Will Beijing succumb to Geothermal Quake too?

I just want to write a few lines today. I was just wondering if Beijing would be the next victim of untenable exploitation of geothermal energy. This so-called green energy is in fact fraught with danger since it heats up the upper earth crust when the vents are not managed properly. So is geothermal energy really tenable in the first place. Just like oil extraction the vicinity should not be habitable since the land would be devastated in time. The effect on farming would surface in time since the rising hydrogen chloride and reinjection of waste water would change the acidity of the fast depleting arable lands. The water table or underground reservoir had to be continually replenished to prevent overheating. Some smart ass would then resort to “Dry Heat Geothermal” energy which is basically splashing water onto hot rocks (like onto hot charcoal) to generate steam that would also rupture the upper crust.
Importantly, oil and the water table serve to act like a buffering absorbent to cushion the earth tectonic movement. This especially true for the underground water table and any vacuum from over-exploitation for geothermal plant (without adequate reinjection) would suck up massive water from nearby farming regions. This perhaps explain why vast land would “suddenly” become desert like especially in summer when both farming and geothermal energy could be competing for the same underground water table.
The latest news about Beijing showcasing

“Geothermal Utilization in Tianjin Olympic Sport Center As A Part of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games”
(from IGA News #58, October - December 2004)
(http://www.geothermie.de/iganews/no58/geothermal_utilization_in_tianji.htm)

Maybe a great opportunity for expert to give their views given the ravaged situation in the Sichuan earthquake. Perhaps it would be wise to note this article too:
“Geothermal reinjection is one of the important measures for sustainable development of geothermal resources. In the Urban, Xiaotangshan and Liangxiang etc. geothermal fields in Beijing, thermal water levels were found to be falling as a result of exploitation that started in the 1970s.

Since the implementation of a management policy for geothermal resources in Beijing in the mid-1980s, each well has been planned with a permitted extraction rate. The total exploitation of a geothermal field has been controlled to maintain stable exploitation. As a result, the thermal water drawdown has trended toward stability; it drops about 1.5 meters per year…”

Maybe Beijing should be mindful of this too.

Maybe the clock has started!

“The First Geothermal Village in China
Keyan Zheng, Geothermal Council of China Energy Society (GCES)”

… In this village peasants no longer cultivate the fields. They all live in two storey villas. There are geothermal baths and geothermal space heating in their houses. It is not the “Arabian Nights”. This is the Village of Nangong, located in a suburb of Beijing. There are 2,700 people in the village. ……
(from IGA News #61, July – September 2005)
http://www.geothermie.de/iganews/no61/china.htm

Without the multitude of water tables below the ground, being exploited in the possible mushrooming of geothermal villages in Beijing, to buffer earth movement. Well, I guess the result would be earth shattering indeed.

Maybe there is really a Earth God like what the Chinese pray too. I think she is called Mother Nature!

It’s The final countdown
(link)

So perhaps this is what “economic implosion” means after all.

Take Care

Mikey

Thinking Traffic Lights?

I think traffic lights here really have a mind of their own or am I going bonkers?

Just this morning I was riding my faithful rusting motorbike to meet my wife who had just sent our youngest son off to a camping trip, to have breakfast at the Admiralty MRT station coffee shop.

It was supposed to be just a lazy morning ride but hey no, not again, not another “THINKING” traffic light? Well you see, I have been riding a bike for more than 20 years and have encountered almost every possible scenarios that a biker can ever have, at least I think.

Well today, as I turn off from the main road along the Admiralty MRT station to a side road just opposite the wet market to make a U-turn back to the wet market carpark, the right turn arrow indicator came on and the taxi infront of me was already filtering right at the road intersection as mandated by the right turn arrow. I was following behind to make a U-turn but somehow, sensing sometime was amiss, I found two cars driving at a rather faster speed just behind my bike. The black coloured car was already honking at me as if I had intrude into his lane while on his right was another white and blue van also travelling at a similar speed. My first instinct was that I could had just possibly missed the right green turning arrow and immediately raised my left hand to signal to the already slowing black car to indicated an “apologetic” signal. He appeared to slow for a moment or two and then also turned into the wet market carpark with me following behind. He got off and disappeared rather quickly. I also got off my bike and went to the coffee shop to meet my wife. But something kept nagging my mind.

