tagged w/ New Mexico Global Warming
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Great Solar News from TouchArt's friend Bill Brown up in Taos, NM about MIT engineers brilliant technology for solar windows to harness energy.
Awesome.
MIT guys say they can be available in 3 years.
Let's use them for the One Earth bottle house design.
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Message from Bill Brown
www.nmglobalwarming.com
Hello, All -- Here is yet another reminder of the many rapid and spectacular advances in solar power technology -- in this case technology that could begin replacing and/or augmenting conventional rooftop solar panels within the next few years.
"Imagine windows that not only provide a clear view and illuminate rooms, but also use sunlight to efficiently help power the building they are part of. MIT engineers report a new approach to harnessing the sun's energy that could allow just that."
"Because the system is simple to manufacture, the [Massachusetts Institute of Technology] team believes that it could be implemented within three years — even added onto existing solar-panel systems to increase their efficiency by 50 percent for minimal additional cost. That, in turn, would substantially reduce the cost of solar electricity."
So, I offer this fair warning to all in the business to continue to be ready for -- and participate in -- a future of unlimited possibilities for clean energy solutions to our current dirty energy problems.
-- Bill Brown
Go to link for more
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/story?id=53013&src=rss
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From TouchArt.net and OneEarthBlog.blogspot.com
where everyday, always has, and always will be Earth Day.
Love your Mother.
Great Solar News from TouchArt's friend Bill Brown up in Taos, NM about MIT... more
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Our friend Bill Brown in Taos at NMGlobalWarming.org reports on the U.S. federal government's Climate Change Science Program Report.
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Greetings, All -- The USA federal government's Climate Change Science Program (CCSP) released a new report yesterday on the impacts of climate change on the United States. While providing information on trends and projections for the future, the report also states how climate has already changed throughout the USA because of the impacts of human activity on our planet.
The CCSP reiterates what has long been known to science: The primary reason for climate change is human-generated increases in greenhouse gas concentrations.
The CCSP was authorized by federal legislation known as the Global Change Research Act of 1990. This Act spawned collaborative federal research and later the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP), through which the USA has made a total investment of almost $20 billion during the past thirteen years -- the world's largest investment in scientific research in the areas of climate change and global change. "The USGCRP, in collaboration with several other national and international science programs, has documented and characterized several important aspects of the sources, abundances and lifetimes of greenhouse gases; has mounted extensive space-based monitoring systems for global-wide monitoring of climate and ecosystem parameters; has begun to address the complex issues of various aerosol species that may significantly influence climate parameters; has advanced our understanding of the global water and carbon cycles (but with major remaining uncertainties); and has developed several approaches to computer modeling of the global climate."
The Summary of the 271-page document begins:
"Over the past several years, our understanding of global environmental change and our ability to estimate its future effects has improved significantly. In order to summarize the key conclusions of this research, the U.S. Climate Change Science Program (CCSP) has undertaken a national scale “Scientific Assessment of the Effects of Global Change on the United States.” The conclusions in this assessment build on the vast body of observations, modeling, decision-support, and other types of activities conducted under the auspices of CCSP. It draws on findings from previous assessments of the science, including reports and products by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), CCSP, and others. Together with CCSP’s 21 Synthesis and Assessment Products, this is arguably the most comprehensive assessment to date of the effects of global change, and especially climate, on the United States. This fact sheet summarizes the key findings of the Assessment."
To download the Summary and/or the Full Report, or simply to learn about the history, quality and scope of the USA's Climate Change Research Program, see: http://www.climatescience.gov/
The CCSP considers this a landmark document, representing summary work of its almost two decades of research. Please take the time to read the Summary even if you do not wade through the full report.
-- Bill Brown
www.nmglobalwarming.org
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From TouchArt.net and OneEarthBlog.blogspot.com
where we think each person can make a difference
to help heal our earth.
Photo - "Height of the Land Lake near White Earth, Minnesota, 2006.
