Discourse for all interested in all things air-quality related
Someone once posited that with the advent of personal computing our society would become paperless. Well, not only did that not happen but we seem nowhere near that prospect coming true. In a related vein, the draft for the article you are now reading, I composed with pen and paper prior to my transferring it … Read more
The below Jan. 10, 2023 press release* is from the Rocky Mountain Institute. RMI, a leading nonprofit dedicated to accelerating the global energy transformation, announced the formation of the Virtual Power Plant Partnership (VP3) Tuesday. In recognition of the critical work needed to tackle scaling the market for virtual power plants, initial funding of the VP3 effort … Read more
When the interested Conference of the Parties (COP) attendees head off to these annual global climate-change networking summits, they, for the most part, I would think, have open minds, their hoping, their expecting that, by the time the conference concludes, they will come away with something to show for all the time, energy and hard … Read more
One of the limitations of Direct Air Capture (DAC) of carbon dioxide removal from, for example, the lower atmosphere – where, as we know, is currently at a density of nearly 420 parts per million (roughly 50% more concentrated or dense than it was when the Industrial Revolution first came into being in 1750 – … Read more
The below Dec. 20, 2022 press release* is from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized the strongest-ever national clean air standards to cut smog- and soot-forming emissions from heavy-duty trucks beginning with model year 2027. The new standards, which is the first update to clean air standards for … Read more
Getting into the railroad business, like venturing into any other can be a hit and miss proposition. The successful railroads often get others’ attention, both those inside and outside of railroad industry circles alike. One of the rail endeavors that got my attention is the Central Light Rail Link operating in and around Baltimore, Maryland, … Read more
The below Dec. 15, 2022 press release is from the California Environmental Protection Agency Air Resources Board.* The California Air Resources Board today approved the final proposed 2022 Scoping Plan, a world-leading roadmap to address climate change that cuts greenhouse gas emissions by 85% and achieves carbon neutrality in 2045. The 2022 Scoping Plan provides … Read more
The world view is that what we as humans need to do to avoid a climate-related meltdown, if you will, and meet short-, medium- and long-range climate goals, is to forgo dependence on combustion of fossil fuels – hook, line and sinker. We’re talking about an across-the-board transition to clean energy here to power all … Read more
Action is underway in Congress to avert a rail-workers strike and keep America’s trains on track. The underlying issues between labor and management whom, as it had been reported, had failed to reach complete agreement, appear to be over paid time off for sick leave as well as worker pay. Absent a binding agreement the … Read more
Here in America, our building style has old-world influences. There is direct evidence of this. Make no mistake. It’s understandable considering that Europe and Asia are where our ancestors were before emigrating – Europeans to the east and Asians to the west. Our ancestral roots and backgrounds definitely came into play here. Think Victorian, Renaissance, … Read more