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Despite Persecution, Guardian of Lake Tai Spotlights China’s Polluters

ZHOUTIE, China — By autumn, the stench of Lake Tai and the freakish green glow of its waters usually fade with the ebbing of the summer heat, but this year is different. Standing on a concrete embankment overlooking a fetid, floating array of plastic bottles, foam takeout containers, flip-flops and the occasional dead fish, Wu Lihong, the lake’s unofficial guardian, shook his head in disgust. “If you jumped into this water, you’d shed a layer of skin,” he said one recent afternoon. “The government claims they are cleaning up the lake, but as you can see, it’s just not true.” Seven years after a toxic algae bloom forced millions of people who depended on the lake to find alternative sources of drinking water, Lake Tai, which straddles two provinces in the Yangtze River delta, remains a pungent symbol of China ’s inability to tackle some of its most serious […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Getting in on the Water Rush

4728 Votes Getting in on the Water Rush Scramble for groundwater lures driller back into business Among critics of our society’s reliance on petrochemicals, there’s long been talk that we are nearing “peak oil” — the beginning of the end of oil reserves. Then came the fracking bonanza, and — bam! — U.S. oil supplies gained a new lease on life. The peak oil buzz died down. Maybe the critics should be talking about “peak water” in the San Joaquin Valley instead. Growers pumped out huge amounts this past summer to keep their productivity up amid drought, and they’re likely to do so again in 2015 — if they can afford it. Everybody paying attention to the situation senses that the game will be up for the Valley’s powerhouse agricultural machine if extreme drought continues, but few know it as clearly as Hanford resident Robert Carvalho. The wily 75-year-old businessman has worn a […]

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California reopens two injection wells; nine remain shut

California regulators Friday authorized the reopening of two injection wells, out of 11 ordered temporarily shut two weeks ago on fears of potential pollution to underground water sources. Earlier this month, the Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources issued orders to seven oil production companies to immediately shut 11 wastewater disposal wells to avoid potential harm to aquifers in Kern County. There are more than 1,500 such wells in California. In a statement Friday, DOGGR said "since the initial orders were issued, two of the 11 wells have been authorized to resume operations following division review." The agency did not identify the wells that had been ordered shut in, or those that were authorized to reopen. Article continues below… Gas Daily Gas Daily offers the most detailed coverage of natural gas prices at interstate and intrastate pipeline and pooling points in major U.S. markets. Gas Daily keeps you […]

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DOE releases report on water-energy nexus

The US Department of Energy (DOE) released a new report that frames an integrated challenge and opportunity space around the water-energy nexus for DOE and its partners and lays the foundation for future efforts. Present day water and energy systems are tightly intertwined. Water is used in all phases of energy production and electricity generation. Energy is required to extract, convey, and deliver water of appropriate quality for diverse human uses. Recent developments have focused national attention on these connections. A hybrid Sankey diagram shows the magnitude of energy and water flows on a national scale. The diagram illustrates that thermoelectric power generation both withdraws large quantities of water for cooling and dissipates tremendous quantities of primary energy due to inefficiencies in converting thermal energy to electricity (“withdrawn” water is diverted from a surface water or groundwater source). The intensity of water use and energy dissipated varies with generation […]

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China to boost water conservation

BEIJING, May 21 (Xinhua) — China will accelerate the construction of water conservation projects, according to an executive meeting of the State Council chaired by Premier Li Keqiang on Wednesday. The meeting urged faster construction of water transfer, reservoir and irrigation schemes, especially in central and western regions suffering water shortages. The move is to improve water use and attract investment, to guarantee water security, help agriculture and alleviate poverty. The meeting decided that 172 water conservation projects will be launched before 2020, increasing water supply by 80 billion cubic meters every year. The projects will also save 26 billion cubic meters of water in agricultural production annually and expand irrigation areas of over 78 million mu (5.2 million hectares).

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Water concerns could limit US oil, gas development, speakers say

The oil and gas industry needs to respond more effectively to public concerns about safe water supplies if it expects to realize US unconventional resources’ full potential, speakers at Deloitte LLP’s 2014 Washington Energy Conference warned. Hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling successfully changed the US from a net natural gas importer to exporter, noted Karen A. Harbert, president of the US Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for 21st Century Energy, in her May 13 remarks. “But this is not a given,” she continued. “Emotions are running high. Opponents with scare stories want those resources to stay in the ground. Colorado is at ‘Ground Zero’ with a ballot initiative that would ban all fracing and place setbacks so far that production would be uneconomic.” Following his speech about water’s growing importance in any manufacturer’s plans, Gregory J. Koch, Coca Cola Co.’s global water stewardship director, said, “Your data and government permit […]

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EPA Takes First Step Toward Regulating Fracking Chemicals

The Obama administration began a process that may result in the first federal regulation of chemicals used in fracking, a drilling technique that has transformed energy production while eluding oversight sought by environmentalists. After three years of delay, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said today it’s considering rules requiring oilfield service companies such as Halliburton (HAL) Co. to send it details on the health and safety of the chemicals used. The agency said it may decide to stop short of rules, and use incentives or voluntary steps. “It’s unfortunate that this process has taken so long, as it addresses a critical need to ensure the safety of chemicals used in fracking,” Richard Denison, the lead scientist of the Environmental Defense Fund, said in a blog post. “This is only the first baby step toward initiating the rulemaking process EPA said it would undertake.” Environmental groups have been pressing the […]

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Duke Energy spends tiny percentage of revenue on coal ash cleanup

Duke Energy, the company responsible for a massive coal ash spill in January in North Carolina, raked in billions in revenue in the first quarter of 2014 but failed to spend more than a tiny fraction of its earnings on cleaning up its spill, according to its quarterly report released Wednesday. The company, the largest electrical utility in the United States, has also seen what one Duke stock owner called a “shareholder revolt” over a reluctance to provide more detailed disclosure of its political contributions. Duke denies there’s a mutiny, saying that management’s preference for less disclosure is supported by a majority of shareholders. Duke Energy, valued at about $51 billion, said it spent just $15 million dollars cleaning up the results of the coal ash leak, a figure dwarfed by its $6.62 billion in revenue in the first quarter of 2014. “What’s clear is that they spent very […]

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Confronting China’s water insecurity

Among the numerous challenges China faces in its quest to become a great power, the biggest, perhaps, is mounting water insecurity. China has 20 per cent of the world’s population but only 7 per cent of the world’s fresh water. To make matters worse, the country’s scarce water resources are unevenly distributed between the south and north of the country. With rapid industrialisation and urbanisation, the demand for fresh water is increasing at a very fast rate. It is forecast that by 2030, China’s water demand will surpass 800 billion cubic metres. However, China’s supply is severely undermined by worsening water scarcity and pollution. SCARCITY AND POLLUTION Due to over-exploration and inefficient consumption, China’s water resources are declining as more rivers disappear and aquifer water levels drop. A 2013 report published by the Chinese authorities showed that the number of rivers in China has decreased from at least 50,000 […]

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Water picture improves for some California towns

While much of California remains in the grips of extreme drought, spring storms have eased pressure slightly and reduced the number of rural communities considered at risk of running dry. In February, the California Department of Public Health listed 17 mostly rural water systems as having less than two months water supply in storage. But in recent weeks that number has fallen to three as February and March rains improved the water picture slightly. Still, the Sierra Nevada snowpack that provides a third of California’s drinking water is at 32 percent of normal as the state heads toward the dry summer months.

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple