Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Global warming: The Earth is a beautifully complex system Chris Mooney (via the Daily Green): "No one storm says anything about climate change; but nevertheless, climate change may affect weather in the aggregate. So as we wait for news about just how destructive Dean has been, let's consider the storm from a climate perspective, bearing in mind the scientific expectation that global warming ought to intensify the average hurricane (by how much remains hotly disputed). How does Dean fit into that ongoing scientific argument?" Thanks to the Daily Kos for the link. Category: 2008 Presidential Election 6:54:21 PM     Aurora water rates help fund Prairie Waters Water customers are seeing sharply higher water bills this summer in Aurora, according to CBS4Denver.com. Higher rates are needed by the water utilities to make up for revenue shortfalls due to conservation. The higher rates also encourage conservation. In Aurora's case they are also funding new infrastructure such as Prairie Waters. From the article, "Aurora changed prices to help fund the Prairie Waters Project. The project will help Aurora draw billions of additional gallons from the South Platte River in the decades ahead. It will have to be piped 38 miles to the Aurora Reservoir. The cost is expected to be close to three quarters of a billion dollars. Water that once cost a little over $4 per 1,000 gallons is now priced by tier. The first 7,000 or 8,000 gallons cost homeowners about $3.60 per 1,000 gallons. But as use goes up, the prices rise. Category: Colorado Water 6:10:59 AM     Effluent for power plant cooling? Now here's a good idea -- Use effluent from treatment plants to cool power plants instead of pumping groundwater, from The Washington Post. From the article, "Called a closed-loop system, the plan is to pump the county's sewage to treatment stations and then route the treated sewage, known as effluent, to area power plants. Instead of groundwater, the plants would use the effluent for their cooling towers and other operations. "The new system has not entered the permitting process, and the county government is still negotiating with power plant companies over details such as building the extensive pipe network and financing the project. But government and industry officials involved in the discussions described the plan as nearly finalized." Category: Colorado Water 5:53:24 AM

© Copyright 2007 John Orr. Last update: 9/1/07; 12:48:37 PM.