Category: Energy

bookmark_borderHope Versus Climate Change

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Global warming is a huge problem; however, we can make it much worse if we keep burning fossil carbon and killing ecosystems.

The hopeful bit is that:

  1. Coal is dead. The US energy information administration confirms coal production is declining across the country. Greenpeace reports that globally “coal is in terminal decline.”
  2. Solar and battery cost and efficiencies already make sense, so much so that utilities must embrace them or die.
  3. Electric cars are coming faster than we imagine.
  4. Nearly 200 countries have signed-on to the Paris Agreement. The aim of the agreement is:
      1. Holding the increase in the global average temperature, recognizing that this would significantly reduce the risks and impacts of climate change;
      2. Increasing the ability to adapt to the adverse impacts of climate change and foster climate resilience and low greenhouse gas emissions development, in a manner that does not threaten food production;
      3. Making finance flows consistent with a pathway towards low greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient development.

    “Countries furthermore aim to reach global peaking of greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible.”

  5. If we do all this and more, we might save East Antarctica (which is another 150-200 feet of sea level rise over Greenland and West Antarctica melt of 30 feet SLR or so. Many species that are probably crucial to our survival could be saved.)

As for hope, it was said in another war, “It is not necessary to hope, in order to persevere.”

By Sidd Mukherjee and Daniel Brouse 2016

The Human Induced Climate Change Experiment

bookmark_borderGlobal Drought

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by Daniel Brouse

EARTH — The world is experiencing one of the worst years of drought ever recorded. The conditions are so bad in India that the state of Bihar has banned daytime cooking. “We call this the fire season in Bihar,” a state-disaster management official said. “Strong, westerly winds stoke fires which spread easily and cause great damage.” So far, the fires have killed 79 people. Over 300 people have died of heat-related illness in the past month. There are armed guards stationed at India’s dams. Al Jazeera reports, “Trains loaded with water are being moved across the country, but farmers’ wells are drying up and drinking water is being rationed. Arriving almost daily, each train brings millions of litres of water to this drought-stricken area. But even this is not enough.”

India is not alone. Africa is also facing severe droughts. SABC News of South Africa reports, “Residents of three major Free State towns – Kroonstad, Steynsrus Viljoenskroon and Bloemfontein – are being slapped with even tighter water restrictions as the area’s main water source is fast running dry. Residents are complaining that the situation is so bad that they cannot use lavatories and that business has been affected. Taps are expected to run empty within a month as the dam is nearing empty level.”

Operation USA released a statement saying, “East Africa is currently experiencing the worst drought to hit the region in 60 years. The UN has officially declared famine in parts of southern Somalia—regions of Lower Shabelle and southern Bakool. It is predicted that the entire south of Somalia will face famine within the next two months. Operation USA is working to assess unmet needs on the ground, with its initial response focusing on water resource needs in Kenya’s Dadaab refugee camps. The Dadaab camps–the largest in the world–are reported to receive as many as 1,300 refugees a day, the majority fleeing war-torn Somalia. These camps house almost 400,000 displaced people in three camps originally designated for 90,000.

Other countries in the Horn of Africa are being severely affected by drought. Successive seasons of failed rains—combined with increasing food prices, conflict and limited humanitarian access—have resulted in food and water shortages, acute malnutrition and mass displacement throughout the region. The lack of rain has also contributed to massive livestock deaths undermining the livelihoods of those who depend on them for economic and food security. Estimates are that there are at least 1.5 million displaced people—and 10 million people in need of immediate food assistance as a result of this crisis.”

China has been impacted by drought, as well. CCTV News states, “Southern China is facing the worst drought in a century. By March 16th, nearly 6.5 million hectares of farmland had been affected, and more than 20 million people faced drinking water shortages.”

Closer to home, the U.S. is facing the longterm consequences of drought. US News and World Report states, ‘”The Gold Rush State has sunk more than 45 feet since 1935 – something the U.S. government calls the “largest human alteration of the earth’s surface.” But earthquakes aren’t the cause. It’s happening because of excessive groundwater mining brought on by drought, and geologists say all the rain in the world won’t reverse cave-ins of dirt and rock in underground aquifers. “‘

“We’ve not seen anything like this in recent history,” says University of California professor Jay Lund. “The last time we saw this was in the ’20s and ’30s when we had the Dust Bowl.”

