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rifo1011 · 2 months ago

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How SS Flanges Manufacturers Are Revolutionizing the Industry with Innovation

Stainless steel (SS) flanges are pivotal components in many industries, serving as crucial connectors between pipes, valves, and other equipment. Their role in ensuring the integrity and functionality of various systems cannot be understated. However, the world of SS flanges is undergoing a significant transformation, driven by innovation and technological advancements. In this article, we’ll explore how SS flanges manufacturers are revolutionizing the industry with cutting-edge technologies, new materials, and innovative designs.

1. The Evolving Role of SS Flanges

SS flanges are essential in numerous applications, from oil and gas pipelines to water treatment facilities and chemical processing. These flanges facilitate the joining of different segments of piping systems, ensuring a secure and leak-proof connection. Traditionally made from stainless steel for its durability and resistance to corrosion, SS flanges are now evolving to meet the demands of modern industries.

2. The Impact of Technological Advancements

Technology is at the forefront of the revolution in SS flanges manufacturing. New technologies are enhancing the design, production, and performance of these critical components. Some key advancements include:

3D Printing: This technology allows for the creation of complex flange geometries and custom designs that were previously impossible with traditional manufacturing methods. 3D printing also reduces material waste and production time.

Computer-Aided Design (CAD): CAD software enables precise modeling and simulation of SS flanges, ensuring that designs meet exact specifications and performance requirements before production begins.

Advanced Manufacturing Techniques: Techniques such as precision forging and machining have improved the accuracy and consistency of SS flanges, resulting in higher-quality products.

3. Innovations in Materials

The choice of material significantly impacts the performance and durability of SS flanges. Recent innovations in materials science are expanding the options available to manufacturers:

High-Performance Stainless Steels: New alloy compositions offer enhanced resistance to extreme temperatures, corrosive environments, and high pressures. These advanced materials ensure that SS flanges can withstand more challenging conditions and provide longer service life.

Coatings and Treatments: Innovative coatings and treatments enhance the corrosion resistance and wear properties of SS flanges. These treatments improve the longevity and reliability of flanges used in harsh environments.

4. Customization and Design Flexibility

Modern SS flange manufacturers are offering unprecedented levels of customization and design flexibility. This innovation allows for the creation of flanges tailored to specific project requirements:

Custom Sizes and Shapes: Manufacturers can now produce flanges in non-standard sizes and shapes to fit unique applications, reducing the need for modifications and improving fit and function.

Specialized Designs: Customized flanges with specific features, such as unique sealing surfaces or integration with other components, are now possible thanks to advanced manufacturing technologies.

5. Enhancements in Quality Control

Ensuring the highest quality of SS flanges is crucial for their performance and safety. Recent advancements in quality control practices are setting new standards:

Automated Inspection Systems: These systems use advanced imaging and sensors to detect defects and ensure that each flange meets stringent quality standards.

Real-Time Monitoring: Integration of real-time monitoring systems during production allows for immediate detection of issues and adjustments, leading to more consistent product quality.

6. Environmental and Sustainability Considerations

Sustainability is becoming a critical factor in SS flange manufacturing. Manufacturers are adopting practices that minimize environmental impact:

Eco-Friendly Materials: The use of recyclable and environmentally friendly materials is on the rise, reducing the overall carbon footprint of flange production.

Waste Reduction: Advanced manufacturing techniques and better process controls are helping to minimize material waste and energy consumption.

7. Case Studies of Innovative SS Flange Projects

Examining real-world examples of innovative SS flange applications provides insight into the impact of these advancements:

Oil and Gas Industry: Innovative flanges designed for extreme pressure and temperature conditions have improved the safety and efficiency of oil and gas pipelines.

Marine Applications: Custom SS flanges with advanced coatings have been developed for use in corrosive marine environments, extending the lifespan of critical infrastructure.

Superb Quality SS Flanges Manufacturers in India

Riddhi Siddhi Metal Impex is one of the top Stainless Steel Flanges Manufacturers In India. Using premium raw materials and cutting-edge technology, the SS flanges have been painstakingly produced in accordance with national and international industrial requirements.

Prior to shipment, our high-grade stainless steel flanges and other commodities undergo stringent quality inspections. We retain a ready supply of stainless steel flanges in a variety of sizes and shapes to meet our clients' demands.

Solid forged are used to mill Stainless Steel flanges. Riddhi Siddhi Metal Impex is the top stockholder, manufacturer, supplier, importer, and exporter in India because to its dependability and performance.

The goal of our business has been to provide our customers with high-quality stainless steel flanges and pipe fittings, rather than EIL Approved Pipe Fittings Manufacturer in India & IBR Approved Pipe Fittings Manufacturer in India.

For More Detail

Website: riddhisiddhimetal.com

Product: Stainless Steel Flanges Suppliers in India

Other Product: EIL Approved Pipe Fittings Suppliers in India & IBR Approved Pipe Fittings Suppliers in India.

#Stainless Steel Flanges Manufacturer in India #EIL Approved Flanges Manufacturers #Stainless Steel Flanges Manufacturer #Stainless Steel Flanges

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fristam · 6 months ago

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The Importance of Pump Maintenance in Food & Beverage Manufacturing

The food and beverage manufacturing industry requires high-pressure food processing pumps to maintain product quality, operational efficiency, as well as safety standards. Periodic pump maintenance has the additional benefit of not only extending the life of the equipment but also preventing costly downtimes of production.

But first just like any machine pump also needs maintenance for efficient performance. Failure to maintain pumps in good condition leads to a series of effects ranging from reduced productivity to increased food contamination and ultimately losses in the business.

Why Pump Maintenance Matters?

High-pressure food processing pumps can be used in pasteurization, homogenization, and transferring viscous fluids during food processing. These pumps are developed for operating in this industry but being machines they need maintenance for efficient performance.

The Importance of Pump Maintenance

Ensures Consistent Product Quality: Maintained pumps ensure that there is uniformity in how products are processed and that the products conform to high standards of quality. When there is a failure in the performance of the pump then this will result in the production of inconsistent products which will contribute to consumer dissatisfaction and damage the brand image.

Prevents Contamination: In the food and beverage industry, hygiene is of great importance. Routine maintenance can also help reduce the risk of leaks that may cause contamination. This applies especially to high-pressure pumps in industries such as pasteurization where the conditions must be sterile.

Reduces Downtime: Unscheduled downtime can be extremely costly for manufacturers. Preventive maintenance also enables identifying possible failures before they occur and thus prevents unexpected stoppages and contributes to uninterrupted operation.

Extends Equipment Life: Routine maintenance helps to extend the life of high-pressure food processing pumps from wear and tear. This can lead to significant cost-savings on replacements or major repairs.

Compliance with Regulations: The food and beverage industry is subject to strict regulatory standards. Regular maintenance ensures that pumps operate within the required parameters, helping manufacturers comply with industry regulations and avoid penalties.

Maintenance Best Practices for Food & Beverage Pumps

Schedule regular inspections: Develop a preventive maintenance schedule based on the pump's usage and the manufacturer's recommendations.

Clean and Sanitize: Food-grade cleaning and sanitation procedures are crucial to maintain hygiene standards.

Inspect Seals and Bearings: Regularly check seals and bearings for wear and tear to prevent leaks and ensure smooth operation.

Lubricate as Needed: Proper lubrication reduces friction and wear on critical components, extending pump life.

Invest in Training: Ensure your staff is trained on proper pump operation and maintenance procedures.

Real-World Example: Dairy Processing in India

Let's take an example of a dairy processing plant in rural Maharashtra. Here, high-pressure food processing pumps are operated in large numbers for pasteurization and homogenization. The plant also has a maintenance strategy for its pumps to maintain the consistent quality of the dairy products.

Major maintenance consists of weekly checks, monthly oiling and a quarterly clean of the pumps. Moreover, it uses a performance monitoring system to detect the condition of the pumps and rectify them before any failure. This preventative culture has also led to a decrease in downtime, increases in product quality, and adherence to food safety regulations. Thus increasing the overall business productivity.

Conclusion

Regular maintenance of high-pressure food processing pumps is essential for the success of food and beverage manufacturing operations. By ensuring consistent product quality, preventing contamination, reducing downtime, extending equipment life, and complying with regulations, proper pump maintenance can provide significant benefits to manufacturers.

For expert assistance in maintaining your high-pressure food processing pumps, contact Fristam Pumps (India) Pvt Ltd. Our comprehensive maintenance services and industry expertise can help ensure your pumps operate at peak performance, driving efficiency and quality in your manufacturing processes.

FAQs:

1) What is the importance of having maintenance on pumps?

Pump maintenance ensures food safety (prevents leaks, and contamination), optimizes performance (reduces energy costs, avoids breakdowns) and extends pump lifespan (saves money on replacements).

2) Why are pumps important in the food industry?

Food industry pumps are crucial for moving ingredients, maintaining hygiene (sanitation processes), and ensuring efficient production flow.

3) What are the common types of pumps used in food and beverage manufacturing?

Common food and beverage manufacturing pumps include:

Positive displacement pumps (e.g., rotary lobe pumps) for handling thick liquids and pastes.

Centrifugal pumps for efficient transfer of liquids like juices and beverages.

Sanitary pumps are designed for easy cleaning and sterilization to meet hygiene standards.

4) What are the best practices for pump maintenance in the food and beverage industry?

Best practices for food & beverage pump maintenance include:

Regular inspections and cleaning/sanitation.

Checking seals and bearings for wear.

Proper lubrication.

Staff training on pump operation and maintenance.

#high-pressure food processing pumps #centrifugal pump manufacturers in india #hygienicpumps #industrial centrifugal pump manufacturers in india #fristampumps

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nichromepackagingmachine · 2 years ago

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The Impact of Changing Consumer Preferences on Oil &Viscous Packaging: Are You Ready?

In recent years, the consumer landscape has undergone a significant transformation. With the rise of e-commerce, social media, and other digital platforms, consumers are more informed and empowered than ever before. As a result, their preferences are rapidly changing, and businesses must adapt to keep up.

One industry that is significantly impacted by changing consumer preferences is the oil and viscous packaging industry. Consumers today demand packaging solutions that are sustainable, convenient, and aesthetically pleasing. In this blog, we will discuss the impact of changing consumer preferences on oil and viscous packaging and how Nichrome can help businesses stay ahead of the curve.

Sustainable Packaging

Sustainability has become a buzzword in recent years, and consumers are increasingly conscious of their impact on the environment. As a result, they are looking for products that are packaged in sustainable materials and packaging solutions. This trend has led to a rise in demand for packaging solutions that are eco-friendly and easily recyclable.

We at Nichrome offer a range of sustainable & innovative packaging solutions that are ideal for the oil and viscous industry. For example, our vertical form fill seal machine uses minimal material and is 100% recyclable. Similarly, our silica gel packing machine ensures that the products are protected from moisture and humidity, thus reducing the need for excessive packaging.

2. Convenience

In today's fast-paced world, consumers are looking for packaging solutions that are convenient and easy to use. This trend has led to a rise in demand for small packaging machines that are portable and can be used on-the-go. Businesses must adapt to this trend by offering packaging solutions that are easy to open, store, and use.

At Nichrome, we offer a range of small packaging machines that are ideal for businesses looking to cater to the needs of convenience-seeking consumers. Our filling and packaging machine is designed to be easy to use, and our ointment filling machine is perfect for businesses looking to package viscous liquids such as creams and ointments.

3. Aesthetics

In addition to being sustainable and convenient, packaging solutions must also be aesthetically pleasing to consumers. With the rise of social media, consumers are increasingly sharing images of their purchases, and businesses must ensure that their packaging solutions are visually appealing and stand out from the competition.

At Nichrome, we offer a range of integrated packaging solutions that are not only functional but also visually appealing. Our oil packaging machine is designed to ensure that the products are presented in an attractive manner, while our tube filling machine is perfect for businesses looking to package viscous liquids in a visually appealing manner.

In conclusion, changing consumer preferences are rapidly transforming the packaging industry, and businesses must adapt to stay ahead of the curve. At Nichrome offers a range of packaging solutions that are sustainable, convenient, and aesthetically pleasing, such as the vertical form fill seal machine, silica gel packing machine and small packaging machine. Our filling and packaging machine, ointment filling machine and tube filling machine are also ideal for businesses looking to package viscous liquids. Nichrome is also a prime packaging machine supplier in Bangladesh for providing the best shampoo filling machine, blister packaging machine, powder packaging machine, soybean oil packing machine, potato chip packaging machine, chub packaging machine, spices packing machine, liquid pouch packing machine, automatic sachet packing machine, pouch sealing machine, pouch packing machine and airtight food packaging machine. For more information on our packaging solutions and packaging machine prices, please visit our website.

#vertical form fill seal machine #silica gel packing machine #filling and packaging machine #tube filling machine

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wabashmfginc · 2 years ago

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Vacuum Vans Permian Basin

Start pumps and open valves or use automated tools to control the circulate of oil in pipelines and into and out of tanks. Trailer mounted vacuum loaders offer a compact design and maneuverability to tug to completely different job sites- no CDL driver required! Our skid mounted vacuums are built in a compact design to suit into a regular shipping container. The U.S oilfield industry is growing steadily and the fracking facet of oilfield production is anticipated to expand as well.

