During the chat, from 7 to 8 p.m., O'Mara will answer questions and share ideas about how Delawareans can save energy and money and at the same time boost the state’s economy.

He'll be manning the @YourDNREC Twitter account and using the hashtag #EnergizeDE.

"Delaware was the first state in the nation to launch an appliance rebate program using federal stimulus funds and deployed a Home Performance program before Congress passed legislation, so why not take on another first -- the state’s first Twitter chat on energy!" said Secretary O’Mara. "We have one of the most engaged and pioneering social media communities in the nation. I'm looking forward to an informative, engaging Twitter conversation with Delaware home and business owners."

How it works

To join the discussion, Delawareans just need to use their Twitter account -- and follow the discussion through the #EnergizeDE hashtag. Questions can be tweeted prior to or during the one-hour online conversation. SEU and DNREC communications staff are collecting some of the most common questions and requests for information to answer during the hour-long Twitter chat.

To keep the conversation focused, the hour-long chat will be divided into three 20-minute segments devoted to common energy challenges.

First 20 minutes
How much is your monthly energy bill? Tweet your average monthly bill and let’s see what the range is and how it compares to the national average. The highest tweet (with verification) will receive a free energy audit.

Second 20 minutes
Share your most frustrating comfort issues. Tweet about thermostat fights (how inefficient is interfamily battles and thermostat changes). Tweet about hot and cold guest bedrooms above the garage. Why is one level so much hotter than the other and what can be done? Does your business use a lot of lighting, refrigeration, or other energy-intensive equipment? We’ll provide info about possible solutions.

Third 20 minutes
Have you had a home energy makeover? Share your experiences and advice and hear Secretary O’Mara tweet links to useful resources.

Swift Recycling, Renewal by Andersen, Yellow Moon Homes, Green Market Solutions, Bath Saver, Dr. Energy Saver, Castle the Window People, Basement Waterproofing, Delaware City Environmental Coalition and the Delaware Division of Public Health will be on hand.

The event runs 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday on Washington St, adjacent to Crabby Dick's.

Dear EarthTalk: What is "tar sands oil" and what is the controversy over possibly building a pipeline for it from Canada into the United States? Bill Berkley, Omaha, NE

Tar sands oil (or "tar sands") is slang for bituminous sand, a mixture of sand, clay, water and an extremely gooey form of petroleum known as bitumen, which resembles tar in appearance. Extracting commercially viable crude oil from tar sands is especially difficult because the thick and sticky mixture won't flow unless it is heated or diluted with other hydrocarbons. Turning the extracted bitumen into liquid fuel requires large inputs of energy; the process also uses, pollutes and wastes large amounts of fresh water.

Research has shown that these processes alone generate as much as four times the amount of greenhouse gases per barrel of final product as the post-extraction production of conventional oil. Taking the entire life cycle of both final products into account, the extracting, processing and burning of liquid fuel from tar sands emits between 10 and 45 percent more greenhouse gases overall than conventional crude. Extraction of oil from tar sands also damages land to the point where it can no longer sustain forestry or farming.

Despite the environmental pitfalls of harvesting oil from tar sands, those countries that have them are making the most of them. More than half of Canada's relative sizable oil production comes from the tar sands of Alberta and other areas, while Venezuela is also a big producer of tar sands oil.

Tar sands have been in the news of late because green groups and many U.S. public officials are worried that the construction of a new pipeline to transport tar sands crude from northeastern Alberta into the U.S. -- TransCanada’s Keystone XL project -- would greatly increase American consumption of this carbon-intensive fuel and jeopardize U.S. efforts to reduce its oil consumption and overall carbon footprint.

Plans call for running the 2,000-mile-long pipeline all the way from Canada to Gulf Coast refineries. On the way it will carry as much as 900,000 barrels of oil per day, passing through six U.S. states and possibly jeopardizing the integrity of farmland, public water sources and wildlife habitat.

In June 2010, 50 members of Congress signed a letter asking Secretary of State Hilary Clinton to block approval of Keystone XL because it would "undermine America's clean energy future and international leadership on climate change." The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency subsequently announced that the State Department's draft environmental impact study for Keystone XL was in need of revision because it didn't sufficiently take into account oil spill response plans, safety issues and greenhouse gas concerns.

