November 28th, 2017 · Comments Off on A clear-eyed look at Gov. McAuliffe’s climate record …
Recently, Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe has been making some news when it comes to climate change.
When climate-science denier Donald Trump declared his intention to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Climate Accord, Gov. McAuliffe stepped up to declare that Virginia would act to address climate change at the state level.
Following an executive order earlier this year to examine what it would take for Virginia to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), the report came back with a path to join RGGI via Executive action, which Governor McAuliffe has initiated.
Various press appearances and other statements highlighting advances in Virginia clean energy (e.g., deployed solar and the prospects for a two-turbine offshore wind demonstration project).
McAuliffe’s actions, like those noted above, merit praise for moving the ball forward in Virginia in the facing of mounting climate risks on the one hand and, on the other hand, improving clean-energy and energy efficiency economics.
Joining RGGI, in particular, creates real opportunity for Virginia. As a relatively polluting state compared to the existing RGGI pool, Virginia could:
Potentially draw in financial resources from other states to accelerate energy efficiency and clean energy across the Commonwealth.
See improved economic competitiveness with a cleaner, more efficient, and more reliable energy sector, along with increased attractiveness to clean energy/climate-leading businesses and people.
In sum – thank you Governor McAuliffe for taking steps that should see Virginia become an RGGI member under Governor Ralph Northam.
Of course, a healthy relationship is also an honest one, and an honest, clear-eyed assessment of Terry McAuliffe’s climate change record is, unfortunately, far from rosy.
November 27th, 2017 · Comments Off on Energy Bookshelf: the potato famine has a myriad of lessons for our 21st century (climate) challenges
We sometimes talk about the end of nature or treats to nature.
But nature, though it includes trembling subtleties, can be a son of a bitch. [p 238]
Humanity’s history is inextricably that of mankind’s relationship to the natural world and exploitation of nature for nourishment. And, with the explosion of human population over the past several hundred years, that relationship has both grown more complex in many ways and more remote from people (in developed nations) as fewer and fewer people are involved in agriculture.
Rob Dunn‘s Never Out of Season provides a compelling window on that complex relationship, with a powerful call for enhanced support for those who study plants (and threats to plants/agriculture) to help assure humanity’s ability to feed itself in the decades and centuries to come. Critical issues include:
How a focus on maximizing productivity has fostered monocultures that create increased risk of catastrophic collapse.
That seed, disease, and insect ‘banks’ are critical to reducing risks of catastrophic collapse and maintaining tools to deal with a changing world —
from parasites attacking monocultures to human-driven climate change creating radically different growing environment.
Basic investments — from human capital to physical infrastructure to basic science — in these ‘banks’ are inadequate and, in fact, dwindling.
That, in fact, humanity needs expanded efforts:
from focus on an ecosystem (rather than stove-piped) understanding of (potential) crops (e.g., the plants, soils, insects, parasites, propagation, and other elements rather than simply the plant isolated in a greenhouse)
to building on/expanding the best of US land grant college relationships with agricultural extension agents in to a global (rather localized) set of relationships
to developing programs and tools to engage ever greater portions of humanity in collaborative efforts (such as Plant Village.org) to better understand and share knowledge about agricultural (eco)systems.
the most dramatic change in 2016 came from coal emissions, which fell by 50% compared to a year earlier to around 37 million tonnes of CO2 (MtCO2). A decade earlier, in 2006, UK coal emissions stood at 137MtCO2.
The 2016 record low coal use levels followed 2015’s record low coal use followed 2014’s record coal use. Coal is now 75% below 2006 levels and 1/12the peak 1956 usage level. There is no one (except perhaps coal-promoters in the Trump White House) who have any expectation of a turn-around in this path forward as the United Kingdom accelerates its move beyond coal.
UK Carbon Emissions in 2016 Were Lowest Since 1894, After Coal Use Fell 74% In Just a Decade.
The United Kingdom soon will fall to half its peak (1970) emission levels primarily because of coal’s decline. Coal is being drven from the market by:
Cheap natural gas
Renewables
Energy efficiency
Closure of a steel plant
Even with all these, the key driver that will maintain the accelerated pace is the United Kingdom’s imposition of a reasonable (even if below actual externalities/social cost of carbon) price imposed on carbon that “doubled in 2015 to £18 per tonne of CO2.”
A simple economic reality globally … coal is not coming back.
Sadly, the Trump Administration is governed by #alternativefacts dystopian ideology, rather than reality, and conceives of a coal renaissance. Thus, while the United Kingdom drives down emissions by moving @BeyondCoal, #PollutingPruitt, Rick Perry, and the rest of the fossil-foolish GOP seek to hurt the U.S. by reviving a less efficient and more polluting 19th century coal economy.
