Re: [Biofuel] (was Glycerine Settling Time) removing salt/dirt fromwvo
Hello Roderick. A definiyion is on its place: A salt is basically a compound built up from the reaction of a metal and an acid.There are other salts too, but we can leave them for now. This means that soaps are salts, since they are built up from metal ions (Na+ or K+ in connection with biodiesel) and fatty acids. These are formed as a by-reaction in the trans-esterification process, often encouraged by the water content. Salt in every-day talk is NaCl sodium chloride , where in this case the chlorine is fetched from HCl, hydrochloric acid. Does this spread any light to you ? You are using acetic acid to break the emulsion. This will create the salts potassium or sodium acetate and water. Best regards Jan - Original Message - From: Roderick Roth To: biofuel@sustainablelists.org Sent: Sunday, August 12, 2007 6:03 PM Subject: Re: [Biofuel] (was Glycerine Settling Time) removing salt/dirt fromwvo Hello Jan May I jump into the discussion? Jan you have just mentioned the word salts isn't that one of the ingrediants for making very good quality soap? Hence possibly helping make a great emultion during the first wash on the quality esters. I am assuming that salts will remain in the whole process, not being disolved in any manner from the methoxide right? Some salt should be drained with the glycern right? Possibly leaving some salt in the unwashed ester. My last two reactions have had the same feedstock, ( a very popular restaurant which salts their fry's heavily, lol) both reactions were two stage acid/base reactions becos the titration is consistantly over 14 eww . Here are the wash results from both batches of Quality Tested BD: Reaction #21 using 1500L unwashed oil as a feedstock:the resulting 1380 Litre batch of quality BD required 3.5 litres of pure 99% vinagar to break the first wash emultion. Reaction #22 using 1500L PREWASHED oil of the same feedstock : the resulting 1450L batch only required 1 Litre of 99% pure vinagar, to break the first wash emultion. Jan does this observation make any sense? Think it could be salt? -Rod. Jan Warnqvist [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hello Joe. There were probably small amounts of mono- and diglycerides left in the biodiesel, and/or possibly soaps which together are excellent emulsifiers. A strong acid will divide the glycerides into fatty acids and glycerine ,and the soaps into salts and fatty acids, which then goes into a fat phanse and an aquaeus phase, possibly with the salts in the bottom.' Best regards Jan - Original Message - From: Joe Street To: biofuel@sustainablelists.org Sent: Friday, August 10, 2007 3:45 PM Subject: Re: [Biofuel] Glycerine Settling Time Hi Jan; Ok your post agrees with what Andres said. So how do we explain Tom's experiment then? To recap (Tom correct me if I miss something here) he took washed esters that passed the methanol test and added water and (of course) no emulsion when agitated. Whatever mono and diglycerides were in the esters were small but present I assume, but yet no emusion. Then added some small quantity of glycerol ( which had been separated from the soaps, FFA and salts) and agitated again and did get an emulsion. I have had the feeling glycerin has usually been the cause of emulsion problems when I have had them. No doubt a poorly reacted batch is much more likely to have the problem but is that really due to the glycerides or is it glycerin which hasn't settled. Remember we started this discussion that the glycerin settles much slower in a poorly completed run. BTW as an addition to this discussion look what someone just posted on my yahoo group! Using glycerin cocktail to BREAK an emulsion. Now that's radical!!?? http://www.biodieselcommunity.org/breakingemulsions/ Joe Jan Warnqvist wrote: Hi evereybody. I feel obliged to enter this discussion. Pure glycerine is not a good emulsifier due to the fact that there are three OH-groups and that the carbon s in the first and third positions are surronded by two hydrogene atoms. This makes the glycerine hydrophilic in five places alltogether. However, the mono- and diglycerides are excellent emulsifiers. Only small amounts of these are sufficient to create stable emulsions. Would somebody agree with me on that ?Jan Warnqvist - Original Message - From: Keith Addison [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: biofuel@sustainablelists.org Sent: Friday, August 10, 2007 9:53 AM Subject: Re: [Biofuel] Glycerine Settling TimeHi TomHi Keith, Then if you do one-litre test batches first, especially with iffy batches of oil, Ops.I took Joe's point to be: If you have to re-process it is possible to use info from the QT to determine how much (how little) methanol you'll need to use.I also took
Re: [Biofuel] Glycerine Settling Time
