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Cleaning Up Diesel With Bacteria | Earth Wise

August 9, 2021 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Using soil bacteria to clean up seeped diesel

Mothballed military outposts with piles of rusting oil drums are not an unusual sight in Greenland.  There are about 30 abandoned military installations in Greenland and diesel that was once used to operate generators and other machinery has, in many cases, seeped into the ground.

Removing tons of contaminated soil from these sites is incredibly resource-intensive involving the use of aircraft and ships, so it has not really been practical.  As a result, Danish Defense and the engineering company NIRAS instead conducted a five-year experiment to optimize the conditions for naturally occurring soil bacteria to break down the contaminating diesel.

The experiment was performed at Station 9117 Mestersvig, an abandoned military airfield on the coast of East Greenland.  Forty tons of diesel fuel contaminated the soil there.

The remediation method using bacteria is known as landfarming and has most often been applied in warmer climates around the world.  This was the first large-scale test under Arctic conditions.

Landfarming works by distributing contaminated soil in a thin layer, which is then plowed, fertilized, and oxygenated every year to optimize conditions for bacteria to degrade hydrocarbons.

The site was monitored by scientists from the University of Copenhagen, and they found that after five years, the bacteria had bioremediated as much as 82 percent of the 5,000 tons of contaminated soil on the site. 

Based on these results, it appears to be feasible for naturally occurring bacteria to be used to remediate contamination in all of the 30 deserted military installations in Greenland as well as in other Arctic sites contaminated by diesel pollution.

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Bacteria used to clean diesel-polluted soil in Greenland

Photo, posted September 6, 2013, courtesy of Maj. Matthew J. Sala/The U.S. Air National Guard via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Have We Reached Peak Internal Combustion Engine? | Earth Wise

August 3, 2021 By EarthWise 1 Comment

Global sales of gas-powered cars may have peaked in 2017

According to new analysis from Bloomberg New Energy Finance, global sales of gas-powered cars may well have peaked in 2017, representing a significant milestone in the transition to electric vehicles.

Demand for gas cars dropped in 2018 and 2019, and then plummeted in 2020 as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.  While sales are surely picking up as the pandemic ebbs, the increasing demand (and supply as well) for plug-in vehicles is likely to put gas-powered cars in a state of permanent decline.

Global EV sales are projected to go from 3.1 million last year to 14 million in 2025.  The growth is being driven by falling battery prices, government policies, and increasing choices of vehicles.  Virtually all automobile manufacturers are introducing electric vehicles over the next couple of years and increasing numbers of them are planning a complete transition to EVs in the near future.  Projections are that EVs will account for the majority of new car sales by 2035.

While all this progress is encouraging, there are still over a billion gas- and diesel-powered cars on the road and the fleet turns over slowly.  The current average operating life of cars here in the US is 12 years.

To reach the net-zero carbon emission goals by 2050 as many governments have mandated, additional policies and regulations will be needed.  For example, electric cars will need to account for essentially all new sales by 2035, not just the majority.  Reaching net-zero by mid-century will require all hands on deck, including trucks and heavy commercial vehicles that have barely started to become electrified.

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New Analysis Suggests We Have Already Hit Peak Internal Combustion Engine

Photo, posted December 23, 2017, courtesy of Davide Gambino via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Wildlife Reclaims Yosemite National Park | Earth Wise

May 12, 2020 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Wildlife reclaim Yosemite National Park

Our stories often discuss how human activities change the natural environment.  With most of us confined to our homes, the lack of human activities is having profound effects on the environment.  We are talking about some of these this week.

Yosemite National park is normally awash in humanity – there were over 300,000 visitors in April of 2019 and typically 4 million people visit each year.  But as of March 20, the park was closed to tourists to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.  Only a skeleton crew of employees remains in the park.

Without all the people, wildlife is coming out of hiding.  It did so in previous park closures during government shutdowns, but those closures were pretty short.  This one is expected to be the longest on record.

