Off Topic The Environmental & Pollution Thread

This is my concern, It was first published here a few days ago and I am surprised that the western media are not all over this.

 

According to some ‘experts’ we are already in a period of reducing population increase so it’s not an issue. We’ll top out at about 11 billion which is fine

Clearly bollocks
We are the earth’s pandemic

I wonder if viruses have dissenters in their midst? If so I guess they get overrun by a more dominant strain

We need to start a vaccination program against the human virus

 

Additional information to add to yesterday's news that Japan has now announced it will discharge the wastewater from its nuclear plant into the sea, despite international opposition from its neighbouring countries. I have copied and pasted two articles below.




Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said on Tuesday that his government has decided to discharge contaminated radioactive wastewater in Fukushima Prefecture into the sea amid domestic and international opposition.

Suga made the announcement after convening a meeting of relevant ministers to formalize plans to release the radioactive water accumulated at the plant into the Pacific Ocean.

The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant has been generating massive amount of radiation-tainted water since the accident triggered by the massive 2011 earthquake and tsunami as it needs water to cool the reactors.

The plant's operator Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. said it will take around two years for the release to start.

The water, according to reports, has been treated using an advanced liquid processing system (ALPS) to remove most contaminants. However, things like tritium, a radioactive byproduct of nuclear reactors, are hard to filter out.

The decision comes about three months ahead of the postponed Tokyo Olympic Games, with some events to be held at venues as close as 60 kilometers from the wrecked plant, which has been struggling to store 1.25 million tonnes of contaminated water. The space of the containing tanks is expected to reach capacity next year.

Japan had considered evaporating or storing underground tritium-laced water from the plant as an alternative. However, from the perspective of cost and technical feasibility, the Japanese government decided to dilute the contaminated water and discharge it into the sea.

The plan not only faces strong opposition from the Japanese fishery industry and the public, but also raises concerns and doubts from neighboring countries about possible negative impact on people's health and fishery businesses.

South Korea on Monday voiced "grave concerns," with foreign ministry spokesman Choi Young-sam saying, "It will be difficult to accept if the Japanese side decides to release the contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant without sufficient consultations."




China expresses concerns over Japan's plan to dump nuclear wastewater

China has expressed serious concern over Japan's plan to discharge contaminated radioactive wastewater from Fukushima Prefecture into the sea, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Tuesday.

Earlier in the day, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga announced the decision to discharge the wastewater.

The chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) responded to the plan by calling for efforts to forestall further harm to environmental protection, food safety and human health.

IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi made the remarks on Monday while talking about Japan's decision on the treated water with Wang Qun, Chinese envoy to the United Nations and other international organizations in Vienna.

Grossi said the IAEA had taken note of the concerns of relevant parties within the board with mounting global attention to this matter, and the agency will actively advance its work on the assessment and monitoring activities in an impartial, objective and scientific manner.

Expressing China's support for the IAEA in playing a vital role in the assessment and monitoring work, Wang said it is legitimate for China as a neighboring country, along with all other stakeholder countries, to be involved in the agency's work on this front.

ROK expresses 'strong regret'

Right after Suga's announcement, the government of the Republic of Korea (ROK) expressed "strong regret" over Tokyo's decision.

Koo Yoon-cheol, head of ROK's Office for Government Policy Coordination, said that the government will take every necessary measure in line with the principle of keeping its people safe from the contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear plant.

U.S. calls it an 'acceptable approach'

"We look forward to the Japan's continued coordination and communication as it monitors the effectiveness of this approach," said the U.S. State Department in a statement on Tuesday.

In the statement, the department stressed Japan has weighed the options and effects and has been transparent about its decision. The government "appears" to have adopted an approach in accordance with globally accepted nuclear safety standards, it added.

 

Getting an electric car I can confirm is great for the environment.

Ordered an Electric Mini Cooper in April, my Diesel car was sold on June 11th as Mini was due on June 30th. Mini arrives now on 13th September.

So I can confirm that it will be 3 months that I will have not used any fuel whatsoever. How green am I

 

Let me start by saying that this isn’t an attack on anyone, just an observation.

Electric cars are a better option, but has anyone sat down and worked out an infrastructure for charging points throughout the countries?
People with drives can, presumably, charge up at home at advantageous times of the day to get the lowest cost tariff.
But what about those without drives, people living in apartment blocks, with no access to off-road parking and charging points?
They, presumably, will have to use the electric equivalent to a petrol station, paying a higher rate to charge their vehicles.
As good as electric cars might be for the climate, the less well off will be paying more than the better off, which just about sums up how society is today.

