STILTS - BODY PAINTING - AIRBRUSH

STILTS - BODY PAINTING - AIRBRUSH

In the building and construction industry, painting is not a worthless thing. It is in fact one of the major part of a construction work. A building without paint even how costly it is will never look overwhelmingly awesome it will only look gloomy and lifeless. You will never find justice with the huge amount you spend because you can never see its splendor.

For building contractors they do not only construct buildings they also beautify it. Painting for one is a contributing factor for the beautification of the building, furnishings and fixtures follows. However, the painting task is so tedious not for the contractor but for the painter himself not to mention the risk involved in it. Normally traditional and small time contractors use scaffolding for high rise building, as for residential buildings contractors use ladders as an extension of the height of their painters. It is used as a platform for the painters to step over while painting higher walls, ceiling and roof eaves. Modern day building contractors and painters seldom use it especially when they are painting residential buildings only.

Modern day building contractors are now using the new and promising equipment for the building industry, the painting stilts, which have been recognized in the market today more and more people are using it, painting is made easier with this equipment since it saves time making the job a lot more convenient and fast in beating the deadline. Because painters don't have to go up and get down, pull the scaffolding or ladder when they want to transfer to another area just like the olden days. This is very time consuming and used as delaying tactics of the workers to achieve longer working hours and lesser work right?

With the use of painting stilts painters do not have to do that dilly-dally task, all they have to do is put on their painting stilts and start painting. They can go and paint anywhere in the building without dragging anything. Reaching the topmost part of the house or a building can be done with ease and comfort. Painting stilts are really useful tool for building contractors and painters as well as ordinary home owners who want to save and prefer to do the painting job by themselves. They can use these painting stilts in dusting the ceiling and getting rid of cobweb, hanging curtains and fixing electrical wirings concealed at the ceiling. Painting stilt should not only be part of a building contractors' business it should also be part of private home owners' house because of its many usage and functions.


Body Paint - ARGENTINA

Body Paint - ARGENTINA

Dragonmen, Alien Mermaids, Fantastic Fire Dancers, Barebacked Santas, and even a Painted Labrador Retriever; you can see all these and more at the fantastic body painting festivals now occurring annually around the world.

There is a wide range of body painting festivals today. All include painted bodies, of course, and all include some kind of competitions; however there is a quite a range of skills and size among the different festivals, and some are more 'family friendly' than others.

Here's a quick look at the top 6 body painting festivals, where they happen and what you can expect to find there:

1. The World Body Painting Festival

This festival includes some of the most stunning professional body painting to be seen in the world today. A 3 day program includes dance, music and fireworks displays, as well as many competitions. Many of the body paintings here should fall under the category of 'fine art' with some of the dancers body paintings simply defying belief. A very large event and certainly worth traveling for.

Where: Seeboden, Austria
Duration: Three days
Events Include: World Championships in 3 categories; night contest for UV effects, Special Effects awards; classes and workshops; BodyCircus (fantasy ball); music and dance performances; an international photo contest; and a huge fireworks show.
Artistic Range: One of the very best, with stunning range of styles and surprising themes.
Family Friendliness: Not clear, but it is in Europe, so not likely to ban under 18. However this body painting festival does not advertise itself as family friendly, as some others do.

2. The Canadian Body Painting Festival

This is another body painting festival that showcases simply stunning artists and finished work. The quality of the art here is similar to that seen at the World Body Painting Festival. The Festival is themed from year to year, with the recent theme being "It's A Jungle Out There." Also includes the Canadian Body Painting Championships.

Where: Nanaimo, British Columbia
Duration: Two days
Events Include: Competitions in overall body painting, brush and sponge, and airbrush; includes the Canadian body painting Championships
Artistic Range: Most stunning, and one of the best overall. Very life-like and fantastic double-take images.
Family Friendliness: Not stated - would be worth making a call first.

3. The International Body Painting Festival

This festival takes place in Mainz, a city with over two thousand years of history. It is located on the river Rhine, has strong Celtic roots and may have been founded by the Romans as early as 13 BC. One can imagine that body painting has a long history here, if you remember the Celtic tradition of painting their bodies before going into battle. Once again, the artistic ability and range is stunning at this International festival.