In December 2010, several concerned U.S. nonprofits -- including the Natural Resources Defense Council and Sierra Club -- launched the No Tar Sands Oil campaign to urge President Obama to halt Keystone XL, which is scheduled for completion by 2013. In March 2011 some two dozen U.S. mayors got into the act, asking Secretary Clinton to stop approval on Keystone XL as it could "undermine the good work being done in local communities across the country to fight climate change and reduce our dependence on oil."

Associated Press -- As residents confront a gigantic cleanup following the tornado that savaged Joplin, Mo., experts say environmental dangers could lurk amid the mountains of debris in the southwestern Missouri city and even in the water and air.

Damage from tornadoes, like floods and hurricanes, often goes beyond what is readily visible. Liquid fuels and chemicals can leak from ruptured containers and contaminate groundwater. Ruined buildings may contain asbestos. Fires can generate smoke containing soot, dioxins and other pollutants. Household, industrial and medical wastes are strewn about.

In the initial hours after the May 22 twister, the odor of gasoline was evident around several flattened service stations. A large fire burned for hours near the devastated St. John's Regional Medical Center. Heavy rains caused flash flooding, possibly fouling local waterways.

Yet U.S. Environmental Protection Agency teams sent to inspect the damage turned up no serious pollution issues in the first week, although the search was continuing, spokesman Chris Whitley said.

"Until the systematic assessment of the tornado's impact area is complete, it is not possible to fairly evaluate levels of risk or priorities for environmental response," he said in an email.

The nation's deadliest single tornado in more than six decades packed winds of more than 200 mph and measured a half-mile across. It killed at least 132 people and injured more than 900 while severely damaging or leveling many buildings in the city's industrial corridor, which includes chemical suppliers, natural gas companies and paint manufacturers. An estimated 8,000 structures were destroyed.

A brief anhydrous ammonia leak from a valve at the Jasper Products trucking company was sealed by the company's hazardous materials crew. Otherwise, an EPA emergency response team combing the area last week found no significant toxic releases after checking 40 sites, coordinator Eric Nold said.

"If there was a screaming release that needed to be found, it would have been by now," he said. His two-person team looked at underground storage tanks, wastewater treatment plants and other potential pollution sources.

"Given this size tornado, there could have been a lot worse from a chemical release standpoint," Nold said over the sound of crunching metal as bulldozers worked nearby.

Many companies sent their own environmental response teams to the disaster area.

Among other places being examined were the destroyed hospital and a Superfund site in western Jasper County tainted by years of lead and zinc mining. The tornado missed piles of waste material from the mines, but touched down in nearby neighborhoods where clean layers of topsoil were placed atop polluted soils between 1995 and 2002, Whitley said.

Property owners and emergency workers were advised to use caution when removing debris from the area, he said. Lead exposure happens primarily by ingesting contaminated soil on dirty hands - a particular danger for children - and breathing contaminated dust.

Another likely hazard is oil spilled from downed electrical transformers, some of which contain highly toxic polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs. It wasn't immediately clear how many were blown down during the storm.

But a spokesman for Alabama Power, that state's largest electric utility, said more than 4,000 transformers had been recovered there following a series of tornadoes last month. Some of the older ones contained trace amounts of PCBs, spokesman Michael Sznajderman said. All were bagged and sent to a licensed recycler, while oil and dirt around fallen transformers were hauled to a hazardous waste landfill.

Some of the greatest long-term environmental risks from tornadoes come during the cleanups, experts said.

The Missouri Department of Natural Resources last week announced a temporary waiver of some solid waste and air pollution regulations for Jasper and Newton counties, where the tornado struck. The move allows landfills to accept brush, yard waste, appliances and other materials that normally wouldn't be allowed, although recycling of appliances is encouraged. It permits burning of tree and brush waste under certain conditions.

Also waived was a requirement that state-certified supervisors be involved in removal of material containing asbestos, a fiber that can cause lung diseases including cancer. Federal asbestos regulations remain in place.