Thanks Joe. Hi Keith; Most often the process comes to 95% or more complete and that is good enough for me ( personal choice) and doesn't give me wash problems either. Maybe 20% of the time it only gets to somewhere around 90% and this is a problem. It tends to be most likely to happen when the feedstock titrates with a result of higher than 5 (this is titrating with KOH soln rather than NaOH) which is what I consider borderline for going acid-base. Settling time is not less than 12 hours for me. Sorry about snipping the remainder of your post, was trying to save bandwidth. Off for the weekend now will check messages on Monday. Hope you are having a good weekend. And also to those about to start the weekend. Tirah Joe Keith Addison wrote: Hi Joe Hi Keith; See my answers below. Keith Addison wrote: Well, settling time is free. Acid-base aside, there's the two-stage base-base process, which quite a lot of people use and like, but otherwise why do more than one stage? Do you mean two separate stages, with a methanol test in between? So you process it twice? Plus extra methanol. No,- more like aiming for a single stage and then using the methanol test right after the settling period (after draining the glycerol of course) it gives you a chance to hit the reactor with another small dose of methoxide if it wasn't quite a complete reaction. The test also tells you how much to use. There is no standardising the process here since the feed is never the same twice. I don't think anybody's feedstock is ever the same twice, unless they're getting it from a food factory with a standardised operation. No restaurant cooks exactly the same food in the same way two days running. Anyway, why should that mean changing anything but the amount of catalyst needed? That's what titration is for, no? Certainly you can standardise the other variables. Rod decided to try a methanol test before washing, just for giggles and it turned out to be a heluva good idea. You know right away if you got a good reaction without having to waste all the time energy and water washing and drying before doing a quality test and then potenially having to reprocess. Before you started using this extra stage, how often did you have to reprocess? In your previous message it sounded like it happened regularly, and it still sounds that way. It turns out this looks just like a two step base -base type deal. but more like 90% of it in one step and then a polishing step. Sometimes if your process was good you don't need to do it, but if it turns out you were not near enough to completion it's nice to know right away. There's still methanol in the esters at that point (before washing) so it's advantageous to push the process further at that point if it is necessary. Joe This seems to raise more questions than provide answers. There were also some other points in my reply to Tom, eg, how long do you let the glycerin settle before draining it and embarking on the second stage/polishing step or whatever? I'll put the rest of my message back, below. Please see my reply to Tom: http://tinyurl.com/3ccqhwhttp://tinyurl.com/3ccqhw [Biofuel] Glycerine Settling Time Best Keith Hi Joe Tom; It makes sense. Glycerin is an emulsifier. Have you ever tried dosing the batch again with a little methoxide? After you remove the glycerin it doesn't take much to get the last bit of the reaction to go and settle out the remaining glycerin. Of course this is well known already. Kenji and many others do straight base catalysis as a two stage deal. You can do a methanol test of sorts and the unreacted oil will settle out. Then you can use the measured amount of unreacted oil in the methanol test vial to estimate the percentage unreacted oil in your batch and dose accordingly with the stoichiometric amount of methoxide. Assume neutral oil for this calculation. Rod and I do this regularly if the batch fails the QT and it works like a charm. Will save you settling time in the long run. Well, settling time is free. Acid-base aside, there's the two-stage base-base process, which quite a lot of people use and like, but otherwise why do more than one stage? Do you mean two separate stages, with a methanol test in between? So you process it twice? Plus extra methanol. Why not do it in a single phase? Todd Swearingen once suggested this here (discussing mixing pump sizes): To judge an appropriate reaction time, pull an exact amount of fluid (200 ml would suffice) out of the reaction stream every half-hour or hour after an arbitrary initial ~1 hour reaction period. Presuming that the contents of the reactor are kept homogenous from the pump flow, the volume of the glycerol cocktail that settles out of each sample will give you a fair gauge as to when your reaction completed. The suggestion would be to continue the reaction for ~1/2 hour beyond the point where your glyc cocktail volume stabilized. That works.