Our friend Bill Brown in Taos at NMGlobalWarming.org reports on the U.S. federal... more
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Albuquerque Earns U.S. EPA Climate Protection Award
Our friend Bill Brown reports great news about Albuquerque, New Mexico's reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
Albuquerque, New Mexico
"Since 1990, the City of Albuquerque has reduced greenhouse gas emissions from city operations by 58% and from city landfills by 73%. Albuquerque achieved First Place Honors from the U.S. Conference of Mayors' 2007 Climate Protection Awards. Albuquerque achieved these impressive reductions by increasing energy efficiency, implementing renewable energy projects, capturing landfill methane, and utilizing alternative fuels. 20% of the City's energy is derived from wind power; the City fleet ranks fourth in the nation on SustainLane's 2006 list of the 50 largest US cities whose city fleets use alternative fuels; five city swimming pools are installing solar heating systems; and the city landfill converts landfill gas into energy. Albuquerque established the nation's first municipal capital budget set-a-side specifically dedicated to energy reduction and renewable energy implementation. The City is currently working to reduce emissions even further: The City's new Energy Conservation Code requires new buildings and existing buildings undergoing significant alterations to be at least 30% more energy efficient, and Mayor Chavez recently issued an Executive Order ensuring that all new municipal buildings meet green building standards, and established a special forestry program to combat climate change by reducing the heat island effect, sequestering carbon dioxide, and buffering the effects of rapid climate change. "
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Greetings, All -- Albuquerque, New Mexico receives a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Climate Protection Award for its impressive greenhouse gases emissions reductions. Arlington County, Virginia and Austin & Dallas, Texas also demonstrate leadership in climate protection.
Full details on all the award winners are available at: http://www.epa.gov/cppd/awards/2008winners.html
-- Bill Brown
www.nmglobalwarming.org
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From TouchArt.net and OneEarthBlog.blogspot.com.
Albuquerque Earns U.S. EPA Climate Protection Award
Our friend Bill Brown reports... more
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Current environmental energy news from scientist Bill Brown, TouchArt's friend up in Taos at New Mexico Global Warming and The Climate Change Project.
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Greetings, All -- Below are a couple of briefs containing tightly summarized information and data on biomass power potential and a current vision of solar power potential.
Carnegie Institution of Science researchers make the reasonable case that sustainable biomass energy production on suitable land (primarily abandoned cropland and pastureland) could provide about five percent of human demands for primary energy. However, biomass development in excess of this amount -- particularly using land and water needed to grow food or converting existing ecosystems to biomass production -- could threaten food security and exacerbate climate change.
[Carnegie Institution of Science: http://www.ciw.edu/related_links]
In the second article, Ausra CEO Robert Fishman [http://ausra.com/] indicates one potential for solar power (solar thermal power as contrasted with solar photovoltaic power) contingent upon policy decisions on clean energy tax credits and carbon taxes. [This corresponds to what I try to tell people about economics: we can make policy decisions that move us toward the kind of energy economy we want.] Fishman's statement re the "crossover point" could be interpreted to say that clean energy will remain competitive with obsolescent fossil fuel energy, whereas it is more likely that new technology clean energy will grow rapidly while old technology energy from inefficient and polluting sources will continue to decline.
-- Bill Brown
www.nmglobalwarming.org
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From TouchArt.net and One Earth Blog at www.OneEarthBlog.Blogspot.com
Current environmental energy news from scientist Bill Brown, TouchArt's friend up... more
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More current news on sustainable energy science and policy from TouchArt's friend Bill Brown up in Taos at New Mexico Global Warming and The Climate Change Project.
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Greetings, All -- The article below describes poll results recognizing California's policy innovations and citizen's attitudes about fighting atmospheric pollution and climate change.
The poll "...shows broad public understanding that fixing climate change goes hand in hand with energy stability and economic prosperity."
"Californians understand that clean energy combined with energy efficiency measures, which the state has pioneered for decades, mean their total energy bill will go down..."
Note the reference to California Assembly Bill (AB) 32, the Global Warming Solutions Act.
