Showing posts with label environment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label environment. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

[380] Notas de la Sabatica a Medios Sociales

Si parezco perdido es porque lo estoy.  Ya ni tengo tiempo de contestar los comentarios que me remiten.  Si leo los articulos que me refieren pero no los sigo reportando por el tiempo.  Tengo un almacen de links interesantes que luego ire incorporando aqui.  Por ahora les dejo par de notas discutiendo algunos temas recientes.
[1] El Ridiculo Boicot a Univision
Previamente habia mencionado de la pagina de lindsey olivares y sus gallos y gallinas.  Recuerdo esto recordando el estupido boicot que le tienen a Univision.  Estupido porque se pasan quejando de como estos medios no representan a los boricuas pero ni se pierden las novelas, ni los chismes, ni los regionalismos mejicanos.  En vez de apagar el televisor o hacer otra cosa, los siguen auspiciando.  Mentes de colonizados definitivamente...
[2] Entre Nutrientes y Cañerias
En otros asuntos he estado sumamente atareado estos dias por ende no he podido actualizar mi pagina y apenas puedo accesar los medios sociales.  Entre otras cosas tengo par de asuntos relacionados con permisos de pretratamiento de la AAA, he estado finalizando detalles de nuestro diseño de la regional de Dorado y ahora le sumamos las mejoras tecnicas que proponemos en Aibonito.  He estado mirando sumideros y viendo aguaceros en el norte y a su vez estudiando cañerias en el sur...
 
En mi reunion mas reciente resucito este tema:
Parcharesa planta en Aibonito para cumplir con el estandar viejo esta costando en terminos de equipo unos $2.3 millones y un gasto de $140K en metanol nada mas.  Nos preguntaron por los nuevos estandares y dijimos que habia que demoler todo lo viejo para poner un sistema mucho mas complejo para llegar a las trazas de nitrogeno y fosforo que piden en el nuevo reglamento.

[3] Perdido en el Ciberespacio
Claro esta, sigo rogando poder llegar a un estado de normalidad.  Si no fuese por el cambia cambia de las prioridades estaria mas tranquilo.  No todo ha sido trabajo tambien me he puesto al dia con las series.  En algunas series ya he salido de lo que presentan Hulu y Netflix y he tenido que buscar alternas.  Tambien he seguido alguna que otra serie pero trato de no seguir todas a la vez porque toma tiempo.  Por ejemplo siempre me gustan ver peliculas extranjeras asi que me alegre que el Hulu incluya Crtierion Collection en su set.  Tambien tiene unas cuantas series viejas.

 
[4] Wings of Desire Redux
En otros temas finalmente logre ver Wings of Desire, la pelicula que habia mencionado aqui:
La pelicula es magistral desde el uso del color y el ingenio que usaron para representar como los angeles oian todas las comunicaciones de los humanos sin poder intervenir directamente.  Sin embargo aun no he visto su segunda parte Faraway So Close, que fue la que me llamo la atencion originalmente por las canciones de nick cave y de U2.  Esa la reseñaron mal, pero aun asi tengo interes en verla despues.
 
[5] Rene de Cramer
Tambien quiero seguir dibujando pero el tiempo realmente no me da.  Lo ultimo que hice, en medio de una clase de confirmacion de mi hijo y mi sobrina, fue hacer este 18x26 de San Pedro y San Pablo.  La imagen de referencia esta debajo.  No era con la idea que fuese exacto, fue para no perder la practica y aprovechar el uso de una pluma de brocha que compre hace par de meses atras.



Sobre la ficha de referencia.  Me gustan mucho las composiciones que he encontrado en viejos misales europeos.  Este en particular esta acreditado a un tal Rene de Cramer, un sacerdote belga que ilustraba a principios del siglo pasado.  Lastima que casi no aparezca nada sobre su vida en linea.  Inclui algunos links de lo que he encontrado hasta ahora.
 
Bueno el deber llama, solo queria poner una nota demostrando mi existencia...

Monday, August 13, 2012

[285] The Big Green - Especulando con el Carbono

El buzzword es sustentabilidad.  El lenguaje es reducir las emisiones de Carbono.  Guardar un futuro verde para nuestros ni/nos.  Hell!  Hasta mi compa/nia esta involucrada en esto.  Pero hacer todo un mercado especulativo basado en toneladas equivalentes de carbono es la solucion?  No es tan simple, y es un asunto altamente debatido como presento en los links debajo:



Ese debate ha intensificado en las Olimpiadas de Londres del 2012, una de las primeras en incorporar todo este juego de LEED certifications, reduccion de huellas de carbono y el carbon offsetting voluntario de la gente que viajo a los juegos.

Si se fijan esto va mucho mas alla de los bistromatics locales sobre cuanto cuesta una medalla o cuanto debe invertirse en nuestros atletas.  Tampoco es si se esta mejor celebrando las medallas de la Gran Nacion o si nos conformamos con ser chiquitos pero con mi Nacion, sin pitiyanquis.

http://hitchhikers.wikia.com/wiki/Bistromatics
Numbers written on restaurant checks within the confines of restaurants do not follow the same mathematical laws as numbers written on any other pieces of paper in any other parts of the Universe. This single statement took the scientific world by storm. It completely revolutionized it. So many mathematical conferences got held in such good restaurants that many of the finest minds of a generation died of obesity and heart failure and the science of math was put back by years. Slowly, however, the implications of the idea began to be understood. to begin with it had been too stark, too crazy, too much like what the man in the street would have said "Oh, yes, I could have told you that."

http://www.primerahora.com/loquecuestaunatletaolimpico-676273.html
Es estupido cuestionar la inversion que se hace en las federaciones de deporte en la Isla cuando se derrocha infinidad de dinero en trivialidades y cosas banales.  Acaso se hizo un estudio viable de cuanto se subsidio para traer a la furia roja o a yanni a la Isla?

