Eco-generation street campaign

On August 12, 'Eco-generation' hit the street!

Eight ambassadors from Korea gathered in Itaewon, Seoul, favorite hang-out place for foreigners. We set a booth where passersby could see the on-going environmental problems of Korea and pledge for green-conscious-life.

Laying Claim to the Rich Arctic Seafloor

The United States, Canada, and Russia are competing again for the vast riches under the Arctic Sea. The United Nations has reached a decision that the three nations are only to drill the resources two hundred kilometers from the edge of their continental shelf. However, all of the countries are claiming that their continental shelves reach far beyond the expected point. Russia has even stated that their continental shelf was beyond the North Pole. Therefore, all three nations started to send expeditions in order to clarify where their own continental shelves end.

Russia sent a small cruiser in order to investigate the North Pole to see if their continental shelf really does exceed the special point. Meanwhile, the United States and Canada are cooperating to investigate Beaufort Bay and the area off the coast of Alaska and Canada, which is constantly disputed among the two nations. Finally, BP and Canada has decided to erect the first drilling platform in the area owned by Canada. Pressure is building up because the United Nations will have to decide who will own the Arctic Ocean by 2013, and already the three nations are pressuring and urging the main committee.

BP spills coffee ( parody video clip)

Very witty parody from UCBComedy. This parody video clip shows the current status of BP's crisis management. In U.S., according to the media report, consumers are avoiding BP stations. Local BP gas station owners are pleading their customers to come back, but that won't likeyl to happen in the near future. Unless, BP executives are showing their sincere commitmment over the tragic incident. By Y.A. Yoo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AAa0gd7ClM

Interview on Conservation

Today, we interviewed a civil engineer who specializes in conservation. Our interviewee, Dr. Yoo JeongWahn, talked about how civil engineers try to minimize the damage done to the environment during a construction project. Many countries are having massive development projects, and civil engineers are trying their best to maximize the convenience of humans and minimize the environmental damage.

I believe that structures that are both beneficial to humans and the environment must be built. If conventional buildings are constructed, the environment will be destroyed and if development is stopped altogether, humans will lead inconvenient lives. We surely need more civil engineers.

Please watch the video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7W60n4lnNc

Lakeview Gusher: The World's Worst Oil Spill

The Lakeview Gusher was a small well owned by the Lakeview Oil Company. The company wished to find a small amount of natural gas and petroleum. However, under the small amount of fossil fuels, there lay the one of the largests oil reserves in the world. In curiosity, when the workers drilled down to about 2,500 feet, all hell broke loose. Oil gushed out and made a fountain of several hundred feet high. On average, nearly 18,000 barrels (2.9 million liters) poured out of the well every day . At its peak, the gusher spewed out an uncontrollable 100,000 barrels (16 million liters) daily. Therefore, the well spilled 9 million barrels (1.4 billion liters) during a 18-month period. The workers had to use dykes and sand bags to prevent the oil from spreading. Eventually, a massive lake of oil was formed and people had to use small boats to cross it.

Fortunately, scientists have invented something called the blowout preventer, a device that stops gushers from sprouting oil. Essentially, it consists of a mechanism that stops the uncontrollable flow of oil through a well by severing the pipe with hydraulic locks. However, these blowout preventers are not always a success. The recent Deepwater Horizon oil spill was caused by the failure of the blowout preventer. Therefore, I believe that we should have multiple lines of defense. Nearly all blowout preventer has only one stopper. Having numerous stoppers will ensure that, even though the first stopper fails, the secondary and tertiary stoppers will stop the oil. By Y.J. Kim

Please refer to : http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/21/the-era-of-the-oil-gusher/?scp=1&sq=gusher&st=cse 

Korea's green customs

Whenever you travel somewhere, and you have nothing to declare, you step into a green-line to pass customs agency.

Korea has run 'Green customs plan' since 2009 to prevent the cross-border shipments of environmentally harmful goods, save energy and introduce other environment-friendly practices.

The WCO(World Customs Organization) set out 30 Action Plans in five Environmental Areas in Feb. 2008 and recommended active involvement of custom members in environmental activities. In response, Korea Customs has carried out practical efforts, including recycling of seized goods, tariff abatement for green products, and e-clearance and logistics system.

The customs agency has set and implemented two green strategies ― ``green by customs'' and ``green of customs'' ― and 14 specific plans from 2009. ``As a result, the KCS(Korea Customs Service) detected $2.3 million worth of environmentally harmful goods at the borders 2009 alone, and plans to double the figure in 2010. One plan the agency is focusing the most on is the e-document project.

KCS said that three types of trade documents were filed 100 percent electronically, it is expected to save 22,430 30-year old pine trees and preserve 330,000 square meters of forest, while generating 133 tons of oxygen and absorbing 50 tons of CO2.

I wouldn't know that stepping into a green line at the airport could mean a lot of things. By Yeokyoung Alberta Yoo.

Second Attempt To Cap BP Well

BP has successfully capped its oil well at the bottom of the seabed. A well that was left during the first attempt was connected with a long pipe with a cap. At first, there were mixed results, because oil came out of the well at high pressure, a great deal of oil escaped. However, when the cap moved in closer, less oil escaped and the first barrels of oil started to reach the Q4000 Platform, in which the oil will be burned immediately because the platform does not have storing space. Methanol is being injected throughout the pipe to prevent ice crystals from forming in the pipe near the botton of the Gulf of Mexico. Two days ago, the well worked as planned and between 5,000 to 10,000 barrels of oil was being pumped up to the Q4000 Platform every day.

I believe that this is not such a good idea because burning the oil will cause a great deal of atomospheric pollution. I think that bioremediation is better for we can let nature clean up after itself, which is usually much more effective and cheaper. However, I am glad that BP was able to cap the well and pump oil to the platform. By Y.J. Kim