[GWSG] Concrete emissions; ice sheet flow; species moving; pv costs; aliens and ethics; derivatives and CO2

[Tilley, Al]

1.  A lifecycle analysis by MIT concludes that concrete as a building material has a global warming impact equal to or lower than that of wood or steel.  (Promising developments in cement technology would lower that even further—low temperature cement and polymeric cement, for example.)  http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2011/08/15/mit-weighs-lifecycle-impact-concrete?utm_source=GreenBuzz&utm_campaign=7ffbf23150-GreenBuzz-2011-08-16&utm_medium=email

2.  A Science report on ice sheet flow in the Antarctic represents the Pine Island and neighboring Thwaites glaciers as moving “several times faster than any other glacier.”   http://www.sciencemag.org/content/early/2011/08/17/science.1208336.abstract  More on the study, with a map showing ice sheet velocities.  The authors hope that their work, which includes analysis of stress, will lead to an ability to model ice sheet disintegration.  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14592547

3.  To escape the growing heat, species are heading to the poles and to higher altitudes more rapidly than we thought.  http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2011/08/in-warming-world-critters-run-to.html?ref=em&elq=63f25e0f72e94f2bb440f160187840a3

4.  The usual range for home-installed solar pv power is 2-5 kilowatts.  The cost per installed watt varies by different estimates.  Standard US estimates run about $8/watt.  The Clean Coalition lists costs from its associated installers of about $5/watt; the cost in Germany is $3.40/watt.  As with wind power, the cost savings per watt do not increase significantly with the size of the installation.  http://www.grist.org/solar-power/2011-08-19-solar-pv-makes-most-sense-at-modest-size  Presently in the US large installations are growing faster than small ones.  Low-priced do it yourself kits at Lowe’s and third party installations have the potential to change that.   So does the dropping price of producing solar panels.  http://e360.yale.edu/feature/a_solar_panel_on_every_roof_in_us_still_a_distant_dream/2434/

5.  Scientists at Penn State speculate that contact with green aliens might be dangerous for our civilization, which they could view as toxic.  http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/aug/18/aliens-destroy-humanity-protect-civilisations  A Penn State philosopher draws ten consequences from his assertion that climate change is an ethical problem (which seems to be the position of the aliens).  http://rockblogs.psu.edu/climate/

6.  The financial crisis and the climate crisis have parallels.  In both cases we have brought them on by overusing resources—different forms of bad loans, with consequences postponed to the future (which is now in both cases).  The financial crisis has the capacity to awaken us to the climate crisis, and an energy transition has the potential to produce the economic activity, including the jobs, to allow us to extricate ourselves from the financial crisis.  http://e360.yale.edu/feature/living_far_beyond_our_means_time_to_put_the_eco_in_economy/2435/
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