Solar energy offers a vast supply of power, but harnessing it is a challenge
We have a solar-based economy, whether or not we realize it. Ninety-four percent of the world’s energy comes from the sun, even energy that doesn’t at first glance seem solar. Coal, oil and natural gas are mostly the products of ancient plants that grew with the sun’s help. The sun drives hydroelectric power by evaporating low-lying water, then dumping it at higher altitudes. Windmills turn because the sun warms the planet’s air unevenly.
Kind of annoying this WashPost piece totally ignores Concentrated solar thermal power Solar Baseload “” a core climate solution, but it is an okay intro to PV:
Fortunately, there’s plenty of sun to go around. Our local star is continuously transmitting 180 quadrillion watts of energy to the Earth, 14,000 times our requirements for generating power. So the question isn’t where to get our energy, but how to capture it.
Solar cells, also known as photovoltaic cells, are our most identifiable effort to convert the sun’s energy into electricity. They depend on a phenomenon known as the photovoltaic effect, discovered in 1839 by a French teenager. Alexandre Edmond Becquerel, then 19, placed two metal plates in a salt solution and generated an electric current by simply placing his rig in the sun.
Sixty-six years later, Albert Einstein demonstrated the physics behind Becquerel’s electric soup, that it worked because sunlight provided enough energy to move some electrons through the solution, creating a current. Einstein won the 1921 Nobel Prize for that explanation.
Ever since, engineers have been working to make the conversion of sunlight to usable energy more efficient.
Today’s commercial solar cells consist of a layer of silicon mixed with boron, which faces the sun, stacked on top of a layer of silicon mixed with phosphorous. The silicon-phosphorous layer is known as the negative, or n-type layer, because it has lots of spare electrons. The silicon-boron molecules, in contrast, have a gaping hole in their electron layer, yearning to be filled.
Siemens Confirms Order From DONG Energy For 111 Wind Turbines
The 400 megawatt (MW) Anholt Offshore Wind Farm will feature a capacity almost twice that of Horns Rev 2, currently the world’s largest offshore wind farm in operation at 209 MW. -When fully operational, the Anholt Offshore Wind Farm project will provide clean energy for approximately 400,000 households. This equals approximately 4 percent of Denmark’s total power consumption.
Tesla lays out Model S production line
Affirming its position as a new-generation car company, Tesla Motors’ Vice President of Manufacturing Gilbert Passin lays out in detail how the upcoming Model S will be produced on the company’s blog. Although other manufacturers use similar production techniques, it is an interesting post for information on the process.
Unlike the current Tesla Roadster, which gets delivered to Tesla as a preassembled body and frame, the company will build the Model S from the ground up, including stamping sheets of aluminum into body panels. Assembly will take place at Tesla’s new plant in Fremont, California, a joint facility with Toyota announced last May.
Carbon nanotubes could be secret to greater EV range
Scientists at MIT have developed a positive electrode made of carbon nanotubes that significantly boosts lithium ion battery performance and could lead to much greater range in electric vehicles and longer battery lives for gadgets.
The carbon nanotube electrodes enable lithium ion batteries to deliver ten times more power than a conventional battery and store five times more energy than a conventional ultracapacitor. The nanotubes accomplish this because they have a very high surface area for storing and reacting with lithium, which increases the battery’s storage capacity and the speed at which it can charge and discharge.
The MIT scientists have already licensed the technology to a battery company (as yet, unnamed) and are perfecting quick methods of making the electrodes, like spraying the nanotubes on a substrate, to facilitate mass production.
Ban Ki-moon asks G20 leaders to pursue green development
Ahead of their summit in Canada, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has asked the leaders of the G20 countries to invest in a green economic recovery for sustainable development.
“Such an approach can help address food security and climate change, while ensuring job creation,” he said.
“Economic recovery will be more sustainable if it is embedded in a global green new deal,” the UN chief asked world leaders to undertake international initiatives that supported national investment plans, women’s economic empowerment and measures to expand access to credit and savings for the poor.
“We must also build further momentum on education for all with a special focus on girls’ education,” he said, while also underlining the need to conclude an international trade deal that “takes into account the needs of the poorest nations by enhancing their market access.”
Ban Ki-moon also asked investments in global health and health systems, such as the Joint Action Plan for Women’s and Children’s Health, and fully funding programmes like the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and the Sanitation and Water for All Initiative.
