Using Carbon Dioxide for Good !

Cornell University is currently working on a technology that will capture carbon dioxide before it gets into the atmosphere. A group of scientists proposed making a call that would use aluminum as an anode and carbon dioxide paired with oxygen as a cathode. The reaction between the cathode and anode would create electricity while also making a oxalate byproduct.

The group reported that their electrochemical cell generated 13 ampere hours per gram of porous carbon (as the cathode) at a discharge potential of around 1.4 volts. The energy produced by the cell is comparable to that produced by the highest energy-density battery systems.

This technology could do great things, such as reducing the carbon footprint and increasing natural ways to make more electricity. These types of technologies are even attempted to be used in vehicles!

 http://www.worldcoal.org/reducing-co2-emissions/carbon-capture-use-storage

Massive Nile Dam Project

According to the article in National Geographic news series, Ethiopia has announced that it will construct a controversial multibillion-dollar Nile River dam that could supply more than 5,000 megawatts of electricity for itself and its neighbors, including newcommer South Sudan.

The preject- the grand Millennium Dam - has sparked worries about enviromental and human costs and is refocusing attention on teh country's troubled history with large dams.

To be known from the Blue Nile in National Geographic magazine about the Blue Nile originates in Ethiopia's Lake Tana and is one of two major tributaries of the Nile, the world's longest river. When completed in 2015, the Grand Millennium Dam will be the largest hydroelectric power plant in Aferica. It wil also create teh country's largest artificial lake, with a capacity of 63 billion cubic meters of water -- twice the size of lake Tana in Ethiopia's Amhara region. The cost of teh four new dams has not been disclosed, but the Grand Millennium Dam is estimated to cost about $4.7 billion.

Ethiopia has stated that it wants to become a major power jub for Aferica by generating hydropower electricity that it can sell to its neighbors, and the country is in a unique position to succeed. But Ethiopia also has a troubled history of large dam projects that does not inspire confidence. the country's dams have been linked to the controversial government practice of "land grabs."

The Ethiopian government has been pushing tribal people off their ancestral lands and is leasing large tracts of land to foreign interests, critics say. "The gobernment has already initiated extensive agricultural irrigation schenes...for private corporations and the government, forcing large numbers of the indigenous population our of these agricultural and livestock grazing lands. since they have nowhere to go for alternative survival, armed conficts in the region are sharply rising," said Claudia Carr.

According to a 2009 Aferica Resources Working Group report, the Gibe III dam could reduce the level of Lake Turkana and affect as many as half a million people living in Ethiopia and Kenya. The drop in water level could not only threaten wildlife in teh region but also increase the lake's salinity. there is also a danger that some of Ethiopia's dams will become obsolete in a few decades as climate changes driven by global warming alter hydrological cycles across eastern Africa.

Do not just think about the economic effect, please think over the environmental influence...