February 2008 Issue
readers' forum
Energy Sector Needs Aboriginal Awareness
I want to thank APEGGA for taking the initiative and Robert Laboucane for taking
the time to bring our Association members historical and contextual information
on the Aboriginal people of Canada. As the energy sector steps up activity in
the north and west of this province, and in the Canadian North, the need to understand
better and work closely with Aboriginal communities also increases.
For those interested, there are courses on Canadian aboriginal issues offered through the Canadian Association of Petroleum Landmen. Visit www.landmen.ca.
I look forward to more informative articles from APEGGA to help us on our journey to develop into better professionals and better citizens.
Marco Fiori, P.Eng.
Calgary
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Time to End Racist Policies
Re: APEGGA Aboriginal Awareness Program, and Don’t Favor One Race Over
Others, by Bill Bohdan, P.Eng., Readers’ Forum, The PEGG, January 2008.
I applaud Mr. Bohdan’s stand against racism. I fully support his opinion. It is time for those in authority — governments, professional associations, educational institutions and so forth — to put an end to their racist policies.
Lonnie Unger, E.I.T.
Calgary
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Give Aboriginals A Chance
Unlike many of those whose opinions have been published regarding the APEGGA
Aboriginal Program, I am in favour of it. As Mr. Bohdan points out, “From
the beginning of Canada’s growth, natives should have been welcomed and
merged into the rest of our society.”
If this had actually happened, I would agree with those who say we shouldn’t favour one race over another, but this did not happen. And now we have to deal with the consequences of our forefathers and make amends.
When children grow up in abusive homes, it takes time to nurture them and show them the true potential that exists within. If by featuring Aboriginals and giving them proper role models, not only among their own race but also by showing them that they can look up to any Canadian, we give Aboriginals a sense of belonging and boost their confidence.
It will take time to erase the mistakes of our past and bring everyone up to the equality that other races (immigrants and those born here) enjoy in Canadian culture. Until government stops treating Aboriginals as a separate entity and Aboriginals stop demanding special treatment, I believe we should support, in any way possible, their integration into the world of engineering and science, if they are so inclined to enter these fields.
I agree that APEGGA should encourage and feature all good role models, as people can learn from anyone of any race, but I also believe that the Aboriginal population of Canada needs a bit more attention until they are brought up to speed with how everyone else is treated.
Jessica Vandenberghe, P.Eng.
Edmonton
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Drop Education, Drop Dues
Re: Council Approves Dues Increase for 2008 APEGGA Budget, The PEGG, January 2008.
I believe APEGGA’s mandate is licensing and oversight. Community and education programs should be carried out by such organizations as the Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists.
These types of organizations are able to carry out educational programs, publish journals and monthly technical bulletins for one third of APEGGA’s extravagant dues. I urge APEGGA to withdraw from these programs and adhere strictly to its oversight mandate.
There is no reason for APEGGA to charge more than $50 per year for dues.
Peter Goetz, P.Geol.
Calgary
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Calling U of T Eng Alumni
The University of Toronto recently established a trademarked Skule alumni chapter
in Calgary for engineering grads for networking opportunities as well as the
generation of an undergraduate scholarship. We are trying to reconnect with Calgary-based
alumni, and appreciate your publishing this callout to let them know of our existence.
Information on upcoming events and photos of previous events will be posted on www.skulealumni.ca, and any inquiries can be directed to calgary@skulealumni.ca.
Peter Noble
Chem “8T9”
Calgary Skule Alumni Chair
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Carbon Capture Rationale Wrong
Carbon capture itself has followed strict engineering guidelines and in a most laudable fashion, but the rationale for carbon capture violates the essence of proper engineering.
The Earth radiates a finite, limited band of thermal energy in the 13.5 to 14.9 micron band. This is the only energy radiated by Earth that CO2 can capture, so any modeling of global temperature changes as a result of increases in CO2 must incorporate this limiting factor.
The general circulation models of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change take into account the physical properties of thermal radiation capture by CO2 but not the energy available for capture.
These models predict a global temperature increase of over 2 C for a doubling of CO2 concentration, but real-world estimates based on the amount of energy available for capture, and the actual satellite-measured value of what has already been captured, indicate that this can be no more than about 0.4 C and is quite likely less than 0.12 C.
A prediction that is five times greater than what is physically possible does not constitute proper engineering practice. If a reservoir engineer booked reserves that were calculated based solely on flow rates without accounting for or even identifying a significant measured pressure drop as a result of the flow test, APEGGA would see this as a violation of basic practice.
The projection of global temperature based on these GCM models does exactly the same thing by ignoring the limiting factor of the amount of energy within the capture band of CO2 that Earth actually emits.
This is the reason that the current rapid increase in CO2 emissions has had no effect on global temperatures, which have in fact stopped increasing. Satellite measurements of global temperature, the most comprehensive and accurate measurement of global temperature, show that the Earth has actually been cooling over these past five years, even as emissions continue to increase at record levels.
Norm Kalmanovitch, P.Geoph.
Calgary
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Confusion and The Greenhouse Effect
There appears to be a considerable amount of confusion regarding the greenhouse
gas effect.
There are two types of radiation from Earth’s surface. The first is reflection,
which is a function of the surface albedo (1.0 being a perfect reflector), and
the second is the infrared radiation generated by the temperature of the particular
surface from which the radiation is being emitted.
