[GWSG] Productivity vs. efficiency; GAO risk list; DOA cc warning; Donor's Trust; protesting XL; Ambri batteries

[Tilley, Al]

1.  The Alliance Commission on National Energy Policy has promoted a plan to double the amount of money produced per unit of energy nationally by 2030.  Within days the plan was embraced by President Obama in his State of the Union address.  http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/blog/post/2013/02/obama-and-the-reinvention-of-energy-efficiency?cmpid=WNL-Friday-February15-2013  I am not clear on the relationship between energy efficiency—how much energy we can save through more efficient use of current resources to ease the transition to renewable energy—and the energy productivity goals.  Energy efficiency as a goal will improve energy productivity (that is, less energy will be needed to serve the same economic ends), and perhaps increased productivity as a goal will serve efficiency and its implicit goal of a transition to renewable energy.  Still, is this not the old “energy intensity” scam with a bit of cosmetics?  The nature of the goal makes it more difficult to evaluate the programs serving it.  The President coupled the productivity goal with renewable energy generation goals, which is promising.  Less promising is his intent to use funds from the development of fossil fuels to fund the development of renewable energy.  http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2013/02/weighing-obamas-sotus-proposal-more-oil-drilling-to-fund-clean-energy?cmpid=WNL-Friday-February15-2013  Why develop that which so gravely imperils us, no matter what the profit nor how we use the money?  The president surely intends compromise with fossil fuel interests to ease the way politically for an effective climate program, but just as surely we no longer have the time for such compromises.

2.  Climate disruption, along with problems in weather forecasting, topped the General Accountability Office’s list of financial risks to the US government for this year.  Thanks to Brian Paradise for calling this to my attention.  http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/feb/14/obama-too-slowly-climate-change

3.  The US Department of Agriculture reports that farms and ranches are under increasing risk from the droughts, floods, and heat that arise from climate disruption.  http://www.ibtimes.com/climate-change-threatens-us-agriculture-usda-report-1089792

4.  Donor’s Trust shields its sponsors from public view.  Its top activity is climate denial, for which it has contributed $118 million to 102 organizations.  http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/feb/14/donors-trust-funding-climate-denial-networks

5. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., explains why he got himself arrested to protest the Keystone XL pipeline.  Besides endangering the conditions of life on earth, the shale oil pipeline may kill more jobs than it creates, all in order to allow Canada to export a particularly dirty fuel through US ports (because Canadians will not allow the oil companies to export it through theirs).  http://ecowatch.org/2013/why-i-got-arrested-at-white-house/

6.  Pumped energy storage leads current methods for commercial application.  It has high initial cost but lasts indefinitely and is scalable for heavy power loads.  It also requires lots of water and available heights.  Ambri is test marketing a large liquid metal battery which will cost five times as much as pumped storage but can be used anywhere.  The new batteries are cheap to produce and long lasting, compared to conventional batteries.  http://www.technologyreview.com/featuredstory/511081/ambris-better-grid-battery/?utm_campaign=newsletters&utm_source=newsletter-weekly-energy&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20130218
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