[GWSG] SLR hockey; 14 ways to reduce; heliostat florets; BP wind; solar mistake?; carbon bubble; subsidy impact

[Tilley, Al]

1.  Oneclimate interviewed several experts at the meeting of the American Geophysical Union for this 7 minute video, “Climate and Sea Level: An Emerging Hockey Stick.”  http://oneworldgroup.org/2012/01/11/climate-and-sea-level-an-emerging-hockey-stick/

2.  A Science article suggests 14 cost effective ways to control soot and methane emissions.  http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=how-to-buy-time-to-combat-climate-change-cut-soot-methane

3.  The florets of a sunflower are aligned in a Fermat spiral.  Arranging the mirrors of a concentrating solar plant similarly improves efficiency by .36% and reduces land use by 15.8%.  The larger the array, the greater the effect.  http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2012/01/sunflower-inspires-new-space-saving-csp-layout?cmpid=WNL-Wednesday-January18-2012

4.  BP Wind Energy and Sempra U.S. Gas and Power are combining for a $1 billion pair of wind farms in Kansas and Pennsylvania to generate 560 megawatts of energy.  They will be in operation by the end of the year, both to be managed by BP.  http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2012/01/1-billion-deal-bp-sempra-combine-on-projects-in-pennsylvania-kansas?cmpid=WNL-Wednesday-January18-2012  BP projects that fossil fuels will continue to be the main source of energy and puts most of its investments there.  Their chief economist said that the political climate might shift toward renewables if we began to talk seriously about such topics as adaptation.  http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2012/01/20/4

5.  An article in Der Spiegel argues that Germany would have done better to put the money they have spent to develop solar power into other renewable sources—wind, geothermal, hydropower, biomass.  Germany’s solar resources have proved weak and intermittent.  http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,809439,00.html  In the US, 700 megawatts of geothermal projects are in the pipeline for completion before subsidies lapse in 2013, but the industry is hampered by the lack of a national energy policy (as are other efforts to develop renewable energy).  http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2012/01/geothermal-heating-up-in-nevada-despite-frigid-industry-climate?cmpid=WNL-Friday-January20-2012

6.  An English group of investors, politicians, and scientists has warned that fossil fuel reserves are subprime assets which pose a great risk to investors because effective action on climate will render them increasingly worthless.  The reserves may not ever—should not ever—be used.    http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/jan/19/fossil-fuels-sub-prime-mervyn-king?newsfeed=true

7.  The Chief Economist of the International Energy Agency reports that ending subsidies for fossil fuels would have the effect of taking us half way to the necessary emissions reduction.  37 countries spent $409 billion to artificially lower the cost of fossil fuels in 2010.  http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/jan/19/fossil-fuel-subsidies-carbon-target
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