Was both car and van trying to beat the traffic light given the morning rush-to-work syndrome? That was my first thought but then again the taxi infront of me only turned right when the right green turn arrow came up. So both cars would have stopped or even slowed down. Perhaps both accelerated to beat the traffic light that have already had its right green turning arrow on. But then again, there would have to be a second or two time lapse between the red light and the right turning green light. Unless, unless, the the timing between both red light and right turn green light had been diminished resulting from maybe some technical error or perhaps even affected by recent lightning effect from thunderstorms.

Why lightning? Well, just last week, after sending my wife to work in the morning, and on my way back home, I came to a major intersection at the Causeway Point/Woodland Bus Terminal bus exit junction, all traffic lights were not working. It was drizzling slightly but there were quite a number of lightning flashes nearby. I was thinking, why is it that each time, there are lightning, traffic lights would go bonkers or fail. Failing is ok since there would be no lights and all vehicles would proceed with caution. But bonkers? No! I have often come across intersections with both directions showing green lights simultaneously. This is really dangerous given the current need-for-speed generation. Having both red lights on in all directions (during failure) would be a better option as all vehicles would proceed with utmost caution. Maybe there should be some thought here for engineers maintaining and in particular those designing traffic lights at major intersections to consider all possible scenarios if one light is down, its reverberating consequences to other light signalling to effect safe and smoother traffic conditions.

Since we are already paying so much for road taxes, perhaps, we should have more robust traffic lights that could withstand the plentiful lightnings in our tropical environment. This should be put in place first before going for more sophisticated traffic lights to catch people speeding during amber lights etc.

SAFETY COMES FIRST!

Cheers

Mikey

Myanmar Tidal Surge Disaster May 2008: My views

I have been looking at earthquake data for sometime since the “2004 Indian Ocean earthquake” (wikipedia link) and trying to make sense of the voluminous data of the other quakes from various quake monitoring agencies.

The latest tidal surge which was pinned on Cyclone Nargis however led me to look at other possible contributing factors. I looked at Hurricane Katrina and the effects of the tidal surges and the effects of Sea, Lake, and Overland Surge from Hurricanes ( SLOSH) modeling that attempted to explain the “natural” phenomenon. Following Cyclone Katrina, the US the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) etc would have improved their accuracies and predictability of the effect of cyclones on delta land. Thus many delta lands now at risks from cyclones could benefit from their expertise. I think so.

Why is it formaldehyde increasingly found in shampoos?

I I think formaldehyde are increasing found in shampoos to act as a preservative since the new shampoos nowadays have added emollient products like milk, tomato, avocado, to cater to the increasingly “discerning” masses. Is discerning equitable to being well informed?

Health Food Stall Inspectors should check process rather than stall cleanliness

I find it quite appalling whenever I visit a hawker stall and queuing for quite a while, to find that the hawker that often produce the tastiest food oft have the most unhygienic process.

Geothermal energy and earthquakes?

Dwindling oil supplies may force people to look for alternative fuel that could have disastrous backlashes in the future, right at their backyard. For example, the diversion of land to biofuel may result in immediate profit for farmer or government to offset oil prices, but the downside would be more competition for arable lands for agriculture farming for both food and biofuel. I still though my earlier idea of having a mammoth SHIT (Methane) power plant would be more feasible, at least for a metropolitan city with million of people, whether locals or migrants or just passing by… All Shit are welcome!

BEWARE OF GEOTHERMAL ENERGY BACKLASHES TOO

As I just read yesterday (5 May 0 about a series or rather swamp of tremors in Nevada that COULD NOT be possibly explain and are intriguing scientists. Well I thought so too. But then again, wasn’t there the MASSIVE series of Geothermal Plants in Nevada?

Well what has this got to do with a geothermal plant?

