Born in Heidleberg, Lackner, 57, is a geophysicist and director of the Lenfest Center for Sustainable Energy at the renowned Earth Institute at Columbia University in New York. He's also the man behind an ambitious new solution for the climate change problem. The scientist wants to build millions of CO2 catchers, machines the size of shipping containers fitted with chemical filters to pull greenhouse gases out of the air the same way trees do. The devices may be bulkier and less attractive than real trees, but they are thousands of times more efficient.
lotsa carbon saving tucked in there... lighting and irrigation wouldn't be hard to power locally, with some biogas or wind/solar/batteries.
thinking local, thinking small and many, robustness through decentralisation... ~"When an inner situation is not made conscious, it appears outside as fate." Karl Jung~
I agree in principle anyway.
Were Prof. Lackner or others to add a step that converted the CO2 to CaCO3, calcium carbonate, it would be a useful, stable by product, though not likely competitive with traditional sources. Limestone is mostly CaCO3 as that was nature's way of reducing the amount of CO2 in the archaic atmosphere. As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."
Were Prof. Lackner or others to add a step that converted the CO2 to CaCO3, calcium carbonate
how much of a challenge is that? maybe they could be time released pellets that turned to gas during the time humans aren't working in there, then aired out or ventilated during the day.
growing food locally will have to go exponential as transport fuels become out of reach, any help we can give the plants that also goes to ensuring sane human survival has got to be as important as say, rockets to mars. carbon capture seems like fusion energy, always dangling in fantasy land around the next techno-bend. maybe one of the keys would be to figure out how to do it on a small scale, rather than trying to muzzle/scrub existing behemoth coal plants, (though that's good too.) ~"When an inner situation is not made conscious, it appears outside as fate." Karl Jung~
The question is where you get the Ca(OH)2 without emitting CO2 in its manufacture. En un viejo país ineficiente, algo así como España entre dos guerras civiles, poseer una casa y poca hacienda y memoria ninguna. -- Gil de Biedma
Calcium occurs most commonly in sedimentary rocks in the minerals calcite, dolomite and gypsum. It also occurs in igneous and metamorphic rocks chiefly in the silicate minerals: plagioclase, amphiboles, pyroxenes and garnets.
Lime water can be made by mixing excess calcium hydroxide with distilled water, or deionized water.
Calcium hydroxide is produced commercially by treating lime with water: CaO + H2O → Ca(OH)2
Calcium oxide is usually made by the thermal decomposition of materials such as limestone, that contain calcium carbonate (CaCO3; mineral calcite) in a lime kiln. This is accomplished by heating the material to above 825 °C,[1] a process called calcination or lime-burning, to liberate a molecule of carbon dioxide (CO2); leaving CaO. This process is reversible, since once the quicklime product has cooled, it immediately begins to absorb carbon dioxide from the air, until, after enough time, it is completely converted back to calcium carbonate.
Or,
if you will give me solar electrolysis, how about extraction of calcium metal out of sea water? Should be downhill from there. In the end, might makes right. Nothing has changed since the caveman.
Nitrogen oxides, Sulphur oxides are out.
How about silicates? Can we turn silicates plus carbon dioxide into carbonates plus silica? En un viejo país ineficiente, algo así como España entre dos guerras civiles, poseer una casa y poca hacienda y memoria ninguna. -- Gil de Biedma
or we'll have this
Why Haven't Fruit & Vegetable Eaters Been Told About This Toxic Waste Overload?