Vacuum firms in a position to handle this increase without having to purchase lots of new equipment will find themselves in an enviable place. SSI makes use of Guzzler as a result of it is the strongest piece of kit in its class. Guzzlers have the ability to construct up vacuum to 5000 cubic feet per minute without vacuum truck oilfield losing suction. SSI uses Guzzlers to tug solids, mud and different supplies from tanks and vessels. We offer one of the most skilled teams within the industry – with all our drivers being CDL licensed and HazMat licensed. Gloxco offers a full line of Fruitland pumps which are designed to tackle the toughest liquid waste applications.

These industries have underlying pipelines supplying oil and fuel everywhere in the region. Any kind of pipeline mishap can result in big losses and destruction. To eliminate any kind of losses or a disaster, it is very important preserve the security of those pipes.

An economical, light weight hose designed for oilfield waste pit recovery, tank truck service, including oil field vacuum truck, the place full suction or rated working pressures are required. We can also reply to grease spills and emergency conditions that require vacuum truck service. Industrial vacuum vehicles and trailer-mounted models are categorized into a range of particles tank-equipped machines.

Oilfield operations for these vehicles primarily involve the elimination of water that remains after the process of hydraulic fracturing. Also, these autos are incessantly used in the septic business for cleaning sanitation traces and emptying septic tanks and cesspits. Our trendy fleet of fluid hauling tanker vans are capable of hauling nearly any type of fluid to be delivered or removed from your work web site. Legend Oilfield operates a fleet of tank vans, bitter sealed models, hydro vac, steamer and combo vac trucks. Whether it's fresh water, produced fluids, manufacturing chemical compounds, clear oil or sour sealed our experienced drivers are the most effective in the field. Curry Supply vacuum vehicles are designed for the rugged circumstances of the oil and fuel trade and may meet a huge selection of industrial and business cleansing needs.

Vacuum equipment plays a significant role in delivering recent and brine water to the drilling rigs as properly as eradicating and disposing of drill cuttings, frac flow-back, drilling pig manufacturing water, and different materials. Carbon metal vacuum vehicles in Midland TX with a 130-barrel (5,460-gallon) capacity is one of the best for oilfield providers and are thought-about to be the trade commonplace vacuum truck oilfield. Most trailers which may be designed particularly for this objective have four-inch valves as well as four-inch vacuum pump hoses, which makes the loading and unloading a lot simpler and quicker. Producers within the San Juan Basin grew to become involved that as shippers, they have been answerable for the hazardous materials being transported by non-spec vacuum vehicles off their locations and pipelines.

We will introduce you to completely different specifications of our vacuum trucks and give you sensible solutions constructed just for you. These vans and tanks may be created to spec, making certain you get exactly what you want for your oilfield job. In order to get a extra detailed image of Coded/DOT vac trucks, we spoke to Paul Brouwers, who specializes in this product line at Custom Truck One Source, USA’s premier one-stop dealership of heavy equipment options. The manufacturing facility itself is inspected to establish its pressure and vacuum gear constructing capacities, and quality control protocols are approved before tanks are constructed to ASME code. Hydrostatic Oil Tools provides safe and efficient hydrostatic stress testing of tubing and well head tools, corresponding to fracking stacks, nicely heads, BOP’s and holding strain on wire lines, lubricators and snubbing units. The safety and upkeep of the oil and fuel pipeline business is extraordinarily essential, as there are numerous risks concerned.

Our vacuum tanks are designed, examined, and confirmed to carry out in any environment, bringing you a chance to increase your income, productiveness, and uptime. Drillwell owns and operates a contemporary fleet of one hundred thirty BBL vacuum vehicles, end-dumps for hauling drill-cuttings, and SuperVacs. We are able to servicing drilling, completions, and manufacturing sites.

DRILLING CUTTINGS - End dump vans and trailers to take away and dispose of your strong and liquid drilling cuttings. It’s an efficient and easy process that provides vacuum truck oilfield profit to each your company and the environment. AIS has the experience to assist you recover solids with low power consumption.

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koreaunderground · 4 years ago

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The Environmental Disaster You’ve Never Heard Of: Albuquerque’s Kirtland Air Force Base jet fuel spill (2013/11/28)

[alibi.com][1]

[1]: <https://alibi.com/feature/45896/The-Environmental-Disaster-Youve-Never-Heard-Of.html>

# The Environmental Disaster You’ve Never Heard Of: Albuquerque’s Kirtland Air Force Base jet fuel spill

David Correia

13-16 minutes

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[2]: <https://alibi.com/image/pix_id/42938/image.jpg?image_height=384&image_width=480>

The fighter jets and military planes that blast into the skies each day above Albuquerque’s Kirtland Air Force Base (KAFB) consume millions of gallons of jet fuel each year. In order to serve this fleet, the Air Force stores enormous amounts of fuel and distributes it throughout the base via a network of tanks, pipes and pumps. In the early 1950s, the base replaced leaking tanks and aging pipelines with a new fuels facility it promised would modernize and make more safe the handling and distribution of jet fuel. The facility received its first trainload of jet fuel and aviation gas in 1953. Almost immediately, and for the next 45 years, it has leaked jet fuel into the surrounding soil.

The “leak” continued, undetected, until 1992 when workers observed a huge surface plume in the soil surrounding the fuel facility. The Air Force largely ignored requests by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to investigate the plume’s source and extent and instead, in 1994, gave itself a waiver from conducting military-mandated tests of the facility pipeline. Under pressure from the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED), the Air Force finally conducted pressure tests of the pipelines in 1999. They failed spectacularly. The added pressure blew massive holes in the pipeline. The test appeared to prove the pipes were leaking. In a comic/tragic, nothing-to-see-here moment in May 2000, Mark Holmes, a civilian project manager for Kirtland’s environmental unit, told the _Albuquerque Journal_ that everything was fine: The 100,000 gallons of missing fuel could be explained by a simple accounting error. NMED staffer Dennis McQuillan, however, told the _Journal_ that if it were a 100,000 gallon spill, it “would be a big spill, one of the biggest” in state history.

They were both wrong. In 2006 an Air Force contractor drilled an exploratory well in southeast Albuquerque’s Bullhead Park, just outside the base's northern boundary. He found four feet of jet fuel floating on top of the aquifer. Additional monitoring wells found a plume of jet fuel slithering northeast from the original spill location and well beyond the northern boundary of the base. Kirtland estimated the plume at between one and two million gallons, but NMED raised that estimate to eight million gallons. Two years later, with more monitoring and evidence of the true scale of the spill, NMED revised the estimate dramatically to 24 million gallons, an amount 240 times larger than the 2000 estimate.

For comparison's sake, the KAFB spill is larger than the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill, which dumped more than 12 million gallons of crude oil into Alaska’s Prince William Sound, killing an estimated quarter-million seabirds, 3,000 otters, hundreds of harbor seals and bald eagles and nearly two dozen killer whales. The KAFB jet fuel spill—the Air Force calls it a “leak”—is the largest toxic contamination of an aquifer in US history, and it could be twice the size of the Exxon Valdez disaster.

The KAFB jet fuel spill—the Air Force calls it a “leak”—is the largest toxic contamination of an aquifer in US history, and it could be twice the size of the Exxon Valdez disaster. And that’s bad enough, but it’s the good news compared to what follows.

And that’s bad enough, but it’s the good news compared to what follows.

Unlike the crude oil in the Exxon Valdez disaster, jet fuel and aviation gas contain a variety of toxic chemical compounds, including benzene, toluene and various aliphatic hydrocarbons, and these are all found in the plume—in varying concentrations—at every depth. Among the toxic chemicals contaminating the aquifer, one poses the most serious threat to both human health and the challenge of remediation: ethylene dibromide or EDB.

The EPA banned the commercial and industrial use of ethylene dibromide more than 40 years ago. Prior to its ban, the US produced 300 million pounds of EDB annually, with most used as an additive in leaded gasoline. Every gallon of aviation gas included enough EDB to contaminate millions of gallons of drinking water. In addition, 20 million pounds of EDB was used each year as an agricultural fumigant. Nearly 40 crops were routinely sprayed with EDB. Farmworkers—often with little or no protective equipment—fumigated fruit and citrus trees. They sprayed it on stored grain and the milling equipment that made the bread that stocked grocery store shelves. They saturated soil with EDB after harvests.

Among the toxic chemicals contaminating the aquifer, one poses the most serious threat to both human health and the challenge of remediation: ethylene dibromide or EDB. ... The HERP index, a measure that translates cancer risks in rats to humans, ranks EDB as the most dangerous rodent carcinogen to human health.

When EDB is released into soils, it almost always makes its way into groundwater. It is highly soluble and stable and persists in soils and underground water. It’s hard to find and even harder (and more expensive) to get out. By the early 1970s, concerns about EDB’s risk to human health surfaced after laboratory tests of rodents identified it as a potent carcinogen and mutagen.

In 1973 the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued regulations that led to the reduced use of leaded gasoline—and thus EDB—but the agency continued to allow agricultural use of EDB. The National Cancer Institute first issued a notice on EDB in 1975, reporting that it induced cancer in laboratory animals. Following that warning, EPA conducted a six-year review, culminating in September 1983 when it suspended all agricultural uses of EDB pending further scientific study. Laboratory tests quickly confirmed previous reports that EDB caused cancer and reproductive disorders in laboratory animals. Meanwhile high concentrations of EDB were found in drinking water in California, Florida, Hawaii and Georgia. The EPA issued an emergency ban on all agricultural use of EDB in February 1984.

The agency determined the maximum safe level of EDB in drinking water—the level at which no adverse effects would likely occur—is zero. In other words, the EPA considers no amount of EDB in drinking water safe for human health. Despite EPA standards, NMED permits EDB in drinking water at levels at or below 50 parts per trillion (ppt).

In the wake of the ban, more studies examined EDB's effect on animals. In some laboratory animals, EDB is a reproductive toxin. It inhibits the ability of rats, rams and bulls to produce sperm, and it interrupts the fertility of fowl. It binds itself to DNA and rewrites genetic information causing mutation. It is a potent carcinogen in rats and mice. When exposed to skin, it produces widespread lesions and tumors; when given orally, tumors develop in the stomach and lungs. Inhalation results in tumors in the nasal cavity and circulatory system.

Untold thousands of laboratory animals were killed by exposure to EDB; this, in order to show that EDB is fatal in high doses while low-level longterm exposure causes renal and liver failure, cancer and mutation. Its effect on humans is more difficult to determine. The HERP index, a measure that translates cancer risks in rats to humans, ranks EDB as the most dangerous rodent carcinogen to human health. Toxicologists differ on whether the data on human mortality to EDB is statistically significant.

A 1990 study by the California Department of Health Services found that citrus workers “had essentially a 100 percent chance of contracting cancer.” A 1984 study published in the _Journal of the American Medical Association_ reported on deaths of two agricultural workers: One worker died of liver failure 12 hours after collapsing while cleaning inside an empty tank, found later to contain EDB residues; another worker died of renal failure 64 hours after trying to rescue the first worker. A 1980 mortality study of 161 workers employed at two EDB manufacturing plants—including one owned by Dow Chemical—identified a pattern of malignancies and exposure fatalities among workers, but also concluded mortality was lower than expected given human risk assumed by animal studies. In other words, EDB causes fatal renal and liver failure in high doses, and it's a human carcinogen in low-level, longterm exposure, but not at a rate greater than statistically expected.

Current estimates suggest a plume of EDB-contaminated groundwater 1,000 feet wide and more than a mile long is moving northeast from the base; according to a 2009 KAFB memo, it's advancing as much as 385 feet per year. Most of that plume—80 percent of which is now beyond the boundary of the base—is headed directly for the Ridgecrest neighborhood.

However, these studies were enough to convince the EPA to act. The Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974 required that the EPA determine safe levels of various chemical contaminants in drinking water. The agency determined the maximum safe level of EDB in drinking water—the level at which no adverse effects would likely occur—is zero. In other words, the EPA considers no amount of EDB in drinking water safe for human health. Despite EPA standards, NMED permits EDB in drinking water at levels at or below 50 parts per trillion (ppt). The most recent data from KAFB’s plume-monitoring wells find EDB concentrations in shallow wells on the base at concentrations of 240,000 ppt, a concentration nearly 5,000 times greater than the 50 ppt standard. Monitoring wells on and off base have found EDB in shallow, intermediate and deep wells at all depths in concentrations significantly higher than NMED’s standard.

NMED Environmental Health Division Director Tom Blaine ... [assured] attendees of a public meeting that KAFB will absolutely “remediate the site. This isn’t our first rodeo.” But there’s little strategy or past action to justify this confidence.