Where: Mainz, Germany
Duration: Weekend festival
Events Include: Competitions include special effects and face painting
Artistic Range: Very stunning; high artistic skill.
Family Friendliness: Not known but again, it's in Europe. I would call ahead.

4. Welsh International Body Painting Festival
This festival is a bit younger and less established than the top 3, although it has some impressive artwork considering that they are just getting started. Also the atmosphere is more 'fun' orinted, less 'high art' and family participation is strongly encouraged. A good festival to consider if you want to make it a family outing and see some amazing work in the process.
Where: Wales (of course)
Duration: Two days
Events Include: Hands on demonstrations; horror specialists and flower specialists
Artistic Range: High, and impressive for a smaller sized event; not as subtle or creative as some of the others
Family Friendliness: Very good; in fact they encourage families and camping, with an 'all ages' atmosphere and events designed for younger participants

5. The UK Body Painting Festival

This festival showcases some of the least impressive - although most amusing - body painting, although it should be said that it is not presented as a stuffy 'high art' affair, but more a circus or county fair type outing for the entire family. Fun, relaxed and un-selfconscious atmosphere allows for some of the more surprising and purely 'fun' body art to be seen. If you're not a supermodel and would like to get your body painted without worrying about snide comments, this might be a good option for you.

Where: Ashford, UK
Duration: Two days
Events Include: Family-oriented face painting, body painting competitions for professional and amateur categories, craft fair, children's activities, workshops, and a 'bouncy castle.'
Artistic Range: Fair; more of a family outing with a lots to do than a showcase of spectacular art.
Family Friendliness: Very high; advertised as family event. Lowest cost of all the body painting festivals - comparable to a movie ticket.

6. The US Bodypainting Festival (or New Mexico Body Painting Festival/US Bodypainting Competition)

There is definitely some impressive body painting to be seen at this festival, and a lot of creative innovation with hair and unusual designs that you won't see anywhere else. One example that springs to mind is a model dressed in racecar theme with red, white and blue hair sprayed out behind her as though flying in the wind. Also, if you're in the US this festival obviously doesn't require a plane ticket. However this is not a family outing, as it explicitly bans anyone under 18.

Where: Alberquerque, New Mexico
Duration: Three days
Events Include: Demonstrations, workshops, competitions in body painting
Artistic Range: Good to poor - there is a mix of very impressive artistic works and things better left unpainted here; although it's all 'interesting.'
Family Friendliness: Not at all. We are in the US remember; no one under 18 allowed.

airbrush body painting joker

airbrush body painting joker

The Dark Knight Batman and Joker Halloween Costume Suggestions

Despite the fact that the Dark Knight Batman movie was released in 2008, there's no question that it is nevertheless one of the best Halloween costume themes of 2010. Batman Costumes and, more specifically, the Joker costumes keep showing up year after year!

The Joker Costume

Thanks to Heath Ledger's haunting portrayal of the character, the Joker costume is one of the most desirable Halloween outfits to date. The Dark Knight put a brand new twist on the Joker character, along with his smudged makeup, disturbing scars and psychotic actions. All the more fun for Halloween!

To get the Joker look and feel you will first need to focus on your costume. The Joker sports a fascinating, long purple coat (full of concealed weapons) a vest, shirt and also tie, with pin-striped pants. Somewhat a "crazed businessman" theme. All of this will be absolutely nothing without the special Joker make-up. This officially licensed costumes can be found in the standard and deluxe readily available for both children and adults

Needless to say it is perfectly possible to produce the Joker look and feel with out a Joker costume. Simply work hard with your make-up. Buy some white face paint, including several artificial scars for the extended smile, some red for your lips and also scars, and a lot of dark about the eyes.

Batman Halloween Costumes

Batman is a hero that crops up at the Halloween festivities year after year. The Batman in the Dark Knight encountered a few distinctive problems, but his suit seemed to be as good as ever and the officially licensed Halloween costumes are designed to match. Perfect if you're going with a pal and want to play arch rivals for the night!

Top rated standard officially licensed Batman Halloween outfits are usually some of the most amazing you will see at Halloween, and therefore are certain to turn heads. The Grand Heritage option won't merely include the black bodysuit and cape, but also authentic armor pieces, boot covers, the utility belt, gauntlet and also realistic Batman mask. It's only available for adults.