Relaxing the rules during an emergency is understandable, but improper handling or disposal of waste material could make a bad situation worse, said David Carpenter, director of the Institute for Health and the Environment at the University at Albany-SUNY.

If plastics, asbestos material or treated wood find their way into brush fires, they could produce emissions particularly dangerous for people with asthma or respiratory diseases, he said.

"I know there's a huge amount of debris, but finding a landfill in a valley someplace where you can put it and cover it over is a lot wiser than burning it," Carpenter said. "There are health hazards associated with burning debris of any sort."

Some storms produce such overwhelming volumes of waste that limited burning must be allowed, said John Mitchell, environment division director with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. Fires were permitted after the 2007 tornado that wiped out Greensburg, Kan., he said, although the state prefers other disposal methods.

It's important to segregate different types of waste so they can be disposed of properly, as some landfills aren't suitable for materials such as household chemicals, paints and treated woods, Mitchell said. The Missouri Department of Natural Resources is urging people to recycle appliances and compost vegetation.

Environmentalists weren't objecting to bending the rules for a while.

"The last thing you want to do when a community's dealing with a situation like this is require a lot of permits and paperwork," said Kathleen Logan Smith, executive director of the Missouri Coalition for the Environment.

People in the Joplin area aren't the only ones who should be on the lookout for contaminated materials, said John Snow, a University of Oklahoma meteorology expert. Research has shown that tornadoes can suck up debris and deposit it up to 200 miles away, he said.

"This is kind of an unappreciated hazard that merits a lot more careful attention than it's been given," Snow said.

Silverside Church, at 2800 Silverside Road in Brandywine Hundred, will hold a Green Fair from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday.

There will be presentations on solar, wind and geothermal energy, as well as information on home energy audits and energy careers. Kids can hear stories, get their faces painted and play games with conservation themes.

Proceeds from food and drinks will benefit the Food Bank of Delaware.

For information, call 478-5921 or visit www.silversidechurch.org.

AP/Jorge Uzon

By EVA VERGARA and MICHAEL WARREN, Associated Press -- A $7 billion project to dam two of the world's wildest rivers for electricity has won environmental approval Monday from a Chilean government commission despite a groundswell of opposition.

The commissioners -- all political appointees in President Sebastian Pinera's government -- concluded a three-year environmental review by approving five dams on the Baker and Pascua rivers in Aysen, a mostly roadless region of remote southern Patagonia where rainfall is nearly constant and rivers plunge from Andean glaciers to the Pacific Ocean through green valleys and fjords.

Monday's vote -- 11 in favor and one abstention -- could prove to be pivotal for the future of Chile, which has a booming economy, vast mineral wealth and a determination to join the elite group of first-world nations.

With its energy-intensive mining industry clamoring for more power and living standards improving, some analysts say Chile must triple its capacity in just 15 years, despite having no domestic oil or natural gas. Chile imports 97 percent of its fossil fuels and depends largely on hydropower for electricity, creating a crisis when droughts drain reservoirs or faraway disputes affect energy imports.

Supporters say the economic benefits of the dam project justify carving roads through the heart of Chile's remaining wilderness and running a thousand miles (1,600 kilometers) of transmission lines to power the capital, Santiago.

The dams together could generate 2.75 gigawatts, nearly a third of central Chile's current capacity, within 12 years. The Aysen region will receive less expensive energy, jobs, scholarships and $350 million in infrastructure, including seaports and airports, said HidroAysen's executive vice president, Daniel Fernandez.

But people in the sparsely populated area are divided. Only three dozen families would be relocated, but the dams would drown 14,000 acres (5,700 hectares), require carving clear-cuts through forests, and eliminate whitewater rapids and waterfalls that attract ecotourism. They also would destroy habitat for the endangered Southern Huemul deer: Fewer than 1,000 of the diminutive animals, a national symbol, are believed to exist.

"They are all sell-outs," rancher Elisabeth "Lilli" Schindele said of the commissioners.

She lives with her husband and two young children in the Nadis, a sector that would be inundated. Their neighbors have agreed to relocation, but she doesn't want to leave the 1,235 acres (500 hectares) where they raise cattle and sheep.