[Biofuel] Rising temperatures will stunt rainforest growth
http://www.nature.com/news/2007/070806/full/070806-13.html nature.com Published online: 10 August 2007 Rising temperatures will stunt rainforest growth Plants suffering in the heat could make global warming worse. Michael Hopkin Global warming could cut the rate at which trees in tropical rainforests grow by as much as half, according to more than two decades' worth of data from forests in Panama and Malaysia. The effect - so far largely overlooked by climate modellers - could severely erode or even remove the ability of tropical rainforests to remove carbon dioxide from the air as they grow. The study shows that rising average temperatures have reduced growth rates by up to 50% in the two rainforests, which have both experienced climate warming above the world average over the past few decades. The trend is shown by data stretching back to 1981 collected from hundreds of thousands of individual trees. If other rainforests follow suit as world temperatures rise, important carbon stores such as the pristine old-growth forests of the Amazon could conceivably stop storing as much carbon, says Ken Feeley of Harvard University's Arnold Arboretum in Boston, who presented the research at the annual meeting of the Ecological Society of America in San Jose, California. Losing their balance The amount of carbon that a forest stores depends on the balance between the rate at which it draws carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through photosynthesis and the rate at which it gives carbon dioxide back through respiration. In carbon sinks, which are mostly found at high latitudes, photosynthesis outstrips respiration and the amount of carbon stored increases. In general, tropical forests are today thought to act as stable stores of carbon, with their photosynthetic input and their respiratory output more or less in balance. Some scientists and environmentalists have suggested that, given the way carbon dioxide spurs plant growth, tropical forests could in time come to act as a sink, offsetting some of the man-made carbon dioxide build-up. That optimism will have to be reassessed, though, if photosynthesis becomes less productive in the tropics. The trends measured by Feeley suggest that entire tropical regions might become net emitters of carbon dioxide, rather than storage vessels for it. The Amazon basin as a whole could become a carbon source, Feeley says. Feeley and his colleagues analysed data on climate and tree growth for 50-hectare plots in each of the two rainforests, at Barro Colorado Island in Panama, and Pasoh in Malaysia. Both have witnessed temperature rises of more than 1ºC over the past 30 years, and both showed dramatic decreases in rates of tree growth. At Pasoh, as many as 95% of tree species were affected, Feeley and his colleagues report. The research has also been published in the journal Ecology Letters1. Sinking feeling Feeley suspects that the effect occurs because plant photosynthesis is impaired if the temperature rises above a certain threshold. The effect, he adds, has not been included in models of the global carbon cycle, meaning that predictions of the future performance of tropical forests as carbon stores may be unduly optimistic. That said, he stresses that the effect is far from proven, and could be due to other factors. Under increasing carbon dioxide alone, we know the growth rate will increase, he says. But there are lots of factors - it's naïve to think of any one in isolation. The study acknowledges that increased cloudiness - or even a growing role for lianas - may account for some of the results. Yet ultimately, those changes are also related to climate change, which can be expected to have effects all over the tropics. If we're correct and the temperature is driving these changes, this is something we're going to see in a lot more places, Feeley predicts. It has very important implications - we may need to look elsewhere for our excess carbon sink. So far, the Amazon rainforest - the world's biggest - has not suffered significant climate warming. But with even the most optimistic predictions of climate analysts asserting temperatures are to rise by 2ºC over the coming century, most rainforests could feel the effect before too long. ©2007 Nature Publishing Group ___ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
Re: [Biofuel] Glycerin as an Emulsifier (was Glycerine Settling Time)