El deporte es necesario en la Isla...sin embargo seguimos recortando los programas.

De nuevo al tema.  Londres 2012 fue dise/nado desde sus inicios con la sustentabilidad en mente.  Y lograron buenos numeros y buena publicidad para los auspiciadores.  Ejemplos:

http://www.environmentalleader.com/2012/04/27/london-olympics-slash-co2-footprint-by-21/
The event’s carbon footprint is now projected to be the equivalent of 315,000 metric tons of CO2, down 21 percent from the 400,000 metric tons estimated in March, according to a report released by the London Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games, seen by Businessweek.

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-04-26/london-olympics-carbon-footprint-is-20-percent-lower-as-venue-sizes-cut
London pledged to put sustainability at the heart of the games when it won the bid to host the Olympics seven years ago. While the organizers have met targets for waste recycling and reuse, they’ve struggled to achieve goals for renewable-energy output and power consumption, and in 2009 ended a plan to offset emissions from the games by investing in clean energy abroad.
The bulk of the emission reductions detailed in today’s report stem from a decision to rent temporary seating, barriers and other infrastructure rather than buy them new. The organizers also cut 90,000 square meters (969,000 square feet) of floor space in venues, saving 15,000 tons of CO2, they said.
Energy use in venues “proved to be particularly challenging,” the committee said in the report. “London 2012 has managed to find alternative solutions that ultimately are leading to better outcomes in terms of carbon reductions, even if not by the original means envisaged.”

Waste Targets

The Olympic Delivery Authority, responsible for building the venues, reused or recycled more than 98 percent of the waste from demolishing warehouses and other structures already on the games site, beating a 90 percent target. About 99 percent of the waste created when building the venues was reused or recycled.
The Olympic Park will get about 11 percent of its energy from renewable sources including solar panels, biomass boilers and small wind turbines, the committee said. The original 20 percent target was stymied in 2010 when organizers canceled plans for a 2-megawatt wind turbine at the site.


Suena bonito, pero se trae el problema del Carbon Offsetting.  Contamino aqui y te pago una mitigacion para restaurar en otro lado.  No busca reducir o eliminar mis emisiones.
http://www.actionsustainability.com/news/174/2012-Olympics-a-mixed-record-so-far-on-environmental-issues/
Since no industrial operation can ever be entirely emissions-free, the term is largely synonymous with carbon offsetting - when an organisation funds an environmental scheme, generally in a developing nation, to counteract the emissions resulting from its operations. Over the past few years, however, offsetting has attracted a growing number of critics who say that pay-to-pollute schemes have little real impact on emissions levels and fail to discourage rich nations from cleaning up their acts.

"Offsetting is a false solution," says Robin Webster of environmental lobby group Friends of the Earth. "The focus needs to be on emissions reduction, both in the UK and abroad, rather than playing one country off another." Such criticisms have spurred demand for certified offsets, which demonstrate that real emissions reductions have taken place. One of the most widely recognised certification is the Gold Standard.
Mas transfondo del tema aqui:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_neutrality

Los criticos del sistema dicen que hacer la energia verde un mercado especulativo donde se canjean toneladas de carbono es una receta de corrupcion:
http://www.iatp.org/documents/the-hype-versus-the-reality-of-carbon-markets-and-land-based-offsets-lessons-for-the-new-a

http://wattsupwiththat.com/2012/06/15/green-grabs-the-dark-side-of-the-green-economy/
‘Green grabbing’ – the rapidly-growing appropriation of land and resources in the name of ‘green ‘ biofuels, carbon offsetting schemes, conservation efforts and eco-tourism initiatives – is forcing people from their homelands and increasing poverty, new research has found.

Ecosystems being ‘asset-stripped’ for profit is likely to cause dispossession and further poverty amongst already-poor land and resource users, according to a set of 17 new research case studies from Africa, Asia and Latin America, published in a special issue of the Journal of Peasant Studies.
“Green grabs are the dark side of the green economy,” said Professor Melissa Leach, director of the ESRC STEPS Centre. “If market-based mechanisms are to contribute to sustainable development and the building of economies that are not only green but also fair, then fostering an agenda focused on distribution, equity and justice in green market arrangements is vital.”
This means including meaningful local engagement and consultation based on transparency, accountability and free, prior informed consent. Yet green markets cannot do it all. In the rush to repair a damaged nature through trading and offset schemes, the political-economic structures that caused the damage in the first place must not be neglected.

http://junkscience.com/tag/carbon-scam/

http://www.fsa.gov.uk/consumerinformation/scamsandswindles/investment_scams/carbon_credit
We continue to receive many reports from people who have been approached by firms promoting carbon credits in the UK. Find out why you should be wary about investing in the carbon credit market.
Carbon credits can be sold and traded legitimately and there are many reputable firms operating in the sector.
However, we are concerned that an increasing number of firms are using dubious, high-pressure sales tactics and targeting vulnerable consumers.
A carbon credit is a certificate or permit which represents the right to emit one tonne of carbon dioxide (CO2) and they can be traded for money.
There are two categories of carbon credits: voluntary emission reductions (VERs) and certified emission reductions (CERs). We believe VERs certificates are increasingly being offered to UK investors.
You can find out more about the different types of carbon credits and how the market developed in information we published in 2011.

How it works

Investors are usually called out of the blue by salespeople promoting carbon credits, but contact can also come by email, post, word of mouth or at a seminar or exhibition.
You may be offered carbon credit certificates, or an opportunity to invest directly in a ’green‘ scheme or project that generates carbon credits as a return on your investment.
The caller may claim carbon credits are ‘the new big thing’ in commodity trading, industries now have to off-set their emissions, the government is focusing on green developments or that it is an ever growing market.
You could lose money on your investment by not being able to sell, or at least get a competitive rate, when trading a small volume of carbon credits.

http://hotair.com/greenroom/archives/2012/08/05/big-carbon/
http://jcwinnie.biz/wordpress/?p=5958


Interesante lectura:
http://carbonomics.net/MCtfirm/10tf09/10tf09a.html
THE GREAT CARBON EMISSIONS FRAUD.
THE GREEN MOVEMENT'S
OPPOSITION TO REFORESTATION:
PART TWO.

Foto de:


Pero mi compa/nia si trabajo en la calculadora de emisiones.  Muy interesante el desarrollo del tema.  Algo aqui:
http://www.erm.com/News-Events/News/Developing-a-carbon-offset-calculator-for-BP-and-Olympics-2012/
ERM has helped to develop a carbon offset calculator for BP and the London Olympics 2012 in addition to calculating the carbon footprint of some of the UK’s leading athletes.
ERM is playing its part in supporting carbon neutral travel to and from the 2012 Olympics following a high profile project for BP’s not-for-profit carbon offsetting scheme BP Target Neutral*.
We have worked with BP to develop the Olympics’ Spectators journey emissions calculator for BP Target Neutral. This work is part of BP’s Olympic 2012 sponsorship.
The calculator aims to create awareness of the environmental impact of journeys, and invites ticketholders to sign up to have their travel carbon footprint offset at no cost to themselves. You can access the calculator at: http://www.bptargetneutral.com

Pueden correr la calculadora desde la pagina de BP:
http://www.bptargetneutral.com/

En fin, el modelo deberia seguirse para ir mejorando las cosas y crear conciencia.  Estoy de acuerdo que estos grandes eventos tienen un gigantesco impacto ambiental.  Lo que haria sentido es que esos sitios, estadios y sistemas quedasen funcionando.  Como nuestra Villa Panamericana (la implotamos), o todos nuestros estadios deportivos que pasan al olvido luego de cumplir su funcion.

Asi que como veremos estos esquemas de aqui a cinco a/nos...como una solucion verde o como una nueva excusa para pillaje y corrupcion?  Me duele admitirlo pero creo que la segunda...

Thursday, April 19, 2012

[259] Mutaciones a Gran Escala en el Golfo de Mexico

Continuo en churn mode, pero simplemente tenia que sacar unos minutos para exponer este articulo de Al Jazerra que destaca el incremento en defectos congenitos en las especies pescadas del Golfo de Mejico. El golfo tenia problemas ya con las mareas rojas, previo al incidente de BP.

Mas aun, el fondo marino del golfo no es nada estable y tiene muchos liqueos de aceite.

Inclusive, los millones de galones de dispersantes como Corexit aplicados para esconder el derrame, llevandolo al fondo del mal pudiese estar teniendo un serio efecto detrimental a la cadena alimenticia global.

Sin mas preambulos, el articulo de Al Jazerra:
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2012/04/201241682318260912.html#.T443X1M7VtQ.facebook

y el video...


En temas relacionados les incluyo links debajo:
http://boingboing.net/2012/04/18/gulf-seafood-horribly-deform.html
http://www.healthcarejournalno.com/the-journal/hjno-contents-index/features/356-sticky-subject
http://water-is-life.blogspot.com/2012/04/gulf-deformities-alarm-scientists.html

Sobre BP y la fragilidad ecologica del Golfo de Mexico:
http://real-agenda.com/tag/gulf-of-mexico/

Sobre la aplicacion excesiva de dispersantes quimicos como Corexit:
http://www.rense.com/general91/corexit.htm
http://aem.asm.org/content/65/4/1658.full
http://www.mmshealthyforlife.com/?tag=warm-surface-waters
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/06/22/us-government-allowed-gulf-oil-spill-to-happen.aspx

Publicacion estudiantil sobre el tema:
http://www.ithaca.edu/hs/depts/envstudies/docs/studentpubs/gulfoilspillmag.pdf

He mencionado del golfo en varias ocasiones, les inluyo backlinks por aqui:
http://alcantarillaalquimica.blogspot.com/2010/05/la-marea-roja-que-nos-arropa-todos.html
http://alcantarillaalquimica.blogspot.com/2010/05/take-them-while-they-are-hot-bp-oil.html

Y del worse case scenario and be prepared...
http://alcantarillaalquimica.blogspot.com/2010/06/el-issue-del-siglo.html
http://alcantarillaalquimica.blogspot.com/2012/02/241-demolition-and-infrastructure.html

De mis viajes alla...
http://alcantarillaalquimica.blogspot.com/2010/07/notas-de-mi-despacho-cambios.html
http://alcantarillaalquimica.blogspot.com/2010/08/recap-from-biloxi.html
http://alcantarillaalquimica.blogspot.com/2010/09/notas-del-exilio-2-jack-gaturro.html
http://alcantarillaalquimica.blogspot.com/2010/09/notas-del-exilio-3-sketches-de-biloxi.html
http://alcantarillaalquimica.blogspot.com/2010/09/jugando-con-las-acuarelas.html

y la desconfianza que estas instituciones crean en el proceso para otros proyectos futuros...
http://alcantarillaalquimica.blogspot.com/2010/11/los-fiascos-de-bp-y-capeco-nos-hacen.html
en aquel momento enfocaba en el gasoducto.  pudiese repetir el mantra con el recuento de votos donde rojos y azules muestran los cucaracheros ajenos mientras ocultan los suyos...come lean already, you botjh have been cheating us blind!!!

un poco del liability a BP
http://alcantarillaalquimica.blogspot.com/2010/06/modest-mouse-moby-dick-y-bp.html

y cierro aqui...