The bear population within the park has quadrupled and many larger animals – such as bobcats and coyotes – are congregating outside of cabins and other buildings and prowling empty roads and walkways instead of hanging back at the edges of human settlements. 

In addition, the air at Yosemite is cleaner due to the lack of exhaust and diesel, and Yosemite Valley is nearly silent, apart from natural sounds from the river and the wind.  According to some observers, the park’s current condition is probably similar to what visitors in the 19th century witnessed. 

The few park employees sheltering in place are taking advantage of the virtually unimpeded natural amenities of the park.  Many are hiking to its lakes and waterfalls, enjoying trails that are empty apart from animals.  As some of the people staying in the park have noted, one could not ask for a better place to be isolated.

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Coyotes, bobcats and bears: Wildlife is reclaiming Yosemite National Park

Photo, posted October 30, 2019, courtesy of Ania Mendrek via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Plants Paying For Biofuels | Earth Wise

May 7, 2020 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Plants can make biofuels cheaper

Biofuels are an important element in broader strategies to replace petroleum in transportation fuels like gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel.  The idea is that biofuels recycle carbon by getting it from growing plants rather than from fossil sources.  The biggest problem with biofuels is that they cost more than conventional petroleum fuels, so there is economic incentive to keep burning the fossil fuels.

One strategy to make biofuels cost competitive is to have the plants provide additional economic benefits beyond being a feedstock for fuel.  This in principle can be done by engineering plants to produce valuable chemical compounds, or bioproducts, as they grow.  Bioproducts include such things as flavoring agents and fragrances as well as biodegradable plastic.  These bioproducts can be extracted from the plants and then the remaining plant material can be converted to fuel. 

Researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory recently published a study to determine what quantities of bioproducts plants need to produce to result in cost-effective biofuel production.

The study looked at a compound called limonene, which is used for flavoring and fragrance.  They calculated that if this compound was accumulated at 0.6% of the biomass dry weight, it would offer net economic benefits to biorefineries.  This corresponds to recovering 130 pounds of limonene from 10 tons of sorghum on an acre of land.

Such quantities are completely practical but, on the other hand, none of these substances are needed in huge quantities. Just six refineries could supply the world with limonene.  So, fuel crops would need to be engineered to produce a broad range of bioproducts to enable a viable cost-effective biofuel industry.

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Making Biofuels Cheaper by Putting Plants to Work

Photo, posted September 28, 2019, courtesy of Michele Dorsey Walfred via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Renewable Natural Gas

September 30, 2019 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Small-scale biogas systems have collected methane from landfills, sewage plants, and farms for decades.  Here in the US, biogas is finally catching up with modern techniques with the advent of third-party operators introducing more sophisticated technology to capture methane and pump it directly into pipelines.

Renewable methane or natural gas represents a significant mostly unexploited source of energy.  Examples include the vast amounts methane generated by manure from some of the 2,300 hog farms in eastern North Carolina, biodigesters that can turn clusters of large California dairy farms into energy hubs, as well as diverting food waste from landfills and transforming it into vehicle and heating fuels.

According to a 2014 EPA study, the U.S. could support at least 13,000 biogas facilities, fed by manure, landfill gas, and biosolids from sewage treatment plants.  Those facilities could produce over 650 billion cubic feet of biogas per year – enough renewable energy to power 3 million homes.

A study by the World Resources Institute estimated that the 50 million tons of organic waste sent to landfills or incinerated every year in the U.S. has the energy content of 6 billion gallons of diesel fuel, amounting to 15% of all diesel consumed by heavy-duty trucks and buses.

Utilizing all that biogas could help lower greenhouse gas emissions from some of the most difficult sectors to decarbonize – transportation, industry, and heating buildings.  In addition, ramped up renewable gas could keep organic waste out of landfills and prevent manure runoff into rivers and water supplies.

Renewable natural gas could be the next big thing in green energy.

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Could Renewable Natural Gas Be the Next Big Thing in Green Energy?

Photo, posted June 19, 2013, courtesy of Alan Levine via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Can Germany Meet Its Energy Goals?