The Ever-Growing Human Cost of China’s Coal
China’s coal mining industry saw another disaster today when an mine explosion in the central province of Henan killed 46 miners on the spot. The mine, located in one of China’s biggest coal producing regions, was allegedly operating illegally, according to the government-run Xinhua news agency. Though the cause of the blast is still not known, 72 miners were trapped after explosives blew up in the mine. Twenty-six escaped.
The event brings to mind, strangely enough, a better moment for the Chinese coal industry, when 115 miners were dragged alive out from a flooded mine in Shanxi province in April after spending over a week underground. The global media was captivated by the scenes of that rescue, as my colleague Austin Ramzy in Beijing wrote about, especially as it coincided with the worst U.S. mining disaster in decades. As Austin points out, the events in the Upper Big Branch mine in West Virginia this year were traumatic not only because of the loss of 29 lives, but the U.S. coal mine safety record has long been one of the best in the world.
Australia Will Maintain 20% Renewable Energy Target, Wong Says
The Australian government will keep a target of generating 20 percent of the nation’s energy from renewable sources by 2020 while amending planned legislation, Climate Change Minister Penny Wong said.
“The amendments will ensure the long-term, sustainable growth of both the small-scale and large-scale renewable energy sector and will support new jobs and investment,” Wong said in an e-mailed statement today after putting the amendments to the upper house Senate
The legislation, aimed at supporting large-scale projects and the supply of clean energy to homes, has two parts. The first supports households using solar panels and solar hot water systems, while the development of wind farms, commercial solar and geothermal projects will deliver the majority of the 2020 target, according to the government.
The amendments include temporarily increasing the target in 2012 and 2013 and adjusting it in later years, regulatory powers to adjust credits for solar panels and reviewing the price of so-called renewable energy certificates.
Previous in TP Climate Progress
Language Intelligence: Lessons on persuasion from Jesus, Shakespeare, Lincoln, and Lady Gaga
Preview: 526-horsepower Mercedes-Benz SLS E-Cell
http://green.autoblog.com/2010/06/22/mercedes-benz-sls-e-cell-preview/
The Post has a decidedly mixed record on energy, and its ownership has probably been purchased by the fossil fuel companies, along with most people in DC.
This leads me to believe that their touting PV and excluding CSP is deliberate, because CSP energy can be stored as heat. Electrons from PV can’t, unless you want to throw away a fortune on batteries. Hard costs of CSP plant construction are considerably less too, since the components are off the shelf turbines and boilers, combined with simple metal or coated plastic heliostats.
If you think and observe too much, you can get paranoid, but as the saying goes: “Just because you think they’re out to get you doesn’t mean they aren’t”.
Huge swarms of grasshoppers are threatening a Waterford, California man’s farm.
http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2010/06/22/dnt.ca.grasshopper.plague.kcra
More pathos and drama!
El Niño explanation for global warming flawed
http://www.agu.org/news/press/jhighlight_archives/2010/2010-06-22.shtml#one
Should Navy be making investments related to climate change in a fiscally-constrained environment?
http://science.dodlive.mil/2010/06/16/should-navy-be-making-investments-related-to-climate-change-in-a-fiscally-constrained-environment/
Are we really going to cope with another 1C rise in temp.?
http://www.accuweather.com/blogs/news/story/33059/temperatures-scorch-from-centr.asp
Peak a Boo!
Oil execs slam U.S. deepwater drilling ban
http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2010/06/22/bp-deepwater-horizon-oil.html
“Oil industry executives have sharply criticized U.S. President Barack Obama’s six-month ban on deepwater drilling, saying the world doesn’t have enough other sources of oil to compensate.”
Mike @2: Perhaps the the Dark Side is trying to guarantee some market share for themselves as the Green Awakening Economy harvests sunlight, moves past them, and leaves them in the dust and floods of their own creation.
See clearly now…
Energy Legislation: Cantwell, Bingaman Strategize Ahead Of Meeting At White House
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/21/energy-legislation-cantwe_n_619685.html
Munich Re Climate Summit at Shanghai EXPO highlights risks and opportunities of climate change
Asia is particularly exposed to natural catastrophes. According to Munich Re ‘s NatCatSERVICE database, 34% of the 850 global natural catastrophes in 2009 occurred in Asia, accounting for 31% of overall economic losses. However, only 7% of those catastrophe losses were insured. In 2009, 71% of all fatalities from natural disasters were recorded in Asia. Over the last century, with a rise of more than 1°C, Asia has been the continent with the largest temperature increase.
