I'm not making this up --:)

KAKAMIGAHARA, Gifu -- An aquarium filled with exotic fish here is using an electric eel to power lights on a Christmas tree.

Each time the electric eel at the Aqua Toto Gifu aquarium touches a copper wire in its tank, it sends power that lights up globes decking a Christmas tree.

Officials expect the "eel Christmas tree" to be a popular attraction for dating couples in the lead-up to Christmas Day, when the tree will be removed.

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/nationa...

there is no such thing as "clean coal", then the same can be said of wind, solar, wave, and tidal.  All 4 of these alternative energy sources have an "affect" on the environmental surface of this planet.    

By the year 2025, with general lifestyle changes and population growth, our nation energy needs will grow by 30%.  Replacing coal as source just to fight global warming, while meeting the simple energy needs from growth is hugely challenging.  Meanwhile, by 2030, India will replace China for 1st place in GHG emmisssions.  

Furthermore, these alternative sources cannot be placed in or near the existing coal-fired power plants, as a replacement, because they are not general available geographically.  Consequentially, our grid will need to expand if not double the existing overhead extra-high voltage transmission lines that is currently available.  Ah, more land seizures!

The solution:  nuclear from thorium, energy efficiency, geothermal, and I guess because its there and grid security requires a variety, clean coal and the other environmental impacting alternative energy sources.  

If neo-green pundits are going to express their displeasure with beef as a food source, summer charcoal bbq's, wood-burning fireplaces in the winter, lighted outdoor Christmas displays, and the simple act of burning candles as ways to reduce global warming, then they might as well throw in their opposition towards divorce as a cause of global warming as well.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/re...

Perhaps the United Nations should promote marriage for life for the entire human species ;)

God help us all.

I think it is not the same to compare coal to wind or solar or other renewable energy sources.  For one, the latter are renewable whereas coal is not.  Coal is produced over many thousands of years whereas the earth generates wind every day by virtue of its rotation.  Second, coal fired generation produces a litany of toxic substances that wind and solar do not.  Coal Power Plants produce pollution besides carbon dioxide; they produce sulfur dioxide (acid rain), nitrogen oxide (smog), carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds, mercury, arsenic, and lead.  Wind and solar do not.

I think you will find that a lot of people on here will probably take umbrage by your characterization that wind and solar have side effects in the same league as coal.

scratching my head at how someone can be so wrong.  Wind and solar hurt the environment?  Yeah...and trees cause air pollution too, didn't Ronald Reagan say that?   Ha.

Well, oxygen is highly corrosive.  And in large doses lethal.  So, trees are do produce a dangerous substance: oxygen.  We must stop photosynthesis!  ;P

does not wind and solar take up land?  some environmentalist argue that bat behavior and avian migration can be affected by wind and solar farms can do the same to desert habitats.  One turbine takes 7 acres and how many acres can current pv solar technology use for 1 MW?  

More likely, opponents probably don't want the visual scar that wind and solar farms will have as they will more than likely be placed in more pristine mountain ridges and desert landscapes.  I was comparing the environmental affects of strip mining for coal to the surface of the earth in this fashion.  Furthermore, the wind and solar farms will have to have their own EHV OH transmission lines which will again, affect pristine landscapes.

You cannot deny these issues exist.  The arguments against strip mining are just that, and we can all relate to it.  What many and perhaps your readers haven't heard yet, are the voices of those opponents of the wind farms in Grant Co, WV and those in Highland Co, VA.  They exist, you'll just have to look them up.  Fueling American's energy needs with wind and solar amongst a few other alternative sources, would require a mammoth # of acreage in the more pristine corners of our nation.  No, wind and solar farms will not cause floods, but it is questionable that strip mining cause the mammoth floods that hit the south coal fields of WVa in 2003-5.  Those mountain valleys were created a long time ago for a reason.  

Mining for coal in the traditional sense wouldn't pose the same issues as strip mining, and with clean coal technology on our horizon (recall Kennedy says there is no real clean coal technology because of what?), CCCS and coal gasification certainly are good approaches needed w/i a healthy climate/energy policy.  Coal mining can and should exist in our energy future for these reasons.  If the Kennedy's of the green movement are against all coal, then they might as well be opposed to marital divorce.  

Still the comparison is not apples to apples.  Coal production is an extractive industry comparable to any other mining industry (not wind generation).  Mining creates waste in the form of either high saline or highly acidic water discharges, dust, waste rock, heavy metal discharges, and oil/petroleum product discharges.  This occurs whether you are talking surface or underground.  Underground mines can also produce methane depending upon the rock formations disturbed.  I don't see how you can make a case that wind generation or solar have anywhere near that kind of environmental impact.

Certainly there are ways to mitigate some of the harmful effects coal extraction and coal fired generation have.  But I think if we were to price in the negative consequences coal has and compare that to wind or solar, wind and solar would come out to be less expensive.  And sure there are land use issues for wind and solar, but in comparison to coal, again I think they win out.  Your point on transmission though, I don't understand as most power generation is not located close to major demand centers.  That is true for coal plants, nuclear plants, hydro, etc...  They all require high voltage transmission to get it from source to end user.

Also, you note pv solar.  Photovoltaic cells are not the type solar generation put in a desert.  PV cells would go on rooftops, basically unused space in cities (and maybe that would even reduce our heat island effect).  In the desert, you would use concentrating solar.  There are different methodologies to employ, but basically you use mirrors to focus the sun's rays into a single beam used to create heat for electric generation.  And you can also use the for other commercial applications.

