USA Today's analysis of 2010 Census at state level features Louisiana first

USA Today has begun to present local data from the 2010 Census.  Data on population trends and ethnic makeup will be released for each state during the months of February and March, beginning with Louisiana, Mississippi, Virginia, and New Jersey; Louisiana demographics being on display first.

As shown in the 2010 Census, Louisiana's population has had some interesting shifts, heavily driven by natural and man-made disasters.  New Orleans' population has gone from 485,000 (2000) to 343,830 (2010), a 29% drop, thanks largely to Katrina.  The estimated population drop was not this great, so the census was rather revealing.  Relative to its size, the parish (county) most impacted by Katrina was St. Bernard Parish, on the east side of New Orleans, which sustained a 47% drop in population.  All in all, seven parishes lost populations at double-digit rates, while ten parishes gained population at rates above the national average of 4%. Parishes between Baton Rouge and New Orleans gained the most, with Ascension and Livingston Parishes gaining 40% and 39%, respectively.  While Baton Rouge and surrounding areas gained considerably, and New Orleans shrunk, New Orleans remains the largest city in the State. Terrebonne Parish, where we live, increased by 7%.

Tropical Cyclone Yasi slams into Queensland, Australia

What is being called the "Cyclone of the Century," Yasi is now coursing its way through Queensland. It was reported to be a Category 5 storm as it approached landfall.  In its wake, it dealt a powerful "blow" to the midsection of the Australia sugarcane industry, causing world sugar futures prices to reach 30-year-high levels.  Australia is the 3rd largest exporter of sugar in the world.  I have had the good fortune of visiting Queensland twice during my career.  Between the two trips, I have been lucky enough to have traveled by road from Cape Tribulation near the top of Queensland, all the way south to Mackay, then by air to Bundaberg and eventually to Brisbane. Queensland is indeed a very large state.  So to see the size of Cyclone Yasi relative to the size of Queensland, for me, was amazing.  Yasi came on shore just south of Cairns where Dr. Anna Hale and I recently visited (see blog entry "Trip to Australia," dated 30 Aug 2009).  The life cycle of sugarcane in Australia in early February, would be equivalent to our sugarcane in early August.  Like our sugarcane, the greatest damage from a storm like this will probably be more from the water than from the wind, water that sugarcane farmers in Australia certainly didn't need, considering the extensive flooding that they have already experienced.  Something to remember when looking at the path of a cyclone south of the equator, is that the south side is the "bad" side, as it travels from east to west.  Intuitively, we would think of it as being on the north side,  but a southern cyclone spins clockwise, causing the surge of water to be on the opposite side from what we normally expect.  The last word I heard is that Cairns came through this major storm better than most expected.  Residents of Cairns and surrounding communities were benefited by being on the "good" side of the storm.  Further south at Mission Beach, which took the most direct hit, the devastation has been described as "apocalyptic."  The coastal town of Cardwell, a few kilometers south of Mission Beach, was described as having been "wiped off the map."

Tew's Life on the Bayou - a retrospective view

It has been nearly three years since I began this blog.  This is my 191st entry in 35 months, meaning that, from the beginning, I have averaged a little over five blogs a month (≈1/wk).  My output has gone down some from year one.  My goal this year and beyond is to level off at about one entry per week. With my anemic start this year, I'm going to have to step it up a bit, just to meet this goal.

One question that I have thought about (and I'm sure I'm not alone as a blogger in asking this), "Now that Facebook has become such a universal phenomenon, what role does a blog serve that social networking doesn't presently serve?"  To me, this is a valid question, but I think there is an obvious answer.  And it has to do with the intended permanence of each entry.  Facebook is a place for spontaneous expression of feelings and thoughts (perhaps like a fleeting telephone conversation), whereas, a blog entry is generally much more thought out (like a carefully drafted letter to a friend you haven't written to in some time).

I believe my blogs have inevitably given some insight into my life and interests.  This may be largely beneficial only to my own posterity, but that is as it should be.  Occasionally, it has been self instructive.  For example, I was taken aback by revisiting my 5 Jan 2009, "50 things I would like to do" entry.  I quickly realized that, even if I only accomplished 1/10 of what is on this list, I would be doing well.

It's interesting to me that my work-related blog entries have come in handy on several occasions.  For example, the freeze we had a year ago was rather harsh, and now there is some evidence that the severe winter we had one year ago may have had a greater adverse impact on USDA-bred sugarcane varieties as a whole, than on LSU-bred varieties (that must pass through early selection stages in a more northerly environment).  To illustrate the severity of the freezing conditions a year ago, I have referred back to the graph I put together for the 12 Jan 2010 (Freezing on the Bayou) entry.  Being in the blogosphere, the graph is readily available, even when I am away from my own personal computer.

