Top Stories
U.N. to study impact of incomplete climate
action.—reliability high.
"The U.N. panel of climate scientists will look at the costs of
"second best" ways of fighting global warming amid doubts that all
countries will sign up to U.N.-led action, a leading expert said on
Tuesday. ... 'We intend to carry out "second best" scenarios, where we
assume we have a fragmented climate regime, where we have limited
availability of technologies, to describe a much more realistic policy
space,' Edenhofer told Reuters by telephone." See Reuters
story.
Greenpeace to Facebook CEO: No More Coal.—reliability
medium.
"Wednesday morning, Greenpeace stepped up its campaign against
Facebook’s decision to build its latest data center in Oregon in the
footprint of utility Pacific Power that largely derives electricity
from coal. The environmental group sent a letter to Facebook CEO
Mark Zuckerberg asking him to commit to phasing out the use of
coal-generated electricity to power Facebook’s data centers." From The
GigaOM Network. Greenpeace's letter is here.
Related Reuters
blog post. [Check
out this Facebook
page.]
Companies,
Industries, Markets and Supply Chains
Burger King drops palm oil supplier linked
to Borneo rainforest destruction.—reliability medium.
"Burger King announced it would no longer source palm oil from Sinar
Mas, an Indonesian conglomerate, after an independent audit showed one
of the company's subsidiaries had destroyed rainforests and
carbon-dense peatlands in Borneo and Sumatra, according to a statement
on the fast food chain's Facebook page." See mongabay.
Largest Solar Rooftop Project in U.S.
Planned For Salt Palace.—reliability high.
"NexGen Energy and Bella Energy have been chosen to develop a solar
installation on the roof of the Calvin L. Rampton Salt Palace
Convention Center in downtown Salt Lake City. The team presented a plan
to install up to 2.6 megawatts of solar modules on the structure. If
built to that capacity, the companies say it will be the largest U.S.
rooftop solar facility, generating more than 3,330,000 kilowatt hours
of electricity every year while reducing the building’s consumption by
25%." From Environmental
Leader. [Big
flat roof = $$]
Philly subway to capture energy from braking
trains.—reliability high.
"The regenerative braking system will collect energy in a large
battery installed along the busy Market-Frankford Line. The stored
energy will be used to power trains when they leave the station and to
earn money from energy sold back to the grid." See CNET News.
[The Mumbai Metro
uses regenerative breaking, but throughout the system not just at one
station.]
Government and
Regulation
U.S. test shows water problem near natgas
drill site.—reliability high.
"U.S. government officials urged residents of a Wyoming farming
community near natural gas drilling sites not to use private well water
for drinking or cooking because of chemical contamination." The EPA
didn't give an opinion on the source of the contamination, but the
testing was part of a program to assess the water-quality impacts of
hydraulic fracturing methods of natural gas extraction. From Reuters.
["Fracking"
promises to vastly increase natural gas supplies, but it seems likely
that EPA regulations are on the way which may increase the costs of the
method.]
New California law expands carpool lane use.—reliability
high.
"The measure will allow up to 40,000 more California motorists to
drive solo in the special lanes. It also extends the lifespan of
existing permits for hybrid and electric vehicles. The bill, SB 535 by
Sen. Leland Yee (D-San Francisco) and sponsored by General Motors,
would provide thousands of permits for new models of fuel-efficient
cars, including G.M.'s Chevrolet Volt, due out later this year, as well
as the new Toyota Prius and Nissan Leaf." See Los
Angeles Times. But
see related:
Chevrolet Volt will not be eligible for
HOV-lane access until mid-2012.—reliability medium.
"Late Tuesday night California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed SB
535 into law, extending access to the high-occupancy-vehicle
(HOV) lanes to certain very low and zero emissions vehicles. This new
class of vehicles known as Enhanced Advanced Technology Partial Zero
Emissions Vehicles (enh-ATPZEVs) and includes plug-in hybrid and
battery electric vehicles like the Leaf and Toyota's Prius PHEV.
Unfortunately, there are some caveats. SB 535 doesn't take effect until
January 1, 2012 and even then only 40,000 of the special stickers
needed for HOV access will be made available. In order to qualify, the
vehicle has to be rated as an enh-ATPZEV, which brings up the second
problem for Volt drivers. A General Motors spokesperson confirmed that
the 2011 and 2012 Volt will not be enh-ATPZEV certified. ... GM
spokesman Rob Peterson verified that the Volt will be updated to
enh-ATPZEV in mid-2012 when the 2013 model is introduced.". From Autoblog
green.
Science and
Economics
Warmer temperatures in China to reduce crop
yields.—reliability high.
"With the climate set to get warmer from greenhouse gases, Chinese
scientists predicted on Thursday that freshwater for agriculture will
shrink further in China, reducing crop yields in the years ahead. In a
paper published in Nature, they said the temperature in China had gone
up by 1.2 degrees Celsius since 1960 and will increase by another 1 to
5 degrees Celsius by 2100." Reuters
story. Abstract of Nature article here.
Grist
article.
U.N. climate panel urged to reform, stick to
science.—reliability high.
"The U.N. climate panel should make predictions only when it has solid
evidence and should avoid policy advocacy, scientists said in a report
on Monday that called for thorough reform of the body." See Reuters
article.
And . . .
The latest post at
Doc's Green Blog: Glacial Slowness?.—reliability
medium.
"Glaciers have long been a byword for slowness. But perhaps they are
not the slowest thing around. ... The ice sheets will probably reach
their tipping points before the Congress does." Doc's
Green Blog.
