Syngas and Char

I found a paper by The Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering on Biofuels in Australia. In it they classify biofuels into generation 1 and Gen 2 fuels. They are more categorisd by the processes used to make the Fuels and their source materials. Basicly if you using the sugars or the oil produced by food crops to produce fuel these are the Gen 1 Biofuels. Gen 2 Biofuels come from low value, Plentiful and currently mostly unutilised sources like Cellulose.

Generation Resources Status
1 Sugarcane and cereal crops Mature worldwide
2 Bioethanol – lignocellulosic wastes; Early stage worldwide
Biodiesel – algaes, FT
Synthetic diesel, methanol and DME
3 Biorefineries Still in conceptual stages


They also talk about, what in Australia is called Biochar.

Pyrolysis has been used for centuries. Wood and other carbon products, including sewage, are heated in the absence of oxygen to 475°C to 500°C. Applying ‘slow pyrolysis’ about one third of the feedstock weight is released as water (or steam), one third converts to char and one third to a fuel gas which can be further processed to a liquid fuel using, for example, the Fischer-Tropsch process, or burned to generate electricity.

Lehmann, Gaunt & Rondon (2006) report that minor process modifications can alter product compositions and can convert between 40 and 50 per cent of feedstock carbon conversion to char. Although char can itself then be burned for heating, as outlined by Marris (2006), Amazonian Indians for thousands of years have known that char burial leads to substantial crop improvement. Recent testing by the NSW Department of Primary Industries shows that as well as improving yields up to 200 per cent, char also reduces agricultural nitrous oxide emissions, possibly more so than achieved by replacing mineral oils with biofuels. This benefit adds to more obvious GHG reduction by carbon sequestration, e.g. burying carbon. Amazonian soil tests show that carbon remains in the soil for centuries, making it more effective than tree sequestration and competitive with geosequestration on a long time scale.

Over 1100°C gasification occurs. In combination with the Fischer-Tropsch process it is thus possible to produce diesel fuel from coal (Worldwatch Institute 2007). Currently this combination at large scale is uneconomic for biomass. Gas cleaning of tars and fine particles is problematic. Stucley et al. (2004) illustrates differing sized gasification plants costs. He notes that if sited close to gas use, and with carbon tax and dry land salinity reduction payments introduced, the process may be economic depending on the size of the subsidies. Small biomass plants, suitable for large towns, are also economic without subsidy whereas scale economies require coal-fired power stations to be far larger. At still higher temperatures (5500°C or more) plasma is formed56 and virtually the entire resource transformed into fuel gas. An advantage is that any bacteria or viral contamination (e.g. sewage or hospital waste) is rendered inactive. Small scale prototypes have proven cost-competitive with conventional fuels operating at this temperature.

‘Fast’ or ‘flash’ pyrolysis has been under active development for the past 25 years. In this process up to 75 per cent of the biomass may be transformed into a liquid, having approximately 60 per cent the energy content of petroleum diesel on a volume-for-volume basis. This bio-oil can be used in various applications, such as for food flavouring but needs to be upgraded for use as a transport biofuel because of its high phenol content. It has been trialled for stationary energy applications and is being researched internationally as a transportation fuel. The Canadian company Dynamotive has built commercial plants up to 200 tonnes per day of biomass and has successfully run a 2.5 MW combustion turbine on this fuel.

They then go on to talk about Syngas. Saying that it is more energy efficient to use the gas in a similar way to LPG.

Biomass (trees, weeds, shrubs, or almost any other carbon source including sewage) can be converted efficiently into fuel gas (syngas) comprising hydrogen, methane (natural gas) and carbon monoxide using elevated temperature (>700°C) chemical processes. This distinguishes it from biological processes such as anaerobic digestion which produces biogas. Syngas can be used in standard internal combustion engines with only minor modifications and much more efficiently than direct combustion of the original fuel. Although syngas can be further converted into a liquid fuel using the Fischer-Tropsch process, it is more energy efficient to compress it for vehicle use, as with LPG and CNG. Technology already exists for operating large trucks on a combination of gas and liquid fuels or even entirely on LPG. Gas fuels have less adverse effect on air quality because they burn more cleanly than liquid fuels with lower toxic emissions (Beer et al. 2001) and less impact on human health.

Check it out is a good report.

Cheers L.

Solar Air-Conditioning

"During the day, we use the heat from the sun to drive a chemical reaction which separates a chemical refrigerant from a chemical absorbent. And then at night, the reaction runs in reverse," said Jinny Rhee, the engineering professor in charge of the project. "When the refrigerant gets reabsorbed, it gets very, very cold."
From Wired Science.

I see a different application for this though. Solar Air-conditioning. Cheep or free cooling from the sun. This would be a boon for the tropical areas such as Townsville.

Generate refrigerant during the day, Cool Water at Night, Use the water the next day to cool the home.

Interesting Idea, and could save a lot of energy.

Cheers L.

Boyer Lecturer

This series of lectures has been going for 50 years. This year the speaker is Rupert Murdoch. It is definitely interesting.

Quick Update

I know I haven't posted in a while. It's been a Little Hectic here. But there is some definite Good news. Bear our poor little puppy has been all fixed up His little back leg has healed and he's running around the back yard bringing destruction to all potplants. He does still have one problem though. His ankle joint seems to have sustained some damage in the fall as well. He can now over rotate his ankle joint, which he should not be able to do. The vets think that he has damaged a tendon in there and it might need another round of surgery. The bonus is that the vets cannot do this surgery we would need to book Bear in with a specialist when he is in Town. This surgery would make the repair of the broken leg look like a nice cheep surgery due to the involvement of the specialist. Oh well, we will have to see how this develops.

Paddling has been going well. We have finished our regatta season and have started Training Corporate crews for our Corporate regatta that is on the 19th of October. Not to far away now.

Min is getting right into training for nationals states and other races for her rowing. Now is the time when the Seniors start training for regattas. Seniors is actually the younger crowd. Masters is anyone over 25 and seniors is between schools rowing and masters. Min went away with Masters earlier in the year and is now training to go away with the seniors team.

My plants aare going well. I will post a photo of my Wollami pine soon I also have some tree removal to do. Bernie has seen this and even Helped out ALOT while he was here. The wattle trees that I planted when I first bought the house are dying and it's time they came out. I have bought a number of trees to replace them but it will bring a definate change to the look and feel of the yard. Oh well now I just need to hire a mulcher and start chopping.

Min and I will be in Sdney for this comming weekend for a 30th birthday party. Unfortunately it's a bit of a flying visit and I will not have time to visit family much. It's really a bugger as i will be so close but I will talk to people tonight and see who I can see.

Love to all and I will write again soon.

L.

Marine Parks

There was recently a call made for a large Marine Park to be established in the coral sea. For Most people this will change nothing to very little. It just allows there to be a structure around the use of the area and some rules so you do not end up with a 'Tragedy of the Commons' situation. The problem is that there is always some one who will be disadvantaged, or at least think that they will be, by a situation where there are to be rules on the use of an area. Mostly these are the people who are abusing the situation as it stands but not always. This call for a Marine Park in no way demonised fishing or the fishing industry. It is just a call for some management of the area. Even if the fisheries in the coral sea are currently sustainable reason and logic dictate that without management they will become unsustainable in the future.

