Mailwatch(ed) Forum

Good point about chimneys. Nowadays they're architectural heritage; not long ago they were unsightly blots on the landscape. There's something majestic about wind turbines.

I really like them. Even living in the old AONB/SSSI I'm more than happy to see them dotted about.

A useful exact notification of where the tailwinds are when I'm out on the bike, too.

A good point too about solar fields. Every time we go south, we drive through this one near Bayreuth, not far from the most north-easterly point of CZ. Quite obviously, you can see the fucker from space!

In India they're siting solar panels above irrigation canals (fairly substantial canals, 3 or 4 metres wide).

Double win, as the sunshade reduces evaporation from the canals.

This climate change malarkey is manifesting itself in all sorts of weird and interesting ways.

When you hear the word "shapeshifting" you probably think of a sci-fi or horror film, and not the climate.

But that's what scientists say is happening to some animals in response to climate change.

Warm-blooded species are evolving to have larger beaks, legs and ears to regulate body temperature as the planet warms up, a new study suggests.

The scientists behind the study warn the physiological changes do not mean animals are coping with climate change...


..."Shapeshifting does not mean that animals are coping with climate change and that all is fine," Sara says.

"It just means they are evolving to survive it, but we're not sure what the other ecological consequences of these changes are, or that all species are capable of changing and surviving.

"The climate change that we have created is heaping a whole lot of pressure on them, and while some species will adapt, others will not."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-58487050

"We" really have screwed things up.

Climate protests inconvenience Ferrari himself, personally, now.

Cannot stand that fat, slimey, self-righteous twat.

A gammon's gammon.

Gammon di tutti gammoni.

Tackling climate change and air pollution is throwing up some weird and wonderful things. This is absolutely fascinating stuff, but, according to Piss Corbyn, totally unnecessary.

Tests in the UK have shown that artificial lightning can strip pollutants from animal manure.

The technology entails firing a bolt of plasma at slurry to break up toxic ammonia and climate-heating methane.

The artificial lightning is plasma – a stream of matter heated so hot that electrons are ripped away from the atoms and molecules break down.

The action smashes ammonia molecules to produce pure nitrogen, which is absorbed into farm slurry.

That saves the farmer money because nitrogen applied to fields in slurry is an essential fertiliser.

A plasma gun has been firing at cow dung on the dairy Holly Green Farm, in a picturesque part of Buckinghamshire...


...If the technology proves affordable it wouldn’t just tackle climate change and improve the smell of the countryside, it would also present an opportunity to tackle air pollution in urban areas.

That’s because clouds of farmyard ammonia often drift towards cities when they react with other chemicals to form tiny particles that are breathed deep into people’s lungs.

Particulates have a host of sources including exhausts from vehicles and gas boilers; paints; cleaning fluids; tyres and brakes - and the World Health Organisation recently warned that their health effects are even worse than previously thought.

So eliminating ammonia from the pollution recipe would be a helpful step...


...The backers of the plasma system, a privately-owned Nordic firm called N2 Applied, said it could play an important role in the drive to cut emissions from farming.

There are already experiments to prevent cows burping methane through additives to their feed. Many farmers are also turning to anaerobic digesters in which bacteria release the methane from slurry and use it to burn for power.

But Dr Rachel Thorman from ADAS told BBC News: “The UK has legally binding ammonia reduction commitments and the projections are that the target reductions will not be met. Anaerobic digestion doesn’t reduce ammonia emissions – but the plasma system does.”

The big question is the cost of the electricity that produces the bolt of plasma. At Holly Green Farm it’s produced by an array of solar panels.

But the question will be who pays for farmers to clean up. The government hasn’t yet revealed how it will reward farms for protecting the environment as part of its strategy for reforming subsidies

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-58795272

Zapping cowshit with plasma. Whatever will they think of next?

Cyclist wrote: ↑Fri Oct 08, 2021 9:29 am Tackling climate change and air pollution is throwing up some weird and wonderful things. This is absolutely fascinating stuff, but, according to Piss Corbyn, totally unnecessary.

Tests in the UK have shown that artificial lightning can strip pollutants from animal manure.

The technology entails firing a bolt of plasma at slurry to break up toxic ammonia and climate-heating methane.

The artificial lightning is plasma – a stream of matter heated so hot that electrons are ripped away from the atoms and molecules break down.

The action smashes ammonia molecules to produce pure nitrogen, which is absorbed into farm slurry.

That saves the farmer money because nitrogen applied to fields in slurry is an essential fertiliser.

A plasma gun has been firing at cow dung on the dairy Holly Green Farm, in a picturesque part of Buckinghamshire...


...If the technology proves affordable it wouldn’t just tackle climate change and improve the smell of the countryside, it would also present an opportunity to tackle air pollution in urban areas.

That’s because clouds of farmyard ammonia often drift towards cities when they react with other chemicals to form tiny particles that are breathed deep into people’s lungs.

