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Natural Gas Saves Water and Reduces Drought Vulnerability, Even When Factoring in Water Lost to Hydraulic Fracturing

By Guest PostDecember 27, 2013Environmentaustin, bridget scanlon, coal, coal steam turbine, coal technology, cst, economic geology, electric power supply, fracture surrounding rocks, horizontal drilling, hydraulic fracturing, jean philippe nicot, natural gas, ngcc, plants, reduces drought vulnerability, texas, texas power plants, university of texas, water, water lost

AUSTIN, Texas – A new study finds that in Texas, the U.S. state that annually generates the most electricity, the transition from coal to natural gas for electricity generation is saving water and making the state less vulnerable to drought.

Even though exploration for natural gas through hydraulic fracturing requires significant water consumption in Texas, the new consumption is easily offset by the overall water efficiencies of shifting electricity generation from coal to natural gas. The researchers estimate that water saved by shifting a power plant from coal to natural gas is 25 to 50 times as great as the amount of water used in hydraulic fracturing to extract the natural gas. Natural gas also enhances drought resilience by providing so-called peaking plants to complement increasing wind generation, which doesn’t consume water. (more…)

Gas Injection Probably Triggered Small Earthquakes Near Snyder, Texas

By Guest PostNovember 11, 2013Environmentaustin, carbon capture, carbon dioxide, CCS, ccs project, cliff frohlich, co2 eor, cogdell field, earthscope, enhanced oil recovery, gas injection, magnitude 3, northwest texas, salt creek field, scurry area canyon, small earthquake, snyder, snyder earthquake, storage, texas, texas railroad commission, trigger, U.S. Geological Survey, underground, university of texas, usarray data, wei gan

AUSTIN, Texas — A new study correlates a series of small earthquakes near Snyder, Texas between 2006 and 2011 with the underground injection of large volumes of gas, primarily carbon dioxide (CO₂) — a finding that is relevant to the process of capturing and storing CO₂ underground.

Although the study suggests that underground injection of gas triggered the Snyder earthquakes, it also points out that similar rates of injections have not triggered comparable quakes in other fields, bolstering the idea that underground gas injection does not cause significant seismic events in many geologic settings. (more…)

IBM Commits $1 Billion to Fuel Linux and Open Source Innovation on Power Systems

By Guest PostSeptember 17, 2013Technologyaustin, big data, brad mccredie, cloud, ecosystem skills, Europe, fuel linux, ibm, ibm power7, jeopardy game, linuxcon conference, new orleans, new york, open source innovation, power systems, prototype, texas, watson

NEW ORLEANS, LA – 17 Sep 2013: At LinuxCon 2013 today, IBM announced plans to invest $1 billion (USD) in new Linux and open source technologies for IBM’s Power Systems servers. The investment aims to help clients capitalize on big data and cloud computing with modern systems built to handle the new wave of applications coming to the data center in the post-PC era.

Two immediate initiatives announced, a new client center in Europe and a Linux on Power development cloud, focus on rapidly expanding IBM’s growing ecosystem supporting Linux on Power Systems which today represents thousands of independent software vendor and open source applications worldwide. Specific details of both initiatives include: (more…)

African Americans in Texas See Decreased Economic Mobility, Policy Report Shows

By Guest PostJune 1, 2013Economyafrican americans, asians, austin, central texas, change patterns, decreased economic mobility, economic status, generations, hispanics, iupra, policy report, poor population, poverty distribution, racial groups, shetal vohra gupta, single mothers, texas, university of texas, whites

AUSTIN, Texas — The economic status of African Americans in Texas has significantly declined during the first decade of the 21st century, according to a policy report released by the Institute for Urban Policy Research & Analysis (IUPRA) at The University of Texas at Austin.

The report, led by IUPRA Research Fellow Shetal Vohra-Gupta, raises important questions about several issues, such as racial disparities in economic status of families, including median income and overall poverty rate. The economic toll is greatest among African American single mothers. (more…)

UA Mars Camera Reveals Hundreds of Impacts Each Year

By Guest PostMay 21, 2013Sciencealfred mcewen, chelyabinsk, context camera, ctx, hirise imaging experiment, ingrid daubar, leslie tamppari, mars, martian craters, martian surface, martian terrain, mro, NASA, picture, planet, red planet, russia, space rocks, texas, thinner atmosphere, two week cycle, ua mars camera, university of arizona

Taking before and after pictures of Martian terrain, researchers of the UA-led HiRISE imaging experiment have identified almost 250 fresh impact craters on the Red Planet. The results suggest Mars gets pummeled by space rocks less frequently than previously thought, as scientists relied on cratering rates of the moon for their estimates.

