The Crime, Grime, and CO2

What message does this macabre scene convey to you? Obviously something sinister; perhaps it’s evidence of a past accident or even a crime? What’s your first impression?

First Impressions

First impressions are said to be important. Many people go entirely by them; the first impression makes or breaks the connection to the opposite, for good or for bad. Whether you look at a piece of art, watch a play, or meet someone for the first time in your life, your first impression is likely to be re-enforced and substantiated in your mind with later observations.

Well, have another look at the picture – your first impression may need revision, after all. Aren’t the ”leg bones” a bit “skinny,” don’t the “breast bones” look more like rope and isn’t the “skull” rather small? Of course, the answers to these questions are all YES. This is not a picture of a human skeleton at all, just some pipes, rope and a round object.

I think that some clever artist tried to put us on and he/she nearly succeeded! It helps to show that with some grime you can easily create a scene of crime. The question then becomes: what can we learn from that? My first answer is: look past the grime and think china or porcelain.

From Grime to Porcelain

Young children don’t have the adult aversion to grime. In fact they relish playing in and with the mud; I still do too. The term “clay” is a somewhat elevated terminology for simple “mud” but it describes the same stuff of river bank deposits that you have to watch out for. One step too far and you may sink in to your knees and be stuck for good or at least your boots. Worse, the stuff sticks like glue to almost anything.

When I was taking sediment samples with a commercial stainless steel “Shipek” sampler and encountered clay, it was difficult to clean. Even after intense scrubbing and washing with plenty of water a thin film of clay would remain on the surface of the device.  Only liberal use of a good detergent will remove that film.

Objects made out of fired clay are among the oldest records of mankind’s items. For many centuries and throughout many cultures, common bricks made from clay with various degrees of firing have been a preferred material for builders. The bricks impart structural stability, protection from rain and snow, and insulation to houses. For example, the intricate brick façade of the Shebeli Tower in Iran dates back to the 12th century. Also roofing tiles made from clay are widespread though they are much heavier than most other roofing materials and, therefore, require a sturdier roof framing.

Other items of clay origin are also quite common to this day. From coarse clay pots for plants to fine china dishes for your special event, they all are based on clay minerals. Their particular properties depend on the purity and type of clay used, the firing temperature and related skills of the trade. Even the term “china” refers to that in a particular way. You will have heard of the Yellow River, one of China’s (and the world’s) great rivers.  You can imagine that only the finest of the fine material coming such stream’s upper reaches would ever be able to make it all the way to the sea, thousands of miles away. China has numerous deposits of high quality kaolin, the main “china” ingredient.

Large deposits of such high purity clay mineral together with know-how not available at the time in the western world is the reason for the common term “china” for high quality porcelain. It requires both the right temperature and correct duration to make good china or simple house-facade bricks but they have one thing in common: both require a lot of heat.

Small artisanal kilns (furnaces) to heat clay to bind together and sinter into stable forms use electricity with high temperature coils. However, large industrial operations are mostly driven by natural gas. Either way, that heat requires burning carbon-based fuels that creates carbon dioxide (CO2).

Carbon dioxide (CO2)

Whether firing clay to make fine china or building “renewable energy” power plants like water (hydro-electric) plants, wind-turbines, or solar power panels is entirely immaterial. These processes all require the use of considerable amounts of fossil carbon energy resources, both for the materials and construction. Any true cost/benefit analysis would have to account for those inputs/outputs in detail.

Of course, the idea that increasing carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere are creating a “tipping point” and will lead to a “run-away” global warming is entirely false. None of the 100-plus super computer-requiring climate-models developed over the last three decades has been able to predict the “climate pause” of the last 19 years. As amply demonstrated by science, CO2 levels are FOLLOWING the global temperature, with a considerable time lag, NOT LEADING it.

The one and only reason that this “CO2-greenhouse gas” theory persists at all is the political interest in finding a reason to control your use of energy of any sort. That’s the real crime.

 Dr. Klaus L.E. Kaiser

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