Biking and being Eco-friendly could be good for your Health

As we’ve been talking in class, Americans have less leisure time and more things to do in their free time. One thing that Americans are continually being told to do is exercise more often to remain healthy. Another thing is to have an ecofriendly commute. Luckily for Americans we can kill two birds with one stone and exercise our way to work and around town.

The Health Behavior News Service reported, “It may be more realistic to accumulate physical activity through active transport than adding exercise to weekly leisure-time routines.” The sixty to ninety minutes of daily physical activity recommended by researchers that University of Sydney School of Public Health is more time than most people can fit into their schedules. An advantage of biking, or even walking, to work is that it is easier to do than trying to find the free time to go to a fitness center. Everyone can make the time to get to work, but not everyone is willing to make the time to get his or her recommended dose of exercise.

Help by Shrinking Your Habitat!

               Writer Christie Aschwanden of Grist.org posted an article last week about aiplane travel and the surprising impact it has on climate issues. We all think of not taking a car or even a bus as our way of helping the climate change crisis, but I personally never thought of planes also.

               According to calculations from the German carbon offset group "Atmosfair," the average person should emit no more than 2.3 metric tons of CO2 annually. The author puts this in to perspective by mentioning that one roundtrip flight from Seattle to New York will emit 2.3 tons of CO2. That is a person's entire yearly amount in one trip! Obviously you have to take into account that there is usually more than just one person on an airplane, but you get the picture. The image turns even bleaker when you take into account a planes total emissions beyond just CO2. If you think about it, all plane emissions are released directly into the upper atmosphere, so the statistics on their global warming impact increase two to five times more when all emissions are included.
               In light of this new found knowledge the author made a pledge to only live in a "100-mile habitat" for the next year. She drew a 100-mile radius around her city and decided she would not travel outside of that circle for 365 days. Although only a small percentage of the world actually uses air travel, the message of staying close to home is still useful. She used this as a way to discover new and exciting people, places, and things closer to home. I love the idea of reducing your climate impact, while being able to discover all your city has to offer. Find your favorite new restaurant, nature spot, local event, and whatever else you want to explore. Try new things, go to new places, and meet new people. Lincoln may be better than you think!

METHANE HYDRATES ARE UPON US

On March 12, Japan announced that it successfully captured methane from off shore methane hydrates for the first time in history. This new source of fossil fossils is a bit of a brow raiser. According to the article, there is estimated 7x10^14 cubic feet of methane gas trapped in hydrates on the sea floor. As we all know, methane burns cleaner than CO, but is 25x more potent of a radiative forcer. Methane hydrates have potential to completely replace coal in the not to distant future, but is this worth risking the release vast amounts of methane into the atmosphere? The biggest current contributor of methane release comes from production and transportation, so using it on such a scale is kind of scary.   

One positive however is that CO2 can actually be sequestered during production. Methane hydrates are a type of clathrate, a molecular lattice (in this case made up of water) that traps molecules in its structure. On March 27, ConocoPhilips conducted an experimental methane hydrate collection technique in which involves pumping captured CO2 into methane hydrates. The methane is then released from the lattice replaced by  CO2 which is then trapped. Although CO2 will still be released upon burning methane, it is still a little bit closer towards being carbon neutral.

The article also brought up the idea that global warming could cause methane hydrates to melt. Considering 1L of hydrate contains 168L of methane gas, it wouldn't take long for a tremendous global warming event to occur. However, according to the USGS a "catastrophic methane hydrate release" is very unlikely because the majority of methane hydrate occur in very deep waters where their structure is very stable.

2,000 Calories

Doritos, Oreos, Mountain Dew, Taco Bell, Snickers, Pepsi. Let's admit it, the majority of us enjoy occasionally, or frequently, indulging in extra calories in the form of junk foods. I recently read an article, actually, that overeating is now a bigger global issue than a lack of food. The problem is that overeating is an environmental issue as well as a health issue. Food is a limited resource that is often taken for granted in the same way that fossil fuels and water are carelessly used up. A recent post on Treehugger.com shared a video showing how much of certain foods it takes to reach the average recommended amount of 2,000 daily calories. It's a lot less of some foods than you might think. 

