Green diesel any one?

[avanti]

Many of the post-environmental-apocalypse novels seem to feature giant blimps.

[Bobnoxious]

Originally Posted by autostaretx

Russia still does have one (ex-Soviet) nuclear-powered cargo ship ... it appeared in a recent photo which woke me up to its existence. It was off their Arctic coast.

Quoting Wikipedia:
Nuclear-powered, civil merchant ships have not developed beyond a few experimental ships. The US-built NS Savannah, completed in 1962, was primarily a demonstration of civil nuclear power and was too small and expensive to operate economically as a merchant ship. The design was too much of a compromise, being neither an efficient freighter nor a viable passenger liner. The German-built Otto Hahn, a cargo ship and research facility, sailed some 650,000 nautical miles (1,200,000 km) on 126 voyages over 10 years without any technical problems.[citation needed] However, it proved too expensive to operate and was converted to diesel. The Japanese Mutsu was dogged by technical and political problems. Its reactor had significant radiation leakage and fishermen protested against the vessel's operation. All of these three ships used low-enriched uranium. Sevmorput, a Soviet and later Russian LASH carrier with icebreaking capability, has operated successfully on the Northern Sea Route since it was commissioned in 1988. As of 2012, it is the only nuclear-powered merchant ship in service.

Russia also has nuclear-powered ice breakers.

--dick (who remembers the Savannah, photo here: https://www.flexport.com/blog/nuclea...d-cargo-ships/ )
Much more info: http://www.world-nuclear.org/informa...red-ships.aspx

Frightening!

[autostaretx]

Originally Posted by Bobnoxious

Frightening!

I'm going to vote on the "not really" side of that ... so far.

If you read the "Much more info" link i provided, you'll see a fairly deep and detailed description of the (very safe, so far) reliable operation of ship-board reactors.

Yes, the Japanese vessel leaked ... but the overall run of naval reactors have been quite safe (to the outside environment), despite the Soviet/Russian disposal method of "scuttle off the northern coast". (they're being slowly raised and properly dismantled).

Yes, there have been accidents (a criticality event or fire that killed crewmembers (frequently by radiation)), but the containment vessels themselves have held up. Some of the ship-board issues of liquid metal cooling may not affect land-based powerplants (with a local grid to help).

Fossil fuel powerplants are not 100% safe either ... people die through conventional boiler explosions, too.

If, however, everybody and their brother-in-law starts cobbling together reactor systems, the reliability record may suffer.

--dick
p.s. the fuel mix in current shipboard reactors is quite high in U235. That kind'a limits things.

[Bobnoxious]

So was Fukushima Chernobyl and 3-mile Island Until......It's not a matter of "if" there will be a catastrophic failure, only when. Nuclear energy is not safe no way, no how and not under any circumstances, PERIOD!

Oh, I forgot about Browns ferry.

[boyscout]

I believe the single largest producer of particulates into the atmosphere are desert dust storms.
At one time, i think about twelve years ago there were two large active volcanos that reportedly produced as much green house emissions per day as all cars in the world per year.

For the record all of my emission stuff is still in place, but i understand why people would want to remove given some of the misinformation from dealerships and persistent unsolved problems. And these people are taking good care of their vehicles and using the right liquids. No way this is just a maintenance or driving issue. My van has had the def fluid low light come on, then when filled a CEL Which had to be cleared by the dealership, and there was no problem. They (the dealership) can't explain it and i can't understand it.

[boyscout]

[QUOTE=avanti;694091]Same tired old BS.


Well If anyone around here is spouting the same tired old BS it would be you with a post count of nearly 4,000, while I've only made 14 posts in 7 years.

And please don't assume to know me or my ethics.

[autostaretx]

Originally Posted by boyscout

I believe the single largest producer of particulates into the atmosphere are desert dust storms.
At one time, i think about twelve years ago there were two large active volcanos that reportedly produced as much green house emissions per day as all cars in the world per year.

The *correct* citation of that is that "volcanoes (and ships) produce as much SULPHUR emissions as all the cars..."

We're still the winners in terms of CO2. By far.

--dick
p.s. high-altitude SO2 "injection" is one of the proposed *cooling* geoengineering techniques

[OrioN]

Originally Posted by autostaretx

The *correct* citation of that is that "volcanoes (and ships) produce as much SULPHUR emissions as all the cars..."

We're still the winners in terms of CO2. By far.

--dick
p.s. high-altitude SO2 "injection" is one of the proposed *cooling* geoengineering techniques

[Old Crows]

In an attempt to clear the air here.... pun INTENDED!

About once or twice a week there is an article on GCaptain.com discussing changes in shipping rules/designs/implementation and other issues related to air pollution in the maritime environment. Things are changing very quickly to reduce air pollution in harbor and underway. Examples: by 2019 must use low sulphur bunker fuels; retrofitting & installation of 'scrubbers' in the exhaust; increased use of LNG requiring new engines and systems; hybrid drive systems; solar electric drive systems; intelligent controls to reduce pollution and fuel consumption. Marine systems and ships being redesigned for fuel efficiency. New bulk carriers and containerships that are designed to be slower to save fuel and reduce costs and pollution. These new designs will loose the below waterline bulbous bow because it is not energy saving at lower speeds.

Change is not without cost. Just like your car, maintenance intensive, more $$$ all around, regulations and enforcement heavy. Violaters are going to be seriously dinged.

And, like Sprinters, already there are problems with contaminated fuel.

[boyscout]

Just for the record electric production, steel and iron production are higher than automobiles. Which is why again i stated the most green option you have concerning your automobile is the one you own now.

Im tired, I'm done.