If you would like less costly options for Batman Costumes then there's still plenty available. You may either choose the standard costume, which includes the printed body suit designed to look like Batman's armor, or the deluxe version, that provides foam muscles for the a lot more realistic effect. Either are available for adults and children.

airbrush body painting fasion

airbrush body painting fasion

airbrush body painting fasion

airbrush body painting fasion


airbrush body painting fasion

For a spectacular flashback to Biblical times in the movie Noah's Ark in 1929, Max Factor was suddenly called upon to make up over 2,000 extras before the day's shooting began. Although Max had personally trained 40-plus makeup artists to handle studio requirements, few could be called in from their assignments on such a short notice, and the process of doing full body makeup was a lengthy one. With little time to solve the problem, Max and his son Max Jr. hit upon the idea of "mass makeup." By adding a liquid solvent to their regular foundation, they could spray the actors' bodies and faces just as car manufactures painted their products. Spraying provided a quick solution for large groups of extras. Although the stars and featured actors that required close-ups had to be carefully and individually made up, the extras lined up and were sprayed in groups.

Airbrush has become a mainstream for makeup artists, especially for those in television and film. One of the first TV shows to use airbrush makeup on set was "Ally McBeal"in 1998. One of the artists started experimenting with it and once the actors saw how flawless they looked (on and off camera) the entire cast insisted upon it. Therefore, the shows makeup staff was required to quickly learn to airbrush, or be replaced! Word spread through Hollywood fast about how amazing skin looked that was airbrushed. Soon after the Ally McBeal cast became believers, the cast of Friends was introduced to airbrushing. Of course, once they experienced the results, there was no going back. Airbrush makeup has since snowballed into becoming a staple in the entertainment industry. The demands for airbrushing started becoming greater than the number of artists who knew how to apply it, and the makeup artists union found themselves having to offer classes to the "old-school" veteran artists. Today with the majority of productions being filmed in High Definition, airbrush makeup is not just popular but considered the only option.

Of course, the American public wants to have whatever celebrities are using, so there have been many attempts to launch smaller, simplified versions to retail consumers. Several companies have failed in their first attempts to make it mainstream infomercials and malls. The results an airbrushed foundation gives is truly unsurpassed, especially on clients with blemishes, acne scars or wrinkles. Coverage is necessary when trying to camouflage issues such as raised blemishes. When applying foundation with fingers or a sponge, the bumps and blemishes end up getting the most pressure, therefore getting less coverage then the rest of the face. That is why when foundation is blown on via a compressor, the raised blemishes get equal coverage giving the client a flawless appearance with much less foundation.

Many brands of cosmetics claim to have their own airbrushes, however they tend to just purchase them in bulk from a handful of distributors and put their name on it. Airbrush technology has come a long way in the last 10 years. Similar to computers, there is a constant stream of newer, improved models being introduced. They keep getting smaller, lighter and less noisy. There are several companies that claim you can only put their brand of foundation through their airbrush,. In most cases this is untrue and just a way to get you to spend more money. If you invest in a good airbrush and a specific needle (referred to as a beauty needle), you can use many different retail brands of foundation. A popular makeup artists favorite is the Face and Body makeup formula by a Paris-based professional brand called "Make Up For Ever."

Body Paint - Lingerie theme for Playboy

Body Paint - Lingerie theme for Playboy

Body Paint - Lingerie theme for Playboy

Halloween is quickly approaching and if you're searching for costume ideas, let us assist you in finding an exciting costume for this once a year spooktacular event!

Many of your ideas may come easily from watching your favorite movies, or you may read about the hottest trends for the holidays in your desired magazines, and come up with a really creative idea for a great costume character.

However, if you happen to be at a loss for a unique costume idea this year, times a ticking! Don't worry, we can offer you a list of the newest Halloween costumes available, and add a little twist that will make a hilarious splash for your outfit this season.

Halloween fun starts when you create that unique costume, that everybody wonders how you came up with that concept! Many adults and kids love to be the center of attention with the most creative characters that no one else will have, and that's a tough task in itself when there are dozens of retail stores selling the exact same Halloween costume.

The best costume tips we can offer to ensure that you don't have half a dozen people with the same Halloween outfit, is to try and mix and match the costume, in order to create an outrageous combination, which will have your friends and family howling their heads off!