The thing I find interesting is that the Media gives the voice of Scientists who have spent years studying the ecology of Coral reefs and are world experts in the field is given equal weight to a Fisherman who spends some of his time out in the coral sea and is an expert on how to catch fish.

If you want to catch fish don't talk to a scientist ask a fisherman. In fact that is just what scientist have done in the past. When studying the Effects of Commercial Fishing scientist asked fishermen how best to catch fish. Scientists realise that there field of expertise is in the ecology of the reef not the best way to catch fish.

Unfortunately media in particular don't seem to realise that fishermen are not experts in the field of coral reef ecology. Coral Reef scientists such as the ones calling for the marine Park, are however experts in coral reef ecology. They are seeking to give the reefs enough protection so that the reefs can continue to be used into the future. They are not seeking to end all use of the Coral Sea. They are calling for a marine park much like the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, with protected areas and multi-use zones. To often people think that management means that the entire area will be cut off, No access allowed. This hasn't been the case for a long time. The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park was brought in in the 1970's and even back then it was a multi zonal system that allowed for the current and future uses.

The Amount of fishing pressure may have to be reduced. As with any unmanaged commons the amount of use tends to increase due to the logical choice of the individuals that use the commons (I will be posting soon about the 'Tragedy of the Commons' and how it works). So without management the area will be under too much pressure and the common resource, in this case the Coral Sea Fisheries, will collapse. This will adversely affect some individuals and they should be compensated. The fact that some people will be adversely affected shouldn't mean that the area should not receive protection or management though, unless that is you would like to see the Coral Sea degraded and turned into a marine wasteland.

So I say to the media, lets let people talk on what they know. If your article is about catching fish and how to do it your expert should be a Fisherman. If your article is about Marine Protected Areas and Reef Ecology then you should be talking to Scientists and Marine Park Managers. The reaction of fishermen is a valid part of your article but the fishermen should not be used as an expert in reef ecology and marine parks.

Walk the Walk

I have posted numerous time on this blog about biofuels and the need for us to start using them. I have also stated that it is possible for biofuels especially Biodiesel to be produced from Agricultural wastes. When I have made these statements I have usually linked to the company that is developing the technology, not a company that is actually doing it.

Well I thought it was about time to highlight an actually working example of what I've been talking about. Please read the article below.

Paired processes aim to fuel biodiesel buildup

ChemicalProcessing.com

The first plant to go from biomass to syngas to biodiesel is slated for 2007 startup. Once started up early next year, the unit will feed in 75,000 mt/yr of wood chips and straw to make so-called SunDiesel.

A 15,000-metric-ton/yr demonstration plant now being built by Choren Industries, Freiberg, Germany, will be the first plant to convert biomass into syngas that then will be turned into high-quality diesel fuel. Once started up early next year, the unit will feed in 75,000 mt/yr of wood chips and straw to make so-called SunDiesel.

The fuel can be used without modification in any diesel engine without compromising performance, claims the company. Moreover, says Choren, it is virtually free of sulfur and aromatics, so it burns cleaner without particulate emissions. It can be used on its own or blended with conventional diesel fuel.
Choren has operated a 2,000-mt/yr pilot plant for SunDiesel since October 2003; Shell now holds a greater-than-25% stake in the firm; automakers Volkswagen and DaimlerChrysler also are cooperating in the development.

Choren is teaming its Carbo-V biomass gasification process to convert biomass into synthesis gas with Shell’s latest-generation Fisher-Tropsch gas-to-liquids (GTL) technology, called the Shell Middle Distillate Synthesis (SMDS) process, to turn the syngas into biodiesel. Shell now is operating the first commercial plant using the SMDS technology in Bintulu, Malaysia; output is used in the production of V-Power Diesel, which is already available in Europe and is proving itself in auto racing.

Biomass gasification

Unlike conventional processes for biofuels, which use grain and other food crops as feedstocks, the Carbo-V process starts with agricultural wastes, such as wood chips, rice husks and straw, or trees specifically grown for energy production.

Traditional gasification systems aren’t suitable for making syngas from biomass, says Choren, because their physical design limits operation to around atmospheric pressure and 1,000°C. This leads to significant tar and methane in raw gas, which can pose difficulties in subsequent Fisher-Tropsch processing. Also, the systems cannot cope with varying feedstock sizes and quality, the company contends, and so only can handle restricted ranges of biomass sources.

The Carbo-V process gets around these drawbacks by processing the biomass in three stages: pre-conditioning, partial oxidation and chemical quenching.

First, the biomass feeds are blended and then dried to a water content of 15% by weight. This feedstock goes to a low-temperature gasifier, in which it smolders in a mix of O2, CO2 and steam at 400°C to 500°C and 5 bar. The biomass is broken down into volatile gases and char. The gases pass to a combustion chamber in which tars and long-chain hydrocarbon molecules are decomposed at temperatures above 1,400°C. Meanwhile, the char is ground and milled into a powder that is blown into the hot gases exiting the combustion chamber. This chemical quenching reduces gas temperature to about 900°C and contributes to the process’s high cold gas efficiency of over 80%, says Choren.

The Carbo-V gasifier yields syngas as well as significant amounts of steam and heat, some of which is used to dry the incoming feed. Choren says that overall thermal efficiency exceeds 90%.

Because the syngas may contain traces of sulfur and other contaminants that could poison Fisher-Tropsch catalysts, it is sent through scrubbers before going to the GTL unit.

If all goes well with the demonstration plant, Choren plans to build a full-scale (200,00 mt of SunDiesel per year) plant at Lubmin, Germany, for 2009 start up, followed by similar-sized plants elsewhere in Germany.

The company also is interested in installing plants in China and the U.S.

Dr David Karoly

Below is an Article by David Karoly an Australian professor in Meteorology. It doesn't present any citation like George Monbiot but It is rather convincing.

David Karoly
David Karoly is an ARC Federation Fellow and Professor of Meteorology in the School of Earth Sciences at the University of Melbourne. He was heavily involved in the preparation of the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report, released in 2007. He is a member of the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists.

Climate change science misinformation

Science is about developing an understanding of natural and physical systems and testing that understanding using observations and modelling. Questioning and scepticism are fundamental aspects of science. Scientific theories are accepted understandings that have stood the test of time after extensive critical analysis.

The arena for proposing new scientific ideas and their subsequent testing is through peer-reviewed scientific journals. New science is not based on a single scientific publication, but on the accumulation of evidence from many published studies.

Over the last two decades, there have been thousands of peer-reviewed scientific studies of climate variability and change, leading to understanding of the causes of recent global warming. This understanding is reported in the assessments of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), as well as by other scientific bodies including the US National Academy of Sciences, the British Royal Society, the US Climate Change Science Program, and the Australian Academy of Science.

Over the last decade, they have all reached the same conclusion - the observed increase in global-average surface temperature since the mid-20th century is mainly due to the increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere caused by human activity.