I anticipate using my blog more for documentation purposes in the future.  Certainly, my previous blog to this one, dated 8 Jan 2011, "Excess sugarcane bagasse -- what to do with it," was done with documentation in mind.  I'm not going to be sitting up in the middle of the night, wondering why I am blogging when I am aware that only a tiny handful of people are going to be reading my blogs anyway.  I know a few faithful followers, probably mostly family, will keep reading my blogs, and I genuinely do appreciate your responses.  Feedback is always welcomed.  I will try to keep my blogs varied, and will likely shift them toward being more family oriented in the future. 

I wish this had been my first blog of the year, but I can't reverse the order now...so we move forward.  If this one seems a bit scatter shot, remember that I am recovering from a pretty severe cold, and my head isn't fully clear yet.

Excess sugarcane bagasse -- what to do with it

Bagasse is the fibrous residue remaining after crushing/shredding sugarcane and washing the sugar out of it.  Bagasse provides the power required to run the sugarcane mills that process the sugar from sugarcane, thus making sugar production from sugarcane one of the most energy efficient operations in the plant crop world.  In Florida and Hawaii, energy derived from burning bagasse not only powers the mills, but is also sold to the public as electricity.  This is referred to as co-generation.  When burned in the mill boilers, the energy derived from one ton of bagasse is roughly equivalent to the energy obtainable from one barrel of oil.  In Louisana, electricity is still too inexpensive for mill owners to make a profit burning the excess bagasse, generating electricity and selling it to the public.

Now that the sugarcane harvest season is over, and mill yards are no longer obscured by standing cane, one is struck by the huge piles of bagasse that build up next to them.  The photo above was taken of the mill yard at Raceland Sugar Co., Raceland, LA, from Hwy 90 (future I-49) overpass over Hwy 1 after most of the cane was harvested, and after the occurrence of a killing freeze on Dec. 15.  Note how the massive bagasse piles obscure the view of the mill.  One needs only to drive next to these piles of bagasse to appreciate just how massive they really are. A list of Louisiana's mills and their locations is found on the website of the American Sugar Cane League. 

In the green fuels debate, there has been much discussion about conversion of fibrous residue from plant products into cellulosic ethanol.  It would seem that, if cellulosic ethanol production or the production of some other fuel, such as butanol, from plant fiber is close to becoming economically viable, a great place to test its potential is in an already existing industry where the fibrous residue is a by-product that has already been gathered into central locations.  One issue facing sugarcane breeders, and ultimately the sugar industry, is whether it is an asset or a liability to the industry to develop and release sugarcane varieties possessing higher fiber levels than the current standard of 11-12%.  Perhaps it is a question that gets answered differently depending on whether we are taking the short-range or the long-range view.

Kayak swamp tour II

A little over a year ago, on November 28, 2009, I took the most enjoyable trip in my kayak that I ever taken.  Today, I revisited the same area.  The scenery was a bit different this time, being later in the season.  The two most notable differences were that there was less foliage on the cypress trees, and, because the water level was much lower, the cypress knees were much more exposed and impressive.  Enjoy the photos.

Shortest day of the year packed with happenings

For being the shortest day of the year (Winter Solstice) and reportedly the darkest in over 300 years (Lunar Eclipse on the shortest day), this was quite an eventful day.  So what all happened?  In the course of 24 hours, I got to see the lunar eclipse.  I got to see UConn Women's Basketball team win their 89th game in a row, eclipsing the long-standing men's basketball record held by John Wooden's UCLA team.  I got to see the 2010 U.S. census results for the first time.  I got to see the long-awaited new road in Houma connecting Hwy 311 to the strip on MLK Blvd, where we do most of our shopping, finally open today, cutting almost in half the time it will take us to make the trip to the strip.  And, to top things off, I got the kayak out, brushed off the cobwebs, and took a 4-mile round trip journey on Bayou Black.  The background scenery and wildlife on these kayak trips never disappoints, which makes me wonder why I don't go more often.

Pictures from Thanksgiving trip

Due to low batteries, I only took one picture of a view we will have from our not-quite-finished home near Tracy City, TN.  The picture didn't come out as well as hoped, with the camera focused on close up trees and the backdrop being somewhat out of focus.  It least it shows that a lot of clearing of underbrush across the highway was generously done in our behalf by the developer, which gives us the view we had hoped for when we purchased the property. 

We traveled north to Plymouth, IN (25 mi. south of South Bend in northern Indiana) to be with Matt & Julie and our grandchildren, Allison, Lauren, and Megan at Thanksgiving time.  The day after Thanksgiving, we joined the family in traveling to a tree farm near the school where Matt works, where they picked out a very special tree.  I took a picture of the grandchildren in front of it.  Over this past weekend, the Bertassos had a lot of snow.  We felt fortunate that we didn't have to contend with the white stuff while we were there.