Climate Climate & Energy
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Why smoggy skies over Beijing represent the world’s greatest environmental opportunity
The Atlantic Monthly‘s James Fallows, now living in China, has written a glass-is-half-full (air-is-half-breathable?) article, “China’s Silver Lining.” While I think he is a bit soft on China from a climate perspective, I think it is well worth reading because Fallows is terrific and thorough writer. And you have to like any story on energy […]
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Virginia refuses to compel AEP’s customers to share in new coal plant’s construction costs
From Energy Central comes this gem of double speak from AEP Chairman Michael Morris, who, as the article notes … … has staked AEP’s plans for future generating capacity on Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle or IGCC technology. Morris’ concern is that coal isn’t sufficiently loved. Why? Because regulators need more lobbying education” “Collectively we have […]
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A three-pronged approach to getting off oil for transportation
This is the third in a series on how we can build an energy future based on our best science and no longer critically dependent upon exhaustible and polluting fossil fuels. Getting off oil: a three-pronged approach Oil is not “evil,” it’s an undervalued resource that has been squandered on tasks that could be much […]
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Science: Extreme rains supercharged by warming
Science has just published, “Atmospheric Warming and the Amplification of Precipitation Extremes” ($ub. req’d). It concludes: Here, we use satellite observations and model simulations to examine the response of tropical precipitation events to naturally driven changes in surface temperature and atmospheric moisture content.These observations reveal a distinct link between rainfall extremes and temperature, with heavy […]
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How much of a subsidy is the Price-Anderson Nuclear Industry Indemnity Act?
The answer is perhaps as high as a hundred billion dollars. First some background. I testified in front of the Senate Environment and Public Works committee in July. In my testimony, “The High Cost of Nuclear Power,” I pointed out the obvious — that nuclear is a mature source of power that has benefited disproportionately […]
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Shipments of geothermal heat pumps grew 33 percent in 2006
Baseload geothermal power gets all the attention because it has such enormous potential for delivering low-carbon 24/7 power. But geothermal heat pumps (GHPs) are every bit as deserving of attention because they are the most energy efficient form of heating and cooling a building over much of this country [click on figure at right to […]
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Nuclear storage spending at Yucca jumps 38 percent to $96 billion
New nuclear power plants aren’t cheap. Neither is storing their waste. E&E News ($ub. req’d) reports on at Yucca Mountain: DOE has spent $13.5 billion since 1983, and figures to spend $54.8 billion on construction, operation and decommissioning of the repository; $19.5 billion for transporting the waste — including building the canisters for holding waste; […]
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Climate change will increase extreme rainfall, says study
Photo: Ali Nishan Climate change will likely lead to more powerful rainstorms, says a new study published in Science. Computer models may “substantially” underestimate the number of heavy rainfalls that will occur in a warming world, say scientists who researched naturally occurring weather events during El Niño patterns between 1987 and 2004. “A warmer atmosphere […]
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Coal electricity prices: the new gas prices
In the next few years, Americans who have grown accustomed to some of the cheapest power in the world will start to see their rates rise, sharply, mainly because coal is rapidly getting more expensive. Here’s a preview: COLUMBUS, Ohio — American Electric Power said Thursday it must raise electricity rates 45 percent for its […]
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Aussies should fight climate change by eating kangaroo, says study
Australians who want to make a dent in climate change just need to eat more kangaroo, says a new study in the journal Conservation Letters. The methane-producing burps and farts of sheep and cattle contribute 11 percent of Australia’s annual greenhouse-gas emissions. Kangaroos, however, emit little methane. Researchers say that 175 million kangaroos could produce […]
