Tag: Pollution

Recycling, Not All It’s Cracked Up to Be

I was looking at my shampoo bottle today and noted that it said on the side of the container that the bottle was made from 100% recycled waste. I applaud the vendor, Paul Mitchell, for taking this step. The associated cream rinse also comes in a 100% recycled bottle. These are the only two bottles on any of my shelves that make this claim, which makes me wonder why other vendors aren’t going the same route (or at least telling me about it).

Just where do all of those plastic bottles sent off for recycling go anyway? According to Only about 5% of plastic waste gets recycled in US, new report says, they apparently go into the landfill, which is disappointing. The reason is simple according to Recycling plastic is practically impossible — and the problem is getting worse. It all comes down to money—making new bottles is cheaper. Still, at least one vendor is using recycled bottles, which makes me wonder why it’s possible for them and no one else. At least Recycling in the U.S. Is Broken. How Do We Fix It? is asking the right questions, but now we need answers.

One of the answers that corporations have come up with for the plastic problem is more horrible than the problem itself. According to This “Climate-Friendly” Fuel Comes With an Astronomical Cancer Risk, the EPA recently greenlighted the use of plastics for fuel. The process used to perform this conversion produces so much air pollution that it’s expected that one in four people exposed to it will develop cancer. Pyrolysis (originally meant for biomass conversion, not plastics), the process used to perform the conversion, is at the center of the pollution problem.

There are other, safer, methods than pyrolysis such as hydrothermal upgrading (HTU) available, as described in Purdue innovation affordably turning plastics into fuel. According to Hydrothermal Upgrading Of Waste Plastics: An Environmental Impact Study (see Figure 2), HTU is more environmentally friendly than pyrolysis (both of which are better for the environment than incineration). Still, there has to be a better way of recycling plastics than anything available today (with a nod to HTU being the preferred method).

The bottom line is that plastic represents a major source of pollution and further steps are required to reduce it. Unfortunately, nothing I can find online tells me that there are currently any good solutions and nothing even in the works. I’d love to hear that there is some magic solution that I haven’t found yet because it’s discouraging to think that we’ll soon be wading waist deep in plastic waste.

There are simple things that every person can do to reduce plastic pollution:

  • Asking for paper bags when going to the store unless the bags will be used for other purposes.
  • Buying milk and other dairy in glass jars that are then brought back to the store for reuse.
  • Using reusable containers for drinks and not asking for plastic straws also helps.
  • Relying on metal or other containers that are more easily recycled at a higher rate that plastic.
  • Looking for ways of separating plastics for recycling when possible (which makes it easier for recycling companies to reuse it).
  • Cleaning your plastics before recycling them.
  • Ensuring recyclables end up in the appropriate recycle bin, rather than in the trash.

In fact, it doesn’t take much thought at all to greatly reduce the amount of plastic used in the average home and the benefits are obvious when you consider a one in four cancer rate for some of the alternatives. Let me know your thoughts about plastic recycling at [email protected].

Electric Car Range Anxiety

A friend recently sent me an article entitled Couple has ‘range anxiety’ as electric vehicle requires 12 charging stops. I’ve written a number of blog posts now on how electric cars fail to really provide the green result that vendors claim, but I hadn’t thought about other aspects of actually driving an electric car until I read this article.

If you’re on a road trip and your main concern is finding some place to charge your vehicle, while you drive it without the heat on in the winter no less, then how much of a good experience can the Electric Vehicle (EV) really provide? Anxiety of any sort presents a health risk. So, not only is the EV a poor citizen from the green perspective, but it also presents a health risk to those who drive one. The article How Far Can an EV Go On One Charge? shows graphically that EV ranges have a long way to go to catch up with gas cars. Theoretically, in perfect conditions with a full charge and no extra usage (such as heat for the humans in the car), it’s actually unlikely that you’ll actually run out of power according to Electric America, yet the anxiety remains.

Articles like What is EV range anxiety and how can we overcome it? and Electric car range and 5 reasons why your range anxiety is unwarranted seek to reduce the anxiety. They point out that there are now plenty of charging stations and that the distances between charging stations is less than the distance that a EV can drive between charges. They also point out that the batteries have a longer life expectancy than most people think. However, the articles just don’t seem to be getting through to people who fear change and drive these vehicles in actual conditions where the mantra of what should work doesn’t actually match what is.

The best possible assumption is that your EV will run out of power on a road trip and to know what to do about it. Articles like What Happens if your Electric Car Runs Out of Battery? provide helpful information on what the ramifications are of running out of power and what you should do about them. It turns out that what you really need is a tow truck, which is the same thing that a gas powered car driver needs when running out of gas. Unlike a gas powered car, it’s also theoretically possible to turn an EV off and then restart it to get another mile or two out of the battery before it dies completely, which may be all you need to get to a charging station.

Even though I don’t see EVs as a way to reduce pollution effectively because they really are harmful to the environment in ways that gas powered cars aren’t, I must admit after doing research for this blog post that anxiety felt about running out of power is probably unwarranted. In this regard, even though the EV range is less than a gas powered car, they’re really both on equal footing. Let me know your thoughts about EVs at [email protected].

Technology and Child Safety

This is an update of a post that originally appeared on January 20, 2016.

I wrote a little over seven years ago that I had read an article in ComputerWorld, Children mine cobalt used in smartphones, other electronics, that had me thinking yet again about how people in rich countries tend to ignore the needs of those in poor countries. I had sincerely hoped at the time that things would be different, better, in seven years. Well, they’re worse! We’ve increased our use of cobalt dramatically in order to create supposedly green cars. The picture at the beginning of the ComputerWorld article says it all, but the details will have you wondering whether a smartphone or an electric car really is worth some child’s life. That’s right, any smartphone or electric car you buy may be killing someone and in a truly horrid manner. Children as young as 7 years old are mining the cobalt needed for the batteries (and other components) in the smartphones and electric cars that people seem to feel are so necessary for life (they aren’t you know; food, water, clothing, shelter, sleep, air, and reproduction are necessities, everything else is a luxury).

The problem doesn’t stop when someone gets rid the smartphone, electric car, or other technology. Other children end up dismantling the devices sent for recycling. That’s right, a rich country’s efforts to keep electronics out of their landfills is also killing children because countries like India put these children to work taking them apart in unsafe conditions. Recycled wastes go from rich countries to poor countries because the poor countries need the money for necessities, like food. Often, these children are incapable of working by the time they reach 35 or 40 due to health issues induced by their forced labor. In short, the quality of their lives is made horribly low so that it’s possible for people in rich countries to enjoy something that truly isn’t necessary for life. To make matters worse, the vendors of these products build in obsolescence (making them unrepairable) so they can sell more products and make more money, increasing the devastation visited on children.

I’ve written other blog posts about the issues of technology pollution. However, the emphasis of these previous articles has been on the pollution itself. Taking personal responsibility for the pollution you create is important, but we really need to do more. Robotic (autonomous) mining is one way to keep children out of the mines and projects such as UX-1 show that it’s entirely possible to use robots in place of people today. The weird thing is that autonomous mining would save up to 80% of the mining costs of today, so you have to wonder why manufacturers aren’t rushing to employ this solution.

In addition, off world mining would keep the pollution in space, rather than on planet earth. Of course, off world mining also requires a heavy investment in robots, but it promises to provide a huge financial payback in addition to keeping earth a bit cleaner. The point is that there are alternatives that we’re not using. Robotics presents an opportunity to make things right with technology and I’m excited to be part of that answer in writing books such as Machine Learning Security Principles, Artificial Intelligence for Dummies, 2nd Edition, Algorithms for Dummies, 2nd Edition, Python for Data Science for Dummies, and Machine Learning for Dummies, 2nd Edition.

Unfortunately, companies like Apple, Samsung, and many others simply thumb their noses at laws that are in place to protect the children in these countries because they know you’ll buy their products. Yes, they make official statements, but read their statements in that first article and you’ll quickly figure out that they’re excuses and poorly made excuses at that. They don’t have to care because no one is holding them to account. People in rich countries don’t care because their own backyards aren’t sullied and their own children remain safe. It’s not that I have a problem with technology, quite the contrary, I have a problem with the manner in which technology is currently being made and supported. We need to do better. So, the next time you think about buying electronics, consider the real price for that product. Let me know what you think about polluting other countries to keep your country clean at [email protected].