On Friday 8/10, I noted that: II. Glycerin Cocktail: Time to Separate (wash test) good quality BD + water + glycerin cocktail2 hours* poor quality BD + water + glycerin cocktail2 hours* It almost 2 days for the good quality BD to separate out. There was a very clear soap layer between the BD layer and the water layer. It's almost three days now and the poor quality BD still has an emulsion layer. More than half of the BD layer is emulsion. My thoughts: 1. Glycerin, itself, separated from the cocktail, is not an effective emulsifier 2. Presence of just the glycerin cocktail lengthens the time needed to separate water from BD 3. The glycerin cocktail in combination with even small amounts of unreacted Mono- and Di- Glycerides forms emulsions during wash. ***Keep in mind that my poor quality BD failed the Methanol Solubility Test (the Warnqvist Quality Test), in that the resulting mix was cloudy, and given time, an observable, but difficult to measure, amount of residue (unreacted glycerides) dropped out. There were not globs of residue. This was not real bad BD. It is used in my home heating system. Questions/Comments: 1. Unreacted Mono- and Di- Glycerides have a reputation as being very effective emulsifiers. They are present in the BD that I make to heat my house. Why don't they form emulsions when I stir wash this BD? 2. If glycerin cocktail (unsplit) is present, the same levels of Mono- and Di- Glycerides form emulsions, when they are only shaken . Does this represent a cumulative or synergistic effect? The cumulative/synergistic effect of glycerin cocktail and unreacted glycerides on emulsion formation would explain a couple of observations: a. Incomplete reactions coupled with short (6 - 8 hour) settling times often produce emulsions in the wash. Longer settling times 2 days or more no emulsions. The glycerin has settled out b. After breaking emulsions (1st and even 2nd wash), subsequent washes go well w/o emulsions forming. The Mono- and Di-Glycerides are still present, but the components of the glycerin cocktail have been, for the most part washed out. 3. Does the glycerin cocktail settle out of incomplete reactions more slowly than from complete reactions? Tom - Original Message - From: Thomas Kelly To: biofuel Sent: Friday, August 10, 2007 2:46 PM Subject: [Biofuel] Glycerin as an Emulsifier (was Glycerine Settling Time) Andres, Jan, Joe, Keith, and anyone else who has been following the saga, It would seem that glycerine, itself, is not an effective emulsifier. I've spent the morning experimenting in the kitchen. I did Wash Tests on BD that passed the QT and BD that failed the QT. I tested one group with glycerine split from the cocktail (using Phosphoric Acid) and another group with unsplit Glycerin cocktail. Volumes used: Biodiesel 150 ml Water 150 ml Glycerin (split and unsplit) 4 ml Temp: 70F (~22C) I. Glycerin split from the cocktail (used Phosphoric Acid): Controls: Time for clear separation (min) good quality BD + water 1 - 2 poor quality BD + water 3 - 4 Experimental: good quality BD + water + glycerine (split) less than 5 poor quality BD + water + glycerine (split) less than 5 II Glycerin Cocktail: good quality BD + water + glycerine cocktail2 hours* poor quality BD + water + glycerine cocktail2 hours* * At 2 hours there is a thin layer of BD (1 - 2 mm) The rest appears to be an emulsion. Andres and Jan, you are correct. Glycerin, itself, did little to retard separation of BD and water. Something in the cocktail does seem to be an emulsifier. (The soaps??) Some questions remain: 1. The BD that failed the QT (incomplete reaction) was obtained from a tank that feeds my heating system. It contains unreacted glycerides, but does not produce an emulsion when shaken in water, nor did it produce emulsions when it was stir-washed. Why not? 2. At Joe Street's suggestion I took a sample of BD that had settled for about 10 hours. Twelve hours later, more glycerin had settled out. Today, still another 24 hours later, even more has settled out. Could this small amount of unsplit glycerine (with associated soaps) be the cause of the emulsions I got when I started making BD? It would explain why settling for a day or more seems to eliminate the problem. 3. Does the glycerine mix (or soaps) settle out more slowly in BD from incomplete reactions? Tom -- ___ Biofuel mailing list
[Biofuel] Analysts See 'Simply Incredible' Shrinking of Floating Ice in the Arctic
