Random Facts:

More than half the wells tested in the Piedmont area of North Carolina tested exceeded the standards for hexavalent chromium.  Private wells are not regulated so a disturbing question is how many people are drinking this contaminated water.  Treatment is not pursued.  Very concerning

Bottled water is the bane of every utility industry.  But more interesting is that Impossible Foods suggested that their vegetable burger requires 75% less water, 95% less land, and 87% less greenhouse gas emissions.

Energy demands plummeted as covid19 started.  In the US and Europe, the decrease was over 10%.  Couple that with greatly reduced fuel costs, and I think the energy companies will be fine.  Oil and coal demands will drop 9% and 8% respectively.  Global carbon emissions and other pollutants will likewise decrease.  So maybe covid-19 was Mother Nature’s wake-up call that we are screwing things up on Earth?

There is a recent study from the University of Illinois that dry distiller grains (a byproduct of ethanol production that is used in feedstock) is really high in Phosphorous.  The animal eat the feedstock and poop out the phosphorous, which can contaminate nearby surface waters.  But these researchers figures out a way to recover over half of the phosphorous from the dry distiller grains.  That byproduct can be reapplied as fertilizer reducing the need for phosphate mining and water pollution.  Sounds like a neat idea.

And given that another study indicated that soil adjacent to streams are impacted by returning salmon, I can see a whole new effort to maximize these two ideas.  Add to that the fact that the EMOH device (for oxygen addition) really works and stream quality could be improved.  Yu can find our papers on EMOH, but pond treatment, manure ponds, silviculture, wastewater are all good uses of the technology.