Recently, there has been an increase in opinion pieces in the media questioning the scientific understanding of global warming. This is not reflected in a surge of scientific publications suggesting that increasing greenhouse gases are not the cause of recent global warming. Instead, the vast majority of scientific studies support and strengthen this conclusion.

I do not know the reason for this increase in media coverage of so-called "global warming sceptics", where a common trend is to select a small amount of information to give credit to a misleading conclusion. Whatever the agenda, they have a number of common statements.

The IPCC is a political body and does not provide balanced assessments. This is untrue. While the members of the IPCC are government representatives, its assessment reports are written by hundreds of scientific experts from many fields. These reports are required to be policy-neutral and contain no recommendations. Each report takes more than three years to prepare and goes through multiple stages of independent expert and government review. This is the most thorough review process undertaken for any scientific assessment.

Carbon dioxide is such a minor atmospheric constituent that it can't affect global climate. This is untrue. While carbon dioxide makes up only 0.038% of the atmosphere, it is vital in the energy balance of the Earth's surface and atmosphere. If the atmosphere contained no greenhouse gases, the surface temperature would be about 30C colder.

The most important greenhouse gas is water vapour, but its concentration is determined by the temperature of the atmosphere and not emissions from human activity. Carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere vary due to natural and human sources.

Temperature increases from ice ages to interglacial periods occur before increases in carbon dioxide, so carbon dioxide increases don't cause warming. This is another false conclusion. Temperature increases from ice ages to interglacial warm periods over the last half million years are initiated by variations in the Earth's orbit around the Sun, leading to changes in the amount of sunlight in summer at high latitudes.

These temperature increases are followed by increases in atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide, as the warmer ocean waters lose some dissolved carbon dioxide. However, the warmth of interglacial periods is only possible with the warming influence of the carbon dioxide increases, which amplifies the initial warming.

Increases in carbon dioxide over the last hundred years are due to natural sources This is another untruth. The observed increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is due to burning fossil fuels, industrial activity and land clearing.

Observed changes in the relative abundance of different isotopes of carbon in carbon dioxide and small reductions in the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere are not consistent with natural sources, such as volcanoes or losses from the ocean. Observed carbon dioxide concentrations are now 30% higher than any time over the last half million years.

Global average temperatures have dropped from 2002 to 2008, while carbon dioxide has increased, so carbon dioxide can't cause long-term warming. This is another false conclusion. There are large natural year-to-year variations in climate. The warming influence due to increasing greenhouse gases is at global scales and cumulative over many years.

At short time scales, natural variability can offset that warming influence and cause short-term cooling. Global average temperatures have fallen over the last six years, due to natural variations, with the warmth in 2002 and in 1998 due to El Niño events and the recent La Niña causing colder temperatures in 2007 and 2008. The long-term warming trend is unequivocal.

Climate models are untested and unreliable. This is untrue. Global climate models are important physically-based tools for studying climate variability and change, with more than twenty different models developed independently around the world. They simulate well the magnitude of observed global-scale temperature variations. The long-term warming trend over the 20th century simulated by climate models agrees with that observed only when increasing greenhouse gases are included in the models.

The observed spatial pattern of warming does not show the fingerprint of increasing greenhouse gases. This is not true. The spatial fingerprint of the response to increasing greenhouse gases includes warming at the surface and in the lower atmosphere and cooling in the upper atmosphere, with larger warming at the surface in high latitudes and in the tropics at heights around 10km.

This spatial fingerprint agrees well with the observed pattern of surface temperature changes over the last hundred years and with temperature changes up to heights of 30km over the last four decades, when observational data are available. Any differences between the observed pattern and the greenhouse fingerprint are consistent with natural climate variability.

The best explanation for recent global warming is variations of the sun or cosmic rays. This is untrue. The spatial pattern of responses to increasing solar intensity is warming at the surface and warming in the upper atmosphere, which is not consistent with the observed cooling in the upper atmosphere.

Increasing solar intensity is also not consistent with the observed greater warming in winter and at night, when sunlight is less important. There are no observed increases in solar intensity or in cosmic rays over the last three decades, a period of pronounced global warming. The largest variations of solar intensity and in cosmic rays are associated with the eleven-year solar sunspot cycle. However, global-average temperature shows a long-term trend and no pronounced eleven–year cycle linked to the sunspot cycle.

In summary, let me emphasise that the pattern and magnitude of observed global-scale temperature changes since the mid-20th century cannot be explained by natural climate variability, are consistent with the response to increasing greenhouse gases, and are not consistent with the responses to other factors. Hence, it is very likely that increasing greenhouse gases are the main cause of the recent observed global-scale warming.

Evidence

If you want to see evidence for global warming you need to see this 4 Corners Program on the Arctic.

http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/special_eds/20080804/arctic/default.htm

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to Dad. Sorry I haven't called I'm a bit slack at the moment

Monbiot Again

I have to say that George Monbiot is one of my favourite column writers. The wit and dry humour in his columns are truly fantastic. Also I often agree with the message of his articles. His recent article for the Guardian on the 8th of July really was excellent. I have reproduced it below for my small readership.

A small note though. I am not against fishing or fishers. I have a great respect for both I do think that we need less fishers and more sustainable catches though (in Most fisheries). I eat fish not on a regular basis but more as a treat, so I would not be against higher fish prices if this meant less fishers and more sustainable practices. I think that our worlds fish stocks need to be conserved and that currently most of them are not. This is a failure of both Governments and fishing industries worldwide, not individual fishers.

By George Monbiot. Published in the Guardian 8th July 2008.

All over the world, protesters are engaged in a heroic battle with reality. They block roads, picket fuel depots, throw missiles and turn over cars in an effort to hold it at bay. The oil is running out and governments, they insist, must do something about it. When they’ve sorted it out, what about the fact that the days are getting shorter? What do we pay our taxes for?

The latest people to join these surreal protests are the world’s fishermen. They are on strike in Italy, Spain, Portugal, France and Japan and demonstrating in scores of maritime countries. Last month in Brussels they threw rocks and flares at the police, who have been conspiring with the world’s sedimentary basins to keep the price of oil high. The fishermen warn that if something isn’t done to help them, thousands could be forced to scrap their boats and hang up their nets. It’s an appalling prospect, which we should greet with heartfelt indifference.

Just as the oil price now seems to be all that stands between us and runaway climate change, it is also the only factor which offers a glimmer of hope to the world’s marine ecosystems. No East Asian government was prepared to conserve the stocks of tuna; now one-third of the tuna boats in Japan, China, Taiwan and South Korea will stay in dock for the next few months because they can’t afford to sail(1). The unsustainable quotas set on the US Pacific seaboard won’t be met this year, because the price of oil is rising faster than the price of fish(2). The indefinite strike called by Spanish fishermen is the best news European fisheries have had for years. Beam trawlermen – who trash the seafloor and scoop up a massive bycatch of unwanted species - warn that their industry could collapse within a year(3). Hurray to that too.