The presence of EDB in the plume at such alarming concentrations reveals two inconvenient facts for the Air Force. First, it has made it more difficult for Kirtland to minimize the significance of the spill. At a public meeting last week, KAFB Colonel Jeff Lanning admitted that “fuel has been leaking for a long time,” and since the Air Force discontinued use of leaded aviation gas in 1975, the presence of EDB suggests the spill began “possibly as early as the 1950s.” Current estimates suggest a plume of EDB-contaminated groundwater 1,000 feet wide and more than a mile long is moving northeast from the base; according to a 2009 KAFB memo, it's advancing as much as 385 feet per year. Most of that plume—80 percent of which is now beyond the boundary of the base—is headed directly for the Ridgecrest neighborhood. The Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority operates a series of wells in the Ridgecrest area that pump so much water for the city that they produce a cone of depression that acts like a straw, sucking the plume ever closer.

Second, the chemical properties of EDB make it as elusive as it is dangerous. Its solubility means that it dissolves easily in water and thus separates from aviation gas and quickly contaminates aqueous systems like underground aquifers. Its chemical stability means that it doesn’t easily biodegrade. Figuring out how much aviation gas KAFB spilled and how much EDB is in the aquifer is therefore important information. But the Air Force doesn’t really seem to care. When asked at a community meeting how much jet fuel spilled, Lanning dismissed the question. “When my kid spills Kool-Aid on the carpet, I’m less concerned about how much he spilled than I am about how to get it cleaned up.” Lanning’s glib dismissal of the size of the plume might reflect less a folksy charm and more a calculated public relations stance. If KAFB can take the focus off the spill's size, it can be represented as a simple remediation project rather than an environmental disaster. And so the Air Force distributes maps of the plume at public meetings—maps that confidently depict EDB far from municipal well fields. But decades after the spill, the Air Force has yet to model the hydraulic properties of the aquifer. And so these maps—overconfidently representing a reality we can't know—are more reassuring fiction than sound hydrological science. If in the decades EDB lurked in the aquifer, it migrated into existing drinking water wells, we wouldn’t know. There is no medical test to determine human exposure and none of the drinking water wells have the technical capacity to meaningfully measure levels of EDB.

None of this seems to concern NMED. The same staffer who called the possible 100,000 gallon spill in 2000 “one of the biggest spills” ever now calls the 24 million gallon spill just another plume. “There are plumes in Roswell, Las Cruces, all over the state. It takes years to clean these things up, but we have clean, closed sites [in New Mexico].” NMED Environmental Health Division Director Tom Blaine echoed McQuillan’s certainty, assuring attendees of a public meeting that KAFB will absolutely “remediate the site. This isn’t our first rodeo.” But there’s little strategy or past action to justify this confidence. There is no plan in place to remove EDB from the aquifer. And in the 60 years since it first spilled jet fuel into Albuquerque’s aquifer, KAFB has yet to remove and treat a single gallon of contaminated groundwater. Meanwhile, as Dave McCoy, executive director of the environmental watchdog group Citizen Action New Mexico told me, the plume keeps moving and “it’s headed directly for you.”

#us military #environmental destruction

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summervanlife · 5 years ago

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09 July

Before we start on today, a few notes about the pub last night: Loch Erisort Inn is owned by a really lovely old lady who also does the cooking. There was a bar staff and waiter. The place was very old and appeared to be in need of a serious overhaul. The smell of cigar smoke was still ingrained in the carpet and soft furnishings and mixed with a musty damp scent. There was a fire in the corner and a pleasant atmosphere which overpowered the odour. There were photos of naked men on the wall. Yep, naked men! Crofters to be precise. Their dignity preserved by single bricks of peat. Clare studied the photos, in admiration, or something, for quite a while. The crofters had produced a calendar to raise money for charity. The large presentation cheque, made out for £21000, demonstrated how much 'exposure' the men had achieved. In addition to the photos were dead things. Stag heads, buffalo horns, a turtle, gaping sharks mouth, dolphin skull and vertebrae and most curious was a 20ft python skin nailed along the wall! At 2000hr we were ushered into the dinning room, it felt a bit like we were in a episode of Fawlty Towers! The meal was good and this eccentric pub had a charm which was lovely - though our clothes do all smell of a cross between old men and charity shops now! The night was stormy and rain fell hard throughout. The strap we had used to hold up the bike rack had been cranked up as tight as we could achieve by lifting the bike rack as a lever and tensioning the strap. This meant that it was drum-head tight and every drop of rain falling onto it sounded like someone was plucking at a bass guitar. When Jay woke at 0300hr it drove him to distraction thinking about the forces being impacted on the steel roof bar. With every note a new wave of anxiety coursed through Jay. Images of a bent bar wouldn't abate. We had to sort this weld in the morning. The rain stopped at 0830hr long enough to convert and wave thank you to Mrs Fawlty. Then we headed for Stornoway - the largest town in the Outer Hebrides. We asked the advice of a man fuelling his van at a petrol station. He looked like the sort of man who might know where one would locate a welding service. Sure enough he gave us directions to the industrial estate. We made our way there, and then, like prowling kerb crawlers, began eyeing up the possibilities. The best lead was a cagey mechanic, who never took his cigarette from his lips to speak (tricky to decipher the thick Hebridean accent at the best of times). Jay thinks he said that he might have been able to look at it the following day. We kept looking. Another potential was a huge workshop called Norries. There were about 5 mechanics milling around not doing much. Jay was approached and explained the problem, the guy said we would need to speak with the boss who wouldn't be long. The guy asked Jay to park on the road alongside some bins out of the way. We waited, and waited. In end a Polish guy from the workshop came and gave Jay a ticking off for parking in front of the bins on bin day. That was enough, this place had bad vibes and people were being unhelpful. We vacated. The remainder of the garages we could find on the estate could not help; either too busy or non-welders. We took one last cruise down mechanic alley before submitting to Captain Nicotine tomorrow. A red van in front of us blocked our way in front of the Norries. We watched a mechanic chat with the driver, the conversation ended with "By the way, the guy in the white van behind wants a word with you". The red van pulled over, so did we. A rough looking guy with deep scars under his left eye got out, Jay met him in the middle of the road trying not to be scared! Jay discovered he was the boss, he was Norrie. Jay explained the problem. Norrie disappeared into the workshop and sent Kenny. Kenny was the nicest and most helpful mechanic since our last towbar hero in Northumberland. We took off the bikes and the rack. Kenny jacked up the towbar to try and get it back to the correct position, then between him and Jay they crowbarred the bumper as high as possible in order access the broken weld and clean the metal. Then Kenny brought out his mig welder and started adding steel. After asking nicely, he then added some more. By the time he finished we had thick fillets of steel on all sides. Our new hero. We were there for about 45 mins. The charge for mending our van and our trip - £20!! We couldn't believe it. Jay gave Kenny an extra £10 for being a legend. We loaded the bikes and were on our way. Thanks Norrie. It was 1230hr, hopes of today's bike ride were dashed. But we were in a big town and had some laundry and shopping to do. The tourist info did the job and we found our way to the laundrette. With a load in and a cafe next door, lunch was called. On reflection we now know that ordering Chinese food would have been a better option, but Jay had a hankering for beans on toast and everyone else just jumped on board. Trying to describe beans on toast to the non-English speaking, oriental staff cooking a full menu of Chinese food was tricky. We ended up with cheese toasties and a side portion of beans - perfect! By the time we were fed the washing was done. Off to a supermarket. Clare and Nia did the trolley work, Jay and Cian went in search of ratchet straps (we were going to back up the new weld to the roof bars which, in turn, will be backed up to one another - should be grand.) Jay and Cian found an auto spares shop which actually turned out to be a garage workshop as well. He couldn't help us with straps, but did make up number plates. Result! We would be back. Turning up a street, the boys found a 'sell everything' shop - sure enough they had our straps. We paid, got the van and went back to number plate man, ordered them and then mentioned the power steering fluid leak. He said he'd have a look and to return in half an hour. It takes a while to do our big grocery shop, so Jay and Cian left the girls to it and took a walk down to the harbour. We were able to tick off a few of Nia's art trail installations on our walk: herring lady bronze statue, the post ship (an exact footprint of a steamer that ran aground leaving only 28 survivors out of 180 soldiers returning from WW1 - unfair.), and wooden seals. When we returned to the workshop the van was parked on the pavement, Nia and Clare were stowing our new supplies. We had a new number plate. Jay went to see the man. Unfortunately it was only mediocre news. The seal was leaking on the power steering ram. This had leaked oil into the rack gasket and expanded it like a swelling balloon until it burst. At some point we must have left quite an oil slick! The fix was nothing less than a replacement steering rack! His advice was simple "just manage the oil loss" in other words - just keep topping up the oil. Easy! Number plate and advice - £15. Thank you. We sat in the van and counted our blessings. Then refuelled; bought some more oil and went to find somewhere to cook egg curry. An old road on the way back west helped us out. It was lovely to be back in the wilderness and alone. A loch below us was full of birds. The rain had stopped, the wind was still. We cooked the curry and installed the new straps. Both reaped good results but the egg curry won - hands down. Clare dug morning poo holes while Nia, Cian and Jay kicked a football! Teeth, tick checks, change and then Eragon.

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thelazyenvironmentalist · 5 years ago

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Why I’m Organizing for a Green New Deal in Canada

When I was little, I spent my summers at my grandma’s house. She lived with my grandpa in a ranch-style bungalow a few hundred meters up from the shores of Lake Huron. The house had an immaculately kept garden, mint shag carpet, and a blue porcelain bathtub. It was perfect. When the weather was good, my grandma would spend hours outside with me, collecting Queen Anne’s Lace in the meadow across the road, walking under the cool green canopy of the forest nearby, or splashing in the waves at the beach for so long that when she brought me inside she would immediately place me in the bathtub to wash the sand off. If I sit quietly I can still hear the sound of the grains of sand settling at the bottom of the blue porcelain as she washed the day out of my hair. It was during this time outside that I first learned what it felt like to feel at home in what we refer to as “nature”. I learned that I could eat apples right off the trees in the woods, scrub myself clean- and then get hopelessly dirty again- at the lake, or sit in our secret spot and nap in the shade of a pine tree with the person I loved the most. On days that were cold and rainy, my grandma and I would stay inside, flipping through a Reader’s Digest encyclopaedia of North American Wildlife, or watching TVO. On those days spent inside, every Saturday or Sunday morning (I can’t remember which) I would park myself in front of the old tube TV to watch the same two mid-nineties infomercials each week. The first, a classic in Canadian Millennial cannon- was from the Humane Society- the one with Sarah McLachlan playing in the background, while sad kittens stared into the camera. The second, slightly more scarring, was produced by the World Wildlife Fund, and this one broke my heart. Every weekend I’d sit on that mint shag carpet and sob watching images of Amazon Rainforest being clear cut, or Bengal Tigers being poached and separated from their cubs. Silly as it might seem, it was these early morning infomercials that taught me the devastation and heartbreak of losing nature. They taught me empathy for creatures I will never see or touch in real life, a sadness and longing for places and times I will never live in. They taught me that if I wanted to see things change, I would have to take action myself. My grandma echoed these lessons in her care of me, and those around her. Her compassion for all creatures-humans and animals alike- sticks with me even now, years after her passing. Anyone in our family could tell you about the time that Grandma nursed an abandoned baby mouse back to health, or when we hand fed a litter of baby bunnies for weeks when the mother was scared away by my Aunt Pauline’s dog, or when she brought our Cat, Mr. Tibb’s back from the brink when he was sick and my parents’ had already booked us a trip to Mexico. What I’m trying to say is my grandmother taught me that even if you can’t immediately relate to someone, or something, even if you’re a different species, when help is needed, you offer it. She taught me that there was beauty in the world and that it was worth saving. I haven’t mentioned my Grandpa yet, but he was the love of my Grandma’s life. They met when she was 17 and living in Florida with her parents. He saw her singing in the church choir when he was on vacation with his family, and three months later she had moved up to Canada, they were married, and soon my Aunt Debbie was on the way. My Grandpa’s brother’s made their way owning car dealerships and racehorses, and lived well into their 80s and 90s- my Grandpa got into the oil industry. First in Sarnia, then Nova Scotia, the United States, Calgary, and, for a short period of time, Saudi Arabia, among numerous other towns and cities. My Grandpa managed oil refineries for decades- and was proud of his work and all it afforded his family. Both he and my Grandma had jackets and hats stitched with the Turbo Canada logo (a now defunct petroleum company) and somewhere in my closet at my parent’s house, I still have one of his old jackets tucked away, with a decades old cigarette hidden in the pocket. My Grandpa was in insanely good health, for his entire life. Due to his health, and love of his job, he didn’t retire until he was in his early 60s. When I was about 11 his health abruptly changed. He got very sick, very quickly, and for the first time in his life, he was admitted to a hospital overnight, and for the next 6 months or so, he didn’t really leave. My Grandpa died of Leukaemia in his early 70s, due to, what the family believed, was from a lifetime of benzene exposure from working in the oil and gas industry. Much of the generational wealth I still benefit from, is due to the Canadian oil industry; this makes me uncomfortable. But this same industry, the one that allowed my grandparents to raise 4 daughters comfortably, and retire on the shores of Lake Huron, in a house that they built, is the same industry that ultimately cost him his life- it’s the reason I no longer have a Grandpa. It’s also why when my grandma had a series of mini-strokes resulting in dementia, she spent the last few really difficult years of her life alone, without the comfort of her lifelong partner by her side. I’m not going to say that my Grandfather dying is the reason I work with other young people for climate justice- that fate was sealed over two decades ago, when I first started crying in front of the TV seeing the harm we have the capacity to inflict. But what my Grandpa’s leukaemia does compel me to do is work for a world where no one else has to leave this world too soon in order to provide for their family. The oil and gas industry in Canada has given so many of us so much, and it has also taken so much away. Not just from those like my family who lost a single loved one too soon, and too painfully, but from the communities like the Aamjiwnaang First Nation in Chemical Valley, downstream from the refineries my Grandfather worked at in Sarnia, where miscarriages are frequent because of exposure to chemicals like cadmium and mercury. The weight of our affluence shouldn’t be borne by those who have had their land stolen from them, or by the workers who risk their health and livelihood working in mines and refineries because our government can’t be bothered to subsidize job training programs for low-carbon work, or support an energy economy that doesn’t make a few influential people exorbitant amounts of wealth. The greed of the Canadian petro-state is devastating. It is so easy to give into the heartbreak, the malaise, to wallow in the understanding that we are already losing, that we have lost so much, and so many to climate change, and the fossil fuel industry. What’s hard is hope. What’s hard is to continue to love, to continue to plough ahead despite the odds, to demand better of our leaders; of ourselves. The Green New Deal is the first thing that has offered me real hope in a very long time. The Green New Deal and it’s “no one left behind” attitude offer us a chance to build the world we want to live in- a world without catastrophic climate change, a world where workers are respected and valued to a higher degree than the resources they’re extracting. A world where having the energy to power our lives doesn’t mean sacrificing entire communities like the Aamjiwnaang, and their children. Where, in order to provide for your family, you don’t first have to sign away your red blood cell count. My heart was first broken in front of that TV when I was little. I’m so ready to put it back together. And I’m going to do that the only way I know how: by working with those I love to try to save my home. We can do that with a Green New Deal, but we need your help, we need your hope, and we need your hands. We need to get to work.

