Re: [Biofuel] The Change in the Change of Seasons
On 10/25/2016 07:23, Darryl McMahon wrote: That financialization mentality is why I have long argued for a carbon tax with enough bite to be notice. At least in BC where you are, there is a real carbon tax, and even at relatively modest levels, it does seem to be having an impact. (overall fossil fuel in BC has been falling since the tax was put into effect) Among conservatives, the carbon tax is seen as a power grab by the government. I had a longish highway drive yesterday to and from an out-of-town meeting. A large work crew with a lot of equipment was laying fresh asphalt on the road. A decade ago, nobody around here would have considered paving a heavy use roadway in October. Agreed. The same thing is happening here. Highway 97 is being resurfaced, creating a commuting nightmare between Penticton (where I work) and Summerland (where I live). It's astonishing how many cars with single drivers (I'm guilty!) line up to leave town at the end of the day. Normally, my commute takes 12 minutes. This week, it's been closer to 40. But who resurfaces a road in October? I'm trying to see if I can push our house to Nov. 1 before activating the furnace. In years past, a few considered me radical for trying to get to Oct. 1 before doing that. In my childhood, the furnace main switch was turned on sometime in September. I grew up in California. Some winters, we didn't turn the furnace on until January . . . Since I've lived here, it's usually October. Since we have a Sun Pump supplying our household energy, we just set the thermostat and it comes on whenever the house cools down. This fall, it's been extraordinarily rainy for this region. I don't remember getting this much rain when we lived here 22 years ago. It was a LOT colder and drier back then. Is there any sign of local (BC) awareness of the Nathan E. Stewart sinking near Bella Bella, or is anyone connecting that lame response with the M/V Marathassa bunker oil dump last year? Among activists, yes. But for most people, the US election is a preoccupation. My friends in Terrace are pretty upset about the impact of pipelines and oil tanker traffic on the Skeena River salmon run. That's not making the news, though. Yesterday's (non-)responses from Coast Guard Commissioner Jody Thomas bordered on offensive. Nobody is talking about the fact that the 'world leading' spill response promised by the feds and oil industry simply can't get on scene, let alone work effectively, in a timely manner during weather conditions which are not unusual in that area. Yes. And they want to put a dilbit terminal at the entrance of the aptly christened Hecate Straight . . . The provincial government is pushing a big LNG facility south of Kitimat, too! Robert Luis Rabello Adventure for Your Mind http://www.newadventure.ca Ceremonies and Celebrations video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PV3k-s_sg1Q Meet the People video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txsCdh1hZ6c Crisis video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZedNEXhTn4 The Long Journey video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vy4muxaksgk This communication may be unlawfully collected and stored by the National Security Agency (NSA) in secret. The parties to this email do not consent to the retrieving or storing of this communication and any related metadata, as well as printing, copying, re-transmitting, disseminating, or otherwise using it. If you believe you have received this communication in error, please delete it immediately. ___ Sustainablelorgbiofuel mailing list Sustainablelorgbiofuel@lists.sustainablelists.org http://lists.eruditium.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel
Re: [Biofuel] The Change in the Change of Seasons
That financialization mentality is why I have long argued for a carbon tax with enough bite to be notice. At least in BC where you are, there is a real carbon tax, and even at relatively modest levels, it does seem to be having an impact. (overall fossil fuel in BC has been falling since the tax was put into effect) I had a longish highway drive yesterday to and from an out-of-town meeting. A large work crew with a lot of equipment was laying fresh asphalt on the road. A decade ago, nobody around here would have considered paving a heavy use roadway in October. I'm trying to see if I can push our house to Nov. 1 before activating the furnace. In years past, a few considered me radical for trying to get to Oct. 1 before doing that. In my childhood, the furnace main switch was turned on sometime in September. Is there any sign of local (BC) awareness of the Nathan E. Stewart sinking near Bella Bella, or is anyone connecting that lame response with the M/V Marathassa bunker oil dump last year? Yesterday's (non-)responses from Coast Guard Commissioner Jody Thomas bordered on offensive. Nobody is talking about the fact that the 'world leading' spill response promised by the feds and oil industry simply can't get on