Pearls Before Swine vs. BP

Recently, I've noticed that Pearls Before Swine has taken some well deserved swings at BP. Its pretty bold for a comic strip (and a bit serious as well) and I really like it.

If you're looking for more Pearls Before Swine, you can check out Comics.com and Steve Patis has a blog which can be found a little lower down on the right-hand side of this page.

My Blog as A Pro-Clean Energy Platform?

So I was glancing over some of my blog entries and I noticed that I seem to have a stance on clean, renewable energy that, while I knew I had, didn't realize it was as strong as it seems to come out in this blog.

Speaking of which, I've been checking up on Costner's contribution to the cleanup. It seems they have had a press conference announcing the platform where four (4) of the centrifuge devices will be stationed while they separate the oil from the water. The name of the ship carrying the four devices is called the "Ella G". Word is, it's capable of removing oil from the water but only 10ft down from the vessel, which if the oil was floating on top of the water, probably wouldn't be a problem. However, since the oil has since been dispersed, I'm personally not sure how its going to do. The idea is for the filtered water to be funneled back out and the oil to be stored in tanks. Below is a video showing a flyover of the Ella G.


Ella G Fly-By from Ocean Therapy Solutions on Vimeo.

The best I can find says the Ella G sailed earlier this month (July 8th-ish) and has been out there since bringing the number of Coster's devices that are currently being used up to 9. All 32 that BP signed a contract for, are scheduled to be in operation by the end of August. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to track down any numbers to find out if the V20 is living up to its potential but it seems that they are at least doing well.

One of the articles I read mentioned that at 1:40 into the video above, the guy mentions that they haven't quite yet gotten the amount down below 15 parts per million yet which may mean they are holding the oily water in the tanks onboard. Hard to decipher though and that's purely conjecture. And this video was made almost a month ago.

In other eco-news, Google has just recently brokered a deal to purchase wind energy (114 megawatts of wind generation as the pros say) at a set rate for the next 20 years from the NextEra Energy Resources facility in Iowa. This move makes them carbon neutral. Just FYI.

Some of my sources...
ecorazzi.com
nola.com
Mashable
GOOD blog
Official Google Blog

BP SAYS IT HAS STOPPED THE OIL

The title really says it all. BP says they have stopped the oil for right now. That doesn't mean permanently but at least for right now.They are stressing that the job is not done and this is temporary but President Obama said it was a "positive sign".

BP Spills Coffee

In case you need a laugh...

Someday....

Kevin Costner and the BP Oil Spill?

Yes; thats right. Kevin Costner may have the answer to the oil spill in the Gulf. His company has just signed a contract with BP for 32 of their devices which separate oil from water and leave the water 99.9% pure. The biggest of these is the V20 which separates up too 200 gallons per minute (GPM). The company responsible for these devices is called Ocean Therapy Solutions.

The V20

Costner has been working on this technology for 15 years, and invested $20 million of his personal funds to support the project. He says he was inspired to work on this project after the Exxon Valdez spill in 1989 and the making of Waterworld, which despite being a box office bomb, I rather enjoyed.

He has even testified before Congress.






For more info:
Energy Boom Policy
BBC
Ocean Therapy Solutions
Examiner.com

Pollution

Oil Slick in the Gulf of Mexico vs. Windfarm at Cape Cod

Just saw a post about the positive v. negative effects of the oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico and the windfarm up by Cape Cod. Since I've written about both of these, I thought I would pass along the info I found at Sea Fever Blog. This blog apparently found it here, at Fast Company. Please enjoy. Its a nice, informative picture.

Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill: 2

Here's another picture I found, courtesy of the Washington Post.

Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill

So I had some good links on here some maps that show what NOAA is predicting in terms of spread of the oil but it was really stopping up my page so I'll just put the links below.

Estimate of Oil Coverage by 1800 5/05/10
Estimate of Oil Coverage by 1800 5/06/10