Posts tagged technology
22 Boom – Fall TV Special 2012 – Episode 58
Oct 3rd
The Fall 2012 TV Special of 22 Boom hosted by Jann Scott, we have lots of great fun in this show, first we learn about the spirit walk at the Boulder cemetery coming up, then we re visit the Mall Crawl and Disney’s Boo To You Parade. Lauren visit the costume shop to tell us what’s hot for Halloween, Jena makes Butternut Squash Soup and C.U. Buff fans breakout in song at the Village Coffee Shop. Jann visits the Valmont Bike Park and rides with the Thursday Night Cruisers. Skyguy tells us about comets and shooting stars, Hotshots reviews the movie Premium Rush, Jann Scott Live talks about Fuels and our future on earth, the News also talks about the energy crisis. The in our Boulder Restaurant section of the show we visit Subway in the UMC, Maries Cafe, and Ripple Frozen Yogurt. Wrapping up the show is the rising generation of K-Pop, and you probably guessed it, Psy’s Gangnam Style and Kids React to K-Pop, plus a new section we call Cat of the Week, this week it’s Cats playing Patty Cake. Enjoy!
Videos in this Episode
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22 Boom Intro -
Fall TV Special -
Spirit Walk in the Columbia Cemetery -
Boulder Mall Crawl -
Boulder Channel 1 Social Media -
Mickey’s Boo to You Halloween Parade -
Fall TV Special -
Boulder Channel 1 Social Media -
This Week in Boulder – Halloween -
Gorgeous Food with Jena – Butternut Squash Soup -
Village Coffee Shop -
Valmont Bike Park Grand Opening Day -
Fall TV Special -
Boulder Channel 1 Social Media -
Thursday Night Cruisers -
Sky Guy – What is The Difference Between a Comet and a Shooting Star -
Hotshots Movie Review of Premium Rush -
Jann Scott Live – Fuels -
Fall TV Special -
World News 1 – Suntans and Nuclear Power -
Subway Boulder at Base-Mar and UMC – Best of Boulder -
Marie’s Cafe -
Fall TV Special -
Ripple Pure Frozen Yogurt -
Psy – Gangnam Style -
Kids react to K-Pop -
Cats Play Patty Cake -
Outro
CU SNR team: Natural gas development to get a hard look
Oct 2nd
to study effects of natural gas development
The National Science Foundation has awarded a $12 million grant to a University of Colorado Boulder-led team to explore ways to maximize the benefits of natural gas development while minimizing negative impacts on ecosystems and communities.
Led by Professor Joseph Ryan of CU-Boulder’s civil, environmental and architectural engineering department, the team will examine social, ecological and economic aspects of the development of natural gas resources and the protection of air and water resources. A part of NSF’s Sustainability Research Network initiative, or SRN, the project will focus on the Rocky Mountain region, where natural gas development, as well as objections to it, are increasing.
“We all create demand for natural gas so we have to accept some of the outcomes of its extraction,” said Ryan. “Our goal is to provide a framework for society to evaluate the trade-offs associated with the benefits and costs of natural gas development.”
The SRN team assembled by Ryan includes air and water quality experts, social scientists, human health experts, information technology experts and a substantial outreach and education effort. The SRN team will be advised by an external committee that includes representatives of the oil and gas industry, regulatory agencies, environmental organizations, local governments, academia and Native American tribes. Preparation of the SRN proposal to the NSF was fostered by CU-Boulder’s Office for University Outreach, which supported the creation of the Colorado Water and Energy Research Center, said Ryan.
As part of the effort, Ryan said team members will review industry practices for hydraulic fracturing, which involves pumping pressurized water, sand and chemicals deep down well bores to crack rocks and free petroleum and natural gas for easier extraction. The team will evaluate the current state of drilling technology, the integrity of well bore casings and natural gas collection mechanisms and processes.
- Drill pads around the Roan Plateau
- Hydraulic fracturing requires large volumes of chemically treated water — most wells require between 3 million and 5 million gallons of water each, say experts. The fracturing fluid left in the ground, as well as the fluid that returns to the surface, known as “flowback,” present potential ecological and health risks if not handled properly, Ryan said.
While oil and gas extractions from hydraulic fracturing also result in atmospheric emissions of some greenhouse gases and volatile organic compounds, natural gas is nevertheless seen by many as a “bridge fuel” that leads away from dirty coal combustion toward cleaner sustainability methods, said Patrick Bourgeron, associate director of the SRN and a fellow at CU-Boulder’s Institute for Arctic and Alpine Research.
As part of the project, a team led by CU-Boulder Professor Harihar Rajaram will be investigating the hydrologic processes tied to potential risks of natural gas and oil extraction, including groundwater and aquifer systems. The team also plans to assess the risk of natural gas and oil extraction to water quality and mitigation strategies that involve improvements in current water treatment technology.
Professor Jana Milford of CU-Boulder’s mechanical engineering department will lead a team monitoring and modeling the potential risks of natural gas and oil development to air quality. Professor John Adgate of the Colorado School of Public Health in Denver will spearhead a team assessing the potential risks of natural gas development to public health.
