Life in the age of Social Distancing - what are you up to?

gjl711 wrote in post #19051684
I hope someone does do a study to see what the impact really are. Shipping and jet travel account for as much CO2 as the country of Japan. With both down significantly, that has to be a lot of CO2 not being pumped into the air. Given that the northern hemisphere at the same time is experiencing greening as well, there are lots of plants around to suck up the smaller amount of CO2 being released.

NASA may do a short term study on this which I'd be interested in. They did for the long term.

https://earthobservato​ry.nasa.gov …res/CarbonCycle​/page5.php

Finally 15+ Celsius temps with no bitter north winds. Took the gear out yesterday but couldn’t find anything. Even tried the airport to shoot something in the sky but since air travel is also limited not much luck there.

Our local bird preserve which has an abundance of song birds is shut down. However our daily walks were pleasant which is nice. Shorts and t-shirt.

DMax82 wrote in post #19051560
Well, we continue to be pretty buttoned up around here. This afternoon I will go to the grocery store for the first time in two weeks. The list is big, but not as bad as last time when I filled up 2.5 carts. Tomorrow is my wife's birthday, so I will try to find some nice treats. I also need to take trash to the dump.

For my wife's birthday I am building her a "she shed". I started a couple of days ago using left over materials that I have on hand. It will be in the back of a the field behind our house, on the corner of the property. I will try to take a picture that better shows the context. Probably not today though, since it is due to rain all day. I am able to work for about an hour and a half in the morning, the same amount of time during my son's afternoon nap, then another couple of hours in the evening. Building has been great, a very nice distraction and a good creative outlet.

First picture shows the view from the shed looking toward the house. Second is of the shed. It is 8 feet by 16 feet.

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Cool. One of the retired couple at the lake built an insulated she cave. She has all her project stuff in there and uses it in the dead of winter when it plummets to -30 Celsius.

Archibald wrote in post #19051673
Less fossil fuel burning, less CO2 in the air. We are witnessing a reversal of global warming!

Happens within a few weeks Until a few days ago this spring was awful. Portugal all of February this year was some of the warmest and dry weather we have seen. Only a few days of rain. The Algarve had huge forest fires years ago and then got hit again. In 2019 we drove to Mt Foia and could not believe the devastation. That area was so beautiful in 2018.

The global evidence that pollution levels are falling as our industrial activity is dropping should be proof positive to those who still persist that we don't pollute the planet. I am hoping that with the fall of oil consumption and the glut on the market, more energy companies will swing towards at least diversifying away from carbon fuels and move to sustainable and environmentally positive energy sources.

https://www.bbc.com …us-helped-the-environment

https://www.theguardia​n.com …alls-lockdown-coronavirus

Tronhard wrote in post #19051840
The global evidence that pollution levels are falling as our industrial activity is dropping should be proof positive to those who still persist that we don't pollute the planet. I am hoping that with the fall of oil consumption and the glut on the market, more energy companies will swing towards at least diversifying away from carbon fuels and move to sustainable and environmentally positive energy sources.

https://www.bbc.com …us-helped-the-environment

Yea, unfortunately with the fall of oil consumption comes a fall in oil prices. Renewable energy sources were having a hard time competing with fossil fuels before corona and I suspect that with prices being as low as they are, renewable sources don't stand a chance, at least in the short term.

gjl711 wrote in post #19051847
Yea, unfortunately with the fall of oil consumption comes a fall in oil prices. Renewable energy sources were having a hard time competing with fossil fuels before corona and I suspect that with prices being as low as they are, renewable sources don't stand a chance, at least in the short term.

That may be so, but the lack of cash flow and the vast glut of oil may push some companies and projects out of the markets. In the Canadian oil patch several big, polluting projects have already died on the principle of ROI, and many companies have gone to the wall. As they shrink their work-forces, many workers addicted to the high oil wages may finally seek other, more reliable work - and many economic studies indicate that investments in renewables transfer more money to the workforce.

Is beer and soda the next pandemic shortage?

https://cen.acs.org …dangers-CO2-supply/98/i16

"People aren’t driving much right now. According to the US Energy Information Administration, gasoline consumption is around 50% lower than it was at this time last year. Although that’s a win for the environment, it’s a big problem for ethanol producers and a threat for beverage makers that depend on CO2 created during ethanol fermentation.

Most gasoline in the US contains 10% ethanol, almost all made from corn. In normal times, more than 60 billion L of ethanol go into motor fuel per year, but the drop in driving, attributable to the COVID-19 epidemic, has cut that figure in half, according to the Renewable Fuels Association. As a result, 70 of the US’s roughly 200 ethanol plants are idle, and another 70 are operating at reduced rates."

