Overloaded by trash, the city tries an unusual method to combat the smell.
Stinky landfills are a bit like stinky armpits — only a whole lot bigger. And what do we do when our armpits smell a bit rank? Put on some deodorant, of course. And it seems Beijing has come up with the same solution for their foul-smelling pits of garbage.
According to Treehugger.com, the city is installing 100 giant deodorant guns at its Asuwei dump site, following smell complaints from local residents.
The high-pressure fragrance cannons reportedly spray gallons of an odor-fighting agent per minute, with a range of up to 20 feet. City officials will also cover the trash with plastic to help minimize the stench.
Although their smell-control efforts might work in the short-term, it doesn't solve Beijing's bigger issue: it can't keep up with all the trash it produces. Local officials say the city of 17 million generates more than 18,000 tons of trash daily, 700 tons more than its current dumps are equipped to handle.
"All landfill and treatment sites in Beijing will be full in four years. That's how long it takes to build a treatment plant. So we need to act right now to resolve the issue," said Wang Weiping, a waste expert in the city government. "It's necessary to restructure the current disposal system. We cannot rely on landfill anymore. It's a waste of space."
One reason for the trash problem is it seems Chinese citizens are not very good recyclers. Less than 4 percent of its trash is recycled, versus 35 percent in the UK and US. (Go us!)
So it seems those deodorant guns are simply a stop-gap measure. But perhaps all that stinky trash will motivate China to recycle a lot more. In other words, perhaps Red China will become Green China before we know it.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Monday, March 29, 2010
Volunteers amble through olfactory jungle of NYC
NEW YORK — From rotting garbage to sweet-roasting peanuts at sidewalk stands, New Yorkers are constantly bombarded with the aromas of urban life.
"You're walking into the olfactory jungle," said perfume designer Celine Barel of International Flavors and Fragrances on Friday at a daylong conference devoted to smells and the city.
That dazzling variety of smells has given a group of researchers at Rockefeller University the perfect bouquet from which to sniff out the mystery of how people process olfactory sensations.
"We don't know what the rules are for going from a smell to a sensation of smell," said Leslie Vosshall, one of the scientists, who presented some of her group's findings at the conference at the New School.
In a five-year study aimed at creating a "smell demography" of New York City, she said they subjected hundreds of volunteers found through Craigslist to intensive smell testing and found that the most pleasant scent, across groups, is vanilla.
The worst: Isovaleric acid, most commonly associated with eau de sweaty sock.
Among the more interesting findings so far was that men secrete a particular smell that about 15 percent of New Yorkers are less likely to respond to, she said. The best smellers were young females who don't smoke.
There were also a lot of volunteers who had a distorted view of their own nose.
"We found a whole lot of people who are incredibly into volunteering for smell studies and are completely blind to odors," she said, adding that unlike people who suffer from blindness, they are "completely unaware" of their inability to detect scents.
Odor has become a stinky point in New York City over the years, from complaints about the stench from factories in the Bronx to mystery odors tracked to New Jersey.
In 2009, a maple syrup smell that drifted through parts of the city more than half a dozen times was traced by a team of odor investigators to a Garden State facility that processes fenugreek seeds for flavorings. In a separate case, a team of investigators from New York and New Jersey was unable to determine the origin of a foul stench that drifted up the Hudson River in 2007.
Most of the more than 6,000 odor and fumes complaints received by the city in 2009 originated in Manhattan, said city Department of Environmental Protection spokesman Farrell Sklerov. The complaints encompassed idling vehicles, smells from restaurants, private garbage collection and dry cleaning.
Most New Yorkers have become accustomed to the daily smells of their metropolis, though they don't necessarily like them.
"It smells terrible," said Susan Wong, of the Bronx, walking out the door of a meat market on a Chinatown street, followed by a whiff of roasting animal. She said she particularly hates the way the garbage smells. "You just don't want to come here. You want to go as far as you can."
Eddie Hires, 50, said how it smells depended on the time of the year.
