Geothermal not a guaranteed alt-energy resource

The Obama Administration’s push to explore geothermal energy in northern California has fallen behind schedule.

Why?

Earthquake worries, based on what happened at a similar project in Switzerland.

Increasing earthquakes anywhere near the Bay Area is disturbing. Also disturbing is the project’s company Alta California, as it tries to distort and gloss over what happened in Switzerland.

And, beyond that, geothermal spots in general are in seismically sensitive areas!

Cleburne (Texas) folks offered quake insurance

Big natural gas companies like Chesapeake continue to deny that their drilling causes earthquakes in North Texas’ Barnett Shale, but insurance companies are ready to help concerned homeowners in Cleburne.

California’s ‘next big one’ could come by sea

Geologists have increased tsunami estimates for northern California through British Columbia.

And, the story is true. I’ve been in Crescent City, Calif., gateway to Redwood National Park. The 1964 Good Friday earthquake did indeed cause that type of damage.

‘Next big one’ closer to hitting SoCal?

Recent tremors under the San Andreas fault say its possible. Could you imagine a magnitude 8 quake hitting the Southland? (The area of fault near the Tejon Pass), just north of the San Gabriel Mountains to the north of LA, is the most likely location for the next truly big one.

LA with its housing bubble blown up, having already abandoned walkaways hit by the earthquake. The state too broke to do anything. Ugh.

Could carbon sequestration cause earthquakes?

Even before I saw the last graf of a NYT story about human-induced changes to planetary geology, such as the building of dams, and increased seismic activity, I started thinking “Hmm” about whether deep-well carbon-dioxide sequestration could do the same thing.

And?

Well, read the last graf of the story for yourself. Let me just say that my analytical ability hasn’t faded away.

And, if my analytical ability is spot on, it’s one more argument to beat the tocsin of conservation first, alt-energy second (the earthquakes in Basel were caused by a geothermal plant) and old fossil fuels third.

SoCal earthquake danger raised

It’s possible the southern end of the main San Andreas Fault is overdue for a major earthquake, one as big as the El Cajon temblor of 1857.

If an earthquake about that big hit in the same area today, not only could it cause major structural damage in the Southland, it would also like cause major damage to the California Aqueduct and State Water Project systems.

Earthquake prediction closer

Seismologists claim they are getting close to the point of being able to give hours of advance warning about earthquakes. Color me skeptical, as we’ve been hearing stories like this for a generation.

Nonetheless, if you’re interested, follow the link to the NPR interview.

Flooding next and ongoing worry of China

When you have a dam with cracks big enough to swallow your fist, I’d say yes.

What if this were the Three Gorges Dam? China built the monster even though the country was warned by outside geological experts the soils at the site weren’t the best to anchor a dam. It also built a dam at a site it knew had some history of earthquakes.

Science briefs – next big one for Cali, sick plastic, poached cod

Next big quake for Southland?

I blogged earlier this week that earthquakes off the coast of Oregon, at a famous triple fault junction, might be a sign of things to come on the San Andreas.

And indeed, the likelihood of an earthquake, especially on the Southern California section of the fault, is quite high. In fact, 99.7 percent for the fault overall, and 97 percent SoCal will get a magnitude 6.7 or above within 30 years. For background, the 1994 Northridge earthquake was a 6.7. The section that runs from east of Paso Robles to the Salton Sea is expected to be the most earthquake vulnerable.

Bisphenol-A to get Canadian diss?

Bisphenol A, a near-ubiquitous component of many drink bottle plastics, is known as an estrogen mimic, and some researchers believe it may be tied to some cancers, as well as a puberty stimulator as an estrogen mimic. Well, the Canadian Ministry of Health may soon declare it a dangerous substance; it would be the first country in the world to do so.

Arctic cod being poached

WWF says cod poaching in the Arctic could put stocks of this fish at serious risk; ditto for pollock. And, it’s an international deal:

The group said illegally caught pollock was typically carried to China for processing by a Russian vessel, the deal was usually handled by middlemen in South Korea, and the processed fish re-exported as fillets to the United States.

Just one more example of overfishing.

News briefs – Pope disses Bush, possible quake for Cali, Tibetan terror monks?

No schedule conflict for Pope

Benedict XVI has no conflict on his schedule with a White House dinner in his honor April 19. He apparently just doesn’t want to show up. The White House continues to insist this is a dinner to honor Benedict, but, when he’s clearly declining the honor, this is a shallow lie even by White House standards.

The next “big one” about to hit West Coast?

A number of offshore earthquakes have recently been felt onshore in central Oregon. From what I’ve read, when the triple fault junction almost due west of this part of the Pacific Coast starts getting antsy, it can mean something hitting the San Andreas Fault in the not-too-distant future. And, throw out the 1989 7.1 earthquake in San Francisco. It’s been a long time since California had a real biggie.

Were Tibetan monks in an Olympic terror plot?

It’s possible, as many younger Tibetan monks, descendants of those who never went to Dharmasala in 1959, have slipped further out of the Dalai Lama’s control, and may indeed have resorted to this level of violence. On the other hand, this could all be a setup by Beijing with trumped-up charges.