[GWSG] US ghg down; H leaf; China top investor; Reef danger; offshore power; Spanish wind; mighty mangroves; Arctic water

[Tilley, Al]

1.  US greenhouse gas emissions decreased 5.8% from 2008 to 2009, according to the Energy Information Agency report.  The drop was linked to the recession and the drop in prices for natural gas.  Thanks to Tom Larson for the link.   http://www.eia.gov/environment/emissions/ghg_report/

2.  An MIT team has produced an artificial leaf constructed with 3 cheap metals which uses sunlight to produce H and O from water.  It has the potential to produce cheap hydrogen as a fuel.  Commercialization is expected to take 2-3 years.  http://www.sciencemag.org/content/332/6025/25.full?sa_campaign=Email%2Fsntw%2F1-April-2011%2F10.1126%2Fscience.332.6025.25

3.  China is now the world’s top investor in clean energy.  The US is third after Germany.  http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-04-03/china-buries-obama-s-sputnik-goal-for-renewable-energy-use.html

4.  Australia’s Great Barrier Reef will be lost to acidification and other effects of global warming unless we manage drastic cuts in greenhouse gas emissions within the next ten years, according to the U of Queensland’s Ove Guldberg. http://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/10year-window-to-save-reef-expert-20110404-1cycl.html

5.   Seattle’s Principal Power is producing a floating, anchored offshore unit which draws from both wind and waves.  The combination saves money on transmission (since more power is produced by both than by either one alone).  The unit is designed to be anchored in over 50 meters of water.  http://blog.energy.gov/blog/2011/03/28/innovative-deepwater-platform-aims-harness-offshore-wind-and-wave-power

6.  Last month wind was Spain’s largest energy source.  42% of their electricity was supplied renewably (down from 48% for March 2010).  http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2011/04/wind-becomes-spains-biggest-energy-source?cmpid=WNL-Wednesday-April6-2011

7.  According to an article in Nature Geoscience, mangroves may be the world’s most carbon rich forests, with up to 4 times the carbon sequestration of other tropic forests.  We have lost about 35% of our mangrove forests in the last 20 years.  http://news.mongabay.com/2011/0405-hance_mangroves.html

8.  Large quantities of fresh water are accumulating from rivers and ice melt in the Arctic.  The water has the potential to alter the thermohaline conveyor belt, and thus the climates of Europe and America (among other effects).    The reference study, a collaboration among institutes from 10 European countries, does not predict the pace or intensity of the effects.   http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-04/fmi-imp033111.php
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