[GWSG] DOE projects; CH4 effect; tropical dieoff; China closes plants; Portugal at 45%; bad weather; new order; less rice

[Tilley, Al]

1.  The Department of Energy is funding 115 innovative energy projects.  In one, 1366 Technologies is developing a silicon pv cell production process which will cut its cost in half.  http://blog.energy.gov/blog/2010/08/03/reality-solar-panels-50-cost

2.  In Science Richard Kerr addresses methane emissions from clathrates and melting permafrost.  While emissions from those sources have already begun in some places, the results need not be catastrophic.  Recent estimates place the net warming at .5 ° C—bad enough, but not necessarily catastrophic.  (Coincidentally, that is the same amount of net warming expected from the removal of soot and aerosols from the atmosphere should we ever decide to stop burning fossil fuels.)  The warming from methane will be long-lasting, though; while methane itself remains in the atmosphere for only a few years, it is transformed there and in the oceans to CO2, which persists, in part, for many centuries. http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/329/5992/620?sa_campaign=Email/toc/6-August-2010/10.1126/science.329.5992.620

3.    A new study combining the effects of climate change with those of deforestation calculates that only 18-45% of the plants and animals of tropical forests will survive this century without determined efforts to mitigate the destruction.  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/08/100805172957.htm

4.  In order to increase energy efficiency China has ordered over 2,000 outdated plants to close, including the nation’s largest steel mill and largest aluminum manufacturer, as well as coal, cement, and glass production facilities. http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100809/sc_afp/chinaeconomyenvironmentenergypollution  The NY Times points out that China’s carbon output is still likely to rise sharply:  http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/10/business/energy-environment/10yuan.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

5.  Portugal has increased the renewable energy on its grid from 17% to 45% in five years.   It is on track for 60% renewable electricity by 2020.  Once completed, the new energy structure will cost $2.3 billion less to run than the old one. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/10/science/earth/10portugal.html?emc=tnt&tntemail0=y

6.  Ed Brock sends this NASA global fires map.  It illustrates the problems in, particularly, Africa, the Amazon, and Russia.  http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/firemaps/firemap.2010191-2010200.8192x4096.jpg  The death rate in Moscow has doubled.  http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6751T820100809?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29  The Russian heat wave and fires are prompting new governmental attention to climate change.  http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20100809/wl_csm/318660  Seventeen nations have experience record heat this summer.  (As heat increases, ground moisture lessens and fires become fiercer and more numerous.)  http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0809-hance_heatrecords.html  Munich Re reports that “the number of extreme weather events like windstorm and floods have tripled since 1980, and the trend is expected to persist.”  The US is the sole developed nation with no law to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.  http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6782DU20100809?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29  The meeting of 194 nations in Bonn last week brought little progress.  http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2010/0809/Post-Copenhagen-quest-for-global-warming-accord-stuck-in-reverse

7.  Vietnamese Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh has established the Order of Interbeing which practices mindful and ecologically responsible living.  http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/zen-and-the-art-of-saving-the-planet-2048029.html

8.  Global warming has cut rice crops by 10-20% in some locations over the past 25 years.  More decreases are due.  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-10918591