Think Out Of The Costume Box To Get Those Creative, And Fun Juices Flowing! If you're having a little trouble coming up with something that will wow your party guests, remember you must think outside the box! If you need a little push in the right direction, let us offer you a few of our suggestions to get you started, and see if you can expand on our outrageous Halloween tips.

Become a Vampire Baby : Just think about it for a second? Dracula had to be born and brought into this world just like us, so did you think he came into this world with his fancy ensemble? Of course not, so how about taking a large blanket for a diaper, a full-size skin tone color or light grey body tights, cape, white face paint, blood, and a pair of fangs. Add a baby bottle filled with deep red cranberry juice and VOILA!

Now with your baby vampire outfit ready to take on the dark underworld of infants, we are sure you can imagine the laughs you will get, and I bet you wouldn't have thought that Dracula would be getting his/her gruesome cheeks pinched so much during the night. After your party, it's going to be rather painful crawling back into your coffin.

Here's another wacky one! Cross-Dressing Darth Vader : Find a really awful dress, preferably off-white or pink, and get your hands on a Darth Vader mask. Now we're sure with the popularity of Star Wars that you will come across many Vader costumes, but while they may be switching over to the dark side that night, you will be flipping-over to the Darth Vader Cross-dressing side.

Come on, can't you picture this great idea! Going up to guests at your party and saying, "Luke, I'm really your mother!" Ok let's move on, maybe you'll like our next idea!

For the adult only event, and we mean a total non-Halloween family function (no kids allowed), the guys can consider going as an Egotistical Scotsman ! Order a Highlander costume complete with the plaid skirt and all the accessories. Now we're sure you're actually wondering what is the major difference from another Scottish costume.

Here's the twist, you go out and purchase a skin tone color stocking and fill it with foam, tie off the tip to give it the, well, you know what look we're talking about! Then wrap it around your waist, letting it hang just long enough for it to be showing slightly below your skirt. Who's the king of Scotland now! For the men that still don't get what I'm trying to explain here, talk to your better halves or your mother, they can help you!

Of course we are not going to leave the women's costume ideas out, but it was a little more difficult coming up with a twisted thought for the ladies. So here we go!

Female Hugh Hefner : It's time to turn the tables, and we know it's not difficult for a beautiful lady like yourself to get your hands on a few of your male friends to dress-up as sexy Playboy bunnies! The rest is history, all you have to do is go online and find an authentic Hugh Hefner smoking jacket, silk looking pants, and fake cigar.

Make sure you're strutting around with your Playmates waving your cigar and acting extremely arrogant, and pinching the occasional bunny cheek during the night. (Pinching at your own risk, and we take no responsibility for this action, oh what the heck, give him two pinches on the cheeks for good luck!)

In order to make sure your costume theme idea is realistic, you must ensure your male partners are hanging around you often, giving you all the attention you deserve as the sexiest Playboy icon. Have the guys wear thick red lipstick while placing kiss marks all over your cheeks. We have a feeling after the Halloween party is over, you may not want to give up all that attention! We may be creating some monsters here.

Kids Ideas Are Very Creative When It Comes To Wacky Costume Fun! Children are the best source when it comes to thinking of crazy ideas, and they can easily turn up with some mad creations! If you don't have any kids to help you, then contact the closest friend that has a bizarre imagination. If you can do it on your own, then we suggest you jump on your witches broom, and fly with your off the wall idea.

It's crunch time, and you want to make your ideas fun and unique. If you happen to like our wild ideas, and they find your funny bone, then go with them. Or if you would like to create your own concept, go for it.

The bottom line here is that we want you to achieve a great costume idea, by taking simple concepts and letting your ideas work to create that little twist, that will make your outfit that much better. Your Costume will be so funny that you will have all your guests laughing in stitches. Hmmm., stitches, I think we have another great idea for a costume!

Wholesale airbrush tattoo gun Body Painting Tool free shipping

Wholesale airbrush tattoo gun Body Painting Tool free shipping

Wholesale airbrush tattoo gun Body Painting Tool free shipping

Hobbyists, automobile enthusiasts, and trim paint artists would all agree on one thing: owning the appropriate spray pattern gun is essential for obtaining the perfect results on the project you are working on.

