Health and safety implications of alternative energy technologies. III. Fossil energy
This paper reviews both innovative fossil energy sources (tar sands, oil shale, and unconventional natural gas), and more established technologies that are being considered as suppliers of gaseous and liquid fuels (that is, coal gasification and liquefaction). Potential health and safety issues related to the technologies are discussed, although the absence of commercial-scale facilities in the United States restricts the discussion to health effects information derived from related processes. The available epidemiological and carcinogenic studies give cause for concern. The study of the health and environmental impacts of the emerging fossil fuel technologies will be important for quantification of adverse effects and rectification of problems before commitment to large-scale commercialization occurs.
Natural gas: the search goes on. [Six unconventional sources]
Bryan Hodgson of the Senior Editorial Staff surveys the natural-gas industry, with surprising results. Expecting a shortage situation, Hodgson traveled the country--and kept finding people who are finding gas, with promise of great quantities, and using unusual means to obtain that gas. A story of possible crisis became one of probable opportunity. Included in his discussion are six ''unconventional'' gas sources formerly dismissed as too difficult or too costly to exploit: (1) geopressure zones; (2) deep basins; (3) coal seams; (4) Devonian shales; (5) western ''tight sands''; and (6) methane hydrates. Hodgson quotes a government researcher who points out that, if we recover only a small percentage from these sources, we'd more than quadruple our potential resources. LNG delivered into U.S. pipelines, gas from the 4800 mile Alaska pipeline, or synthethic gas produced from coal in proposed $1.6 billion plants--any of the three would cost about $5 per 1000 ft/sup 3/; the same researcher points out that 1000 exploratory wells could be drilled for the cost of one coal-gas plant. Most of the article looks at the six ''options'' above; also discussed briefly are: (1) DOE'S increasing role; (2) exploration via space satellites; and (3) more exotic sources, e.g., barnyardmore » or photosynthetic.« less
An Internet-based Real-time Heavy Rainfall Display System
A new storm warning system, which can be accessed through the Internet and by cellular phones is described. At the time of a heavy rainfall for disaster prevention, it is important that every resident understand how heavy is that rainfall. A real-time heavy rainfall display system designed for all of Japan provides such information (http://www.disaster-i.net/rain/). In that system values for 1-hour precipitation, 24-hour accumulated precipitation, etc. are displayed at every observatory. Advantages are that not only the latest observations but differences from the historical highest records can be seen. Almost all information is displayed by characters so that users have easy access to the system even when the communication network is crowded. Access date for the six months after the system opened shows that the average daily number of accesses of the top page was 306, and the largest number 3078. The maximum number for daily access to all the pages was about 21,500. This is about 2% of the number obtained on the same day for a similar system operated by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (http://www.river.go.jp/).