Thursday, December 22, 2011

[219] Guanica Restoration Project



I passed by the dry forest yesterday after my weekly Yauco meeting.  Since I was late I could not stay.  However I just had to give more details on the hydraulics of the valley and how bad decisions in the past regarding the maintenance of the Coffee Industry has caused excessive erosion that were not impacting the coral reefs of the Guanica Bay.
The ex was there last weekend.  Guanica is a town with history and the UNESCO certified dry forest, a natural wonder of the world.  So my interest on visiting the valley for photo documenting the trails.  Winter is the season there is a large migration of birds and the forest is in its wettest period of the year.
I wont be able to visit soon, although it is scheduled, so instead I present some scientific studies on the area, in hope that you rediscover this incredible natural wonder.

http://www.cprm.gov.br/pgagem/puerto/Schaffner%20Too%20Much.pdf
First, the bad decisions regarding Laguna Cartagena, in the Valley of Lajas, another must see area on this piece of land I love so much.
Summary:  Eutrophication, reduced volume of water accumulated have caused accumulation of phosphorus and sulfur.  Promoting toxic conditions.  Solution: rehabilitate the area to receive fresh water and accumulate.  Create a peat industry to use the rotting biomass as compost.

Then, a small poster presented on the restoration of the Guanica Bay by adopting the watershed and rehabilitation of the Guanica Lagoon as an effort to reduce nutrient migrations to the Guanica Bay.
http://www.nfwf.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home&Template=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=15019

By the way, I don't work for CSA or Gregory Morris.  I just love their restoration projects.
http://glmeng-coop.com/pdesc_en.php?36
The firm worked with the planning and design of the restoration of the Guánica Lagoon. GME was contracted to conduct a hydrologic and hydraulic study of the lagoon and, in 1999, they published Hydrologic and Hydraulic Analysis: “Guánica Lagoon Restoration Impacts on Regulatory Flood Levels” and “Guánica Lagoon Hydrology & Restoration Alternatives” as a result of those studies. In these studies, GME evaluated three alternative scenarios for the restoration of the Guánica Lagoon.

Another study on the Guanica Bay mechanics.  May be a bit too technical but has impressive pictures on the problem areas of the watershed:
https://www.estuaries.org/pdf/2010conference/tuesday16/yatch/session1/rios.pdf

In other shallower issues.  She stayed in Copamarina...
http://www.map-puerto-rico.com/guanica-puerto-rico.html
All through the summertime months highs here in Guanica can get into the 90's with overnight lows in the 60's. Make sure to bring sun cover protection as the sun can be brutal in your skin.

If you are hiking, even though some trails have tall trees and shadow, you should use protection from the sun, have enough water, and watch for the first sights of dehydration.

On
UNESCO’s list of Biosphere Reserves the dry forest has 48 rare tree species and is an excellent place for Gilligan's Island Guanicabird watching and hiking. It comprises coastal areas with several mangrove cays as well as subtropical dry forest.

The main reason to visit Guanica, Puerto Rico is the beaches. From the Balneario Caña (cania) Gorda, Ballena beach, Manglillos beach, Tamarindo Beach, Playa Santa beach, and Gilligan's Island (Cayo Caña Gorda), Guanica offers the best in beaches for the family.

At Balneario Caña Gorda the gentle water at this beach washes onto a wide swath of sand fringed with palm trees. It is one of the favorite beaches among locals.

The beach comprises of picnic tables, restrooms, showers, and changing facilities. In Caña Gorda go exploring the many small bays and coves common in the area. These are uninhabited and they invite the imagination to run wild as Playa Santa Beach - Guanicayou discover crannies and nooks.

If a peaceful lifestyle lived on the sandy shores of a beautiful blue sea teaming with all sorts of colorful marine
life appeals to you, then you might find that Caña Gorda is the place you'll spend some time in.



I am a rather old fashioned person.  I hate luxury in all its forms so I'd prefer the option of staying in a cozy B&B.
Something like Mary Lee's...
http://www.maryleesbythesea.com/contenta.htm

Or just going birding...
http://www.birdingpr.com/photos.html
http://www.birdingpr.com/endemics.html
http://www.birdingpr.com/endemics/15jui.html
http://www.birdingpr.com/endemics/01llorosa.html

Something from the DNER...
http://www.drna.gobierno.pr/oficinas/arn/recursosvivientes/costasreservasrefugios/pmzc/publicaciones/folletos/Bosque%20Seco%20Guanica.pdf

Saturday, July 30, 2011

[195] Green Fables Calendar

Churn Mode...Something from the archives.  I'd really love to have this calendar.
http://www.drawger.com/buzelli/index.php?section=articles&article_id=11859

Green Energy Fables
posted:
A few months ago, I was contacted by the ad agency DDB Berlin to illustrate a calendar for Entega, a German ecological energy company.  Zwölf Märchen aus der Welt der Energie (Twelve Tales from the Wolrd of Energy) includes twelve unique fables based on green energy for each month.

Sorry for the length of this post but this job was really intense. The deadline was short and I dedicated about a month and a half to this project. I really feel like this is a very important subject and I wanted to do it justice. As I sit in my overheated NYC apartment (gas powered steam boiler), it seems like Germany really has a head start on the world when it comes to using green energy.
Check out his page for the rest of them . . .

Sunday, May 29, 2011

[185] Manejo de Desperdicios Solidos Problematica Mundial

He dicho que he estado demasiado ocupado los ultimos meses.  A nivel profesional muchos proyectos de importancia que no pueden esperar o ser delegados.  A nivel personal, cambios radicales en mi vida.  Pero basta de ambos temas.  Hoy les menciono uno de mis proyectos, el manejo de desperdicios solidos.

A nivel de Puerto Rico mencione que tenemos un serio problema de desperdicios solidos.  Nuestros vertederos estan llenos a capacidad y seguimos generando basura.  Tambien les mencione hace bastante tiempo atras que Puerto Rico es el zafacon de neumaticos recauchados de los Estados Unidos.  Necesitamos manejar mejor nuestros desperdicios.  Crear nuevos vertederos o facilidades de manejar desperdicios.

Una alternativa seria utilizar el biogas (esencialmente metano y dioxido de carbono) generado por los vertederos para quemarlo o usarlo para correr un motor-generador.  En este caso el problema estriba en que un vertedero como el de San Juan, que genera una increible cantidad de peste por a/nos, tendria que hacersele grandes modificaciones para poder extraer el gas de forma segura.