Why Haven't Fruit & Vegetable Eaters Been Told About This Toxic Waste Overload? Posted by: Dr. Mercola January 16 2010 | 42,844 views The U.S. government is encouraging farmers to spread a chalky waste from coal-fired power plants on their fields to loosen and fertilize soil. The material is produced by power plant "scrubbers" that remove acid-rain-causing sulfur dioxide from plant emissions. The substance is a synthetic form of the mineral gypsum, and it also contains mercury, arsenic, lead and other heavy metals. The Environmental Protection Agency says those toxic metals occur in only tiny amounts. But some environmentalists say too little is known about how the material affects crops, and ultimately human health. ... As you may know, coal-fired plants produce about 50 percent of the power in the US, and are a major source of environmental pollution. One of its byproducts is FGD gypsum (flue gas desulfurization gypsum). Not surprisingly, the standard solution is to develop a scheme to sweep the problem under the rug and make money doing it. In this case, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has begun promoting what they call "wastes beneficial uses," in order to deal with industrial byproducts. This is history repeating itself ad nauseum. The plot to use of FGD gypsum on agricultural soils is virtually identical to the story of how the toxic byproduct fluoride was deemed beneficial to human health, once it became too costly for the aluminum industry to clean it up. If you're not yet aware of how the "beneficial waste uses" of fluoride came about, you may want to take a look at it now, because these two stories are hauntingly familiar. Ironically, while the EPA and USDA are recommending the use of this toxic byproduct on fields, the Obama administration is also in the process of drafting the first federal standards for storage and disposal of coal wastes. The White House and the EPA are currently at odds over how to handle the more than 125 million tons of coal ash and sludge waste generated each year, reports the Wall Street Journal. According to the Associated Press, this action was prompted by a spill from a coal ash pond near Knoxville, TN, just over a year ago. Ash and water flooded 300 acres, damaging homes and killing fish. The cleanup will cost an estimated $1 billion. It's logically challenging to accept that while an accidental coal waste spill is environmentally devastating, the willful spreading coal waste on farm lands, year after year, would be environmentally sound. Granted, the combined contents of the spill was likely far more toxic than FGD gypsum alone, but we're still talking about adding toxins to our farm lands, and no matter how minute these toxins are, they will eventually accumulate. Why would we want to do this to ourselves, and to our future generations?
The U.S. government is encouraging farmers to spread a chalky waste from coal-fired power plants on their fields to loosen and fertilize soil. The material is produced by power plant "scrubbers" that remove acid-rain-causing sulfur dioxide from plant emissions. The substance is a synthetic form of the mineral gypsum, and it also contains mercury, arsenic, lead and other heavy metals. The Environmental Protection Agency says those toxic metals occur in only tiny amounts. But some environmentalists say too little is known about how the material affects crops, and ultimately human health.
...
As you may know, coal-fired plants produce about 50 percent of the power in the US, and are a major source of environmental pollution. One of its byproducts is FGD gypsum (flue gas desulfurization gypsum). Not surprisingly, the standard solution is to develop a scheme to sweep the problem under the rug and make money doing it.
In this case, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has begun promoting what they call "wastes beneficial uses," in order to deal with industrial byproducts.
This is history repeating itself ad nauseum.
The plot to use of FGD gypsum on agricultural soils is virtually identical to the story of how the toxic byproduct fluoride was deemed beneficial to human health, once it became too costly for the aluminum industry to clean it up.
If you're not yet aware of how the "beneficial waste uses" of fluoride came about, you may want to take a look at it now, because these two stories are hauntingly familiar.
Ironically, while the EPA and USDA are recommending the use of this toxic byproduct on fields, the Obama administration is also in the process of drafting the first federal standards for storage and disposal of coal wastes. The White House and the EPA are currently at odds over how to handle the more than 125 million tons of coal ash and sludge waste generated each year, reports the Wall Street Journal.
According to the Associated Press, this action was prompted by a spill from a coal ash pond near Knoxville, TN, just over a year ago. Ash and water flooded 300 acres, damaging homes and killing fish. The cleanup will cost an estimated $1 billion.
It's logically challenging to accept that while an accidental coal waste spill is environmentally devastating, the willful spreading coal waste on farm lands, year after year, would be environmentally sound.
Granted, the combined contents of the spill was likely far more toxic than FGD gypsum alone, but we're still talking about adding toxins to our farm lands, and no matter how minute these toxins are, they will eventually accumulate.
