[GWSG] High wind; Obama backs APA; EU halfway; FIT on slr; waste; VT on hydro; KKR's green program

[Tilley, Al]

1.  Wind power from high-flying turbines is a familiar idea which is becoming more feasible thanks to recent engineering advances.  Several companies are working on different designs, including kites and blimps.  http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/10217289.stm  Sky WindPower’s design: http://www.skywindpower.com/ww/index.htm  Magenn Power’s tethered blimp:  http://www.magenn.com/

2.  President Obama has announced his active support for the American Power Act.  http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2264101/obama-promises-throw-full

3.  Boosted by the recession, the European Union is more than halfway toward meeting its 2020 target of a 20% cut in greenhouse gas emissions.  Some are making the case for more ambitious cuts, motivated by a Nature article which found the existing target unlikely to keep temperature rise below 2° C.  http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science_and_environment/10225937.stm

4.  The Florida Institute of Technology maintains an online library of studies and plans concerning sea level rise, particularly those which relate to adaptation.  http://research.fit.edu/sealevelriselibrary/  To open a file of documents, hover over a general region and click one of the more limited regions on the popup list.  Here is a recent Miami-Dade report.  The adaptation section begins on page 9 and assumes serious and disruptive sea level rise by mid-century.  http://research.fit.edu/sealevelriselibrary/documents/doc_mgr/446/Florida_Miami_Sust%20_Assess_Rept_-_Miami-Dade_Gov_2010.pdf  Locally, I just attended a regional community planning session (sponsored in part by the City of Jacksonville) which assumed the environmental status quo.  Ho ho.

5.  The energy industry, fossil and nuclear, has made its billions by externalizing costs (to us, and to the future) and by leaving wastelands behind them.  A transition to renewable energy must also be a transition to sustainable and resilient energy.  That will take some thought.  http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/05/opinion/05herbert.html?src=me&ref=general  People interested in nuclear energy will be interested in last fall’s French documentary, Waste—The Nuclear Nightmare, described on this link.  It is said to be available online, though I wasn’t sure it would be compatible with US equipment—I saw it on Sundance.  The central info is in the article, though the full film is much worth watching out for.  http://www.fissilematerials.org/blog/2010/02/a_french_documentary_on_n.html

6.  Vermont is the first state to define large hydroelectric power sources as renewable.  Some respond that the environmental implications are unacceptable.  The bill also stepped up support for distributed power, including agricultural biogas and solar power.    http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20100605/NEWS04/6050376

7.  Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., a major private equity firm with ties to the Environmental Defense Fund, maintains a Green Portfolio Program to cut waste and greenhouse gas emissions.  The two year old program has saved $165 million, avoided 345,000 tons of CO2 emissions, and spared landfills 1.2 million tons of solid waste.  http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2010/06/04/04climatewire-a-green-portfolio-experiment-makes-money-tri-63750.html