Thar She Blows!

[CLICK IMAGE FOR FULL SIZE]

RSOE REPORT | MAP|Volcano List

About the Chi-lung Port there (black square on the map).

About the nuke plants:

Chin Shan NPP – built in 1978

Kuosheng NPP – it’s a Mark III – what could go wrong?  Bonus:accident simulation paper

Lungmen NPP – a GE-Toshiba-Hitachi brainchild

Mining Awareness says it’s a 7.2M!

Taiwan Reports 7.2 M Offshore Earthquake; An Exceptionally Bad Location for Nuclear Power Stations Due to Earthquake-Tsunami Hazard

South China Morning Post – 7.2-magnitude earthquake shakes parts of Taiwan, including Taipei

Focus Taiwan– Magnitude 7.2 earthquake strongest since 1999 killer quake: CWB

Meanwhile in Japan …

Hope we don’t have more updates here!

See May 27 post –7.2 Quake South Sandwich Is. + 6.6 Quake in Fiji (after the 6.4 Quake) + 4.5 Quake Off N. Calif.

Another view:

Below, Dr Box explains the multiple pathways to increased Ice Sheet loss.

This weekend’s record flooding in Germany was a reminder of one of the most basic, first-order-physics predictions of climate science – warmer air holds more moisture.
The pattern of increase in record breaking precipitation events is well documented and global, as my friend Stephan Rahmstorf reminded me this morning with a graph from a recent study of similar events.

Potsdam University:

Heavy rainfall events setting ever new records have been increasing strikingly in the past thirty years. While before 1980, multi-decadal fluctuations in extreme rainfall events are explained by natural variability, a team of scientists of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research detected a clear upward trend in the past few decades towards more unprecedented daily rainfall events. They find the worldwide increase to be consistent with rising global temperatures which are caused by greenhouse-gas emissions from burning fossil fuels. Short-term torrential rains can lead to high-impact floodings.

Extreme…

Science and Technology:

¶ The currents of the Bay of Fundy would easily generate enough power for all of Atlantic Canada’s needs, but have been too monstrously strong to be tamed. Now, Cape Sharp Tidal is betting on two turbines it will start installing in June. Each 2-MW turbine weighs 1,000 tonnes. [Globalnews.ca]

A turbine being built for the Cape Sharp Tidal project. Andrew Vaughan / The Canadian Press.

¶ UK-based company Renovare Fuels Limited has co-invented technology which can convert landfill gas into high-quality clean energy in the form of liquid diesel and gasoline fuel suitable for all motor vehicles. This would allow landfill operators to sell the fuel for vehicles. [Renewable Energy Focus]

World:

¶ Battery storage technology has the potential to reshape not just the energy sector but also Australian elections. An Australia Institute report includes polling indicating that 71% of Australians would…

May 2016 – AFRICA – At least 28 people were injured; including three who were left in a serious condition following a 5.3 magnitude earthquake that hit Algeria’s province of Medea on Sunday. Algeria’s press agency said the three suffered from fractures of the lower limbs and were evacuated to Mohamed Boudiaf hospital in Medea.

The quake, which occurred some minutes before 1 am, was located 10 km northeast of Mihoub, said the same source. The US Geological Survey’s National Earthquake Information Center said the epicenter was located 19 kilometers southwest of the city of Lakhdaria, and 56 kilometers southeast of the Algerian capital, Algiers. The center lies at a depth of 7.5 miles.

The Mediterranean region, to which Algeria belongs, has been seismically active for decades, with a number of earthquakes having resulted in tsunamis. The North African nation experienced one of its deadliest earthquake in 2003 that struck…

May 2016– NEW ZEALAND – There is only a very small chance the volcano that is now Lake Taupo will erupt, but researchers are planning for a worst case scenario in case it does. A team of researchers is studying the volcano so better response plans can be put in place in case of a large eruption. The Earthquake Commission said damage from the last time the volcano erupted – almost 1800 years ago – would be large enough to destroy the central North Island.

The commission is funding research that will map out where ash and debris would travel in an eruption. The research is led by Simon Barker from Auckland University. He said it will help emergency services in a worst case scenario, although the chances of a large eruption are very slight. “We want to see what the thickness of ash will be in the various…

“Australian and British veterans who were exposed to nuclear blasts are not eligible for the kind of gold card support that we have been debating in the Senate this morning, because their exposure was at the hands of an ally. Had they been bombed by imperial Japan or Nazi Germany, they would, as a right, be entitled to this support. They were bombed by the British government at the express invitation of the Australian government, and then we have hung them out to dry.” (Sen. Ludlam, W. Australia, 25 Feb. 2016) 

“Australian servicemen, often clad only in shorts and t-shirts, were exposed to nuclear tests while the British scientists in charge looked on wearing protective full body suits.” (Australian Greens)

“QUICK FACTS: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
* 1892 veterans were exposed to radiation by British Nuclear Testing between 1952 and 1963, but…

A friend has received this.  Really.