The government agency NIDIS (drought.gov) reports, “The global monthly high temperature record has been broken for the eleventh consecutive month. According to NOAA, March 2016 was 2.20 degree Celsius warmer than the average March temperature and was the highest departure of any month in the record which begins in January 1880. In Europe, drought conditions remain intense around the Mediterranean Sea while interior and northern Europe is wetter than last month. In Asia, drought expanded in and around the central and western Indian sub-continent, as well as intensifying in the West. In India, sugar production is expected to fall 5-7% while in Thailand, rice production is expected to rise 11% in the coming year with the easing of the drought there. In Africa, short-term drought remains strong in the North and the South and has intensified around the equator. In Somalia, 40% of the population of the North is suffering from drought and need emergency aid. In South Africa, an anticipated reduction in the 2016 fruit crop may have an impact on global shipping companies. In North America, drought remains entrenched in the higher latitudes, and is expanding in Mexico. Western US snowpack is near-average, the best conditions since 2011. In South America, drought remains in the northern part of the continent, despite some slight easing, while the South saw much-needed rain again this month. Venezuela, the capital of Caracas could soon begin to experience rolling blackouts as the Guri Dam, which supplies much of its’ power, is approaching critically low water levels. In Oceania, drought eased slightly in Southern Australia while remaining firmly entrenched in the islands to the north. Australian is anticipating a rebound in wheat, cotton, and milk production with the waning of El Nino.”

Global Drought
Global Drought

bookmark_borderSea Level Warning

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A new study, written by James Hansen (NASA’s former lead climate scientist) and 16 co-authors, concludes that glaciers in Greenland and Antarctica will melt 10 times faster than previous estimates. The result could be a sea level rise of at least 10 feet in the next 50 years. Hanson said the new findings would be “substantially more persuasive than anything previously published.”

“We conclude that continued high emissions will make multi-meter sea level rise practically unavoidable and likely to occur this century. Social disruption and economic consequences of such large sea level rise could be devastating. It is not difficult to imagine that conflicts arising from forced migrations and economic collapse might make the planet ungovernable, threatening the fabric of civilization.”

bookmark_borderEPA: Climate Change Report

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WASHINGTON –The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today released one of the most comprehensive analyses to date on the economic, health and environmental benefits to the United States of global climate action. The peer-reviewed report, “Climate Change in the United States: Benefits of Global Action,” examines how future impacts and damages of climate change across a number of sectors in the United States can be avoided or reduced with global action. The report compares two future scenarios: a future with significant global action on climate change, where global warming has been limited to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit), and a future with no action on climate change (where global temperatures rise 9 degrees Fahrenheit). The report then quantifies the differences in health, infrastructure and ecosystem impacts under the two scenarios, producing estimates of the costs of inaction and the benefits of reducing global GHG emissions.

“Will the United States benefit from climate action? Absolutely. This report shows us how costly inaction will be to Americans’ health, our environment and our society. But more importantly, it helps us understand the magnitude of benefits to a number of sectors of the U.S. with global climate action,” said EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy. “We can save tens of thousands of American lives, and hundreds of billions of dollars, annually in the United States by the end of this century, but the sooner we act, the better off America and future generations of Americans will be.”

The report examines how the impacts and damages of climate change across a number of sectors in the United States can be avoided with global action. The findings include:

• Global action on climate change reduces the frequency of extreme weather events and associated impacts. For example, by 2100 global action on climate change is projected to avoid an estimated 12,000 deaths annually associated with extreme temperatures in 49 U.S. cities, compared to a future with no reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. This is more than a 90 percent reduction from what we would expect with no action.

• Global action now leads to greater benefits over time. The decisions we make today will have long-term effects, and future generations will either benefit from, or be burdened by, our current actions. Compared to a future with unchecked climate change, climate action is projected to avoid approximately 13,000 deaths in 2050 and 57,000 deaths annually in 2100 from poor air quality. Delaying action on emissions reductions will likely reduce these and other benefits.

• Global action on climate change avoids costly damages in the United States. For nearly all of the 20 sectors studied, global action on climate change significantly reduces the economic damages of climate change. For example, without climate action, we estimated up to $10 billion in increased road maintenance costs each year by the end of the century. With action, we can avoid up to $7 billion of these damages.

• Climate change impacts are not equally distributed. Some regions of the United States are more vulnerable than others and will bear greater impacts. For example, without action on climate change, California is projected to face increasing risk of drought, the Rocky Mountain region will see significant increases in wildfires, and the mid-Atlantic and Southeast are projected to experience infrastructure damage from extreme temperatures, heavy rainfall, sea level rise, and storm surge.

• Adaptation can reduce damages and costs. For some sectors, adaptation can substantially reduce the impacts of climate change. For example, in a future without greenhouse gas reductions, estimated damages from sea-level rise and storm surge to coastal property in the lower 48 states are $5.0 trillion dollars through 2100. With adaptation along the coast, the estimated damages and adaptation costs are reduced to $810 billion.