According to Wikipedia [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ab-32], "The Bill (AB 32), authored by Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez (D-Los Angeles) and Assembly Member Fran Pavley (D-Agoura Hills), was agreed between Schwarzenegger and Democratic legislators on August 30, 2006. It requires that by 2020 the state's greenhouse gas emissions be reduced to 1990 levels, a roughly 25% reduction under business as usual estimates. The California Air Resources Board, under the California Environmental Protection Agency, is to prepare plans to achieve the objectives stated in the Act."
-- Bill Brown
www.nmglobalwarming.org
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From TouchArt.net and One Earth Blog at www.OneEarthBlog.Blogspot.comMore current news on sustainable energy science and policy from TouchArt's friend... more
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From our friend Bill Brown at NM Global Warming
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"Greetings, All -- The following brief on a poll of Americans about solar power reveals a non-partisan acceptance of solar power as perhaps a principal engine of our new energy economy.
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from TouchArt.net and OneEarthBlog.blogspot.comFrom our friend Bill Brown at NM Global Warming
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"Greetings, All -- The... more
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On a lighter note from our friend Bill Brown at New Mexico Global Warming up in Taos, New Mexico.
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"Greetings, All -- For your amusement, a conversation in Heaven about realities on Earth.
-- Bill Brown
YARD WORK - AS VIEWED FROM HEAVEN
(overheard in a conversation between God and St. Francis):
God: Francis, you know all about gardens and nature; what in the
world is going on down there in the U.S.? What happened to the
dandelions, violets, thistles and the stuff I started eons ago?
I had a perfect no-maintenance garden plan. Those plants grow
in any type of soil, withstand drought, and multiply with
abandon. The nectar from the long-lasting blossoms attracts
butterflies, honeybees, and flocks of songbirds. I expected to
see a vast garden of color by now. All I see are patches of
green.
St. Francis: It's the tribes that settled there, Lord. They are
called the Suburbanites. They started calling your flowers
"weeds" and went to great lengths to kill them and replace them
with grass.
God: Grass? But it is so boring, it's not colorful. It doesn't
attract butterflies, bees or birds, only grubs and sod worms.
It's temperamental with temperatures. Do these Suburbanites
really want grass growing there?
St. Francis: Apparently not, Lord. As soon as it has grown a
little, they cut it....sometimes two times a week.
God: They cut it? Do they bale it like hay?
St. Francis: Not exactly, Lord. Most of them rake it up and put
it in bags.
God: They bag it? Why? Is it a cash crop? Do they sell it?
St. Francis: No sir, just the opposite. They pay to throw it
away.
God: Now let me get this straight...they fertilize it to make it
grow and when it does grow, they cut it off and pay to throw it
away?
St. Francis: Yes, sir.
God: These Suburbanites must be relieved in the summer when we
cut back on the rain and turn up the heat. That surely slows
the growth and saves them a lot of work.
St. Francis: You aren't going to believe this Lord, but when the
grass stops growing so fast, they drag out hoses and pay more
money to water it so they can continue to mow it and pay to get
rid of it.
God: What nonsense! At least they kept some of the trees.
That was a sheer stroke of genius, if I do say so myself.
The trees grow leaves in the spring to provide beauty and shade
in the summer. In the autumn they fall to the ground and form a
natural blanket to keep the moisture in the soil and protect the
trees and bushes. Plus, as they rot, the leaves become compost
to enhance the soil. It's a natural circle of life.
St. Francis: You'd better sit down, Lord. As soon as the leaves
fall, the Suburbanites rake them into great piles and pay to
have them hauled away.
God: No way! What do they do to protect the shrubs and tree
roots in the winter to keep the soil moist and loose?
St Francis: After throwing the leaves away, they go out and buy
something called mulch. They haul it home and spread it around
in place of the leaves.
God: And where do they get this mulch?
St. Francis: They cut down the trees and grind them up to make
mulch.
God: Enough! I don't want to think about this anymore.
Saint Catherine, you're in charge of the arts. What movie have
you scheduled for us tonight?
St. Catherine: "Dumb and Dumber," Lord. It's a really stupid
movie about...
God: Never mind -I think I just heard the whole story from Saint
Francis!"