Por otro lado, nuestros esfuerzos de reciclaje estan bajos a nivel nacional.  Eso es triste, considerando que los USA son de las jurisdicciones mas atrasadas en estos programas.  Se debiesen coordinar esfuerzos para desviar corrientes de los vertederos:
los desperdicios vegetativos (como desganches de arboles, gramas de patios) a unidades de compostaje. 
los cienos de acueductos y alcantarillados en sistemas centralizados de manejo
los desperdicios fecales de animales digeridos para generar biogas en sistemas centrales
los desperdicios como neumaticos, triturados y reusados para por ejemplo pavimentar carreteras

Por otro lado podemos seguir pensando en vertederos modernos, que reusan el gas, son sellados y manejan bien su lixiviado (leachate).  En este caso solo el 10% de la energia potencial esta disponible para reuso.

Por otro lado opciones como los Waste to Energy pudiesen ser alternativas, puesto que utilizan el 100% de los desperdicios para generar energia.  Sin embargo hay muchos tipos de Waste to Energy, no solo el modelo que quema basura que propusieron en Arecibo.

Las tecnicas mas modernas utilizan tecnologias de gasificacion para gasificar los compuestos organicos del desperdicio como un syngas.  Este syngas tiene varios vapores organicos que pueden usarse para ser quemados y generar energia o para en un futuro generar diesel sintetico.  Los residuos del desperdicio se disponen en el vertedero, sin su contenido organico.

De esas tecnicas de gasificacion la mas impresionante (aunque costosa) alternativa es la gasificacion combinada con un arco de plasma (plasma es gas caliente a sobre 1700 deg F).  Esta opcion literalmente vaporiza todo el desperdicio, dejando como residuo una ceniza cristalina que es quimicamente inerte.

Puerto Rico no es la unica jurisdiccion con un problema de manejo de desperdicios.  A nivel global los paises industrializados y los no desarrollados buscan alternativas a la quema de campo abierto, los vertederos clandestinos y fosas comunales para recobrar los recursos viables de los desperdicios e incentivar que no se contaminen los recursos de agua subterranea, rios o la salud de los residentes.

Y lo dejo ahi.  Hacia tiempo no escribia algo tecnico.  No solo de video o reflexiones de mi situacion personal vive el hombre.

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Los Fiascos de BP y CAPECO Nos Hacen Escepticos

Sobre ese tema de responsabilidad corporativa es normal sentirse esceptico.  BP se pasa cantando cuanto valora la seguridad en su nueva politica, sin mencionar su propio record abismal de seguridad.  Y de ese tema Frontline presento un excelente reporte investigativo con ProPublica.  Brevemente, incluyo links aqui:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/the-spill/

Over the past decade, BP vaulted from an energy "also-ran" to one of the biggest companies in the world, gobbling up competitors in a series of mergers that delivered handsome profits for shareholders. But an investigation by FRONTLINE and the nonprofit newsroom ProPublica shows that BP's leadership failed to create a culture of safety in the massive new company. As BP took increasingly big risks to find oil and extract it, the company left behind a trail of mounting problems: deadly accidents, disastrous spills, countless safety violations. Each time, BP acknowledged the wider flaws in its culture and promised to do better. The FRONTLINE/ProPublica investigation shows that the rhetoric was empty. From the refineries to the oil fields to the Gulf of Mexico, BP workers understood that profits came first

http://bpoil.wordpress.com/2010/10/29/frontline-propublica-examine-bps-dismal-safety-record-and-gulf-oil-spill/

Tiene links de organizaciones ambientales contra BP y el derrame.

http://www.propublica.org/blog/item/frontline-and-propublica-detail-bps-corporate-culture-in-the-spill
http://www.propublica.org/article/years-of-internal-bp-probes-warned-that-neglect-could-lead-to-accidents
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2010/10/bps-dismal-safety-record-and-the-gulf-oil-spill.html
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/the-spill/bp-questions-answers/

Resumiendo.  Crecer desmedidamente, sin invertir en ambiental y seguridad es una receta para el desastre.  Combinando eso con el off  shore drilling que se relajo en el area durante la administracion Bush y eventaulmente tenia que ocurrir un desastre de esta magnitud.

Ahora estamos con la via verde.  Me gusta que diversifiquen la energia, pero porque es bueno ahora tirar un tubo que cruza la isla de Norte a Sur? (http://www.aeepr.com/ViaVerde/DIAP/Ap%C3%A9ndices/Ap%C3%A9ndice%203.2%20%20Biological%20Evaluation%20%20Raptors%20in%20Puerto%20Rico.pdf) Cuando corria el gasoducto del sur, por la zona industrial que se beneficaba del proyecto era malo.  Ah, porque era un producto de Anibal Acevedo Vila y el PPD.

Las gringolas de la politica no deben usarse para evaluar el merito de un proyecto.  Porque no dos gasoductos?  Uno en el area de Manati Barceloneta y otro entre Guayanilla Guayama?  Eso hubiese hecho mas sentido sin tener que romper por el mismo medio la zona karstica.

Uno piensa en proyectos innovadores como energia eolica, biogas, composta o aguas puras del caribe (http://www.slidefinder.net/a/aguas_puras_del_caribe_estrategia/3696307) y no logran financiamiento.  Sin embargo le damos grandes exenciones contributivas a proyectos como CAPECO (solo por tener el favor de Cantero Frau).

Entonces BOOM explota (por la misma falta de BP) y se van a quiebra.  Ni siquiera vienen a resolver la quiebra aqui, se van a Delaware.  En fin, la basura nos arropa, y queremos resolver las cosas sin innovar, mientras le llenamos los bolsillos a unos pocos.  Y lo dejo aqui...