scene, let alone work effectively, in a timely manner during weather conditions which are not unusual in that area. Darryl On 10/22/2016 7:13 PM, robert and benita rabello wrote: On 10/22/2016 14:59, Darryl McMahon wrote: I have a few minutes to think and reflect today. It's 2 weeks after the Canadian Thanksgiving weekend. I still have a lot to do to get ready for winter. But in my memory, we had to have most of this done by the end of Thanksgiving weekend, because hard freezes were due, and a soft freeze might have happened. Even just 5 years ago. I hear you. We've built a new home and moved back to Summerland, where we lived 22 years ago. Okanagan Lake used to freeze over from Penticton to Summerland, but now it barely freezes around the shallow edges of its southern shore. I remember seeing ice fog here, yet the last two years that I've been back in the area, it's never cold enough. We have Mourning Doves living here now. It feels like California . . . Now that we're over the 400 ppm mark, I suspect that climate changes we're seeing now are the beginnings of permanent changes for which we are totally unprepared. People are strangely complacent, though . . . When they see the evaporator panels for our Sun Pump on the roof, the first question they ask is, "How much did it cost?" I've started replying with, "How much is a stable climate worth?" We're ingrained to see dollar values in everything. However, the price of a biosphere that supports us can't be quantified. We're so accustomed to "privatizing profits and socializing costs" that people like me, who build for efficiency, are seen as eccentric. I shake my head at this kind of attitude and quietly worry about the trouble that's coming. Robert Luis Rabello Adventure for Your Mind http://www.newadventure.ca Ceremonies and Celebrations video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PV3k-s_sg1Q Meet the People video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txsCdh1hZ6c Crisis video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZedNEXhTn4 The Long Journey video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vy4muxaksgk This communication may be unlawfully collected and stored by the National Security Agency (NSA) in secret. The parties to this email do not consent to the retrieving or storing of this communication and any related metadata, as well as printing, copying, re-transmitting, disseminating, or otherwise using it. If you believe you have received this communication in error, please delete it immediately. ___ Sustainablelorgbiofuel mailing list Sustainablelorgbiofuel@lists.sustainablelists.org http://lists.eruditium.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel -- Darryl McMahon Project Manager ___ Sustainablelorgbiofuel mailing list Sustainablelorgbiofuel@lists.sustainablelists.org http://lists.eruditium.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel
Re: [Biofuel] The Change in the Change of Seasons
On 10/22/2016 14:59, Darryl McMahon wrote: I have a few minutes to think and reflect today. It's 2 weeks after the Canadian Thanksgiving weekend. I still have a lot to do to get ready for winter. But in my memory, we had to have most of this done by the end of Thanksgiving weekend, because hard freezes were due, and a soft freeze might have happened. Even just 5 years ago. I hear you. We've built a new home and moved back to Summerland, where we lived 22 years ago. Okanagan Lake used to freeze over from Penticton to Summerland, but now it barely freezes around the shallow edges of its southern shore. I remember seeing ice fog here, yet the last two years that I've been back in the area, it's never cold enough. We have Mourning Doves living here now. It feels like California . . . Now that we're over the 400 ppm mark, I suspect that climate changes we're seeing now are the beginnings of permanent changes for which we are totally unprepared. People are strangely complacent, though . . . When they see the evaporator panels for our Sun Pump on the roof, the first question they ask is, "How much did it cost?" I've started replying with, "How much is a stable climate worth?" We're ingrained to see dollar values in everything. However, the price of a biosphere that supports us can't be quantified. We're so accustomed to "privatizing profits and socializing costs" that people like me, who build for efficiency, are seen as eccentric. I shake my head at this kind of attitude and quietly worry about the trouble that's coming. Robert Luis Rabello Adventure for Your Mind http://www.newadventure.ca Ceremonies and Celebrations video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PV3k-s_sg1Q Meet the People video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txsCdh1hZ6c Crisis video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZedNEXhTn4 The Long Journey video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vy4muxaksgk This communication may be unlawfully collected and stored by the National Security Agency (NSA) in secret. The parties to this email do not consent to the retrieving or storing of this communication and any related metadata, as well as printing, copying, re-transmitting, disseminating, or otherwise using it. If you believe you have received this communication in error, please delete it immediately. ___ Sustainablelorgbiofuel mailing list Sustainablelorgbiofuel@lists.sustainablelists.org http://lists.eruditium.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel
