Climate Climate & Energy
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So how much do renewables cost anyway?
One of the attractions of renewable energy is that for most renewable generators (except biomass power plants) the cost of the fuel is free. However, even more so than with a conventional power plant, much of the expense of a renewable generator is concentrated at the beginning of the power plant’s life. The cost of […]
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Old-growth forests absorb more CO2 than they release, study finds
Most of the world’s old-growth forests actively absorb more carbon dioxide than they release into the atmosphere, making them effective carbon sinks, according to a new study in the journal Nature. The new research, which relies on data from over 500 forests around the world, refutes the commonly held assertion that old-growth forests are merely […]
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Greenpeace protesters acquitted in coal-activism case
In a decision that anti-coal activists say is a gamechanger, six Greenpeace protesters have been acquitted of nearly $53,000 in criminal-damage charges for painting “Gordon” on a British coal plant. The activists climbed a 650-foot coal-plant chimney last year with the intent to paint “Gordon bin it” in huge letters, aiming to pressure Prime Minister […]
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NYT critiques alien biology
Last year, I posted an argument that not all alien species are bad, based on a study of the invasive aquatic plant Hydrilla; I got pretty bloodied, not only because it’s an unpopular notion in enviro circles, but also because of my clumsy presentation and defense of the idea. Yesterday’s New York Times ran a […]
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Coal vs. wind showdown in West Virginia today
Back in August, Kate brought you the story of Coal River Mountain, one of the last intact mountains in West Virginia’s Coal River Valley. WV activists want to site a wind farm on the mountain (see Coal River Wind); Massey Energy wants to blow the top off and mine coal out of it. Massey wants […]
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White roofs could help keep climate change at bay
This whole climate-change debacle could be significantly slowed down if the world’s 100 largest cities thing installed white roofs and more-reflective pavement, says a new study to be published in the journal Climatic Change. It may sound like greenwhitewashing, but physicist Hashem Akbari crunches the numbers: By bouncing heat away from the Earth, a 1,000-square-foot […]
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Lovins predicts the coming oil price crash won’t be like the last one
The world can always use another profile of Amory Lovins — here’s one in The Economist. (Check out the nuke boosters in comments — man, those guys are like spurned lovers. Let it go already.) My skepticism about Lovins’ rosy predictions is captured here: Fine, but what about the specific criticism that any coming oil-price […]
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Energy efficiency, part 5: ‘The highest documented rate of return of any federal program’
I was at the U.S. Department of Energy when the Gingrich gang took over and tried to shut down all of DOE’s applied energy research, claiming it was a waste of taxpayer money. I helped organize a major report documenting the large return to the U.S. taxpayers of federal spending on energy efficiency (and other […]
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Arctic shrinks by one Alaska and three Arizonas in August
Another week, another record in Arctic ice-loss announced by the National Snow and Ice Data Center: Following a record rate of ice loss through the month of August, Arctic sea ice extent already stands as the second-lowest on record, further reinforcing conclusions that the Arctic sea ice cover is in a long-term state of decline. […]
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NYT editors confused about Arctic warming
Here’s the absurd headline for the online version of Revkin’s New York Times story about how “a ring of navigable waters has opened all around the fringes of the cap of sea ice drifting on the warming Arctic Ocean”: Arctic Ice Hints at Warming, Specialists Say Hints? How about “shouts from the rafters.” After seeing […]