Munich Re has been analysing the consequences of climate change for more than three decades. For risk analysis purposes, the Group has developed the world’s most comprehensive database on natural catastrophes. This includes information on the impact of natural catastrophes on economies, the insurance industry and people’s lives. Munich Re ’s Geo Risks Research unit helps to keep natural hazards insurable and can assist with advice on prevention measures.
http://www.diigo.com/annotated/68b4d160eccc8d50c7d2d35872a505fe
Americans Live In A Fantasyland About Energy
http://ecocentric.blogs.time.com/2010/06/21/americas-magical-thinking-on-energy/
“But we all bear responsibility for that failure, because we fail to see—and take—the hard choices that would be necessary. We’d rather live in energy fairyland, as a new New York Times/CBS News poll demonstrates. The poll surveyed the attitudes of Americans—with specific attention on Gulf coast residents—toward the oil spill, energy policy, the economy, President Barack Obama and BP. The news is not good for Obama—
Judge reverses Obama offshore drilling moratorium:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_gulf_oil_spill
re:”Carbon nanotubes could be secret to greater EV range”
Nano technology will likely be one the great tools in the fight against runaway climate change and this is probably one of them.
Very high strength to weight rations may be another.
In elevated carbon dioxide, soybeans stumble but cheatgrass keeps on truckin’
The wildfires, he read, are more frequent — they now occur every few years instead of every few decades — and they are burning larger areas.
The more intense fire cycle is fueled by cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum), an invasive plant that is rapidly displacing native sagebrush plant communities.
http://www.physorg.com/news196442897.html
Glycine-rich proteins are structural proteins that the plants use to strengthen cell walls, particularly those in xylem, the specialized water-transporting tissue, and to counter the effects of dehydration.
So instead of spinning their wheels, the plants were responding adaptively to the low carbon dioxide condition, strengthening tissues that would help them survive the water stress for which low carbon dioxide is usually a proxy.
Their response to the high carbon dioxide atmosphere was another matter entirely.
The soybeans stopped making the glycine-rich protein and instead starting routing most of the glycine back to carbon fixation in classic photorespiration wheel-spinning fashion. In other words, they stopped responding adaptively and started wasting energy.
The cheatgrass, on the other hand, kept right on trucking, churning out more glycine-rich protein.
Nissan Leaf Marketing from YouTube with diffrent videos – one i just saw features the charger station.
http://www.youtube.com/nissanusa
Does the EPA know what it’s doing when it comes to dispersants?
http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=does-the-epa-know-what-its-doing-wh-2010-06-22
“What we have seen since Friday is more than a horror film,”
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/06/22/brazil.floods/index.html?hpt=T1
The True Cost of Chevron: An Annual Alternative Report. Local resident Jenna Helf joins us to share her decade long court battle against Chevron. As an employee, she was permanently disabled through exposure to their toxic chemicals.
http://www.krcl.org/2010/06/21/radioactive-chevron-spill-part-2/
African solar farms will power all of Europe by 2050
http://io9.com/5569437/europe-is-planting-solar-farms-in-africa
Beside the BBC reporting more than 1,000 missing in the flooding in Brazil, this from Al Jazeira may be of interest:
“The torrents swept away more than 40,000 houses, entire bridges and streets, as well as rail lines in 22 towns across Alagoas, Vilela said.
Twenty-six people have been confirmed dead in Alagoas and 13 in Pernambuco state.
Power and phone services have been cut off in many areas and officials fear there could be many deaths unreported.
Mudslides have hit areas where shacks were built on hillsides.
Some regions reported over 36 centimetres of rainfall over the past three days.”
