Clean Energy
Drowning Nations: Tuvulu vows to kick fossil energy by 2020
Published July 23, 2009 @ 08:16PM PT
Above: The first major solar system in Tuvalu, atop the stadium roof in the capital, Funafuti, is the first step towards a national goal of being powered entirely by renewable energy sources by 2020. Credit: e8
Tiny archipelago nation Tuvalu, the fourth smallest nation in the world, sits in the middle of the South Pacific. Composed of four coral reef islands and five atolls, most of Tuvalu is less than one meter (three feet) above sea level. Periodic high tides (called king tides) have gotten notably worse in the past decade, causing increasingly destructive flooding. It's confronting the government and its 12,000 citizens with the reality of global warming.
Tuvalu was settled around 3,000 years ago. If global business as usual continues, Tuvaluans might have to abandon their 10 square miles of home well before the end of this century.
So as China, India, the United States and other major emitters of greenhouse gas pollution jockey for position on the road to Copenhagen, Tuvalu has vowed to totally break with fossil energy by 2020.
Well okay: with no heavy industry and almost no natural resources, Tuvalu's carbon footprint is extremely small, both per capita and in absolute terms. But the point is to make a point. "We look forward to the day when our nation offers an example to all," Public Utilities Minister Kausea Natano told the BBC this week, "powered entirely by natural resources such as the sun and the wind."
The government believes it will take around $20 million to convert the entire archipelago to renewable energy.
So far, with the logistical assistance of e8 (a non-profit consortium of utilities from G8 nations) and funding from two Japanese utilities, it's installed a $410,000, 40 kilowatt solar power system on the roof of the country's largest soccer stadium in the capital, Funafuti. In operation for around 14 months, the array is estimated to have cut Tuvalu's consumption of fuel oil (which is shipped in from New Zealand) by about 17,000 litres, and its CO2 emissions by about 50 tons.
The government now aims to bring solar power to Tuvalu's outer islands. Later this year, it's planning to erect an $800,000, 46 kilowatt solar power system for a secondary school on Vaitupu.
"There may be other larger solar power installations in the world, but none could be more meaningful to customers than this one," Takao Shiraishi, general manager of Japan's Kansai Electric Power Company, told reporters.
Said Nick Nuttall, spokesman for the United Nations Environment Programme: "In a sense, they are paving the way for medium and larger economies which have to move if we are going combat climate change."
Related articles:
Tuvalu plots world's first zero carbon output by 2020 (The Telegraph)
At risk from rising seas, Tuvalu seeks clean power (Reuters)
Tuvalu vows to go carbon neutral (BBC News)
Drowning island pins hopes on clean energy (CNN)
Tiny Tuvalu: If we can do it, so can you (Carbon News)
More Jon Stewart on #ACES: "Cap'n Trade" & compromise kryptonite
Published July 22, 2009 @ 11:50AM PT
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
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"Cap'n Trade starts off as a super-strong energy bill until he gets stripped of his powers and becomes a horribly compromised law."
Jon Stewart on #ACES Cap and Trade Bill: Damn, it's boring
Published July 22, 2009 @ 08:49AM PT
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
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Fatalistic Friday: Crumbling Arctic glacier, 43 new coal plants, more
Published July 17, 2009 @ 05:45PM PT
Above: Researcher Alun Hubbard discusses the break up of the ice at the edge of the Petermann glacier, Greenland
Breaking Bad: A 5-billion-metric-ton hunk of ice is "poised" to break away from the largest glacier in the northern hemisphere, say independent scientists working with enviro-advocacy group Greenpeace. The researchers are observing the glacier from the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise.
If and when the Manhattan-sized "tongue" of ice detaches from the Petermann glacier, on Greenland's northwest coast, the mass of land-bound ice behind it may flow downhill and melt more quickly. It's the introduction of this landbound freshwater ice into the world's seas that will likely lead to rises in sea levels.
