Think you have misread the age restriction It seems to say over 16 That gives your young german savant a couple of years to perfect his or her English Probably not needed as young Germans seem to speak better English than most Anglo-Saxons Peter ----- Original Message ----- From: "Alvia Gaskill" <[email protected]> To: "geoengineering" <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, May 18, 2009 5:22 PM Subject: [geo] Re: Submit your climate-fighting ideas
I posted below the details of the contest. It clearly does not apply to any geoengineering ideas as the objective is to "reduce emissions," which I interpret as meaning at the source. So no air capture, CROPs, OIF, aerosol or cloud, land or roof/asphalt whitening types need apply, the latter possibly qualifying in the partial effect category. Somewhat disappointed the Brits are excluding the non English speaking under 16 crowd as we have probably heard from all the over 16 English speakers already. Some 14-year-old German savant may have the solution and MIF will never know. I would recommend however, someone submit the idea of oxidizing atmospheric methane. We spent some time knocking this one around back in Jan. http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/msg01096.html Lockley proposed using diesel engines run by wind power to compression oxidize the methane, but I thought it too inefficient and too little was known about the feasibility and size of the engines to be used. Along the way, however, I ran across work done for the USDOE and EPA on thermal and catalytic oxidation systems. These are used to oxidize methane in coal mine ventilation air, have been shown in benchscale studies to work down to 800ppm (half ambient) and in full scale operation from 3000 to 9000ppm methane, reducing the methane to nearly zero, including that from the ambient air used in dilution. Further research today determined that such thermal systems are in use at coal mines around the world. The MegTec Voxidizer is used to treat 250,000 cubic meters of air per hour at a coal mine in Australia with the steam generated from the 0.9% methane gas used to sell electricity back to the grid and/or operate the system. Catalytic systems work at lower temperatures, but haven't been field tested at this scale. http://www.megtec.com:80/energy-from-coal-mine-ventilation-methane-p-682-l-en.html The system was first field tested in Britain in 1994 at levels as low as 3000ppm. Ambient is now around 1800ppm. http://www.megtec.com/documents/Coal%20Mine%20Leaflet.pdf While this is a proven technology for coal mine ventilation gas, it has not been applied to ambient air. Although methane in ambient air is not a source emission and thus doesn't meet the strict definition for mitigation, I think the argument can be made that installing such systems nearby non point source emitters like livestock feedlots or rice paddies would qualify as a mitigation technology just as do systems that trap the methane from animal waste and burn it. Levels of methane at these locations are somewhat above ambient, although that would not be the principal criterion on which to base the location. A source of renewable energy would be the primary requirement. One can argue that this is no different than Lackner wanting to apply air capture to offset CO2 emissions from transportation and thus it is simply air capture and not mitigation. Make your case. I would propose running these systems off wind energy or landfill methane. They require some amount of electricity to get going and if the methane concentration is high enough, when the flow is reversed, the heat from the combustion is used to keep the combustion zone hot. http://www.netl.doe.gov/publications/factsheets/project/Proj248.pdf The system in Australia can process 2 billion cubic meters of air per year. At a methane concentration of 1.27g/m3, this represents around 2500 tons of methane per year from ambient air. About 11,000 such units would be needed to oxidize 27 million tons of methane, the amount of the increase in 2007 or 5000 for the 12 million ton increase in 2008. Lowering the ambient methane level to zero would require even more units, more than 2 million as the current burden is over 5 billion tons. Of course, this is the requirement if the goal is to reduce atmospheric methane to zero in one year. Carried out over 100 years, 20,000 such units could greatly reduce ambient methane. The important point is that we are now talking about thousands of units, not millions or hundreds of millions as was the case with the diesel compression engines. What could be done, what is the energy cost, the carbon footprint and how important is it to worry about methane anyway? ENTRY FORM Please return the completed form to [email protected] by 5pm on Friday 29th May 2009 Name of Entrant ????? Contact Address ????? Contact Telephone Number ????? Email address ????? Please provide a summary below, in no more than four hundred words, of your idea to combat climate change. Please do not include diagrams, designs or drawings at this stage. To what extent has the idea been tested or proven? Please include any relevant links.????? How big a difference would your proposed solution make? Please be as specific as possible. ???? Please provide a brief résumé of no more than 200 words of yourself (e.g. work, interests and affiliations) and summarise any previous achievements or work in this field.????? Are you available on the weekend of the 4th and 5th July 2009 to take part in the event? ????? I have