Mass Dangerous Fossil Fuel Waste Poisoning Leads to Calls for Banning Propane In Vermont.

[NNadir]

Our great victory for the dangerous fossil fuel set in Vermont recalls the good old days there according to this article in American Journal of Public Health:

.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1404945/">A carbon monoxide mass poisoning in an ice arena in Vermont. (Free download.)

Calls to ban propane are rising among concerned citizens...um...no?...not really?...um you're kidding?...everyone in Vermont is focusing on the possibility that someone might put a huge straw under a nuclear plant and suck up 1,000,000 liters of water, raising their risk of cancer from one in 100,000 to 2 in 100,000 over 70 years?

Who knew?

In other news, concern trolls who have been working tirelessly to destroy the largest single climate change gas free energy source in Vermont based on the theory that many straws will be placed under a nuclear plant in Vermont couldn't care less about injuries from dangerous fossil fuel waste.

It's a great day in Vermont for the dangerous fossil fuel industry. Couldn't be better in fact.

[Webster Green]

1. I thought the by-product from burning propane was CO2 & water vapor

Is that incorrect? :shrug:

[Statistical]

3. If it burns completely it is CO2 + H20 however rarely does any fossil fuel burn completely.

Combustion in presence of sufficient free oxygen

C3H8 + 5 O2 → 3 CO2 + 4 H2O + heat

If fuel to air mixture is too rich there will be insufficient oxygen to burn gas completely. When that happens you get partial burning (carbon ash) and CO.

C3H8 + 3.5 O2 → CO2 + CO + C + 4 H2O + heat

This is why when you burn any fossil fuel you should have both:
a) carbon monoxide detector
b) Oxygen depletion sensor which will shut off fuel if oxygen level falls

The ODS is important because if equipment is working properly CO will only form when oxygen level falls which can happen after extended burning. The "tighter" the building is the more rapidly the oxygen level will fall.

[kristopher]

2. Luckily the picture *is* looking better...

...for the citizens of Vermont.

From the Vermont Public Interest Research Group (VPIRG)

Repowering Vermont: Replacing Vermont Yankee for a Clean Energy Future

CleanEnergy Report VPIRG

We are on the edge of making the biggest decision about Vermont’s energy future in the past 40 years. The choice to repower Vermont with renewable energy resources or commit to an additional 20 years of Vermont Yankee will determine the legacy we leave future Vermonters.

Closing Vermont Yankee and moving forward with energy efficiency and local renewable energy would cost Vermonters 47–50% less, between 2012 and 2032, than relying on Vermont Yankee at predicted market prices. Replacing Vermont Yankee with local renewable energy resources would also add tens of millions of dollars to our state tax base and support the creation of hundreds if not thousands of new jobs.

The way that electricity is being produced, distributed and even used is undergoing monumental change. Wind power and solar power, which were once fringe energy sources, are now being talked about as main stays of our energy future.Massive coal and nuclear plants are increasingly seen as symbols of the past and not compatible with a smart energy grid. Clean technology is moving fast to develop large scale energy storage and advanced batteries for plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles, and our traditionally slow-to-change utility industry is running to keep pace.

The old ways of generating electricity— oil, coal, and nuclear—have created unsustainable environmental and economic costs. Continued reliance on these old technologies will only worsen the situation we face in years to come and we cannot simply pass these costs on to the next generation.

Globally, our climate is in jeopardy from increased greenhouse gas pollution and collectively, Vermonters emit approximately 8,000,000 metric tons of global warming pollution every year.

The Vermont Yankee nuclear reactor has generated more than 1 million pounds of radioactive waste which is stored on the banks of the Connecticut River and will remain radioactive for more than 100,000 years. It is estimated to cost millions of dollars every year to protect the waste and it will cost an estimated $1 billion dollars to decontaminate and decommission the reactor site.

All of the nuclear and fossil fuels used in Vermont are imported to the state. In an age of increasing supply constraints and market volatility, this is an untenable economic, political and social situation.

Repowering Vermont lays out two clear and achievable visions for replacing Vermont Yankee with local renewable resources. The first,moderate, scenario was designed to meet our traditional electricity demand and anticipates a slow transition to more electricity being used in our transportation sector. The second, strong renewable energy growth, scenario sought to identify how much renewable energy could be built in Vermont over the next two decades. The results exceeded all of our expectations. Vermont couldmeet well over 100% of its future electricity demand, including complete electrification of our transportation sector, with in-state generation and existing levels of regional hydroelectric power.

Go here to download full report: http://www.vpirg.org/repowervt