Archive for the 'Environment' Category
California Farmers Are Planting Solar Panels as Water Supplies Dry Up
August 2nd, 2019In Blade Runner 2049, the California Central Valley looks like this: (In case you’re wondering, the solar concentrators in the opening scene of the film were inspired by the idiotic Ivanpah Solar Power Facility, which is based on concentrated solar thermal energy.) Nestled in among the heliostat fields are protein farms: They grow some variety […]
Gigantic, Mysterious Radiation Leak Traced to Facility in Russia
July 29th, 2019Via: New Scientist: The source of a gigantic, mysterious leak of radioactive material that swept across Europe in 2017 has been traced to a Russian nuclear facility, which appears to have been preparing materials for experiments in Italy. The leak released up to 100 times the amount of radiation into the atmosphere that the Fukushima […]
Tesla Announces Megapack: Utility-Scale Energy Storage
July 29th, 2019Big guns. Via: Tesla: Less than two years ago, Tesla built and installed the world’s largest lithium-ion battery in Hornsdale, South Australia, using Tesla Powerpack batteries. Since then, the facility saved nearly $40 million in its first year alone and helped to stabilize and balance the region’s unreliable grid. Battery storage is transforming the global […]
Area 51: “Testing Of The Tissues From Workers Showed Chemicals That Were Unknown To Doctors”
July 24th, 2019Via: Los Angeles Times: In the late 1990s, I represented workers at Area 51 who were suffering from health issues and trying to find out what toxic substances they had been exposed to on the base. The case ultimately led to the government acknowledging the existence of the site, where highly classified research into next-generation […]
Decades Old Russian Nuclear Sub Wreck Leaking Radiation 100,000 Times Higher Than Normal
July 13th, 2019Via: ZeroHedge: Researchers in Norway have discovered radiation levels in excess of 100,000 times normal next to a Soviet-era nuclear submarine which sank in the Arctic 30 years ago – a reading which is higher than those taken 12 years ago, according to Norwegian news outlet TV2. The Kosomolets went down in the Barents Sea […]
Diablo Canyon Nightmare Scenario: The Quake to Make Los Angeles a Radioactive Dead Zone
July 13th, 2019Cryptogon always supplies you with the most pleasant reading for the weekend. Via: CommonDreams: Nothing significant has been done to improve safety at two coastal reactors upwind of ten million people that are surrounded by earthquake faults in a tsunami zone like the one where the four Fukushima reactors have already exploded. Had Friday’s 7.1 […]
Solein: Synthetic, Protein-Heavy Product, Tastes Like Wheat Flour, Made from Electricity, Water and Air
June 29th, 2019Safety? I can’t find anything related to safety. Also, even if there were claims about it being safe to consume, should we believe them? See: Vaccines, aspartame, GM food, fluoride, etc. “The foodstuff was said to mark a break with a thousand years of production…” Alright. How much time and effort will be spent studying […]
General Electric to Scrap California Power Plant 20 Years Early
June 26th, 2019Via: Reuters: General Electric Co said on Friday it plans to demolish a large power plant it owns in California this year after only one-third of its useful life because the plant is no longer economically viable in a state where wind and solar supply a growing share of inexpensive electricity. Related: GE Bet on […]
Scientists Have Discovered a Sea of Fresh Water Under the Ocean
June 24th, 2019Via: Quartz: Thousands of years ago, glaciers covered much of the planet. Oceans receded as water froze in massive sheets of ice blanketing the North American continent. As the ice age ended, glaciers melted. Massive river deltas flowed out across the continental shelf. The oceans rose, and fresh water was trapped in sediments below the […]
“Come Heavily Armed”: Oregon Senator Threatens Violence As Governor Hunts Down Lawmakers
June 23rd, 2019Via: ZeroHedge: A standoff between Republican and Democratic Oregon state senators escalated on Friday after Governor Kate Brown (D) authorized state police to track down Republican lawmakers who have stalled a vote on carbon credit legislation by walking out and refusing to vote.