Scientists using images from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, or MRO, have estimated that the planet is bombarded by more than 200 small asteroids or bits of comets per year forming craters at least 12.8 feet (3.9 meters) across.

Researchers have identified 248 new impact sites on parts of the Martian surface in the past decade, using images from the spacecraft to determine when the craters appeared. The 200-per-year planetwide estimate is a calculation based on the number found in a systematic survey of a portion of the planet. (more…)

Southern exposure: 21% of U.S. elderly take high-risk medicines

By Guest PostMay 6, 2013Generalalbany, amal trivedi, brown university, danya qato, demographic analysis, high risk medication, hospital referral regions, hrrs, mason city, medicare advantage plans, new england, pharmacist, poor areas, public health researchers, seniors, seniors in alexandria, south atlantic, south carolina, southeast united states, texas

A study of more than 6 million seniors in Medicare Advantage plans in 2009 found that 21 percent received a prescription for at least one potentially harmful “high-risk medication.” Nearly 5 percent received at least two. Questionable prescriptions are more common in the South and among people who live in poor areas.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — More than one in five seniors with Medicare Advantage plans received a prescription for a potentially harmful “high-risk medication” in 2009, according to an analysis by Brown University public health researchers. The questionable prescriptions were significantly more common in the Southeast United States, as well as among women and people living in relatively poor areas. (more…)

New Study Reveals How Sensitive U.S. East Coast Regions May Be to Ocean Acidification

By Guest PostApril 1, 2013Environmentacidic, acidic environment, bicarbonate, buffer capacity, carbon dioxide, carbon in ocean, carbonate, carbonic acid, changes in acidity, chemical survey, CO2, co2 levels, coastal ocean acidification, continental scale, coral, corpus christi, dic, dissolved co2, dissolved inorganic carbon, florida strait, galveston, georgia, glaciers, gulf of maine, gulf of mexico, influx of co2, labrador sea, melting sea ice, middle atlantic bight, Mississippi, ocean acidification, offshore, oysters, pteropods, rik wanninkhof, robert h byrne, ronald h brown, snails, texas, total alkalinity, tsung hung peng, university of georgia, us east coast, water ph, whoi, wie jen huang, wie jun cai, xinping hu, zhaohui aleck wang

A continental-scale chemical survey in the waters of the eastern U.S. and Gulf of Mexico is helping researchers determine how distinct bodies of water will resist changes in acidity. The study, which measures varying levels of carbon dioxide (CO₂) and other forms of carbon in the ocean, was conducted by scientists from 11 institutions across the U.S. and was published in the journal Limnology and Oceanography.

“Before now, we haven’t had a very clear picture of acidification status on the east coast of the U.S.,” says Zhaohui ‘Aleck’ Wang, the study’s lead author and a chemical oceanographer at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). “It’s important that we start to understand it, because increase in ocean acidity could deeply affect marine life along the coast and has important implications for people who rely on aquaculture and fisheries both commercially and recreationally.” (more…)

Proximity to Coal-Tar-Sealed Pavement Raises Risk of Cancer, Study Finds

By Guest PostMarch 28, 2013Environment, Healtharizona, asphalt pavement, barbara mahler, baylor university, benzoapyrene, california, canada, cancer, Chicago, coal tar, continental divide, csa, elevated risk, higher rates, hydrologis, pahs, peter van metre, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, sealant, sealcoat, spencer williams, texas, university in waco, usgs, volatilization

People living near asphalt pavement sealed with coal tar have an elevated risk of cancer, according to a study in the journal Environmental Science and Technology. Much of this calculated excess risk results from exposures in children, age six or younger, to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from the sealant.

“The increased cancer risk associated with coal-tar-sealed asphalt (CSA) likely affects a large number of people in the U.S. Our results indicate that the presence of coal-tar-based pavement sealants is associated with significant increases in estimated excess lifetime cancer risk for nearby residents,” said E. Spencer Williams, Ph.D., principal author of the study and Baylor University assistant research scientist at the Center for Reservoir and Aquatic Systems Research in Baylor’s College of Arts & Sciences. (more…)

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