Other partners on the CU-led NSF project include the Colorado School of Mines, Colorado State University, the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colo., the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the University of Michigan and California State Polytechnic University Pomona.
Attitudes toward natural gas extraction using hydraulic fracturing vary widely around the West, said CU-Boulder Professor Mark Williams, a co-investigator on the project. One classic Colorado example is Boulder County and adjoining Weld County to the northeast. “The geology doesn’t change, the price of gas doesn’t change and the extraction methods are the same,” he said. “But for the most part, Boulder County opposes hydraulic fracturing while Weld County generally embraces it.”
Ryan said the network’s research findings eventually will be shared with the public through an extensive outreach and education effort led by SRN co-investigator and CU-Boulder Professor Patricia Limerick of the Center of the American West. The effort includes a “citizen science” component in which the public is encouraged to make science measurements, including air quality readings made with portable instruments compatible with smart phones, and share the results with the SRN research team.
“The citizen science aspect of this effort will result in a stronger connection between the public and the science used to make regulatory decisions,” said Professor Michael Hannigan of CU-Boulder’s mechanical engineering department and one of the co-investigators on the SRN project.
Natural gas production, especially the use of hydraulic fracturing, has become the subject of intense controversy, said Limerick. “Some people living in proximity to well sites are understandably worried and anxious, often feeling powerless as they confront a possible threat to their health and to the quality of their lives.
“Environmental advocates find themselves pulled between the climate benefits of natural gas, which releases significantly less carbon in combustion than coal, and the disturbances associated with natural gas extraction,” she said.
Outreach events will include periodic town hall meetings around the West. There also will be SRN meetings involving engineers, natural scientists and social scientists to stay abreast of the latest technologies and evolving socioeconomic factors regarding natural gas production, Limerick said.
“Unraveling complex processes involving Earth systems, especially the coupling of human activities and climate, depends increasingly on partnerships among natural science, philosophy and ethics, economics, social science, mathematics and engineering,” says Marge Cavanaugh, NSF acting assistant director for geosciences.
The CU-led research team and a second team from Penn State were chosen from more than 200 SRN proposals by the NSF as part of its Science, Engineering and Education for Sustainability program. The $12 million award to CU-Boulder is for five years.
Boulder city budget on the uptick
Aug 30th
On Sept. 11, Boulder City Council will begin considering a proposed 2013 budget that supports master plans accepted by council in 2012, restores partial funding for police and firefighter training, and continues funding for existing community programs and services.
City officials said that while the local economy is improving slowly, the city’s General Fund revenues will see only modest increases in 2013. As a result, City Manager Jane Brautigam recommends continuing the conservative approach initiated during the economic downturn; limited new funding will be allocated to programs supporting the highest community priorities next year, including economic vitality initiatives and significant investments in Boulder’s public facilities and infrastructure made possible by voters in November 2011.
The $256 million Recommended Budget includes $33 million in capital improvement plan spending – an increase of $10 million over 2012 levels.
“Boulder is in a stable financial position, and the conservative approach taken over the past few years has helped the city to become more efficient and effective with public dollars,” said Brautigam. “Our focus on cost recovery, restructuring city functions and not using one-time revenues to pay for on-going expenses has enabled Boulder to reduce the projected $135 million annual structural gap identified by the Blue Ribbon Commission in 2008 to $75 million annually by 2030.
“Boulder’s guiding principles of separating one-time revenues from ongoing expenditures also emphasizes the need to accurately project future one-time costs in order to carefully save over several years in preparation for those expenditures to avoid impacting Boulder’s base budget,” added Brautigam. “Because the city purposely saved for the future, we are prepared to pay as we go for planned one-time expenditures without negative impacts to the 2013 base budget.”
The recommended base budget reflects a 2 percent increase in base budget expenditures compared to the 2012 approved budget. Boulder saved an additional $16 million outside of that base budget to pay for one-time expenses that will be incurred next year. Most of that amount consists of funding for important transportation projects leveraged by the city using state and federal sources; a once every 11- to 12-year pay-period liability associated with Boulder’s biweekly pay system, and expenditures for Boulder’s Energy Future that are now included in the city’s budget document to reflect revenues approved by the voters in November 2011.
In addition to the continued long-term emphasis to stabilize revenues and expenditures, the Recommended Budget addresses community and council priorities with a major emphasis in the following areas:
- Restore non-personnel funding for police and firefighter training that was reduced during the economic downturn;
- Provide additional resources for Boulder’s Energy Future, the Civic Area Master Plan and adding a resource officer for homelessness initiatives;
- Carry out steps needed to implement master plans and department assessments, some of which began in the 2012 budget;
- Continue and strengthen the commitment to economic sustainability; and
- Boost the capacity of the city to renew its infrastructure and invest in technology.
The Recommended Budget provides for targeted growth in priority programs, adding one standard full-time equivalent (FTE) employee and 5.5 fixed-term FTEs in the General Fund to address these community initiatives.
Council is scheduled to begin studying the city manager’s 2013 recommended budget at its Tuesday, Sept. 11, study session. The study session will be aired live on Channel 8.
City Manager’s 2013 Recommended Budget is available online.