Month: October 2014
August 2014: Greenland is the New Black
Jason Box returned to Greenland for a few days late in August, and was able to shoot the video above. Newest observations show the lowest reflectivity on record for Greenland’s Upper elevations.
And there’s this.
Spongy sediments under Greenland’s ice sheet may accelerate its flow into the sea — an effect that previous estimates of ice loss failed to account for, according to University of Cambridge researchers. They said that means the ice sheet may be more sensitive than previously thought to overall climate change, along with short-term events like heavy rain and heat waves.
The researchers said it was thought that Greenland’s extensive ice fields rested on hard bedrock, but new evidence shows that soft sediments also are present. Those sediments weaken as they soak up water from seasonal melt, allowing the sheet to move faster to the sea, the researchers said. Greenland’s ice sheet covers 660,000 square miles (1.7 million square kilometers) to a depth of nearly 2 miles (3 kilometers) at its thickest. A 2012 study found that the sheet’s melting was accelerating, and a 2013 study estimated that because of melting in Greenland and Antarctica, sea levels could be 2 feet higher when today’s preschoolers are grandparents. The research was funded by the Natural Environment Research Council and published Monday in the journal Nature Communications.
Renewable Energy Prices Drop Dramatically (again)
I’ve been to several conferences in recent weeks tracking the rollout of renewable energy regionally and nationally. The interview above was recorded a few weeks ago in Traverse City, Michigan, and documents another small piece of the huge story that is the renewable energy revolution in the heartland. Below, a leading conservative, establishment, financial firm, Lazard, publishes its most recent assessment.
NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Lazard Ltd (NYSE:LAZ) has released its Levelized Cost of Energy Analysis – Version 8.0, an in-depth study comparing the cost of generating energy from conventional and alternative technologies. Lazard’s Global Power, Energy & Infrastructure Group has been publishing the study since 2008.
The study shows the acceleration of an ongoing trend: Utility-scale solar and wind power are increasingly cost-competitive with traditional energy sources such as coal and nuclear, even without subsidies. The study also highlights the ongoing need for diverse power generation technologies, especially in regions with limited renewables resources.
“The economics of alternative energy have changed dramatically in the last decade,” said George Bilicic, Vice Chairman and Global Head of Lazard’s Power, Energy & Infrastructure Group. “Utilities still require conventional technologies to meet the energy needs of a developed economy, but they are using alternative technologies to create diversified portfolios of power generation resources.”
The study offers a variety of insights, including the following selected highlights: Continue reading “Renewable Energy Prices Drop Dramatically (again)”
Put Up (Solar on) a Parking Lot?
Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you got till its gone..
In this case, maybe we’re waking up to what we have. Who knew that parking lot had so much value?
A 2005 study by the Environmental Protection Administration estimated there were some 105.2 million parking spaces in the U.S. But according to Ben Joseph, that could be low. He told the New York Times that he estimated there were some 500 million parking spaces in the U.S., “occupying some 3,590 square miles, or an area larger than Delaware and Rhode Island combined.”
But increasingly, when it comes to energy use and sustainability, parking lots are actually becoming part of the solution. Why? In many parts of the country, they are becoming solar power plants.
Typically, solar panels are most easily placed in open fields, or on the roofs of building – flat surfaces that afford direct exposure to the sun and aren’t otherwise being used. The same principle applies to parking lots and garages – provided you build a bunch of canopies to serve as platforms for the solar panels.
Such canopies provide a bunch of benefits. In the summer and in hotter regions, they provide shade for parked cars, preventing them from getting too hot. At all times of the year, they provide protection from rain. In the winter, they can shield drivers from the annoyance of having to wipe snow and ice off their windshields. And when there’s light, they produce electricity.
Several companies are now scaling up to turn America’s parking lots into power plants. One of those active in the Northeast is Solaire Generation, based in New York City. “We see a unique opportunity to make a significant and enduring contribution to the global deployment of renewable energy through the parking lot,” as the company describes about on its website, Solaire has a meter tallying its progress: 2.9 million square feet and 23,100 parking spaces.
Transforming the Age of Extinction
The number of wild animals on Earth has halved in the past 40 years, according to a new analysis. Creatures across land, rivers and the seas are being decimated as humans kill them for food in unsustainable numbers, while polluting or destroying their habitats, the research by scientists at WWF and the Zoological Society of London found.
“If half the animals died in London zoo next week it would be front page news,” said Professor Ken Norris, ZSL’s director of science. “But that is happening in the great outdoors. This damage is not inevitable but a consequence of the way we choose to live.” He said nature, which provides food and clean water and air, was essential for human wellbeing.
“We have lost one half of the animal population and knowing this is driven by human consumption, this is clearly a call to arms and we must act now,” said Mike Barratt, director of science and policy at WWF. He said more of the Earth must be protected from development and deforestation, while food and energy had to be produced sustainably.