It would, of course, be better for everyone if these unsustainable practices could be shut down gently without the need for a crisis or the loss of jobs, but this seems to be more than human nature can bear. The European Union has a programme for taking fishing boats out of service – the tonnage of the European fleet has fallen by 5% since 1999(4) - but the decline in boats is too slow to overtake the decline in stocks. Every year the EU, like every other fishery authority, tries to accommodate its surplus boats by setting quotas higher than those proposed by its scientific advisers, and every year the population of several species is pressed a little closer to extinction.

The fishermen make two demands, which are taken up by politicians in coastal regions all over the world: they must be allowed to destroy their own livelihoods, and the rest of us should pay for it. Over seven years, European taxpayers will be giving this industry E3.8bn(5). Some of this money is used to take boats out of service and to find other jobs for fishermen, but the rest is used to equip boats with new engines and new gear, to keep them on the water, to modernise ports and landing sites and to promote and market the catch. Except for the funds used to re-train fishermen or help them into early retirement, there is no justification for this spending. At least farmers can argue – often falsely – that they are the “stewards of the countryside”. But what possible argument is there for keeping more fishermen afloat than the fish population can bear?

The EU says its spending will reduce fishing pressure and help fishermen adopt greener methods. In reality, it is delaying the decline of the industry and allowing it to defy ecological limits for as long as possible. If the member states want to protect the ecosystem, it’s a good deal cheaper to legislate than to pay. Our fishing policies, like those of almost all maritime nations, are a perfect parable of commercial stupidity and short-termism, helping an industry to destroy its long-term prospects for the sake of immediate profit.

But the fishermen only demand more. The headline on this week’s Fishing News is “Thanks for Nothing!”, bemoaning the British government’s refusal to follow France, Spain and Italy in handing out fuel subsidies(6). But why the heck should it? The Scottish fishing secretary, Richard Lochhead, demands that the government in Westminster “open the purse strings”. He also insists that new money is “not tied to decommissioning”: in other words no more boats should be taken off the water(7). Is this really a service to the industry, or only to its most short-sighted members?

I have a leaked copy of the draft proposal that European states will discuss on Thursday(8). It’s a disaster. Some of the boats which, under existing agreements, will be scrapped and turned into artificial reefs, permanently reducing the size of the fleet, can now be replaced with smaller vessels. The EU will pay costs and salaries for crews stranded by the fuel crisis, so that they stay in business and can start fishing again when the price falls. Member states will be able to shell out more money (E100,000 per boat instead of E30,000) without breaking state aid rules. They can hand out new grants for replacing old equipment with more fuel-efficient gear. The proposal seems to be aimed at ensuring that the industry collapses through lack of fish rather than lack of fuel. The fishermen won’t go down without taking the ecosystem with them.

What makes the draft document so dumb is that in some regions, especially in British waters, the industry is just beginning to turn. While French, Spanish and Italian fishermen clamour for a resumption of bluefin tuna fishing(9), knowing that if they are allowed to fish now, this will be the last season ever, around the UK it has begun to dawn on some fishermen that there might be an association between the survival of the fish and the survival of the fishing. Prompted by Young’s seafood and some of the supermarkets, who in turn have been harried by environmental groups, some of the biggest British fisheries have applied for eco-labels from the Marine Stewardship Council, which sets standards for how fish are caught(10). Fishermen around the UK also seem to be taking the law more seriously, and at last to be showing some interest in obscure issues such as spawning grounds and juvenile fish (which, believe it or not, turn out to have a connection to future fish stocks). By ensuring that far too many boats, and far too many desperate fishermen, stay on the water, and that the remaining quotas are stretched too thinly, the EU will slow down or even reverse the greening of the industry.

Why is this issue so hard to resolve? Why does every representative of a fishing region believe he must defend his constituents’ right to ensure that their children have nothing to inherit? Why do the leaders of the fishermen’s associations feel the need always to denounce the scientists who say that fish stocks decline if they are hit too hard? If this is a microcosm of how human beings engage with the environment, the prospect for humanity is not a happy one.

www.monbiot.com

References:

1. Tom Seaman, July 2008. Global supply of sushi tuna to plummet on soaring fuel prices. Intrafish, Vol 6, Issue 7.

2. Steve Quinn, 29th June 2008. Time to jump ship? Almost, say commercial fishermen. The Associated Press.

3. James Meikle, 23rd May 2008. Fish prices may rise by up to 50%. The Guardian.

4. European Union, 2008. Evolution of the fleet’s number of vessels, tonnage and engine power. http://ec.europa.eu/fisheries/fleetstatistics/index.cfm?lng=en

5. European Commission, 2006. The European Fisheries Fund 2007-2013. http://ec.europa.eu/fisheries/publications/FEP_EN.pdf

6. Fishing News, 4th July 2008.

7. No author given, 4th July 2008. ‘Open the Purse Strings’ – Lochhead. Fishing News.

8. The Council of the European Union, 2008. Proposal for a Council Regulation instituting a temporary specific action aiming to promote the restructuring of the European fisheries fleets affected by the economic crisis.

9. Agence France Press, 17th June 2008. EU rejects calls to drop planned tuna fishing ban.

10. Severin Carrell, 26th March 2008. British seas turning green, says watchdog. The Guardian.

Water Car

I would like to dispel a myth for the readers of these humble pages. There is no such thing as a car that runs on water unless your talking amphibious vehicles. You cannot burn water and you cannot oxidise it to produce energy. You can run a car on Hydrogen such as BMW’s Hydrogen burning Car (I think it’s the 7 series).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen
http://www.bmwgroup.com/cleanenergy/ http://www.wired.com/cars/energy/news/2006/11/72100 http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,448648,00.html

The exhaust gas from burning Hydrogen is water. Combine 2 Hydrogen atoms and 1 Oxygen atom and you get 1 molecule of water. There are two main ways that the energy from converting Hydrogen and Oxygen to water is used. One is through a fuel cell which uses this reaction to create electricity and the other is to use it in a internal combustion engine. The second option is almost like burning LPG in a car. You just need different internal bits in the car to stop corrosion by high temperature water.

There are websites out there that purport to let you run your car on water. You will not be able to convert your car to run on water. If you inject water and only water into the cylinder of your car instead of petrol/diesel you will not be able to produce any power. Most of the systems seem to be a small container of water that is electrolysed (split) into its component atoms of Hydrogen and Oxygen. Then these are injected into the cylinder and burnt to form water. Then big problem here is that it takes more energy to split the water into Hydrogen and Oxygen than you get back by burning it and producing water. This is because of the second law of Thermodynamics. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermodynamics. The second law of Thermodynamics is a basic law of the universe Suns, black holes everything in the universe abides by this rule. So if you put a kilo of water in and get a kilo of water out mass is conserved so energy must be reduced, necessitating an input of energy other than the water. If you could affect mass to energy transfer (such as in matter anti-matter collisions) you would produce enough energy from a kilo of water to power a car for several lifetime. Unfortunately we don’t have this technology yet (or in the foreseeable future).

