The Heartland Files

Many of you have probably read about this latest skirmish between the "avowed scientific believers in climate change" and the avowed skeptics. The title link by Andrew Revkin delves into many of the details in more depth, and raises some very pertinent points about funding for both sides, and the many opportunities for conflict of interest.

My opinion? I definitely believe the science which concludes that the Earth is warming due to human fossil fuel emissions is very sound. You are of course welcome to your opinion, but do study the science, and the credentials of those who present their opinions.

For another good perspective, see The Toxic Debate by Marc Gunther.

Ocean Eddies

I just love unique satellite photos, so I could not help posting the above from Earth Observatory. Eddies are the weather events in the oceans..."these storms—better known as eddies—are more likely to bring life to the sea...and often in places that are otherwise barren."

Meatless Monday and Meat the Truth

Meatless Monday is a global movement to help our climate be healthier......and to help YOU be healthier!!!

From the title link:
"If everyone in the US went meatless one day a week: The carbon savings would be the same as taking 19.2 million cars off U.S. roads for a year."

Meatless Monday is a big web site, so explore the other pages as well as the linked page.

What have I done? I have gone from a weekly average of eating meat 2x per day to eating meat less than 1x per day, or more than a 50% reduction in meat consumption.......and the meat I eat is 99% fish. What has Sally done? She is 100% meatless....a vegan.

Tidal Energy

Working on Osher Climate Class 3, I came upon this fascinating web page (title link). Since I know I only have time to cover a small portion of this topic, I wanted to make this information available now.

Two advantages of tidal power versus wind or waves are one, it is very predictable, and two, it is normally located close to shore, so transmission is much easier. Also see this link about East River, NY plans.

Photovoltaics vs Solar Thermal (CSP)

The referenced article titled, "Cheap Photovoltaics are Eating Solar Thermal's Lunch" makes clear how competitive the solar field is, and how quickly economics, and hence strategies can shift.

This is an excellent article with clear insight into the economic driving forces involved, such as "dispatchable power", i.e. power which can be rapidly put on-line when needed. Solar thermal offers this feature by storing the collected solar energy as a hot fluid, and later using the hot fluid to generate electricity as needed. However, dispatchable power is also readily available from natural gas, which is inexpensive, in good supply, and faces no current penalties, such as a carbon tax.

And why are photovoltaic prices falling so quickly? Just see this Bloomberg analysis if you really want the details.