Went to a talk on March 19, 2012 by Dr Joel Schwarz about a recent UNEP report on Short Lived Climate Forcers:

Integrated Assessment of Black carbon and Tropospheric Ozone and Near Term Climate Protection and Clean Air Benefits

http://www.unep.org/dewa/Porta…

Summary for Decision Makers

http://www.unep.org/pdf/Near_T…

The report focuses on three SCLF [short lived climate forcers] – black carbon, tropospheric ozone and methane [an ozone precursor*] – because reducing them will provide significant benefits through improved air quality and a slowing of near-term climate change.

Black carbon and tropospheric (10 – 20 km above ground) ozone are resident in the atmosphere for a few days to three weeks (3-8 days for carbon, up to 4-18 days for ozone).  Methane has an atmospheric lifetime of 12 years, ± 3 years.

“Full implementation” of all the identified measures could reduce future global warming by “0.5˚C (within a range of 0.2-0.7˚C)”. If implemented by 2030, this tactic  might halve the potential increase in global temperature projected for 2050. “The rate of regional temperature increase would also be reduced” wherever they are put into practice.

These measures “could avoid 2.4 million premature deaths (within a range of 0.7-4.6 million) and the loss of 52 million tonnes (within a range of 30-140 million tonnes), 1-4 per cent, of the global production of maize, rice, soybean and wheat each year.”  Benefits will be felt immediately “in or close to the regions” where black carbon, methane, and tropospheric ozone are reduced.  The potential for emissions reductions, climate, health, and economic benefits are highest in Asia but gains can also be realized in Africa, Latin America, and wherever these measures are put into practice.

A few emission reduction measures “targeting black carbon and ozone precursors could immediately begin to protect climate, public health, water and food security, and ecosystems. Measures include the recovery of methane from coal, oil and gas extraction and transport, methane capture in waste management, use of clean-burning stoves for residential cooking, diesel particulate filters for vehicles and the banning of field burning of agricultural waste.”

All these benefits can be obtained with existing technology but require significant strategic investment and institutional arrangements to make them widespread, part of general and every day use.

*Ozone is not directly emitted. It is a secondary pollutant that is formed in the troposphere by sunlight-driven chemical reactions involving carbon monoxide (CO), non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs), methane (CH4), and nitrogen oxides (NO ).  Ozone in the troposphere is the third most human-emitted greenhouse gas, after CO2 and methane.  Ozone formation increases as temperature rises.

Solar IS Civil Defense – what we are all supposed to have on hand in case of emergency – flashlight, cell phone, radio, extra set of batteries – can be powered by a few square inches of solar electric panel.  Add a hand crank or bicycle generator and you have a reliable source of survival level electricity, day or night, by sunlight or muscle power.

This is also entry level electrical power for the 1.5 billion people around the world who do not yet have access to electricity.  Civil defense at home and economic development abroad can be combined in a “buy one, give one” program like the Bogolight (http://www.bogolight.com) which is a solar LED light and AA battery charger.

Solar IS Civil Defense and could be much more.

Scientists Track Radioactive Iodine in New Hampshire from Japan Nuclear Reactor Meltdown

http://www.sciencedaily.com/re…

Testing in New Hampshire’s Mink Brook watershed during March through May 2011 resulted in calculating radioactive iodine deposition in the soil at a total amount around 6,000 atoms per square meter. Dartmouth research associate Joshua Landis commented that “at these levels, it is unlikely that this is going to cause measurable health consequences.”  The amount in stream sediments was double the amount in soil but should be reduced by river and stream dilution.

This radioactive waste from Fukushima consists of iodine-131, “highly radioactive, acutely toxic” with a half-life of about 8 days, and iodine-29, less radioactive but with a half-life of 15.7 million years.  “Due to its long half-life and continued release from ongoing nuclear energy production, [iodine-129] is perpetually accumulating in the environment and poses a growing radiological risk,” the authors of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences report point out.  A nuclear reactor produces 3 parts iodine-131 to one part iodine-129.  “Once the iodine-131 decays, you lose your ability to track the migration of either isotope.”

hat tip clamshellalliance.org

Solar water disinfection

http://www.sodis.ch/index_EN

A two liter plastic bottle can be made into a water treatment system simply by filling it with contaminated water and exposing it to the sun.  Sodis is an organization that promotes this technology around the world.  

The disinfection process can be speeded by turning aluminized mylar snack food bags inside out and making them into reflectors as two young students in Belo Horizonte, Brazil discovered:  http://calais.phase2technology…

Solar bottle bulbs for daylighting

http://www.elliottlemenager.co…

In 2002, during a long electrical shortage, at Uberaba, São Paulo, Brasil, Mr Alfredo Moser discovered a way to gather sun light in the house through plastic bottles hanging from the roof. First shown at the Globo Reporter in the 25th May 2007.

Alfredo Moser was pressed by a scarce electricity substitution and found out that he could light his house with a bottle of water filled with water and a protection cap made of camera film.

The bottle is just refracting sunlight very effectively and produces an equivalent light power compared to a 50/60W lamp. In a rainy day, even without much light and direct sun, one still have some light. Scientist have now visited Moser and are looking into ways to take this concept to maximize its potential.

“The Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future, in association with state regional groups that work on high-level radioactive waste policy, will be hosting public meetings to solicit feedback on the draft commission report (pdf alert:   http://www.brc.gov/sites/defau… ).  The participant host groups include; the Western Governors’ Association/Western Interstate Energy Board, the Southern States Energy Board, the Council of State Governments-Midwestern Office, and the Council of State Governments- Eastern Regional Conference.

“The meeting[s] will be held to present the draft Commission report (issued on July 29, 2011) and hear feedback from state, local and tribal perspectives – as well as from interested members of the public.  The meeting will begin with a briefing from Commission staff on the draft report, followed by comments from elected and appointed state and regional representatives.  The latter portion of the meeting will be devoted to facilitated and interactive breakout sessions open to all who attend and will conclude with a public comment period.

“All public are welcome to attend.  Pre-registration is strongly encouraged but not required.  Information about registration will be available in the near future.  The meetings will not be video webcast.  Transcripts of the meetings will be available on the website, along with all written comments anyone chooses to offer. Comments can either be made directly to the website at http://www.brc.gov or by email to: CommissionDFO@nuclear.energy.gov.   Comment deadline is October 31, 2011.”

September 13, 2011

Embassy Suites

1420 Stout Street

Denver, CO

Preregister at: http://brc-wga.eventbrite.com

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October 12, 2011

Harvard Medical School Conference Center

77 Louis Pasteur, Longwood

Boston, MA

Pre-registration http://brc-ma.eventbrite.com

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October 18, 2011

Marriot Marquis

265 Peachtree Center Avenue

Atlanta, GA

Pre-registration:  http://brc-ga.eventbrite.com

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October 20, 2011

Hilton Garden Inn, 815 14th Street N.W

Washington, DC

Pre-register at  http://brc-dc.eventbrite.com

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October 28, 2011

Radisson Plaza Hotel, 35 South Seventh Street

Minneapolis, MN

Pre-register at  http://brc-mn.eventbrite.com

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My policy is zero emissions, 100% recycling for all wastes, including low level and high level radioactive waste, and my immediate concerns for “America’s Nuclear future” are 1) how quickly we can move commercial spent fuel from wet storage, which requires a constant supply and circulation of cooling water, to dry cask storage which does not;  and 2) how many of the 35 US boiling water reactors like Fukushima have spent fuel pools above buildings outside the radiation containment structures and how soon can that be remedied?  Neither of these issues are top priorities in the present Blue Ribbon Commission report as they are looking at a different scale and timeframe.