Is Your Car Green, Really?

It seems like I receive yet another brochure about the huge advances various government entities, enterprises, vendors, or energy companies making in protecting the planet every month. Everyone seems to think that their technology is going to be the next green thing, when the facts simply don’t bear them out. The previous post I wrote on this topic, More People Noticing that Green Technology Really Isn’t, discussed the issue that some informed people are discovering that all that green technology out there is really just designed to sell more products-not help the earth in any significant way. The problem is one of complexity, which is the case with the green car.

Driving an electric car might seem like the right way to reduce emissions. However, recent studies show that your electric car might actually be worse for the environment. I say might here because it all depends on how the electricity is generated. In some cases, your electric car actually is better than gas at the first level. That is, the manner in which the electricity is generated produces fewer pollutants than driving a car with a gas engine would be. For example, sunlight and wind are both plentiful in Nevada, so driving an electric car could make sense there. However, as I’ve noted in previous posts, solar and wind power both rely heavily on special materials, the mining of which actually produces a serious amount of pollution. The studies available right now also assume that the manufacturing processes for the supposedly green cars are actually no worse than the older technology they replace.

However, in reality, it is crucial to remember that there is always an element of chemical risk at each stage of production of a car regardless of whether the resulting vehicle is gas or electric powered. It is no secret that the manufacturing processes involved in producing engines, plastics, and various other elements of a car require the use of hazardous chemicals such as adhesives, acids, bases, and cleaning chemicals. Furthermore, the majority of these products are corrosives or irritants and most of these chemicals are handled in laboratories.

Put simply, whether a car is powered by gas or electric, there is thus a constant risk of projection and chemical spill during the manufacturing process. With all of this in mind, it is vital that car manufacturers make use of chemical storage solutions to prevent chemical spillages or leaks. To address this issue, most car manufacturers use bunded storage. Essentially, a bund is a secondary containment area in a tank or a drum that can collect any spilled liquid if the initial storage container is inadequate. Due to the diversity of chemicals used throughout the manufacturing industry, there are several unique bunded storage containment options available for industrial users. You can discover the benefits of these bunded storage and containment solutions by taking a look at this useful guide on the Storemasta website.

Consequently, even though it might appear that your electric car is a win, it may not be right now. There are many defectives that both non-green and green cars have in common. For instance, you may find that a green or electric car might not hold the same charge capacity. There are a few cars that have been reported to develop defects that may not appear in a brand new car, so if you decide to get an electric second hand, you may find you are dealing with a lemon. Luckily, if you find yourself in that situation, you can always make a lemon claim for a used car.

A problem with all the entities making the promises and telling you just how good they are at fulfilling them is that they lie. Sometimes they even get caught. For example, the EPA finally caught VW in the act of lying about its emission test results. The only problem is that those cars are still out there producing millions of tons of lung killing smog. In fact, it’s hard to tell whether any of those green technologies actually do anything at all, except make you pay a lot more when buying the vehicle, and to run and maintain it later. Add to this the fact that some people are now saying that the solar industry is dying (and would already be dead were it not for government subsidies) and you have to wonder just how long these green cars will even maintain the appearance of being green.

Some people are saying that we should simply get rid of cars, which is obviously not going to happen. Systems like adas are only growing as people have more and more need of a car in their life. If people really wanted to use mass transit, it would have happened already. In addition, there isn’t any evidence that mass transit actually reduces pollution either. The vehicles are often poorly maintained and spew a horrid amount of pollution out of their exhaust (as evidenced by the stench when you drive behind a bus). In addition, mass transit only works when you live in or around a major city, which won’t work for those of us who live in the country.

The best way to create a green car is not to drive it any more than necessary. I’ve taken to planning out my trips so that I drive the fewest possible miles. Because I’m self-employed, I don’t even start my car five days a week (getting everything done in just two days). Not only does my strategy save time, but I’ve reduced by gas bill by half in the last two years. Green often equates to not using a resource such as gas. Using the resource will inevitably produce some sort of pollution. Through careful planning, you can significantly reduce the number of miles you drive and you can drive more of them at once (a warm engine normally works more efficiently and produces fewer emissions). You also want to reduce gas waste by starting up slowly, stopping over a longer distance, and keeping your engine from idling. In fact, there are a wealth of tips you can find online for making your car more efficient (such as removing all that junk from the trunk).