We all know that binging on junk food is not good for overall health and nutrition purposes. It causes people to be overweight and can lead to different ailments like diabetes and heart disease. The impacts of overeating extends beyond individual health, though. Overeating is considered to be an addictive behavior, joining the ranks of addictions to smoking, shopping, coffee, or any other activity or product. When people overeat all the time, it shows a disregard for the Earth's limited resources. People are only concerned about eating and aren't thinking about the other impacts their actions might be having, such as the exploitation of workers in factories producing these junk foods, or the fact that by eating more than you need, those resources are being diverted from other people who might actually need them. Overeating is really just another aspect of the consumption lifestyle that fuels our culture. 

Cow Power!

What generates enough energy to power 800 homes continuously, is more consistent than solar and wind energy, makes positive uses out of cow manure and food waste AND eliminates green house gasses? 'Cow Power'!
Stonyvale Farm, a large dairy farm, located in Maine has built a small energy plant/system that has had nothing but a positive impact on the environment around it: environmentally and economically. They are utilizing different types of waste which is producing outstanding amounts of clean burning natural gas.

Just as I was, you may be wondering how this can happen. Here is the process energy is made from cow and food waste.
Stonyvale provides the facility with 20,000 lbs of cow manure every day. This is plowed from the barn floors and transferred to a pump house. It is then pumped to the facility through pipes and enters 'anaerobic digesters'. An 8,000 gallon truck delivers food waste every day to the facility coming from grease traps and food processors. The food waste is then pumped from the truck into the digester mixing in with the manure. The digesters are heated to 104 degrees and the bacteria that is present in the manure begins to grow and multiply- producing a 60% methane 40% carbon dioxide gas which when pressure is great enough travels through pipes to generator and then the exhaust exists through a small pipe. When checking the rain cap, it is completely clean (vs. if diesel was being burned the cap would be black from the carbon). Spent material is pumped out of the machine which can be used for cow bedding or compost. The liquid that is not used is pumped back to the farm and provides as an excellent fertilizer and is practically odorless after it goes through this process. The farm saves almost $100,000 a year by reusing what they already have instead of having to buy commercial fertilizers and bedding.
There are several reason why there are few of these facilities in the US (only 100) compared to the 5,000 in Germany alone. One is European countries are more densely populated and odor control is necessary. Also, these facilities are very expensive up front ($ 5 million dollars),  and even though the profits will pay back the initial in a 5 year time span, U.S. farmers do not have the same financial funding as hydro and solar power does.
It was researched and found to be that for every 2 cow's daily manure goes into the digester, it is equivalent of taking one car's greenhouse gasses off the road.

I thought this was so cool and it would be neat to see more of these facilities pop up in the Midwest being such a cattle based region! 

Attached is the article if you'd like to read more about this energy method!
http://www.onlinesentinel.com/news/stonyvale-farm-leader-in-cow-power_2013-01-19.html?pagenum=full

"Water"

In 2008-2009, the EPA sampled 2,000 streams and rivers around the United States.  After a few years of analyzing and compiling the data they released a National Rivers and Stream Assessment guide that was the topic of an article found on Treehugger.com.  The results of the sampling did not provide the best of news.  According the EPA’s findings only 21% of the rivers and streams were considered in “good” health, 23% were considered “fair” and 55% were considered poor.  The condition of the nations vast network of Rivers, lakes, and coastal waters depends on the streams in which they begin.  The study’s findings show that these headwaters are under significant pressures, which threaten our drinking water, recreational activities, and our economy as a whole.