Latest report from the Nomads

I am writing this from Exmouth. Today we are having a bit of a chill-out day, because the next few days we are going to be covering a bit of territory. I thought I would write a synopsis of our travels so far.

We are having a wonderful trip. The weather has treated us very well. Coming across the Nullarbor it was relatively mild, with a bit of rain around. From Norseman, we went down to Esperance for a week, then to Albany for a week. Thought Albany was a great spot. When I say that to W. Australians, they say it is too cold. Mind you it has a latitude about the same as Nowra! From Albany we visited Denmark, Walpole, etc seeing some of the big forests of karri and tingle, and climbed Bluff Knoll in the magnificent Stirling Ranges.

I have a cousin in Mandurah, and we went up and spent a week and a half with them, during which time we took the bus out to Kalgoorlie, and came back on the Prospector train. Bernie did the mine tour at the Mining Hall of Fame, which was fabulous. I checked out all the exhibits above ground. Lots of beautiful old pubs in Kalgoorlie, all prospering by the look of things.

After Mandurah, we went back down to the south-west, Margaret River, up and down the coast from Cape to Cape (there is a great 135km walk there - not that we did it), out to Manjimup, Pemberton, etc. - more forests of jarrah, tuart, marri.

Then up to Perth. (I'm afraid this is a bit of a Readers Digest version - there's just so much to see). Did some of the tourist things - beautiful Kings Park of course. Not wildflower time, but still lots of fabulous banksias flowering; the Perth mint; exploring the beaches and the city; out to Rottnest - a beautiful place, but bathed in sadness at the thought of all those aboriginal men who were imprisoned there over a period of 66 years. From Perth, up to New Norcia, Dongara, Geraldton, and then to wonderful Kalbarri - one of the highlights of the trip so far for Bernie. Beautiful town at the mouth of the Murchison River, and then the wonderful gorges of the Murchison R in Kalbarri NP. From there to Monkey Mia, and the dolphins. I was impressed the way the DEC (Dept. of Envir. and Conserv.) officers supervise the feeding - no touching or interfering with the dolphins, all very well managed and only small amounts of appropriate food in the morning so that they still have to obtain their own food in the wild.

Then Carnarvon - excellent .growers markets on Sat. morning. Evidently Carnarvon supplies 70% of WA's fruit/veg. This week, Coral Bay and Exmouth. The Ningaloo Reef is very close to land at Coral Bay, so we could go in from the beach and snorkel over the coral. Also did a couple of trips out to the reef to see sea turtles and dugongs. A big highlight of this area is swimming with whale sharks, which are majestic creatures. The cost of these trips is a bit beyond our budget, however. The boats go to the outer reef, and they use spotter planes to find the whale sharks.

Our plans from here - Onslow, Karratha, Port Hedland, then down to Tom Price and Karajini NP (can't wait), back to Port Hedland, then Eighty Mile Beach, Broome, Derby, Fitzroy Crossing, Halls Creek, Bungle Bungles, Kununurra and then on into the NT and Katherine. Then we will truly have been "around Australia". To date on this trip we have travelled about eleven thousand kilometres in the car (that does not include the Kalgoorlie trip as we used public transport). We still have at least that much to go!

Petrol, Diesel, Fuel…………Lets say Oil

It’s a substance that everyone seems to be addicted to. All the signs are there. We all need our fix at least once a week. We feel better when we have it and we get grumpy when it’s taken away from us. This is what is happening now, fuel prices are rising and people are getting cranky as their supply, their ‘fix’ is costing too much. There are calls at the moment, lead by the federal opposition, for a reduction in the fuel excise or getting rid of the GST on fuel (http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/05/26/2255420.htm).

I as much as anyone see and feel the pain that the high fuel prices bring. I earn a below average wage and I have a home loan. This makes me one of the least well off people around. Fuel prices don’t just cost you at the bowser they also lead into the increase in food and other basic necessities. Min and I (although I have to say Min more than me) also run a car.

Given all of the things above some might be surprised to hear me say that reducing the fuel excise or getting rid of the GST on fuel is the stupidest idea that I’ve heard in a while. I would say that the money could be better spent, but I would disagree with the fuel excise reduction.

Why would he say this you ask (even if you haven’t asked I’m going to tell you)? Well the government isn’t at fault for the higher prices. We probably in the middle of peak oil (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peak_oil) and we are now seeing the effects of an oil supply that cannot keep up with the hugely increasing demand. The developing world is now starting to use oil in a similar fashion to the most developed countries. I’m going to say it now even thought it’s in the news every day and it blamed for so many things. China, China China China. The oil demand of China is looking to be double that of the US by 2030 (http://www.salon.com/tech/htww/2008/05/22/wall_street_journal_peak_oil/). It’s a text book case of supply and demand (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supply_and_demand). If supply stays the same and demand increases, the price will go up. The Australian government has no control over the world oil market and no real way to influence the price of crude in Australia. The general trend will see a continuing increase in the price of fuel this is unavoidable. The government could decrease the fuel excise and the price will rise. So they decrease the fuel excise again, surprise surprise the price of fuel will rise again. By the end of next year the price of fuel would still be at $1.70 a litre even though the fuel excise would be 0.

A much better way of moving forward is to use the current fuel excise moneys to move Australia away from its dependence on Crude oil. We need to stage an intervention. Invest more in public transport. Move public transport away from petrol/Diesel to Gas and Electricity. Promote Biofuels such as Syngas from Agricultural byproducts (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syngas), Biodiesel from the Fisher Tropsch Process (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fischer-Tropsch_process) and Ethanol/Butanol from Cellulose digestion. None of these ideas could completely replace oil and none of them are really ready for the market yet. In a few years with some investment from the government these products could completely move Australia away from using Crude Oil. We could then develop these alternatives into large export markets. The World population has a huge appetite for Energy. That is all these products are.

There is another benefit of the products that I’ve suggested. The first is that none of them use food crops. All of them can use Products that are currently thrown away from current Agricultural processes. For Example the Straw from the Wheat plant is spat out the back of the harvester and left to rot on the ground or burnt. This straw could be bailed and fed into a Cellulose digester (http://www.iogen.ca/) to produce Ethanol or Butanol. Due to these products not using food crops and increasing deforestation. They will decrease the Greenhouse gas output of Australia. Especially Syngas production. Syngas is one of the few Carbon Negative energy production systems. It also produces Charcoal which is excellent as an additive to soils for increasing production and locking away carbon (http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/s2012892.htm).

I know its painful guys but there is nothing to do except use less fuel and try alternatives. I want to say this again PRICES WILL CONTINUE TO GO UP WHATEVER THE GOVERNMENT DOES. Stop complaining to the government about the high price of fuel as they can’t do anything anyway. Start demanding that they do some thing to help us stop using this addictive substance altogether.

The other thing that we could all do is, next time your grabbing your key to leave the house consider taking a pushbike instead.

Happy Birthday

Well Happy Birthday to Mum.

I hope you are having a wonderful time and I'll see you and give you some thing when you come and visit me up here in the sunny north.

L

Whereabouts of the Nomads

I hope everyone noticed I left out the Grey part of the normal phrasing of the title.

