Ear To The Ground

Photoelectric cells to dye for

Is it possible to efficiently harness the often dim and indirect light found inside a room (e.g., from incandescent bulbs, fluorescent tubes, compact fluorescent bulbs, and light emitting diodes). The answer would now appear to be "yes."

A Walsh firm claims to have taken the efficiency of dye-based cells from 15% to 26%, which if correct would allow its economically efficient deployment indoors. Dye-based cells were invented at the Federal Polytechnic School of Lausanne, Switzerland, in the 1990's. Tinker with the composition of the dye, and the frequency of light that can be captured can be adjusted to make dye-based cells more flexible than silicon cells.

The dye molecules are bound to titanium dioxide, a less expensive semiconductor than silicon. The assembly is immersed in an electrolyte and sandwiched between two electrodes. When a photon of light is absorbed by a dye molecule, an electron is knocked into the titanium dioxide. Thereafter the electron travels to one of the two electrodes and a current is generated. Another advantage of dye-based cells is that they are literally flexible; some are already being woven into clothing to power cell phones, IPods etc.

Another potential market is to provide photovoltaics in regions in which silicon cells are not that well suited, such as areas frequently overcast or foggy.

Further information on dye-based cells can be found at: http://www.g24i.com/news,dye-sensitized-solar-to-go,179.html; http://www.g24i.com/news,dye-sensitized-cells-break-new-record,215.html; http://www.theengineer.co.uk/sectors/energy-and-environment/news/dye-based-organic-pvs-could-remove-need-for-batteries/1012299.article; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dye-sensitized_solar_cell; and, http://www.greenmanufacturer.net/news/power-sources/2012/04/12/new-record-set-for-recycling-indoor-light-to-electricity.

U.S. Supreme Court notes that compliance orders are reviewable before action has to be taken

Until a couple of weeks ago, the lower Federal courts generally held that an entity subject to a compliance order had to implement the actions required before being in a position to challenge the order and perhaps seek reimbursement for unnecessary expenditures.  Not so anymore.

The EPA issued a compliance order which accused the landowners of depositing fill materials on a residential lot they owned, stated that the owners engaged in the discharge of pollutants into a navigable waterway without a permit, in violation of § 301 of the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. Section 1311, and directed the owners to restore the site in accordance with an EPA-created restoration work plan.  The EPA denied the owners' request for a hearing, and the owners sued the EPA, claiming that the EPA acted arbitrarily and capriciously in violation of 5 U.S.C. Section 706(2)(A), and violated their right to due process of law, when it issued the compliance order.  Like most environmental laws, the penalty for not implementing the compliance order is very large under the CWA (may not "exceed [$37,500] per day for each violation."  21 U.S.C. Section 1319(d)).

The landowners sought declarative and injunctive relief, but the District Court dismissed the claims for want of subject-matter jurisdiction.  The Ninth Circuit affirmed, concluding that the Clean Water Act precluded pre-enforcement judicial review of compliance orders and that such preclusion did not violate due process.  On appeal, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously disagreed.

The Court, at 2012 U.S. LEXIS 2320, found that the APA provides for judicial review of "final agency action for which there is no other adequate remedy in a court."  5 U.S.C. Section 704.  The compliance order here has all the hallmarks of APA finality.  Through it, the EPA determined rights or obligations, and required the landowners to restore their property according to an agency-approved plan and to give the EPA access. The Court also found that legal consequences flow from the order, which, according to the Government's litigating position, exposes the landowners to double penalties in future enforcement proceedings. The order also severely limits their ability to obtain a permit for their fill from the Army Corps of Engineers per 33 U.S.C. Section 1344 and 33 C.F.R. Section 326.3(e)(1)(iv). 

Further, the order's issuance marks the consummation of the agency's decisionmaking process for the EPA's findings in the compliance order were not subject to further agency review.  The landowners also had "no other adequate remedy in a court," as required by 5 U.S.C. Section 704.  A civil action brought by the EPA under 33 U.S.C. Section 1319 ordinarily provides judicial review in such cases, but the landowners could not initiate that process.  Each day they failed to implement the order, additional potential liability accrued.  The Court also found that applying to the Corps of Engineers for a permit and then filing suit under the APA if that permit is denied also does not provide an adequate remedy for the EPA's action.