The report is a product of the Climate Change Impacts and Risks Analysis (CIRA) project, led by EPA in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Pacific Northwest National Lab, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and other partners. The CIRA project is one of the first efforts to quantify the benefits of global action on climate change across a large number of U.S. sectors using a common analytic framework and consistent underlying data inputs. The project spans 20 U.S. sectors related to health, infrastructure, electricity, water resources, agriculture and forestry, and ecosystems.

bookmark_borderGeneral Fusion

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by Daniel Brouse

Nuclear fusion may be the only energy source that can save humankind from climate change. General Fusion is a British Columbia company that is working on an unlimited supply of green energy.  “Fusion powers the sun, and harnessing fusion here on earth would transform the world’s energy supply.  Fusion fuel is abundant and fusion is clean, resulting in no pollution or greenhouse gas emissions. Fusion is also safe: the process cannot runaway and produces no long-lived radioactive waste.”

General Fusion’s Magnetized Target Fusion system uses a sphere, filled with molten lead-lithium that is pumped to form a vortex.  On each pulse, magnetically-confined plasma is injected into the vortex. Around the sphere, an array of pistons impact and drive a pressure wave into the center of the sphere, compressing the plasma to fusion conditions.

Lockheed Martin is also working on developing a fusion reactor.

bookmark_borderGreenhouse Gas Levels at Highest Point in 800,000 Years

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The Membrane Domain has been conducting research on climate change since 1999.

Don’t you hate it when this happens? The ABC, Australia’s public broadcaster, is reporting: The world’s top scientists have given their clearest warning yet of the severe and irreversible impacts of climate change.

The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has released its synthesis report, a summary of its last three reports.

It warns greenhouse gas levels are at their highest they have been in 800,000 years, with recent increases mostly due to the burning of fossil fuels.

“Continued emission of greenhouse gases will cause further warming and long-lasting changes in all components of the climate system, increasing the likelihood of severe, pervasive and irreversible impacts for people and ecosystems,” the report said.

“Limiting climate change would require substantial and sustained reductions in greenhouse gas emissions which, together with adaptation, can limit climate change risks.”

IPCC chairman Rajendra Pachauri said the comprehensive report brings together “all the pieces of the puzzle” in climate research and predictions.

“It’s not discrete, and [highlights] distinct elements of climate change that people have to deal with, but [also] how you might be able to deal with this problem on a comprehensive basis by understanding how these pieces of the puzzle actually come together,” Dr Pachauri said.

The report reiterates that the planet is unequivocally warming, that burning fossil fuels is significantly increasing greenhouse gas emissions and the effects of climate change – like sea level rises – are already being felt.

It also said most of the world’s electricity should be produced from low carbon sources by 2050 and that fossil fuel burning for power should be virtually stopped by the end of the century.

Last month Prime Minister Tony Abbott said coal is “good for humanity” and will be the “world’s main energy source for decades to come” as he opened a new mine in central Queensland.

IPCC vice-chair Jean-Pascale van Ypersele said while Mr Abbott was correct to point out the world could not end its reliance on fossil fuels for energy immediately, change was necessary.

“The continued usage of fossil fuel could damage not only the environment but more substantially even the habitability of the planet and could erode the possibility to keep this planet habitable,” he said.

“He’s right, but the IPCC is right as well, and this is why climate negotiations, where the different bits of information including about the importance of energy in development, need to be taken into account and that’s also why the climate negotiations are so difficult.

“Energy is important for development but clean energy is important for protecting [the] climate.”

Environment Minister Greg Hunt said the Government’s Emissions Reduction Fund – part of its Direct Action climate change policy which passed the Senate last week – will ensure power stations are cleaner.

“The work that the CSIRO is doing is looking at a 30 to potentially 50 per cent reduction in the footprint of coal fired power stations,” he said.

“The world needs to ensure there’s electricity for those that are trying to work their way out of poverty, that’s been the great goal and dream of humanity for centuries.”

Dr Pachauri said in several respects Australia was “very vulnerable to the impacts of climate change”.

“It also has the means by which you can implement several measures,” he said.

“I’ve always admired the amount of work that Australia has done in the field of solar energy, I hope that will be built on because that will have major benefits for society across the globe.”

Australian expert says warming of climate system ‘unequivocal’

Australian oceans expert John Church was in Copenhagen to negotiate the final wording of the report.

Dr Church was the coordinating lead author of the sea levels chapter and said warming of the climate system is “unequivocal”.

“There’s many components – increasing surface temperature, melting glaciers, increasing ocean heat content, ice sheets losing mass, sea level rising,” he said.

“It’s very clear that there’s a human component that’s contributed significantly to that with rising impacts across many regions.”