#GreenNewDealCanada OurTime2019 ClimateJustice YouthClimateAction

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quakerjoe · 6 years ago

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50 years ago today, a photograph was taken that would reframe how we humans saw our planet. As I reflect on the year that’s been, I am thinking of all the news reports on the damage being inflicted on our fragile Earth.

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There is an image you’ve probably seen of a bright marble set against complete blackness. The marble sits in a shadow. It is mostly blue and swirling white, with a hint of green and brown. In the foreground of the photograph is a swath of barren gray. This picture is considered one of the most iconic images in human history. It altered our sense of ourselves as a species and the place we call home, because that marble is our planet seen from the vastness of space, and the gray horizon we see in the foreground is the moon. The photograph has a name: Earthrise.

The image was captured by astronaut William Anders of Apollo 8 on the first manned mission to orbit the lunar sphere, and the photograph can be seen as a mirror image for every vision humans had ever experienced up to that point. From before the dawn of history, our ancestors looked up in the night sky and saw a brilliant moon, often in shadow. But in that moment on Apollo 8, three men from our planet looked back and saw all the rest of us on a small disk with oceans, clouds, and continents.

This image, so peaceful and yet so breathtaking, was taken at the end of a turbulent year. It was Christmas Eve 1968, but from up there you would never know that a hot war was raging in Vietnam or that a Cold War was dividing Europe. You wouldn’t know of the assassinations of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. or Bobby Kennedy. From that distance, people are invisible, and so are cities, countries, and national boundaries. All that separates us ethnically, culturally, politically, and spiritually is absent from the image. What we see is one fragile planet making its way across the vastness of space.

There was something about that photograph that struck deep into the souls of many people about our place in the heavens, and a year later it appeared on a postage stamp (six cents at the time) with the caption “In the beginning God . . .” The photograph is also widely credited with galvanizing a movement to protect our planet. Over the course of the 1960s, people increasingly spoke of a Spaceship Earth, a notion eloquently voiced by United States ambassador Adlai Stevenson in a speech he gave to the United Nations in 1965. “We travel together, passengers on a little space ship, dependent on its vulnerable reserves of air and soil; all committed for our safety to its security and peace; preserved from annihilation only by the care, the work, and, I will say, the love we give our fragile craft.” With the Earthrise photograph, suddenly Spaceship Earth was no longer a metaphor. It was there for all of us to see.

The 1960s and 1970s were times of such social upheaval that the environmental movement is often overlooked. But real action was happening. In 1962, Rachel Carson, a trained marine biologist, published one of the most important books in American history, Silent Spring. It focused on the dangers of synthetic pesticides like DDT, showing how these chemicals could insidiously enter an ecosystem and wreak unintended havoc on the health of a wide range of animals, including humans. The book hit like a thunderclap. The reaction from the chemical industry was fierce and unrelenting, but the public uproar was even more substantial.

The moral weight of Carson’s argument changed the equation for how we measured our actions; the health of the earth became part of the discussion. That book contributed to the rising pressure on government officials to act to protect our planet, and in 1970 we saw both the founding of the Environmental Protection Agency (signed into law by President Richard Nixon) and the first Earth Day (organized by Wisconsin’s Democratic senator Gaylord Nelson). The year also saw an important expansion of the Clean Air Act (first passed in 1963). The Clean Water Act would come in 1972. The environment was now an important national priority, and support for it was bipartisan.

For all the talk of Spaceship Earth and Earth Day, however, there was a belief at the time that environmentalism was a series of local battles. When it came to air and water pollution, we worried about the health of the smog over Los Angeles and the chemical runoff into the Hudson River. Over time, we saw environmental threats become more regional, with acid rain and the depletion of the ozone layer. It was hard to imagine, though, that we could harm the planet on a global scale. But all the while, ever since the start of the industrial revolution, an odorless and invisible pollutant was being pumped into our atmosphere with increasing volume — from our tailpipes, smokestacks, and the clear-cutting of forests. We now know that carbon dioxide and the resulting climate change is a threat of a magnitude unlike anything we have ever seen before. Those are the stakes we face today.

In the summer of 2007, I traveled 450 miles north of the Arctic Circle to the Canadian tundra to report on a development that was shocking for any student of history. For centuries, famed explorers had searched for a shipping route from Europe to Asia through the frigid north. It was dubbed the Northwest Passage, and it proved to be a deadly and illusory dream, as many ships and men went in to never return. So when my colleagues and I heard reports that melting sea ice was possibly unlocking the passage, we set about to document the dramatic climate change at the end of the earth. Some of my crew spent days aboard a Canadian Coast Guard research icebreaker, and I met them in the Inuit village of Arctic Bay, population about 700 hardy souls.

What both the scientists and the local inhabitants understood was that a world of ice was undergoing rapid and unpredictable change. I remember taking a walk along a rocky shoreline with an elderly Inuit woman, who pointed at the open water and explained how, even in the summer, it had once been largely ice. She talked of seal pelts that were not as thick because of the warmer water and her worries that her people’s way of life was in danger of being irrevocably lost. Meanwhile, on the research boat, scientists were rushing to understand how this changing climate was affecting marine life and whether they could find clues to the arctic environment of the past by dredging the bottom of the sea.

It is an awesome realization that Earth, which has always seemed boundless, is so susceptible to the negative byproducts of human activity. Perhaps that is what makes it difficult for some to accept climate change. As we walk through nature, it seems so robust and permanent. And for the vast majority of the history of our species, we did not have the power to destroy the planet.

But if you look back to the beginning of the environmental movement, you will see that it sprang from a dawning realization of how damaging humans could be. In the late nineteenth century, the mighty bison of the American West, estimated to once have numbered in the tens of millions, were slaughtered over just a few decades to the brink of extinction. Hunting parties would shoot indiscriminately from train windows as sport, leaving thousands of carcasses to rot in the sun. A seemingly limitless resource suddenly was on the verge of disappearing. By then, a growing spirit of naturalism was capturing the nation’s attention, personified by writers like Henry David Thoreau. And leading citizens in the United States, men with political power like Theodore Roosevelt, decided to act.

They formed conservation clubs that began to have an effect on the federal government. Yellowstone National Park, considered the first national park in the world, was founded in 1872. Yosemite was added in 1890. A movement had been born. But meanwhile, a very different revolution had begun half a world away. The first modern internal combustion engine was built in the 1870s, and in 1886 German engineer Karl Benz patented the first motorcar. Over the ensuing century and decades, as the environmental movement grew in its scope and importance, Earth was getting sicker.

None of this was known when I was growing up. The Texas economy of my youth was literally being fueled by oil, and there seemed to be nothing incompatible with black gold and the health of the wide world outside my door. Some of my earliest memories were of running through the wild meadow that bordered my neighborhood on the outskirts of Houston, looking at bugs, lizards, and, it being Texas, a lot of snakes. There was a creek a little farther out, and when I was young, my mother made it known to me that it was a boundary I dare not cross. Beyond the creek lay deep woods, and as I grew older, I was allowed to wander alone beneath the strong oaks and towering pines, turned loose in nature. In the midst of the woods was the Buffalo Bayou, and I learned how to swim in its languid waters. In truth, the bayou had already been polluted by the oil refineries and chemical plants around Houston. But we boys, frolicking in the water, didn’t know that. We were living out our fantasies of being latter-day Tom Sawyers and Huck Finns.

In that great meadow and the forest beyond, the world seemed exciting and alive. It was teeming with rabbits, squirrels, and the occasional coyote. There were birds in the skies and all those snakes on the ground. Most were harmless, but there were poisonous ones as well — rattlesnakes, water moccasins, coral snakes, and the spreading adder, what we called the “spreadin’ adder.” My mother worried about snakes, but she knew that they were part of the Lone Star way of life. You had to be alert, knowledgeable, careful, and a bit lucky — just like in life.

My father was the kind of hunter who believed that you shouldn’t hunt something you don’t know a lot about, and he instilled in me a deep respect for the natural world. As we walked together on warm summer evenings, his hunting rifle in hand, he would explain the life cycle of rabbits and that the best place to find squirrels was where the “hardwoods met the pine trees,” because squirrels liked the height of the pine trees and the nuts of the hardwoods. Whether this was provable from scientific study, or even whether someone has ever chosen to study such a thing, I do not know. But it was the kind of wisdom that came from a lifetime of observation, and nature tends to make all of us open our eyes and think.

My father also believed that you ate what you killed, and so my mother had a number of recipes that fit both rabbit and squirrel interchangeably. Sometimes we just ate the meat broiled with a side of sliced tomatoes or homemade pickles. Other times it was stewed. More often, it was fried. It might not sound like much, but it was pretty good. My father would also usually get a couple of deer during the hunting season, which was the legal limit. We would eat every bit that was edible, and that could take quite a while. Dad was terrific with a shotgun, so we spent many a time cleaning, then eating, ducks and quail.

In the nature around my house I learned life lessons — an overworked phrase, I grant you, but an apt one. When I was nine years old, my friends and I came across a giant softshell turtle in the Buffalo Bayou. It was the biggest one we had ever seen, and we spent the entire day tracking it. After many foiled attempts, we finally snared it, bound it up, and walked back the mile or so to my parents’ house. We filled a tub with water in the backyard and put it in. We felt like conquering heroes, but that only lasted until my father came home from work. When he saw what we had done, he was furious and explained to me how such behavior could harm a wild animal like this turtle. Even though it was after dark, he insisted that I carry the turtle back to where we’d found it. Now, this wasn’t the equivalent of a valiant effort to save an endangered species, but my father’s instinct was the same: Nature was not there for us to exploit or toy with. It is a lesson I have never forgotten.

Going into the forest with my dad was a backdrop to my young life. It was just what people did. I was expected to be able to identify the species of trees and to know how to avoid getting lost. Nature wasn’t something that you drove to, or planned on seeing, or for which you bought a fancy outdoor wardrobe. I worry that now it is an activity that must compete with soccer practices, homework, piano lessons, and all the other responsibilities that fill up the calendar of a family with children. All those are surely wonderful and rewarding, but so too is just letting your legs wander through the trees and meadows, and having your mind wander as well.

Today most of us encounter few animals and plants in our daily lives, and most of what we do see are either the ones we have domesticated or the vermin and weeds that can thrive in the cracks of modernity. Growing up I was enthralled by the night sky. But now most of us can see only a few faint stars at night, the ones bright enough to make it through the domes of light that enclose our metropolises. For all of human history, the night sky told stories, delineated time, and guided voyagers. Now 30 percent of the people on the planet can’t even see the Milky Way from their homes. And in the United States, 80 percent of us can’t.

We as a nation have done much to exploit the land, despoil it, and pollute it. From wildlife to wildfires, we have been shortsighted in our management. For too long the cost of doing business ignored the cost of that business to the environment. Still, we have been world leaders in conservation, preservation, and environmentalism. And that is what makes this moment in time so baffling and worrisome. Somehow the environment has become yet another point of contention between Democrats and Republicans. It is striking that those who live in urban centers and are more isolated from the natural world tend to vote for Democratic candidates who mostly favor stricter environmental regulations. Meanwhile, those in rural areas tend to vote for Republican candidates who more often advocate for laxer oversight of land, water, and pollution. I am not exactly sure how this came to be. Some of it likely has to do with the coarsening of dialogue between the two major parties on almost every issue, and ultimately the environment gets sorted along those binary lines as well. Research also suggests that those states whose economies are built on oil, gas, coal, and mining tend to be less likely to support environmental regulations, and understandably so. But whatever the cause, it is important to note that these political and social divides over the environment were not always this way.

