Climate Climate & Energy

It’s coming soon

Technology Review has an article on thin-film solar, mostly focusing on First Solar. This stuff is very, very close to competitive with conventional solar panels and on a clear path to being competitive with traditional fossil-based electricity sources. It’s an exciting time. Speaking of solar excitement: A team at the Univ. of Delaware has just […]

His new piece says so in downright shrill terms

Jeff Goodell (see Grist interview) is apparently incapable of writing anything I don’t love. The latest is a piece in Rolling Stone called "Ethanol Scam." It’s downright shrill! Here’s what Goodell has to say about the ethanol hype: This is not just hype — it’s dangerous, delusional bullshit. Ethanol doesn’t burn cleaner than gasoline, nor […]

Should we be surprised?

This post was written by Kari, the ClimateProgress assistant.

A year and a half overdue, the Bush Administration finally submitted its Climate Action Report -- 2006 (CAR) last Friday afternoon, with hardly any mention by government officials of the report or its shameful findings (like a 15.8 percent increase in U.S. emissions since 1990).

While the mainstream media has been either silent or blind to the report's release, major kudos are due to the blogosphere. The few adept, new media journalists to blog on the report include Kevin Grandia from DeSmogBlog and Rick Piltz at Climate Science Watch.

Stupid on smart meters

Southern California Edison wants to distribute smart meters to its customers. That’s a great idea. Consumer group Utility Reform Network is fighting it. That is, as Kevin says, immeasurably stupid. Argh.

No surprises here, please

The electricity grid doesn't like surprises. Sudden voltage spikes or sags do not a healthy grid make. So proponents of large-scale solar and wind are working to create tools to smooth over volatility issues, so these generating resources can be integrated seamlessly onto the grid. If we're going to be in a position to rely on more solar and wind power and use these to replace significant amounts of power generated from coal, the grid planning and dispatch issues must be addressed.

Which brings us to yesterday's announcement by Tucson Electric Power (TEP) that they have received a $100,000 federal grant to study the problem as it relates specifically to solar power. Under the grant, they will "evaluate how effectively solar energy systems can replace traditional utility generating resources."

TEP will also evaluate "the true costs and benefits" of the almost 400 photovoltaic (PV) systems their customers have already installed in their service area through their SunShare program.

Read more here: "TEP Wins Federal Grant to Evaluate Solar Energy Systems."

Having survived Biosphere, she’s ready to enter the offset debate

A summary overview / intro to offsets by a woman who was one of the Biospherians.

They might be coming sooner than you think

From a NASA's Earth Observatory:

Hurricanes need two basic ingredients to develop: warm, moist air and a relatively calm atmosphere. Late summer over the Atlantic Ocean provides both things. Ocean waters above about 27 degrees Celsius (80 Fahrenheit) give rise to the warm, moist air that fuels tropical storms, and winds that could tear a storm apart are light during the summer. Typically, the Atlantic is primed for hurricanes by early August, and the height of the hurricane season comes in September, though the official hurricane season runs from June 1 through November 30.

They have a great figure showing that the Gulf of Mexico is now warm and hurricane-ready. Get ready. It might be an interesting August.

Wrong

From here:

Umbra on wave power

Hello Umbra, I just read a little bit about wave power and was wondering what you think the future potential is for this clean and never-ending energy source? Peter Blomquist Orlando, Fla. Dearest Peter, Wow. I’m a sucker for anything with a good name, like “LIMPET.” There are fun technologies under development to harness the […]

It’s not a ‘sustainable’ biofuel

So Europeans are buying Indonesian palm oil as a "sustainable" biofuel, but it isn't sustainable, as we've noted before. The tragedy continues:

Palm oil companies are burning peat forests to clear land for plantations in Indonesia's Riau province, despite government pledges to end forest fires ... Blazes have started flaring again since the end of June with the start of the dry season.

How a big deal is this? As The New York Times put it earlier this year, "Considering these emissions, Indonesia had quickly become the world's third-leading producer of carbon emissions that scientists believe are responsible for global warming." [Note to NYT: you can drop the "scientists believe" crap. Carbon emissions cause global warming -- deal with it, MSM!]

The emissions from the 1997 fires alone are staggering, as Nature reported in 2002 (sub. req'd):