 

I get what you are saying.

However, the way I see it is that the first EV owners are paying more for the cars to make it more main stream, so by the time the Govt have sorted charging in the street etc, the initial ownership will be less thus bringing it more to an even keel. I hope.

 

We are working on getting public charging points in our Village Hall car park. The hall has solar panels so presumably with an inverter we could charge cars off grid for free. It shouldn’t take much imagination to get this sort of thing happening all over the country. Solar panels are dirt cheap nowadays and sunshine is free.

You do raise a valid point though. I would much rather concentrate on getting public transport sorted out so that everyone has access to the bus/rail network at affordable prices. Most people will never be able to afford electric cars, and there is still a huge question mark over battery technology and the impact that has on the environment.

 

Off to the “Fully Charged - Outside” exhibition at Farnborough today. Very interesting. I’ve got a 3 day ticket, so I came back a bit early today to avoid the worst of the traffic. Some fascinating presentations, good chance to look around actual cars (surprised that Skoda, Jag and BMW/Audi aren’t there) and a whole load of other EVs (bikes, scooters, motorbikes, classic conversions, etc) green energy tips and the like. I really like the look of the new Kia EV6 and the Nissan Ariya. Hope to test drive them later in the year

 

Funny, I was watching a youtube video from the show earlier, and they showed a Jag I-pace and a couple of Audi in the video, it was inside, so you may have missed something - I also like the look of the Kia and the Nissan Ariya, but I don't have new car money, so please buy one to help grow the pool of 2nd hand cars

 

There’s a company which rents the iPace and the Audis. They have vehicles there, so it may have been those. I didn’t see any cars inside, but I’ll have another look tomorrow.
I won’t be buying anything for at least 12 months I reckon - but there are already a few secondhand models, but, interestingly enough, they seem to hold their value a bit more than internal combustion engined models.

 

I was looking at leasing or buying a second hand EV. Still too pricy for me, but there is a huge choice out there now. There was a nice Tesla Model X, 3 years old, which was up for leasing at £1800 pcm…

 

Mrs Jab was thinking about an ebike. Just as well she didn't get my not having to peddle it all over town quip.

 

I have an ebike. It’s great, because although you’re still peddling, the motor kicks in up hills and gives you help. So, instead of me getting to the bottom of a hill and saying “**** it, I’ll get off”, you actually keep peddling and get up it. I’m sure top bikers like Fats would sneer, but I do think it’s helped me get a tiny bit fitter …..

 

I paid £7k for a 4.5 year old Zoe earlier this year. Only between 75 and 110 mile range, but was a relatively cheap step into ev ownership.
I do a 50 mile round trip into work and back and manage OK as long as I plan my journeys.
It is a second car though, as I'd want something with at least double that range if it was my only car that I had access to. My wife has a little diesel that we use for longer trips, and we'll be keeping that arrangement until I can afford a more up to date one

 

In my time away from here I am now green. Took delivery of this a month ago (after buying it 5 months previously…..)

would never go back to fossil fuel

 

I'm going to be doing this soon, probably early next year
I am doing more work visits that are just under or over 1 mile, under and I walk, over and I can't justify 50 minutes to get there and back on foot so I have to drive
An e-bike would get me around as quick as a car and offers opportunities to get around jams

Beyond that I would be able to do some visits that take me just out of town where there is a cycle lane

I can't get an e-car as I'm in a terrace and I couldn't charge it at home
I'm wating for the lampost charging tech, I wonder how far off that is???

 

Good for the greenies
https://www.theguardian.com/environ...ttom-trawling-marine-management-organisation?

 

Greta Thunberg talks to the crowd at Glastonbury. More of a climate activist but an environmentalist non the less.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-61938933

"But she ended on a message of hope, telling festival-goers they had the power to make a difference."

"Her appearance was warmly received by the crowd, who joined her in a chant of "climate justice" at the end of her speech."

The audience (mostly youngsters who are deeply concerned about their future and the planet ,and not slow to blame the previous generations for just about everything) clapped and cheered as they threw their rubbish down for someone else to clean up.

please log in to view this image

 

Makes me laugh that 000s of vegans give up their principals once a year for a festival on a working dairy farm.
I guess the same applies to environmentalists.

 

The metadata for that photo, which wasn't in the BBC article or of Glastonbury, it was inserted along with the final paragraph re clearing up to make it appear so.