Slow day in Nigeria?

Washington Post:

So why don’t Internet scammers try to change up their tactics? Everyone knows about the Nigerian prince. It’s tired and cliched. Why don’t more scammers try to dupe us with the fake inheritances of a Kazakh prince instead, or with Greek bonds or fancy credit default swaps or something clever like that? Something we haven’t seen before?

Damn this is getting good.

Climate Science Watch:

Briefly, on how this case got started, from a post at Climate Progress:

The kick-off for the lawsuit was actually a piece written by Rand Simberg at the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), which referred to Mann as “the Jerry Sandusky of climate science” because he “molested and tortured data in the service of politicized science.” The editors eventually removed the offending sentences, but not before Mark Steyn picked them up at National Review’s online blog. Steyn said he wasn’t sure he’d have “extended that metaphor all the way into the locker-room showers with quite the zeal Mr Simberg does, but he has a point.” He then went on to call Mann’s work on the famous “hockey stick” graph “fraudulent.” So Mann sued Simberg, Steyn, CEI and National Review for defamation.

Also see Rabett Run: Mann vs Steyn Lurches Forward.
–

Accusing a scientist of…

Caution – Earthquake in Progress.

The Energy Gang on Soundcloud:

Nevada Power is likely doing a lot of soul searching.

Last week, two of the biggest Las Vegas casino companies — MGM Resorts and Wynn – filed to leave Nevada Power and set off to buy wholesale electricity on their own. MGM has particularly strong renewable energy goals, and this move signals that the company thinks it can procure clean electrons cheaper than the utility.

As more large corporations make similar moves, will it lead to a financial disaster for utilities? This week, we’ll discuss the implications with Cory Honeyman, the associate director of GTM’s US solar research practice, who has been following the commercial customer class closely.

A big deal, as the discussion points out – this is a big deal because MGM alone accounts for 5 percent of Nevada Power demand – and MGM was willing to pay…

A development that might have seemed like science fiction just a few years ago is rapidly entering mainstream thinking.

Of course, if the Financial Times had been reading this blog, they might have been quicker off the mark.

Financial Times:

The annual meetings of some of the world’s largest oil companies this week were like therapy sessions for an industry that is suffering from existential angst. The international objective of holding the increase in global temperatures to “well below” 2C, agreed at the Paris climate talks last year, implies the obsolescence of all fossil fuel production within the next few decades. The oil companies have not yet reconciled themselves to quite what this means.

One option for escaping those limits is for the big oil companies themselves to take part in the energy transition. Total, which has the most ambitious plans for diversification, has set a goal of having

SA Royal Commission into Nuclear Expansion http://www.foe.org.au/royal-commission

This webpage will track the progress of the South Australian Royal Commission, established by the South Australian government in February 2015 to examine options to expand the state’s involvement in the nuclear fuel cycle.

Quick links:

Turnbull’s #Innovation and #IdeasBoom is to flog fossil fuels. KaBOOM! Independent Australia Tracey Anton 28 May 2016 “………In an article in Crikey by Paddy Manning, entitled ‘Hunt pins hopes on uncompetitive clean coal technology’, Manning writes:

‘John White chairs the DICE network of companies and agencies developing the technology, and is an executive and founding shareholder of Ignite Energy Resources,(IER)’ 

White told Manning:

‘..It halves CO2 emissions and will be eligible for Emissions Reduction Funding under Direct Action policies.’

Not only was White in financial trouble prior to receiving over $20 million in “grants” for the DICE project but he had also incurred a loss of $6 million in the 2012 calendar year.

White is an old Liberal heavyweight who was former Prime Minister John Howard’s right hand man in developing the Uranium Industry Framework for Australia’s nuclear future and just happens to hold dominion over…

Australia covered up UN climate change fears for Tasmania forests and Kakadu
Fears about damage to the Great Barrier Reef were removed from UN report along with concern about a threat to the environment in two other heritage sites, Guardian, Michael Slezak, 29 May 16, A draft UN report on climate change, which was scrubbed of all reference to Australia over fears it could deter visitors to the Great Barrier Reef, also outlined possible threats to the Tasmania wilderness and Kakadu.