February 4, 2019 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Germany has been a global leader in efforts to decarbonize its massive economy.  A national initiative known as Energiewende – or clean energy transition – has been in place since 2010 and relies heavily on renewable energy sources, energy efficiency, and energy demand management.

The program has involved some of the most aggressive deployment of renewable energy sources in the world.  Germany was the first country to install 1 GW of solar energy and still has the 5th largest amount of solar power in the world despite actually being a country with fairly limited sunshine.  Germany has nearly 30,000 wind turbines, most of which are onshore, unlike many other countries in northern Europe.  Over the past five years, government support and cost to consumers for the shift to clean energy have totaled over $180 billion.

However, despite these efforts, Germany’s greenhouse gas emissions have not declined as rapidly as expected, even though nearly 40% of the country’s electricity now comes from renewable sources.

This lack of expected success comes as a shock to the environmentally conscious German population, nearly 90% of which supports the program.

There are two major problems Germany faces.  One is that Germany is Europe’s largest producer of coal, which still generates more than a third of the country’s power.  The other is that Germany’s large auto industry is still married to gas- and diesel-fueled cars and emissions from the country’s cars are a big problem.

The Energiewende program was driven by political will and investment certainty.  It is unclear whether Germany can muster these forces again.  The Merkel government has dragged its feet on environmental issues in recent years.  It remains to be seen what effect shifting political power in Germany will have.

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Carbon Crossroads: Can Germany Revive Its Stalled Energy Transition?

Photo, posted August 15, 2011, courtesy of Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Turning Plastic Waste Into Green Energy

November 14, 2018 By EarthWise 1 Comment

https://earthwiseradio.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/EW-11-14-18-Turning-Plastic-Waste-into-Green-Energy.mp3

In the Back to the Future movies, the DeLorean time machine ran on garbage.  We aren’t any closer to building time machines, but it might soon be practical to produce fuel from garbage.

[Read more…] about Turning Plastic Waste Into Green Energy

Electric Buses On The Rise

November 2, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

https://earthwiseradio.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/EW-11-02-18-Electric-Buses-on-the-Rise.mp3

Electric buses are replacing conventional diesel-fueled buses at an accelerating rate that is outpacing the adoption of battery-powered cars.  According to forecasts by Bloomberg New Energy Finance, by 2030 some 28% of car sales will be electric vehicles while 84% of new buses will be electric buses.  So far, some 12 years away, the actual adoption of electric buses is outpacing this optimistic projection.

[Read more…] about Electric Buses On The Rise

Diesel Is Dirty

October 22, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

https://earthwiseradio.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/EW-10-22-18-Diesel-is-Dirty.mp3

Three years ago, Volkswagen was found to have illegally cheated federal emissions tests in the US using devious programming of emission control devices.  The subterfuge enabled 11 million passenger cars to meet U.S. emissions standards in the laboratory despite that fact that they actually produced up to 40 times higher emissions than the legal limit in real-world driving.

[Read more…] about Diesel Is Dirty

Emissions From Electric Buses

September 12, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

https://earthwiseradio.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/EW-09-12-18-Emissions-from-Electric-Buses.mp3

Municipalities and transit agencies are gradually replacing conventional diesel buses with cleaner alternatives such as natural-gas-powered, diesel-electric hybrid, or fully electric buses.  The goal is to reduce the substantial carbon emissions associated with buses as well as reducing unhealthy air pollution. Diesel buses on average get less than 5 miles per gallon as they transport passengers around, so there is plenty of motivation to find more efficient ways to power them.

[Read more…] about Emissions From Electric Buses

A Battle For The Automobile Fuel Business

August 20, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

https://earthwiseradio.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/EW-08-20-18-Battle-for-the-Automobile-Business.mp3

Energy giant BP predicts that electric vehicle sales will increase by an incredible 8,800 percent between now and 2040.  That creates a major business opportunity for oil companies as well as a real problem because demand for gasoline and diesel is destined to slow.

