ Best, LGM -- Lisa Graves Marcucci Environmental Integrity Project PA Coordinator, Community Outreach lgmarcucci(a)environmentalintegrity.org 412-897-0569 (cell) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To unsubscribe from the COAL-COMBUSTION-WASTE list, send any message to: COAL-COMBUSTION-WASTE-signoff-request(a)LISTS.SIERRACLUB.ORG Check out our Listserv Lists support site for more information: http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/faq.asp Sign up to receive Sierra Club Insider, the flagship e-newsletter. Sent out twice a month, it features the Club's latest news and activities. Subscribe and view recent editions at http://www.sierraclub.org/insider/

1 0

Fw: Massey's Blankenship to retire Dec. 31
by Frank Young 03 Dec '10

03 Dec '10

Early Christmas Present! fyoung(a)mountain.net sent you this article ----- December 3, 2010 Massey's Blankenship to retire Dec. 31 By Ken Ward Jr. The Charleston Gazette P> Read the news release CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Don Blankenship, the outspoken and controversial CEO of Ma ... Read more -----

1 0

Fw: BIO FUELS TAKE WINGS..."Hamburg with Vegetable Oil"
by Jim Sconyers 03 Dec '10

03 Dec '10

Jim Sconyers jim_scon(a)yahoo.com 304.698.9628 Remember: Mother Nature bats last. ----- Forwarded Message ---- From: Allan Tweddle <atweddle(a)compositetranstech.com> To: Janet Keating <ohvec(a)ezwv.com>; Vivian Stockman <vivian(a)ohvec.org>; Julian Martin <martinjul(a)aol.com>; Frank YOUNG <fyoung(a)mountain.net>; Jim Haught <haught(a)wvgazette.com> Cc: Debbie.Boger(a)sierraclub.org; Don GARVIN <dsgjr(a)aol.com>; Mark Bettinger <mark.bettinger(a)sierraclub.org> Sent: Fri, December 3, 2010 12:21:43 PM Subject: [EC] BIO FUELS TAKE WINGS..."Hamburg with Vegetable Oil" Colleagues and Friends of the Earth: As many of you know, I have with a team of colleagues, with energy and enthusiasm, and with mostly West Virginia Angel investors, established a new manufacturing Company here in West Virginia. We are cautiously optimistic that we will, upon completion of our development work, and implementation of a full manufacturing plant, begin to offer to equip the airlines of the world with a system that will reduce the carbon footprint of every plane that deploys our system...and save them operating expense while doing so. The scientific talents of the Touchstone Research Laboratories in Wheeling have been our partners in this leading edge work. As our market is the airlines of the world, in particular the cargo planes, we track the business trends and progress through appropriate trade publications, in this case Air Cargo World. www.aircargoworld@ubmaviation.com In the most recent 12/3/2010 on line issue, is an exciting development is reported that in which any and all who are concerned about Global Warming should see encouragement, progress and hope. And it is ironic, that Nazi Germany, the country that out of desperation in isolation of WW II, gave us that environmentally horrific process known as “Fischer Trope” process for converting Coals to Liquid*. The Germans of today have now shown us a sustainable and renewable approach to a jet fuel...using vegetable oil! And while other airlines have experimented with bio-fuel mixes, Lufthansa seems to be the first airline to put the fuel into daily flights. *(Today, the largest plant on the planet using the Fischer Trope process is in Segundo South Africa. The Minister for the Environment for the Government of South Africa stated a few months ago that that plant is the largest single source of greenhouse gasses on the planet! Downstream life threatening carcinogenic and cardiac health conditions are among the worst on the planet! And our West Virginia politicians want to use an "improved" version of this process???) Here’s the article...I thought your readership and members might enjoy reading it...and know that there are some entrepreneurs and industries that are earnestly and profitably, trying to use renewable energy sources to slow, stop and reverse global warming while too many others are wasting time, energy and our money trying to preserve the Neanderthal sources of energy that are causing global warming. Of course, in fact, they are driven by established EU requirements to reduce their carbon footprint with specific time frame and levels, so in spite of our Congressional foot-dragging, and irresponsible attacks on the EPA, Europe is ahead of us in mandating a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Enjoy in good health and happy holidays Allan Hamburg linked with vegetable oil 01/12/2010 4:43 pm Lufthansa will operate daily A321 flights next year between Hamburg and Frankfurt using a biofuel blend made from 50 percent hydro-treated vegetable oil. The flights will begin in April 2011 for six months as part of the "Burn Fair" project to study the long term impact of sustainable bio-fuels on aircraft performance. When burned, the fuel made from the biomass material emits the CO2 it naturally absorbs when it grows, thereby helping neutralize overall CO2 emissions. The biofuel is being provided by Finland-based Neste Oil and comes from sustainable sources to ensure the bio-feedstock does not compete for food, water nor land. Neste Oil is a member of RSB (Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels) and RSPO (Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil). “We see great opportunities in the use of bio-synthetic kerosene. But we are first gathering experience with it in daily practice. Indeed, Lufthansa is the world’s first airline to utilize biofuel in flight operations. This is a further consistent step in the sustainability strategy, which Lufthansa has for years been successfully pursuing,” said Wolfgang Mayrhuber, Lufthansa CEO. “Daily biofuel flights are a significant step forward in our pursuit of a sustainable future for aviation. Airbus is bringing together feedstock producers, fuel refiners and airlines, and with today’s announcement, we have taken yet another step towards making this real,” added Tom Enders, Airbus president and CEO. Last October, an Airbus aircraft operated the first commercial flight of 50 percent blended Gas-to-Liquid (GTL), and in February 2008, an A380 aircraft successfully completed the world’s first ever flight by a commercial aircraft using GTL. Now the manufacturer is launching engine options for a new version of the A320 — the A320neo — with either a LEAP-X engine by CFM International or a PurePower PW1100G engine by Pratt & Whitney. According to Airbus, the new engines are quieter, boast lower operating costs and will reduce fuel consumption by 15 percent. "Finding the necessary resources for the A320neo wasn't exactly a walk in the park,” explained Enders. “The enabler was to devise a stringent phasing of critical engineering assets throughout our various development programs and to optimize the management and organization of all our programs and R&T projects. Our international engineering centers, suppliers and partners play a big role in this.” Airbus officials forecast the market for A320neo-equipped aircraft expanding to 4,000 during the next 15 years. _______________________________________________ EC mailing list EC(a)osenergy.org http://osenergy.org/mailman/listinfo/ec