"Right now, it's all right," said Hires, standing on Canal Street in Chinatown, wearing a flimsy sign that read "We buy gold, jewelry & watches." "But then in the summer, they have garbage trucks, and it smells like dead bodies or something. It's awful."
A pair of tourists walking down a nearby street passed a fish market, where raw fillets rested on ice in plastic bins, and a tchotchke store, where sandalwood incense was burning slowly.
After stopping in front of a meat market where ducks and chickens hung from hooks, one of the tourists, Ellie Simpson, 17, of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, said the city's smell was a great guide for tourists.
"You don't have to look," she said. "You just have to smell."
For Dr. Uddalak Majundar, who recently moved to New York City from Calcutta, India, the many odors make the city come alive for him.
"You can have an entire group of people communicate their culture through their smells," he said.
"You're walking into the olfactory jungle," said perfume designer Celine Barel of International Flavors and Fragrances on Friday at a daylong conference devoted to smells and the city.
That dazzling variety of smells has given a group of researchers at Rockefeller University the perfect bouquet from which to sniff out the mystery of how people process olfactory sensations.
"We don't know what the rules are for going from a smell to a sensation of smell," said Leslie Vosshall, one of the scientists, who presented some of her group's findings at the conference at the New School.
In a five-year study aimed at creating a "smell demography" of New York City, she said they subjected hundreds of volunteers found through Craigslist to intensive smell testing and found that the most pleasant scent, across groups, is vanilla.
The worst: Isovaleric acid, most commonly associated with eau de sweaty sock.
Among the more interesting findings so far was that men secrete a particular smell that about 15 percent of New Yorkers are less likely to respond to, she said. The best smellers were young females who don't smoke.
There were also a lot of volunteers who had a distorted view of their own nose.
"We found a whole lot of people who are incredibly into volunteering for smell studies and are completely blind to odors," she said, adding that unlike people who suffer from blindness, they are "completely unaware" of their inability to detect scents.
Odor has become a stinky point in New York City over the years, from complaints about the stench from factories in the Bronx to mystery odors tracked to New Jersey.
In 2009, a maple syrup smell that drifted through parts of the city more than half a dozen times was traced by a team of odor investigators to a Garden State facility that processes fenugreek seeds for flavorings. In a separate case, a team of investigators from New York and New Jersey was unable to determine the origin of a foul stench that drifted up the Hudson River in 2007.
Most of the more than 6,000 odor and fumes complaints received by the city in 2009 originated in Manhattan, said city Department of Environmental Protection spokesman Farrell Sklerov. The complaints encompassed idling vehicles, smells from restaurants, private garbage collection and dry cleaning.
Most New Yorkers have become accustomed to the daily smells of their metropolis, though they don't necessarily like them.
"It smells terrible," said Susan Wong, of the Bronx, walking out the door of a meat market on a Chinatown street, followed by a whiff of roasting animal. She said she particularly hates the way the garbage smells. "You just don't want to come here. You want to go as far as you can."
Eddie Hires, 50, said how it smells depended on the time of the year.
"Right now, it's all right," said Hires, standing on Canal Street in Chinatown, wearing a flimsy sign that read "We buy gold, jewelry & watches." "But then in the summer, they have garbage trucks, and it smells like dead bodies or something. It's awful."
A pair of tourists walking down a nearby street passed a fish market, where raw fillets rested on ice in plastic bins, and a tchotchke store, where sandalwood incense was burning slowly.
After stopping in front of a meat market where ducks and chickens hung from hooks, one of the tourists, Ellie Simpson, 17, of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, said the city's smell was a great guide for tourists.
"You don't have to look," she said. "You just have to smell."
For Dr. Uddalak Majundar, who recently moved to New York City from Calcutta, India, the many odors make the city come alive for him.
"You can have an entire group of people communicate their culture through their smells," he said.
Friday, March 26, 2010
Big stink in Three Creeks a big mystery
While oilmen equate the smell of oil with the smell of money, it's raising a big stink in the Peace Country oilpatch.