read and understood the terms and conditions of entry (please see the small print below) and agree to the procedures and criteria of The Manchester Report. Name: Date: The Small Print – Terms and Conditions a. The Manchester Report call for ideas is open to any individual over the age of 16. Successful applicants will need to be free to attend the two-day event in Manchester on July 4-5th 2009. b. To participate, entrants must submit an application form, found on the Manchester International Festival website, via email to [email protected] c. The closing date for entries is Friday 29th May 2009, any entries received after this date will not be considered. An email confirmation from Manchester International Festival constitutes proof of receipt. d. Each participant may enter one idea only. e. All entries must be in English; entries in any other language will not be accepted. f. Manchester International Festival reserves the right to exclude anyone from entry at anytime, without reason and without prior notice. g. Submitted entries, including any material related thereto, such as drawings, designs or sample products, shall become the sole property of Manchester International Festival and\or the Guardian and shall not be returned. h. Each participant warrants that all information provided with their entry is either their own intellectual property and /or invention, or that they are the authorised representative or advocate of the entry. i. Participants grant Manchester International Festival and\or the Guardian irrevocable, perpetual, worldwide right to publish and use in connection with The Manchester Report the content of the entry and their personal data such as their name, country of origin, photographs in any and all media, including but not limited to the internet and publicity material, without limitation and without compensation to the participants. The Manchester International Festival and\or the Guardian shall not sell, rent, loan, trade or lease the personal data of the participants to any third party. j. Participants agree to fully cooperate with and participate in all publicity and promotional activities and \ or press conferences regarding their participation in The Manchester Report. k. Manchester International Festival and \ or the Guardian shall not be liable for any late, lost, delayed, misdirected, damaged, incomplete or illegible entries. l. Entrants may be required to provide further information relating to their entry to assist with the judging process. m. All entries shall be evaluated based on the following criteria: i. Potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions over a period of time ii. Technical and commercial viability iii. Harmful effects and\or other incidental consequences of the entry iv. Longevity of effects v. Scalability vi. Any other criteria which the judges decide in their discretion are relevant. n. Successful entrants shall be contacted by Manchester International Festival no later than Monday 15th June 2009. If no such contact has been made by this date, the entry shall be deemed rejected. o. All decisions made by the panel are final. p. During the event, successful applicants shall have fifteen minutes to present their idea to the panel in front of an audience of 500 at the Manchester Town Hall. This will be followed by a cross-examination by the panel. q. Manchester International Festival and\or the Guardian shall provide basic presentation materials at the event (including, but not limited to, a projection screen and projector). Any further requests for equipment should be put directly to Manchester International Festival. r. Travel and accommodation costs for the applicants for the duration of the event shall be borne by Manchester International Festival. The applicant agrees to Manchester International Festival booking relevant accommodation and travel. On May 15, 6:48 am, "John Nissen" <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi all, > > James Randerson from the Guardian asked me to promote a competition. He > wrote: > > "The Guardian, BBC and Manchester festival are planning an event to > scrutinise climate mitigation strategies and evaluate their potential. It > will be a mock judicial review chaired by Lord Bingham and the report will > be forwarded negotiators at Copenhagen. The idea is to draw attention to > climate change solutions and to show-case interesting and innovative > ideas." > > http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/blog/2009/may/01/climate-change > > Got a brilliant idea for a behavioural change or technological/scientific > breakthrough that could tackle global warming? The Guardian and the > Manchester International Festival have this week launched the Manchester > Report, a competition searching for innovative ways of mitigating climate > change. > > To submit your idea, download the application form. A total of 12 > finalists will be shortlisted to pitch their idea to a panel of expert > judges at Manchester Town Hall in July. > > The best ideas will form the basis of the Manchester Report, which will be > distributed to policy-makers involved in the crucial UN climate treaty in > Copenhagen this December. > > The deadline for applications is 29 May. > > ---- > > Cheers, > > John -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.0.238 / Virus Database: 270.12.32/2119 - Release Date: 05/17/09 16:58:00 --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "geoengineering" group. 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