The draft report contained a chapter on the Great Barrier Reef, which described climate change as “the biggest long-term threat to the [reef] today, and to its ecosystems services, biodiversity, heritage values and tourism economy”.

It concluded that “without a comprehensive response more in keeping with the scale of the threat, the [reef]’s extraordinary biodiversity and natural beauty may lose its world heritage values”.

But before it was…

Opinion:

¶ “State Senate energy bills threaten many, starting with solar workers” • If you like clean energy, you won’t like the two energy bills the Michigan Senate Energy & Technology Committee sent to the floor last Wednesday, especially if you want your own solar energy. [Crain’s Detroit Business]

Power plant at Michigan State University. Photo by Michael P
Kube-McDowell. CC BY-SA 3.0 unported. Wikimedia Commons.

World:

¶ Saudi Arabia’s planned privatizations represent the biggest investment banking opportunity in emerging markets, according to Citigroup. The shakeup of the biggest Arab economy has been unprecedented, as the country seeks to reduce its reliance on oil after prices went low in 2014. [Bloomberg]

¶ The Dlouhe Strane pumped storage plant in the Czech Republic was built to balance electricity demands between day and night, but as renewable sources of energy have taken an increasing share of electricity…

A Scientist contact in Europe sends these.

Looks more like a tsunami than a typical flood.

Parties yet to turn on the green light http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/parties-yet-to-turn-on-the-green-light/news-story/33847ddc845b64eaffc5a62566d89188  May 28, 2016  One of the key issues missing from the election campaign so far is the environment.

The economy, health and education have been the focus of the first three weeks of the campaign.

However, the environment has proven to be a well-trodden battleground in federal elections over the past two decades.

Tony Abbott’s crusade against Labor’s carbon tax helped propel him into office in 2013, despite Kevin Rudd’s best efforts to bring forward the start of the emissions trading scheme.

In 2010, both major parties made announcements on climate change, the health of the Murray-Darling system, marine parks, Queensland’s controversial wild rivers laws and forestry.

In 2007, Rudd’s promise to ratify the Kyoto protocol and take strong action on climate change helped convince thousands of voters to unseat the Howard coalition government.

John Howard himself kicked around…

Economics Point Toward Closure for Up To 20 U.S. Nukes, The Energy Mix, May 24, 2016 A leading nuclear industry lobby group in the United States says its members aren’t being paid enough for their power, threatening the shutdown of 15 to 20 generating stations in the country………

Speaking at a U.S. Department of Energy summit last week, Marvin Fertel, president and CEO of the Nuclear Energy Institute, said more than a dozen plants face possible early closure because they are uneconomic at today’s market wholesale power rates……..

Turnbull’s #Innovation and #IdeasBoom is to flog fossil fuels. KaBOOM! Independent Australia Tracey Anton 28 May 2016 Transitioning the economy away from fossil fuel dependency is now the global catchcry. So why is Turnbull funding DICE-y coal technology at the expense of renewables whilst claiming to mitigate climate change? Mining reformist, Tracey Anton reports.

CLIMATE CHANGE has quickly become an economic and energy policy nightmare for Government but what Turnbull is presenting to the public is based on deceit. The LNP’s mishmash of policy contradiction and current economic mismanagement of fossil fuel extraction is to defraud the public of billions of dollars.

Turnbull states:

“we transition from an economy that has been fired up by an unprecedented mining construction boom as we transition to the new economy of the 21st century.”

The great disparity between saying you will reduce emissions but then stealthily grow a new and bigger fossil fuel…

ICE MELT CONTROLS WORLD WEATHER Radio Ecoshock 29 May 16  More on super storms, ice melt & James Hansen, from climate expert Dr. David Archer & the late anti-nuclear activist Michael Mariotte. New Antarctic melt science w. Dr. Tony Worby & Dr. David Etheridge – some surprises in role of Antarctic ice in world weather.

Local jobs out of Hydro Tasmania project in Coober Pedy http://www.examiner.com.au/story/3934449/local-jobs-out-of-hydro-project/   Toli Papadopoulos 29 May 16. 

 A new project will inject millions into the Tasmanian economy and create local jobs, according to Hydro Tasmania CEO Steve Davy.

Mr Davy said the new project will use local manufacturing suppliers, and aims to turn South Australia’s Coober Pedy into a renewable township.