Merna Dallyn says a hydrocarbon odour was so bad a month ago she had to gather up the grandchildren she was babysitting and evacuate her farm house in the Three Creeks area, about 40 kilometres east of Peace River. "It was nauseating and gave you a headache. It was really bad."
She was especially worried about the health of her grandchildren, aged 18 months and three years, whom she cares for every day.
Alberta Environment and the Energy Resources Conservation Board responded to a number of complaints and dispatched a mobile air monitoring unit to the area, but have yet to pinpoint the source of the smell.
"All the companies have agreed that there is an odour issue, acknowledge that it originates from industry activity and have agreed to jointly work together to solve the problem," the ERCB has advised area residents.
Residents initially suspected a Shell Peace River thermal plant that injects steam into the ground to liquefy the thick bitumen in the underground formations so it can be pumped to the surface. The plant, just 10 kilometres from the Dallyn farm, also produces asphalt that it keeps heated in large storage tanks. But Alberta Environment says it doesn't believe the smell is coming from the plant. Shell's plant spews up to 14 tonnes of sulphur into the air per day, but sulphur has been absent in the air samples collected so far.
In a March 5 notice sent to residents, the ERCB suggests the odours are likely the result of the venting of gases from individual well sites in the area. Under Alberta regulations, energy companies can release into the air "solution gas" that accompanies bitumen and crude if it is not economical to capture the gas.
Test results released to residents show the air contains carcinogens benzene, toluene and xylene, although the ERCB says the levels do not exceed acceptable limits.
Rancher Carmen Langer, who previously worked at the Shell plant and as an oilfield consultant, says he is skeptical of claims the air is safe.
"They're saying it is not at dangerous levels, but any time you have cancer-causing agents floating in the air, it's pretty dangerous."
Chris Severson-Baker of the Pembina Institute concurs there are no safe levels of exposure to benzene.
"Any level has the potential to be carcinogenic."
The industry practice of venting gases into the air has increased in the past three years after five years of steady decline -- and the big culprit is crude bitumen production. The ERCB's most recent report on flaring and venting shows there was nearly a 26-per-cent increase in venting from crude bitumen batteries from 2007 to 2008.
Severson-Baker estimates that the 292 million cubic metres of gas vented in 2008 would provide heat and hot water to 80,203 homes for a year -- more than a quarter of all the homes in Edmonton.
He says companies are required to assess the economics of an oil or bitumen well if it produces more than 900 cubic metres of gas per day, but the assessment doesn't include the economic value of the oil from the well -- just the value of the gas. That allows hundreds of profitable bitumen wells to vent gas.
"The reality is by far the majority of wells could absorb the cost of conserving the solution gas, but companies will not want to do that voluntarily," he says.
"If we're serious about eliminating or driving down flaring and venting in Alberta, we have to say that we consider this gas a waste product and it is not acceptable any more to flare or vent it to the atmosphere because of odour concerns, health concerns and climate change."
Shell, one of five area oilpatch companies working to resolve the Three Creeks issue, is moving toward capturing solution gas from its wells in its Cliffdale field this year, although it contends its wells, more than 20 kilometres away from the affected residents, are not likely the cause of the problem. Shell spokeswoman Adrienne Lamb says the company also hopes to dramatically reduce sulphur emissions from its thermal plant this summer. To their credit, the companies have set up an air monitoring trailer on Langer's farm.
ERCB spokesman Darin Barter says the oilpatch regulator has directed the oil companies to provide by Thursday documentation of all odours, incidents and upsets at their facilities, as well as the volumes of gas they have vented from their facilities. It has also demanded they produce action plans for the mitigation or elimination of venting.
"The ERCB takes these concerns very seriously," Barter said. "The ERCB will continue to direct resources toward inspections of all facilities in the area to ensure they meet strict regulatory requirements related to odours, venting and public safety."
Area resident Karen Dziengielewski says Albertans deserve regulations that ban venting.
"It's not for just my husband's and my health. It's for everybody's health. We have a right to breathe clean air."
Merna Dallyn says a hydrocarbon odour was so bad a month ago she had to gather up the grandchildren she was babysitting and evacuate her farm house in the Three Creeks area, about 40 kilometres east of Peace River. "It was nauseating and gave you a headache. It was really bad."