Well Mum and Bernie are travelling again. Lost in the wilds of Western Australia. Every now and then I get an Update with a couple of Photos. So here is the Latest.

Hi everyone,
We head off to Geraldton today from Port Denison. Will spend a couple of days in Geraldton - take Clarissa out tonight to a nice seafood restaurant for her birthday - then go on to Kalbarri National Park on the Murchison River. From all accounts that is a fabulous place to visit.
We had a rest day yesterday - just reading and lying about!
Hope you are all well.

Talk to you soon.
Bernie

Good to see they are well despite being lost in the "wilds" of Geraldton. Will keep you all as up dated as I can.

L.

OC1 Race

Well it's been a week or so since the OC1 race I had at the last regatta. It was a tougher paddle than I thought it'd be. For starters there was a strong wind warning and there was about 1.5m of chop all across the bay. Also My canoe is what's known as a small volume boat ie. it doesn't provide a great deal of extra buoyancy for floatation. This means that in a race where waves are a significant factor my canoe was behaving more like a submarine than a canoe. At one point I was completely underwater, a wave hit and went straight over me rather than my canoe going over the top. The extra drag from all of the water in on and around the canoe means that I didn't go very fast.

To be fair It's not all the Canoes fault, I haven't been out in big conditions like that and practised so I couldn't get the best out of my canoe. I still think there are two factor than would help me go fast though. A Large Volume boat like the Bladerunner canoes and more training for me.

After these things are sorted then I'll be unstoppable I'll, not come second last like this time. Oh well.

I am looking forward to the next race though which will be Hammo. A 250m sprint and an 8km Marathon.

Perth forthe Travellers

We're in Perth at the moment. Went out to Rottnest today. You would love it out there.

Bernie

Update II

So the next up date is that I have sold my OC1. The Anderson Canoe has been sold to another member of the club.

"The Ando has Left Long live the Ando" is what I said to my self. So i went and bought another Ando. It's a purple and white Canoe Same make and model but this one is in Carbon fibre and a bit lighter. It should be a nice canoe to race in.

Below is a small video that I made with my little camera attached to the rear Iako of the canoe.



Cheers L.

Update

I've been a little slack through April. I've been busy though, I am organising Hammo and the Coral Sea Regatta for our little club as well as administering a $12000 grant that I got for the club to purchase new paddles and a new canoe.

Anyway I've neglected this site a little. So I thought time for an update. The first of the series is a new addition to the family. It's a boy and his name is Bear.



He is very cute and plays allot. He's a Border Collie x Blue Healer. He gets very wet quite often and then plays under the house and in stead of being a black and white dog he comes out as a brown dog.

You will all have to come and visit, to say hello to Bear.

Cheers L.

Alligator creek falls

Another person has fallen down the Alligator Creek falls, just like old Tomo. Only thing different is that the person that went with this ill fated trekker was a blonde backpacker. She ran out and got help. With this slight difference in the story the Media (read Townsville Bulletin) saw fit to run the story front page. Not only that but it made it into the paper for three consecutive weeks.

Below is a link to a selection of the paper clippings.

http://www.box.net/shared/noo1faescg

Tom mate you did it wrong. Next time get Clweddto dress up in a blonde wig and run out on his broken foot and save you. That Way you could get some pickies in the paper.

Hope things are going well for you down there in the bigsmoke.

L.

Mum and Bernie The Travellers

We are at present in Esperance in WA. Quite a vibrant town - beautiful coast and beaches, new mines starting up in the hinterland, fair-sized port.


The banksia is Banksia Speciosa - common round the roadsides.


The local Port Authority is currently in court over some pollution from lead ore in 2006 - they are disputing it.

Hope all is well up there.

Bernie and Mum

The Dungeon Master

Gary Gygax the Creator of Dungeons and Dragons passed away on the 4th of March. I'm a little late with this tribute but I found this Cartoon over at xkcd.


XKCD is very much worth checking out too people. It is a humorous and witty take on the world. Back to the Topic at hand, Thanks Gazza. You game changed allot of things both in the world of games and even in everyday life.

Cheers L.

Happy Birthday

To my Brother, Happy Birthday. I hope you had a good day and all the attention and presents that you got yesterday can sustain you through the opening day of your new production.

Cheers Bro and I'll talk to you soon

L.

Sustainable Cities

A Long while ago now I read on the Wired Magazine site a story about Dongtan. This is a proposed development on an Island in the Delta of the Yangtzee river. It could be a half hour train trip to the centre of Shanghai but it is currently a 3 hour car trip and a ferry. It has just been featured in the latest issue of Science Magazine.

The plans for this city are amazing with the aim of 100% of the cities energy to come from renewable sources. More dense (but not to dense) housing around many commercial centres to encourage walking and the use of public transport. Large public transport nodes in each of the shopping precincts that can take you to your work even in the centre of Shanghai.

This project should be followed and learned from by all city and town planners in Australia. Encourage the use of Bicycles and Public Transport. Increase the density of the housing and increase the number and connectedness of the Parklands in our cities.

I urge everyone to read the Wired Magazine article about this amazing project. The article in Science Magazine is good to but not available to everyone.

Cheers Lewis

Old Bags

And for once I mean that literally. I have up graded to a new Bag for travelling. My old one that dad bought me has been an awesome bag but It is time that I got a new one. The zips on the old one are failing.
The old bag is 90lt, the new one is 120lt and full water proof vinyl type material. By Denali which is a bit of a dodge brand but there is so little to go wrong with this bag that it seemed worth buying. It sort of like this bag
http://denaliequipment.com/Product.asp?p=46
But a cylinder and made from tough vinyl material

Airlie Regatta

Well a (Not So) New year and a new paddling season. This year the paddling season has kicked off a little late due to flooding and other natural Disasters. So Airlie Beach was the first regatta for the season for Maggie Island Outriggers. For a club that has very few returning members and a bunch of new people we did really well. In fact the men's team was just off getting a third place in the sprint event.

New members turned up and raced, more seasoned competitors backed up and raced multiple divisions. So for only 15 people we entered 6 events and in the case of the mixed events we entered 2 teams.

We got a couple of 4ths, 5ths and 7ths. Not bad for a club of almost entirely brand new people. I actually managed to paddle so hard and for so long that the muscles in my ribs stopped working. They didn't cramp or tear they just were so tired that they stopped being able to contract properly. After a little rest they were fine but it was not a fun sprint when I couldn't breathe properly.

Anyway the club now has a goal. The boys want to get a medal in the sprints and the Girls want to come at least 5th in their marathon.

Cheers Lewis

Pacific Islands

I have been looking at going to one of the Pacific island nation for a while now. I really think that Tonga would be good for a Sailing trip. I proposed to go on Holidays with Dad Glen and some other members of my family at Durras earlier this year. I was Wondering weather people could hold off until Easter next year. There are several good reasons for this.

One - The Monsoon season should be over by then so we wouldn't have to deal with Cyclones while sailing.

Two - Min will hopefully have enough leave by then to go on a holiday again after her South American epic that she is embarking upon.