            The two main contributors to the degraded water systems around the country are eutrophication from excess nutrients and fertilizers and poor land development which causes flooding and erosion.  Both of these contributors are topics I have learned about in various classes such as Water Science and Wildlife Ecology and Management.  It really hits home to realize that these problems have caused half of our stream and river systems to become seriously degraded.  It is sad to think that many of our recreational activities and aquatic wildlife could fail to exist due to human activities and interventions.  I think this article is proof that we as humans hold the responsibility to protect our valuable resources so that life as we know it can continue to exist.  All too often it seems that we forget how our water on earth literally is “Life in every drop”.

Matt O’Nele

            

Bicycle Deliveries

Most people learn how to ride bikes when they are little kids. Bikes are used for recreation, exercise, competition, transportation and a number of other purposes. I think bicycles have an even greater potential for uses in our society, though. Recently, Treehugger.com had a post about the increasing number of bicycle delivery companies in major cities like Portland, New York City and Chicago. I think these companies have a great niche market and could definitely help reduce traffic in large cities, also reducing the amount of carbon emissions at least by a little bit. 

The way the companies work is they haul loads of materials behind their bicycles, usually in big containers or trailers:

Source: Treehugger.com

Bikes can really do a lot more than people might think. Usually, the vehicles conducting these inner-city deliveries are big ol' diesel trucks- which snarl traffic and are more dangerous to bicyclists and pedestrians because of the drivers' limited sight area. Several companies are combining using trucks and bicycles by hauling their materials in trucks from the production warehouses and then loading the supplies into bike trailers to do deliveries in the city. I think it would be awesome if FedEx and UPS jumped on the bandwagon and started doing bike deliveries like this too. There are already a number of restaurants in the Lincoln area that offer bike delivery for their food, and it would be cool to see this spread to other types of businesses as well. 

Here's a video that talks more about the specifics of being a bicycle delivery person. 

--Cristina Woodworth

Plastic Pollution

So Spring Break came and went and I hope everyone had a fabulous vacation.  As part of my break I went on a service trip and one of the places we visited was a recycling plant in New Orleans, Louisiana.  The plant was associated with ARC, a organization that is working to recycle Mardi Gras beads in New Orleans specifically.  We had about 65-70 students from two states meet up at the plant in New Orleans where we sorted out three tonnes of beads.  The director of the facility took us on a tour of the facility where they house up to 100,000 lbs of beads from either Mardi Gras or St. Patrick's parades (not to mention all the other festivities that take place in New Orleans - they like to party).  She also told us that each year there are 30 million tonnes of plastic beads that are imported from eastern countries that commonly go straight into landfills and garbage plants.

The problem with this is that plastic doesn't decompose in these landfills.  Plastic will last in the environment for thousands and thousands of years and if it does break down, it's only into smaller and smaller pieces but because plastic is not biologically friendly it never goes away.  However there is hope!  There has been new development on the topic of plastic pollution.  There have been researchers who have been working with mushrooms and the mycelium that mushrooms produce in the root system.  This mycelium can act like a glue and will actually grow into a plastic replacement material.  The fibrous material takes the shape of what ever container it is grown within and is 100% biodegradable so it's okay to just throw it in the back yard and forget about it.

If mushrooms can replace plastic, what effect could that have on the massive amounts of plastic in our landfills?  I love the possibilities presented by this replacement. We could remove Styrofoam from the world!

Mushrooms are the new Plastic

~Brooke Welsh

Coal Kills Globally

After watching the documentary, “The Last Mountain” a few weeks ago, the events happening in West Virginia were shocking to witness. Coal emission is having an impact on both the natural landscape of the region, but also causing detrimental health hazards for many citizens. Not only has the United States been affected by coal emission, but other countries are dealing with the effects as well. India is dealing with the rise of health conditions from the major increase of power capacity with coal. Many of India’s major cities are being affected and over 20 million asthma cases have been reported from the emissions.