Overturning case law that the lower courts have followed for years, the Court found that the CWA is not a statute that "preclude[s] judicial review" under the APA.  Instead, the APA was seen as creating a presumption favoring judicial review of administrative action.

 

Could the Amazon become a GHG emitter rather than a sink?

The Amazon has long been conceived of as a CO2 sink because of its mass of vegetation. Researchers are now concerned that drought and deforestation may make it a net emitter.

Because of regular measurements of about 100,000 trees, researchers estimate that the Amazon was absorbing about 1.5 billion tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) annually at the turn of the century. Plants absorb the gas during photosynthesis, storing the carbon component as leaves, wood, and roots, and injecting it into the soil. The entire rain forest is thought to contain about 100 billion tons of carbon, equivalent to 10 years of global CO₂ emissions from burning fossil fuels. However, mass tree deaths brought about by recent droughts and deforestation may be pushing the region to a point at which it will give off more of the greenhouse gas than it absorbs. That effect is seen currently at the Amazon’s southern and eastern edges in places where forests have been cleared by loggers or burned to make room for cattle and crops.

These bald patches have two adverse impacts. First, they store little carbon. Second, they threaten remaining trees by reducing the amount of moisture that is released into the air and by pulling rain away from the surrounding forest. Dry seasons in the southern and eastern fringes of the Amazon have gotten longer. When the rains do come, precipitation that would have been captured by forest runs off into rivers instead. A 2003 study found that water flowing through the Tocantins River in southeastern Amazonia increased by nearly 25% as croplands spread to encompass almost half of the land providing drainage for the river.

For now, the impact of this deforestation will probably remain confined to these peripheral parts of the Amazon. However, one computer simulation suggested that a surge in deforestation that cleared 40 percent of the Amazon basin could trigger a tipping point, a runaway conversion of forest to savanna. Critics note that the uncertainties are sufficiently large as to make such predictions of questionable merit.

Climate change, rather than direct deforestation, may ultimately be the factor that threatens the Amazon as a whole. Rising global temperatures are predicted to warm waters in the Atlantic Ocean and stimulate the El Nino weather patterns that influence how much rain falls on the Amazon, making droughts more frequent and more severe. [The same weather patterns in the Pacific Ocean influence rainfall in the Western U.S.] Trees in the Amazon’s interior are resilient against drought since their roots reach far below the surface, tapping deep water sources that provide sustenance during lean times. There are limits. In a study reported in 2010, researchers channeled away up to half of the rain falling on small plots of land in eastern Amazonia for seven years. By the third year, tree growth had slowed substantially and tree death had nearly doubled.

A severe dry spell in 2005 had a significant impact. Rainfall decreased over a third of the Amazon, by as much as 75 percent in some places. At the time, scientists estimated that the forest released more than 1.5 billion tons of carbon as trees died off, and labeled the devastation a once-in-a-century event. Then an even worse drought hit in 2010, when an even larger area lost even more carbon. An analysis of satellite images reported last April showed significant signs of adverse effects. These events may be a statistical fluke. It is also important to try to bear in mind the impacts of normal variability in contrast to longterm trends.

Prudence would suggest that deforestation should be minimized as much as possible.

Reports on this topic can be found at http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v481/n7381/abs/nature10717.html; http://www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/2011/2011GL046824.shtml; http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1469-8137.2010.03309.x/abstract; & http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022169403002671.

Methylene chloride (dichloromethane) linked to 13 deaths since 2000 from use as paint stripper

Methylene chloride is used in a wide variety of applications: Extraction solvent for decaffeination of coffee, extraction solvent for spices and beer hops, dip-type metal cleaner, vapor degreasing of metals, carrier solvent in the textile industry, aerosol, refrigerant, low temperature heat-transfer agent, and in chemical processing (e.g., manufacture of polycarbonate plastics, insecticides and herbicides, pharmaceuticals). It is also used to fumigate grain and for oil dewaxing. See http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/search/f?./temp/~OG1F60:1:use.  However, it is also used in residential settings because it is a fast, efficient paint stripper; it is available in at least 42 products sold at home improvement stores and on the Internet.  Unfortunately, if proper precautions are not taken, its use can be fatal.

