Discourse for all interested in all things air-quality related
There is this old saw: “If it ain’t broke; don’t fix it.” All well and good if it can be determined unequivocally if some “thing” is working properly and therefore is not in need of fixing. To toot my own horn, that’s a pretty good analysis if I do say so myself. This is not … Read more
Along with California’s San Joaquin Valley, the South Coast air basin is known notoriously for having the poorest quality air in the entire United States. A title like that no place wants. So, when an entity aspires to want to not just change but improve the environment in which it exists, operates, conducts business, it … Read more
Particulate-matter pollution, a multi-dimensional air contaminant, is of particular concern, especially a finer version of it or that known as PM 2.5 or fine particulate matter less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter (about 1/30th the width of a typical human hair). That PM 2.5 is present in the air is on account of the incomplete … Read more
Researchers in Belgium have created a device which can convert polluted air into energy. That’s just one of the device’s capabilities. The other is its ability to make air pollution harmless. The catch: light from the sun is needed to facilitate both processes. “‘We use a small device with two rooms separated by a membrane’, … Read more
Number 37 in the Clean Air Technologies Series. There are different methods by which energy can be captured and applied. Are you ready for this: How about an electricity-producing tree? Now, it is widely known that Thomas Alva Edison was one of the first to harness electricity and use it to create artificial light. He … Read more
During my younger days I traveled far and wide. Landing a teaching job, albeit a part-time position, at California State University, Long Beach in the Engineering and Industrial Technology Department in Sept. 1987 and extending to June ’88, during those nine months I vacationed twice. This clean-air adventure is in reference to the Memorial Day … Read more
Taking the scenic route Finding my way around the Golden State is sometimes an adventure in itself. To help, out comes the map just so I know how to get to where I want to go (from Fresno). Okay, so maybe you’re now thinking to get to Dunsmuir, it’s the 99 (State Route 99) to … Read more
Onward and forward. It was a trip I made not too long after I settled in California’s San Joaquin Valley in 1977 to Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks, which pretty much lie east of Fresno. By “not too long,” we’re talking within 10 years. Sequoia and Kings Canyon for me were not exactly high … Read more
In recognition of Air Quality Awareness Week in 2017, I have put together this series of clean-air adventures. I wanted to bring attention to places I traveled to in the past with vistas of unparalleled beauty, where a person could actually see the horizon and where polluted air was out-of-sight, out-of-mind. I indeed cherish those … Read more
The “adventures-in-clean-air” series continues. Big-city life has its advantages and benefits but it also has its drawbacks. So, it is with the last in mind, that there are times when the part of us that longs to be in the great outdoors, wants to get away to, the great outdoors. This impulse, motive force, urging, … Read more