"It’s not just fuel-ethanol producers and the farmers that supply them with corn who are worried. Fermentation at ethanol plants normally contributes 37% of the US carbon dioxide supply, according to John Raquet, publisher of Gasworld magazine. On top of that, ammonia plants, which supply another 20%, are mostly offline because the fertilizer season is over for farmers.

Beer breweries and soft drink makers are the second-biggest customers for CO2, just behind the refrigeration industry, and they’re bracing for a hit."

Capn Jack wrote in post #19051875
Is beer and soda the next pandemic shortage?

https://cen.acs.org …dangers-CO2-supply/98/i16

"People aren’t driving much right now. According to the US Energy Information Administration, gasoline consumption is around 50% lower than it was at this time last year. Although that’s a win for the environment, it’s a big problem for ethanol producers and a threat for beverage makers that depend on CO2 created during ethanol fermentation.

Most gasoline in the US contains 10% ethanol, almost all made from corn. In normal times, more than 60 billion L of ethanol go into motor fuel per year, but the drop in driving, attributable to the COVID-19 epidemic, has cut that figure in half, according to the Renewable Fuels Association. As a result, 70 of the US’s roughly 200 ethanol plants are idle, and another 70 are operating at reduced rates."

"It’s not just fuel-ethanol producers and the farmers that supply them with corn who are worried. Fermentation at ethanol plants normally contributes 37% of the US carbon dioxide supply, according to John Raquet, publisher of Gasworld magazine. On top of that, ammonia plants, which supply another 20%, are mostly offline because the fertilizer season is over for farmers.

Beer breweries and soft drink makers are the second-biggest customers for CO2, just behind the refrigeration industry, and they’re bracing for a hit."

Fortunately, alcohol consumption in alcoholic beverages is up.

Tronhard wrote in post #19051853
That may be so, but the lack of cash flow and the vast glut of oil may push some companies and projects out of the markets. In the Canadian oil patch several big, polluting projects have already died on the principle of ROI, and many companies have gone to the wall. As they shrink their work-forces, many workers addicted to the high oil wages may finally seek other, more reliable work - and many economic studies indicate that investments in renewables transfer more money to the workforce.

That is similar to the coal industry. It may not be as volatile as the oil industry but still the same idea. Far more people employed in the renewable industry. In the movie The Heart of The Sea they said if the whaling stopped their world would go dark. I was not aware how huge that industry was. I had to look it up. Transition is not easy but you have to work towards it.

Archibald wrote in post #19051881
Fortunately, alcohol consumption in alcoholic beverages is up.

Unfortunately, it isn't nearly the same scale as the other sources. Assuming 10% ethanol in every gallon of USA gasoline, I go through about 16 bottles (750 mL) of absolute ethanol every 2-3 weeks. In the lab, "absolute" is 100% ethanol. If one considers Everclear from the local store, that is about 17 bottles of 190 proof.

I don't know if Canadian gasoline uses ethanol, so your local sources of carbon dioxide may be different and unaffected.

I'm at essential service, but each of us working on site once a month.

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/2iML​b3U

It was raining outside, so we had to build inside today.

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Archibald wrote in post #19051881
Fortunately, alcohol consumption in alcoholic beverages is up.

Wine: Farm workers are not out, and while grape picking for wine is later this year, we might find ourselves with no enough grapes harvested to make wine this year.

Beer: a number of beer breweries (not merely distilleries) have converted to making hand sanitizer, and many breweries operate brew pubs and tap rooms which are not currently serviing any beer or food. So beer production is down.

So while consumption may be up, production is down for alcoholic beverages. More worrisome, is this issue:

Meat: Meat preparation factories in located in high infection rate areas, and several significant pork producing plants have been closed. More than 150 of America’s largest meat processing plants operate in counties where the rate of coronavirus infection is already among the nation’s highest, based on the media outlets’ analysis of slaughterhouse locations and county-level COVID-19 infection rates. These represent 1/3 of beef, pork, and poultry processing. As of April 23, there have been at least about 3,400 reported positive cases tied to meatpacking facilities at 62 plants in 23 states, and at least 17 reported worker deaths at 8 plants in 8 states. At the moment, 10 plants are closed (athough a number plan on resuming operations fairly soon.

Capn Jack wrote in post #19051899
Unfortunately, it isn't nearly the same scale as the other sources. Assuming 10% ethanol in every gallon of USA gasoline, I go through about 16 bottles (750 mL) of absolute ethanol every 2-3 weeks. In the lab, "absolute" is 100% ethanol. If one considers Everclear from the local store, that is about 17 bottles of 190 proof.

I don't know if Canadian gasoline uses ethanol, so your local sources of carbon dioxide may be different and unaffected.

Yes, we have ethanol in Canadian gasoline, usually 10% in the lower octane grades, and sometimes less or zero in the premium grades. What does that say about ethanol as a motor fuel?