Why would we want to do this to ourselves, and to our future generations?
so assholes can make a buck, duh. ~"When an inner situation is not made conscious, it appears outside as fate." Karl Jung~
Adept Alchemy. Part II. Chapter 8. Biological Transmutations
The study of biological transmutation can be said to have begun in the 17th century with the famous experiment by von Helmont, who grew a willow tree in a clay vase with 200 pounds of soil. After 5 years, he dried the soil and found that its weight had decreased by only 2 ounces: "Water alone had, therefore, been sufficient to produce 160 pounds of wood, bark and roots" (plus fallen leaves which he did not weigh). Presumably, there were some minerals in the water he fed to the tree. Nowadays we know that plants form carbohydrates from atmospheric carbon dioxide, but their mineral content is derived from soil, not air. It may be possible, however, that the ORMEs (Orbitally Rearranged Monoatomic Elements), discovered by David Hudson in the 1980s, exist in the atmosphere and are utilized by plants. In 1799, the French chemist Vauquelin became intrigued by the quantity of lime which hens excrete every day. He isolated a hen and fed it a pound of oats which were analyzed for lime (CaO). Vauquelin analyzed the eggs and feces and found five times more Ca was excreted than was consumed. He concluded that lime had been created, but could not figure out how it happened. In 1822, the English physiologist Prout studied the increase of calcium carbonate inside incubating chicken eggs, and was able to show that it was not contributed by the shell. In 1831, Choubard germinated watercress seeds in clean glass vessels and showed that the sprouts contained minerals which did not previously exist in the seeds.
The study of biological transmutation can be said to have begun in the 17th century with the famous experiment by von Helmont, who grew a willow tree in a clay vase with 200 pounds of soil. After 5 years, he dried the soil and found that its weight had decreased by only 2 ounces: "Water alone had, therefore, been sufficient to produce 160 pounds of wood, bark and roots" (plus fallen leaves which he did not weigh). Presumably, there were some minerals in the water he fed to the tree. Nowadays we know that plants form carbohydrates from atmospheric carbon dioxide, but their mineral content is derived from soil, not air. It may be possible, however, that the ORMEs (Orbitally Rearranged Monoatomic Elements), discovered by David Hudson in the 1980s, exist in the atmosphere and are utilized by plants.
In 1799, the French chemist Vauquelin became intrigued by the quantity of lime which hens excrete every day. He isolated a hen and fed it a pound of oats which were analyzed for lime (CaO). Vauquelin analyzed the eggs and feces and found five times more Ca was excreted than was consumed. He concluded that lime had been created, but could not figure out how it happened.
In 1822, the English physiologist Prout studied the increase of calcium carbonate inside incubating chicken eggs, and was able to show that it was not contributed by the shell.
In 1831, Choubard germinated watercress seeds in clean glass vessels and showed that the sprouts contained minerals which did not previously exist in the seeds.