Hydro Tasmania’s manager off-grid solutions Simon Gamble said a number of Tasmanian companies would be involved in the project, including Doric engineering and Southern Prospect out in Wynyard.

He said the containerised systems and electrical equipment would be designed and tested in Tasmania.

Hydro said it was engaged by project developer Energy Developments Limited to develop technologies previously used in King Island.

They said Energy Developments Limited received a grant of $18.4 million by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency for the project.

“This is second project using this containerised modular system, the first was Flinders Island, but this one is by far the largest project we’ve…

US Congressman Jim McGovern recently got an amendment through the House which would create an “Atomic Veterans Service Medal”, but it seems to still exclude those involved in removing radiation testing filters from surveillance aircraft; mechanics; and most cleanup crews. Congressman Takai is trying to get health-care parity for Enewetak Atoll cleanup crews. Why this piecemeal approach? The law in place gives the run-around to many Atomic Veterans who have the “wrong” type of cancer or disease. Ionizing radiation has been long known to cause skin cancer. And, yet it is not on the list of the “right” cancers. It is increasingly realized, including by the ICRP, that radiation exposure can cause heart disease too. Why give elderly veterans the bureaucratic run-around? Apart from ethical considerations, bureaucratic run-around itself costs money. Give them blanket coverage.

The US Government must stop throwing away billions per year as hand-outs to the nuclear…

Join Us in Keswick – on Tuesday 31st May 2-4 outside the Skiddaw Hotel

Lets Expose the Sham CONsultation

Ruskin, Beatrix Potter and Wordsworth are Lake District icons.   Not one of these icons would have separated the West Coast of Cumbria from the Lake District as we have been taught to do in the nuclear age.  Why?  The Lake District spread across the boundaries of three counties: Cumberland, Westmorland and Lancashire.  The Lake District National Park is an artificial construct which does itself or us no favours in its readiness to publicly disown West Cumbria rather than publicly oppose the diabolic nuclear developments in the Lake Counties.  This is what they said in 2012 about the plan for a geological dump for heat generating nuclear waste …..”It remains a concern that significant media interest highlights the potential location of the geological disposal facility in the ‘Lake District’ rather than ‘West Cumbria.”

The Lake District…

Bloomberg:

For a snapshot of the woes of the U.S coal and nuclear industries, take a look at Illinois.

Following a four-year drop in electricity demand, power companies there announced the closing of coal and nuclear plants that account for more than 10 percent of generating capacity. The shutdowns come amid a fourfold increase in cheap wind from neighboring states and growing competition from generators burning low-cost natural gas.

Exelon Corp., the operator of 11 nuclear reactors in Illinois, and Dynegy Inc., which has 10 coal-fired plants in the state, are asking lawmakers to bail out their money-losing assets to prevent further job-cutting, closures and, in Exelon’s case, preserve carbon-free electricity production.

“You’ve got free wind power coming from the west and cheap gas coming from the east and that’s not a good place to be for coal and nuclear power plants,” said Travis Miller, a utility analyst for Morningstar Inc., an investment…

Bob Inglis is a heck of a nice guy, and I’ve interviewed him at least once. The former Congressman was defeated in his conservative district when his children awakened him to what science is telling us. He remains a Republican, but is working to find conservative solutions to climate change.

But what I really keep thinking I’d like to ask him, is – what do you think your grandchildren will make of today’s Republican climate denial?

As the Southwest continues in historic drought, Hoover Dam’s reservoir, Lake Mead, is at historic low water levels. What are the ramifications?

NASA Earth Observatory:

The last time Lake Mead was this low—in 1937—water managers were still filling the reservoir and putting finishing touches on the Hoover Dam. According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, the water level has now reached a record low for the second year in a row.

On May 25, 2016, the surface level of Lake Mead at the Hoover Dam stood at 1,074.03 feet (327.36 meters) above sea level. The previous low of 1,075.08 feet (327.68 meters) was set in late June 2015. The lowest water levels each year are usually reached in late June or July, after water managers have released the yearly allotment of water for farmers and cities farther down the Colorado River watershed. That means water levels are likely…

Today some headlines are telling. Well known crimes and self-serving unethical actions by Bill and Hillary Clinton have been ignored until now.

Here are a few stories trending now – – –

The National Review –
The Clintons: New York’s Sixth Crime Family

“While Hillary was at State, Bill was a speech-making machine. He charged up to $750,000 per appearance, often paid by Ericsson, TD Bank, the United Arab Emirates, and other entities with business before the State Department.”