A spray pattern gun may be the difference between a simple paint job and a truly artistic creation, depending on what kind of project is being worked on.

The Paasche Talon spray pattern gun is the ideal tool for delicate or diminutive paint jobs such as adding lines to a car or motorcycle or adding detail to a model railway. The Paasche Talon accomplishes this due to its gravity-fed airbrush system that can provide amazing detail from minute linear graphics to sprays up to 1.5 inches in width. This pattern gun can be used in an array of ways, from automobile detailing, graphic arts, fingernail designs, temporary tattoos, and so forth.

If the project being worked requires a more sizeable application, such as painting or refinishing a vehicle, a bigger spray gun would be necessary. Guns such as these are generally referred to as High-Volume-Low-Pressure (HVLP) spray paint guns and are available in a variety of styles and have an assortment of accessories based on what they will be used for. Fuji makes a HVLP spray gun called the Pressurized G-Xpc. This gun is gravity-fed and does not bleed which makes it ideal for paining automobiles. It delivers paint via a gravity feed rather than via air pressure which prevents paint from bleeding or clogging the nozzle, resulting in a more even application. These spray guns often come with various accessories including spray caps of differing sizes. The size of the spray cap will determine the size of the actual spray of paint, from a wide paint mist to a more concise paint spray. These spray guns can generally hold one quart of paint but adding a hose and adapter can increase the capacity of the gun, if desired. Larger spray guns such as these are utilized in a myriad of ways, from painting and staining houses or decks, spraying vehicles, and even applying artificial tanning agents to the entire body.

Temporary Airbrush tattoo kit Body Paint Kit 196

Temporary Airbrush tattoo kit Body Paint Kit 196

When starting a tattoo business you may not need to rent a shop if you can use a spare room in your house, but you do need to have all the necessary equipment such as body paint and airbrush kits.

There are many places where you can purchase your airbrush stencils and other things. Researching online will bring up many stores, but be sure to deal with a reputable one for good service and quality goods. You should be able to buy a temporary tattoo kit and airbrush tattoo stencils with no problems.

The most important thing when tattooing is hygiene and cleanliness, so you will need a sterilising unit to sterilise your needles. These are not cheap, but they are necessary so be sure you get one that will give many years of service. It may even be possible to start off with second hand one.

It is also wise to get the best quality airbrush guns and needles that you can afford. Having good quality tools will ensure that you are able to do a good job on those tattoos. Likewise good quality body paint will ensure that your tattoo turns out the right colour and your customers will go away satisfied with their tattoo.

Before you start you will need to find out what licenses are required and what training you need to undergo to become a good tattooist. It would be a wise decision to get work at a tattoo parlour before starting up your own business. This will give you an idea of what is needed and how to run your own business.

Other things you will need for your tattoo business are furniture, a cash register and the ability to accept credit card payments. You will also need some form of advertising to ensure that you have plenty of customers.

There are many rules and regulations about opening a tattoo shop and you will need to comply with them if you are not to get shut down. The rules may vary with each state, so if you have recently moved states, don't assume you know it all.

Silly Farm Supplies Inc. Face

Silly Farm Supplies Inc. Face

Silly Farm Supplies Inc. Face

Silly Farm Supplies Inc. Face

On the front page of the World Nuclear Association website prominently rests a quote from what some consider the world's leading environmentalist and among the world's top scientists, Dr. James Lovelock:

"There is no sensible alternative to nuclear power if we are to sustain civilization."
- James Lovelock, preeminent world leader in the development of environmental consciousness

At age eighty-six, Dr. Lovelock has just published his fourth book, The Revenge of Gaia (Penguin Books, 2006). "Gaia" is Dr. Lovelock's belief that earth is a living, evolving organism, not just a hunk of rock we all live upon. Through his book, Lovelock refers to Gaia, when he is discussing our third planet from the sun. His latest book is a MUST read for anyone who is following the renaissance in nuclear energy. Environmentalists won't read this book. Perhaps their bosses will BAN them from reading this book. Those environmentalists who carefully read Lovelock's latest book may very well become nuclear power lobbyists, if they would bathe, shave and spiff up a bit. Chapter Five, "Sources of Energy," will instantly disintegrate every ridiculous argument propounded by the naïve and antediluvian anti-nuclear movements across the world.