It was an odd experience watching the heated debate as a cap and trade bill for carbon dioxide emissions and climate change made its way through Congress in 2009. The opposition from Republicans was fierce, with only a handful voting for final passage in the House of Representatives. Dozens of Democrats in conservative districts also voted against the bill. In the end, the legislation barely passed the House and was never even brought up in the Senate. And yet the very idea of cap and trade as a way to deal with environmental problems, where you set limits and allow polluters to trade in credits, had been the brainchild of Republicans. President Ronald Reagan had used cap and trade to phase out lead in gasoline, and President George H. W. Bush had used it to cut the pollutants causing acid rain.

When I sat down recently with George Shultz, who had served as secretary of state under President Reagan, he spoke with pride of the Republican legacy on the environment, stretching back to President Theodore Roosevelt. Secretary Shultz has become a vocal advocate for protecting the planet against climate change, and he reminded me that major environmental progress — from the founding of the EPA to tackling the ozone and acid rain problems, to strengthening clean water and air acts — had happened under Republican administrations.

Questions of the environment boil down to acts of leadership. Most people would say that they want clean air and water. The concerns that you hear about pitting economic growth against environmental protections are legitimate; we need a balanced approach. Our modern lives require that we mine, till, fish, generate electricity, and discard refuse. We will never return to some mythic state of environmental purity. Nor would we want to. But that doesn’t mean we can’t be wiser about how we use our limited resources and protect our planet. I believe that if there was leadership on this issue in both political parties, the American people would rally to action.

We humans seem to have a hard time measuring risk. We can see the dangers in the moment, but threats that stretch over the course of generations are hard for us to judge, let alone act to remedy. Climate change is just such a problem. Even though we already see very worrisome fluctuations in Earth’s functions — extreme weather, vanishing sea ice, rising temperatures, and rising oceans — the most dire effects will not strike with full force until well after I am gone. We can hide from the truth for now, but it will not last. In my interview with Secretary Shultz, he described climate change as a clear and present danger even if many of his fellow Republicans do not see it that way. I asked him how he felt about this state of affairs. He said those who deny climate change now will ultimately be “mugged by reality.” Mugged by reality. It is a strong phrase. The danger is that when the climate deniers are finally mugged, it will be, by definition, too late. Already we are seeing the glaciers melt in Greenland and massive ice sheets breaking off Antarctica.

Often I find myself thinking back to my boyhood out in the forests and meadows and how those experiences spurred in me a love of our natural world. One of the joys of my later life has been the summer days I spend in quiet contentment fishing in the upper Beaverkill River in the Catskill mountain range of western New York State. My eyes are mostly focused on the action in the stream, watching the currents and eddies, casting flies, looking for trout willing to bite. But I often glance up to contemplate the flora and fauna of the riverbank — particularly the birch trees that are rooted just on the edge of the water. They favor the embankments in many northern climes, and sometimes, as I take in the scene, an old African American spiritual comes to mind. I begin singing slowly, “Just like a tree planted by the water, I shall not be moved. I shall not be, I shall not be moved. . . .” The hymn may say I shall not be moved, but I often am, in that strange and mystical way engaging in nature often moves us.

There is an elegance to birches, tall and slender, with their distinctive white bark. I’ve always liked them because my long-departed mother loved them so. Born, raised, and buried on the semitropical Texas Gulf Coast, she never saw a live birch, only pictures in a book. Mother’s favorite tree, however, was the native magnolia, which flourishes all along the Texas Gulf Coast and adjacent piney woods. She loved their strength and the fragrance of their large white blossoms. That scent permeating and enveloping in the heavy humidity of Texas nights is among the fondest memories of my childhood. I smell it often, even when a magnolia is nowhere in sight.

I like to sit out there on the river for a long while, and take a deep breath and close my eyes. Nature doesn’t please only our sense of sight. I can hear the soothing sounds of running water and swaying leaves in the background. Nature has the power to inspire one’s mind and move one’s soul like great music or poetry. It can fill you with humility when you encounter the otherworldliness of the Grand Canyon. It can fill you with awe when you tilt your head back and try to tease out the top of a towering redwood. It can spark your imagination as you try to visualize a time when the entire continent was as wild as Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. And it can fill you with sadness when you see how much the glaciers in Glacier National Park are receding. What are we doing? What have we done?

I am an optimist by nature, and I believe we can find a will to save the planet. We have a strong and growing environmental sensibility in this country and around the world — especially among the young. But there are hurdles, not the least of which come from many of our elected officials. We have seen the undue influence of big money from the fossil fuel industry, along with their allies in government, actively undermine climate science. We have seen crises like what has taken place in Flint, Michigan, call into question our national commitment to equal access to clean water and air. To the countless generations yet to be born, what world will we leave for them? We have seen that we can make progress and repair damage to the environment. But now, when it is needed with an urgency we haven’t really seen before, we are blinking. How can we open our eyes once again to the notion of a fragile planet, our only home?

Apollo 8 was on its fourth pass around the moon when the commander, Frank Borman, initiated a scheduled roll of the spacecraft. On the audio recordings, you can hear William Anders, who was the lunar module’s pilot, react to a sight no human had ever seen before: “Oh my God! Look at that picture over there! There’s the earth coming up. Wow, is that pretty.” Anders called out to the third crew member, Jim Lovell, asking if he had color film. There was a scramble inside the spacecraft to get the picture taken before it was too late. They got their shot.

The astronauts were not looking for Earth when they went on their mission. The space historian Andrew Chaikin said Anders told him later, “We were trained to go to the moon. We were focused on the moon, observing the moon, studying the moon, and the earth was not really in our thoughts until it popped up above that horizon.” We need this vision of a unified and cohesive Earth to pop up once again over the horizon of our global complacency. We need to consider, with awe and humility, the future of our fragile home.

- Dan Rather

(Above is the "Environment" essay from my book What Unites Us)

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sharpeagle-tech · 2 years ago

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Industries where explosion-proof cameras are used?

Improved safety in all aspects of human existence has been the target of intensive research in recent times. The prevention policy has been put to remarkable effect with advancements in technology, communication, software, and cloud architecture. Can we do without screens everywhere? Cameras need screens to reflect the moving images captured through lenses. Surveillance with Advanced CCTV Camera Systems suits a range of applications in these complex times. Whether it is traffic or transport, oil and gas industries, handling materials, or providing building security, wireless systems work most conveniently. Solar-powered systems are a double advantage in avoiding fossil fuels and tapping renewable energy. When we think of cameras, the first thought goes to mobile phones, but that is not all. Accomplishments in software and low light imaging capability, and high definition with crystal clear images are high. Along with the monitoring system that displays what the lenses capture, you need recording equipment and playback. A large number of small accessories serve the purpose and may know the secrets to the professionals alone. Camera vision surrounding machines and vehicles on the road, warehouse, construction sites, and industries bring safety. Crane trucks and forklifts, buses, military, and emergency vehicles all need such close watch.

‍The need for explosion-proof cameras

‍Explosion proof camera for oil and gas industries represents one of many. Most people have not entered chemical industries or mines, steel manufacturing units, and oil and gas rigs onshore and offshore. Refineries and Bio-gas plants, and large construction projects present working conditions very difficultly. Excess of heat or cold in extreme temperatures apart, dust and gas could result in flame and explosions.

Besides, many establishments work around the clock, which means that the dangers are even more significant at night. While robots and machines do a part of the work, human supervision and labor are instrumental. The danger affects not only the materials and the machinery but humans too. The rugged steel construction, perhaps in dome shapes of these cameras, is strong enough to withstand explosions. They tolerate all the gases and sparks, combustion, and dust that accumulate. Dustproof, waterproof and flameproof cannot be said about workers, machines, and materials. Lots of research and skill, knowledge, and expertise go into the construction of these cameras.

‍A variety of Explosion Proof cameras serve the purpose

‍• Ex-proof PTZ Dome Camera

• Explosion Proof Compact Camera

• Explosion Proof Zoom IR Camera

• Ex-proof PTZ Camera

‍You may also read: Benefits of explosion proof cameras

‍ATEX-rated Cameras

‍Certifying agencies need to vouch for products as a testimony to the claims. Like the several covid19 vaccines going around nowadays and all the controversies surrounding them, institutional support is crucial. ATEX is the European association that certifies that the camera equipment has been tested and passed in difficult conditions like in factories. The ATEX seal indicates that the camera is capable of tolerating all those dangerous conditions. Gases in the air and dust and vapor, mists too could combine and ignite into flame in particular conditions. Always choose ATEX rated cameras for the oil and gas industries.

Monitoring Precious Machinery

‍Instrumental for security in a thousand locations in and around cities, surveillance cameras help manage complex machinery and elaborate production systems in factories. Some of these industry setups are so extensive that keeping a human watch is almost impossible. Setting up ex-proof cameras in sensitive locations and monitoring the work closely from a control room enables constant surveillance.

When problems occur with the machines or materials, as will happen sometimes, workers know immediately through the monitors. The software can be programmed to deliver messages, too, like a ringing alert. Immediately, action is taken, and the fault is attended to before disasters happen. Just like traffic CCTVs, such footage evidence may be used in case of disputes to settle matters in courts.

‍Caring for the safety of workers

‍Just like schools and offices have CCTVs to keep an eye on to ensure safety, ex-proof cameras help monitor the workforce. A bird’s eye view of the area or the assembly plants serve to keep a watch. Like the media presence, a constant survey helps keep workers and materials, machines, and schedules in good shape to promote high productivity.

Keeping a safe distance

‍Measuring the levels of gases and chemicals in industries requires gauges and meters. Some locations in remote forest or desert areas and out at sea can be beyond easy reach. If numerous meters have to be checked constantly, that seems quite impossible. Ex-proof cameras excel under such conditions. Workers remain unaffected by the variety of dangers. While such cameras cost quite a bit compared to regular cameras, protective equipment for workers would also cost much besides payments.

Toxic materials need surveillance‍

Along with the safety of costly and dangerous equipment is the problem of keeping toxic materials safe. The toxic stuff needs to be handled with protective equipment and kept under constant watch. Military establishments and arms and ammunition production facilities are some examples. Specialized cameras that withstand all types of abuse can be safely installed to monitor the areas. Sensitive locations like the entrance and perimeters need security surveillance at all times too.

The dangers of neglecting safety concerns

‍Whether it is surveillance CCTV cameras in businesses or explosion-proof cameras in industries, bitter lessons are learned by not installing them. If cameras need to be installed, do so at the earliest. Perhaps installations have been done but inadequately. Sprawling industry premises would require a certain number of cameras for better management. Maybe the cameras need to be upgraded for better performance and to keep up with the times.

‍Survey the industry from across the world

‍Like home security systems, the cameras that work via the internet can be remote-controlled from faraway locations. Among the wonders online, you can trade stocks from any site. Similarly, controlling the camera systems and monitoring to check if everything is working fine can be done anywhere. Now that the internet has spread its wings across the planet, it is readily available. Won’t it be satisfying to have a firsthand glimpse of how the factory is working? Check up on machinery and workers, materials, and construction from a distant place like the eye of God that reaches everywhere. Even amid a vacation in exotic forest and desert locations, keeping in touch with real happenings would be quite possible. If something goes wrong, action can be taken from afar with many organizations so effectively interconnected. Not only is the natural world interconnected through causes and conditions but communication systems too. Whether it is a fire or burglary, the concerned authorities can be easily contacted through various media to take early action.

‍You may also read: Why Explosion Proof Cameras are Best Suited for Hazardous Areas

‍Automation has its drawbacks‍

More and more work procedures, machines, and software systems work by themselves with little or no human interaction once set up. Labour is prohibitively expensive in some countries. Will anybody takes a personal interest in the work going on? Monitoring from afar via cameras and other communication systems is one of the viable solutions.

Supreme advantages of explosion-proof cameras

‍These are built to cope with challenging conditions and protected from water and fire, dust, and gases; these rugged cameras are strong like nails. Workers in such settings would suffer respiratory diseases and get exposed to the dangers of fire and explosions. As compared to workers, software suffers no lapses. Human error does not apply to cameras as long as power and the internet are working properly. Wireless systems bring greater advantages.

‍Budgetary concerns

‍Explosion-proof cameras are far more expensive than conventional cameras though a wide range is available. Industries do have their budget allocations, and most can probably afford the best systems. In terms of worker, machine, and materials safety, it is imperative that explosion-proof cameras are set up at vantage points for monitoring around the clock.

‍Advancements in explosion-proof camera technology

‍The global demand for specialized explosion-proof cameras with ever-increasing industries has stimulated research and progress. Like many daily gadgets, cameras are getting smaller. Smallness would be advantageous to fit in the cameras in niches even within larger machines to monitor them. Fixed type cameras at 90 degrees or rotating, select the camera features according to need. Like a spotlight, the camera can focus on one scene of action. A camera can also survey the entire area with a rotating motion. PTZ cameras that are capable of pan, tilt, and zoom bring greater versatile use. These works in low light, dim light, and even in darkness through heat sensors, cameras have become very specialized indeed. Picture clarity is getting better and better with increased sharpness.

