DailyDirt: What, Me Worry?

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

The price of oil is surprisingly low -- dipping below $30 a barrel recently. That's not a bad thing for consumers who like to drive and have warm homes in the winter and for the prices of a whole lot of other things. But let's not get too comfortable with hydrocarbon-based fuels for too long. There are a few concerning things about burning fossil fuels -- even if we're not worried about carbon dioxide emissions and climate change. However, the alternatives might not be that great, either.

• A massive methane leak in southern California has been spewing over 100,000 pounds per hour of natural gas into the atmosphere for months now. Several attempts to plug the leak have failed, possibly making the problem worse each time, and it could be sometime in March before the leak is under some control. [url]
• BP spent over $14 billion on cleanup efforts after the Deepwater Horizon accident in 2010. The environmental damage is still being assessed, and all kinds of marine wildlife from around the world might be affected (e.g., turtles). It's estimated that 4.9 million barrels of oil were released, and a sizable amount of that oil is unaccounted for -- though Mother Nature may have biodegraded some of it. [url]
• Satellite imagery from 2003-2009 detected a mysterious methane hotspot near the Four Corners intersection of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah. This leak poured about 590,000 tons of methane into the air for each year it was seen, and no one has quite pinpointed its source(s) yet. For reference, this methane hotspot emits more than natural leaks from the ocean floor. [url]

After you've finished checking out those links, take a look at our Daily Deals for cool gadgets and other awesome stuff.

Filed Under: carbon dioxide, climate change, deepwater horizon, environmental damage, fossil fuels, methane, oil, pollution

DailyDirt: The Risks Of Fossil Fuels

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Relatively cheap fossil fuels allow everyone to enjoy comfortable lifestyles. But every so often, there seem to be horrible stories of environmental damage caused by our continuing addiction to underground hydrocarbons. Pulling oil, coal and gas out of the ground is probably going to be the way we get most of our energy for the foreseeable future, so it's just a bit worrying that we haven't quite figured out how to really mitigate oil spills and other accidents. Fortunately, Mother Nature hasn't taken full revenge (yet?) on us.

• Recently, Chevron apologized for one of its natural gas wells exploding (and killing one person) by giving away coupons for free pizza to local residents. Some residents accepted the pizza apology as a thoughtful gift, but there are plenty of other people who voiced their opinion that the free pizza vouchers are an insult. [url]
• About 25 years ago, the Exxon Valdez spilled about 11 million gallons of oil into Alaska's Prince William Sound. Oil from that spill still lingers on the shore, and wildlife hasn't fully recovered yet. [url]
• The Exxon Valdez's 11 million gallons of spilled oil sounds like a lot, but during the Gulf War in 1991, hundreds of millions of gallons were spilled -- with estimates ranging from 300 to 500 million gallons. The spill was the deliberate action of Saddam Hussein, presumably meant to deter American troops from landing on the shore. [url]
• While BP is still dealing with the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon accident, it just spilled a bit of crude oil into Lake Michigan, a few miles away from Chicago. Luckily, the cold weather makes it a bit easier to clean up as the oil solidifies into a wax-like substance. [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post via StumbleUpon.

Filed Under: accidents, deepwater horizon, energy, environmental damage, fossil fuels, oil spills, prince william sound, valdez
Companies: bp, chevron, exxon

DailyDirt: Drill, Baby, Drill!

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Hindsight makes it easy to criticize decisions that were made that, in retrospect, seem foolish. The word 'tsunami' was coined by the Japanese, and yet a nuclear power plant apparently wasn't designed to fully withstand one (and an associated earthquake). Lots of folks have asked: "How could they not see this coming?" But it's not that simple, and a nuclear power plant isn't the only energy facility that can devastate the environment. Let's not forget the BP Oil Spill. As a reminder, here are some interesting links about the Gulf of Mexico and the still-unfolding aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon disaster.

• The full effect of the BP Oil Spill may not be known for about a decade...? It also took several years to determine the environmental effects of the Exxon Valdez spill, and there's a lot of oil on the seafloor even though the surface oil has dissipated. [url]
• The Gulf's seafloor seems to be covered in "microbial spit" and oil -- a combination of bacterial slime that helps microbes digest the oil. This slime has also been described as an "invertebrate graveyard." [url]
• Here's a map of the Gulf of Mexico and where all the active offshore oil well platforms are located. There are thousands of wells and about 43,000 miles of pipeline in the Gulf. [url]
• Earlier this year, over 70 dead dolphins (including baby dolphins) washed up along the Gulf Coast. Autopsies might point to a cause, but it seems suspicious that the baby dolphins were conceived just before the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.... [url]
• As a nice gesture, BP has created a very pleasant (perhaps too pleasant?) photo gallery of the US beaches around the Gulf of Mexico. Interestingly, BP also includes some altered images in its gallery, for transparency sake. [url]
• To discover more stuff on alternative energy, check out what's currently floating around the StumbleUpon universe. [url]  

Filed Under: bp oil spill, deepwater horizon, dolphins, gulf of mexico, microbial spit
Companies: bp