Discourse for all interested in all things air-quality related
The utmost in interplanetary human transport has yet to be commercially delivered. Such is the same regarding delivery of the utmost in intra-planetary travel. We have not yet arrived at either of those so-called “destinations.” Though on the journeys there, we’ve been uninterruptedly, if not, unwaveringly, plodding along. As for what we’re in search of … Read more
Interesting displays at this year’s 25th Conference of the Parties conference on global warming and climate change being held in Madrid, Spain, between Dec. 2nd and the 13th, are the air pollution and climate change pods that people can pass through enabling them to have a first-hand look at what 90 percent of the world’s … Read more
The below Nov. 27, 2019 press release from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Hospitalizations for several common diseases—including septicemia (serious bloodstream infection), fluid and electrolyte disorders, renal failure, urinary tract infections, and skin and tissue infections—have been linked for the first time with short-term exposure to fine particulate air pollution (PM2.5), according to a … Read more
It’s no secret transportation emits more greenhouse gas pollutants (carbon mostly) than any other single sector and that emissions from transportation worldwide are on the rise. And, it should be no mystery either that for every gallon of gasoline burned in an internal combustion (IC) engine, 19.64 pounds of carbon dioxide from said burning is … Read more
From wood and coal and oil (for steam generation) to electricity, gasoline, diesel, liquefied natural gas, linear induction, magnetic levitation, vacuum tube and hydrogen propulsion (did I miss any?) the world of train-power generation has experienced it all. What we’re talking about here are generations of train-propulsion techniques, some of which were tried but never … Read more
So, I spotted this Nov. 14, 2019 “StreetsBlog USA” headline “Prominent Democratic presidential candidates have all put forward plans for clean energy, limiting drilling and subsidies for electric vehicles. Yet they have nothing to say about Americans’ addiction to driving – and if they don’t wean Americans off cars, they’ll never meet climate goals.” A … Read more
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) way back on Jan. 24, 2019 released its Annual Energy Outlook 2019 with projections to 2050 (AEO2019) report. From a related press release, the EIA announced, “The AEO2019 Reference case projects that in 2020, for the first time in almost 70 years, the United States will export more energy … Read more
It’s incredible! We 221.71 million American motorists in 2016, with our roughly 268.8 million motor vehicles, each drove an average 14,317.7 miles. Meanwhile, in narrowing the focus, recent related Federal Highway Administration data show male drivers between ages 35 and 54 drive the most; in this case, a total annual average 18,858 miles, with the … Read more
Snafu: Situation normal all fouled up, what the acronym snafu stands for. They are probably more common than we think. Shiver me timbers, it’s showering cinders! I gotta tell you: I’ve been on many a tourist train ride. But, there were none like the one in the mid-1980s I was on. These tourist pikes are … Read more
The fracked gas and oil industries are large contributors of photochemical smog. So says who? Well, for one, information on Wikipedia supports this finding. “The major culprits [to smog formation] from transportation are carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NO and NOx), volatile organic compounds [VOC], and hydrocarbons [HC] (hydrocarbons are the main component of petroleum … Read more