"Ocean warming currents are circulating around the fjord here and eroding the underbelly of Petermann glacier at an incredible rate, which is 25 times that of the surface melt," Dr Alun Hubbard, a glaciologist at the University Of Wales. (The Sydney Morning Herald, New Scientist)
Coooooooal! A coal plant construction "bubble" will result in 43 new coal plants in the US in the next five years -- and none of them will be regulated by the climate legislation currently being debated in Congress. The 43 are permitted, near construction, or already being built, and thus will fall under the federal designation "progressing projects," and evade caps on their carbon dioxide pollution. "The 43 progressing plants are projected to add four times that generating capacity – 22,236 MW – in the coming five years. Collectively, they will produce more than 150 million tons of new CO2 emissions every year for many decades." (SolveClimate)
Pond Scum of the Earth: Depending on your point of view, it's either great news or awful news that petro-giant ExxonMobil is investing more than half a million dollars in developing biofuel from algae. In a partnership with biotech entrepreneur Craig Ventner's Synthetic Genomics, Exxon will sink $600 million into deriving biofuel from the slimy green stuff. Algae is considered a hot prospect for biofuel development, since no one eats it. (Associated Press)
A View to a Risk: The head of the Nigerian equivalent of FEMA says that the nation is extremely vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Mohammed Audu-Bida "said the climate change had already manifested in the country with sea level rise leading to coastal and marine erosion and flooding, particularly in South- South and South-West, and bleaching of coral reefs along the coastal zone. The NEMA boss warned that with certain percentage of the population living within the coast and most cities concentrated along the coastline, the vulnerability to marine-induced disasters from tidal waves and storm surges would also increase." (This Day online)
The Vanishing:"The song of the skylark is the quintessential sound of an English summer," reports the Daily Mail. "But now, because of global warming, it faces being drowned out - by the chirrup of crickets." Skylark populations in England have dropped by 53%, since 1970. Populations two species of crickets once found only on the Sceptered Isle's southernmost tips have grown sixfold, meanwhile, and extended their range northward. (Daily Mail)
Sink or Swim Sink: Indonesia's Environment Minister says that developing nations like India, Brazil and China will destroy archepelagic nations if they don't agree to binding 2020 targets for cutting heat-trapping greenhouse gas emissions. ""The countries have even been unable to set the target for emission reduction in 2050," said Rachmat Witoelar this past Tuesday. "While these countries are hesitant to take real action, island countries will probably disappear from the world map." (Jakarta Post)
Chu & Locke Challenge, Collaborate With China on Global Warming
Published July 16, 2009 @ 07:53PM PT
Above: US Commerce Secretary Gary Locke (2nd from R) and Secretary of Energy Steven Chu (1st from R) visit the US Futurehouse Zero-Net-Energy Healthy House in Beijing, July 16, 2009. Via China Daily
Energy Secretary Steven Chu and other Obama administration officials have been in China, talking about energy and climate policy with their Chinese counterparts. Judging from the reports, there are some positive signs that the world's two largest greenhouse gas polluters are talking in earnest about joint efforts to cut carbon emissions and conserve energy.
The New York Times reports that Dr. Chu made some public criticisms of China's global warming stance at a Wednesday speech at Tsinghua University, China’s leading science and engineering school. More Chinese would be displaced by rising sea levels due to global warming than anywhere else in the world, he said, and called upon the country to do more to cut its greenhouse gas pollution. And at another presentation, Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke cautioned that “Fifty years from now, we do not want the world to lay the blame for environmental catastrophe at the feet of China.”
Per the Wall Street Journal,
"The developed world did make the problem, I admit that," Mr. Chu said in the speech to students of China's top science and engineering school. "But the developing world can make it much worse."
Clearly this trip won't be the final word in US-China sparring ahead of Decembers climate treaty talks in Copenhagen. As the Journal's Environmental Capital blog notes, "The WSJ headlined its article 'Chu Warns China on Emissions.' China Daily’s headline? 'Steven Chu: U.S. Ready to Lead on Climate Change.'"
Still, announcements coming out of the meeting include a energy research partnership to focus on (per a DOE statement) "building energy efficiency, clean coal including carbon capture and storage, and clean vehicles," and a joint agreement on developing energy efficient homes.
Chu sounded an optimistic note toward the end of the trip, reports Keith Bradsher in The New York Times:
Mr. Chu and Mr. Locke both said on Thursday afternoon that after speaking with senior Chinese officials, they were confident China shared the desire of the United States to address climate change. “We both recognize it’s a long journey,” Mr. Chu said.
He said that China’s broad effort in areas like renewable energy make it more likely that an agreement can be reached in December at the United Nations climate change conference in Copenhagen. The goal of those talks is to negotiate a global treaty to replace the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which imposed no emission limits on China or developing countries. The United States never ratified that accord.
After visiting a power plant that also produces central heat for homes, Mr. Chu said, “I am optimistic of what is going to happen in Copenhagen.”
China Daily's headline: China-US climate teamwork evolving.
Palin's Higher Calling? Fame, Fortune via Global Warming Denial
Published July 14, 2009 @ 02:32PM PT
Does Sarah Palin understand global warming, why it's happening, and how to slow it down? In the wake of her opinion piece in today's edition of The Washington Post, in which she rehashes several false arguments against carbon cap and trade, as well as other parts of the clean energy legislation in front of Congress, we don't really know.
But those aren't the right questions to be asking, really. The real question is how far she will advance her political ambitions on the exhaust of global warming denial.
Naturally, according to Palin, America's energy security and national security will be ensured only if we drill, baby, drill. (It won't.) Charitably, she's displaying her storied grasp of factual information and public policy details. But it's equally likely that Palin's embracing the "cap and tax" crowd for the cynical purpose of walking an easy path to political fame and personal fortune.
