November 4, 2009November 4, 2009

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• Choose or be chosen for…

Man creates giant rubber band ball LAUDERHILL, Fla. (AP) — Look, over there. Under that blue tarp in a suburban driveway. That thing that’s the size of a Smart car? It’s Joel Waul’s rubber band ball. Waul has spent the last six years carefully wrapping and linking and stretching rubber bands of various sizes into the ball shape. The Guinness Book of World Records declared it the world’s largest rubber band ball in 2008. A team from Ripley’s Believe it or Not came to his house with a crane and hauled the 6-foot, 7-inch tall, 9,032-pound behemoth away on a large, flatbed truck. There have been a few casualties: at 400 pounds, it rolled over his hand and sprained it. It busted his big toe. Rubber bands breaking ripped two pairs of cargo pants and broke three pairs of sunglasses. The ball grew and grew. Neighborhood kids climbed on top of it. Dogs sniffed it.

Fossil Fuels: Coal

Current usageNonrenewable

More abundant than oil, gas50X more than oil (US)40X more than gas

http://www.wsgs.uwyo.edu/WSGSgroups/Coal/Default.aspxWY coal mine

Coal Formation Source? Intermediates

PeatLigniteCoalification products

Increasing rankhttp://www.wou.edu/las/physci/GS361/Fossil%20fuels/Coal.htmhttp://www.learner.org/courses/envsci/visual/visual.php?shortname=coal_formation

Coal Resources

Reserves plentiful Limitations to use?

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=5380http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/energyexplained/index.cfm?page=coal_reserveshttp://earthsci.org/education/teacher/basicgeol/fossil_fuels/fossil_fuels.html

Possible coal production in USA

Making Coal more Versatile Gasification

Low energy yield• Uneconomical to transport or

convert to CH4

Underground conversion

LiquefactionPreviously not competitive, but…

http://www.ncpa.org/pub/ba590/https://www.llnl.gov/str/April07/Friedmann.htmlhttp://www.dkrwaf.com/fw/main/Gasification-and-Liquefaction-320.html

Environmental Impacts of Coal Usage

Production of CO2

Global warmingHealth issues

Production of ashToxic metals

Production of SO2

Acid rainOptions

• Use of scrubbers• Sulfur removal• Low-sulfur coals

http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2005/3152/http://www.waterencyclopedia.com/A-Bi/Acid-Rain.html

Coal Ash SpillCoal Ash Spill TVA reported ash spill December 22, 2008

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/25/us/25sludge.html

Offering Free Medical Screenings for Residents Who Believe They Have Been Affected by the Fly Ash Spill

Hazards of Fossil Fuel Use Coal mining

Health of workersUnderground fires

• Centralia, PAStrip mining and sulfuric acid

http://www.msha.gov/stats/charts/chartshome.htmhttp://www.ornl.gov/info/ornlreview/v33_2_00/research.htm

Beirut, Lebanon coast

August, 2006

http://www.channel6.dk/native/uk/page104.htmlhttp://www.fws.gov/northeast/njfieldoffice/News_Stories/Athos/athos.htmhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/06/sci_nat_enl_1155034082/html/1.stm

Hazards of Fossil Fuel Use Oil spills

Causes• Drilling accidents• Wars • Tanker spills

Cleanup