Dr. Lovelock's credentials and achievements are light years beyond those of any environmental mouthpiece espousing the "green" movement. More so than anyone alive, Lovelock is first and foremost a giant of the earth's environmentalist movement. Since 1974, Lovelock has been a Fellow of the Royal Society. Since 1994, he has been an Honorary Visiting Fellow of Green College, University of Oxford. New Scientist described him as "one of the great thinkers of our time. The London Observer has called him, "one of the environmental movement's most influential figures." In 2003, he was made Companion of Honour by Her Majesty the Queen. Prospect magazine named Dr. Lovelock in September 2005, "one of the world's top 100 global public intellectuals."

How does Dr. Lovelock respond to the question of nuclear waste? He writes, "I have offered in public to accept all the high-level waste produced in a year from a nuclear power station for deposit on my small plot of land; it would occupy a space about a cubic metre in size and fit safely in a concrete pit, and I would use the heat from its decaying radioactive elements to heat my home. It would be a waste not to use it. More important, it would be no danger to me, my family or the wildlife." That should enlighten the yokels arguing against the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste depository.

Chapter Five, "Sources of Energy," concisely and cogently answers every silly "theory" about renewable energy sources hyped by the "green" movement. Let's take Biomass, which makes sense to any concerned citizen. Lovelock even agrees with the theory of Biomass, writing, "Used sensibly and on a modest scale, burning wood or agricultural waste for heat or energy is no threat to Gaia." Please note that he modified his statement with "sensibly" and "modest." In a nutshell, he explains why Biomass will not become a leading energy source, "Bio fuels are especially dangerous because it is too easy to grow them as a replacement for fossil fuel; they will then demand an area of land or ocean far larger than Gaia can afford... We have already taken more than half of the productive land to grow food for ourselves. How can we expect Gaia to manage the Earth if we try to take the rest of the land for fuel production?" He added poignantly, "Just imagine that we tried to power our present civilization on crops grown specifically for fuel, such as coppice woodland, fields of oilseed rape, and so on. These are the 'bio fuels', the much-applauded renewable energy source...We would need the land area of several Earths just to grow the bio fuel."

Wind power gets shellacked as well. For those environmentalists, such as Amory Lovins, who believe "Wind Farms" are going to become a significant energy source, they are full of hot air. According to the Royal Society of Engineers 2004 report, onshore European wind energy is two and a half times, and offshore wind energy over three times, more expensive per kilowatt hour than gas or nuclear energy. Denmark, which pioneered wind farms, is regretting the decision. Niels Gram of the Danish Federation of Industries said, "In green terms windmills are a mistake and economically make no sense... Many of us thought wind was the 100-percent solution for the future, but we were wrong. In fact, taking all energy needs into account it is only a 3 percent solution." Lovelock writes, "To supply the UK's present electricity needs would require 276,000 wind generators, about three per square mile, if national parks, urban, suburban and industrial areas are excluded... at best, energy is available from wind turbines only 25 percent of the time." German environmentalists, who have recently led the charge for Wind Power, should reconsider. Lovelock writes, "The most recent report from Germany put wind energy as available only 16 percent of the time."

Surely, solar power must be the answer, right? Wrong! Lovelock writes, "Solar cells are not yet suitable for supplying electricity directly to homes or workplaces, mostly because, despite over thirty years of development, they are quite expensive to make. At the Centre for Alternative Technology in Wales there is an experimental house with a roof made almost entirely of silicon photocells. In summer it provides about three kilowatts of electricity, but the cost of installation was comparable with the house itself, and the expected life of the cells is about ten years. Sunlight, like wind, is intermittent and would, without efficient storage, be an inconvenient energy source at these latitudes."

Solar and wind power were just two of the many energy sources Lovelock sends to the dumpster. Wave and tidal energy, hydro-electricity, hydrogen, fusion energy, coal and oil and natural gas all suffer similar consequences under Dr. Lovelock's scientific microscope. Geothermal gets a partial endorsement, but Lovelock writes, "Unfortunately there are few places where it is freely available. Iceland is one of them, and it draws a large part of its energy needs from this source." How many of you know that, while natural gas could cut carbon dioxide emissions by half, if used ubiquitously, some of the natural gas leaks into the air before it burnt? According to the Society of Chemical Industry's report (2004), this amounts to about 2 to 4 percent of the gas used. Methane, the main constituent of natural gas is 24 times more potent a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.