[Read more…] about A Battle For The Automobile Fuel Business

An Electric VW Bus

June 19, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

https://earthwiseradio.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/EW-06-19-18-An-Electric-VW-Bus.mp3

For baby boomers, the Volkswagen bus was the iconic vehicle of the 1960s counterculture.  It was introduced in 1950, was popular among Gen Xers coming of age in the 1980s, and lasted in one form or another until 2013, when the last one was built in Brazil.

[Read more…] about An Electric VW Bus

European Diesel Under Siege

June 5, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

https://earthwiseradio.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/EW-06-05-18-European-Diesel-Under-Seige.mp3

Diesel cars have never been very popular in the US and in the aftermath of the so-called Dieselgate scandal at Volkswagen, they are even less so.  Less than a dozen diesel car models are available for purchase in the US and only one of those is from a German automaker: BMW.

[Read more…] about European Diesel Under Siege

Hydrogen Progress

April 18, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

https://earthwiseradio.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/EW-04-18-18-Hydrogen-Progress.mp3

As low-cost solar and wind energy become increasingly pervasive, the prospects for hydrogen-based transportation systems are improving.  The reason is that cheap electricity makes it practical to produce hydrogen by breaking down water rather than getting it from reforming natural gas, which results in carbon dioxide emissions.  The real goal is for hydrogen to be a renewable and carbon-free fuel.

[Read more…] about Hydrogen Progress

Electrifying Shipping Fleets

March 26, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

https://earthwiseradio.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/EW-03-27-18-Electrifying-Shipping-Fleets.mp3

Container ships, tankers, freighters, and cruise ships are a significant source of carbon dioxide emissions and other pollutants.  They currently account for 3% of global emissions – which doesn’t sound like much – but most other sectors such as power plants and automobiles are gradually decarbonizing.  As a result, experts believe that shipping could account for as much as 17% of global emissions by the year 2050.

[Read more…] about Electrifying Shipping Fleets

Coffee Power

January 3, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

https://earthwiseradio.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/EW-01-03-18-Coffee-Power.mp3

The residents of London are known for tea drinking, but in fact each of them consumes an average of 2.3 cups of coffee a day as well.  But now, it won’t just be commuters that are running on coffee in the morning.  London buses will in part run on oil produced from coffee grounds.

[Read more…] about Coffee Power

Ditching Gas And Diesel Cars

September 14, 2017 By EarthWise

https://earthwiseradio.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/EW-09-14-17-Ditching-Gas-and-Diesel-Cars.mp3

Electric cars represent only a tiny fraction of the overall auto market.  The numbers are growing, most certainly, but they are still quite small in most places.   The recent start of production of the Tesla Model 3 has attracted quite a bit of attention to electric cars, but in many countries, there is much more to the story than just media buzz about a new car.

[Read more…] about Ditching Gas And Diesel Cars

France And Climate Change

August 15, 2017 By EarthWise

https://earthwiseradio.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/EW-08-15-17-France-and-Climate-Change.mp3

On the heels of the Trump Administration’s decision to withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord, France has rolled out ambitious plans to reduce its carbon footprint even further. 

[Read more…] about France And Climate Change

A Hydrogen-Powered Train

June 5, 2017 By EarthWise

https://earthwiseradio.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/EW-06-05-17-A-Hydrogen-Powered-Train.mp3

It seems like something out of a science fiction movie, but a nearly silent train that glides along its tracks emitting nothing but water is a reality.   In March, Germany conducted successful tests of the world’s first “Hydrail,” which is a hydrogen-powered, zero-emission train.

[Read more…] about A Hydrogen-Powered Train

Islands Ditching Diesel

March 31, 2017 By EarthWise

https://earthwiseradio.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/EW-03-31-17-Islands-Ditching-Diesel.mp3

Islands around the world have a difficult time developing the infrastructure for electricity generation.  Many are simply too small or too poor for conventional power plants.  The most common electricity source on islands is diesel generators which are not environmentally friendly and result in some of the most expensive electricity in the world.

[Read more…] about Islands Ditching Diesel

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