Go Green! : Acid Rain

 The process of making acid rain

Certain pollutants such as NO, NO₂, and SO₂ form acids when mixed with water. NO and NO₂, primarily from vehicular emissions, combine with atmospheric oxygen and water to form Nitric acid, HNO₃(aq). SO₂ primarily from coal-powered electricity generation, combines with atmospheric oxygen and water to form Sulfuric acid,  H₂SO₄(aq). Both HNO₃(aq) and H₂SO₄(aq) cause rainwater to become acidic. The problem is greatest in the Northeastern United States where pollutants from Midwestern electrical power plants combine with rainwater to produce rain with acid levels that are up to 10 times normal.

Plants are also become a victim
of acid rain

When acid rain falls or flows into lakes and streams, it makes them even more acidic. Some species of aquatic animals such as trout, bass, snails, salamanders, and clams cannot tolerate the increased acidity and die. This then disturbs the ecosystem of the lake, resulting in imbalances that may lead to the death of other aquatic species. Acid rain also weakens trees by dissolving nutrients in the soil and washing them away and by damaging their leaves. Appalachian red spruce trees have been the hardest hit, with many forests showing significant acid rain damage.

A statue affected by acid rain

Acid rain also degrades building materials. Acids dissolve CaCO₃ (limestone), a main component of marble and concrete, and also iron, the main component of steel. Consequently, many statues, buildings, and bridges in the Northeastern United States have been harmed by acid rain. For example, some historical gravestones, made of limestone, are barely legible due to acid rain damage. Although acid rain has been a problem for many years, recent legislation has offered hope for change, in 1990, Congress passed several amendments to the Clean Air Act that included provisions requiring electrical utilities to lower SO₂ emissions.Since then, SO₂ emissions have decreased and rain in the Northeastern United States has become somewhat less acidic. With time, and with continued enforcement of the acid rain program, lakes, streams, and forests damaged by acid rain should recover.

Go Green! : Clean Coal Technology Today

As intellectuals’ world over are harping on the clean usage of coal or how cleaner coal can be, industrial nations are once again on the back foot, and many of them have asked their scientists to actively pursue Clean Coal technologies, and come up with a viable solution to cut down on CO2 emissions. Any way, one thing is quite evident, and it is there on the wall to be seen for all; with global temperature constantly on the rise in the last few decades, and significant climatic changes sweeping down on all parts of the world, time is fast running out for humanity to find a way to check CO2 emissions.

Coal today, or for many decades in fact, has been the major source for power generation in most countries across the globe, thanks to its cheap availability on earth. But the byproducts of coal combustion are what actually are causing all the troubles. In order to contain the environmental impact, scientists have come up with method such as gasification, chemically washing impurities/minerals from raw coal, chemical treatments to remove sulfur dioxide from flue gas, and certain methods to capture and store carbon compounds from the flue gas so that it is no more released into the open atmosphere. All these technologies/methods are described by the umbrella term ‘clean coal technologies’.

If our scientific community has been so successful in devising clean coal technologies, then why CO2 emissions from burning of coal still remain a thorny issue? Well, that is mainly due to the prohibitive cost of implementing methods for the capture/storing of CO2. Lack of will from the industrial nation’s part is also partly responsible for the non-solving of this issue, even though government funded research on the finding reliable technologies are now pursued actively in countries like US, Russia, and the EU. For example, US’ FutureGen, a public-private partnership project, and Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) are a couple of clean coal initiatives under development today.

Given the current pace of research, it may take some more years realistically before somebody actually comes up with a reliable and economic clean coal technology that has pan world relevance. Until that happens, the onus is on individual nations, and its people, to play their part in checking CO2 emissions, and follow a green lifestyle as much as possible. It is time we take things into our own hands to protect our environment.

Go Green! : Biodiesel

In this age when mankind is consuming excessive quantities of fossil fuels and thus depleting the already restricted reserves of oil, the high costs of fuels has made it necessary to look for alternative solutions with which to power mankind forward. Thus, there is a gradual shift towards more reliable as well as alternative solutions to fossil fuel such as biodiesel. According to experts and also those that are enthused by this energy source, biodiesel may well in fact turn out to be fuel that will power us forward in the times to come.

In fact, biodiesel also contains some of the same characteristics as are found in traditional diesels. However, biodiesel is essentially obtained from vegetable oils that are of superior quality and can be produced through large scale manufacturing processes – like in a refinery or on a smaller scale such as in a home where a kit can do the job admirably well. Today, biodiesel is essentially considered an alternative to most diesel fuels.

Depending on the geographical location, biodiesel is produced through use of different plants and in theory it is possible to create biodiesel with the help of just about any vegetable. However, in America, it is generally produced from corn which is commonly grown in that country.

In Europe, however rapseed is the plant used for producing biodiesel while in Southeast Asia it is obtained from Soybeans. However, once these plants have been put through the manufacturing process, the end result is the same regardless of the type of plant used.

The name of the manufacturing process that takes, as the main ingredient, vegetable oil that is in its purest form is known as ester interchange and it involves combining the vegetable oil with small quantities of Methanol which are then together put in alkaline catalyst to change the vegetable oil’s makeup.

Once the process is completed, you will get a fuel that burns cleanly and which has the same viscosity as that of the regular diesel fuel. Today, biodiesel is only used to replace those diesel fuels that are petroleum based. In any case, there is no doubting that this alternative energy source is economical and also very efficient and thus will, once its manufacturing processes are thoroughly understood and mastered, prove to be the answer to our energy needs while also ensuring minimum pollution to the environment.

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Pictures:

• http://www.stickerguy.com/stikweek/biodiesel-big.gif
  

• https://reich-chemistry.wikispaces.com/file/view/biodiesel-flow-chart.gif/76288631/biodiesel-flow-chart.gif
• http://dieselnews.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/biodiesel-soybeans.jpg

Source: http://www.physicspost.com/science-article-233.html