She was especially worried about the health of her grandchildren, aged 18 months and three years, whom she cares for every day.
Alberta Environment and the Energy Resources Conservation Board responded to a number of complaints and dispatched a mobile air monitoring unit to the area, but have yet to pinpoint the source of the smell.
"All the companies have agreed that there is an odour issue, acknowledge that it originates from industry activity and have agreed to jointly work together to solve the problem," the ERCB has advised area residents.
Residents initially suspected a Shell Peace River thermal plant that injects steam into the ground to liquefy the thick bitumen in the underground formations so it can be pumped to the surface. The plant, just 10 kilometres from the Dallyn farm, also produces asphalt that it keeps heated in large storage tanks. But Alberta Environment says it doesn't believe the smell is coming from the plant. Shell's plant spews up to 14 tonnes of sulphur into the air per day, but sulphur has been absent in the air samples collected so far.
In a March 5 notice sent to residents, the ERCB suggests the odours are likely the result of the venting of gases from individual well sites in the area. Under Alberta regulations, energy companies can release into the air "solution gas" that accompanies bitumen and crude if it is not economical to capture the gas.
Test results released to residents show the air contains carcinogens benzene, toluene and xylene, although the ERCB says the levels do not exceed acceptable limits.
Rancher Carmen Langer, who previously worked at the Shell plant and as an oilfield consultant, says he is skeptical of claims the air is safe.
"They're saying it is not at dangerous levels, but any time you have cancer-causing agents floating in the air, it's pretty dangerous."
Chris Severson-Baker of the Pembina Institute concurs there are no safe levels of exposure to benzene.
"Any level has the potential to be carcinogenic."
The industry practice of venting gases into the air has increased in the past three years after five years of steady decline -- and the big culprit is crude bitumen production. The ERCB's most recent report on flaring and venting shows there was nearly a 26-per-cent increase in venting from crude bitumen batteries from 2007 to 2008.
Severson-Baker estimates that the 292 million cubic metres of gas vented in 2008 would provide heat and hot water to 80,203 homes for a year -- more than a quarter of all the homes in Edmonton.
He says companies are required to assess the economics of an oil or bitumen well if it produces more than 900 cubic metres of gas per day, but the assessment doesn't include the economic value of the oil from the well -- just the value of the gas. That allows hundreds of profitable bitumen wells to vent gas.
"The reality is by far the majority of wells could absorb the cost of conserving the solution gas, but companies will not want to do that voluntarily," he says.
"If we're serious about eliminating or driving down flaring and venting in Alberta, we have to say that we consider this gas a waste product and it is not acceptable any more to flare or vent it to the atmosphere because of odour concerns, health concerns and climate change."
Shell, one of five area oilpatch companies working to resolve the Three Creeks issue, is moving toward capturing solution gas from its wells in its Cliffdale field this year, although it contends its wells, more than 20 kilometres away from the affected residents, are not likely the cause of the problem. Shell spokeswoman Adrienne Lamb says the company also hopes to dramatically reduce sulphur emissions from its thermal plant this summer. To their credit, the companies have set up an air monitoring trailer on Langer's farm.
ERCB spokesman Darin Barter says the oilpatch regulator has directed the oil companies to provide by Thursday documentation of all odours, incidents and upsets at their facilities, as well as the volumes of gas they have vented from their facilities. It has also demanded they produce action plans for the mitigation or elimination of venting.
"The ERCB takes these concerns very seriously," Barter said. "The ERCB will continue to direct resources toward inspections of all facilities in the area to ensure they meet strict regulatory requirements related to odours, venting and public safety."
Area resident Karen Dziengielewski says Albertans deserve regulations that ban venting.
"It's not for just my husband's and my health. It's for everybody's health. We have a right to breathe clean air."
Water authority fined $6K for sewage spill
The Environment Protection Authority (EPA) has fined Central Highlands Water almost $6,000 for allowing sewage to spill into Lake Daylesford last April.
