From The Environment Report

Asian carp have been making their way up the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers toward the Great Lakes for decades. Bighead and silver carp are the species people are the most concerned about.

There’s been a lot of focus on keeping carp out of Lake Michigan.

But a new study finds carp might do well in Lake Erie and some of the rivers that feed the lake.

Patrick Kocovsky is a research fishery biologist with the U.S. Geological Survey. He says it’s believed Asian carp need specific conditions to make babies.

“What’s currently believed is Asian carp require some kind of flood event in a tributary.”

He says the carp need just the right temperature… a river that’s flowing fast enough and a stretch of river long enough to reproduce.

Kocovsky and his team studied the major tributaries of Lake Erie. They found that the Maumee River is highly suitable for Asian carp to lay eggs.

The researchers found the Sandusky and Grand Rivers to be moderately suitable for carp.

Patrick Kocovsky says if carp can get into Lake Erie, the western side of the lake is likely to be the most hospitable.

Bighead and silver carp eat plankton. Kocovsky says this could be bad news for other fish that eat plankton.

“The primary concern is if Asian carp become established in Lake Erie, they will exert pressure on the plankton food source and possibly have detrimental effects on other planktivores and that might cascade through the entire food web.”

And that could end up hurting the popular sportfish in Lake Erie – walleye and yellow perch.

There is some debate among scientists over how big of an impact Asian carp might have on the Great Lakes.

“I would agree there is still debate but more and more, I think people are coming to believe that Asian carp do pose a threat and that we should be concerned.”

But he says there’s not nearly as much attention on keeping carp out of Lake Erie as there is on keeping them out of Lake Michigan.

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chu in detroit

From the Free Press:

U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu brought a double whammy of chilling news to Michigan on Wednesday — nearly $600 million in government funding is now uncertain for a highly anticipated Michigan State University nuclear research project, and Chrysler may not get its long-sought loan to fund more fuel-efficient technology.

Chu, speaking to the Detroit Economic Club, said pressure to reduce the federal budget deficit is having an impact.

 ”We’re in new ground now. The president and the previous president wanted to double the science budgets over a 10-year period,” Chu said. “But that’s not realistic anymore.”

Chu’s statement that money is uncertain for the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB), a highly coveted physics research center, set off strong reactions.

 ”MSU and the State of Michigan have met their commitments in this partnership, and it would be unconscionable if the federal government failed to live up to its commitments,” said U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich.

 Regarding Chrysler’s $3.5-billion loan request to fund future fuel-saving technology, Chu said, “We are still talking with Chrysler … but there are no promises.”

 Last week, the Energy Department turned down a $730-million loan to Severstal North America to support production of high-strength steel in Dearborn.

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BP Solar

LOS ANGELES, December 20, 2011 – After 40 years, BP has announced that it will close it solar power unit, exiting the

solar power industry completely, due to lack of profitability, Bloomberg reported Dec. 20.

Mike Petrucci, CEO of the solar unit, said in an internal company letter that the effects of the global economy on the industry had made it tough to maintain profitability over the long haul. The shut down will occur over the course of a few months and will impact 100 positions.

BP’s exit from the industry follows the bankruptcy of California solar panel maker Solyndra and German company Solon. All are attributable to an increased Asian manufacturing presence that has pushed down panel prices and created an excess of supply on the market worldwide.

BP had already halted manufacturing in Spain in 2009, laying off 480 positions. In July, the company said it would redirect its efforts to big projects only. Company spokesman Robert Wine said the company no longer has manufacturing plants.

BP will sell its ownership of solar projects partnered with Italy, Spain, Germany and Britain totaling 158 MW. The company’s wind and biofuels divisions will remain intact.

The primary source of this article is Bloomberg Businessweek, London, England, Dec. 20, 2011.

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Read more: LO2P Giant Green Ferris Wheel Recycling Center Wins the 2011 eVolo Skyscraper Competition eVolo-2011 Winner – LO2P – Inhabitat – Green Design Will Save the World

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Presentations be made by State and Federal biomass experts, and information will be presented on energy crop production / fuel procurement, combustion, torrefaction, pyrolosis, gasification, anerobic digestion, and biochar.  All meals, a happy hour, and educational materials are included in a $150 registration fee.

OU will also discuss the forthcoming small wood boiler installation and biomass pellet research, as well as OU efforts to develop a new, central biomass heating plant.

Please visit   www.oakland.edu/bioenergyconference for more information and to register online to attend.  Vendor sponsorship is also available for bioenergy equipment suppliers or potential contractors.

This conference will not be covering transportation fuels, but will focus on stationary thermal and power systems.

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Wind power is growing faster in Ontario than in any other part of the country, and government officials are relying on green technology to not only provide clean energy, but also offer new jobs. Ontario’s Environment Minister John Wilkinson states that the movement “will not stop us from doing what we were elected to do, which is to break our addiction to dirty coal for our generation.”