it gets better:
Circa 1850, Lauwes and Gilbert observed an inexplicable variation in the amount of magnesium in the ashes of plants. From 1875-1883, von Herzeele conducted 500 analyses which verified an increase in weight in the ashes of plants grown without soil in a controlled medium. He concluded that, "Plants are capable of effecting the transmutation of elements". His publications so outraged the scientific community of the time, they were removed from libraries. His writings were lost for more than 50 years until a collection was found in Berlin by Dr. Hauscka, who subsequently published von Herzeele's findings. M. Baranger (Ecole Polytechnique, Paris) became intrigued with Von Herzeele's experiments, but he thought that the number of trials had been too limited and the precautions against error were insufficient. Baranger decided to repeat the experiments with all possible precautions and a very large number of cases which would allow a statistical study. His research project lasted four years and involved thousands of analyses. Baranger verified the content of P, K, and Ca of vetch seeds before and after germination in twice-distilled water to which pure calcium chloride was/was not added. Hundreds of lots of 7-10 grams each were selected, weighed to 1/100th milligram, and graded, then germinated in a controlled environment. The plants were tested by the methods described by A. Brunel-Tourcoin in his Practical Treatise of Plant Chemistry (1948). Baranger found a significant decrease in P in the Ca-series of tests. Non-germinated seeds and seeds germinated in the distilled water showed no significant change in their levels of K. Those seeds treated with CaCl2 showed a 10% increase in their K content. None of the specialists who examined Baranger's work were able to find any experimental errors. Baranger concluded: These results, obtained by taking all possible precautions, confirm the general conclusions proposed by V. Herzeele and lead one to think that under certain conditions the plants are capable of forming elements which did not exist before in the external environment. [The practical consequences] cannot be underestimated... Certain plants would bring to the soil some elements useful for the growth of other plants; this would lead us especially to define and revise the current notions on fallows, rotations, mixed crop, fertilizers and the manuring of infertile soils. Nothing prevents us from thinking that certain plants are capable of producing rare elements of industrial importance.... In the sub-atomic field, the plant supplies us with an example of transformation which we are not capable of performing in the laboratory without bringing into action particles of high-energy... It seems that the theoretical consequences in the field of sub-atomic physics are not negligible. In 1946, Henri Spindler, (Director of the Laboratoire Maritime de Dinard) investigated the origin of iodine in seaweed, and found that the algae Laminaria manufactured iodine out of water which contained none of the element. (15) Prof. Perrault (Paris University) found that the hormone aldosterone provoked a transmutation of Na to K, which could be fatal to a patient; heart failure occurs when blood plasma K reaches approximately 350 mg/liter. In 1959, Dr. Julien (Univ. of Besancon) proved that if tenches are put in water containing 14% NaCl, their production of KCl increases 36% within 4 hours. (5) Louis Kervran (Univ. of Paris) was the most ardent researcher of biological transmutation, and his work in the field earned him a nomination for the Nobel Prize. Kervran elucidated several of these nuclear reactions and verified them: The vital phenomenon is not of a chemical order... The nucleus of the atom in light elements is quite different from what nuclear physics regards as the average type, the latter having value only for the heavy elements... Nature moves particles from one nucleus to another ¾ particles such as hydrogen and oxygen nuclei and, in some cases, the nuclei of carbon and lithium. There is thus a transmutation... Biological transmutation is a phenomenon completely different from the atomic fissions or fusions of physics... it reveals a property of matter not seen prior to this work. (4, 7-13) Kervran found that in nuclido-biological reactions, oxygen is always in the form of O, never O2; reactions with nitrogen occur only with N2, insofar as is known. The following reactions (shown in simplistic form) have been observed: Na23 + H1 ® Mg24 Na23 + O16 ® K39 Na23 - O16 ® Li7 Na23 ® Li7 + O16 K39 + H1 ® Ca40 Mg24 + Li7 ® P31 Mg24 + O16 ® Ca40 F19 + O16 ® Cl35 C12 + Li7 ® F19 Cl35 ® C12 + Na23 Fe56 - H1 ® Mn55 2 O16 - H1 ® P31 O16 + O16 ® S32 2 N14 ® C12 + O16 N14 + Mg12 ® K19 Si28 + C12 ® Ca40 Si28 + C12 ® Ca40 P31 + H1 « S32
Circa 1850, Lauwes and Gilbert observed an inexplicable variation in the amount of magnesium in the ashes of plants.
From 1875-1883, von Herzeele conducted 500 analyses which verified an increase in weight in the ashes of plants grown without soil in a controlled medium. He concluded that, "Plants are capable of effecting the transmutation of elements". His publications so outraged the scientific community of the time, they were removed from libraries. His writings were lost for more than 50 years until a collection was found in Berlin by Dr. Hauscka, who subsequently published von Herzeele's findings.
