Comments on: Next They Will Be Campaigning to Save the Oil Residue on Alaskan Beaches

By: CRG

CRG — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 09:58:27 +0000

The reason that people say the sea’s death would be a disaster is that the micro-fine silt at the bottom of the sea would become wind-blown dust (the area has frequent strong winds) that would cause some serious respiratory problems for any humans within a 50-mile radius.

And as far as that sea-to-sea plan? It sounds utterly ridiculous. But I have to keep reminding myself that sometimes it’s the utterly ridiculous idea that ends up being the only one that actually works. Most of the time, though, the utterly ridiculous idea is just, well, utterly ridiculous.

By: steep

steep — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 17:35:52 +0000

What’s even funnier is that the Sea is drying up because the upstream farmers have become more efficient with their water use. The can sell the water they used to spill to the sea to LA and SD and still grow their crops.

By: Brad K.

Brad K. — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 15:41:46 +0000

Since the water in the ocean isn’t pristine, isn’t pure “salt”, has stuff growing in it – and residues of runoff muck and locally generated living things detritus – won’t the “leavings” of desalting ocean water, um, be an ecological problem? Especially after you accumulate more than a couple hundred pounds? Not to mention, the biological component would likely contribute stinks and methane to the air, neither of which will endear the effort to any neighbors.

I gotta vote for sticking close to the source of the salt water, with a long pipe out past the shoreline for returning “unwanted” components to the source. Heck, the warmed water slurry, rich in minerals and biological components (fish poop and dead algae), might spark a local bloom of algae, crudding up propellers and tourist boat hulls, but taking down excess atmospheric greenhouse gases.

It worked for Forrest Gump, in the books, anyway.

By: stan

stan — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 11:54:34 +0000

About ten years ago, the DOE facilities (Y-12, X-10) in Oak Ridge were ordered by the EPA to stop putting chlorine into the creeks on the grounds that it was harmful to the fish that lived in them. The creeks were formed by the water released from the cooling towers. Without the chlorinated water from the towers, the creeks would never have existed.

By: Ian Random

Ian Random — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 08:18:15 +0000

They pump water when electricity is cheap and let it run through the generator when it is expensive. Sometimes, they do it with air. I heard of one that used an intermittent renewable like wind and underground caverns.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pumped-storage_hydroelectricity

By: ArtD0dger

ArtD0dger — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 07:21:05 +0000

According to this, the Salton Sea is 228′ below sea level, so there could be a net power production from filling it:
http://www.totalescape.com/destin/lakes/salton.html

I also doubt they count the power cost of any irrigation pumping against this. It could still net positive if most of the irrigation was also below sea level.

By: Craig

Craig — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 06:17:47 +0000

I’ve heard of projects which try to play on the difference in electric rates between day and night by pumping water uphill at night (when it’s cheap to do so) and running it down the hill during the day (when demand is higher).

By: redc1c4

redc1c4 — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 05:52:00 +0000

i didn’t go look for a web page with the plan, but if they bring water from the Colorado, it would be more or less down hill from there to the Salton Sea, and thence to the Sea of Cortez…

not that that means the plan makes any more sense, but it would be better than pushing the water uphill all the way.

By: Fred Z

Fred Z — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 04:47:58 +0000

You want math and logic from enviro-lefties? What the hell is the matter with you?