The spill occurred on Easter Sunday, when alarm systems at a sewer pump station failed to warn of a sewage overflow for about two hours.
The EPA's Wayne Robbins says a large amount of sewage leaked into the lake during that time.
He says the health risks caused by this were significant.
"Well obviously a sewage spill isn't pleasant," he said.
"[There is] visual and odour impact and potentially health risks in terms of E. coli and fecal contamination."
The spill occurred on Easter Sunday, when alarm systems at a sewer pump station failed to warn of a sewage overflow for about two hours.
The EPA's Wayne Robbins says a large amount of sewage leaked into the lake during that time.
He says the health risks caused by this were significant.
"Well obviously a sewage spill isn't pleasant," he said.
"[There is] visual and odour impact and potentially health risks in terms of E. coli and fecal contamination."
Friday, March 12, 2010
How does a tree neutralise your blog’s carbon footprint?
A question always asked around the net can be answered visiting
http://www.kaufda.de/umwelt/carbon-neutral/1-tree-1-blog-how-it-works/
How much carbon dioxide does your blog create?
According to a study by Alexander Wissner-Gross, PhD, physicist at Harvard University and environmental activist, an average website causes about 0.02g (0,0008oz.) of carbon dioxide for each visit. Assuming an average blog gets 15,000 visits a month, it has yearly carbon dioxide emissions of 3,6kg (8lb.). This can mainly be tracked back to the immense energy usage from (mainframe) computers, servers, and their cooling systems.
Does your blog have more than 15,000 visitors a month? Just e-mail us at CO2-neutral@kaufda.de. We make sure we neutralise your blog too.
How much carbon dioxide does a tree absorb?
Unfortunately, no precise answer is possible. The carbon dioxide absorption of a tree can differ a lot. The amount of carbon dioxide that a tree can absorb depends on the type of tree, light exposure, length of the vegetation period, latitude, water balance, and the soil conditions.
There are many different calculations for the saving potential of a tree. The assumed values vary between 10 and 30kg (20 and 70lb.) for a tree each year. It is certain however, that in its first two to three years a tree absorbs relatively little carbon dioxide. In the growth phase following this, the absorption rate increases rapidly. During this time, the tree safes a considerable amount of carbon dioxide. The absorption rate decrease again from the age of 18.
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) assumes a yearly absorption of one tree of approximately 10kg (20lb.) carbon dioxide emissions.
One tree neutralises the carbon dioxide emissions of your blog
As demonstrated in the above calculation, the atmosphere can be relieved by an average of 5kg (11lb.) carbon dioxide every year by planting one tree. An average blog causes 3.6kg (8lb.) of carbon dioxide emissions. Consequently, a tree neutralises the carbon dioxide emissions of a blog. Since a tree lives for an average of 50 years, carbon dioxide emissions of your blog can be completely neutralised for this time period.
more information can be found here
http://www.kaufda.de/umwelt/carbon-neutral/1-tree-1-blog-how-it-works/
http://www.kaufda.de/umwelt/carbon-neutral/1-tree-1-blog-how-it-works/
How much carbon dioxide does your blog create?
According to a study by Alexander Wissner-Gross, PhD, physicist at Harvard University and environmental activist, an average website causes about 0.02g (0,0008oz.) of carbon dioxide for each visit. Assuming an average blog gets 15,000 visits a month, it has yearly carbon dioxide emissions of 3,6kg (8lb.). This can mainly be tracked back to the immense energy usage from (mainframe) computers, servers, and their cooling systems.
Does your blog have more than 15,000 visitors a month? Just e-mail us at CO2-neutral@kaufda.de. We make sure we neutralise your blog too.
How much carbon dioxide does a tree absorb?
Unfortunately, no precise answer is possible. The carbon dioxide absorption of a tree can differ a lot. The amount of carbon dioxide that a tree can absorb depends on the type of tree, light exposure, length of the vegetation period, latitude, water balance, and the soil conditions.