Fusion sounded great in theory, but when I discussed it with Dr. Fred Begay, at the Los Alamos National Laboratories, this past November, he told me it may take fifty years to develop, if it ever could be developed as an energy source. Lovelock explains in his book why Fusion Energy would be wonderful, but he brought up the one point, which stymies nuclear physicists (and which environmentalists won't even talk about), "... the nuclear fusion of hydrogen yields millions of times more energy than its mere combustion, but to start the powerful reaction requires some means of heating the hydrogen to 150 million degrees." How exactly go you go about heating something on earth up to 150 million degrees, when the core of the sun has a temperature of a little more than 100 million degrees? Again, great theory and work is being done in this arena to bring about a solution sometime this century, but this technology remains in an incubation stage.

The most shocking and disturbing discussion through Lovelock's book was the problem with carbon dioxide emissions. The burning question these days is "WHAT" to do with nuclear waste. Lovelock believes we should start worrying about what to do about carbon dioxide emissions waste, "The world's annual production of carbon dioxide is 27,000 million tons. If this much were frozen into solid carbon dioxide at -80 degrees Centigrade, it would make a mountain one mile high and twelve miles in circumference. To sequester this much each year could not be achieved quickly - probably not sooner than twenty years from now." He added, "If only had developed and installed the equipment for removing carbon dioxide from power stations and industry fifty years ago, we would now face surmountable problems." Another problem with carbon dioxide should give you nightmares or reach for a gas mask. Carbon dioxide, according to Dr. Lovelock, "has a complicated removal with an effective residence time of between fifty and a hundred years. About half of the carbon dioxide we have so far added to the air remains there." That means the carbon dioxide we add to our existing air pollution will still be breathed by our children, grandchildren and their children. How is that for a legacy?

James Lovelock's Conclusion on Nuclear Energy

How does James Lovelock feel about nuclear energy? "I believe nuclear power is the only source of energy that will satisfy our demands and yet not be a hazard to Gaia and interfere with its capacity to sustain a comfortable climate and atmospheric composition. This is mainly because nuclear reactions are millions of times more energetic than chemical reactions. The most energy available from a chemical reaction, such as burning carbon in oxygen, is about nine kilowatt hours per kilogram. The nuclear fusion of hydrogen atoms to form helium gives several million times as much, and the energy from splitting uranium is greater still."

Through his book, Lovelock reminds us that nuclear power is the single answer for this century, "We need emission-free energy sources immediately, and there is no serious contender to nuclear fission."

Lovelock addresses Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, nuclear testing in the 1960s, and many other events over the past fifty years, as nuclear energy has developed. If you wondered about radiation and cancer, Lovelock answers that as well. You may leap up, after reading those pages, and start faxing them off to every environmentalist group you can contact. It may be the most definitive analysis of the disconnect the media and the greens have about nuclear energy and its impact on our health that you have ever read. Lovelock concludes, "The persistent distortion of the truth about the health risks of nuclear energy should make us wonder if the other statements about nuclear energy are equally flawed."

One specific question that has puzzled me, for a number of years, was this: How many people die to produce each of our energy sources? The table below answered that question. The comparative safety of the different energy sources comes from the Paul Scherrer Institute in Switzerland in a 2001 report, which Lovelock reproduces on page 102 of his book. The Institute examined all of the world's large-scale energy sources and compared them against their safety records. The numbers of deaths were expressed in terms of terrawatt year of energy made, between 1970 and 1992. A terrawatt year (TTY) is one million million watts of electricity made and continuously used throughout a year.

Fuel Fatalities Who Deaths per TTY

Coal 6400 Workers 342

Hydro 4000 Public 883

Natural Gas 1200 Workers and Public 85

Nuclear 31 Workers 8

Lovelock does not simply endorse nuclear, as an idle thought. He is passionate about nuclear energy as a life-saving measure, "My strong pleas for nuclear energy come from a growing sense that we have little time left in which to install a reliable and secure supply of electricity.... The important and overriding consideration is time; we have nuclear power now, and new nuclear building should be started immediately. All of the alternatives, including fusion energy, require decades of development before they can be employed on a scale that would significantly reduce emissions."


Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...