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Modest Mouse, Moby Dick y BP


Interesante analogia. Comparar el desastre BP con Moby Dick. Donde Ahab es BP...Les incluyo el link de la discusion original debajo.. By the way estoy internalizando todavia el articulo de Rolling Stone sobre BP (http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/17390/111965?RS_show_page=0).

http://philosophyofscienceportal.blogspot.com/2010/06/fine-essaywhale-oil-ocean-oil.html

CITA:
In the weeks since the rig explosion, parallels between that disaster and the proto-Modernist one imagined by Melville more than a century and a half ago have sometimes been striking — and painfully illuminating as the spill becomes a daily reminder of the limitations, even now, of man’s ability to harness nature for his needs. The novel has served over the years as a remarkably resilient metaphor for everything from atomic power to the invasion of Iraq to the decline of the white race (this from D. H. Lawrence, who helped revive Melville’s reputation). Now, 50 miles off the Louisiana coast, its themes of hubris, destructiveness and relentless pursuit are as telling as ever.

The British petroleum giant BP, which leased the Deepwater Horizon to drill the well, has naturally been cast in the Ahab role, most recently on one of Al Jazeera’s blogs by Nick Spicer, who compared the whaler’s maniacal mission to the dangers of greed, “not just to a man such as Captain Ahab, but to all his crew and to the whole society that supports their round-the-world quest for oil.”

Andrew Delbanco, the director of Columbia University’s American studies program and the author of “Melville: His World and Work,” said, “It’s irresistible to make the analogy between the relentless hunt for whale oil in Melville’s day and for petroleum in ours.” Melville’s story “is certainly, among many other things, a cautionary tale about the terrible cost of exploiting nature for human wants,” he said. “It’s a story about self-destruction visited upon the destroyer — and the apocalyptic vision at the end seems eerily pertinent to today.”

Whaling was the petroleum industry of its day in the 18th and 19th centuries, with hundreds of ships plying the oceans in search of the oil that could be rendered from the world’s largest mammals. The 40-ton bodies of sperm whales could yield dozens of barrels, some derived from blubber and the rest, the most precious kind, spermaceti, from the whale’s head. The oil burned in millions of lamps, served as a machine lubricant and was processed into candles distinguished by their clear, bright flame, with little smoke or odor. In addition, whalebones could be used to stiffen corsets, skin could be cured for leather, and ambergris, the aromatic digestive substance, could be incorporated into perfumes. New England ports, the Houstons of their era, and fortunes were built with whale oil money.

Me vino a la mente este video de King Rat por Modest Mouse. El video es cruel. Y fue dirigido por Heath Ledger, antes de su suicidio y ganar fama con The Dark Night. Video y letra debajo.

King Rat - Modest Mouse
Well!
Well!
Well!
Well!

We spun like birds on fire
Right down towards the residence, and I
I took all that I desired
Even crooks have to pay the rent
We swam like rats on fire
Right, right down the reservoir
We took all that we could carry
But we tried to carry more

And you know, you know, you know it all went wrong
And you know, you know, you know it was all wrong

We choked on street tap water
Well, I'm going to have to try the real thing
I took your laugh by the collar
And it knew not to swing
Any time I tried an honest job
Well, the till had a hole and ha-ha
We laughed about paying rent
Because the county jails, they're free

And you know, you know, you know it all went wrong
And you know, you know, you know it was all wrong

Deep water, deep water
Senseless denial
I went down like a rag doll as you would, child
Deep water, deep water
Senseless denial
I went down like a rag doll as you would, child

Oh, lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky me again.
I said it looks like I've got to use my feet again
Well I just spent my last one hundred dollars
God, I'll pay my bill again

Oh, I don't care
Oh, how I just don't care

Deep water, deep water
Senseless denial
I went down like a rag doll, shooken and shy
Deep water, deep water
Senseless denial
I went down like a rag doll rat of a child

Well, King Rat has me on his list again
I can never be on the fence again
I found out it's all loud
Open like an organ and it
Talk, talk, talk, talk again
He promised me that when I cheated him
But I could open my eye, well
Lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky
Lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky me again

Deep water, deep water
This senseless denial
I got fed like a fish, full of open smiles
Blue water, deep water
Oh, senseless denial
I got fed like a fish on the cardboard smiles

Well, well
What do you have to say for yourself?
I said, well, well
Well?
I said well, well, well, well!

Lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky me again
I hardly knew I should use my feet again
What do you have to say for yourself?
What do you have to say for yourself?



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Thursday, May 27, 2010

Take Them While They Are Hot - BP Oil Spill




Oil Spill Related articles from several professional journals are being released on line for free for a limited time. Take them while they are hot!Many interesting articles on the Exxon Valdez spill. Will see if I get a few articles on liquid oil and gasoline spills for my roster file...Links below:
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/122678518/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0
http://www.setacjournals.org/view/0/virtualissueoilspills.html
http://www.setacjournals.org/view/0/ieamfeaturedoilspills.html
Thanks to Futurity.org for the note:
http://futurity.org/earth-environment/journal-makes-oil-related-studies-available-free/

Talking of spills. There are finally indications that a mud plug seems to be controlling the spill from the broken well in the Gulf of Mexico. A nice technical discussion here:
http://www.theoildrum.com/node/6509

Section through the BOP, showing the anticipated mud flow path (initially from BP)

Some background of mud drilling here. Water wells here use bentonite clay to seal wells. In essence the plug seems to be working.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drilling_fluid#Types_of_drilling_fluid
The news on the plug is here:

BP says tricky deep-sea oil plug plan on track

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100526/ts_nm/us_oil_rig_leak
http://www.boingboing.net/2010/05/27/tentative-good-news.html

By the way, here is BP Public Relations webpage:
http://www.bp.com/bodycopyarticle.do?categoryId=1&contentId=7052055&nicam=USCSBaselineCrisis&nisrc=Google&nigrp=Branded_Crisis_Management-_General&niadv=General&nipkw=bp_oil_spill

http://www.bp.com/liveassets/bp_internet/globalbp/globalbp_uk_english/incident_response/STAGING/local_assets/images/TopKill_05-16-10_1750xvar.jpg

The primary objective of the top kill process is to put heavy kill mud into the well so that it reduces the pressure and then the flow from the well. Once the kill mud is in the well and it’s shut down, then we follow up with cement to plug the leak.