The argument that wind disrupts migratory birds so we should use coal seems illogical.  If we continue to rely on coal, we will drastically alter the conditions of locations from which the birds originate as well as migrate to.  If their habitats are so altered, that they are killed off, what is the point of protecting their flight paths then?  On solar arrays, I ask the same question.  Sure they take up space and impact the ecosystems of deserts, but coal kills biodiversity.  What is the point of protecting desert ecosystems to the detriment of the biodiversity of the planet as a whole?

to birds is, pun intended, "for the birds."  Every years, literally HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS of birds are killed each year through collisions with buildings, encounters with cats, etc.  And that's not even counting habitat loss, pollution (e.g., from coal-fired plants) and global warming, which threatens entire species of birds.  In contrast, wind power may -- MAY -- lead to the deaths of a few HUNDRED birds per year.  Hell, let's even say a few thousand; that still would be a miniscule fraction of the bird deaths stemming from the other factors noted above.

See below for a fact sheet on "What Kills Birds?"

Glass Windows
Bird Deaths a year: 100 to 900+ million
Dr. Daniel Klem of Muhlenberg College has done studies over a period of 20 years, looking at bird collisions with windows. His conclusion: glass kills more birds than any other human related factor.

House Cats
Bird Deaths a year: 100 Million
The National Audubuon Society says 100 million birds a year fall prey to cats. Dr. Stan Temple of the University of Wisconsin estimates that in Wisconsin alone, about 7 million birds a year are killed by cats

Automobiles / Trucks
Bird Deaths a year: 50 to 100 Million
Scientists estimate the number of birds killed by cars and trucks on the nation's highways to be 50 to 100 million a year. Those statistics were cited in reports published by the National Institute for Urban Wildlife and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Electric Transmission Line Collisions
Bird Deaths a year: up to 174 million
Estimates made by the U.S. Fish and Wildife Service demonstrate millions of birds die each year as a result of colliding with transmission lines.

Agriculture
Bird Deaths a year: 67 million
Pesticides likely poison an estimated 67 million birds per year according to the Smithsonian Institution. Cutting hay may kill up to a million more birds a year.

Land Development
Bird Deaths a year: unknown
Suburban sprawl is a silent but deadly killer. The National Audubon Society says loss of bird habitat is the greatest threat to bird populations.

Communication Towers
Bird Deaths a year: 4 to 10 million
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates that bird collisions with tall, lighted communications towers, and their guy wires result in 4 to 10 million bird deaths a year.

Stock Tank Drowning
Bird Deaths a year: unknown
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologists and other conservationists believe that large numbers of birds inadvertently drown in livestock water tanks.

Oil and Gas Extraction
Bird Deaths a year: 1 to 2 million
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reports that up to 2 million birds died landing in oil pits to bathe and drink in 1997. Fish and Wildlife says netting has improved that situation somewhat. There are no overall estimates for the number of birds affected by oil and gas spills, and oil and gas extractions (and transport.)

Logging and Strip Mining
Bird Deaths a year: unknown
Logging and strip mining destroy bird habitat. According to the National Audubon Society, habitat destruction is the leading cause of bird population declines.

Commercial Fishing
Bird Deaths a year: unknown
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Ornithological Council report that 40 thousand seabirds per year are killed in the Gulf of Alaska by longline fishing operations. These same sources say long lining and gill netting kill large numbers of birds in other parts of the country as well.

Electrocutions
Raptor Deaths a year: more than 1,000
Experts estimate that more than one thousand hawks, eagles, falcons and owls are electrocuted on transmission lines and poles each year.

Hunting
Bird Deaths a year: 100 + million
According to the U.S. Fish and Wildife Service, more than 100 million ducks, geese, swans, doves, shorebirds, rails, cranes, among others are harvested legally each year.

Having been raised in an area where coal mining was done, both deep mine and strip, I can say it is a nasty environment for workers.

And mine fires with devastating consequences can erupt.  A famous one occurred in Centralia, PA  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C...  I lived near the one in Carbondale PA -- saw the smoke rising from the abandoned mines.  http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/minin...  Lung disease takes its toll.

For a picture of what a mine fire does to an area, look at this link, which is a picture of Carbondale.  http://www.italygenes.com/Aeri...

Exposing the coal sometimes results in open air coal fires that can take years to put out -- meanwhile toxic gases are poured into the community.  http://freepages.genealogy.roo...
(That picture seems like a postcard -- instead of actual rising flames one would see what looked like the embers of a fireplace fire, smoldering right below the surface.  But it is one I saw many times in my formative years.)

Here's a picture of a fire at an abandoned mine in West Virginia.  I've traveled through some of the coal mining areas there and in Kentucky, and they look a lot like the wasted areas of Pennsylvania coal country.

It's an outmoded form of fuel with ugly consequences.

We live in a heavily birded area -- woods in the back, etc.  There's a marsh nearby (our neighbor had a blue heron the other day!)

We've put up reflective bird silhouettes  -- which has helped but only to an extent.

Our house averages, I would say, about two collisions a day.  We've even had a hawk crash (the hawk was chasing a small bird, which also crashed).

Some city folk don't understand that.

p.s. I'd like to form a committee to increase the raptor population in Fairfax -- it would be an ad hoc committee.

Sorry, couldn't help that last line.

One reason RK is a great blog -- one starts reading and reading and learning ---

So here's the scoop on the Fatal Light Awareness Program

The problem:

Night Migrating Birds

Navigating primarily by the stars, night-migrating birds become disoriented by city lights. They confuse the billions of human-made lights in tall city buildings with starlight--especially in foggy or rainy weather, and especially after midnight, when the birds begin to descend from their peak migration altitude. Once disoriented, many birds collide with the buildings and fall to the sidewalks below.

 http://www.learner.org/jnorth/...

A solution:

FLAP has found that the easiest way to help prevent bird collisions is to get the buildings to turn off their lights at night during the migration season--it's that easy! (And it saves energy too.)

Here's the main website of FLAP:  http://www.flap.org/