‍Security systems increase productivity

‍The covid19 pandemic has raised important issues of security like never before. Increased awareness of safety measures does apply firmly to industries amidst all the dangers of toxic gases, fire, explosions, and dust. Like CCTVs in apartment complexes, explosion-proof cameras in industries bring a sense of security. The mind is at peace, and better work and higher productivity are the results. They work around the clock bring greater comfort to workers who troop in and out of factories in shifts across the night and day. According to the requirements, decide about setting up Explosion-proof camera zone 1 and zone 2 in appropriate locations.

‍You may also read: Sharpeagle’s Explosion proof camera series

‍SharpEagle’s Explosion proof cameras are ATEX certified, which assure durability. Buy and install enough numbers of cameras to secure life.

Buy explosion-proof camera system

#sharpeagle #explosion proof cctv system #explosion proof camera #ex proof camera system #ex proof camera for oil and gas #hazardous area camera

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hengal · 2 years ago

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Industrial endoscope for non-destructive testing

Endoscope is a multi-disciplinary universal tool. Its function is to explore the depths of curved pipes, observe the parts that cannot be seen directly, observe the internal space structure and state in the sealed cavity, and realize long-distance observe and act. Endoscopic inspection is a method of using industrial endoscopes to inspect the interior of containers, pipelines, non-removable equipment, the inner surface of narrow gaps, the parts below the liquid level such as water and oil, and the areas that cannot be directly observed by human vision in special environments. Controlled visual inspection method.

Principles of nondestructive testing of industrial endoscopes

Industrial endoscopy is a branch of non-destructive testing, and it can also be said to be a specialized testing technology.

Due to its special size design, the industrial endoscope allows us to observe the internal surface structure or working state of the object easily and accurately without destroying the surface of the detected object.

Non-destructive testing requires the use of industrial endoscopes as testing tools, which are professionally designed and produced to meet complex industrial environments. Endoscopic inspection is a kind of inspection technology that has been widely used in recent years with the development of endoscope manufacturing technology. According to the characteristics of the manufacturing process, we generally divide industrial endoscopes into three types: optical rigid tube mirrors, fiber optic mirrors, and video mirrors.

Industrial endoscopes can be used for inspection and observation of high temperature, toxic, nuclear radiation and places that cannot be directly observed by the human eye. They are mainly used in automobiles, aircraft engines, pipelines, mechanical parts, etc. Non-destructive testing can be realized when the operation is stopped. On the other hand, the industrial endoscope can also be connected with a camera, a video camera or an electronic computer to form a photographing, imaging and image processing system, so as to monitor, record, store and map the field of view objects. Image analysis. Provides a good guarantee for diagnosis and treatment.

Development Trend of Industrial Endoscopy

Industrial endoscope technology has unique advantages, it can extend people's sight distance, and can change the direction of sight arbitrarily, and accurately observe the real condition of the inner surface of the object, which cannot be replaced by other detection instruments. For example, in aviation applications, the industrial sight glass can be extended into the interior of the aircraft engine to directly observe the actual internal conditions after operation or the internal surface conditions of equipment parts; effectively detect the surface conditions of relatively concealed or narrow parts, while There is no need to disassemble equipment or components for destructive inspection. The method is simple and reliable, very intuitive and effective. Whether it is in the aerospace field, the electronics industry and other manufacturing and maintenance industries, the use of endoscopes for NDT detection has achieved good results, solved many difficult problems, ensured the normal operation of the entire set of equipment, and avoided some accidents.

Shenzhen HenGal Innovative Technology Co., Ltd. is a professional endoscope manufacturer. We have advanced technology and excellent product quality. As a R&D-driven solutions company, we always adhere to the principle of "innovative and pragmatic" and put customers first. We look forward to working with you.

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sciencespies · 3 years ago

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Op-ed | Can we backhaul our way to space?

https://sciencespies.com/space/op-ed-can-we-backhaul-our-way-to-space/

Op-ed | Can we backhaul our way to space?

If the market grows large enough, a dedicated lunar-to-LEO tanker industry could evolve

Trade. It enables, disseminates, and helps pay for new technologies and skills. It encourages sciences, the arts, and communications across oceans and cultures. It is a requirement for the evolution and supply of settlements and cities. Like technology and physical expansion, trade is a defining characteristic of humanity. It is impossible to overstate its importance in human history and development.

So, how do we get trade, and all of its ancillary benefits, started on the new frontier of space? After finding things to trade – like lunar or Martian scientific knowledge or lunar water – trade is most likely encouraged by making both the upfront and ongoing costs of space transportation and operations as low as possible. That requires the most efficient possible use of whatever transportation is available. One way to increase efficiency is to employ a concept the trucking industry calls‚“backhaul.”

The administration of Donald Trump challenged NASA to aggressively return astronauts to Earth’s moon, and to prepare for going on to Mars. President Joe Biden’s administration appears to support continuation of that vision. A young administration confronted with a Congress precisely balanced between bitterly fighting political parties is unlikely to want to spend its limited political capital squabbling over space policy. That encourages continuity.

There also seems to be a new sense of reality at NASA. While senators appear to have headed off any attempt to cancel NASA’s vastly late and over-budget Saturn 5-class Space Launch System and freeing the resources it consumes for more useful purposes, NASA is doing what it can to minimize the SLS’s lost opportunity costs. Payloads that Congress baselined for the SLS have been moved to cheaper commercial rockets. NASA picked SpaceX’s largely self-funded, Starship-based lander for the Human Landing System. Boeing has been strongly urged to improve their dismal performance managing SLS — though there is little sign of that actually happening. Nonetheless, it is becoming possible to believe that a “lunar gateway” station, and maybe even early visits to the lunar surface, could actually occur – if not by 2024, at least within the decade of the 2020s.

In an early, lunar transportation architecture dependent on the expendable SLS, the astronaut capsule alone will return to Earth — usually with a small amount of spare volume and mass. Later when reusable spacecraft ply between Earth and her moon, and supplies are transported in one direction, empty or partially filled vehicles will return to be used again. Since the empty vehicles produce no value beyond returning for reuse, anything that allows space on them to be used or sold is a net gain for the transportation provider. In the trucking industry, goods “backhauled” in this way often pay extraordinarily low rates, subsidized by the primary purpose of moving the outbound goods. Crucially, the outbound cargo can be totally unrelated to the inbound backhaul.

Early first-generation vehicles will be severely constrained in both volume and mass, but even then backhaul may be relevant. Returning crew capsules could carry small items stored “under the seats.” These might include lunar samples desired by companies or scientists, or even wealthy individuals, in addition to those wanted by NASA. Low-mass ornaments or jewelry, like glass beads from ancient lunar volcanic “fire fountains” and other collectible mineral grains, whose value comes solely from their being obtained on Earth’s moon, are possible high-value items. Possible rare, high-value heavy elements or rare-earth elements collected from asteroid impact sites could be used in orbit or on Earth.

Tiny but abrasive and chemically reactive lunar dust particles can damage equipment and human lungs, so all samples need to be properly stored in sealed containers. After arrival on Earth, they must be cleaned before distribution to nonscientists.

Later, if second-generation lunar crew transportation vehicles were reusable, backhaul opportunities become much more attractive. After dropping crew and supplies off at a lunar base, cislunar supply vehicles would return empty, or with smaller return cargoes, to low Earth orbit or elsewhere in cislunar space. At that time, backhaul might become a real market.

The International Space Station and future semi-commercial stations, Lunar Gateway, applications satellites, and other activities in cislunar space need water and oxygen for propulsion, drinking, and breathing – both of which are readily available on Earth’s moon without having to lift them from Earth’s surface. Oxygen can be derived from oxidized surface rocks available in many locations, not only from polar water deposits. Water, because it is useful or necessary for so many things in so many places, has been called the “oil” of the solar system.

If NASA were to establish a science base on Earth’s moon, lunar water or oxygen might be backhauled for use at the cislunar facilities. If the market grows large enough, a dedicated lunar-to-LEO tanker industry could evolve – which might never happen if the infrastructure for supplying space facilities with lunar water had to be paid for up front and from scratch, before any water was delivered.

Backhaul allows trade to start small, possibly very small, early on while transportation infrastructure is still rudimentary. That could increase early income from lunar activities, amortizing some of the costs and encouraging growth, leading to earlier development of largescale commercial or semi-commercial industrial stations or orbital tourist facilities. Costs could be spread over multiple activities, in this case both science and commerce.

Similar ideas for incremental development are not new. Companies developing a new technology often take an incremental approach, earning money on partial solutions while developing their better mouse traps. SpaceX was able to parlay testing retro-propulsion deceleration technologies needed for their Falcon 9 reusable first stage —using rocket engine plumes to protect the vehicle during reentry — by trading test data useful for potential Mars missions with NASA.

The space agency flew aircraft with advanced thermal imaging sensors to observe reentering test vehicles paid for by SpaceX, and shared the results. NASA got data it could not otherwise afford while SpaceX got the data they needed to perfect firststage reentry without having to fly their own sensors.

Later, SpaceX went a step further. The company tested reusing Falcon 9 first stages while launching operational satellites for paying customers. The test could take place after the first stage had completed its operational mission of delivering the second stage and payload to the needed trajectory. The customer paid for the launch — presumably at a somewhat reduced price to accept the risk of flying with experimental hardware on board — while SpaceX got their test data without having to pay for a dedicated test launch.

The advent of a new partially commercialized lunar strategy is exciting, but it remains true that no lunar base is likely in the immediate future. That means no returning vehicles with excess capacity to sell cheap.

So, let’s look closer to home. There are already operational flights that could offer backhaul opportunities. Right now, there are three vehicles delivering crew or cargo to the ISS and returning to Earth: the Russian Soyuz, the SpaceX Crew Dragon, and the SpaceX Cargo Dragon. Soon the Boeing CST-100 Starliner and Sierra Nevada’s Dream Chaser will join the mix. Returning Soyuz and other returning crew vehicles have little excess capacity. Dragon Cargo is another story.

Dragon Cargo can return 3,000 kg in 10 cubic meters from the ISS. Because of various constraints like available volume and operational needs, Dragons usually do not return with their full theoretical capacity in cargo. On most return missions, small amounts of space could probably be found for backhaul. Soon, Dream Chaser will also return with substantial cargo capacity.

So, what might we backhaul from the International Space Station?

A company called Made In Space is deploying a series of ever-improving 3D printers to the station. Currently, these are used experimentally to make tools and parts needed on the station.

It is not hard to imagine using excess capacity or a second machine to print small novelty items for export to Earth on returning crew or cargo capsules. Such items might be quite valuable to those interested in space exploration, or in owning something truly unique. If backhaul costs were low enough, and especially if the prospective objects incorporated some property that could only be made in space, the market could be significant. If one entrepreneur makes a profit, others will follow, each with their own take. Some might even invent something useful that cannot be made on Earth.

While NASA has traditionally been resistant to using publicly owned infrastructure for profit-making businesses seen as frivolous, attitudes are changing. The Russians have fewer qualms, and one module already is privately owned and rented by NASA. Further private modules are planned for the very near future. If someone wanted to start a small business that used backhaul to get its products to Earth, they could probably find a way to do it, especially if production could be automated and not use valuable astronaut time.

If a few small businesses succeed, they could grow. At some point, volume might grow high enough for a consortium to purchase full-priced transportation to Earth. At that point, a mature industry will have arrived, and a trading economy will be firmly established.

Trade will have achieved yet another breakthrough for humanity — helping to pay for our expansion into the final frontier.

Donald F. Robertson is a freelance space industry journalist based in San Francisco. Follow him at @DonaldFR.

This article originally appeared in the September 2021 issue of SpaceNews magazine.

#Space

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sharpeagle-tech · 3 years ago

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How explosion-proof cameras help in surveillance of high-risk industries

While security cameras have become common in a digitally savvy world of commerce and industry, the Explosion-proof security camera remains a mystery! What does the term explosion proof mean? Common sense indicates that the camera resists being blown up, but that is not the truth. What it means refers to the stainless steel casing that protects the camera from internal explosions that might be caused by sparks generated inside. Such a protective high-strength sealing can protect machinery and trucks too.

Hazardous environments require such safety measures.

Too many industries in the developed world contain a range of materials that can catch fire. Timber and industrial chemicals, farms, food production facilities, oil and gas works – they are all susceptible to explosions and fires that can do a lot of destruction. The flammable liquids and gases, dust, and vapor need to be monitored and controlled during processing. Somewhat similarly, the ordinary security cameras at the entrances and exits of buildings keep constant watch.

Major differences in camera construction

Compared to the glass and plastics seen on conventional cameras, the explosion-proof type has a very sturdy build. Steel or aluminum provides the casing to contain the dangers within and prevent sparks from escaping. The steel shell maybe 3.5 mm thick, and such strength can tolerate 1.5 x the pressure generated at the center of an explosion.