Methylene chloride is rapidly absorbed through the lungs into the circulatory system.  It is also absorbed from the stomach and gut; dermal exposure results in absorption, but at a slower rate than via other routes of exposure.  Methylene chloride is quite rapidly excreted, mostly via the lungs.  It can cross the blood-brain barrier and be transferred across the placenta.  At high concentrations, most of the absorbed methylene chloride is exhaled unchanged.  The acute effects are primarily associated with the central nervous system, lungs, kidneys, and the liver.  The main toxic effects of methylene chloride are reversible CNS "depression" and carboxyhemoglobin formation (replaces oxygen in red blood cells with carbon dioxide).  

Researchers at the Univ. of Michigan recently identified two deaths from workers refinishing bathtubs; methylene chloride paint strippers were apparently being used to remove epoxy paint.  In both cases the workers were using paint stripping materials labeled for use in paint removal from aircraft.  However, in the confined space of a bathroom, they were overcome by the fumes and died.  The researchers identified 13 deaths nationwide related to methylene chloride in paint stripping materials.  A confounding factor is assessing the extent of such deaths is that the mortality can be mistaken for a heart related fatality.

Most regulation in the U.S. focuses on methylene chloride as a carcinogen; it has been listed as such under California's Prop. 65 since 1988.  Last year the EU banned methylene chloride from furniture stripping agents.  The Michigan report suggests that more aggressive warnings should be given on labels, or the U.S. should follow the EU and ban methylene chloride from stripping agents.

The report on the fatalities can be found at http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6107a2.htm.  

Global Warming: There are reasonable, cost-effective steps that can slow the temperature rise, but they may be rendered moot by massive increases in CO2

First, some good news. Prior posts have noted repeatedly the key role that methane plays in global warming (the longterm trend in temperature, not seasonal or annual variations). Prior posts have also noted the role that particulates-aerosols play in global warming, and their adverse effect on human health.

Cutting the amounts of methane and "soot" that are poured into the atmospher would diminish warming by half a degree Celsius by 2050, researchers allege. That might buy time for the world to act, by slowing sea level rise, glacial melting, and other problems caused by rising temperatures. Targeting these agents of climate change would also improve air quality, potentially preventing up to 4.7 million premature deaths every year, the researchers believe. Compared to controlling CO2, these strategies are relatively inexpensive.

The researchers found that methane control was a key tool to slow global warming. Implementing controls already being used in various parts of the world would prevent atmospheric loading of methane from coal mines, livestock manure, landfills, and other sources noted in prior posts. Putting filters on cars that burn diesel, for example, could trap the soot which absorbs sunlight and heat the atmosphere. Soot also, as noted previously, darkens snow and glaciers, which hasten their melting. Critics of the latter aspect to the strategy note that some sources of soot also give off particles that reflect sunlight, cooling the planet. Clearly some critical assessment needs to be done.

The report can be found at http://www.sciencemag.org/content/335/6065/183.abstract.

Now the bad news. The increasing use of coal for power generation in China and India, and for that matter across Asia, is likely to lead to a large increase in CO2 emissions. Unfortunately neither solar nor wind will offer affordable electricity on a large enough scale to slow this expansion of coal-fired generation, even with the potential significant increases in efficiency noted in prior posts. It is also unlikely that natural gas will supplant coal in this region.

The International Energy Agency has compared the likely result of this massive increase in coal-fired generation with the goal often put forth of holding global warming to below 2 degrees C this century. Given the plants "in the pipeline" it is likely that enough generating capacity will be online by 2017, believes the IEA, that this goal will not be met.

A discussion of this issue can be found at http://www.economist.com/node/21548237.