In the U.S., studies have found that 80% of residents in the Northwest support wind farms near their homes, while a minority of homeowners in the U.S. have complained about wind turbine noise. One neighbor told The New York Times, “Now we are prisoners of sonic effluence.”

Perhaps the most outspoken believer of health risks associated with wind farms is Nina Pierpont, a doctor who coined the term “Wind Turbine Syndrome” (WTS). According to Pierpont, turbine noise and vibrations disrupt the inner ear system, which may lead to nervousness, nausea, tachycardia (increased heart rate) and sleep disturbance. Pierpont recommends that turbines be set at least 2km from people’s homes. Pierpont’s study sample reportedly consisted of 38 people.

The British Wind Energy Association fought her allegations, citing that 94 percent of people living near wind turbines are in favor of them. They argue that “Noise from wind farms is a non-problem, and we need to move away from this unproductive and unscientific debate, and focus on our targets on reducing carbon emissions.”

While a small group of people living near wind turbines complain of anxiety and sound-related health concerns, citizens living near coal, oil and natural gas sites are complaining of cancer, poisoned water, lung disease, earthquakes, and death.

A recent report by Harvard professor Dr. Paul Epstein found that coal costs the U.S. $500 billion per year, due in large part to health care costs from heavy metal toxins and carcinogens emitted during the processing of coal.

The hazards of drilling for oil have been highlighted in the news recently. The effects of the massive BP oil spill will be seen for years to come. And then there’s the recent verdict that Chevron should pay $8 billion to Ecuador’s Amazon neighbors for the environmental and health damage it caused through harmful drilling practices.

Looking beyond the direct health hazards facing residents near dirty energy sites, the health effects of global warming are enormous and largely impending. Reports have found that global warming is a health hazard. Scientists cite recent extreme heat events resulting in heat-related deaths, heavier downpours resulting in contaminated water, ice storms and winds resulting in treacherous travel, and warmer winters resulting in increased allergies and pests. Not to mention that 180 U.S. cities could be underwater in less than 90 years. Looking at the grand scheme of things, is wind power, a clean energy source, worth the noise and health complaints?

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Like many eco-minded innovators before them, Dirk Gion and Stefan Simmerer wanted to create an emissions-free source of personal transit, one free of both direct carbon emissions and secondary emissions from consuming fossil-fuel derived electricity. So they built the Wind Explorer, a 441-pound auto that transports its own wind turbine–a 20-foot bamboo mast that can be fitted with a 9-foot-diameter rotor–for charging the 8 kWh batteries during the night.

It’s important to note that the Wind Explorer’s journey from Albany in southwestern Australia to Sydney in the east wasn’t entirely unplugged. During early technical adjustments and fine-tuning of their equipment the team plugged into the grid from time to time, as they did during Cyclone Yasi when they couldn’t erect their wind turbine due to the weather.

But their point was never to prove that they could cross a continent with a zero-total carbon footprint, but rather to show that there are different ways to think about automobile travel outside of the existing paradigm. And they’ve certainly succeeded at that. Have you ever seen a kite-surfing, turbine-toting, electric vehicle before?

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Hurt by falling natural gas prices, low demand for power and lack of a long-term renewable energy target, the American wind industry saw installations fall almost 50% last year, according to figures released by the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA).

Wind developers constructed 5,115 MW of wind capacity in 2010, down from 10,000 MW in 2009. Activity has already increased, however; AWEA reports that 5,600 MW of projects are already in the construction phase in 2011.
The new activity was spurred by an extension of the Treasury Grant Program, which allowed developers to take a cash payment for 30% of equipment costs in lieu of the production tax credit. AWEA projects installed wind capacity to grow in 2011 compared to 2010.
The tough year for wind in America caused the country to slip in the global standings; The U.S. now has 40,180 MW of wind capacity – 620 MW short of China’s overall capacity.
Although it’s been harder for companies to sign power purchase agreements with utilities, wind is an increasingly important piece of the generation picture in many states with Renewable Portfolio Standards. Here’s AWEA’s breakdown of top states developing wind power:
Texas – 10,085 MW
Iowa – 3,675 MW
California – 3,177 MW
Minnesota – 2,192 MW
Washington – 2,105 MW
Texas, the leading wind power state in America for several years running, achieved a major milestone by surging past the 10,000-megawatt mark for total installations, a quarter of all wind capacity in the U.S., with the addition of 680 MW in 2010. Known as the hub of the oil-and-gas industry, Texas achieved the mark thanks to aggressive pursuit of renewable energy and a renewable electricity standard passed in 1999 and strengthened in 2005. On average, wind now generates 7.8% of the electricity in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) which covers most of the state, peaking as high as 25%.
Other states active in pursuing targets for renewable energy last year were Illinois (498 MW added), California (455 MW), South Dakota (396), and Minnesota (396 MW). Five more states, which generally began tapping their inexhaustible wind resources more recently than the leaders, showed growth rates above 100%.
With the addition of Delaware and Maryland, 38 states now have utility-scale wind projects, and 14 of those have now installed more than 1,000 MW of wind power.

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