Coal Mining-Coal Fired Power Generation- Metallurgy Materials Advanced Proceses : Strong Focus on CO2 capture and storage-sequestration

Strong Determination and Innovation Required - Jobs? hence this short echo of this subject.
"Marshal plan to reduce the cost of this particular innovation is my wish for the new President of the EU _ 2009 with all respect Sir"

Link to my original post below:

Summary:
From local (motivation) to global...

Systems /Synergy 4 Approach:
-click to enlarge the Venn Diag image opposite.

1. Focus: CCS-Carbon, Capture & Storage,
2.Mining (Coal)– Motivation, Coal reserves France(58)-Scotland, Ayrshire...
3.Coal Powered Electricity & Heat generation,
4.Metallurgy/Materials/Advanced Processes,

It is common knowledge that immediate action is required and plebiscited. The 2009 clean economy appears to be the time to start -get over this crises stuff and no hedging!

One of my resolutions will be to report on these fields and contribute as far as my professional skills permit.


cf. Full post:
New Years Resolution Time: Systems - Synergy 4 Motivation, Innovation in Our Professional Disciplines: Materials-Minerals-Mining.

Nine Top Search Tips for Research and Innovation Ideas on the European Union (EU) Framework Programme 7 (FP7)

It is not always easy to know where to look in the huge European Research and Innovation data base for project ideas and possible collaborations, hence the following little guide from my recent experience. This follows my inclusion of the RSS feed link to EU programmes on the top left menu bar. Firstly it is well worth taking a squint at the Nine sub-feeds offered within the main entry. Of course there are new items, why not. More directly try the feeds to Offers, Projects, Partners and Results. Of course if you are a tried hand -What's New is the feed you are looking for. My own hit and miss attempt corrected let me share a few further indications of direct interest to researchers and innovators as follows:

An excellent place to start a search is the Find a Partner on the FP7 search page - Cordis Europa EU

The link I have given opens the search page with a menu bar on the left and a search box with four main key choices:

1. Search term or key words.
2 Profile type : Project proposal and/or Company Expertise.
3 Programme label eg FP7 (all of) or any one sub-project from a list of 34 sub-labels. multiple choices can be made.
4. A list of the world's countries allows one to seek a specific partner country.

I found that:
- ignoring steps 1and 4 and
-choosing project proposal and
-say a field such as NMP-Nanosciences, Nanotechnologies, Materials and new Production Technologies , all countries, (or Energy, Environment etc )

->an informative list of projects, contacts addresses and websites for further information can be generated and further reduced as required, to target precisely one's specific field(s) of interest.

In this knowledge sharing exercise I myself have learned a lot - only one but not the least of the added values in blogging.

Merry Xmas and have an enjoyable and profitable festive season and lots of good luck in 2009.

Green and Powerful -Energy Materials posted on Materials Science and Engineering Defined-Link

Link to Green and Powerful - Energy Materials - Happy Birthday, 1st Year of Materials UK KTN-Knowledge Transfer Network

Earthquake Advanced Detection - Gas Bubbles point to tectonic activity. A route to elimination or mitigation of resulting catastrophies?

Earthquake advanced detection - New Hope?

In their December 2008 issue, the leading french science research magazine, "La Recherche" reports the findings of an international geoscience research team.

The team, from France, Germany, Italy, Turkey and USA, investigated the submerged section of the North Anatolian fault within the Marmara Sea in Northern Turkey, using acoustic techniques and submersible dives.

It appears that the abundance of gas bubbles along fault lines are related to tectonic activity. Conversely, in this study the relative absence of gas bubble emission corresponded to fault lines which have been inactive for about the last 250 years (since 1766).
The most dramatic results of Tectonic activity are of course, Earthquakes, Tsunami and Volcanoes.

The research team are of course cautious in their erudite communiqué "The long term monitoring of gas seeps could hence be highly valuable for the understanding of the evolution of the fluid-fault coupling processes during the earthquake cycle within the Marmara Sea."

But naturally the question whose answer we are all are awaitingn put brutally is: "Does the appearance of gas bubbles indicate the the likelyhood of an emmanent earthquake, and what is the corresponding bubble intensity (the latter greatley studied in Steelmaking stirring processes amoungst many other processes).

Looking forward to strong development and hopefully positive innovation.

Reference:
1. La Recherche Dec. 08 N)425. print edition.
2 Géli et al, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, online 29/08/2008.

SPOOKY? - Coal Mining Debris Rule Is Approved - This adds to Industries already poor image as a major source of CO2-GHG Emissions

As a member of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining, UK. I am posting this as much as a reminder-obligation to bring this article to the attention of out concerned professional members experts in the field as well as the wider blogger communities

"WASHINGTON — The White House on Tuesday approved a final rule that will make it easier for coal companies to dump rock and dirt from mountaintop mining operations into nearby streams and valleys.
The rule is one of the most contentious of all the regulations emerging from the White House in President Bush’s last weeks in office.

James L. Connaughton, chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, confirmed in an interview that the rule had been approved by the White House Office of Management and Budget. That clears the way for publication in the Federal Register, the last stage in the rule-making process.

Stephen L. Johnson, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, concurred in the rule, first proposed nearly five years ago by the Interior Department, which regulates coal mining.

Edward C. Hopkins, a policy analyst at the Sierra Club, said: “The E.P.A.’s own scientists have concluded that dumping mining waste into streams devastates downstream water quality. By signing off on this rule, the agency has abdicated its responsibility.”

Environmental groups like the Natural Resources Defense Council see the mountaintop mining rule and pending changes in air pollution regulations as part of a final effort by the Bush administration to cater to the needs of energy industries.

The proposal that would give more leeway to coal-burning power plants, to increase their emissions when they make repairs and renovations, was on the original wish list of the energy task force convened by Vice President Dick Cheney in 2001."


SOURCES:

1. Full news article ....

2. Graphical representation of Mountain Mining

Innovation - Ancient Scientific Observations of a Supernova given a new lease of light! – Dark Matter, White Dwarfs, Explosive Death, Milky Way

Could beauty after all - "this time" - be in the eye of the beholder!

Disclaimer: None of the above astronomical terms is intended to offense.

Joking aside;

Tycho's Brahe’s supernova began on Nov. 11, 1572, when Brahe was astonished to see what he thought was a brilliant new star in the constellation Cassiopeia. The light eventually became as bright as Venus and could be seen for two weeks in broad daylight. After 16 months, it disappeared.

This sparked the beginning of Brahe's interest in celestial phenomena and my renewed interest in how scientists managed to carry out-their work in the economies of the time? But that will have to wait.

The direct light from the supernova swept past Earth long ago. But some of it struck dust clouds in deep space, causing them to brighten. That "light echo" was still observable. The new study was based on analyzing these wavelengths so confirming what had be largely circumstantial evidence.

The observations confirm that the supernova is of a variety known as 'type 1a'. These supernovae are created by the explosion of small, dense stars called white dwarfs. They are believed to explode with a standard brightness, which makes them a good tool for gauging the distance to far-off galaxies.

In recent years, such measurements have revealed that type 1a supernovae are farther away than expected, leading researchers to propose that a mysterious force called "dark energy" is pushing galaxies away from one another. Because Brahe's supernova is in the Milky Way, studying its remains could help astronomers to better understand type 1a supernovae and dark energy itself.

Hope springs eternally? Discuss.

Source.

Nature News; from Krause, O. et al. Nature 456, 617–619 (2008).