[Biofuel] The Change in the Change of Seasons
I have a few minutes to think and reflect today. It's 2 weeks after the Canadian Thanksgiving weekend. I still have a lot to do to get ready for winter. But in my memory, we had to have most of this done by the end of Thanksgiving weekend, because hard freezes were due, and a soft freeze might have happened. Even just 5 years ago. I did make the trip to our cottage on the Thanksgiving weekend this year to close it for the season. It was obvious the leaves were more green this year than in years past. The Canada Geese are still flying south; it's late for that. I did have the day set aside to go pick up an electric boat being taken out of service by an old friend. He and his wife too is getting older, and they are putting a pontoon boat (also electric) into service now for the run from shore to their island cottage. The sportster layout has just become a struggle for them to get in and out of. However, the weather is so foul, (snow and rain where the boat is today), that I called off the trip. But the fact I had considered trying this trip in the second half of October shows I have internalized the longer warm season and shorter cold season than was the case when I was younger. Instead, my wife and I pickled beets, and I'm picking at other season change activities. Like making sure the charging cords for our 2 electric cars are strung so they can't be hit by the snowthrower (also electric) or the tractor and plow (also electric) through the winter. Tomorrow I may string the Xmas lights, as that has to be done before the winter storm panels go up on the balcony. Yes, it's about the carbon footprint and pollution (and reducing energy costs). Same for getting the active solar heating system back into action. And researching a new technology for an air-source heat pump which can be effective to minus 35 degrees C. And a heat recovery ventilator (HRV) which can operate in Arctic conditions without icing up. While I believe changes in behaviour and attitude are more important than hoping for technology 'miracles', I'm also willing to support R&D which will be beneficial. Sort of an 'all the above' philosophy for combating climate change. It's distressing to see that Alaskan communities have concluded they have to physically move due to the effects of climate change. We see the same in Canada. The Russians are seeing the effects as well - methane craters as the permafrost melts. My colleagues and I predicted this years ago, but those communities and senior governments chose to ignore this. Now they claim its a surprise, and there's nothing to be done. Which is why it's disappointing to see my federal government - elected largely on promises to take climate change seriously and reinvigorate environmental reviews and embrace soft energy paths - after a year in power has approved oil pipelines, a liquid natural gas (LNG) plant and shoreline terminal, and failed to show respect for our indigenous peoples on multiple levels. I have been spending a lot of time on oil spill response lately. (You may have noticed the reduced number of my posts the past few months.) As our country moves inexorably to lighting the fuses on all the carbon bombs (increasing pipeline capacity and raising export tanker traffic by an order of magnitude), and with roughly weekly significant spill events (wells, pipelines, storage tanks, barges, ships, tankers, trains, trucks) across the country, there is so little interest in dealing effectively with the spills. Which leads me again to the conclusion that we, as a species, need to stop using carbon fuels (especially fossil, and particularly those fuels with low energy return on energy invested) before we exterminate ourselves. Dark thoughts on a dreary day. Yet, I see the signs of progress, improvement and victory. The continual cost reductions in solar (photovoltaic) and wind power. Plunging prices on advanced batteries for electricity storage. Growing numbers of EVs and greening of the grid. Growing ratios of biofuels for road vehicles, trains, aircraft and ships. Ships with hybrid drive systems becoming increasing common, and all electric ships in some niches (e.g. ferries). Happy to see opposition is growing to the CETA (Canada-Europe Trade Agreement) and the TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership). -- Darryl McMahon Freelance Project Manager (sustainable systems) ___ Sustainablelorgbiofuel mailing list Sustainablelorgbiofuel@lists.sustainablelists.org http://lists.eruditium.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel