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/08/10/3105/ - CommonDreams.org Published on Friday, August 10, 2007 by The New York Times Analysts See 'Simply Incredible' Shrinking of Floating Ice in the Arctic by Andrew C. Revkin The area of floating ice in the Arctic has shrunk more this summer than in any other summer since satellite tracking began in 1979, and it has reached that record point a month before the annual ice pullback typically peaks, experts said yesterday. The cause is probably a mix of natural fluctuations, like unusually sunny conditions in June and July, and long-term warming from heat-trapping greenhouse gases and sooty particles accumulating in the air, according to several scientists. William L. Chapman, who monitors the region at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and posted a Web report on the ice retreat yesterday, said that only an abrupt change in conditions could prevent far more melting before the 24-hour sun of the boreal summer set in September. The melting rate during June and July this year was simply incredible, Mr. Chapman said. And then you've got this exposed black ocean soaking up sunlight and you wonder what, if anything, could cause it to reverse course. Mark Serreze, a sea-ice expert at the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colo., said his center's estimates differed somewhat from those of the Illinois team, and by the ice center's reckoning the retreat had not surpassed the satellite-era record set in 2005. But it was close even by the center's calculations, he said, adding that it is almost certain that by September, there will be more open water in the Arctic than has been seen for a long time. Ice experts at NASA and the University of Washington echoed his assessment. Dr. Serreze said that a high-pressure system parked over the Arctic appeared to have caused a triple whammy - keeping away clouds, causing winds to carry warm air north and pushing sea ice away from Siberia, exposing huge areas of open water. The progressive summertime opening of the Arctic has intensified a longstanding international tug of war over shipping routes and possible oil and gas deposits beneath the Arctic Ocean seabed. Last week, Russians planted a flag on the seabed at the North Pole. On Wednesday, Stephen Harper, the Canadian prime minister, began a tour of Canada's Arctic holdings, pledging to vigorously protect our Arctic sovereignty as international interest in the region increases. © 2007 The New York Times ___ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
Re: [Biofuel] Glycerin as an Emulsifier (was Glycerine Settling Time)
Hi Tom; If the answers to questions 2 and 3 are yes then it would explain a lot. Then the anwer to question one could be that although the BD did not pass the QT if it was settled long enough that there is no glycerol it would be consistent with the emergent theory. No? Joe Thomas Kelly wrote: On Friday 8/10, I noted that: II. Glycerin Cocktail: Time to Separate (wash test) good quality BD + water + glycerin cocktail2 hours* poor quality BD + water + glycerin cocktail2 hours* It almost 2 days for the good quality BD to separate out. There was a very clear soap layer between the BD layer and the water layer. It's almost three days now and the poor quality BD still has an emulsion layer. More than half of the BD layer is emulsion. My thoughts: 1. Glycerin, itself, separated from the cocktail, is not an effective emulsifier 2. Presence of just the glycerin cocktail lengthens the time needed to separate water from BD 3. The glycerin cocktail in combination with even small amounts of unreacted Mono- and Di- Glycerides forms emulsions during wash. ***Keep in mind that my poor quality BD failed the Methanol Solubility Test (the Warnqvist Quality Test), in that the resulting mix was cloudy, and given time, an observable, but difficult to measure, amount of residue (unreacted glycerides) dropped out. There were not globs of residue. This was not real bad BD. It is used in my home heating system. Questions/Comments: 1. Unreacted Mono- and Di- Glycerides have a reputation as being very effective emulsifiers. They are present in the BD that I make to heat my house. Why don't they form emulsions when I stir wash this BD? 2. If glycerin cocktail (unsplit) is present, the same levels of Mono- and Di- Glycerides form emulsions, when they are only shaken . Does this represent a cumulative or synergistic effect? The cumulative/synergistic effect of glycerin cocktail and unreacted glycerides on emulsion formation would explain a couple of observations: a. Incomplete reactions coupled with short (6 - 8 hour) settling times often produce emulsions in the wash. Longer settling times 2 days or more no emulsions. The glycerin has settled out b. After breaking emulsions (1st and even 2nd wash), subsequent washes go well w/o emulsions forming. The Mono- and Di-Glycerides are still present, but the components of the glycerin cocktail have been, for the most part washed out. 3. Does the glycerin cocktail settle out of incomplete reactions more slowly than from complete reactions? Tom - Original Message - *From:* Thomas Kelly mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] *To:* biofuel mailto:Biofuel@sustainablelists.org *Sent:* Friday, August 10, 2007 2:46 PM *Subject:* [Biofuel] Glycerin as an Emulsifier (was Glycerine Settling Time) Andres, Jan, Joe, Keith, and anyone else who has been following the saga, It would seem that glycerine, itself, is not