The document will be an invaluable summary for climate negotiations for emission reduction targets post-2020.

Mr Hunt said increasing ocean acidification also has him concerned.

“All up the best advice that I have is that we’ve seen a 25 per cent increase in acidity over the last 250-odd years,” he said.

“We don’t know what impact these changes will have. We do know that the impact on marine animals with shells is significant, it could have a long-term impact and for me this is one of the most powerful findings of the report.”

bookmark_borderTurning Water Into Electricity

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It is possible to turn water into electricity. Solar energy is one of the cleanest and cheapest ways to convert liquid H2O into steam. The energy in steam is 9 times greater than the energy in the same weight of boiling water. The math suggests that each gallon of evaporated water is equal to running a typical air conditioner for 1 hour:

THE FORMULAS
L = latent heat of evaporation / unit Volume
Q = heat removed
Q = VL
L = 8,094 BTU / gallon

notes:
1 BTU = 1055 Joules
1 BTU heats 1 pound of water by 1 degree F
Lfusion = 80 calories (to freeze water)
Levaporation = 536 calories
1 calorie = 4.2 joules
1 calorie raises the temperature of 1 gm (or cc) of water by 1 degree C
1 US gallon = 3.8 liters = 3800 cc

PROOF
The theory was proven by recycling rain water and household grey water over the roof of a house through drip hoses. On a typical summer day, 40 gallons of water were evaporated. That is the equivalent to running 2 air conditioning units for 20 hours.

More About the Experiment and the Waterfall House

PICTURES AND VIDEOS

bookmark_borderThe Costs of Solar Energy

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A lot of the environmental costs of solar depend on how the panels and batteries are produced, transported and disposed of… and most importantly how the energy is stored. As renewable energy grows, storage will become a greater problem. In general, we would be better off producing energy like the sun (fusion) than trying to capture the sun’s energy. http://news.stanford.edu/…/store-electric-grid-030513.html

The fossil fuel required to build grid-scale batteries…
  • Fusion does not produce any toxic waste, either — http://news.yahoo.com/solar-industry-grapples-hazardous…

    SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Homeowners on the hunt…
    news.yahoo.com|By JASON DEAREN
  • One of my main concerns with solar is the cost to the environment if they are not put on already existing impervious surfaces. Solar panel farms have many negative impacts on plants and wildlife, not to mention, robbing the Earth’s surface of the energy being harvested by the panels.

Other than fusion, the only other method to create clean energy has to do with solar and turning water into electricity — The Economics of Turning Water into Electricity.

bookmark_borderHeading Toward Hottest Year On Record

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The The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released a report showing “Global temperature reaches record high in September”.

Global Highlights

  • The combined average temperature over global land and ocean surfaces for September 2014 was the highest on record for September, at 0.72°C (1.30°F) above the 20th century average of 15.0°C (59.0°F).
  • The global land surface temperature was 0.89°C (1.60°F) above the 20th century average of 12.0°C (53.6°F), the sixth highest for September on record. For the ocean, the September global sea surface temperature was 0.66°C (1.19°F) above the 20th century average of 16.2°C (61.1°F), the highest on record for September and also the highest on record for any month.
  • The combined global land and ocean average surface temperature for the January–September period (year-to-date) was 0.68°C (1.22°F) above the 20th century average of 14.1°C (57.5°F), tying with 1998 as the warmest such period on record.

bookmark_borderNuclear Fusion

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Nuclear fusion offers the most hope at rectifying human induced climate change. Nuclear fusion is how the sun works.

In a press release, Lockheed Martin states a breakthrough:

The Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] Skunk Works® team is working on a new compact fusion reactor (CFR) that can be developed and deployed in as little as ten years. Currently, there are several patents pending that cover their approach.

While fusion itself is not new, the Skunk Works has built on more than 60 years of fusion research and investment to develop an approach that offers a significant reduction in size compared to mainstream efforts.

“Our compact fusion concept combines several alternative magnetic confinement approaches, taking the best parts of each, and offers a 90 percent size reduction over previous concepts,” said Tom McGuire, compact fusion lead for the Skunk Works’ Revolutionary Technology Programs. “The smaller size will allow us to design, build and test the CFR in less than a year.”

After completing several of these design-build-test cycles, the team anticipates being able to produce a prototype in five years. As they gain confidence and progress technically with each experiment, they will also be searching for partners to help further the technology.

Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 113,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The Corporation’s net sales for 2013 were $45.4 billion.

“We can make a big difference on the energy front,” lead researcher McGuire said, noting Lockheed’s 60 years of research on nuclear fusion as a potential energy source that is safer and more efficient than current reactors based on nuclear fission.

Nuclear Fusion
Nuclear Fusion