You see, just as recent as in Jan 2008, an series of earthquake in Switzerland was attributed to have been trigger by a Geothermal energy plant there. Neighboring Germans could feel the quake and political reverberations have reached Berlin, where questions are being raised about 70 to 80 geothermal projects which are seen as essential to Germany’s planned exit from nuclear power generation.

Imagine this compared to the massive series of geothermal plant in Nevada that is has now seen the moving of the series of tremors higher up onto the surface. Maybe the entire city would simply disappear into hell (literally in molten magma) or to that effect to whatever they are doing. Good grief!

I think the plausible explanation here is that after the oil had been sucked up dry, there are no residual “coolant” since oil act as a coolant to buffer the massive tectonic plate movements, the resultant dry hot magma masses acting like a hot charcoal would not only releases it thermal heat energy when blasted with water but could possibly also cause larger and larger fissures (cracks) to develop in the vicinity of the water inputs (maybe in a fissure algorithm) thus facilitating the unnatural tectonic movements. The fissured plates should crumple easily in time. Well I think this is a plausible explanation that I can think of for the time being.

Regionally

Looking around this region, it seemed that there was a disastrous rockslide (which was mostly reported as mudslide) in Feb 2006 that killed over a thousand people on Leyte island in Central Philippines. I am not sure how it happened but one thing for sure, there is a geothermal plant nearby.

“.. In June 2006, the PNOC Energy Development Corp.—the renewable energy subsidiary of the state-owned Philippine National Oil Co.—took over the 130-megawatt Upper Mahiao geothermal power plant. Located in the sprawling Leyte geothermal reservation in Tongonan, Upper Mahiao has been operated for the past 10 years by CE Cebu Geothermal Power Co., a Philippine corporation owned by CalEnergy Co. Inc. It began commercial operation on June 25, 1996…” (link)

Taken from Wikepedia: (link) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_Southern_Leyte_mudslide

After more than 2 years, scientists are still clueless on the cause of the catastrophe: “Was the landslide caused by ground shaking or excessive rain? This is one of the things that is not yet resolved.” Mark Albert Zarco, a professor at the Department of Engineering Sciences, University of the Philippines, Diliman and other scientists from the Philippines, Canada, United States, Japan and Sri Lanka gathered at Southern Leyte workshop, on May 3, 2008, to determine the cause of the landslide. Richard Guthrie, of University of Waterloo, Canada, stated: “We have not completely sorted out the earthquake portion of it but we have had very large rains and we have had very large earthquakes in the past; The rocks have been stretched and strained. As time moves on, the rock begins to age and die and finally it collapses. The important thing is that we’re able to know the preconditioning of the slopes.”^[10]

Comments: I thought maybe after 12 years of operation for the Leyte Geothermal Plant, maybe, there may not be enough coolant (water) recycled back onto the hot fissured rocks below. This would be particularly dangerous if the geothermal plant belongs to a particular type that in the absence of a stable geothermal reservoir, it merely flushes water onto hot dry rocks that would surely result in uncontrolled rupture and fissuring at the upper crust. This was shown in Switzerland and recently in Nevada. Maybe not all locations are feasible for geothermal energy extraction especially those with inhabitants nearby.

By the way, during the proceedings of the World Geothermal Congress 2000 held in Japan, there was already a paper “DEFORMATION IN THE LEYTE GEOTHERMAL PRODUCTION FIELD,
PHILIPPINES BETWEEN 1991 AND 1999″ that pointed to the probable under estimation of
the true deformation of the geothermal fields in the area back then.

We should be mindful of this, especially those who wants to venture into Geothermal energy. Do it wisely.

Cheers

Mikey

Metabolic newborn screening program for Phenylketonuria compulsory in Singapore?

I was wondering whether if testing for Phenylketonuria is compulsory in Singapore given the so many increasing autistic and hyperactive kids here. It only came to my mind as I was trying to confirm if my neighbour kids is indeed Phenylketonuria and hence should simply stay away from the easily available Aspartame (Sugar Free) sweet found in all schools canteens, supermarket, MRT shops etc etc.