an effective emulsifier. I've spent the morning experimenting in the kitchen. I did Wash Tests on BD that passed the QT and BD that failed the QT. I tested one group with glycerine split from the cocktail (using Phosphoric Acid) and another group with unsplit Glycerin cocktail. Volumes used: Biodiesel 150 ml Water 150 ml Glycerin (split and unsplit) 4 ml Temp: 70F (~22C) I. Glycerin split from the cocktail (used Phosphoric Acid): Controls: Time for clear separation (min) good quality BD + water 1 - 2 poor quality BD + water 3 - 4 Experimental: good quality BD + water + glycerine (split) less than 5 poor quality BD + water + glycerine (split) less than 5 II Glycerin Cocktail: good quality BD + water + glycerine cocktail2 hours* poor quality BD + water + glycerine cocktail2 hours* * At 2 hours there is a thin layer of BD (1 - 2 mm) The rest appears to be an emulsion. Andres and Jan, you are correct. Glycerin, itself, did little to retard separation of BD and water. Something in the cocktail does seem to be an emulsifier. (The soaps??) Some questions remain: 1. The BD that failed the QT (incomplete reaction) was obtained from a tank that feeds my heating system. It contains unreacted glycerides, but does not produce an emulsion when shaken in water, nor did it produce emulsions when it was stir-washed. Why not? 2. At Joe Street's suggestion I took a sample of BD that had settled for about 10 hours. Twelve hours later, more glycerin had settled out. Today, still another 24 hours
Re: [Biofuel] Analysts See 'Simply Incredible' Shrinking of Floating Ice in the Arctic
Might I bring to the group's attention a four-part feature on NBC this week on the Katie Couric "show". An NBC reporter was aboard the Canadian icebreaker "pride of the fleet" Louis S. St. Laurent as it plied Canada's Northwest Passage. Starts at 1830 EDT. Try to tune in, I will. Starts tonight, ends Saturday night. From:Keith Addison [EMAIL PROTECTED]Reply-To:biofuel@sustainablelists.orgTo:biofuel@sustainablelists.orgSubject:[Biofuel] Analysts See 'Simply Incredible' Shrinking of Floating Ice in the ArcticDate:Tue, 14 Aug 2007 03:41:52 +0900http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/08/10/3105/- CommonDreams.orgPublished on Friday, August 10, 2007 by The New York TimesAnalysts See 'Simply Incredible' Shrinking of Floating Ice in the Arcticby Andrew C. RevkinThe area of floating ice in the Arctic has shrunk more this summerthan in any other summer since satellite tracking began in 1979, andit has reached that record point a month before the annual icepullback typically peaks, experts said yesterday.The cause is probably a mix of natural fluctuations, like unusuallysunny conditions in June and July, and long-term warming fromheat-trapping greenhouse gases and sooty particles accumulating inthe air, according to several scientists.William L. Chapman, who monitors the region at the University ofIllinois Urbana-Champaign and posted a Web report on the ice retreatyesterday, said that only an abrupt change in conditions couldprevent far more melting before the 24-hour sun of the boreal summerset in September. "The melting rate during June and July this yearwas simply incredible," Mr. Chapman said. "And then you've got thisexposed black ocean soaking up sunlight and you wonder what, ifanything, could cause it to reverse course."Mark Serreze, a sea-ice expert at the National Snow and Ice DataCenter in Boulder, Colo., said his center's estimates differedsomewhat from those of the Illinois team, and by the ice center'sreckoning the retreat had not surpassed the satellite-era record setin 2005. But it was close even by the center's calculations, he said,adding that it is almost certain that by September, there will bemore open water in the Arctic than has been seen for a long time. Iceexperts at NASA and the University of Washington echoed hisassessment.Dr. Serreze said that a high-pressure system parked over the Arcticappeared to have caused a "triple whammy" - keeping away clouds,causing winds to carry warm air north and pushing sea ice away fromSiberia, exposing huge areas of open water.The progressive summertime opening of the Arctic has intensified alongstanding international tug of war over shipping routes andpossible oil and gas deposits beneath the Arctic Ocean seabed.Last week, Russians planted a flag on the seabed at the North Pole.On Wednesday, Stephen Harper, the Canadian prime minister, began atour of Canada's Arctic holdings, pledging "to vigorously protect ourArctic sovereignty as international interest in the region increases."© 2007 The New York Times___Biofuel mailing listBiofuel@sustainablelists.orghttp://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.orgBiofuel at Journey to Forever:http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.htmlSearch the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages):http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/ ___ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