EPA releases final health assessment for Tetrachloroethylene (aka Perc)

EPA has posted its final health assessment for tetrachloroethylene (aka perc) to its Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS).

Perc is widely used in the dry cleaning industry, although states such as California are requiring that it be phased out.  See http://epa.gov/oppt/existingchemicals/pubs/perchloroethylene_fact_sheet.html and http://www.arb.ca.gov/toxics/dryclean/dryclean.htm.  Because of design and operational failures in dry cleaning machines and businesses in the past, perc is unfortunately a common pollutant found in groundwater.  It was also a commonly used degreaser in the 1950's and 1960's, and such operations combined with sloppy disposal practices also added to groundwater contamination.

EPA states that it does not believe that wearing clothes dry cleaned with perc will result in exposures which pose a risk of concern.  EPA has already taken several significant actions to reduce exposure to perc, including but not limited to setting clean air standards for dry cleaners that use perc (which includes a phase-out of the use of perc by dry cleaners in residential buildings by December 21, 2020). EPA also set limits for the amount of perc allowed in drinking water and levels for cleaning up perc at Superfund sites throughout the country, which will be updated in light of the IRIS assessments.  For the California MCL, see www.swrcb.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/gama/docs/coc_pce.pdf.  

The toxicity values reported in the perc IRIS assessment will be considered in:
• Establishing cleanup levels at the hundreds of Superfund sites where perc is a contaminant.
• Revising EPA’s Maximum Contaminant Level for perc as part of the carcinogenic volatile organic compounds group in drinking water, as described in the agency’s drinking water strategy.
• Evaluating whether to propose additional limits on the emissions of perc into the atmosphere, since perc is considered a hazardous air pollutant under the Clean Air Act.

The IRIS data can be found at http://www.epa.gov/iris/subst/0106.htm. 

Other details on perc can be found at http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/search/f?./temp/~5diRx9:1:FULL.

Formaldehyde is found in a broad range of clothing and household products

Formaldehyde is a Group 1 human carcinogen. See http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/search/f?./temp/~rv3mMw:1:care.  In the past, exposure to the populace was often linked to its presence in glues and binders used in furniture and paneling, although it is also found in shampoo, conditioners, and water-based paints.  See http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/search/f?./temp/~rv3mMw:1:use.

An August 2010 study by GAO has shown that it is also present in a range of clothing and household products which are treated with a resin in order to keep them "wrinkle-free"; the resin releases formaldehyde.  Formaldehyde is commonly found in a broad range of consumer products, including sheets, pillow cases, drapes, upholstery, shampoos, lotions, and eye shadow.  The United States does not regulate formaldehyde levels in clothing, most of which is now made overseas. Nor does any government agency require manufacturers to disclose the use of the chemical on labels.  However, in California, it does come within Proposition 65's warning requirements if certain exposure criteria are exceeded.

Most of the 180 items tested, largely clothes and bed linens, had low or undetectable levels of formaldehyde that met the voluntary industry guidelines based on standards in Japan, which are among the most stringent.  However, about 5.5% of the items exceeded the most stringent standards of 75 ppm, for products that touch the skin.  Levels must be undetectable, or less than 20 ppm for children under 3 years, and can be as high as 300 ppm for products like outerwear that do not come into direct contact with the skin.  Some of the highest levels were found in men's no-iron shirts.

EPA is in the process of developing emission standards for pressed wood products.  See http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/e77fdd4f5afd88a3852576b3005a604f/1428c8203841ad17852577c100560350!OpenDocument.

The August 2010 GAO report can be found at http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-10-875.

Wood stoves help to reduce cases of severe pneumonia in young children in LDC's

Pneumonia in children, although rare in the U.S., kills more children worldwide than any other disease (estimated to be 1.6 million deaths per year).  [Prior posts have noted, though, the adverse impact of various air pollutants on urban children.]