These two forms are independent. In fact the infrared radiation is called black body radiation, which when considering the polar ice caps sounds bizarre, but their whiteness is caused entirely by reflection. The temperature of a surface is determined by the average wavelength of the IR emitted since all black body radiation is a spectrum of wavelengths approximating to a bell curve.
The majority of Earth’s surface temperature generally lies between –10 C and 30 C, which translates into an average wavelength of 12 to 9 micrometres. For reference, 7.77 micrometres equals 100 C and 10.61 equals 0.0 C, yet 1.16 equals 2200 C, which demonstrates the non-linearity.
Molecules of gas in the atmosphere are affected only marginally by the visible light spectrum because of the high frequency. However, they do have a number of resonant frequencies within the IR bandwidth. Carbon dioxide has resonant frequencies in the 2.5-to-three and four-to-4.7 micrometre ranges. Water vapour has resonant frequencies in the 0.7-to-2.0, 2.5-to-3.7 and 4.6-to-eight micrometre ranges.
Clearly the water not only has resonant frequencies much closer to the frequencies radiated from Earth’s surface but there is a great deal more of it in the atmosphere. Thus at the lower temperatures, such as 10 to 12 micrometres, CO2 will only capture the tail end of the bell curve so it has very little effect in the polar regions.
Water vapour is by far the major greenhouse gas despite the endless references to “carbon dioxide, the major greenhouse gas,” which is quoted in at least half of all newspaper articles on the subject. If challenged, the IPCC will try to wriggle out of this falsehood by claiming that it was only referring to “perfect gases.” Of course journalists and the general public do not comprehend the difference.
This and the many other deceptive news releases from IPCC demonstrate the weakness of its case, since if its hypothesis was based on sound science it would have no cause to deceive.
As a footnote, the disappearance of the Arctic ice sheet while the Antarctic ice sheet is increasing is probably due to a human emission but it is not CO2. Rather, it is the fly ash and carbon particulate being trapped in the snow and causing a slight discolouration of the surface, which decreases its albedo so more energy is absorbed from the sunlight.
Barry A. Moore, P.Eng.
Calgary
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APEGGA Needs Clear Climate Change Stance
Re: Forum Letter ‘Jumps to Illogical Conclusions,’ by David Box, P.Eng., Readers’ Forum, The PEGG, November 2007.
I wish to vigorously endorse some of the writer’s sentiments. This is not because I wish to see APEGGA censor discussion, such as that supplied by Norm Kalmanovitch, P.Geoph., in his misguided efforts to challenge the findings of the IPCC. Openness and freedom of expression must remain sacrosanct.
My opinions refer to the other issue brought up by Mr. Box — that of where APEGGA stands on the issue of global warming and what society should be doing on this critical and life-threatening crisis in which we are currently embroiled.
The 2007 report from the Nobel Prize winning group of around 2,000 eminent scientists asserts that the science of climate change is now almost certain and that the effects already measured are anthropogenically related. I remind readers that this level of certainty is seldom seen in science and is as close as one may ever get to complete proof of the phenomenon.
In light of this level of agreement within the IPCC and the remainder of the scientific community, it is incumbent upon APEGGA to assert a public policy stance on the issue. The mandate of our professional organization is, amongst other things, to protect and screen society from adverse outcomes caused by members of our professions.
The increase of CO2 from pre-historical levels (the last 650,000 years, at least) of 280 p.p.m., to currently greater than 380 p.p.m. (with a frighteningly rising rate of increase), results almost exclusively from the Industrial Revolution. Were it not for engineers of all kinds the Industrial Revolution would have never come about.
The size and scope of many projects today will have profoundly greater impacts than those that have come before.
In keeping with our obligation to the public APEGGA must develop a corporate policy on this issue — ethical behaviour demands no less.
Our Association must advance solutions, even if they appear in opposition to the market ideology currently in vogue.
The main reason mitigation seems in opposition to the “free market” is that bad engineering has been subsidized since the beginning of fossil fuel exploitation, and has been at the expense of the ecology. Air, water and land have always been free, or nearly so. Release of waste products into the eco-system likewise, with little cost associated.
This must change if we are to survive beyond this century.
Where do we stand on carbon capture and storage, cap and trade, carbon taxes, compliance and convergence, renewables, conservation and alternative energy, and the plethora of other solutions offered up by responsible advocates of sustainable energy use? However difficult it may be, APEGGA must recognize which side of the ideological fence it deems the right one and act in accordance.
As a very concerned member of APEGGA, I do not personally have a clear conscience that our professional organization, of which I have been a part for 30 years, is acting in a socially responsible manner. I think I am not alone in appealing for APEGGA to take a position that is in the best interest of the public and the long-term survival of life on the planet.
There is much talk of “sustainability” in APEGGA’s publications and rhetoric, but very little action. Please, take a courageous stand on behalf of generations not yet born and members whose purview extends beyond the next 10 years.
David J. Parker, P.Eng.
Edmonton
CORRECTION
An analysis article on page 19 of the November 2007 PEGG, entitled The Return of Nuclear Generation, contained incorrect information. Alberta’s known coal reserves are bituminous, subbituminous or lignite. Little if any of Alberta’s coal is the top-ranking anthracite, although some can be classed as semi-anthracitic. According to the Coal Association of Canada, the country’s anthracite coal is found almost exclusively in remote regions of B.C. and the Yukon. The PEGG regrets the error.