Tag Archives: toxic

Do you think frackers should disclose the chemicals they use? EPA wants to know

by GarnetPalafox Posted on May 12, 2014

Do you think frackers should disclose the chemicals they use? EPA wants to know

The EPA is about to ask you an important question — and it could be mistaken as rhetorical because the answer is such a no-brainer: Should frackers be required to reveal the secret sauces of chemicals that they pump into the ground?

Reuters explains:

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said it would gather public comment for 90 days on whether it should require chemical manufacturers to disclose what is in the fluids that are injected into shale seams to release trapped oil or gas, a technology that has transformed the oil and gas industry.

The so-called “advanced notice of proposed rulemaking” came as a response to a petition by the environmental group Earthjustice under a section of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). The act enables anyone to petition the EPA to initiate an amendment or repeal of rules requiring chemical testing, imposing regulatory controls and requiring information.

Fracking companies claim that disclosing the chemicals they use would mean revealing trade secrets, and the EPA, along with various other government bodies and courts, has consistently bowed to industry on this issue. The newly announced public-consultation process could eventually help to shake up that imbalance between corporate desire and the public’s right to know.

But the agency is making it clear that the whole process might lead to no changes at all. Perhaps that should come as no surprise, given the Obama administration’s steadfast support for a drilling method that is helping to boost the nation’s fossil-fueled energy supply while doing little to nothing to help combat climate change.

“Although EPA has granted the petitioners’ request to initiate a rulemaking proceeding …, the Agency is not committing to a specific rulemaking outcome,” the EPA wrote in its public notice.

We will let you know how to submit comments to the EPA once the public comment period begins.

Source
U.S. considers fracking fluid disclosure rules, Reuters
EPA/OCSPP, U.S. Office of Management and Budget

John Upton is a science fan and green news boffin who tweets, posts articles to Facebook, and blogs about ecology. He welcomes reader questions, tips, and incoherent rants: johnupton@gmail.com.

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Do you think frackers should disclose the chemicals they use? EPA wants to know

Posted in alo, ALPHA, Anchor, FF, GE, LAI, LG, ONA, Paradise, solar, solar panels, Uncategorized | Tagged energy, environmental, politics, public, solar, solar panels, technology, toxic, upton | Comments Off

The Latest Technology in Cheap Energy Storage Is Manufactured with Pasta Makers

by Prokippxv Posted on December 27, 2013

A startup based in Manhattan called Urban Electric Power is taking a stab at the energy storage problem. And rather than just store energy, the company is going one step further, by manufacturing completely non-toxic batteries rather than the usual corrosive chemical-filled variety.

One big problem with renewable energy—including wind, solar and wave energy—is storing it. If we could stock up on energy when the sun is shining brightly or the wind is blowing, then we could continue to produce power at night or during windless days. Stored energy can also offset demand for energy at peak times, when utility companies have to ramp up production.

Urban Electric Power is approaching this issues by updating an old battery technology. Energy.gov explains:

Inexpensive, non-toxic and widely available, zinc has long been known to be an excellent electricity storage material because of its high energy density. Invented more than 100 years ago, the zinc anode battery is still used today. Yet, for all its benefits, zinc has one major shortcoming — dendrite formation develops over the battery’s life, causing the battery to short after a few hundred cycles.

Basically, researchers have hit a roadblock when attempting to tap into zinc’s energy-storying potential because of that material’s annoying tendency to clump up. To get around this problem, Urban Electric Power designed a simple solution: just stir the zinc. Scientific American reports:

The key to preventing that degradation turns out to be flow. In the case of Urban Electric, that means little propellers attached by magnets to the bottom of the plastic container holding a series of zinc–manganese dioxide pouch cells. The fans circulate a fluid that keeps the flaws from forming, and the ions flowing in and out of the electrodes. That fluid also turns out to be cheap: water. The convection from a little bit of water flowing around the pouch cells prevents the formation of tiny fibers on the zinc electrode, known as dendrites, that kill off a typical alkaline battery. “We use very little flow,” Banerjee says. “It’s really just stirring.”

The design is so simple that the creators use little more than homemade pasta makers, restaurant-grade stirrers and rolling pins to make the chemical materials, SciAm adds.