Researchers hypothecated that open fires used for heating and cooking are a major cause of childhood pneumonia.  To test the thesis, they selected 534 households in rural Guatemala, each containing a pregnant woman or a young infant.  Households were randomly assigned a chimney-stove; as such 265 had chimney stoves and 253 used traditional cooking fires.  Trained field workers visited each home every two weeks to record the children's health status; sick children were referred to doctors.  They also assessed the state of the chimney stoves and made necessary repairs.  CO measurements were taken for 48 hours every 3 months. 

Although the intervention did not reduce the number of childhood pneumonia cases, it did reduce severe pneumonia cases by 30%.  This reduction was akin to that achieved by vaccinations and nutrional supplements.

The study can be found at http://cleancookstoves.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Household-Cookstoves.pdf and http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(11)60921-5/abstract.    

California Superior Court blocks regional GHG regulations for failing to undertake CEQA review

In Nov. 2010 the California Building Industry Association (CBIA) filed suit against the Bay Area Air Quality Management District’s (BAAQMD) CEQA Guidelines re GHG emissions. Among other requirements, environmental evaluations were required if a project was to be built within 1,000 feet of a freeway, oil refinery,or other air pollution source. Developments producing 1,100 metric tons of GHG emissions per year would have to draft environmental reports as part of the approval process. [In California, the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) is substantive law, not merely procedural law, unlike NEPA.] The Guidelines had been expected to be a model for other air quality management districts in California.

On Jan. 16, 2012, the Alameda County Superior Court struck down the Guidelines on the grounds that the Guidelines themselves must first undergo a CEQA review. Although the Court has not yet issued a written order, it is expected to set aside the Guidelines unless and until BAAQMD conducts CEQA review. The Court noted that the BAAQMD should have reviewed the environmental impact of the Guidelines, including their impact on future growth and transportation patterns. The CIBA had, among other bases, claimed that the Guidelines would exacerbate urban sprawl, thus hindering compliance with AB 32, California's law to reduce GHG emissions to 1990 levels by 2020.

The BAAQMD has not yet announced if it will appeal. [Expect an appeal.]

The case is California Building Industry Assoc. v. Bay Area Air Quality Management District, Alameda County Superior Court, Docket No. RG10548693.

Air pollution may be causing mega-cyclones striking India & the Middle East

It is well known that warm sea-surface temperatures can boost the intensity of hurricanes (known in the Indian Ocean as cyclones).  For many decades water in the Arabian Sea has been warm, which should enhance the strength of cyclones.  However, regional winds in the upper and lower atmosphere tend to blow briskly in opposing directions, resulting in vertical wind shear [see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_shear].  This phenomenon can have a major impact on the strength of storms [see, for example, http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/(Gh)/guides/mtr/svr/comp/wind/home.rxml].  Thus, mega-cyclones were relatively rare, until recently.

Researchers analyzed every regional tropical cyclone for the last 30 years.  None had occurred during the monsoon season, and before 1998, cyclones in the months before and after that rainy season seldom reached wind speeds exceeding about 80 kph. But since 1998, five large storms reached wind speeds double the "norm" (sometimes exceeding 185 kph).  The researchers found that in premonsoon months there had been a slow decrease in the average vertical wind shear, from 11 meters per second to 8 meters per second; they concluded that the lower speed appeared to represent some type of threshold.  At the lower range, mega-cyclones were possible.

The researchers ultimately linked the steady decrease in vertical wind shear in cyclone seasons with a 3-kilometer-thick brown cloud of soot and other pollutant particles (e.g., aerosols [see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerosol]) in the region’s lower atmosphere.  This pollution has increased sixfold in 80 years, and now filters roughly 10% of sunlight, preventing it from reaching the sea surface.  Computer analyses indicated that the pollution cloud’s cooling effect on the ocean below has slowed wind speeds in the atmosphere, and allowed storm intensities to increase.

Critics could not unreasonably focus on the modest data set of mega-cyclones that were available for analysis.  However, the researchers appear to have identified a reasonable causal relationship.

This analysis demonstrates a fascinating interplay between global warming and air quality.

The report can be found at http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v479/n7371/full/nature10552.html.

For more information on related topics, see http://www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/2005/2005GL023125.shtml and http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/tcfaq/tcfaqHED.html.