"There is no land like ours," she told told The Associated Press by phone.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a lawyer for the U.S.-based National Resources Defense Council, appealed to Pinera to call off the project.

"It's the most beautiful place, I believe, on the planet," said Kennedy, who kayaks there every year. "I don't know any place like Patagonia."

Investors have spent $220 million on the project so far, but opposition has grown to 61 percent of Chileans according to the latest Ipsos Public Affairs poll, and the government is concerned about a backlash.

More than 1,000 people gathered outside the hearing in the regional hub of Coyhaique, chanting and carrying signs. Some threw rocks at the cars of commissioners, and clashed afterward with hundreds of police, who responded with a water cannon and tear gas. Several protesters were bloodied in the melee, and the commissioners were kept inside for their safety.

In downtown Santiago, several thousand people blocking a main avenue in protest also encountered tear gas and police water cannons.

Mining and Energy Minister Laurence Golborne had urged opponents to turn to the courts, and they did vow to appeal.

"We're going to keep fighting until this project is unviable," said Patricio Rodrigo, a spokesman for the Patagonia Without Dams coalition. "This project robs us of our sovereignty."

But Interior Minister Rodrigo Hinzpeter, who sent police to contain the protests, said that "the most important thing is that our country needs to grow, to progress, and for this we need energy."

Chile's decision has lessons for a world confronting a future without inexpensive fossil fuels and questioning nuclear safety. The country has abundant renewable-energy potential, from dams on its many rivers to year-round sun in its northern deserts, wind along its long Pacific coast, numerous geothermal sites and biomass from its large agricultural industry.

But Chile gets less than 5 percent of its electricity from renewable sources other than hydroelectricity, has done little to encourage efficiency, and lacks a strategy for securing future supplies, although a government commission will make such recommendations by September.

While a growing number of countries are modernizing networks to enable countless individuals with rooftop solar panels to contribute electricity, Chile's grids aren't even linked.

It's another legacy of dictator Augusto Pinochet: To encourage development and undo his socialist predecessor's attempts at land reform, he made waterways the property of the state energy company and eliminated regulations to protect competing interests. The rules remained even after the company was privatized and sold to foreigners.

As a result, Chile's rivers are the tax-free, private property of the Spanish-Italian Endesa energy company, which now has huge influence and few incentives to modernize the system in ways that would encourage competition. Colbun SA, a Chilean electricity generator, also is participating in the HidroAysen project.

"It makes no economic sense. The big energy demand is coming from the northern part of the country and the metals industry, and in those regions you already have available resources," Kennedy said. "The Atacama desert is ideally suited to solar thermal production. It's got the altitude, 365 days of sunlight a year and power lines that already exist, and in most cases you're only a few miles from the industries you're powering. The only reason these dams are being built is because of the political clout that Endesa has over the Pinera government."

Fernandez said HidroAysen will help Chile to receive the cheapest, cleanest electricity possible. Several Chilean energy experts also dismissed solar as uncompetitive and years away from relevancy, and warned that the only alternative is dirty and imported coal. Chile recently approved Latin America's largest coal-fired plant, to power a mine near the northern deserts. Two other coal plants received the OK on Friday.

Kennedy's counterpoint is a huge $2.2 billion, 2.6-gigawatt solar project being built in the Mojave desert with private money and U.S. government guarantees. It already has 20-year contracts to supply California's utilities starting in two years, much quicker than HidroAysen. "This is proven technology that is being used all over the world," he said.

Monday's dam decision may only intensify the debate. Environmentalists predict more damage from the transmission lines, which face a separate environmental review in December. Their construction could open remote Patagonia to much more development, and the area's abundant water could attract even more dams once the lines are built.

But last month's poll, which also showed 84 percent opposition to nuclear energy, suggests Chileans care more now about the environment, said Douglas Tompkins. The poll had a sampling margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

The House Energy Committee is expected to vote Wednesday on the bill, sponsored by Rep. Harold Peterman, R-Milford, which would end Delaware's participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.

The bill has been the subject of a spirited lobbying effort by conservative groups such as the Caesar Rodney Institute, which claims to have won over several Democratic senators.

But it's been harder to pry loose Democratic votes on the House Energy Committee amid blowback from those who support the initiative, said David Stevenson, director of the institute's Center for Energy Competitiveness.