[Biofuel] $1-billion worth of water pouring out of leaking lines - Niagara Falls Review - 2007.07.12
$1-billion worth of water pouring out of leaking lines Thu 12 Jul 2007 Page: A6 Section: Local Byline: James Wallace Source: Osprey News Network; Review As much as $1 billion worth of drinking water disappears into the ground each year from rotting, leaky municipal water pipes, says the Ontario Sewer and Watermain Construction Association. Twenty to 40 per cent of all the water pumped through municipal water systems never reaches consumer taps. In Niagara Falls, this kind of loss accounts for about 16 per cent of the water the city buys from the region's treatment plants, city officials told The Review earlier this year. It means 84 per cent of the water the city buys actually makes it to the faucet. In Fort Erie, water losses are about 28 per cent, but they were as high as 35 per cent in the 1990s. What it means is we're paying for water we're not using and is not coming to our taps, Niagara Falls Mayor Ted Salci said. The watermain association recently estimated leaking lines cost $1 billion. I think it's something the public should be aware of, said watermain executive director Frank Zechner. It's a figure that would shock and outrage most consumers, said Conservative leader John Tory. If you told people that 20 per cent or more of the electricity they were paying for in their house was never putting on a light, was never running their TV, was just going off into the air, I mean they'd be outraged at that and demand it be fixed immediately. Water losses are a common problem in cities, said Niagara Falls community services director Ed Dujlovic. Over time, cracks will emerge. If you get it down to 10 per cent, you're doing really well, he said in February. Salci often talks about the need to spend public money on infrastructure like water mains. Niagara Falls has been spending record amounts on infrastructure in the last few years. But the city could use help from the federal or provincial government, he said. City officials are exploring the use of a new trenchless technology that would seal cracks by inserting a coating like a long balloon that hardens and fixes the crack, Salci said. NDP critic Peter Tabuns said the fact municipalities are wasting such enormous amounts of water through leaky pipes undermines the water conservation message they are delivering. Ontario officials said Wednesday the $1 billion estimate of waste calculated by the watermain association is not surprising. It does fit in with some of the anecdotal evidence we've been hearing, said Amy Tang, a spokesman for Public Infrastructure Renewal Minister David Caplan. The province has invested millions of dollars to upgrade water systems, particularly smaller ones, Tang said. The watermain association called on government to invest $34 billion in repairs over the next 15 years. James Wallace is Queen's Park bureau chief for Osprey News Network. Contact the writer at [EMAIL PROTECTED] (c) 2007 Osprey Media Group Inc. All rights reserved. -- Darryl McMahon It's your planet. If you won't look after it, who will? The Emperor's New Hydrogen Economy (now in print and eBook) http://www.econogics.com/TENHE/ ___ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
Re: [Biofuel] $1-billion worth of water pouring out of leaking lines - Niagara Falls Review - 2007.07.12
Funny thing, that's not funny is, about 50% of the energy contained in coal makes it to the power outlet. The rest is lost to heat loss, line losses and transformer losses. On 8/13/07, Darryl McMahon [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: snip I think it's something the public should be aware of, said watermain executive director Frank Zechner. It's a figure that would shock and outrage most consumers, said Conservative leader John Tory. If you told people that 20 per cent or more of the electricity they were paying for in their house was never putting on a light, was never running their TV, was just going off into the air, I mean they'd be outraged at that and demand it be fixed immediately. snip ___ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
Re: [Biofuel] $1-billion worth of water pouring out of leaking lines - Niagara Falls Review - 2007.07.12
