Spill, baby, spill!

So… Here we are  again!

After the introduction I did a week ago I want to focus on two words: ‘Deepwater Horizon’. And the subsequent questions are: do we keep on drilling? And…  What’s cheap energy? Before trying to answer, let’s put them in context.

In the Gulf of Mexico the abovementioned oil platform is spilling oil unceasingly. This could have long term consequences for the marine life and the coast line of the US. Leaving apart what happened in the First Gulf War (1991), let’s check the biggest oil spills  in History:

–       ‘Pemex Ixtoc 1’ (Mexico, 1979): between 454,000 and 480,000 tons.

–       The crash between the oil tankers ‘Atlantic Empress’ and ‘Aegean Captain’ (Atlantic Ocean, 1979): 287,000 tons.

In comparison to these volumes, the most famous ‘black tide’, Exxon Valdez (37,000t) is insignificant. So… What are talking about in this case? According to  research by the University of  Florida the spill is around 42.490 tons, similar to the Exxon Valdez disaster so… Are we overreacting? If it had happened in other country, would our reaction have been the same?

According to the Admiral Thad Allen, of the person in charge of the Coastguard Service in the US, the time needed to close the platform is 90 days. Taking the best possible scenario,  an 800 ton per day spill, 72,000 t will be spilt, that is, similar to the disaster of the Prestige in Spain. However, in the worst possible scenario (25.000 t/d for 90 days) then we would be talking about  1.5-2.25 million tons, that is, the biggest oil disaster in History.

I started with two questions, so let me finish with a couple of questions too.  Where are  Sarah Palin and her followers now? Are they going to keep on singing the ‘drill, baby, drill’ hit that they love so much? And, even  more importantly, Will Obama be brave enough to stop deep oil perforation? Will he give a real push to renewables instead?

Welcome!!!

Hi everybody from Greenlighthouse!!!

First and foremost, let me give you my warmest welcome to this blog. Next, let me clarify some points. This blog will expose my ideas and the ideas of the blogosphere in a respectful way. Everybody here is trusted to express their personal view points, far from any corporate or institutional influence. The idea behind it is to create a place which will enable the exchange of comments according to the original blogging policy: “don’t be stupid”.

Secondly, Greenlighthouse will try to shed light on the next revolution: energy. In order to reach a safe harbor and not to crash against the rocks of fossil fuel energies, get involved in the tides of misinformation and avoid the shipwreck of a whole industry, I will try to highlight pieces of news that surround us /on a daily basis related to subjects such as ecological issues, electric vehicles, global warming or renewable energies.

Apart from this, any other interesting subject that may arise will also be shared with you. The latter means that even if I will try to focus on how to help to make a greener world, I cannot guarantee that some other themes may not attract my attention as well. In order to do this I will pick out some updated pieces of news related to these subjects and I will try to add some value to it by means of my/your comments.

In the third place, and as a newcomer to this world, I have sumed up some guidelines that I would like to share with you in relation to how to create and maintain a great blog. The following points summarize my findings.

• Trust. You must try to be as transparent as possible and expose in a clear way your reasons for doing this, the underlying potential influences and your main goal. Only then will people know what they can expect and you will be able to build a /bridge between their world and yours.

• Personality. You must create a new character that is consistent with your voice and experience. It’s easy to say but somehow you must reveal the passion that has moved you to create the blog. Only that wa will you be able to deliver a real and unique point of view to your readers. Let your inner voice speak up so you are able to shoot some balls in the air for the readers to think about.In this respect, I have to highlight the importance of not sounding boring. In a nutshell, make it readable!

• Commitment. Behind a great blog there is a whole ocean of different fishes, streams and ships. All kind of comments, concepts, thoughts, judgments and beliefs live together and make that ocean richer. This means that without active participation, there is no successful blog. There is a huge opportunity out there to create links with likeminded bloggers. In this sense, take advantage of any relationships and network you may have to grow. Be pro-active.

It all seems pretty obvious but I don’t’ think it’s going to be easy to put into practice. How many successful blogs do you know? Anyway, I was thinking about starting with the first post but I thinks that’s enough for today So… That’s all folks! I hope you enjoy it. And… Fingers crossed!

Have a nice weekend!

PS: I almost forgot . In relation to the frequency of the posts… I still have not decided about it. However, I will try to write something at least twice a week.

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