Clinton pal, The New York Times gently scolds:
Hillary Clinton Struggles to Find Footing in Unusual Race

” . . . anxiety is spreading through the Democratic Party that Mrs. Clinton is struggling to find her footing.”

The Chicago Tribune opines:
Clinton’s style of deception more insidious than Trump’s

“The State Department’s inspector general just released a report concluding that Hillary Clinton is a breathtakingly brazen and consistent liar.”

NY Post

Trump flack predictable ignoramus.  Has memorized talking points.

Above, in a recent interview for a Northern Michigan TV station, I described where I thought Exxon-Mobil was following revelations, that continue, about their awareness of climate science realities even in the 1970s, and before.
Recent developments show that I was pretty much spot on.  I take ClimateCrocks on the road frequently, in places as far away as Denver, San Francisco, and Reykjavik – so supporting with donations here helps put boots on the ground, as it were, as well as videos on the web.

NPR:

Shareholders of Exxon Mobil and Chevron have voted to reject a series of resolutions aimed at encouraging the companies to take stronger actions to battle climate change.

But Exxon Mobil shareholders voted in favor of a rule that could make it easier for minority shareholders to nominate outsiders to the company’s board, a potential victory for environmentalists.

Activist shareholders at both companies had placed…

Business Insider:

A small Denver, Colorado, manufacturer has rolled out the first prototype of a new all-electric aircraft, suggesting that the same revolution currently sweeping through the auto industry may soon become airborne.

The Sun Flyer, the brainchild of engineer and pilot George Bye and his Aero Electric Aircraft Corp. (AEAC), is designed to be the perfect training aircraft with three hours of endurance and a 30-minute recharging time.

The change could very soon have profound effects on general aviation — a term for the world of private and non-airline aviation — and, one day, proper airlines.

Energy costs for an hour of flight training could be as little as $1, while maintenance costs on an engine with a single moving part could be significantly lower, Bye told Business Insider.

The aircraft has yet to be certified by the Federal Aviation Administration, a long, exhaustive process that Bye believes will be completed within three years.

He also estimates that the final unit cost will…

Participant Media is a Gore project, I  believe.

Obama calls for end to nuclear weapons, but U.S. disarmament is slowest since 1980 https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/05/27/obama-calls-for-end-to-nuclear-weapons-but-u-s-disarmament-is-slowest-since-1980/ By Philip Bump  Speaking from Hiroshima, the site of the first war-time atomic weapon detonation, President Obama on Friday called for the pursuit of “a world without nuclear weapons.”

Nuclear America: RT special report on state of US nuclear facilities 27 May, 2016 Over the past 18 months, a number of nuclear facilities across the country have experienced problems. From the Hanford Site in Washington state to Indian Point in New York, RT America takes a close look at the disastrous conditions at US nuclear sites.

Nuclear America: Special Report

Wind farm at Mount Emerald, near Cairns, set to create 150 jobs  http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/wind-farm-at-mount-emerald-near-cairns-set-to-create-150-jobs/news-story/6ddd2419660c8f1666822dfde3024a8f May 27, 2016  A WIND farm to be built in far north Queensland will generate enough renewable energy to power a regional city. Ergon Energy and proponents Ratch Australia and Port Bajool on Friday signed a power purchase agreement to build the 170 megawatt Mount Emerald Wind Farm, near Cairns.

About $400 million in total expenditure is projected during the project’s two-year construction phase and 25-year operational period.

The project is also expected to boost the region’s economy by $900 million through direct and indirect flow-on impacts.

Energy Minister Mark Bailey said the project would mean the state’s wind energy production, which sat at 12 megawatts, would be increased by 15 times.

The Manhattan Project Myth http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2016-05-27/nuclear-myths-began-when-the-us-dropped-the-atomic-bombs-on-japan

America’s use of the atomic bomb started the dangerous narrative that nuclear weapons keep us safe.

Above, chart shows how leading traditional importers of LNG (which most of my readers know means Liquified Natural Gas) have cut usage so much as to become net exporters.(more details below)

The current oil glut has turned thinking upside down on the idea of how the Oil age comes to an end. Classically, we’ve always supposed that at some future time we run out of oil and gas, and they become so expensive so as to be prohibitive. (archetypical Mad Max scenario)

But as I’ve discussed here before, instead, the abundance of oil being produced, leading to a glut and collapse of prices, and flameout of plans to expand drilling to ever more exotic resources,  may actually be what ushers rock oil the way of whale oil.

Could something like that happen to LNG?

And if it did, would Donald Trump ever know?

VOX:

Robert Murray is…