You can make the world a cleaner place and still keep your car. All it really takes is planning and careful maintenance. This can be done better using websites like https://www.czokbrand.com to give guidance on proper car maintenance. Unfortunately, there is no magic that will just make the problems with pollution go away. Driving that electric car or paying more for a vehicle with dubious emissions extras isn’t going to do much. What it really takes is a bit of self control. Let me know your thoughts about green cars at [email protected].

Self-driving Cars in the News

I remember reading about self-driving cars in science fiction novels. Science fiction has provided me with all sorts of interesting ideas to pursue as I’ve gotten older. Many things I thought would be impossible, have become reality over the years and things that I thought I’d never see five years ago, I’m seeing in reality today. People will start to look at how to sell junk car or their old car just so they can get their hands on a self-driving one, this pretty much looks like the future for us all. I discussed some of the technology behind self-driving cars in my Learning as a Human post. The article was fine as it went, but readers have taken me to task more than a few times for becoming enamored with the technology and not discussing the reality of the technology.

The fact of the matter is that self-driving cars are already here to some extent. Ford has introduced cars that can park themselves. The Ford view of cars is the one that most people can accept. It’s an anticipated next step in the evolution of driving. People tend to favor small changes in technology. Changes that are too large tend to shock them and aren’t readily accepted. People are always happy with small changes, they are more likely to buy a car if they see that it has been improved upon slightly (compared to the model that they already have). People find it so easy to buy a new car now, they don’t even need to worry about getting it either, as they can simply just get it delivered to their home by using a shipping company (you can find out more information here at this Cars Arrive Auto Relocation company). Which is great, but what’s so good about a new car that has one small change?

Google’s new self-driving car might be licensed in Nevada, but don’t plan on seeing it in your city anytime soon (unless you just happen to live in Nevada, of course). A more realistic approach to self-driving cars will probably come in the form of conveyances used in specific locations. For example, you might see self-driving cars used at theme parks and college campuses where the controlled environment will make it easier for them to navigate. More importantly, these strictly controlled situations will help people get used to the idea of seeing and using self-driven vehicles. The point is to build trust in them in a manner that people can accept.

Of course, the heart of the matter is what self-driving cars can actually provide in the way of a payback. According to a number of sources, they can actually reduce driving costs by $190 billion dollars per year in health and accident savings. That’s quite a savings. Money talks, but people have ignored monetary benefits in the past to ensure they remain independent. It will take time to discover whether the potential cost savings actually make people more inclined to use self-driving cars. My guess is that people will refuse to give up their cars unless there is something more than monetary and health benefits, as like non self-driving cars, they still need to be checked over every few years, they’re still susceptible to breaking down and needing new parts from online auto parts store TDC Automotive and others similar. So all in all, consumers won’t be jumping at the chance to buy one for the time being.

Even though no one has really talked about it much, self-driving cars have the potential to provide all sorts of other benefits. For example, because self-driving cars will obey the speed laws and run at the most efficient speeds possible in a given situation, cars will become more fuel efficient and produce less pollution. The software provided with the vehicle will probably allow the car to choose the most efficient route to a destination possible and provide the means for the car to automatically navigate around obstructions, such as accidents (which will be notably fewer). People could probably be more assured of getting to their destination on time because they won’t get lost either. Working on the way to work will allow people to spend more quality time with family. It’s the intangible benefits that will eventually make the self-driving car seem like a good way to do things.

The self-driving car is available today. It won’t be long and you’ll be able to buy one. You can already get a self-parking Ford, so the next step really isn’t that far away. The question is whether you really want to take that step. Some people may see self-driving cars as too much of a gamble, luckily we still have used car companies like Zemotor that we can buy our cars from and feeling secure about it. Let me know your thoughts on self-driving cars, their potential to save lives, reduce costs, create a cleaner environment, and make life generally more pleasant at [email protected].