The India Beyond Coal project is trying to push for alternative energy sources. As the increase of coal emissions occurs, it is increasing the amount of health hazards for citizens of India. Coal emission is not just a concern for US citizens, but also citizens of the world. The problem is increasing globally and is something that we should become concerned about. It is time for all to come together to take action in the cause. We need to consider how alternative energy sources can help prevent coal emissions exposure and improve the increase of health hazards. Many people are being negatively affected from the issue. By working together globally, hopefully we can make others aware of this issue and start considering the use of alternative energy sources. If you would like to read more information, I recommended the following links

http://350.org/en/about/blogs/coal-kills-report-reveals-deadly-impacts-coal-india

http://indiabeyondcoal.org/stories/coal-kills-a-new-report-reveals-the-deadly-impacts-of-coal/www.indiabeyondcoal.org

 

Fish: They Learn and They Remember

Are Fish More Capable Than We Make Them Out to Be?

Recently, an article by the national geographic was posted, titled Mystery Solved: Salmon Navigate Using Magnetic Field.
In this article, research explaining how salmon make their way 'home' to their original birth place in streams is explained. The sockeye salmon  is born in a stream, where they migrate to the ocean for years of their life, and return to the same stream where they were hatched to spawn again. They migrate over 2,000 miles to do this and until recently, scientists could never explain how.
They discovered fish have the ability to sense changes in the Earth's magnetic field. The salmon learn and remember the magnetic field that exists where they first entered the ocean. The key words here: Learn and remember.

This brought some questions to mind. How capable are fish of learning?
Throughout my life I had heard of fish only having a 3 second memory and couldn't learn anything. But is that really true?

I researched further and found an interesting journal article that discussed learning in fish.
The article can be accessed through this link. You will be redirected to a page and automatically asked if you want to download the file. Download it. : http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.geocities.com%2Fculumbrown%2FBrownLalandFAF2003.pdf&date=2009-10-25+17%3A58%3A51

More specifically, the article deals with social learning. In fish this is specifically learning by observation, by being around another knowledgeable animal, imitation, observing the consequences of a certain behavior, and learning from the presence or behavior of one individual that attracts another individual.
Research is presented that shows fish use these types of social learning in aspects of their survival such as "learning how to find food, which food to eat, to recognize predators, and assessing mate and rival quality" (p. 285). This research not only shows the capability of fish to learn, but also changes our perspective on fish and allows us to make changes that can benefit fish populations. It can solve problems such as the inability of hatchery-raised fish to identify predators and pick up on survival skills. Fish can be trained in mass to respond in certain ways that will allow for survival in the wild. This is a solution to a very big problem within the world of hatcheries, for over 90% of fish released from hatcheries do not survive past the first few weeks of being out in the wild. This is mostly due to starvation (they never learned how to find food or what food to eat) and predation (the never learned to recognize predators or to assess rival quality).
This information not only proved memory and learning in fish exists, but illustrated the extent to which it has affect on their survival. Without this memory and ability to learn, fish would be unable to survive.

The Case Against Species Revival.

De-extinction plans to bring back animals from the dead - some of which, we were the originally cause of their extinctions. Yes, lets forget about the millions of species that are close to extinction and focus on the ones already gone. The proponents of de-extinction believe that by bringing back certain species, for example, the passenger pigeon can help solve the current crisis the world is facing with other nearly extinct species - both animal and plants.

But the question becomes is it a good idea? In my opinion, which is the same as the articles, is that it is not a good idea. While the thought is there, reintroducing these species into their natural habitat just will not happen. Mostly because their natural habitat is not there anymore. Passenger pigeon went extinct around a century ago, what they use to call home has changed dramatically. The proponents of de-extinction have run into a problem before they have even begun - there simply is no place to put the revived species. The land changed without them and there is no place for them to be successful.

Even the thought of de-extinction working is harmful. As stated before, de-extinction takes away from the focus of species that are endangered and not gone yet. There is something that could still be done to save them but that would require a change, and we do not like to change if it does not help us in some way. The new thought process will be "don't worry about it now, we can revive it later."