M. Baranger (Ecole Polytechnique, Paris) became intrigued with Von Herzeele's experiments, but he thought that the number of trials had been too limited and the precautions against error were insufficient. Baranger decided to repeat the experiments with all possible precautions and a very large number of cases which would allow a statistical study. His research project lasted four years and involved thousands of analyses. Baranger verified the content of P, K, and Ca of vetch seeds before and after germination in twice-distilled water to which pure calcium chloride was/was not added. Hundreds of lots of 7-10 grams each were selected, weighed to 1/100th milligram, and graded, then germinated in a controlled environment. The plants were tested by the methods described by A. Brunel-Tourcoin in his Practical Treatise of Plant Chemistry (1948). Baranger found a significant decrease in P in the Ca-series of tests. Non-germinated seeds and seeds germinated in the distilled water showed no significant change in their levels of K. Those seeds treated with CaCl2 showed a 10% increase in their K content.
None of the specialists who examined Baranger's work were able to find any experimental errors. Baranger concluded:
These results, obtained by taking all possible precautions, confirm the general conclusions proposed by V. Herzeele and lead one to think that under certain conditions the plants are capable of forming elements which did not exist before in the external environment.
[The practical consequences] cannot be underestimated... Certain plants would bring to the soil some elements useful for the growth of other plants; this would lead us especially to define and revise the current notions on fallows, rotations, mixed crop, fertilizers and the manuring of infertile soils. Nothing prevents us from thinking that certain plants are capable of producing rare elements of industrial importance....
In the sub-atomic field, the plant supplies us with an example of transformation which we are not capable of performing in the laboratory without bringing into action particles of high-energy... It seems that the theoretical consequences in the field of sub-atomic physics are not negligible.
In 1946, Henri Spindler, (Director of the Laboratoire Maritime de Dinard) investigated the origin of iodine in seaweed, and found that the algae Laminaria manufactured iodine out of water which contained none of the element. (15)
Prof. Perrault (Paris University) found that the hormone aldosterone provoked a transmutation of Na to K, which could be fatal to a patient; heart failure occurs when blood plasma K reaches approximately 350 mg/liter.
In 1959, Dr. Julien (Univ. of Besancon) proved that if tenches are put in water containing 14% NaCl, their production of KCl increases 36% within 4 hours. (5)
Louis Kervran (Univ. of Paris) was the most ardent researcher of biological transmutation, and his work in the field earned him a nomination for the Nobel Prize. Kervran elucidated several of these nuclear reactions and verified them:
The vital phenomenon is not of a chemical order... The nucleus of the atom in light elements is quite different from what nuclear physics regards as the average type, the latter having value only for the heavy elements... Nature moves particles from one nucleus to another ¾ particles such as hydrogen and oxygen nuclei and, in some cases, the nuclei of carbon and lithium. There is thus a transmutation... Biological transmutation is a phenomenon completely different from the atomic fissions or fusions of physics... it reveals a property of matter not seen prior to this work. (4, 7-13)
Kervran found that in nuclido-biological reactions, oxygen is always in the form of O, never O2; reactions with nitrogen occur only with N2, insofar as is known. The following reactions (shown in simplistic form) have been observed:
Na23 + H1 ® Mg24 Na23 + O16 ® K39 Na23 - O16 ® Li7
Na23 ® Li7 + O16 K39 + H1 ® Ca40 Mg24 + Li7 ® P31
Mg24 + O16 ® Ca40 F19 + O16 ® Cl35 C12 + Li7 ® F19
Cl35 ® C12 + Na23 Fe56 - H1 ® Mn55 2 O16 - H1 ® P31
O16 + O16 ® S32 2 N14 ® C12 + O16 N14 + Mg12 ® K19
Si28 + C12 ® Ca40 Si28 + C12 ® Ca40 P31 + H1 « S32
The vital phenomenon is not of a chemical order... The nucleus of the atom in light elements is quite different from what nuclear physics regards as the average type, the latter having value only for the heavy elements... Nature moves particles from one nucleus to another ¾ particles such as hydrogen and oxygen nuclei and, in some cases, the nuclei of carbon and lithium. There is thus a transmutation... Biological transmutation is a phenomenon completely different from the atomic fissions or fusions of physics... it reveals a property of matter not seen prior to this work.