Delaware, which entered the initiative in 2008, is one of 10 states participating in the system, which limits the amount of carbon dioxide that power producers are allowed to emit while allowing them to buy and trade allowances for more emissions.

Proceeds typically go toward energy-efficiency programs in each state. In Delaware, 65 percent goes to the Sustainable Energy Utility, a nonprofit efficiency and small-scale renewable energy group. The initiative raised $7.4 million for Delaware last year.

SEU spokeswoman Becky Fleischauer said the organization's initiatives so far have had the equivalent environmental effect of taking about 4,000 cars off the road.

The bill's sponsors argue that Delmarva Power customers can't afford to pay higher electric bills to support the program. Currently, that premium is estimated at 38 cents per month on the average utility bill, according to RGGI Inc., the nonprofit group implementing the initiative.

That amount is likely to grow as the initiative is expanded over time, Stevenson contends.

John Nichols, a citizen activist supporting the repeal bill, said the initiative cedes government power to nongovernmental agencies like RGGI and the SEU. Those groups, he said, are "a threat to freedom and liberty."

In an email to its members, the Caesar Rodney Institute argued Gov. Jack Markell was personally calling lawmakers to try to block the legislation.

Markell's spokesman, Brian Selander, said the mailing uses "extreme language to try to push some emotional buttons" in trying to raise money. He said the initiative is "based on sound science and a record of having delivered positive results."

Neither the governor nor his staff are the ones making calls to defeat the repeal bill, Selander said.

The hearing is scheduled for 4 p.m. Wednesday at Legislative Hall. The committee's chairman, Rep. John Kowalko, D-Newark South, says he disagrees with the bill but will not block a vote.

Contact Aaron Nathans at 324-2786 or anathans@delawareonline.com.

The Delaware Nature Society honored eight people and the town of Townsend at its 46th Annual Meeting on April 13 at Ashland Nature Center in Hockessin.

The award-winners were Amy O’Neill, recipient of the Outstanding Environmental Educator Award; Abi Vanderlek, winner of the Outstanding Youth Award; the Isaacs-Greene family, Matt Chesser and the town of Townsend, recipients of Conservation Awards; and Darwin Palmer for the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Amy O’Neill is a technology teacher at William C. Lewis Dual Language Elementary School in the Red Clay School District. O'Neill's students maintain a certified wildlife habitat garden that doubles as an outdoor classroom for studying monarch butterflies. O’Neill also established a school “green team” to coordinate a recycling program that has collected enough paper to preserve more than 200 17-foot trees and plastic to save 13,000 gallons of oil.

Abi Vanderlek installed a new floor in the Ashland Butterfly House to provide improved access to visitors in wheelchairs, as well as those with baby strollers. She conducted this volunteer project as the final phase of her Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest achievement in Girl Scouting. Vanderlek also made other improvements to the Butterfly House and created educational materials about butterflies. She received donated materials from local businesses.

The Conservation Award recognizes those who help protect natural resources and biodiversity. Over the past year, the Delaware Nature Society worked with the Isaacs-Greene family to complete the donation of their property. The Isaacs sisters, Kay, Sue, and Beth, along with Kay’s husband, Jim Greene, donated 60 acres of marsh, swamp forest, and upland woods along the Johnson’s Branch, a tributary to Abbott’s Pond in Milford. The marsh and swamp habitat are unique among the sites in the Milford Millponds Nature Preserve and offers new opportunities for education programs and research projects.

Matt Chesser is the environmental program administrator for the planning, preservation and development section of Delaware State Parks. During Chesser’s tenure as section administrator, State Parks completed important projects at Blue Ball properties, Indian River Marina and Fox Point and constructed nature centers at Killens Pond and Trap Pond.

Chesser also is a key member of a multi-organization team that is working to preserve 260 acres at the NVF property in Yorklyn. Critical natural areas including Delaware’s Red Clay Creek Natural Area and Kennett Township’s State Line Woods have been preserved for future generations as a result of this collaboration. When this project is complete, it will include new flood retention areas in the form of created wetlands, highlight historic structures, address lingering contamination on-site and create a public recreation destination.

