COAL CHIMNEY - WHAT COMES OUT?
Submitted by Jeff Buster on Sun, 10/25/2009 - 22:25.
If someone were to suggest that the exhaust from a coal fired facility would, over decades, kill, sterilize, and cause detrimental mutations in the neighboring downwind territory – would you think they were paranoid?
Or could they be prescient?
Image: Cleveland Thermal 10.23.09 one of several local aerial sewer pipes, Cleveland Ohio
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Great photo - here is a starter list for Cleveland Thermal
The low annual PM2.5 concentration is because they produce steam heat for downtown buildings, which don't need much steam in summer.
The big question is who are the biggest customers for Cleveland Thermal, therefore being some of the biggest polluters in America... just like the University Circle Partners cause MMCO to pollute... you can't game the system and buy cheap dirty coal heat and power without getting your names and reputations dirty.
Disrupt IT
More Cleveland Thermal questions
I believe Cleveland Thermal has two plants - one by the Shoreway and one by Gateway - right by where they want to build the casino. If that is correct, is there any place to get environmental data by plant?
Also, where may we find a list of customers for each plant. The Caxton Building is a customer, or at least was when I was there - I believe CMSD is on their grid and wonder if City Hall may be as well?
And, I am very interested in the ownership - do some digging...
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Radioactive Elements in Coal and Fly Ash:
Steven Chu: 'Coal is My Worst Nightmare'
By Keith Johnson / Wall Street Journal
So Steven Chu, President-elect Obama's likely choice to head the Department of Energy, is a proponent of energy efficiency and conservation as the first step in rejigging America's energy mix. But since conservation alone won't do it, what are his ideas about finding new supplies of energy?
Dr. Chu's marquee work at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory is the Helios Project. That's an effort to tackle what Dr. Chu sees as the biggest energy challenge facing the U.S.: transportation. That's because it's a huge drain on U.S. coffers and an environmental albatross, Dr. Chu says.
Helios has focused largely on biofuels—but not the bog-standard kind made from corn and sugar. The Energy Biosciences Institute, a joint effort funded by BP, is looking to make second-generation biofuels more viable. Among the approaches? Researching new ways to break down stubborn cellulosic feedstocks to improve the economics of next-generation biofuels, and finding new kinds of yeast to boost fermentation and make biofuels more plentiful while reducing their environmental impact.
What about other energy sources? Big Coal won't be very happy if Dr. Chu gets confirmed as head of the DOE—he's really, really not a big fan. "Coal is my worst nightmare," he said repeatedly in a speech earlier this year outlining his lab's alternative-energy approaches.
If coal is to stay part of the world's energy mix, he says, clean-coal technologies must be developed. But he's not very optimistic: "It's not guaranteed we have a solution for coal," he concluded, given the sheer scope of the challenge of economically storing billions of tons of carbon dioxide emissions underground.
Worried about radioactivity? Coal's still your bogeyman. Dr. Chu says a typical coal plant emits 100 times more radiation than a nuclear plant, given the flyash emissions of radioactive particles.
That doesn't mean nuclear power is much better. "The waste and proliferation issues [surrounding nuclear power] still haven't been completely solved," he said. A big part of the Department of Energy's job is to oversee nuclear weapons and waste storage. And the Obama campaign made clear that increased reliance on nuclear power will require finding a "safe" way to dispose of radioactive waste.
How about renewable energy? Dr. Chu already had a taste of Washington power-brokering, in a briefing with current Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman and Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson. He pitched them on the idea of an interstate electricity transmission system to be paid for by ratepayers. That would solve one of the biggest hurdles to wide-spread adoption of clean energy like wind and solar power.