While the thought of having a scenario similar to Jurassic Park play out is intriguing (I would love to see some real life dinasours), to much has changed. Focus should be directed towards conservation and protecting what we can currently save.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/03/130312--deextinction-conservation-animals-science-extinction-biodiversity-habitat-environment/

China: A Case Study of the Importance of the Three Realms of Sustainability

Economic, social and environmental: the three realms of sustainability. If you’re not too familiar with this concept then you must not have taken any of Dave’s courses. After ENVR 201 it’s hard to forget. The idea behind this concept is that sustainability cannot just develop in one realm. We, as environmental studies students, often only focus on environmental sustainability. What we cannot forget is that unsustainable development in any of these three categories can threaten the stability and sustainability of society. We only need to look to China to see this concept in action.

As Ben so eloquently put it in his earlier blog post (I’d recommend checking it out), China has seen explosive economic development in the past few decades, bringing hundreds of millions of people out of poverty, while all at the cost of her water, air and land. China threw everything they could into creating economic development and sustainability (in a sense, though economic inequality has never been more severe which by no means contributes to societal stability) yet neglected the strengthening their environmental or social sustainability (quite the opposite, actually). Well now, it seems, it has caught up with them.

This week Treehugger.com reported that pollution is the leading cause of social unrest in China. Incidences of social unrest have been far and few between in communist China for decades, but that’s slowly changing. Both western and technological influences seem to be fueling the beginnings of a movement, whereby Chinese citizens are standing up to the government for not only their own rights, but for environmental rights as well. Years of oppression are beginning to fade away as the government realizes it must adapt to a growing and powerful middle-class citizenry sick of decades of smog and environmental destruction.

Of course, it is no small task for China to clean up its act. For a country as big as China, whose primary energy source is coal and whose energy needs are growing at unprecedented rates, there is no simple way out. That said, change is happening. Forbes reported that China is closing more than 5000 coal mines this year as it moves towards natural gas. Officially, however, these closures were linked to safety concerns. China’s coal mining industry is responsible for more than 5000 deaths every year. Socially sustainable? I’d say no. At the same time China turns away from coal, the have become the world’s largest producer and consumer of solar panels and is set to overtake France (even at its best) in nuclear power capacity  (though Fukishima has slowed their progress).

It would seem China is realizing that all three realms of sustainability are necessary to create a functioning and sustainable society. They seem to be taking large steps in the right direction. Who knows if it will be enough. Their efforts, in my opinion, are admirable (though I still have a long list of social and environmental grievances against them) in that they are ambitious and significant. I actually believe the U.S. could learn from their actions; learn to take more significant and confident steps towards renewables or nuclear, for example. China, too, could learn a thing or two about human rights from the United States. Moral of the story, I guess: we all have a lot to learn.

THE FLIP SIDE OF PHOTOVOLTAIC PANELS

I am against excessive usage of fossil fuels that emits great amount of carbon in to the atmosphere and the way of their extraction, it means oil, bitumen sands extraction and coal mining as the process pollutes the environment and directly negatively affects animals and people in the proximity of workings. Nevertheless, I am bit doubtful about the harmlessness (from the point of view of pollution of the environment) of renewable energy plants and mainly photovoltaic panels.

                The average annual electricity consumption in the US is approximately 4000 TWhr, to generate this amount of electricity the area of 35100 km² (or to better imagination of the area 106 km in radius; both measures are averages) of solar photovoltaic panels would be needed (photovoltaic panels generate app. 5-20 W/m²). For comparison oil and coal fields would take up on average 91km² (5 km in radius) of land. There are several shortages of renewable energy sources and that is e.g. they have intermittent and variable output relative to society’s continuous demand for constant energy flows and geography where energy from renewable sources can be generated is mismatched. [1]