Renewable Energy Inroads

I’m all for making the planet less dependent on fossil fuels, if for no other reason than they represent a finite resource. Renewable energy offers to replace the finite resources we use now with something we can harvest forever. The problem is that many renewable energy sources are really quite dirty. For example, the solar cell that adorns your roof may be killing people in China. In my opinion, we really don’t need to clean up our part of the planet by making China’s part of the planet even dirtier. In the long run, we won’t benefit by that strategy. Just think of all the really interesting poisoned toys China will send our way-toys poisoned by our own toxic waste. The toxins we generate in other countries tend to come back to haunt us.

It was with mixed feelings that I recently read that solar energy will become a major energy source within 15 years. The reasons for the increase in usage are many, but the basic reason is that solar is becoming less expensive to install and maintain.

Even if there is a possibility of solar still being relatively expensive to install, something known as the solar tax credit can ensure that people can claim a tax credit of up to 30% (depending on where you live) that can go towards the costs of your project. In many circumstances, this could persuade more people to incorporate solar energy within their homes or workplace.

There are even schools that are starting to use solar energy and other renewable energy sources now (more here). Often they do this under Act 32, which allows schools to exceed their revenue caps for energy-efficient improvements such as lighting, roofing, heating and air conditioning, energy conservation. Plus, now it’s easier than ever to contact a solar battery supplier and look into purchasing some solar batteries. Not only this but the costs of the solar panels and their installation has gone down considerably, so it’s possible that solar power might actually become less expensive than using fossil fuels at some point. Of course, the savings assume that you’re not storing excess power in batteries. Adding batteries to the picture greatly increases costs and makes solar quite expensive indeed.

There is one benefit to solar energy that many people don’t think about. If the solar panels appear on people’s rooftops in a decentralized configuration, the ability of terrorists to disrupt the electrical system is greatly diminished. A decentralized setup also reduces costs associated with power transmission and could actually do things like reduce cooling costs in summer. Of course, the utilities aren’t crazy about decentralized solar because it cuts into their profits, but the fact of the matter is that we need a better setup than the one we do now. Our system is so fragile right now that I’m often surprised a storm or other simply cause doesn’t knock out major sections of the country.

The bottom line for me is that we really do need to reduce our power usage and embrace renewable energy sources. However, we need non-polluting renewable energy sources or at least sources that pollute less than the ones we have now. I last tackled this topic in More People Noticing that Green Technology Really Isn’t. The fact is, nothing has changed in the technology, but the need to address the technology shortfalls has just become greater. Before a technology that pollutes our planet quite a lot becomes entrenched, we need to come up with answers to deal with the pollution-preferably a better technology.

What are your thoughts on renewable energy? What forms do you feel pollute the least and provide the greatest benefit to people as a whole? Do you see renewable energy becoming the only power source at some point? Let me know your thoughts on these and other energy concerns at [email protected].

More People Noticing that Green Technology Really Isn’t

A lot of people have sent me e-mail about my negative viewpoints on a lot of the supposedly green technology that we use today. The fact is that many of these green technologies simply move pollution to someone else’s backyard and may actually increase the amount of pollution created, rather than reducing it. My latest essays on the topic appear in A Discussion About Green Technology Pollution and A Discussion About Green Technology Pollution (Part 2). I’m most definitely not against technologies that really are green—I’m just against technologies that pose as green when they really aren’t. The consequences of pseudo-green technologies are real. We’ll eventually pay for the pollution we’re creating and spilling into the air, water, and land.

I’ve noticed that more people are starting to see the same things I do when it comes to pollution. The article I like best in this category is Study: Your all-electric car may not be so green from the Associated Press. Although the article doesn’t even begin to discuss the sources of pollution that electric cars generate (such as those rare earth mines in various parts of the world), it does point out that even the electricity is dirty. An electric car powered by electricity from a coal-fueled plant produces 3.6 times the amount of pollution as a gasoline car. If you absolutely must attack the problems created by gasoline fueled cars, use a hybrid instead. No, it doesn’t get rid of the pollution produced by materials used to build the car, but at least it actually does produce less pollution locally.