Corrosion-resistant stainless steel casing

Thermal controlled window

De-mister that removes the mist and vapor

A technical bonanza

High-range security cameras could have some similar features too. The built-in IP means that recorded videos may be viewed from any location over the internet. The explosion-proof camera offers high resolution along with high DSP (Digital Signal Processing). Super quality images and recorded videos indicate the advanced stage that software and digital technology have reached today. IR enables excellent recording even in low light. Extremes of outdoor temperature do not matter, whether the desert heat or arctic snow. Military establishments certainly need this illustrious device! It is perfect security that keeps out trespassers too.

Certifications back up the camera credentials

ATEX, IECEx, and UL 60079 are leading certifications that indicate the worthiness of the camera in hazardous conditions. Having undergone rigorous testing under such combustible conditions, these organizations have approved the company and brand of camera. Manufacturers gain confidence from such certification and can proceed without worries regarding installations in dangerous settings.

According to locations, some terms differ. In North America, National Electrical Code uses the term explosion-proof. The European Union and IECEx system, along with the ATEX directive, use the term flameproof.

What are the differences between:

explosion-protected camera

explosion proof camera

flameproof camera

Essentially, the three terms have quite similar meanings. The purpose remains the same of preventing a fire from being ignited. Similarly, firefighting equipment is commonly seen in marketplaces and apartment complexes. These cameras are somewhat different though the target of firefighting and prevention remains the same.

Get it clear as to how fire is caused. An explosive substance like a combustible vapor or powder requires a combustion supporting gas like oxygen. Further, will require an ignition source like sparks or flames. In industrial locations, explosive substances are perennially present along with oxygen. Though sparks or flame could originate from other sources, an explosion-proof camera is secure from producing sparks or flame with a powerful external casing. If a big explosion or fire does take place, the camera may not survive the onslaught.

Working amidst constant dangers

Driving on the roads is a common example of constant exposure to risks like in a 24-hour factory. Several hazards confront the driver and passengers, too, like accidents or burglary. Various precautions like the seatbelt and weapons help to alleviate such possibilities. The explosion-proof security camera serves such a preventive purpose by monitoring machines and work processes, workers, and physical security. Without active supervision, recording, and management, no work gets done well.

Protective helmets, gloves, appropriate clothing, specialized shoes, and instruments also help protect workers against injuries and scalding while working in industrial environments. The authorities set safety standards, and inspections verify if the guidelines are being followed. Penalties like fines may be the result otherwise.

Higher costs call for wiser investments.

Considering all the high-end features of these specialized cameras, it is obvious that they are costly compared to conventional CCTVs. Yet, a wide range of devices exists, and pricing depends upon the quality of materials used and the specific features they offer. Manufacturers constantly woo customers with better designs and appealing configurations while technology keeps advancing day and night. Nothing seems to be impossible as far as digital worlds are concerned. The pandemic has intensified the need and popularity of internet-enabled devices.

Budgeted investments ensure workplace safety.

Have all the hazardous work areas installed such monitoring devices? Certainly not, but they should be installing such safety equipment. Researched spending on camera systems according to need with appropriate locations would elevate confidence levels and result in a more productive workplace. Isn’t it hard to work well amidst dangers?

Large investments should be carefully researched and purchases made according to expert advice and recommendations from users. Internet reviews would help the process of selection of brands and models. Warranties offer safeguards against manufacturing defects. It would require very little maintenance for these very sturdy products.

Choice of camera models

Usually configured in the dome or bullet models, the PAN-TILT-ZOOM function serves the monitoring purpose well. Among the feature-rich models are dual camera versions that combine a conventional video camera with a thermal camera that detects heat and works in utter darkness. Incorporated AI recognizes dangers and raises alarms.

Consider the specific environments carefully and the purpose the cameras will fulfill. How extensive is the campus, and where are the dangerous areas to be monitored? How many cameras will be required, and at which locations? What would be the probable budget sanctioned?

Being rather expensive, make sure that the cameras themselves are secure and installed at a height to prevent easy theft on the ground. Otherwise, the Explosion-proof security camera is quite capable of taking good care of itself. So, look forward to safer and more productive times.

#Explosion proof camera #hazardous area camera #zone 1 camera #explosion protected camera #flameproof camera

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rajyog7493 · 3 years ago

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COVID-19 Impact on Gaskets and Seals Materials in Chemical and Materials Industry | Data Bridge Market Research

COVID-19 Impact on Gaskets and Seals Materials in Chemical and Materials Industry

INTRODUCTION

Gaskets and seals are used to make a connection between two components and used to fill the empty spaces between two surfaces which help to avoid leakage and wastage of fluids and gases. Gasket products are mainly used as static seals. Seals products are used between engine parts, pumps and shafts that rotate rather than those that are static. The gaskets and seals are specially designed depending on type of equipment and end-use surface.

The gaskets and seals industry has faced several crises due to the coronavirus that emerged from China and eventually spread all over the globe. All the regions have to take the strict action to deal with the increasing count of the coronavirus cases which has led to the lockdown in several regions, hence, resulting into less demand of the gaskets and seals parts. Moreover, China is the largest manufacturer of the gaskets and seals parts. The country has abundance of raw materials which are brought into application for production of finished goods. However, increasing effect of coronavirus in the country has affected the production, resulting in the lower demand of automotive, aerospace, marine and rail, electrical and other many industries.

At the same time, the demand for other goods that are not used on a more frequent basis has decreased as a result of lock-down in the various regions. For the product ranges sold by manufacturers / dealers, the effect of COVID-19 on the automotive industry can be seen.

IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY

The demand of automobiles has gone down drastically which has resulted in lower demand of auto parts such as gaskets and seals and other rubber based components as well. India and China are among the top manufacturers of gaskets and seals and have witnessed depriving demand and thus had to cut down the manufacturing massively.

COVID-19 has impacted the supply chain the most as due to the lock down in the several countries. The import and export from different nations become difficult and also the demand has reduced which has impacted the demand of the automotive materials. Several manufacturing activities have gone on hold as the market has very less demand of automotive materials.

Manufacturers have faced several problems in the automotive industry due to the disturbance in the supply chain of the automotive parts due to the COVID-19. The demand of the automotive parts has fallen in the industries due to the lower production of the finished goods which has resulted in fall in the price of the automotive items in the global market. The export and import of the electronic parts in different countries have reduced due to the pandemic situation created by COVID-19.

In December 2019, the appearance of coronavirus in China and gradual expansion of the epidemic drastically brought down the demand of the automotive parts. The prices of automotive materials have fallen to negative because of the lower demand in the market and less storage availability for automotive materials.

As China, India and the U.S. are the leading producers which have faced many problems due to lower demand of the automotive materials in the developing nations. In the pandemic situation, import and export and flow of goods have become very difficult due to which the prices of the automotive parts have fallen.

Several companies which are engaged in the manufacturing of gaskets and seals have faced several challenges towards the sale of seals products due to shutdowns in manufacturing of industries such as in aerospace industry, oil and gas industry and automotive industry which has led to lower demand of gaskets and seals in the market.

PRICE IMPACT

Due to COVID-19, the price of gaskets and seals material has been adversely affected due to reduction in the demand of aerospace, oil and gas and automotive equipment and engine products in the market. Other nations or countries are not entering into import and export of raw material and finished goods due to which the demand of the market has decreased. With lowering the demand in the market, the price of gaskets and seals products have declined and manufacturers have to face huge losses.

COMPANIES STRATEGIC INITIATIVES DURING COVID-19

· In July 2020, BASF SE has manufactured and also donated 4 metric tons of Ultramid B24 N-polymers to Ahmedabad Textile Industry’s Research Association (ATIRA) which helps to produce personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Indian medical fraternity. These steps taken by the BASF SE also help the Indian government to fight against COVID-19 situation.

· In July 2020, BASF SE donated Rs. 31.20 million to Indian government. The fund was very helpful for Indian people to fight against the novel coronavirus. The donation has helped to create a good image in Indian market.

· In June 2020, Corning Incorporated has supported the Indian government in COVID-19 situation. The company donated pulse oximeters, infrared thermometers and PPE kits for public health and also 1 lakh units for vitamin C tablets for 5,000 policemen in Chakan, Pune.

By adopting different strategies such as growing manufacturing efficiency, new product launches and product distribution, the manufacturers seeks to achieve optimal market development. The exponential growth of industrial gaskets and seals sectors such as electrical distributions is projected to provide attractive prospects for key market players. This is anticipated that variables such as the locations for distribution and sales can help boost the overall position of the business. Small domestic players and especially emerging players in developed countries are likely to obtain opportunities to position themselves in the marketplace.

CONCLUSION

COVID-19 has crashed the gaskets and seals market as the demand of the automotive industry has declined due to which the price has also decreased. Even the price of the gaskets and seals during the lockdown has gone in negative also. The demand from different regions has reduced due to long term halt in the production. COVID-19 has impacted the connection between different regions as import and export have stopped. Several manufacturers have also closed the display industry due to heavy losses.

With the increasing demand of the high quality safety engines in the developing nations and also with the increase in the demand of the automotive, the demand of the gaskets and seals is likely to increase in the market. Import and export of raw material and finished product of metallic and non-metallic products will help to boost the market in near future. The government authorities are also taking several steps towards the growth of the gaskets and seals products.

Today, the spread of the novel coronavirus has triggered significant market damage across the globe. Most of the businesses have stopped immediately and the effect on oil and gas industry of the coronavirus pandemic is not yet clear. The towns are closed down and social distancing has become a modern norm.

Several manufacturers closed the factory due to heavy losses. The companies are making the strategic action to increase the demand of the gaskets and seals in the market aiming to increase the price and revenue. Government is also helping the manufacturers by making policies which help manufacturers to maintain stability.

#Gaskets and Seals Materials Market #Gaskets and Seals Materials Market Analysis #Gaskets and Seals Materials Market Analysis in Developed Countries #Gaskets and Seals Materials Market by Application #Gaskets and Seals Materials Market by Type #Gaskets and Seals Materials Market Development #Gaskets and Seals Materials Market Forcast

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withastolenlantern · 7 years ago

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The automated doors parted as the detective stepped into the atrium of the main building. The bustle of commerce buzzed around her as self-important looking Ross employees flitted about in a disorganized dance she suspected was not dissimilar from the inside of a bee hive in spring. Peculiarly she could find no security or administrative desk to check into, and she stood, rather dumb-founded, unsure of how to proceed. “Off to a brilliant start,” she mumbled to herself, and stepped further into the lobby.

As she did, a holo blinked to life directly in front of her, startling her enough to cause her to skid to a stop in self-defense. “Good afternoon, Detective Inspector Chatham.” A full size human-impersonation stood before her, obviously generated from a projector somewhere in the floor or ceiling. The image was dressed in a sharply-fit grey suit with short heeled boots; a kerchief with a crimson R sat in the breast pocket of the jacket. The close-cut mop of hair on the model made the image gender-ambiguous, which Chatham supposed was likely intentional. It wasn’t often one saw a virtual intelligence of this sophistication: the processing resources required for both real-time natural language processing and spontaneous image generation were typically prohibitive. The titans of industry spared no expense, evidently.

“Goeie middag,” she replied to the holo, testing its capabilities.

“Ah, in het Nederlands als je wilt,” it responded in a thick accent, as if chewing on its tongue of light.

“Close enough,” Chatham laughed, moderately impressed. “Let us continue in English. I suppose you’re here to guide me to my interview with Lord Swansea?”

“I am here to provide any assistance you should require. The visitors badge you were supplied contains a wireless transmitter and personal identifier. It will allow you access to all pre-approved areas of the facility. A map has been downloaded to your personal data appliance.” The holo gave the detective a vague feeling of unease as it spoke, likely a result of her subconscious facial recognition training. They never could get the expressions right on these interactive holos. Try as they might, the human face still remained stuck firmly in the uncanny valley.

She opened her phone and discovered a facility map had been downloaded directly to it. A bright red R pulsed next to the icon for the thirtieth floor. “That’s the Earl, there, I assume?”

“Yes, mum. Executive offices, floor 30. Your position is indicated by the blue star icon. The elevator to your right will take you straight there. Will you require anything else?”

“Don’t suppose I can get a cup of tea?” she said, trying not to yawn at the previous evenings late escapades.

“I will have one waiting for you at Lord Swansea’s office.”

“Thank you. That will be all,” she replied, and with that the holo winked out of existence. “I will never get used to that,” she said to no one, and headed to the elevator. It opened immediately as she stepped in front, and sealed immediately behind as she entered. The floor counter started increasing as it flew skyward with a frankly frightening velocity. I don’t know whether to be flattered or terrified, Chatham thought. They’ve clearly pulled out both the dog and pony for this show.

Within a minute the elevator stopped, a chime indicating it had arrived at the appropriate floor. She stepped out into a long hallway with deep crimson berber carpeting. The walls were lined with portraits of various people, although Chatham wasn’t quite sure whom. The Earls Swansea had only existed for forty-some years, so it wasn’t as if the family lineage traced back far enough to the era of oil paint likenesses. She turned on the image processing function of her glasses and the overlay indicated it appeared to be members of the Ross Consortium board. Ostentation was clearly not synonymous with good taste, then.