Bill Brown
www.nmglobalwarming.org
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from TouchArt.net and OneEarthBlog.blogspot.comOn a lighter note from our friend Bill Brown at New Mexico Global Warming up in Taos,... more
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Today's good Green News from our friend Bill Brown up in Taos, New Mexico at www.nmglobalwarming.org
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"Greetings, All -- New research by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan School of Management on the European Union carbon dioxide (CO2) cap-and-trade system dispels many fears and myths about its workability, and provides some surprising results about its success.
The MIT report notes that cap-and-trade systems for sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides have worked well in the USA for years where "Markets for trading allowances operate smoothly, and—in response to the strong economic incentive—facilities have reduced their emissions significantly."
However, "... the EU ETS [Emissions Trading Scheme] is far larger than either of the US programs. It covers 11,000 installations while the US sulfur dioxide program covers only 3,000, and the value of the allowances is about $80 billion as opposed to $4 billion. Perhaps most striking, the EU ETS operates internationally. Allowances are traded by facilities in 27 independent nations that form a loose federal union and differ widely in per capita income, market experience, institutional background, and other features."
In contrast to the fears of critics, the economic effects of the CO2 cap-and-trade system have not been large. "Changes have occurred in certain industries, but the notion that the carbon price would wreck the overall economy is clearly disproved for the European system, which for a long time had a high price compared to what was expected. Even though reducing emissions was not the primary focus of the three-year trial, carbon reductions were in fact achieved, with minimal macroeconomic impact."
The report also counters the argument of those who believe that "... the EU method of allocating free allowances to polluting facilities is morally wrong. But an emissions-control policy is more likely to succeed if those most affected—the current polluters—are given some assets along with the liabilities they are being asked to assume."
Finally, MIT issues the reminder that "Perhaps the main message for policy makers is that everything does not have to be perfectly in place to start up." This cogent idea seems to be a major stumbling block for politicians, activists, and others who demand perfection in new programs while ignoring the vast imperfections in current systems.
I love the scientific solemnity and unintended humor of the statement, "In 2000, leaders in the EU realized that they would not be able to meet their obligations under the Kyoto Protocol, which take effect in 2008, without taking action.""
-- Bill Brown
www.nmglobalwarming.org
follow link above to SCIENCE DAILY article "European System for Cutting Carbon Dioxide Emissions Is Working Well"
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from TouchArt.net and OneEarthBlog.blogspot.comToday's good Green News from our friend Bill Brown up in Taos, New Mexico at... more
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Today's message from Bill Brown, our friend up at www.nmglobalwarming.org
Greetings, All -- Below is an article related to the emerging debate on distributed versus centralized clean energy systems.
"This article" treats a new report -- a collaboration between the U.S. Department of Energy and the wind power industry -- that outlines the technological feasibility of wind providing about 20 percent of USA electrical power by 2030. The report argues for major expansion of the national electrical transmission grid to reach centralized or connected wind systems whether offshore or in high-wind inland areas. The report cautions that "... its findings were not meant to predict that such growth would, in fact, be achieved, but only that it is technically possible...."
"The reality of clean energy development currently lies between the extremes of fully centralized and fully distributed solar and wind systems. Clearly, distributed solar panels and residential wind turbines continue to be employed by individual property owners throughout the country. Equally clearly, large centralized solar and interconnected wind power systems continue to be built throughout the country. However, an emerging middle ground is being considered (and constructed) via community or municipal sized clean energy power systems...."
"Many possibilities for our nation, communities, and individuals in terms of a new, clean energy future and economy are apparent within this debate. In my next post, I hope to treat some of these possibilities, many of which are being turned into reality by those looking ahead to a future free of the inefficiencies, escalating costs, hidden costs, and overall problems with old technology, obsolescent fossil fuels."
-- Bill Brown
www.nmglobalwarming.org
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April 28, 2008
Distributed Energy First, Wait On New Transmission Lines
by David Morris
A debate between advocates of distributed and centralized renewable energy systems is just beginning. It is overdue. Consideration of scale in renewable energy systems has been delayed in part because we first had to bring solar energy in all its forms to market, and in part because the distributed nature of renewable energy resources seemed inexorably to lead to their being harnessed in distributed fashion.