Some readers have pointed out that there is some speculation that the whole global warming debate is a fraud. There is even some discussion that governments are stepping in and simply telling anyone who works for the government not to tall about global warming at all. Yes, the debate has proven difficult and will remain difficult as some researchers begin to claim that we’re actually going to experience a cooling trend in the near future. The fact is that few people actually have the knowledge required to make a guess and my understanding is that no one has actually accumulated enough information to prove the issue one way or the other. What I do know is that it’s a bad idea to keep spewing contaminants into our environment. You can see the effects of pollution all around you.

This all leads me back to my basic premise about pollution. You need to make it personal. Deciding how pollution affects you personally can help direct your efforts in making our world a cleaner place to live. Doing things like turning off lights you don’t need, driving only when you actually need to, and lowering the thermostat a few degrees will all help. Your personal gain from such efforts is the money you’ll save and the health you’ll keep. Using fewer resources means having more money in your pocket for the things you’d like to have. Less pollution means that you’ll have a longer, healthier life.

What is your take on the claims to green technology that really isn’t? There currently aren’t any laws that specifically keep a manufacturer from claiming that a technology is green when it really isn’t. I’d like to see laws that place the burden of proof on the manufacturer. Before a product is sold as being green, the manufacturer should have to prove that it’s not only manufactured in ways that will produce less pollution (something that is nearly impossible right now), but that using the item will also produce less pollution and that the product’s eventual disposal will help keep pollution under control as well. Let me know your thoughts on the topic at [email protected].

 

Where is the Global Warming?

If you’ve read this blog long enough, you know that I take a moderate view of global warming. In fact, I’ve even written a post by that title, The Moderate View of Global Warming. It doesn’t surprise me that a number of readers have recently written to ask if I still believe in global warming given the recent cold wave that hit the United States. Yes, I do. Of course, a belief must be based on something, so I went looking for some statistics. My own blog provides some. For example, the harvest was earlier this year than any other year for which I’ve recorded statistics (17 of them). In fact, I’ve made quite a few observations about the effects of global warming on me personally because global warming seems like this really big issue that affects everyone else.

For most people, my personal observations are nice, but unless they happen to live in the same area of the world in which I live, the observations aren’t really relevant. At first I thought I was going to have to painstakingly research the statistics myself, but then I found an article entitled, Scientists: Americans are becoming weather wimps. It turns out that the US regularly experiences freezes of the sort that we’ve recently had, but that the interval has been 17 years this time. It turns out that in the past 115 years, there have been 27 distinct cold snaps where the average temperature across the country have dropped below 18 degrees. That’s an average of one cold snap every 4 years-so waiting 17 years is an unprecedented interval.

The recent cold snap isn’t even very high on the list of cold snaps-it ranks 55th in the list of cold snaps since 1900 when the statistics were first collected. So, the recent cold snap wasn’t only long overdue, it wasn’t particularly cold. Our predecessors faced much colder weather than we do today.

The statistics that made things clearest for me is that there have only been two days that rank in the list of the top 100 coldest days since 2000. However, there have been 13 days that rank in the list of the top 100 warmest days in the same time period. At this point, I’m genuinely interested in recording some of my own data around the area I live, and with weather stations like Weather Underground and others, it can be easier to find user recorded statistics in a specific location. As well as record and upload my own to see any changes throughout any given time periods which could come in handy for statistic analysis. Although these statistics aren’t much comfort to anyone who has suffered broken pipes due to the cold, they all point to one thing-even though it has been cold, the earth is generally getting warmer.

Reducing pollution is an essential part of bringing global warming (defined as a general warming trend with more frequent extremes in weather conditions) under control. Personalizing global warming is an important part of understanding it. Create a list of changes that you’ve noted over the past ten or so years, such as the additional costs for cooling your home and the number of days you have to use the air conditioner each year. Once you start looking around and seeing how global warming is affecting both finances and health, you begin seeing why it’s personally important for you to control it. Let me know your thoughts about global warming and controlling pollution at [email protected].

 

The Moderate View of Global Warming

A number of people have written to ask me lately about my perspective on global warming since I seem to take a middle view of things. That global warming exists is no longer the question. Some form of global warming is taking place. However, a moderate view of global warming also considers that the effects may not be as pronounced as some people state or from the specific sources that some scientists prefer to quote.