yes, but they represent reasonable engineering. The water mains are deferred maintenance. A different kind of engineering I suppose. Paul S Cantrell [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Funny thing, that's not funny is, about 50% of the energy contained in coal makes it to the power outlet. The rest is lost to heat loss, line losses and transformer losses. On 8/13/07, Darryl McMahon wrote: I think it's something the public should be aware of, said watermain executive director Frank Zechner. It's a figure that would shock and outrage most consumers, said Conservative leader John Tory. If you told people that 20 per cent or more of the electricity they were paying for in their house was never putting on a light, was never running their TV, was just going off into the air, I mean they'd be outraged at that and demand it be fixed immediately. ___ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/ - Choose the right car based on your needs. Check out Yahoo! Autos new Car Finder tool.___ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
[Biofuel] Canadian cities worried about fluoride shortage - Regina Leader-Post - 2007.08.11
Thought this would be of interest as we have discussed fluoridation before, and other dental practices. Original Message Canadian cities worried about fluoride shortage Sat 11 Aug 2007 Page: A10 Section: News Byline: Bill Mah and William Lin Dateline: EDMONTON Source: CanWest News Service EDMONTON -- Cities and towns across Canada and the United States are scrambling for supplies of fluoride -- a chemical they add to their water systems to prevent tooth decay. Ottawa has been without the additive for extended periods in recent months because of a global shortage. The shortage has stirred debate over a decades-old practice, with critics flashing big, toothy grins at the prospect of cities stopping fluoridation, something they say does more harm than good to our health. It's an excellent thing for them to be short of this chemical, said Paul Connett, executive director of the U.S.-based Fluoride Action Network. If having a shortage of it makes them question the practice, that would be very, very good. Ottawa's fluoride comes from East Tampa, Fla., and its shortage has been attributed to Hurricane Katrina damaging Gulf Coast manufacturing facilities two years ago, a downturn in the phosphate mining industry and the shutdowns of some American suppliers. In the past year, prices have doubled for the dwindling supply of fluoride, a byproduct of phosphate mining, said Dixon Weir, Ottawa's manager of drinking water services. There have been problems noted with the supply chain. We are aware that there are shortages that have been reported in other communities, Weir said. Edmonton is one of those communities, with a fluoride shortfall looming this fall if an expected shipment falls through. At this time, we have sufficient fluoride to meet Edmonton's needs until the fall, said Mike Gibbs, spokesman for Epcor, which supplies water to the region. But it is a situation we're closely monitoring and actually what's happening is there's a shortage in North America of fluoride. U.S. cities as diverse as New Orleans, Portland, Maine, and Greensboro, N.C. have reported shortages or temporarily suspended water fluoridation. Fluoridation has long been promoted by dentists, and by the Canadian Dental Association, as a cost-effective and far-reaching way to prevent tooth decay for the public. According to Health Canada, many studies show fluoridated water greatly reduces the number of cavities in children's teeth. However, the practice has long had its share of detractors. The Fluoride Action Network released a statement this week signed by more than 600 professionals -- including more than 100 dentists -- calling for an end to water fluoridation. They say while using fluoride in toothpaste has proven effective in preventing tooth decay, putting it in the water supply has shown minimal benefits. It makes as much sense as swallowing sunblock, said Connett. His group says the detrimental effects of fluoride include an increased risk of bone fractures, lowered IQ, decreased thyroid function and a staining of teeth. About 40 per cent of Canadians receive fluoridated water. This spring, the Quebec government was urged to force the City of Montreal to fluoridate its water supply and end what it described as an epidemic of tooth decay among the city's preschoolers. Some towns, including Kamloops, B.C., and Cobalt, Ont., have stopped fluoridating their water over the years. Kimberly Carriere, spokeswoman for the Alberta Dental Association, said going without fluoridated water for short periods isn't likely to harm dental health. For long periods, you'd certainly see an increase in dental (decay) but you do have fluoride in your toothpaste so the impact wouldn't be that large in the short term, Carriere said. Edmonton Journal and Ottawa Citizen -- Darryl McMahon It's your planet. If you won't look after it, who will? The Emperor's New Hydrogen Economy (now in print and eBook) http://www.econogics.com/TENHE/ ___ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