Only recently have we begun to realize that a renewable energy future does not inevitably mean a decentralized energy future. Indeed, right now the fastest growing part of the renewable energy industry may be the large solar central power systems being built in remote locations in the southwest to serve customers in Los Angeles, and the huge wind farms being built in the Midwest to serve customers in Chicago.
The preferred scale of solar energy did arise briefly 30 years ago when NASA vigorously lobbied for Congress to fund a series of solar power satellites. NASA maintained this would be a highly efficient solar electric system because in space the sun shines 24 hours a day. A more self-serving argument was that the electricity beamed down to earth could become the first economic export from future space stations.
The Congressional Office of Technology Assessment was asked to examine the issue. It in turn invited my organization, the Institute for Local Self-Reliance to prepare a report comparing solar power satellites to rooftop solar arrays. We found rooftop systems were much less expensive. We also concluded, intriguingly, that an optimal solar electric house would export 50 percent of what it generates and import 50 percent of what it consumes. Self-reliance, not self-sufficiency, works best. "
Go to link to read more from Renewable Energy World.
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from TouchArt.net and OneEarthBlog.blogspot.com
Today's message from Bill Brown, our friend up at www.nmglobalwarming.org... more
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Greetings, All -- Below is an article related to the emerging debate on distributed versus centralized clean energy systems from our friend Bill Brown at New Mexico Global Warming up in Taos, New Mexico.
Bill Brown writes that this "article treats the debate, and argues for (1) strong development of distributed systems with less need for new transmission lines in the short term, and (2) centralized systems with long distance, high voltage lines only after 80 percent of the electricity the transmission lines carry come from clean, renewable sources. [Note the author's significant comment re electrically powered transportation: "We don't know what the future will bring. Plug-in hybrids or all-electric vehicles could provide sufficient storage to miniaturize the grid while allowing the grid to handle a much higher proportion of intermittent electric generation."...]
"The reality of clean energy development currently lies between the extremes of fully centralized and fully distributed solar and wind systems. Clearly, distributed solar panels and residential wind turbines continue to be employed by individual property owners throughout the country. Equally clearly, large centralized solar and interconnected wind power systems continue to be built throughout the country. However, an emerging middle ground is being considered (and constructed) via community or municipal sized clean energy power systems.
Nanosolar of California, for example [in an April 16, 2008 press release] believes "... meaningful scale for solar will come foremost from utility-scale solar power plants, in particular from municipal solar power plants of 2-10MW (two to ten MegaWatts) in size. These are rows of solar panels mounted onto the ground of free fields at the outskirts of towns and cities, feeding power directly into the municipal electricity grid." Such power plants -- and they could also be wind power plants -- could provide communities with more cost effective clean energy solutions than fully decentralized systems, e.g., solar panels or wind turbines on every property. Nanosolar, re solar panels, comments: "While rooftops are surely a good application too for solar panels, it is a business that’s difficult to scale rapidly in a truly meaningful way. Crawling onto rooftops and mounting solar panels in compliance with building codes is fundamentally always a somewhat more expensive proposition." Further, "By feeding power directly into the (local) distribution grid, they (utility scale solar power plants) avoid the (long-haul) transmission grid which tends to be heavily taxed in many regions of the world."
[See the full Nanosolar Press Release at: http://www.nanosolar.com/blog3/2008/04/16/municipal-solar-power-plants/]
Many possibilities for our nation, communities, and individuals in terms of a new, clean energy future and economy are apparent within this debate. In my next post, I hope to treat some of these possibilities, many of which are being turned into reality by those looking ahead to a future free of the inefficiencies, escalating costs, hidden costs, and overall problems with old technology, obsolescent fossil fuels.
-- Bill Brown
www.nmglobalwarming.org
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from TouchArt.net and OneEarthBlog.blogspot.com
in New Mexico where solar energy can boom and Earth Day is every day.
Greetings, All -- Below is an article related to the emerging debate on distributed... more
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