For the top kill procedure we are designing equipment to pump the highest kill rate we can, irrespective of the flow rate of oil from the well, to force a downward flow of mud into the well. This, combined with the heavy drilling fluid is designed to eventually stop the flow. This has never been attempted at these depths. This is very complex – and involves several complex procedures coming together.

Detailed description of the procedure

We have the Q4000 vessel at the surface which has a crane for lifting heavy equipment and is a central part of the surface equipment for this procedure. We also have a number of other vessels: the HOS Centerline, with Halliburton pumping equipment; the HOS Strongline; and the BJ Services Blue Dolphin and Halliburton Stim Star IV pumping boats.

A total of 50,000 barrels of mud will be on location to kill the well – far more than necessary, but we want to be prepared for anything. Pumping capacity on location is more than 30,000 hydraulic horsepower.

The mud will be pumped down the 6-5/8 inch drill pipe (pipe is connected to the Q4000), then through 3-inch hoses, which go through the manifold on the seafloor. Then the mud moves through another set of 3-inch hoses attached to the Deepwater Horizon BOP choke and kill lines.

With the manifold, we can also pump the ‘junk shot’ if necessary to stop too much of the kill mud going out through the top of the BOP rather than going down into the well to stop the flow. By switching valves in the subsea manifold, we can inject the ‘bridging material’ (the junk), which will prevent such losses and enable the top kill to continue.

We’ve been testing the junk shot on-shore, looking at different configurations of what might restrict the flow out of the Deepwater Horizon riser and what types of materials would help shut it off. Materials in a junk shot can include well-known items such as pieces of tires, golf balls, and pieces of rope.

Most of the equipment is on site and preparations continue for this operation.
This page was last updated 23 May 2010

I hope this info is useful for all these amateur scientists. I hope this trend of available information continues. I hate paying $40 - $45 / article for pdf versions of published papers.

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Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Biofuels, Not Food for Fuel (Part 2)

Puerto Rico has a severe used tire problem. At some point Puerto Rico became the point where the excess tires of other states ended being stored. This was given our lack of vision of establishing a tire recycling program. Currently the practice of recycling in Puerto Rico is reduced to storing recyclable materials until a fire or environmental incident burns the material down. This bad press has killed any attempt to reuse tires as an energy source.

A couple of days ago I wrote the first part of this series on Biofuels. For those that have not read the original article it is included here:

http://alcantarillaalquimica.blogspot.com/2009/12/biofuels-not-food-for-fuel.html

On that article I summarized that Puerto Rico has a large amount of raw materials that can be used to generate biofuels or used as an energy source in PREPA power plants or other large kilns and furnaces available on the Island. Cemex tried this approach in Ponce and failed, given the opposition of 'environmentalists' that prefer the threat of a large scale fire, or a mosquito outbreak that is the typical fate of the tires in Puerto Rico. I stated several sources that could be used. Today I have decided to focus in used tires.

Why tires? Because I am reminded of the problem every day whenever I pass Comerio Avenue and see buildings filled with recapped or damaged tires waiting to be transported to a storage area where they are eventually burned 'accidentally'. Plus a whole recycling program was supposedly established to manage this issue and all it has left us is with more charges when we buy tires or oil for our cars. Tires fill our landfills.

So two things are needed to deviate tires from landfills. One is taking them out of the regular trash, as required by the recycling laws already written and the other implies shredding or reducing the size of the tire to be managed more effectively. Both require machinery.
The following excerpt is from american recycler:
http://www.americanrecycler.com/1007/spotlight.shtml
Of the 290 million scrap tires generated in the United States annually, more than 80 percent are reused or recycled for sale into various markets. That’s up from just 17 percent in 1990. The biggest markets for scrap tires generally require shredding as part of the process and that’s turned into a good business for tire shredder manufacturers.also:
Overall, the future remains bright for shredder manufacturers and the customers they serve. As SSI’s Fleming says, “Scrap tires will continue to be a disposal problem, populations will continue to grow and consume more raw and recycled materials, and used tires will increasingly be needed in order to make longer-lasting new products as well as synthetic fuels and other valuable materials.”
So before even entering into using tires as a fuel or biofuel source they have a useful purpose by simply shredding them. Now that is interesting. It is something we should have been considering a long time in Puerto Rico but we still do not believe. For instance, I got interested on rubber mulch a few months ago when I saw these bags of rubber mulch in Sams Club at Bayamon. Bought 10 sacks because the product convinced me. It did not make the ground I wanted to cover impervious to water, as would have happened with concrete, but it would not rot and float away as that cheap imported pine mulch chips do.

Their product got me interested and I have included a picture and a link to their website. It is a nice idea that should be checked more often by municipal landscape designers as seen on the picture below.

http://www.perfectrubbermulch.com/

If not as a mulch, smaller machines can be used to cut the tires to make bumpers, mats or other items...This one is a good idea for our economically challenged times.
http://www.recycledtiremats.com/recycled_tires.htm

However the operation of managing used tires is not as simple as it seems initially. It requires a huge capital investment and should be left to a properly planned and well designed central facility. For instance here are recommendations from one potential supplier of machinery of those seen during the research of tire recycling equipment:

http://www.americanrecycler.com/06spotlight02.html
Now, this only solves part of the problem. Fortunately there are other uses are available for the material shredded. It could be used to control excessive erosion of our public landfills or to control the nasty leachates produced from landfill runoff. This still does not require burning or converting the tires in fuel.