The town of Townsend received a Conservation Award for becoming the first community in Delaware to be certified as a community wildlife habitat and the 40th in the United States. During the three-year certification process, Delaware Nature Society staff helped to educate residents about sustainable gardening practices. Twenty-four residential backyard habitats were created and certified, as well as the municipal park and Town Hall, the Early Childhood Center and Townsend Elementary School. In addition, a stream clean-up and two gardening workshops were held to educate residents on environmentally friendly outdoor practices.

Darwin Palmer was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award for his lifelong dedication to educating children and adults about the wonders of the natural world. Palmer has been a strong supporter of Delaware Nature Society as a volunteer, member, donor and trip leader for nearly 30 years. He was instrumental in the cultivation of DNS’s guide corps and teaching staff. His excellent teaching skills and extensive knowledge of natural history has been a perfect combination to train and mentor members of the teaching guide corps and staff.

Photo by Muffet/FLICKR

From 10 a.m. To 2 p.m., Bayhealth will accept thermometers, thermostats and other items that contain Mercury. Digital thermometers will be given out as supplies last.

"Mercury is a neurotoxic heavy metal, and exposure to excessive levels can permanently or fatally damage your brain and kidneys,” said Bayhealth Chemistry Lab Supervisor Raeann Graffius. “Mercury is extremely dangerous, with a few drops generating enough fumes to contaminate the air in an entire room."

According to Graffius, mercury can be absorbed through the skin and cause allergic reactions, and ingestion of mercury compounds can cause severe renal and gastrointestinal damage.

Drop by Mercury Return & Exchange Day on Friday, May 20 at Bayhealth Human Resources, 600 South Governors Ave., Dover.

By KEN MAMMARELLA, Special to The News Journal -- Two local men who have converted their own vehicles to alternative energy have developed businesses to do the same for others.

Used vegetable oil from restaurant deep-fat fryers has fueled a parallel system in Fred Sinton’s 1982 diesel Mercedes for the last seven years.

“Miles per gallon is about the same. Performance is the same,” he said one evening after he had just field-tested his 25th vehicle converted the same way, with diesel for starting and stopping and the straight vegetable oil for running in between.

Sinton, 62, runs Fred’s Foreign Cars in Kennett Square, Pa. He uses a $1,200 kit and charges about $1,000 for his labor.

A decade ago, restaurants paid for the oil to be taken away, but growing interest in reusing it as a fuel means that it might cost up to 50 cents a gallon, he said.

That’s less than the $4 that diesel costs, but it doesn’t include the equipment to handle and filter the 4-gallon containers and any effort to acquire a supply when drivers are going beyond their home territory.

But it pleases him to know it reduces pollution and probably generates less smoke than homeowners would have cooking with that oil.

“Just filter out the chicken and french fry bits and stick it in your tank,” he said.

One of his conversions, a 1982 Mercedes, made it to San Francisco and back on vegetable oil alone.

Pete Sullivan, a mechanical engineer who lives in Middletown, worked on and off for two years to convert a 1986 Nissan truck to electricity. His first job was finding the vehicle – “sitting up on brake rotors in a junkyard when I first met it” – because he wanted a simple model with both manual transmission and manual steering.

He used lead acid batteries that have a 50-mile range in the summer and a 25-mile range in the winter. The batteries take 10 to 12 hours to recharge when connected a 220-volt outlet at his house.

Sullivan estimates the work took $10,000 to $11,000 in materials, and he’ll charge about $17,000, including materials, for a conversion. He has so far completed two other trucks and is working on two more vehicles.

He said that he has three answers of varying complexity when he’s asked if the conversion is worth it economically. At its most simplistic, the cost of electricity and the much greater efficiency of an electric engine means that he’s paying the equivalent of $1.50 per gallon of gas. Add the cost of replacing the batteries, and he’s paying the equivalent of $3. And the economic comparison favors electricity if he considers the cost of six systems that electrical engines don’t need but gasoline systems do (engine, fuel, exhaust, ignition, cooling and emissions control).

There is one way to definitively validate a conversion: The carbon footprint of an electric vehicle is only a third of one running on gasoline, he said.