Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Greenhouse gas emissions from electricity generation

Natural gas is less than half coal and 100 times more than hydro.

https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3001029431697074692#editor/target=post;postID=6150621338898046979
 
 
 
Lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions by electricity source.
Technology
Description
50th percentile
(g CO

2
/kWhe)
reservoir
4
12
various generation II reactor types
16
various
18
22
45
46
various combined cycle turbines without scrubbing
469
various generator types without scrubbing
1001

carbon emissions top 10


Top-10 annual energy-related CO
2
emitters for the year 2009[109]
Country
 % of global total
annual emissions
Tonnes of GHG
per capita
23.6
United States
17.9
16.9
India
5.5
1.37
5.3
10.8
Japan
3.8
8.6
Germany
2.6
9.2
1.8
7.3
Canada
1.8
15.4
1.8
10.6
United Kingdom
1.6
7.5

The US and China are clearly in the lead! US and Canada are leaders in per capita emissions.
India, number three in total emissions, is one-twelfth US per capita emissions. China is still one-third US in per capita emissions.

Sunday, August 24, 2014

scorecard


At the opening of Peter Robinson’s photo exhibit, Alice Slater and I were

Remembering taking The End Hunger Briefing in the 80’s and celebrating

The Hunger Project’s success in raising global awareness as child mortality

became one of the Millennium Development Goals. The Hunger Project

defined ending hunger as having a national infant mortality rate below 50.

Less than 50 deaths before their first birthday per thousand live births was

equivalent of the canary in the coal mine. The source for this statistic (and

many others) is UNICEF’s report on the State of the World’s Children which

might be seen as a report card on how well we are managing global good.

            Back around the mid-80’s, 42,000 children (child mortality is how many die

Before their 5th birthday) each year. The 2014 State of the World’s Children Report (available at www.unicef.org) cites 6.6 million child deaths from preventable causes in 2012. Dividing by 365 gives a daily rate of about 18,000.  Substantial progress has been made yet having 18,000 deaths from preventable causes every day might still be called the hidden holocaust. 56 countries have child mortality rates over 50 as of 2012. The tpo ten are:

 

Sierra Leone 182 1

Angola 164 2

Chad 150 3

Somalia 147 4

Democratic Republic of the Congo 146 5

Central African Republic 129 6

Guinea-Bissau 129 6

Mali 128 8

Nigeria 124 9

Niger 114 10

 

            Food is not scarce. Ability to pay for food is scarce. For the 6 billion people on the planet, UNICEF estimates one in five lives below the poverty line of $1.25 per day or about 1.2 billion people. This number is about the same as the number for how many do not have access to electricity.

 

Friday, August 22, 2014

LEGICUUM


           Around 40 years ago under the influence of the amazing Mary Hart and the Unitarian Church of Rockville’s inspirational Bill Moors  I participated in LEGICUUM, Legislative Committee of Unitarian Universalists of Maryland. We worked with State officials, including Steny Hoyer, now House of Representatives Minority Whip, to educate the Maryland legislature. One US State Department retiree amassed arguments that investing in more intensive parole programs was far more cost effective than investing in prisons. His view was that the budget process was biased in favor of capital projects at the expense of programs. It was a lot easier to get funding for more risons than to invest in enhanced parole rograms.

            Recidivism and the demand for prison spaces could be cut and productive lives encouraged if the State of Maryland listened. This retiree, a member of the Cedar Lane church,  said he worked on ever so many issues as a senior US government  policy analyst with no sense that he could impact any of them He relished the opportunity to make a difference in his home State. One of my companions at Bethany Beach this week is a parole officer in Maryland who reports that parole programs may still be in the back seat.  

                Victimless crimes such as marijuana use and prostitution were also on LEGICUUM’s agenda. I attended a briefing on trafficking at the UN where a young woman lawyer pointed out that in the New York area those arranging unwilling participation were not prosecuted while those being victimized were. Reports that Attorney General Holder is preparing a list of those in prison under a three strikes law for marijuana offences for Presidential pardons is an encouraging step in the right direction.  The cost to New York taxpayers for each victimless crime incarceration is about $60,000 per year. The principle that those who want something should never have to pay for it sounds like socialism under the guise of “being tough on crime.”