Regards,
Lewis
Ocean temperatures may predict fish stocks
http://www.rcn.no/en/Newsarticle/Ocean_temperatures_may_predict_fish_stocks/1253955852796
Just quick viewed the link, but seems they missing ocean acidification or summarize it under climate change? (watching a movie)
Net Estimates of Emission Reductions Under Pollution Reduction Proposals in the 111th Congress, 2005-2050
http://www.wri.org/chart/net-estimates-emission-reductions-under-pollution-reduction-proposals-111th-congress-2005-2050
BREAKING NEWS
Christopher Monckton’s Lies Exposed (Again) By The Guardian
http://www.desmogblog.com/christopher-moncktons-lies-exposed-again-guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jun/22/thatcher-climate-sceptic-monckton
Greendix develops world’s first solar-powered football
Taiwan-based solar panel designer and manufacturer recently developed leaf-shaped solar panels and now the manufacturer is finding some place for its pentagonal solar panels.
http://www.ecofriend.org/entry/greendix-develops-world-s-first-solar-powered-football/
Bacteria Turn Coal and Oil Into Renewable Energy
http://news.discovery.com/earth/bacteria-turn-coal-and-oil-into-renewable-energy.html
Uhhh Methane is now renewable energy …
Just lol
Safe deep sea drilling: Deep underground tunnels ensure that oil never gets exposed to the sea.
http://www.reddit.com/r/environment/comments/ci0nv/safe_deep_sea_drilling_deep_underground_tunnels/
‘Party of Parasites’ author took $1M in farm subsidies
http://www.kansascity.com/2010/06/21/2033746/party-of-parasites-author-took.html#ixzz0rX9hoiNn
Could chicken manure help curb climate change?
At Josh Frye’s poultry farm in West Virginia, the chicken waste is fed into a large, experimental incinerating machine. Out comes a charcoal-like substance known as “biochar” — which is not only an excellent fertilizer, but also helps keep carbon in the soil instead of letting it escape into the atmosphere, where it acts as a greenhouse gas.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/environment/2010-02-10-cheap-carbon_N.htm
Climate change impact of soil underestimated: study
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change-impact-of-soil-underestimated-study-1898767.html
Invention is the mother of much happiness ( ? ).
This solar is great news. But how to put shipping electric? Have you thought about windmills put over the sea as static boat based line, and ships taking their electricity for generators used as motors out of the windmill line?
No harm to people living on seashore (or land).
Of course you make the basement “boat” of wave energy equipment, every bit of energy to take hold of.
You can count one wind power plant in two kilometres or so. Ships without emissions: a grand idea?
Heatwave points to changing weather patterns
Manama: Qatar’s longest day in the year was also the hottest with experts agreeing that the unusually high temperatures experienced in Qatar and the Gulf region over the last five days indicate a significant shift in weather patterns.
The temperatures recorded this year are 5-7 degrees Celsius higher than in the corresponding period last year, Qatari daily The Peninsula said.
Maximum temperatures on June 18, 19 and 20, last year, were 44, 43 and 42 degrees Celsius respectively.
However, this year, all the three days recorded a high of 49C. There was also a major shift in the minimum temperature recorded during the same period.
http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/qatar/heatwave-points-to-changing-weather-patterns-1.644862
Solar-Assisted Air Conditioning Comes To Market
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/06/solar-assisted-air-conditioning-comes-to-market.php
Mr Erik Bettermann, Deutsche Welle Director General, expressed the believe that the media has a large responsibility to bear.
“The main focus for the media in the future should be objective reporting and breaking down complex topics. At the same time, it is important for journalists to present well-researched stories that foster individuals to take action.
“The media must create a forum for the exchange of ideas and opinions – and shouldn’t automatically buy in to those who offer sensational reports from questionable disasters or those who prematurely state that all is clear.”
The “Synovate Climate Change Study 2010″ also shows that 88 per cent of respondents believed that industry should be responsible for the fight against climate change. More than 70 per cent stated that they have done or were willing to do something to reduce climate change.
Nearly half of all respondents were willing to buy more environmentally-friendly products.
http://news.myjoyonline.com/features/201006/48102.asp
Synthetic Fuel from CO2 and Solar Energy?
http://www.alternative-energy-news.info/synthetic-fuel-co2-solar-energy/
Lithium market could bloom as tide goes out on oil
http://www.physorg.com/news196488228.html
Brain structure corresponds to personality
The study found similar associations for conscientiousness, which is associated with planning; neuroticism, a tendency to experience negative emotions that is associated with sensitivity to threat and punishment; and agreeableness, which relates to parts of the brain that allow us to understand each other’s emotions, intentions, and mental states. Only openness/intellect didn’t associate clearly with any of the predicted brain structures.
