Climate Climate & Energy

Stick It Where the Sun Do Shine

Groovy new battery could change the way energy is stored A type of battery created by Ford Motor Co. in the 1960s for use in electric cars could help utilities around the world. Sodium-sulfur batteries provide efficient energy storage, and could reduce the need for new transmission lines, substations, and power plants. The new generation […]

Also, Could You Paint Tom Sawyer’s Fence?

South Korea ships oil to North Korea in nuke-shutdown deal South Korea will ship oil to North Korea next week as part of a six-nation agreement reached in February that trades energy aid for a shutdown of the North’s main nuclear facility. Funny story, though: North Korea hasn’t shut down the reactor. But it totally […]

Emphasis on the ‘rare’

Trees are terrific in every way but one: they make lousy carbon offsets. That was the point of the "First rule of carbon offsets." But a number of comments and some media queries have led me include two rare exceptions: certified urban trees and certified tropical forest preservation. The word "certified" is key in both cases.

For these two rare cases, I would allow trees to comprise no more than 10 percent of an overall offset portfolio (which should be heavily weighted toward efficiency, renewables, fuel switching, and perhaps carbon capture and storage). Also, their offset value should probably be discounted over time (because urban trees are unlikely to be permanent and tropical forest accounting is quite uncertain).

Energy 101

The Oil Drum has an excellent post that provides a neat framework, and then a huge series of links to specific stories that fit into the framework. The subject is energy.

Nicely done, TOD.

Predicts rabbit out of hat in three years, too

Here's a film clip of Al Gore making a firm prediction that "next generation ethanol" not dependent on corn or food crops will move out of the lab in "three years."

He discusses the energy balance question, fails to question the use of coal for process heat, and suggests that there is some sort of "distribution network" that's going to be built.

Sad.

Some good news and some bad news

First up is an interview with Jack Ewing, owner of an eco-lodge in Costa Rica. I must admit that writing checks to conservation organizations is about as pleasurable as a trip to the dentist. Spending a week in a place like Hacienda Barú also supports conservation and is a hell of a lot more fun. I managed to photograph about half of the wildlife I saw while staying less than a week in Costa Rica. Best vacation I've ever had. I might put the video (much more interesting than photos) on YouTube one of these days.

After reading that upbeat article, grit your teeth and click on the one about the eminent extinction of the orangutan and understand that palm biodiesel will play a large role in it.

An oil exec gets the diagnosis right

One hesitates to agree with the CEO of a major oil company, but … I can’t really figure where Jeroen van der Veer, head of Royal Dutch Shell, is wrong in all this. He says: Energy demand is growing, and is likely to double by 2050. Oil and gas are going to become more difficult […]

A guest column from K.C. Golden

This is a guest column from KC Golden, Policy Director for Climate Solutions, a Northwest-based nonprofit focused on tackling global warming (though not yet tackling its own website’s frames-based layout, which was awful in 1998 and still is … but I digress). It originally ran in Methow Valley News. —– These are the early days […]

Coal exec whines about regulations on his ability to destroy the earth and his workers

This is not helping me keep my blood pressure down. Poor, poor coal executive feels persecuted: A senior coal company executive on Wednesday lambasted U.S. lawmakers for proposing caps on emissions blamed for global warming, saying the Democrats were out to destroy America’s coal industry. Robert Murray, chairman, president and chief executive of Murray Energy […]

California is no longer leading the pack on wind energy

Last year, California suffered the ultimate indignity in its quest to be the “greenest state.” It was passed by red Texas — the oil heartland — for the title of state with the most wind-power generating capacity. The numbers get even more depressing. Last year, California’s wind capacity grew at a slower rate than any […]