From: http://blogs.wsj.com/environmentalcapital/2008/12/11/steven-chu-coal-is-my-worst-nightmare/
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From: http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/1997/fs163-97/FS-163-97.html
Introduction
Coal is largely composed of organic matter, but it is the inorganic matter in coal—minerals and trace elements— that have been cited as possible causes of health, environmental, and technological problems associated with the use of coal. Some trace elements in coal are naturally radioactive. These radioactive elements include uranium (U), thorium (Th), and their numerous decay products, including radium (Ra) and radon (Rn). Although these elements are less chemically toxic than other coal constituents such as arsenic, selenium, or mercury, questions have been raised concerning possible risk from radiation. In order to accurately address these questions and to predict the mobility of radioactive elements during the coal fuel-cycle, it is important to determine the concentration, distribution, and form of radioactive elements in coal and fly ash.
Abundance of Radioactive Elements in Coal and Fly Ash
Assessment of the radiation exposure from coal burning is critically dependent on the concentration of radioactive elements in coal and in the fly ash that remains after combustion. Data for uranium and thorium content in coal is available from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), which maintains the largest database of infor-mation on the chemical composition of U.S. coal. This database is searchable on the World Wide Web at: http://energy.er.usgs.gov/products/databases/ CoalQual/intro.htm. Figure 1 displays the frequency distribution of uranium concentration for approximately 2,000 coal samples from the Western United States and approximately 300 coals from the Illinois Basin. In the majority of samples, concentrations of uranium fall in the range from slightly below 1 to 4 parts per million (ppm). Similar uranium concentrations are found in a variety of common rocks and soils, as indicated in figure 2. Coals with more than 20 ppm uranium are rare in the United States. Thorium concentrations in coal fall within a similar 1–4 ppm range, compared to an average crustal abundance of approximately 10 ppm. Coals with more than 20 ppm thorium are extremely rare.
During coal combustion most of the uranium, thorium, and their decay products are released from the original coal matrix and are distributed between the gas phase and solid combustion products.
World Trade Center
My first take on this photo--World Trade Center NYC...Jeff Buster, your images are sublime.
my opinions do not necessarily reflect the opinions of my employer, my spouse, my cat, my neighbors, my extended family or anyone I happen to acknowledge on the street, bus, etc.
I apologize for getting off
I apologize for getting off the subject, however, is there anybody that know anything about "Design Review Boards? How they work? What they are about? What good do they do, if any? and. what should I know about them if I were going to be going before one, hypothetically? How much pull do they have? Who started them? As well as anything else that might be of interest. I would really appreciate the info.
design review
See the City of Cleveland Landmark's Commission. The Commission follows the national guidelines. Some Cleveland neighborhoods have DR committee specific to the neighborhood but work under the auspices of the Landmark's Commission. The DRC is a hot topic in Ohio City. I do not live in the historic district (and plan never to) but I appreciate the work that the DRC has done. I could not afford the restrictions placed on residents when work needs done on the house but then, important buildings get saved instead of demolished.
Thank you, that is very
Thank you, that is very helpful. This interest I have has caused me to have my next article for the Plain Press for the monthe of December.
OK, got that but what about
OK, got that but what about a design review Board for the Clark Avenue area?
clark ave
If Clark Ave. has been designated a design review district, that is news. The buildings are the W. 25th and Clark are landmark designated but that was done individually. Clark Ave. is not designated as an historic area so I am not sure why there would be oversight there by DRC. Best best is to call Director Bob Brown at the City Planning Commission (very approachable) for guidance on this issue. There is also a planner for Ward 14, but I prefer to go the director to get the whole picture. See below from the commission:
Within designated Design Review Districts, all new construction and exterior alterations to buildings and structures are subject to design review. Outside of these designated Design Review Districts, the design review process applies only to new construction (not renovation) of retail, offices, institutions and residential projects.
It's good Coal is Clean, because Downtown Cleveland bathes in it
For the last several years I've wanted to get an image of the rank haze which wafts out of the Cleveland Thermal plant - but it is either at night - or during the day when the pollution doesn't show optically contrasted well against the light sky.
The image above (which finally begins to do justice to the volume of nanochemical crap - a virtual periodic table of elements) - which Terminal Tower and all of down town Cleveland get to inhale, was taken from RailRoad Ave in Tremont (right in front of the mould house) with the BP building as a dark background for the clean coal to contrast against.
Cleveland + plus Clean Coal - come bathe with us!