Particulates have a host of sources including exhausts from vehicles and gas boilers; paints; cleaning fluids; tyres and brakes - and the World Health Organisation recently warned that their health effects are even worse than previously thought.

So eliminating ammonia from the pollution recipe would be a helpful step...


...The backers of the plasma system, a privately-owned Nordic firm called N2 Applied, said it could play an important role in the drive to cut emissions from farming.

There are already experiments to prevent cows burping methane through additives to their feed. Many farmers are also turning to anaerobic digesters in which bacteria release the methane from slurry and use it to burn for power.

But Dr Rachel Thorman from ADAS told BBC News: “The UK has legally binding ammonia reduction commitments and the projections are that the target reductions will not be met. Anaerobic digestion doesn’t reduce ammonia emissions – but the plasma system does.”

The big question is the cost of the electricity that produces the bolt of plasma. At Holly Green Farm it’s produced by an array of solar panels.

But the question will be who pays for farmers to clean up. The government hasn’t yet revealed how it will reward farms for protecting the environment as part of its strategy for reforming subsidies

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-58795272

Zapping cowshit with plasma. Whatever will they think of next?

I know on the face of it such measures seem trite but I do wonder how much difference it would have made if such things were discovered 20/30 years ago and had been funded properly.

I am constantly amazed by human ingenuity. Though I *do* wonder about the sort of person who thinks "What would happen if we zapped cowshit with plasma?", and then goes off to find out. It's brilliant! (And amuses the little boy within). Right now, the world needs more of the brilliant scientific nutters.

And, it does look like we won't all have to go vogon. Maybe we *can* have our cow and milk it, after all.

Does anybody know what happens to the Hydrogen form the Ammonia (3 times as much as Nitrogen).

There are also bacteria what eat ammonia , converting it into less harmful nitrites.
Cohabiting bacteria then converted these into nitrates.
A good green plant fertiliser.

This happens in aquaria across the country, and larger aquaculture installations.
I wonder whether anybody is working on a big version for cowshit reduction.

Fun fact.
One method to establish a colony of nitrate reducing bacteria is to pee into the aquarium water (before fish are introduced).
Known in the trade as pee ponics.

See also Mrs Armsteen's Compost Bins...

Malcolm Armsteen wrote: ↑Fri Oct 08, 2021 4:38 pm See also Mrs Armsteen's Compost Bins...

Pee or plasma?

It's been a long time since I peed plasma.

Heard a panellist on Gardener's Question Time advocating pissing on your compost heap many years ago. He recommended waiting until after dark if your garden is overlooked.

It also softens leather (Milligan S; "Adolf Hitler, My Part In His Downfall")

It's good stuff, piss.

Oboogie wrote: ↑Fri Oct 08, 2021 7:51 pm It also softens leather (Milligan S; "Adolf Hitler, My Part In His Downfall")

Yes... many years ago I had a friend who worked in a tannery.

You never wanted to stand downwind of him.

Oboogie wrote: ↑Fri Oct 08, 2021 7:51 pm Heard a panellist on Gardener's Question Time advocating pissing on your compost heap many years ago. He recommended waiting until after dark if your garden is overlooked.

It also softens leather (Milligan S; "Adolf Hitler, My Part In His Downfall")

It's good stuff, piss.

An England wicketkeeper circa 1920s recommended every aspiring gloveman give their hands a daily soak in a bowl of urine, it apparently does wonders for the softness of the palms.

Bones McCoy wrote: ↑Fri Oct 08, 2021 1:44 pm Does anybody know what happens to the Hydrogen form the Ammonia (3 times as much as Nitrogen).

Mailwatch chemistry time!

A bit of speculation here. Put simply:

Ammonia (NH3) is oxidised to nitrogen dioxide (NO2) which dissolves in water to produce nitrous (HNO2) and nitric acid (HNO3) which are neutralised in the soil going on to produce various nitrite (iii) and nitrate (v) salts.

The hydrogen in ammonia is converted to water (H2O) and hydrogen ions (H+) the latter of which are responsible for acidity (acids being molecules that release H+ ions into solution) these are usually also eventually neutralised by bases in the soil to form more water and a variety of salts.

The um.. "shitening" - to coin a phrase - process described seems to imply they use electrolysis to oxidise (nick electrons off) the nitrogen atom into ammonia to make molecular nitrogen (N2). This would also produce three times the molar ratio of molecular hydrogen (H2) gas for one mole of N2. It is a way of getting rid of ammonia (Indeed, the Haber process which produces ammonia from nitrogen and hydrogen is actually reversible and some of the ammonia formed does just this and decomposes back to its constituent elements given the right conditions.)

but it sounds very energy consuming, and would be an utter pain in the arse to do in practice. Hydrogen (and any other nearby poo gases) is also very flammable so there's that headache to deal with too. They also say that the nitrogen is absorbed back in the shite, but elemental nitrogen is practically inert, it needs to be a nitrate or an ammonia derivative to be able to be used as a nutrient. Most of it would just drift back into the air.

You could say it would be a shit storm.

I'll get me lab coat!