There are many different calculations for the saving potential of a tree. The assumed values vary between 10 and 30kg (20 and 70lb.) for a tree each year. It is certain however, that in its first two to three years a tree absorbs relatively little carbon dioxide. In the growth phase following this, the absorption rate increases rapidly. During this time, the tree safes a considerable amount of carbon dioxide. The absorption rate decrease again from the age of 18.
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) assumes a yearly absorption of one tree of approximately 10kg (20lb.) carbon dioxide emissions.
One tree neutralises the carbon dioxide emissions of your blog
As demonstrated in the above calculation, the atmosphere can be relieved by an average of 5kg (11lb.) carbon dioxide every year by planting one tree. An average blog causes 3.6kg (8lb.) of carbon dioxide emissions. Consequently, a tree neutralises the carbon dioxide emissions of a blog. Since a tree lives for an average of 50 years, carbon dioxide emissions of your blog can be completely neutralised for this time period.
more information can be found here
http://www.kaufda.de/umwelt/carbon-neutral/1-tree-1-blog-how-it-works/
Tuesday, March 02, 2010
Employment opportunities «
Employment opportunities « OPERATIONS MANAGER - INDUSTRIAL CLEANING - O&G PETRO - http://bit.ly/c7f7fI
Employment opportunities «
OPERATIONS MANAGER - INDUSTRIAL CLEANING - O&G PETRO - http://bit.ly/c7f7fI
Bad odour prompts EnCana to extend smokestack height
Residents’ complaints about a bad smell emanating from a natural gas processing plant near Dawson Creek have prompted EnCana Corp. to undertake an upgrade of the plant’s waste gas system.
Photograph by: Canwest News Service, Canwest News Service
Residents’ complaints about a bad smell emanating from a natural gas processing plant near Dawson Creek have prompted EnCana Corp. to undertake an upgrade of the plant’s waste gas system.
Residents of the Tomslake community located 10 kilometres from the Steeprock processing plant have complained for more than a year about an unpleasant odour comparable to rotten eggs in the local airshed as a result of plant operations.
EnCana media relations adviser Carol Howes said the plant met all engineering and design criteria when it came into commission in 2006.
But the Calgary-based company has decided to seek bids on a contract to extend the height of the plant smokestack from which small amounts of sulphur dioxide (SO2) are released as a byproduct of gas processing. The upgraded smokestack will have an elevation of 70 metres, which EnCana hopes will be sufficient to prevent the odour from settling back onto the ground.
“We started the process last summer,” Howes said. “The issue was raised with some concerns from a couple of the folks and we decided to take a look at it. We put in some air monitors, and looked at the design of the smokestack and how we could improve it to alleviate that.
“Normally in the incineration process, this SO2 would disperse into the air, but the plume is not going quite high enough for it to disperse,” Howes said. “It’s a very, very small concentration and it’s within all the regulatory standards. It’s just low enough in that little area that you can smell it.”
Photograph by: Canwest News Service, Canwest News Service
Residents’ complaints about a bad smell emanating from a natural gas processing plant near Dawson Creek have prompted EnCana Corp. to undertake an upgrade of the plant’s waste gas system.
Residents of the Tomslake community located 10 kilometres from the Steeprock processing plant have complained for more than a year about an unpleasant odour comparable to rotten eggs in the local airshed as a result of plant operations.
EnCana media relations adviser Carol Howes said the plant met all engineering and design criteria when it came into commission in 2006.
But the Calgary-based company has decided to seek bids on a contract to extend the height of the plant smokestack from which small amounts of sulphur dioxide (SO2) are released as a byproduct of gas processing. The upgraded smokestack will have an elevation of 70 metres, which EnCana hopes will be sufficient to prevent the odour from settling back onto the ground.
“We started the process last summer,” Howes said. “The issue was raised with some concerns from a couple of the folks and we decided to take a look at it. We put in some air monitors, and looked at the design of the smokestack and how we could improve it to alleviate that.
“Normally in the incineration process, this SO2 would disperse into the air, but the plume is not going quite high enough for it to disperse,” Howes said. “It’s a very, very small concentration and it’s within all the regulatory standards. It’s just low enough in that little area that you can smell it.”
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)