                There is no doubt that solar energy flow for electricity is clean and free of charge. But production and out-of-use photovoltaic panels are unquestionably harmful for our planet. What I would like to highlight in the article is the flip side of the photovoltaic panels. Firstly, in order to dispose used or ship new solar panels the companies must transport them from hundreds to thousands of miles far away from their plants. They transport it by truck or rail while, of course, using fossil fuels. Secondly, as any technique also panel manufacturing produces waste and in hunt for low‑cost panels the solar business has grown rapidly and panels are also manufactured in China where environmental protection is not taken as much into account. The lifetime of photovoltaic panel is roughly 30 years and depends mainly on its quality. In Europe there exist several companies dealing with recycling of the end-of-life PV modules.[2] But the recycling of hazardous waste is still problematic also in Europe but significantly more in the USA. Thirdly, some companies create great amount of toxic waste without selling a single solar panel. To produce the panel many barrels of water are needed and water is contaminated through the process of manufacturing. To conclude, if renewable solar energy would be energy of future many problems must be solved. Mainly the efficiency of any renewable power plant and the hazardous waste and carbon footprint it generates while transporting.

For more information check:

The Hazardous Waste Of Solar Panels (Hank Campbell)

http://www.science20.com/science_20/hazardous_waste_solar_panels-103265

Colorado orders Abound Solar to clean up hazardous waste at four sites;

http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_22666212/colorado-orders-abound-solar-clean-up-hazardous-waste

Solar industry grapples with hazardous waste;(An example from California)

http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2013/02/solar_industry_grapples_with_h.html

PV CYCLE; An European association dealing with discarding of end-of-life photovoltaic modules in sustainable and cost-effective way.

http://www.pvcycle.org/

---

[1] Adam Liska. (2012, November).  Renewable energy supply. Presentation for the course “Energy in Perspective“ tought at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln, Fall semester 2012

[2] PV CYCLE. Non-for-profit association. http://www.pvcycle.org/

Carbon Fiber Bikes

Carbon fiber could revolutionize transportation as we know it. Although there is less novelty to carbon fiber these days, there is much excitement in that it is becoming increasingly more affordable. The most notable characteristic of carbon fiber is its ability to be extremely strong and durable, yet be lighter than aluminum. As seen in the picture above, even a young girl can lift a carbon fiber bike--as it comes in at around eleven pounds.
So why do we care? There are a couple of reasons. First, carbon is an abundant element and easily accessible. This means less Earth plundering for expensive and scarce resources. Second, many people are hesitant to take up bicycling because of the bothersome task in lugging the bike around. Carbon bikes could encourage a switch from gas guzzling cars to an environmentally friendly alternative, simply because a lighter bike is easier to justify an investment in. Are these the bikes of our future? At eleven pounds, they certainly have my vote.

Article and picture found here: http://www.treehugger.com/bikes/10-pound-carbon-fiber-bike-shows-us-glimpse-future.html

Earth Hour 2013

Earth Hour 2013 is coming up in less than two weeks!!! Everybody needs to get excited. This is not just another tree hugging, hippie event. This event (which only lasts an hour, hence the name) is a really  inspiring event. It's organized by World Wildlife Fund (WWF) annually. Earth Hour encourages businesses and residential areas to turn off non essential lights in order to create conserving awareness.
It first originated in Sydney, Australia in 2007. From there it blossomed into a world wide event starting in 2008. In 2009 ninety six countries on six different continents participated. From there numbers only went up. In 2010 126 counties participated and in 2011 135 counties participated on all seven continents.

This year it is held on March 23 from 8:30-9:30. So if you're not to busy enjoying activities during spring break take an hour break of darkness in celebration. This year has high expectation to reach even more countries. In the past Earth Hour has gotten a lot of free publicity on numerous TV and radio shows and even the home pages of Google and YouTube. Not to mention even from celebrities such as Miranda Kerr and Coldplay. Hopefully this continues to raise awareness in different and many more countries and even to influence the behave of citizens around the world! Remember like New Boyz always say: "You look better with the lights off."

Sources: http://www.enn.com/energy/article/45704
http://www.earthhour.org/node/265