“This starts to indicate that we can actually find the biological systems that are responsible for these patterns of complex behavior and experience that make people individuals,” says DeYoung. He points out, though, that this doesn’t mean that your personality is fixed from birth; the brain grows and changes as it grows. Experiences change the brain as it develops, and those changes in the brain can change personality.
http://www.physorg.com/news196434378.html
White House postpones crucial climate bill meeting
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2265299/white-house-postpones-crucial
Battle brewing over oilsands exports
Feds would halt flow to nations with lax climate policies
http://www.calgaryherald.com/business/Battle+brewing+over+oilsands+exports/3189890/story.html
Asia needs to harness green power for sustainable growth
Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Haruhiko Kuroda said the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimates that 17 billion tons of carbon dioxide must be reduced to rein in global warming, and ADB’s developing member countries can cut half of that through the deployment of low carbon technologies.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/indepth/2010-06/23/c_13365498_2.htm
China to close 7,000 small coal miners by 2015
bout 11,000 coal enterprises are scattered throughout the country and the government wanted to reduce that figure to 4,000, the 21st Century Business Herald reported, citing the draft plan.
It said Beijing would further restructure the sector by creating 6-8 state-owned coal giants, each with production capacity in excess of 100 million tonnes per year.
China’s National Energy Administration expects total primary energy consumption to reach 4.2 billion tonnes of standard coal by 2015, with coal itself contributing 2.67 billion tonnes to the total.
The draft plan said the country was also planning to lift wind power capacity to 90 GW, nuclear capacity to 30 GW, biomass capacity to 13 GW, and solar capacity to 5 GW by the end of 2015.
Renewable energy capacity is expected to contribute the equivalent of 346 million tonnes of standard coal, it added, around 8 percent of total primary energy use.
http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFTOE65M05720100623
Australian Senate passes renewable energy laws
Australia’s parliament endorsed revised renewable energy laws on Wednesday in a move aimed at unlocking billions of dollars in clean energy investment and bolster the government’s green credentials ahead of elections.
The laws lock in a 20 percent renewable energy target by 2020, and split Australia’s renewable energy scheme into large projects and a household market, giving new certainty to up to $19 billion worth of clean energy projects.
http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFSGE65M01N20100623
UN climate panel names authors for 5th report
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100623/ap_on_sc/un_un_climate_panel
Denmark says oil spill observed in North Sea
http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFDKT00501720100623
Neb. N-plant declares low-level emergency state
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100622/ap_on_bi_ge/ne_nebraska_flooding_nuke_plant
A nuclear power plant near Brownville in southeast Nebraska notified public and federal regulators early Tuesday that it was in a low-level emergency state because of flooding from the rising Missouri River nearby.
The Cooper Nuclear Station declared a “Notification of Unusual Event” at 2:06 a.m. CDT. The plant said in a statement that there was no threat to plant employees or the public.
$25M veto cuts into Alaska clean energy plans
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100622/ap_on_bi_ge/ak_clean_energy_alaska
American Power Act Fails to Reduce Emissions Enough to Avoid Catastrophic Climate Change
Analysis by Center for Biological Diversity
CommonDreams, June 22, 2010
The Center’s longer analysis of the American Power Act is available here.
The Center’s short summary of key provisions of the bill is available here.
Four Possible BP-Style Extreme Energy Nightmares to Come
The disaster in the Gulf is no anomaly. It’s an arrow pointing toward future disasters.
By Michael Klare, TomDispatch.com, June 22, 2010
Scenario 1: Newfoundland — Hibernia Platform Destroyed by Iceberg
Scenario 2: Nigeria — America’s Oil Quagmire
Scenario 3: Brazil — Cyclone Hits “Pre-Salt” Oil Rigs
Scenario 4: East China Sea – A Clash Over Subsea Gas
Michael T. Klare is a professor of peace and world security studies at Hampshire College (…) and the author, most recently, of Rising Powers, Shrinking Planet.
A documentary movie version of his previous book, Blood and Oil, is available from the Media Education Foundation.
To catch him discussing our dystopian energy future on the latest TomCast audio interview, click here.
Joe Romm criticizing Michael Klare:
http://climateprogress.org/2008/04/29/the-end-of-the-world-as-you-know-it-or-not/
BP’s Next Disaster
The oil giant plans to start drilling in the Arctic this fall …
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/17390/120130
Thousands evacuated from flooded homes in Bosnia
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iR8FQ5xqOFbQn42513hsR44ZS4wAD9GH0P2O0