I'm not questioning the merit or Kervran's work, but truly to claim that nuclear physics has nothing to do with this... En un viejo país ineficiente, algo así como España entre dos guerras civiles, poseer una casa y poca hacienda y memoria ninguna. -- Gil de Biedma
Migeru:
that nuclear physics has nothing to do with this...
i though nuclear physics had to do with like, everything...
seriously, (for me anyway lol). ~"When an inner situation is not made conscious, it appears outside as fate." Karl Jung~
My thought was to use naturally occurring magnesium, Calcium and Potassium from sea water. The relative abundance of elements in sea water, expressed as a percentage by mass is:
*Cl -- 1.94% *Na -- 1.08% -- NaCO3 and soda ash *Mg -- 0.192% -- MgCO3 or chalk *S -- 0.900% *Ca -- 0.410% -- CaCO3 or limestone *K -- ).385% -- K2Co3 or potash
A solar or wind powered unit could turn atmospheric CO2 and elements from sea water into four useful families of chemicals and water that is mostly fresh. React some of the metals with the dissolved sulfur and you would have water that is agriculturally useful. All that is required is long term thinking. As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."
although seawater contains about 2.8 times the bicarbonate than river water based on molarity, the percentage of bicarbonate in seawater as a ratio of all dissolved ions is far lower than in river water. Bicarbonate ions also constitute 48% of river water solutes, but only 0.41% of all seawater ions.
I wonder whether simply bubbling CO2 through seawater would lead to precipitation of carbonates.
Phosphorus from bone could be a genuine profit maker, and facilities located along arid coasts such as Pt. Conception south to the tip of Baha and also along the eastern shore of the Sea of Cortez could provide usable water for agricultural irrigation or domestic water supplies.
Plus, a decision to manufacture such systems on a large enough scale to matter would drive down the price of solar and wind and give much needed employment. Just call it "THE WAR ON GLOBAL WARMING"! As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."
Phosphorus from bone could be a genuine profit maker
bone meal is very popular in organic gardening.
you think any one of these ubergeeks ever tried bubbling the fumes through seawater?
too simple? some vested interest bruised? too cheap and easy? ~"When an inner situation is not made conscious, it appears outside as fate." Karl Jung~
why would it need to be stabilised for years, if it's going to be transformed by the plants into gases we can breathe profitably? ~"When an inner situation is not made conscious, it appears outside as fate." Karl Jung~
In 2009, the EU banned the import of seal products. The legislation was one of the most non-partisan bills to pass through the European Parliament. Believing the issue to be massively popular amongst EU citizens ahead of elections to the chamber in June, some 550 deputies voted in favour of the ban, with just 49 opposed. The groups will aim to prove that the seal hunt is, contrary to the European legislation's justification, humane. The suit will also maintain that the hunt is environmentally sustainable and that seals are not endangered. Calling the EU ban the product of a "shrill campaign" by animal rights "extremists", Mary Simon, president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, said: "Inuit have been hunting seals and sustaining themselves for food, clothing, and trade for many generations."
In 2009, the EU banned the import of seal products. The legislation was one of the most non-partisan bills to pass through the European Parliament. Believing the issue to be massively popular amongst EU citizens ahead of elections to the chamber in June, some 550 deputies voted in favour of the ban, with just 49 opposed.
The groups will aim to prove that the seal hunt is, contrary to the European legislation's justification, humane. The suit will also maintain that the hunt is environmentally sustainable and that seals are not endangered.