November 25th, 2017 · Comments Off on Electric ship: powered by and carrying coal (scratching head)
Shipping is highly polluting — burning pretty much the dirtiest liquid fuels with limited (to no) pollution controls, shipping pollution is extreme. A variety of measures are occurring, worldwide, to tackle this — from global agreements on shipping to nations creating regulations as to pollution in their coastal waters and ports, to the introduction of new technologies. One of those technologies, with limited but growing applicability, is electrification.
Construction of first fully-electric cargo ship (http://www.chinanews.com/cj/2017/11-12/8374429.shtml)
One of the key energy paths for mitigating climate change is electrification — moving as much economic activity, as possible, from fossil fuels to electricity (whether heating, industry, and/or transportation) while cleaning up the electricity supply.
While intriguing as a step forward toward a more energy-efficient and lower-polluting future, the particular situation does set one ill at ease:
While wind and solar are booming, with nuclear also expanding, dirty electricity remains the predominant reality across the PRC.
Thus, while using an an electric ship using coal-fired electricity to move coal might (MIGHT) represent some small incremental pollution improvement over the burning of bunker fuel, it is hard to see its current use as exemplifying desired “harmony between humans and nature”.
For the first time in history, green energy is now cheaper than black energy. The world now has a unique opportunity to create a world that runs entirely on green energy.
People think it is important to move to a world powered by clean-energy technology
and this support is true across educational levels, age groups, and ideological self-identification.
People love clean energy
and every country has vast majorities in favor of wind and solar.
People are seriously concerned about climate change
and rank it #2 (mistakenly behind terrorism) in terms of global security risks.
People support clean energy for many reasons
and want their nation leading (key: for nationalistic pride more than ecological or economic reasons).
People want government to be in the lead
and view it as necessity for energy companies to go/lead on clean energy.
People hate coal
and want it gone as fast as possible..
People in China are pretty much the strongest on all the above points
and thus demonstrate strong public support for the Chinese government’s massive investments to secure the leading role in the clean-energy revolution (and the associated economic benefits).
In the United States, the Federal Government is simply the opposite of what the public wants when it comes to clean-energy leadership. From Donald Trump on down, the climate-science denying, anti-clean energy investment pro-coal attitudes and objectives are at odds with global attitudes, necessities, and economic opportunities. This clearly seems to be one of those reasons why, when it comes to both US and international publics, Trump and coal are seen in much the same way:
Large majorities understand that they are both polluting the commons and damaging to humanity’s future prospects;
Large majorities hate them; and,
Large majorities (globally AND in the United States) want both gone from the scene …
as soon as possible.
Trump, however, was not the focus of Orsted’s polling and analysis — that is on public attitudes toward clean energy transformation. There is much of interest in this 26,000, multi-national poll. On first blush, there are two elements that seem somewhat surprising and revealing:
That people, writ large, want their country to be aggressive in this domain
While there is majority support re environmental benefits,
the dominant/strongest reason is for “national pride”.
if you’re keeping track, China is No. 1 on seeing the importance of clean energy, No. 1 in wanting its government to be ambitious on clean energy, and No. 1 in wanting to phase out coal.
November 17th, 2017 · Comments Off on Tesla is not alone: Green4u large vehicle options coming soon
Tesla is THE mark when it comes to electric vehicles. The brand name, sort of like Apple, which people immediately recognize and — with quality products — all too many salivate over. The announcement yesterday of a long-haul truck option (discussed all over, such as here,here, here …) truly moves the situation from dominated by soft benefits (who buys a Tesla roadster or plunks down a $1000 deposit to wait a few years for a car because they want to save some $s on their daily commute — as opposed to wanting the higher quality ride, to #ActOnClimate, to have a status symbol, to …?) to true green-eye shade calculation (Do the numbers work out?). While there will be some firms and orders who might ‘want a Tesla, damn the price’, a tractor trailer will only work in the market place if the numbers work out: will the electric tractor trailer perform as well (or better) at the same (or lower) price? Every indication: the Tesla system is well on the way to delivering that ‘higher performance at lower cost/lower risk’ nirvana for CFOs while also easing serious challenges like urban pollution from diesel engines.
Okay, Tesla … Tesla … Tesla … lets stop salivating for a minute.
There are others ‘on the road’ and others hitting the road shortly.