Three - It give me more time to save up some money, so I can afford to go.

Four - it will not interrupt seeing family over the Christmas break, and I might be able to do the Hawksbury Classic paddle with glen (hope your getting fit glen).

So Dad, Glen, Christian, Tahl's, Others in the family (whoever wants to come) what do you think are you in. Does Easter next year sound like a good idea. I was thinking of going on a paddling adventure after the sailing trip as well. Tongan Outrigger Canoe Tours - Tours with Outriggers in Paradise, Vava'u, Kingdom of Tonga. This is the website of the tour people if you think that you might want to come along.

Here are some links to Sailing Holiday people in Tonga.
Sailing Holidays in The Kingdom of Tonga with The Moorings Tonga
Tonga Sailing and Yacht Charters
Sail Tonga, Tonga Yacht Charters with Melinda
Tonga Yacht Charters

Now People have to give me an Idea of what they want to do.

Cheers L.

Scientific publishing

The pressure is building, things are coming to a head. There have been rumblings for years, but the time is coming for a decision one way or the other. I’m talking science so the decision will not happen quickly but it will have to be made. There will be much debate and more than one tussle between rivals. I do hope that it is kept above the level that was looked at by Science magazine I think that this is a horrible and particularly political or corporate model to follow. What is he talking about you might ask? I’m talking about the way that science is disseminated.

There is a bit of a stauch brewing over Open Access Science. There has been in recent years an emergence of open access journals such as Public Library of Science and Biomed Central that have become quite successful. These open access journals operate on a different principal to more traditional journals such as Science, Nature or The New England Journal of Medicine. You wouldn’t really call it a war but there are definitely some grumpy people on both sides of the divide trying to hold on to their patch, their turf.

So let's say you're a publisher of a traditional subscription based journal. You charge subscribers hundreds of dollars a year to get the latest studies about oncology or podiatry or whatever field of research your journal happens to specialize in. The money rolls in, the journals roll out, and everything is good.

Then along come a tide of open-access journals that let everyone read research for free. Do you join the trend for the good of humanity? Hell no you try and get rid of the competition. Or that is the path that the people at Science seem to have gone down.

Traditionally you have to subscribe to a journal to read the articles that are printed in that journal. This has been the case to offset the cost of printing the journal and sending it to the reader. The journal can then take submissions of new articles and print the next issue. This was an excellent business model when there were a few relatively well off people pursuing science as a hobby. However now that scientific research has become a career for quite a number of people there are some problems. One of the problems is the ever increasing number of journals and the prohibitive cost of subscribing to them all. This leads to a common problem for scientists trying to produce more research; you cannot access a certain paper that would be an excellent reference for your study.

Then there is the problem that it’s not economic for people who are not currently in research to subscribe to and read these journals. People then end up getting there science information from The Media who distort the finding or put an incorrect spin on the Science to pursue there own ends. Most people wouldn’t choose to read these journals anyway but they may go to a specific journal article if they were to read something referencing it. On the whole at the moment these articles cannot be accessed by anyone without an expensive subscription.

I believe that scientific studies should be accessible by all. To make it fair then for Subscription journals there could be a time after which the article would become open access. For example the bill that has been proposed in America has allows for article to become freely available after 6 months. Most places with journal subscriptions would continue to subscribe because they need the latest results and findings. While some places that are not very well funded would wait the six months to get the same information. This raises other issues of equity but they can be dealt with as time goes by. The time limit could be played with, maybe six months is a bit short and it could be stretched out to a year. But that is more fine tuning rather that declaring for or against an intent.

Below are some links to further information on this whole debate.

Cheers L.

Nature Article - http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v445/n7126/full/445347a.html on PR campaign

Guardian piece on Peer Review –

http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/research/story/0,,2161680,00.html

Article on open access journals Wired News –

http://www.wired.com/techbiz/media/news/2006/10/71886

US federal Policy being developed for Public Access of Publicly funded research –

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c109:S.2695:

Congress finds that--

(1) the Federal Government funds basic and applied research with the expectation that new ideas and discoveries that result from the research, if shared and effectively disseminated, will advance science and improve the lives and welfare of people of the United States and around the world; and

(2) the Internet makes it possible for this information to be promptly available to every scientist, physician, educator, and citizen at home, in school, or in a library.

(b) Content- Each Federal research public access policy shall provide for--

(1) submission to the Federal agency of an electronic version of the author's final manuscript of original research papers that have been accepted for publication in peer-reviewed journals and result from research supported, in whole or in part, from funding by the Federal Government;

(2) the incorporation of all changes resulting from the peer review publication process in the manuscript described under paragraph (1);

(3) the replacement of the final manuscript with the final published version if--

(A) the publisher consents to the replacement; and

(B) the goals of the Federal agency for functionality and interoperability are retained;

(4) free online public access to such final peer-reviewed manuscripts or published versions as soon as practicable, but not later than 6 months after publication in peer-reviewed journals;

(5) production of an online bibliography of all research papers that are publicly accessible under the policy, with each entry linking to the corresponding free online full text; and

(6) long-term preservation of, and free public access to, published research findings--

(A) in a stable digital repository maintained by the Federal agency; or

(B) if consistent with the purposes of the Federal agency, in any repository meeting conditions determined favorable by the Federal agency, including free public access, interoperability, and long-term preservation.

Prism - http://www.prismcoalition.org/about.htm

Open Access Launches Journal Wars –

http://www.wired.com/medtech/drugs/news/2007/03/72704?currentPage=1

-According to tax records, the Public Library of Science had a deficit of $975,000 in 2005 and spent $5.47 million. Its total revenue was $4.49 million.

By contrast, The New England Journal of Medicine made $44 million in 2005, $30 million from advertising and $14 million from subscriptions, according to Advertising Age. And its rival, JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association, clocked in with $39 million in revenue, $33.2 million from advertising and $5.8 million from subscriptions.

How much damage could open access cause? Even if federal legislation passes, the journals could still sell subscriptions -- many scientists don't want to wait six months before seeing the latest finding.

Indeed, "for big journals, it's probably not a terrible risk," Banks said. "For someone like The New England Journal of Medicine or JAMA, I don't think many people are going to cancel their subscriptions because they're freely available after six months."

But more obscure journals published less than once a week, Banks said, could find themselves losing subscriptions. "That's the basis of the publishers' worries."

New Favourite Beer

I have been testing the waters (or should that be beers) so to speak lately with regards to beer. I have discovered a beer which is definitely my new favourite.

Barefoot Radler

Radler is German for Cyclist. The radler style of beer started out as a shandy. A German publican in Bavaria started serving beer mixed with lemonade to cyclists so that they could have a refreshing beer and still ride home after a couple. The style has evolved from there to be a beer brewed with lemon and lime.

I baulked initially at the claim on the carton "Phenomenally Refreshing". I'm not sure that I would say Phenomenally but it is a light and refreshing brew with a distinct lemon and lime flavour to it. It's only a mid strength which is good as there are fewer hangovers.

I also like the companies ethics. but you can see that on the link above. I heartily recommend this beer to anyone.