Calling the EU ban the product of a "shrill campaign" by animal rights "extremists", Mary Simon, president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, said: "Inuit have been hunting seals and sustaining themselves for food, clothing, and trade for many generations."
Wild chimpanzees have been observed carrying out a "fire dance" in front of grassland wildfires as part of a suite of unusual behaviours that could indicate an ability of man's closet living relative to understand and even control fire. Instead of fleeing the wildfires in panic, the chimps were seen to monitor them carefully, showing no signs of the fear that other animals normally exhibit. Their leader - the alpha male - was even observed performing a ritualistic display while facing the flames.
Wild chimpanzees have been observed carrying out a "fire dance" in front of grassland wildfires as part of a suite of unusual behaviours that could indicate an ability of man's closet living relative to understand and even control fire.
Instead of fleeing the wildfires in panic, the chimps were seen to monitor them carefully, showing no signs of the fear that other animals normally exhibit. Their leader - the alpha male - was even observed performing a ritualistic display while facing the flames.
A storm of protest has forced scientists in Austria to abandon experiments on pigs buried in snow. Animal rights activists say the tests on live animals are unacceptable. The researchers counter that it is vital to help save human lives in the aftermath of an avalanche. The tests were supposed to last two weeks, but an avalanche of criticism has forced scientists to stop after just three days. Protests by animal rights activists have brought a controversial experiment involving pigs in the Austrian Alps to a halt. On Tuesday, scientists had commenced burying the animals in the snow and monitoring their deaths in an attempt to determine what factors make it possible for humans to survive avalanches.
The tests were supposed to last two weeks, but an avalanche of criticism has forced scientists to stop after just three days. Protests by animal rights activists have brought a controversial experiment involving pigs in the Austrian Alps to a halt. On Tuesday, scientists had commenced burying the animals in the snow and monitoring their deaths in an attempt to determine what factors make it possible for humans to survive avalanches.
good ole human race, long on logic, short on irony...
dying in snow is s'posed to be blissful anyway. ~"When an inner situation is not made conscious, it appears outside as fate." Karl Jung~
...Germany's new coalition government of the center-right Christian Democrats and the business-friendly Free Democrats wants to continue with research into the suitability of Gorleben as a national permanent repository for radioactive waste. But that isn't likely to happen any time soon, because the SPD, the Greens and the Left Party will not hand over the salt dome to the conservatives without a fight. This month, they plan to petition for the establishment of an investigative committee to look at the Gorleben project. The issue of radioactive waste is set to become a major bone of contention between the government and the opposition. As the petition states, the purpose of the investigative committee will be to uncover errors and omissions made over a period of three decades "as completely as possible," as well as to investigate "undue exertion of political influence" and "conflicts of interest within the federal government" due to its close ties to industry. Was political manipulation involved in the selection of Gorleben as a site? "The suspicions are very clear," says Sylvia Kotting-Uhl, the Green Party's nuclear policy spokeswoman, who initiated the investigative committee together with other members of her party....Previously unknown documents and interviews with contemporary witnesses already reveal that instead of geology and nuclear physics, partisan politics and power struggles shaped the search for permanent repositories from the start, which is why a feasible solution hasn't been found to this day. But the industry's spent fuel rods will have to be disposed of somewhere. Germany's mountain of radioactive waste, which is growing from one year to the next, cannot be kept in ordinary warehouses forever.
But that isn't likely to happen any time soon, because the SPD, the Greens and the Left Party will not hand over the salt dome to the conservatives without a fight. This month, they plan to petition for the establishment of an investigative committee to look at the Gorleben project. The issue of radioactive waste is set to become a major bone of contention between the government and the opposition.
As the petition states, the purpose of the investigative committee will be to uncover errors and omissions made over a period of three decades "as completely as possible," as well as to investigate "undue exertion of political influence" and "conflicts of interest within the federal government" due to its close ties to industry. Was political manipulation involved in the selection of Gorleben as a site? "The suspicions are very clear," says Sylvia Kotting-Uhl, the Green Party's nuclear policy spokeswoman, who initiated the investigative committee together with other members of her party.
