Orion, thunderstorms, and thousands more: how has life on earth thrived under constant gamma-ray bombardment?

by Stephen E. Aplin • December 15, 2014 • 8 Comments

Orion, the most prominent winter asterism in the northern hemisphere. Just above his “head” is the Crab Nebula, a supernova remnant at the heart of which is a pulsar which has produced the most intense gamma-ray flares ever recorded.

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Ripoff in realtime: is wind power really worth it?

by Stephen E. Aplin • December 3, 2014 • 4 Comments

Right now, the 27 wind farms in Ontario are generating roughly 2,000 megawatts of power. Wind power proponents are applauding: this is one of the very rare moments when the “capability” of the wind fleet has been as high as…

by Stephen E. Aplin • December 3, 2014 • 0 Comments

Among the top ten countries of the world in terms of total primary energy supply (TPES), four—Germany, France, South Korea, and Canada—are nowhere even near the top ten in terms of population. And of the six that are in the…

by Stephen E. Aplin • November 24, 2014 • 9 Comments

Hemlock Varnish Shelf (Ganoderma tsugae), a deadwood eating mushroom whose preference, as the name implies, is hemlock. The carbon dioxide this fungus breathes out is part of the global natural carbon cycle. If we humans burn the hemlock for heat or power, the CO2 produced by the combustion must be categorized as anthropogenic. Photo by Margaret Yee, Johnson Trail, Muskoka County, Ontario, November 2012.

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Nuclear power in Argentina: anti-proliferation fiddling while the world burns

by Stephen E. Aplin • November 20, 2014 • 1 Comment

Argentina’s third nuclear power plant, Atucha II, a.k.a. Presidente Nestor Kirchner, went critical in early June of this year and will reach full power—roughly 745 megawatts—within weeks if not days. This will give Argentina some 5.5 billion kilowatt-hours of clean…

by Stephen E. Aplin • November 11, 2014 • 5 Comments

Argentina came within a hair’s breadth of winning the 2014 FIFA World Cup. I actually watched the game. It was thrilling, even for a hockey fan like me. And heartbreaking, if you were pulling for Argentina—especially because even in the…

Table A1: Total Ontario generation, and related CO₂ emissions, in hour preceding 06:05 EST on Jan 26 2015
FUEL	MWh	CO₂, tons
Nuclear	11,432	0
Hydro	3,745	0
Gas	2,775	1,387
Wind	926	0
Biofuel	20	11
Oil & Gas	0	0
Coal	0	0
TOTAL	18,898	1,398
CO₂ intensity per kWh (CIPK) in the last hour: 73.98 grams.

Table A2: Total Ontario generation, and related CO₂ emissions, midnight to 06:05 EST on Jan 26 2015
FUEL	MWh	CO₂, tons
Nuclear	76,877	0
Hydro	27,737	0
Gas	12,893	6,577
Wind	7,677	0
Biofuel	133	73
Oil & Gas	0	0
Coal	0	0
TOTAL	125,317	6,650
Average CO₂ intensity per kWh (CIPK) over period: 52.79 grams.

Actual Ontario grid	Gas replaces nuclear
1,398	7,686
73.98	406.69
Tons CO₂ CIPK, grams If gas had replaced nuclear last hour, Ontario power plants would have dumped enough CO₂ to fill Rogers Centre 2.7 times. As it was, 1,398 tons were dumped, which would fill Rogers Centre 0.5 times.

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