Global warming also doesn’t manifest itself as instant deserts where you stand. In fact, the temperatures during some points of the year may be quite a bit cooler than normal. For example, Wisconsin is having an amazingly cool summer this year—at least, it is in the area in which I live. We only had a few days so far this summer that have required us to use the air conditioning. What I do know is that the extremes in weather have become more pronounced and that we do see a larger number of warm days on average than we did in the past. I have related some of my observations about global warming in the past in such posts as Real World Global Warming and A Really Wet Spring. Putting the effects of global warming into terms you can understand personally is an important part of understanding the phenomena as a whole.

Admitting that there is a problem—one that affects you directly—is an essential first step toward resolving it. Until the issue becomes a personal problem that you have a stake in solving, it will remain a problem that some scientist somewhere is worried about. Of course, this is the very issue that most of the media seems to miss. I don’t imagine you’ve ever seen your local news do interviews of fellow citizens in your particular area on the personal effects of global warming. Perhaps if the media had done this, you would have more reasons to find a solution for the problem (as would I).

The source of the problem isn’t the concern. That there is a problem is the concern that makes finding all of the true sources of global warming essential. People do create pollution and I’d be the first one to recommend that you reduce the amount of pollution you create in order to stave off global warming. However, blaming emissions of one sort or another as the sole source of global warming is the easy way out and won’t solve anything. We really do need to know how much of the global warming that takes place today is as the result of the natural earth cycle, how much comes from natural sources, how much is directly attributable to human activity, and how much comes from other sources. Before that information becomes useful though, you need to know just how global warming is affecting you as a person.

I’d love to hear about how you think global warming is affecting you personally and what you plan to do to reduce global warming at [email protected]. I’m not looking for grand strategies here. What I really want to know is your personal solution—what you personally plan to do. Even small reductions in pollution from personal sources will make a huge difference when you multiply those reductions by the population of planet earth. Remember that an ocean begins with a single drop of water.

 

A Discussion About Green Technology Pollution (Part 2)

I like to report good news on a post whenever I can. Recently I wrote a post entitled, “A Discussion About Green Technology Pollution” that makes it clear that many supposedly green technologies aren’t very green at all. Sometimes you can find a partial solution to a problem, which is the topic of this post. No, the solution isn’t a complete answer to the question of green technology pollution, but it does help. In this case, it appears that a proper response could clean up old pollution, while making it possible to obtain rare earth elements quickly and easily.

During the gold rush (and while performing other mining), the miners threw away what has turned out to be valuable rocks. Yes, the tailings contain rare earth metals in at least some cases. If things work out well, mining companies could go to these old sites of pollution and clean up the mess, while making a profit. The rare earth metals needed for luxury items, such as cell phones, and alternative energy sources, such as solar panels, are available in plain sight. This is one of those stories where one person’s junk turns into another person’s treasure.

Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find a lot of information about this particular story as of yet. It could be that the government and industry are still in talks about what can be done. In an ideal scenario, a company would come in and clean up both the pollution generated by the mine and those valuable tailings. Selling the rare earth metals contained in the tailings would generate income for the company and reduce our reliance on rare earth metals coming from China.

However, even if everything works absolutely perfectly, it still isn’t a complete solution. Processing the rare earth metals causes significant pollution. Cleaning up the tailings to obtain the rare earth metals they contain would solve one problem, but processing those tailings would create another, more substantial, pollution problem. The pollution will happen whether the source of the raw material is rock from a new mine or rock from tailings, so this scenario does reduce overall pollution.

The important thing to remember is that processing materials creates pollution. When you choose a supposedly green technology, you need to remember that it really isn’t all that green. The processing of materials for that green technology generates heaps of long-lasting pollution that fouls rivers and makes entire sections of land completely unusable for growing food. Any step we can take toward reducing the pollution these green technologies cause is a good thing and reusing these tailings seems (at least on the surface) like such a step.

I’d be interested in hearing about any additional information you have on the topic. Especially important would be knowing how the government and industry eventually decide to use these tailings and whether we end up with a perfect scenario that truly does clean up some of those old mining sites. Let know what you hear at [email protected].