UNH became the first university in the country to use landfill gas as a primary fuel source in 2009. This project was completed after 4 years of work, and got the school national recognition. The system sounds really complicated, but I was able to piece it together.
This was known as a "landfill gas to energy project," and that's a pretty easy way of summing it up. The energy comes from methane gas from a landfill that has been purified and brought to the school through the use of many wells and collection pipes. This system enables UNH Durham to obtain about 85% of its energy through this source, a tremendous number by any standards because it's a fairly large school.
The cogeneration plant project costed about $49 million to make, but UNH has found ways to recoup this financial loss. It is going to sell the renewable energy certificates, and sell power that was not needed for the campus back to the power grid. Some of this money will be used to further research environmentally-friendly practices for the university.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Agriculture vs. Sustainability
I work at a restaurant that is has been growing as a name that serves sustainable fish, and so it is something I find myself encountering quite a bit. I was always happy to just absorb whatever people around me at work had to say about it, but today I decided to research it a bit and form some opinions myself. Words like "farm-raised" and "wild-caught" are thrown around a lot, and there is a lot of hype about both of these options.
Wild-caught fish generally has a much better reputation because there are some (this may not be the nicest way to say it) pretty nasty fish farms out there. I have heard and read many things about fish in farms being fed things that are potentially toxic, not being given enough space, and generally living in conditions that do not mimic the wild as much as the owners of these farms would like you to think. However, there are some farms that are starting to pop up, mostly in the UK, that are not entirely horrible for the environment. They have different standards of circulating the water, and they also tend to rotate the fish through three tanks, which is preferable to keeping them in the same tank all the time.
On the other hand, wild-caught fish, when the fish is something that is appropriate to catch and is not on any type of endangered list, generally has a much better reputation. There are many reasons for this. Farms that raise fish can try and mimic natural conditions, but there is just nothing like the real thing. Also, it is difficult to regulate a man-made environment. Even though farms sometimes have more than one type of fish, this can also lead to one type taking over the rest because of an ill-regulated environment.
The Monterrey Bay Aquarium Seafood Guide is widely recognized at providing the public with up-to-date descriptions of which fish are the best to eat. They have a system that represents the sustainability of a fish choice. Their "green light" is the best choice, the "yellow light" is a good alternative, and a "red light" is something that is not sustainable, or in danger of being overfished, and so it should not be used. They update this guide every six months and it is very user-friendly, so much so that they even have an iPhone app!
Wild-caught fish generally has a much better reputation because there are some (this may not be the nicest way to say it) pretty nasty fish farms out there. I have heard and read many things about fish in farms being fed things that are potentially toxic, not being given enough space, and generally living in conditions that do not mimic the wild as much as the owners of these farms would like you to think. However, there are some farms that are starting to pop up, mostly in the UK, that are not entirely horrible for the environment. They have different standards of circulating the water, and they also tend to rotate the fish through three tanks, which is preferable to keeping them in the same tank all the time.
On the other hand, wild-caught fish, when the fish is something that is appropriate to catch and is not on any type of endangered list, generally has a much better reputation. There are many reasons for this. Farms that raise fish can try and mimic natural conditions, but there is just nothing like the real thing. Also, it is difficult to regulate a man-made environment. Even though farms sometimes have more than one type of fish, this can also lead to one type taking over the rest because of an ill-regulated environment.
The Monterrey Bay Aquarium Seafood Guide is widely recognized at providing the public with up-to-date descriptions of which fish are the best to eat. They have a system that represents the sustainability of a fish choice. Their "green light" is the best choice, the "yellow light" is a good alternative, and a "red light" is something that is not sustainable, or in danger of being overfished, and so it should not be used. They update this guide every six months and it is very user-friendly, so much so that they even have an iPhone app!
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Biological Interaction
According to most previously conducted research, microbial Fe (III) reduction has been caused by the interaction of NO3-. This interaction has not been thoroughly studied in experiments that were conducted using solid-phase iron oxide materials, specifically, as a source. In an experiment studying such an interaction, a bacterium called Shewanella putrefaciens 200 was grown in an environment that mimicked groundwater conditions. There was an iron-creating oxidous material called goethite in this environment as well, and this was supposed to function as the solid-phase iron oxide material.
During this experiment, the NO3- reduced the growth of the surface goethite more than it reduced the growth of other substances that served similar purposes in other such experiments, namely aqueous or mircocrystalline materials. Also, the presence of the goethite reduced the decrease in quantity of the NO3-. This experiment displays a different microbial interaction than has been typically studied when doing experiments of this nature.
D. Craig Cooper et al, Chemical and Biological Interactions during Nitrate and Goethite Reduction by Shewanella putrefaciens 200, American Society for Microbiology: Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 5 March 2003.
During this experiment, the NO3- reduced the growth of the surface goethite more than it reduced the growth of other substances that served similar purposes in other such experiments, namely aqueous or mircocrystalline materials. Also, the presence of the goethite reduced the decrease in quantity of the NO3-. This experiment displays a different microbial interaction than has been typically studied when doing experiments of this nature.
D. Craig Cooper et al, Chemical and Biological Interactions during Nitrate and Goethite Reduction by Shewanella putrefaciens 200, American Society for Microbiology: Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 5 March 2003.
Air Pollutant
According to the EPA website, lead is one of the most common air pollutants. The major source of pollution caused by lead in the environment used to come from auto fuel emissions, but new regulation has ceased this. Instead, lead comes mostly now from the manufacturing industry, where it is mostly used in making metals.
The Clean Air Act was instated in 1990, and this forced each state to come up with a multi-point plan as to how they would maintain air quality standards by combating lead pollution in the environment. Because of this legislation, many programs have been created that combat this pollution in different ways. States are required to come up with a system to measure pollution, a plan to rectify or control excessive levels, and then another program to ensure that the plans have been put in place and are functioning appropriately. Having this multi-faceted program enables states to ensure that their plans are working properly and to make necessary changes.
In addition to the above, each state is required to submit their plan to the EPA, which must approve it. The EPA has the authority to decline any plan and require states to make changes to it in order for it to function properly. States are also required to make information on pollutant levels in their areas public information so that citizens can look at them at will.
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