...Previously unknown documents and interviews with contemporary witnesses already reveal that instead of geology and nuclear physics, partisan politics and power struggles shaped the search for permanent repositories from the start, which is why a feasible solution hasn't been found to this day. But the industry's spent fuel rods will have to be disposed of somewhere. Germany's mountain of radioactive waste, which is growing from one year to the next, cannot be kept in ordinary warehouses forever.
(For detail on the last paragraph, see Nuclear dump (of final storage and German elections).) *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
"It's the end of the epidemic," Thierry Blanchon, one of the doctors of the Sentinelles flu monitoring network, told AFP. The number of cases of the fever reported to doctors has "fallen below the epidemic level for the past two weeks," he said. "The virus is certainly still spreading, but at a very weak pace." He added that vaccinations should continue in order to prevent a resurgence of the A(H1N1) flu virus, which health authorities say has killed 240 people in mainland France.
The number of cases of the fever reported to doctors has "fallen below the epidemic level for the past two weeks," he said. "The virus is certainly still spreading, but at a very weak pace."
He added that vaccinations should continue in order to prevent a resurgence of the A(H1N1) flu virus, which health authorities say has killed 240 people in mainland France.
A solar eclipse that reduced the sun to a blazing ring surrounding a sombre disk plunged millions of people in Africa and Asia into semi-darkness on Friday. The spectacle, visible in a roughly 185-mile band running 8,060 miles across the globe, set a record for the longest annular eclipse that will remain unbeaten for more than a thousand years. An annular eclipse occurs when the moon passes directly in front of the sun but does not completely obscure it, thus leaving a ring - an annulus - of sunlight flaring around the lunar disk.
The spectacle, visible in a roughly 185-mile band running 8,060 miles across the globe, set a record for the longest annular eclipse that will remain unbeaten for more than a thousand years.
An annular eclipse occurs when the moon passes directly in front of the sun but does not completely obscure it, thus leaving a ring - an annulus - of sunlight flaring around the lunar disk.
Solar Eclipse 2010 (PHOTOS)
The longest annular solar eclipse of the millennium occurred in Africa and Asia today, and we've collected some of the best pictures documenting the big event. Take a look, and vote for your favorite!
RALEIGH The sea level on the N.C. coast is likely to rise by 1.2 feet to as much as 4.6 feet this century, a panel of scientists told a state forum today. The broad range reflects the uncertainty in how much the seas will rise, the panel reported. Globally, the rise has accelerated since the 1990s and that trend is expected to continue. The estimates will be used by coastal managers for planning purposes, but they could widely affect residents too. By including sea level rise in land-management plans on the coast, for instance, areas that are likely to flood in future decades could be declared unsuited for high-density development. The N.C. Department of Transportation is already considering the likely rise of the sea in coming decades as it designs coastal bridges and highways, officials said. Addressing sea-level rise "is going to cost. It's pay now or pay later," said David Knight, an assistant secretary of the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources. "It's hard to think 80 to 100 years down the road, which is why it's important to incorporate it into long-term planning and let science lead on this."
The broad range reflects the uncertainty in how much the seas will rise, the panel reported. Globally, the rise has accelerated since the 1990s and that trend is expected to continue.
The estimates will be used by coastal managers for planning purposes, but they could widely affect residents too. By including sea level rise in land-management plans on the coast, for instance, areas that are likely to flood in future decades could be declared unsuited for high-density development.
The N.C. Department of Transportation is already considering the likely rise of the sea in coming decades as it designs coastal bridges and highways, officials said.
Addressing sea-level rise "is going to cost. It's pay now or pay later," said David Knight, an assistant secretary of the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources. "It's hard to think 80 to 100 years down the road, which is why it's important to incorporate it into long-term planning and let science lead on this."