1 0

BIO FUELS TAKE WINGS..."Hamburg with Vegetable Oil"
by Allan Tweddle 03 Dec '10

03 Dec '10

Colleagues and Friends of the Earth: As many of you know, I have with a team of colleagues, with energy and enthusiasm, and with mostly West Virginia Angel investors, established a new manufacturing Company here in West Virginia. We are cautiously optimistic that we will, upon completion of our development work, and implementation of a full manufacturing plant, begin to offer to equip the airlines of the world with a system that will reduce the carbon footprint of every plane that deploys our system...and save them operating expense while doing so. The scientific talents of the Touchstone Research Laboratories in Wheeling have been our partners in this leading edge work. As our market is the airlines of the world, in particular the cargo planes, we track the business trends and progress through appropriate trade publications, in this case Air Cargo World. www.aircargoworld@ubmaviation.com In the most recent 12/3/2010 on line issue, is an exciting development is reported that in which any and all who are concerned about Global Warming should see encouragement, progress and hope. And it is ironic, that Nazi Germany, the country that out of desperation in isolation of WW II, gave us that environmentally horrific process known as "Fischer Trope" process for converting Coals to Liquid*. The Germans of today have now shown us a sustainable and renewable approach to a jet fuel...using vegetable oil! And while other airlines have experimented with bio-fuel mixes, Lufthansa seems to be the first airline to put the fuel into daily flights. *(Today, the largest plant on the planet using the Fischer Trope process is in Segundo South Africa. The Minister for the Environment for the Government of South Africa stated a few months ago that that plant is the largest single source of greenhouse gasses on the planet! Downstream life threatening carcinogenic and cardiac health conditions are among the worst on the planet! And our West Virginia politicians want to use an "improved" version of this process???) Here's the article...I thought your readership and members might enjoy reading it...and know that there are some entrepreneurs and industries that are earnestly and profitably, trying to use renewable energy sources to slow, stop and reverse global warming while too many others are wasting time, energy and our money trying to preserve the Neanderthal sources of energy that are causing global warming. Of course, in fact, they are driven by established EU requirements to reduce their carbon footprint with specific time frame and levels, so in spite of our Congressional foot-dragging, and irresponsible attacks on the EPA, Europe is ahead of us in mandating a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Enjoy in good health and happy holidays Allan Hamburg linked with vegetable oil 01/12/2010 4:43 pm Lufthansa will operate daily A321 flights next year between Hamburg and Frankfurt using a biofuel blend made from 50 percent hydro-treated vegetable oil. The flights will begin in April 2011 for six months as part of the "Burn Fair" project to study the long term impact of sustainable bio-fuels on aircraft performance. When burned, the fuel made from the biomass material emits the CO2 it naturally absorbs when it grows, thereby helping neutralize overall CO2 emissions. The biofuel is being provided by Finland-based Neste Oil and comes from sustainable sources to ensure the bio-feedstock does not compete for food, water nor land. Neste Oil is a member of RSB (Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels) and RSPO (Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil). "We see great opportunities in the use of bio-synthetic kerosene. But we are first gathering experience with it in daily practice. Indeed, Lufthansa is the world's first airline to utilize biofuel in flight operations. This is a further consistent step in the sustainability strategy, which Lufthansa has for years been successfully pursuing," said Wolfgang Mayrhuber, Lufthansa CEO. "Daily biofuel flights are a significant step forward in our pursuit of a sustainable future for aviation. Airbus is bringing together feedstock producers, fuel refiners and airlines, and with today's announcement, we have taken yet another step towards making this real," added Tom Enders, Airbus president and CEO. Last October, an Airbus aircraft operated the first commercial flight of 50 percent blended Gas-to-Liquid (GTL), and in February 2008, an A380 aircraft successfully completed the world's first ever flight by a commercial aircraft using GTL. Now the manufacturer is launching engine options for a new version of the A320 - the A320neo - with either a LEAP-X engine by CFM International or a PurePower PW1100G engine by Pratt & Whitney. According to Airbus, the new engines are quieter, boast lower operating costs and will reduce fuel consumption by 15 percent. "Finding the necessary resources for the A320neo wasn't exactly a walk in the park," explained Enders. "The enabler was to devise a stringent phasing of critical engineering assets throughout our various development programs and to optimize the management and organization of all our programs and R&T projects. Our international engineering centers, suppliers and partners play a big role in this." Airbus officials forecast the market for A320neo-equipped aircraft expanding to 4,000 during the next 15 years.

1 0

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

EC December 2010