Cheers L.

Water Problems

It seems obvious but we seldom hear evidence of it, but Australia is not the only country in the world that is having water troubles. Obviously there are plenty of problems in the Middle East (especially the Palestinian state but that's another post) but you rarely hear of major water problem from the US. Below is a link to a press release from the Scripps Oceanographic Institute. Some of the researchers there put out a paper titled "When will lake mead go dry?"

http://scrippsnews.ucsd.edu/Releases/?releaseID=876

Lake Mead was created by the Hoover Dam's blockage of the Colorado River. The river is fed by snow pack from Rockies, which has been decreasing. The dam, of course, was one of the prototypical megaengineering efforts of the 20th century and a symbol of how human ingenuity could conquer any obstacle, including supplying water to a city the size of Las Vegas in the middle of the desert.

But the sheer amount of water that natural and manmade climate changes and human usage is drawing out of the Colorado River system is staggering. The researchers estimate that 1 million acre-feet, or 326 billion gallons, of water are being leached out of the system each year. They say that's enough to supply 8 million people.

Based on models constructed from the analysis of historical records from the Federal Bureau of Land Reclamation, the researchers, Tim Barnett and David Pierce, say there is a ten percent chance the reservoir will be dry in 2014, and a 50 percent chance no water will be left by 2021.

Obviously this could put a big dampener on any plans to expand city's in that area. Ha Dampener get it........ well if you don't have humour in the face of these type of things it could drive you to despair.

L.

Apology

I would just like to support whole heartedly the Apology make by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. I think that this day has shown that Australia can Finally Move forward. Here

Accountability of Government agancies

Recently Mick Keelty the AFP commissioner criticised the media over terrorism case coverage.

The Story can be found here and the Audio of Mick Keelty's comments is here.

I can see a bit of What Mr Keelty is saying people are entitled to the presumption of innocence and to be fairly tried in a court of law. Trial by media is a nasty thing and can be manipulate to easily by unscrupulous lawyers. So to this part I agree. The media should stay out of the courts and only report that there is a trial under way, report the crimes and comment on the progress of the case. They shouldn't really be bringing peoples names and emotional arguments about the consequences of the crimes to the public. In depth interviews with family friends and associated people can wait until after the trial. This can help the public find out about what happened and why.

There are several problems with Mick Keelty's comments though.

The first is that the government of the day and the Aust Federal Police were using the media first to blacken the name of the man charged under terrorism laws. This from Journalist Hedley Thomas: "But the facts are that in the Mohamed Haneef case and others, it's been the police and security agencies and the politicians using police information that have smeared the character of the suspects before they've even been charged." Mick needs to start abiding by his own rules. Once the police and others start the media circus the cannot very well expect that no-one else will be submitting information to the media. If the police want a media blackout before trials then they need to abide by them as well.

Next media mostly commented about the handling of the Haneef case and very little was about the actual charges or weather Dr. Haneef was guilty or not. The Media stories were mainly about lack of evidence and subsequent dropping of charges and extended detention before charges had been layed. I think that most Australians disagreed with the extended detention of Doctor Haneef and the way in which the case was handled.

Finally public institutions that apply the rule of law and have control over daily part of lives need to be subject to public scrutiny to keep them functioning properly. Otherwise you slowly move down the gradient of corruption until you have a Secret police that is used by those in power to control the populace. Comments like the following from Commissioner Keelty are absurd and very dangerous. Someone who makes such comments probably shouldn't be leading the AFP.
He also says criticism of the AFP and other government agencies should be limited.

A quote of Mick Keelty-
"We've just got to call a halt to criticising public institutions when it's the same public institutions that we rely upon to keep good governance,".

Media and Public scrutiny should continue, and if these comments are any indication should increase in intensity. Comments like these show that dangerous seeds have taken root in some of the countries most powerful institutions. Maybe it's time for a bit of Weeding.

Diving Activities

So Min is a diver. Diver Min she shall be known as from now on.
Seriously though we went on the live aboard trip on the weekend and we both had a great time. We left on Friday night about 8pm. True to form Min and I were packing and buying the last necessities on the way to the boat at about 5 to 8. Eventually we made it and were introduced to the crew. Ian the Trip director, Rhys the Instructor, Possum the Cook and Ron the Skipper. The crew were really friendly (not al skippers are friendly) and were easy to approach when we had problems.

The first day we were off to Wheeler reef. All of Mins dives on this reef were training dives. I mixed it up between diving with others and tagging along on the Open water course. This way I managed to get some photos of corals and animals as well as some of Mins outstanding preformance as an open water student.

So 4 dives on Wheeler Reef, including the night dive. The night dive was awesome (my first in a while) you get to concentrate more on a smaller patch of reef and see some of the things that you miss during the day as you are to busy looking around. No photos from the night dive though as the camera didn't like the low light conditions and flashes just don't represent the proper atmosphere that you get out on the reef at night.

Next we were steaming over to Davies Reef. This is the reef that AIMS has its weather station on. There were meant to be another 4 dives here but I only managed 3, well 3 and a half. I was down at 10m and waiting for the open water students to descend when I noticed a stream of bubbles coming from my 2nd stage (The Regulator bit that goes in your mouth for those that don't dive). I thought to myself "That's weird I'm not breathing out". Well I took the reg out of my mouth and looked at it as I had determined with my lightning quick brain that something may be amiss. Well I saw that it was leaking from a join in the hose, It was not a dive ending leak though as it was only a bit of a trickle. Then all hell broke loose as I placed it back in my mouth. I herd a large burst almost like a bang, then a absolute gush of air. I looked around and the only person I could see who was looking in my direction was Henrick a Dutch guy and a student on the open water course. I quickly signalled that I was going up and he nodded with large eyes looking at my regulator spewing forth air. The reg had become hard to breath from by this stage due to a lack of pressure reaching my mouthpiece so I decided too switch to my alternate air source. I slowly ascended (not exceeding 18m per minute) watching my pressure gauge slowly dial down. I lost 80 bar or over a 3rd of the air in my tank in the minute (roughly) it took to ascend. I didn't panic but I couldn't say that It wasn't worrying when I was down at 10m. Anyway drama was over then and I slowly swan back to the ship.
Everyone other than Henrick though was wondering where I had gotten to. Henrick signalled that I was OK and then proceeded to write down on the slate that I had surface and gone back to the boat. The big problem was that he wrote it down in Dutch so everyone just looked at the slate in confusion then assumed that I was an experienced diver and could look after myself. They were right but it does illustrate a point about diving. You really should develop your own skills and abilities so that you can look after yourself because buddies and groups are not always that helpful. I do still recommend diving in groups of at least 2 though as other people can and do help in many situations, there are as they say safety in numbers.
The trip was excellent in General and Min loved the diving so we could be doing a bit more of it now that we are both certified.
A concern voiced to me by Min though was that she might get sick on the yacht trip at the end of the year. So we are off to the Whitsunday's to hire a yacht sometime this year as a practice. When would be a good opportunity maybe a long weekend. Oh well details of that to follow.

Cheers L.