November 14th, 2017 · Comments Off on Sun shines bright on (some) Minnesota schools
SeveralMinnesota schools are celebrating significant rooftop solar installations. Leveraging public-private partnerships (enabling use of Federal tax credits) and Xcel Energy’s state-mandated community solar garden program, these schools are covering their roofs with power generation with no upfront investment costs and lower electrical bills & pollution loads from day one.
These Farmington Area School district deployments offer some lessons and thoughts for paths forward — both in terms of the positive lessons, potential lost opportunities, and (challenging) problems meriting addressing (solving?).
Amid overwhelming news — from Mueller indictments to terrorist driver in New York City — the Facebook take on Americans’ polarization in 2016 as part of its appeal to advertisers (including those ads sent From Moscow with Love) is quite striking.
No coal — despite Trump’s emphasis on the (non-existent) “War on Coal” — nor other energy (whether gasoline prices, solar, wind, or …) topics
Nothing green, environment, climate, or … topics.
“Cannabis reform” shows up in four categories (on the left) while “fishing” shows up twice on the right. And …
The 14 segments are, well, odd … yet, Facebook was playing a game for $100s of millions and has to see this segmentation of value.
The absence of energy, environmental, climate, green, and related topics/words might indicate that these were and are meaningless in understanding of American politics. Certainly, some reads and takes on polling would follow this path. And, the failure of American political elites to talk seriously and consistently about climate change (other than denialists pushing their denial, repetitively) during the election didn’t lend weight to climate as important in politics nor did that ‘absence’ help put climate on the top of Americans’ political agendas.
Friday night, at my niece’s birthday party,the conversation turned (not started by me … surprisingly) to news from Germany: the insects are disappearing.
abundance of flying insects has plunged by three-quarters over the past 25 years
This is a survey and definitive work: like with bees, hypotheses as to why the insects are disappearing with varying degrees of substance but no certainty as to why.
cause of the huge decline is as yet unclear, although the destruction of wild areas and widespread use of pesticides are the most likely factors and climate change may play a role. The scientists were able to rule out weather and changes to landscape in the reserves as causes, but data on pesticide levels has not been collected.
Truly — we don’t know “why” but we do know it is occurring, that insects are disappearing.
This is Germany, one might suggest, and somewhere — someone — might be thinking/suggesting that this is somehow a German phenomena (looking at the timeline, German unification kills insects as hypothesis?) but there is global work showing declines in insects. From the article:
Current data suggest an overall pattern of decline in insect diversity and abundance. For example, populations of European grassland butterflies are estimated to have declined by 50% in abundance between 1990 and 2011.
Going back to that birthday party conversation, illuminating ‘bringing it to personal life’ comments included this observation for any/all that does long-distance driving:
I used to have to stop, multiple times, to clean the car windshield of dead insects when driving to Cleveland to visit my family. Now, I can go there and back and there might not be a single bug …
That sparked me to thinking … having gone to school in the Midwest (too many) decades ago, those drives would eat up windshield wiper fluid and the car’s grill would be filthy at the end of the drive. Driving my eldest to school in the Midwest (with detour to Kentucky for the eclipse …) this August, in what one might consider to be peak insect season, I did not have to clean the windshield of insects once during the entire trip and, thinking back, I don’t recall having to clean any insect remains from the car at the end of the trip.
From decades-long (amateur) scientific data gathering to the car’s windshield, the ominous situation seems clear: insects are disappearing.
Should we care?
Sunday evening, at a dinner party, a friend sparked a conversation starting with ‘I hate mosquitoes … this is an insect that shouldn’t exit …’ If we think of that in terms of the disappearing insects, sort of like the people who react to a record-breaking warm day in January with ‘if this is global warming, give me more of it’, many people see flying insects as pests to detest and likely would welcome hearing that they’re disappearing. (NOTE: that is not that friend — whose comment really was more focused & even nuanced …)
But, flying insects aren’t some abstraction, some ‘other’ irrelevant for ecosystem health and, fundamentally, human existence. From the article’s introduction,
insects play a central role in a variety of processes, including pollination [1, 2], herbivory and detrivory [3, 4], nutrient cycling [4] and providing a food source for higher trophic levels such as birds, mammals and amphibians. For example, 80% of wild plants are estimated to depend on insects for pollination [2], while 60% of birds rely on insects as a food source [5]. The ecosystem services provided by wild insects have been estimated at $57 billion annually in the USA [6].
And …
Gastronomy implications
Now, another portion of last evening’s dinner conversation (with various degrees of disgust … though not from me) was the growing move to commercialize human food from insects (or entomophagy … by the way, some restaurant options for exploring insect-based cuisine). Taking us back to another reason to think about and be concerned about disappearing insects.
abundance of flying insects has plunged by three-quarters over the past 25 years