I applaud Philippines for taking the initiative to have metabolic newborn screening that included testing for Phenylketonuria.

Aspartame, Methanol and Public Health

Do read this if you want to make sense of the present Diet Coke/Pepsi experiment using Mentos.

Ok if you do not drink the combination.

(link)

Title “Aspartame, Methanol and Public Health”.

http://thetruthaboutstuff.com/pdf/(1)%20Aspartame%20Methanol%20and%20the%20Public%20Health%201984.pdf

Also linked to blindness

“.. Aspartame is a poison because it turns into poison when consumed. The gist of my objection to the sweetener is that every molecule of it releases a molecule of methanol which, in turn, is metabolized into formaldehyde.”

“Formaldehyde is a carcinogen (causes cancer) and methanol a teratogen (causes birth defects)….”

“Formaldehyde is a very reactive substance, but dissolved in water it becomes a monster (formalin) with the propensity to attach to any protein molecule that it touches. Formaldehyde in the air causes cancers in human nasal passages, because it is so reactive, it attaches to the first moist protein with which it makes contact. ” (link)

My Comments: Notice formaldehyde had now found its way into most shampoos too nowadays.

Brain cancer also went up:

“.. In 1996, Dr. Olney showed the link between aspartame and brain cancer, up 10% after aspartame had been on the market for 3 years and one year after its inclusion in diet sodas….” (link)

http://www.myaspartameexperiment.com/index.php?page=7

No Cheers here! Seriously!

Looks like only those living in isolations like the Amish or Taliban or Others are buffered from this ravage earth poisoning and counter-poisoning. We need to help one another.

Mikey

What makeths a good reading.

It is not too difficult to gauge. But one thing for sure , the writings have to be smooth. If you notice my intentionally use of the word “But” to commence the second sentence, might draw a few or even many “Oh my God! such bad grammar” to the seemingly well-schooled English-educated populace. But to me it is an “emphasizing congruity conjunction” with the first sentence, at least for continuity sake. This natural narrative form of essay writings tend to promote faster reading with lesser stoppages or disruption and this is perhaps the sole reason why children prefer to read novels than science books, unless the latter is filled with lots of drawings and clever illustrations. The former draws on imagination.

I am particular pissed off by the overly use of euphemism especially those that tend to veer towards the promotion of hidden agenda in their writings. This is especially bad for child’s novels as it tends to confuse a child at such early age and could inevitably kills his joy of reading if overly exposed to such “bad” writings.  This often happens in formal writings and seemed to have creped into many mainstream newspapers. It makeths reading difficult and arduously painful trying to interpret what the author is writing. They isn’t much joy in reading such “carefully” inserted or worded text. It may seem clever to the writer but to make a reader stop and think so many times within such a short span of (few) columns seemed pretty ridiculous.

Often when my reading inadvertently comes to a halt, it is often due to the insertion of euphemistic words wither by the editor or journalist that makeths or kills the article. I would jump to another article.

So when I go to the library, it is often with an open mind, to just flip pages of any novel and if it makeths for good reading than I might just borrow that book. To see the world through the author’s writings and to relive his or her adventure or even escapism that this “civilised” world have otherwise stagnated through so much power struggle. But the author has to be real. It is just like listening to a song, it is often the singer’s natural vocal and tonal expression that immediately appeal to you before even knowing who that person is. Often that person is good before the destructive effect of the media sets in.

So continuity and congruity is the key and often at the expense of brevity. And that is also why certain newspapers are faring better than others. Besides being informative, perhaps, they have the readability appeal factor.

Cheers!

Mikey

Aspartame - killing us sweetly?

I always tell my kid NOT to consume anything that is SUGAR-FREE. No. Not because I wanted them to be obese but because I have been following the controversial topic on aspartame as a NEURO-TOXIIN for some time now.

When I said SUGAR-FREE, it mostly meant ASPARTAME (a brain chemical agent) that had been approved as a food additive to improve taste (mimicking sweet taste) and importantly to maintain a certain form of cravings for sustained consumerism addictiveness to sweet taste.