(Which isn't to say she shouldn't be debunked. Media Matters has done a fast, good job of clearing the fog from around Palin's op-ed on federal climate and energy legislation, which is chock-full of misinformation. And let's recall that in an interview last summer, Palin did deny the reality of global warming. "A changing environment will affect Alaska more than any other state, because of our location," she said. "I'm not one though who would attribute it to being man-made.")
Give the woman credit: By applying her charisma, sex appeal, and will to power to national energy policy, Palin has made a crafty move. Here's why:
- First of all, she'll bring a surface gloss of expertise to energy security issues; she was governor of oil and gas-stoked Alaska for two and a half years, right? And before that sat on an important state oil and gas board for all of 11 months. It's sufficiently plausible believability to keep her narrow base of conservative supporters in tow. (Although keep in mind that for this crowd, the facts ultimately don't matter, and Palin understands that.)
- This same veneer of energy security acumen may entice a few fellow politicians (who might otherwise opt to keep Sarah Barracuda and her swirl of crazy at arm's length) to use Palin to advance their own anti-climate/clean energy agendas.
- Second, skepticism toward carbon cap-and-trade markets has a ready audience among libertarian and some independent voters, the only arenas where Palin has any potential to expand her base. These voters have been made wary of the House energy and climate legislation (softened up, so to speak) by the flood of disinformation preceding Palin onto the scene.
- Third, Palin -- demonstrably no slouch when it comes to identifying a free meal -- has surely noticed that there's a lot of money to be made in professionally opposing cap and trade, which goes hand in hand with organized global warming denial. ExxonMobil alone gave millions to such groups between 2002 and 2005. Last year, as the UK's Telegraph newspaper reported a couple weeks ago, ExxonMobil gave gave $75,000 to the National Center for Policy Analysis, $50,000 to the Heritage Foundation, and $245,000 to the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research.
Opponents of the Obama administration's plans for expanding clean energy and fighting global warming are probably thrilled to have Sarah Palin's pearly whites smiling in their direction. But the reality-based world can take heart by remembering that Palin's bright light has often overexposed matters she and others hoped would remain in the dark.
So pay attention as Palin embraces energy and climate policy as her "higher calling." Her presence may ultimately prove as helpful to the global warming denialists as it was to the McCain campaign, and her loyalty as true.
Six DIY Inventions for Energy Efficiency
Published July 13, 2009 @ 07:13PM PT
The winners of the Earthjustice/Instructables United States of Efficiency Contest show off elegant, creative and effective solutions to saving energy on a dime.
The winner of MacBook Pro grand prize is How to make a solar iPod/iPhone charger -- aka a MightyMintyBoost. This is like duplex DIY, in that it takes the MintyBoost open-source, make-it-yourself device charger (one of my personal favorite devices), and gives it a solar powered twist.
I do tend to be skeptical of individualistic solutions to the society-wide causes of global warming. But the inventor of this device puts it into a perspective that reminds me how small, multiplied many times over, can be effective as well as beautiful. "Apple has sold over 30 million iPodTouch/iPhone units- imagine charging all of them via solar power," writes instructable.com member Honus (a dedicated maker, judging by the diverse instructables he's created).
If every iPhone/iPodTouch sold was fully charged every day (averaging the battery capacity) via solar power instead of fossil fuel power we would save approximately 50.644gWh of energy, roughly equivalent to 75,965,625 lbs. of CO2 in the atmosphere per year. Granted that's a best case scenario (assuming you can get enough sunlight per day and approximately 1.5 lbs. CO2 produced per kWh used.) Of course, that doesn't even figure in all the other iPods, cell phones, PDAs, microcontrollers (I use it to power my Arduino projects) and other USB devices that can be powered by this charger- one little solar cell charger may not seem like it can make a difference but add all those millions of devices together and that's a lot of energy!
The five first prize winners in the contest:
Solar powered stove using 100% recycled materials: "This is an exercise in recycling and alternative energy use. I used a discarded 62 inch satellite dish and used CD's to create this along with materials that I had laying around. Nothing was purchased for this project."
Kitchen faucet with foot pedal: "Clean water is more valuable than most of us realize. Clean water requires energy, so by conserving water, you're also conserving energy! You can help minimize its waste by installing a foot pedal to control your kitchen sink."
{THE LED LIGHTBULB}: "LED spots are still at an extremely high price, making it cost a fortune to convert over all of your existing fixtures to this technology. But this is instructables, so we can make our own! What we will end up with is one of the most energy efficient light bulbs you have ever had in your midst, made at a ridiculously low cost."
TRULY insulate your loft - and save the planet: "I fixed SF40 SuperFOIL to the underside of my rafters to keep warm, cut bills and save the planet.
Green Solar Powered Water Barrel: "A Green way of using rainwater with the convenience of city water. The attached solar regenerated pump enables you to water plants with pressure, even when the water in the barrels falls low enough that it barely passes the level of the faucet. The sun-warmed water also aids in the growing of plants as it does not shock them."