She followed the indicator on her phone map to a large pair of glass doors, frosted in the shape of the Anglican “R” logo. She leaned to knock, but the doors gave way automatically and she stepped into the Lord Swansea’s office. The Ross Consortium CEO was sitting at a large polycarbonate desk, several spreadsheet holos open in front of him. He wore a deep navy sport coat over a taupe shirt, unbuttoned at the collar and without a tie. The detective could see the trademark balding patch at the top of his head, a gift of genetics from his mother’s side. The tabloids had a field day speculating over reasons he hadn’t had it filled in, but he remained resolute. “When you’re born this ugly, there’s nowhere to go but down,” he quipped when last pressed on the issue.

He looked up from the holos when she entered and stood to greet her. “Ah, Detective Inspector. Please do come in,” he greeted her with warmth she almost mistook for sincerity. He offered a firm handshake, and motioned her to a chair in front of the desk. “Please, sit.”

Chatham reclined neatly into a plush armchair in front of the desk. As if one cue, a steaming mug had already been placed on a side table next to the chair. She lifted it and took a small sip.

“That’s the quite the ARMI unit you have here,” she remarked.

“Pardon me?” Ross replied, a perplexed look on his face.

“The building intelligence. Autonomous Resource Management Interface.”

“Oh yes, quite. We call it HenRI,” the earl said. “The boys in the lab refer to it as Hal. I’m told it’s a reference to both Shakespeare and also a classic film about a rogue artificial intelligence.”

“That doesn’t strike you as perhaps a bit morose?” the detective asked with a sudden seriousness.

“Detective Inspector, I assure you this facility is in full compliance with UN resolution 1691 and all Ross technology, including HenRI, operates well within the Lovelace Limit,” the Lord Swansea said, matching her tone. “I can have the IT department show you the latest benchmarks, if you’d like.”

Chatham relaxed, if imperceptibly. Playing Turing police wasn’t in her mandate, but it would’ve meant a mountain of paperwork if she’d stumbled upon an AI violation as part of this investigation. Managing the human aspects was proving difficult enough. “No, that won’t be necessary.”

“Thank you. But yes, I find HenRI quite useful as assistants go. I had an actual personal secretary at one point, or well, I still do, but she’s mainly for show now. I’d say for pouring tea, but HenRI can even handle that, as you've discovered. In fact it handles most everything in the building, at least as far as I’m concerned. I’m sure it could run the whole company, if we let it.”

“You’re not worried it might make you redundant?” the detective asked.

“Oh, I’m afraid I’ve probably already done that to myself,” Ross said with a laugh. “Most days I’m more mascot than executive. At least in Parliament I only have a single Tory master, but here I often feel quite like the family dog, huddled under the table while the board and the lawyers toss me the occasional scrap.”

#the world ocean

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hudsonespie · 4 years ago

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IMO And Arctic States Slammed For Endorsing Continued Arctic Pollution

The Clean Arctic Alliance slammed the decision by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to approve a ban ridden with of loopholes on the use and carriage of heavy fuel oil in the Arctic (HFO), saying that it would leave the Arctic, its Indigenous communities and its wildlife facing the risk of an HFO spill for another decade.

The ban was approved during a virtual meeting of the IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC 75), despite widespread opposition from Indigenous groups, NGOs, and in a statement released this week, the Catholic Church. At the IMO’s PPR 7 subcommittee meeting in February 2020, the IMO agreed on the draft before sending it to MEPC.

Image Credits: imoarcticsummit.org | JONATHAN EASTLAND / AJAX / Alamy

Following PPR7, the Clean Arctic Alliance called the inclusion of loopholes – in the form of exemptions and waivers – in the draft regulation “outrageous” as they mean an HFO ban would not come into effect until mid-2029. With the ban now scheduled to go forward for adoption at MEPC 76, the Clean Arctic Alliance – a coalition of 21 non-profit organisations, called for waivers to not be granted by Arctic coastal states and for the deadline beyond which exemptions would not apply to be brought forward.

“By taking the decision to storm ahead with the approval of this outrageous ban, the IMO and its member states must take collective responsibility for failing to put in place true protection of the Arctic, Indigenous communities and wildlife from the threat of heavy fuel oil”, said Dr Sian Prior, Lead Advisor to the Clean Arctic Alliance. “In its current form, the ban will achieve only a minimal reduction in HFO use and carriage by ships in the Arctic in mid-2024, when it comes into effect. It is now crucial that Arctic coastal states do not resort to issuing waivers to their flagged vessels”.

Heavy fuel oil is a dirty and polluting fossil fuel that powers shipping throughout the world’s oceans – accounting for 80% of marine fuel used worldwide. Around 80% of marine fuel currently carried in the Arctic is HFO; over half by vessels flagged to non-Arctic states – countries that have little if any connection to the Arctic.

As Arctic heating drives sea ice melt and opens up Arctic waters further, even larger non-Arctic state-flagged vessels running on HFO are likely to divert to Arctic waters in search of shorter journey times. This, combined with an increase in Arctic state-flagged vessels targeting previously non-accessible resources, will greatly increase the risks of HFO spills in areas that are difficult to reach, and that lack any significant oil spill containment equipment.

According to recent analysis by the International Council on Clean Transportation, as currently drafted, the regulation approved today will only reduce the use of HFO by 16% and the carriage of HFO as fuel by 30% when it takes effect in July 2024, and will allow 74% of Arctic shipping to continue with business as usual. The analysis found that between July 2024 and July 2029, when the ban becomes fully effective, the amount of HFO used and carried in the Arctic is likely to increase as shipping in the Arctic increases, and as newer ships replace older vessels and are able to take advantage of the exemption or change flag and seek a waiver from the ban.

“The ban that the IMO has approved today will mean that a full three-quarters of the ships using HFO today will be eligible for an exemption to the ban, because their fuel tanks are ‘protected’, or because they can apply to an Arctic coastal state for a waiver from the ban”, continued Prior. “As a result, the use of HFO in the Arctic is likely to continue to grow until the ban takes full effect in 2029 – so not only does the ban not sufficiently protect the Arctic, it’s actually contributing to a greater exposure to the risks associated with the use of heavy fuel oil.”

“The Clean Arctic Alliance urges IMO Member States to seriously consider how the ban can be strengthened ahead of formal adoption next year, and for individual states to examine domestic options for providing the protection required for the Arctic from the risks of HFO use and carriage, such as Norway’s recent proposal to ban HFO from the waters around Svalbard”, she added.

Already banned in Antarctic waters, if HFO is spilled in cold polar waters, it breaks down slowly, proving almost impossible to clean up. A HFO spill would have long-term devastating effects on Arctic Indigenous communities, livelihoods and the marine ecosystems they depend upon. HFO is also a greater source of harmful emissions of air pollutants, such as sulphur oxide, and particulate matter, including black carbon, than alternative fuels such as distillate fuel and liquefied natural gas (LNG). When emitted and deposited on Arctic snow or ice, the climate warming effect of black carbon is up to five times more than when emitted at lower latitudes, such as in the tropics.

“Today’s International Maritime Organization decision is a massive missed opportunity to provide urgently needed protection for the Arctic and Indigenous Peoples who rely on those waters. Even worse, today’s approval of the ban will inevitably cause widespread confusion, with the wider world assuming that a ban means ending HFO use in the Arctic when in fact, the IMO has put in place only a modest and likely temporary reduction in its use for the first ten years. We cannot wait ten years to stop HFO use in the Arctic. Ten years is simply too long to wait!”, said Mellisa Johnson, Director of the Bering Sea Elders Group, based in Alaska, who spoke, representing Pacific Environment, during the IMO meeting, during the presentation of a comment paper on the draft ban.

“The IMO’s decision to approve this weak HFO ban will force us to find other ways to protect the Arctic”, said Alexey Knizhnikov, Responsible Industry Programme Leader at WWF Russia. “In Russia, this kind of action is needed even more than in other Arctic regions, due to the huge increase in shipping traffic expected to occur in upcoming decades, and this year’s massive oil spill on Taymyr has highlighted the cost to nature of using oil-based fuels in the Arctic. There is a little room for optimism – in October 2020, Russia’s new national Arctic strategy was adopted, which priorities the switch from oil based fuels to alternatives in the Russian Arctic”.

Under the new regulations, five central Arctic coastal States – Russia, Norway, Denmark (Greenland), Canada and the United States – will have the option of issuing waivers to their own flagged ships while they are operating in their own waters.The regulation is not flag-neutral, and it will create a two-tier system of environmental protection and enforcement in the Arctic, along with lower standards and negative environmental consequences in the Arctic’s territorial seas and exclusive economic zones. This version of the ban could also potentially lead to transboundary pollution.

‘All Arctic states need to eliminate the use of HFO by 2024 to ensure an HFO ban fulfils its original intent. The food security and livelihoods of local and Indigenous communities is dependent upon the success of this ban to protect them from pollution and spills. Any benefits of the IMO decision today will be cancelled out by projected increases in shipping, leaving Indigenous and local communities facing larger risks and impacts in the future,’ said Andrew Dumbrille, Senior Sustainable Shipping Specialist at WWF Canada. “The Arctic Council should build on the example of Norway’s proposal for Svalbard, assert its Arctic stewardship role, and scale up the ambition of the IMO ban within the jurisdictions of Arctic countries, without waivers and exemptions. Such commitment should be reflected in the Ministerial Declaration concluding the Icelandic chairmanship in May 2021”, said Peter Winsor, director of WWF’s Arctic Programme.

“An HFO spill in our Arctic waters, where our people have survived and depended on for thousands of years, would devastate our subsistence way of life. The sensitive marine wildlife we depend on for food, such as seals, whales, walrus, fish and birds, would be devastated. We have a major concern that the use of waivers will create a risk of transboundary HFO pollution in the Bering Straits region where my family lives between Russia and Alaska USA,” said Verner Wilson III, Senior Oceans Campaigner at Friends of the Earth US, a Siberian Yup’ik Inuit from Alaska.

“Instead of an effective and ambitious ban on use of heavy fuel oil in Arctic waters, the IMO has committed Arctic shipping to a course of action that may lead to a devastating spill of the world’s dirtiest fuels,” said Sarah Bobbe, Ocean Conservancy’s Arctic Program manager. “The IMO’s lackluster decision is beyond belief considering it has already been ten years since the Arctic Council identified an oil spill as the biggest threat from ships, with heavy fuel oil by far the most detrimental, to Arctic waters.”

“A ‘ban’ that affects just a quarter of ships is not a ban at all”, said John Maggs, Senior Policy Advisor at Seas at Risk. “The IMO’s new regulation fails to treat all flags equally, allowing the five central Arctic coastal states to issue waivers that will allow all ships flying their flag to continue to use HFO out to the furthest stretches of their EEZs, thus rewarding their own-flagged vessels, while other ships must comply with the regulation. This is regardless of ship type, size, or age, or whether or not they have protected fuel tanks.”

“We are also concerned that issuing waivers will relax international environmental standards in waters of the Arctic coastal States. The Law of the Sea Convention requires that flag states adopt regulations for the prevention, reduction, and control of pollution from ships flying their flags that must at least have the same effect as international standards. Because waivers would weaken the protection of the marine environment in these areas, it raises important legal questions”, added Maggs.

“It is important to recognise that issuing waivers to ships to exempt them from the requirements of the ban is not mandatory, the central Arctic coastal states have a choice. But if waivers are issued there should be full transparency and reporting,” said Danielle Fest Grabiel, Wildlife Team Lead, US office of the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA). “We urge the five central coastal Arctic states to choose not to issue waivers in order to ensure that the use and carriage of HFO in the Arctic ends by 2024.”

“The Government of Iceland should take note of the leadership demonstrated by Norway in its proposal to ban heavy fuel oil from the waters around Svalbard by putting forward a plan for similar protection in Iceland’s waters”, said Árni Finnsson, chair of the Iceland Nature Conservation Association (INCA). “Arctic nations are facing unprecedented changes in the marine environment. There is not much time to act and Iceland must forge ahead with a total ban on HFO within Icelandic waters, and along with other Nordic countries must take a strong stand within the IMO to speed up the adoption and entry into force of a ban on HFO in Arctic waters.”

“Grøn Omstilling (Green Transition Denmark) recommends Denmark and Greenland to introduce high port fees for ships using HFO in Arctic waters, thereby motivating companies to use the less polluting distillate fuel, which will better protect the Arctic population and unique ecosystems against global warming, air pollution, and catastrophic oil spills”, said Kare Press-Kristensen, senior adviser at Green Transition Denmark.

“This is yet another sad day for the Arctic”, said Sigurd Enge, Manager Shipping, Marine and Arctic Issues, Bellona. “The Arctic environment is threatened from all sides, from climate change, toxic contamination, plastic pollution, oil exploration and other extractive industries. What the Arctic needs now is better protection and bold politicians. There are no technological barriers, no shortage of alternatives to heavy fuel oil, and the shipping industry needs in any case ust switch from fossil fuels to fulfill the IMO’s own Greenhouse gas – strategy and Arctic waters are the place to start. The Norwegian government’s proposal to ban HFO in waters around Svalbard proves that this is feasible. The coming decade is crucial to the future health of the arctic environment and the IMO’s decision today is just not acceptable.”

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