Preliminar studies indicate the leachate from tires is not toxic since below toxicity levels
http://www.ecst.csuchico.edu/~dxcheng/CE_Application_Resources/lechate%20from%20scrap%20tires.pdf

Example of uses to control landfill leachate...
http://www.p2pays.org/ref/15/14315.pdf
http://www.ciwmb.ca.gov/Publications/Tires/21299005.doc
http://www.faqs.org/abstracts/Environmental-services-industry/Using-tire-chips-to-control-landfill-leachate-Festival-seeks-independence-from-landfill.html

However, care must be taken on the disposal method of the used tires. The leachate removed chemicals are entrapped with the rubber in the tires, the metal in the tires remains. If burned or used as fuel these concentrations need to be studied further to not cause a larger environmental problem. This should not be an issue on residential or institutional use.

Summarizing this already technically complex article: Tires should be managed more efficiently than our current practice. Municipalities can benefit from mulching tires for landscaping.

On the end, if all these efforts fail the shredded tires can be used to generate fuel by direct burning on a kiln or power plant boiler. It can also be used to generate syngas and other biofuels. Some links on this below:

http://wasteage.com/mag/waste_wasteenergy_power_plants/
Burning increases the metal levels on the total ash but air emissions can be managed by pollution control equipment. It just requires more monitoring on the ash quality disposed of.
http://jeq.scijournals.org/cgi/content/full/31/5/1484
http://jeq.scijournals.org/cgi/reprint/31/5/1484.pdf

Or it can even be used to produced activated carbon for many industrial applications, including the removal of trihalomethanes on potable water.

http://www.p2pays.org/ref/11/10504/html/biblio/htmls/pyh1.htmInfo from [http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ie00048a023]

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Friday, December 18, 2009

Biofuels Not Food for Fuel

On a recent article the nature of Biofuels came into question. All this green revolution calls for hybrid cars, wind, recycling yet the United States goverment looks at Ethanol as a major source of energy. Instead of using traditional waste products like decomposed fruits and produce, or spent sugar cane waste (bagazo) to generate the fuel it is being lobbied to use corn and sugar beets from the mainland's foodbelt. Food for Power, which is a stupid way to go.

This discussion inspired Antigonum Cajan's article

for which I made the following comment:

biofuels are plain wrong when food is used to offset the carbon dioxide
emissions. the largest options to generate biogas, biodiesel,etc. are on the aaa
sewage plants and on agricultural waste. both can benefit from a centralized
waste treatment center using anaerobic treatment to generate methane while
eliminating a lot of waste to the landfill, and even beneficial byproducts such
as compost or mulch. hell, even the option of shredding and using tires as fuel
was ignored by 'environmentalists'. the tire problem is still there. not all
biofuels are created equal.
http://alcantarillaalquimica.blogspot.com/2009/12/necesitamos-empezar-reusar-agua.html

Antigonum Cajan's remark regarding biofuels is accurate. My point was very rushed, tried to cover too many bases at once. My point was -Not all biofuels are created equal-. If we truly want to harvest energy sources and go green, we need to find sources that are currently a waste. If not, the whole point of reuse is lost. Also, if one is to obtain energy the net production must be positive. If it takes more energy or cost to generate the energy sent to the grid then we are actually spending more energy than we did before. What is the point of recycle then? We ended worse than before.



[image from http://www.propal.com.co/propal/images/PropalProcesoBagazo.jpg]

Way before this language of green buildings, LEED certifications, sustainability or even the Reduce Reuse and Recycle campaigns engineers, especially chemical engineers, were experts on what we knew as Loss Prevention. We did (and still do) a holistic analysis of a process and look at every feed stream, at every waste stream and every source of emission. A material balance, if I get 100 pounds in, I have to get 100 lbs out. All waste needs to be accounted for, either as a waste or as a potential product that can be recovered and reused. Waste is to be minimized. At least that was our original aspiration.


The approach used to push inefficient ethanol against other technologies is the effort of a large lobbying effort in Capitol Hill. Many have denounced this fiasco, as presented in this article from Rolling Stone of about 2 years ago (http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/15635751/the_ethanol_scam_one_of_americas_biggest_political_boondoggles)

From a technical standpoint corn ethanol is not a non viable ptocess. The problem is that to generate the fuel you spend energy at a ratio 1.3 to 1 for corn ethanol against a 5 to 1 ratio for gasoline. Plus the ethanol mixtures have a much lower heating value than that of other fuels. Therefore this is not a cost effective way of solving the energy crisis.


Therefore the potential is to use waste products to generate this energy. What problems does Puerto Rico currently have:
(a) Overloaded Landfills
(b) Inefficient Wastewater Plants with Deficient Solids Management
(c) Large farms with chicken, pig and horse manure
(d) Large amounts of vegetation that ends up in the landfill after pruning
(e) Surplus feeds of food wastes or decomissioned food (whatever happened to Pan American Grain's bug infested rice)
(f) Enormous amounts of damaged tires
These are the streams that need to be used to generate any power. Given the proper air pollution control devices and management of liquid and solid byproducts the wastes can be used to generate power to the electrical grid and any waste generated can be made into useful byproducts such as mulch, asphalt or concrete aggregates or sawdust.
There are many ways to achieve this (and will be discussed on further articles at the Alcantarilla), what we need is to have public officials with the interest of creating proper public policy. We also need to have proper 'environmentalists' that look realistically at any project comparing benefits and environmental impact. Not all progress is bad. You cannot just prohibit any type of construction at the expense of not constructing anything at all.
It is really an educational process for all involved. Puerto Rico is full of motivated professionals focusing on the ethical and correct approach to sustainability. The problem resides on two extremes: environmental activists that are really blocking the progress in Puerto Rico based on a political agenda who really give a hoot about the environment and the other extreme where those in charge of prociding assesment to our public policy officials only see the green reaching their pockets. If Puerto Rico is to go forward these two extremes need to disappear.

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