[GWSG] Ideology vs. experience; emission controls; World Bank; costs; solar group; solar glue; DDPP thanksgiving

[Tilley, Al]

1.  Ideology influences views on climate science more than does experience of the changes themselves.  Further, one study finds little or no overlap between the news sources of US liberals and conservatives.  “It’s like we have no common facts anymore.”        http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-politics-bias-climate-change-20141124-story.html

2.  Two thirds of Americans support limits on carbon dioxide emissions even if it means higher power prices, though only one in ten know that over 90% of scientists in the field hold humans responsible for climate disruption.  http://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/us-poll-finds-most-back-limits-on-coal-emissions-even-if-power-prices-rise-20141120-11q6ly.html  CleanTechnica supplies further information, including the costs and benefits of emissions controls, past and pending.  http://cleantechnica.com/2014/11/24/67-americans-support-federal-co2-regulations/?utm_source=Cleantechnica+News&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=b2c0d92746-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_term=0_b9b83ee7eb-b2c0d92746-331994013

3.  Alarmed by its study of the impact of the climate disruption already locked in by existing emissions, the World Bank has stated its intention to concentrate its efforts on developing renewable energy.  http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/nov/23/world-bank-to-focus-future-investment-on-clean-energy

4.  The cost of utility-scale solar energy is now as low as 5.6 cents a kilowatt hour, and wind energy can be had for 1.4 cents.  The low-end price for natural gas is 6.1 cents, and for coal, 6.6 cents.  (Of course the real cost of fossil fuels is arbitrary.  It depends on what kind of value you place on the planet.)  http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/24/business/energy-environment/solar-and-wind-energy-start-to-win-on-price-vs-conventional-fuels.html?emc=edit_th_20141124&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=43628374
Peter Sinclair has assembled some materials (including one dud video) in extension of the Times story on renewables.  http://climatecrocks.com/2014/11/25/renewables-take-the-lead-they-wont-look-back/

5.  The World Wildlife Fund has organized a group purchase of rooftop solar systems through Geostellar, which uses local contractors and offers lease arrangements and financing options.  At $2.80-3.20 a watt, installed, prices are generally 35% below the national average.  Any homeowner can act as a member of the purchase group through the end of the year.  Groups may join companies (such as Johnson & Johnson, Cisco, National Geographic, and 3M) already in the program.  http://www.greenbiz.com/article/cisco-3m-offer-discounted-solar-employee-benefit

6.  A new rooftop solar installation system uses glue to attach its flexible panels to the roof, performs its own safety checks, and cuts the cost of a typical system by 2/3.  http://www.technologyreview.com/news/532731/solar-panels-that-configure-themselves/?utm_campaign=newsletters&utm_source=newsletter-weekly-energy&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20141124

7.  The Deep Decarbonization Pathway Project (DDPP) has fifteen teams, one for each high emitting country, working since last fall to develop programs with a goal of limiting heating to 2°.  They have released a general report and the US report.  Success will depend not only on implementing programs in the individual countries but on global coordination.    http://grist.org/climate-energy/yes-we-can-beat-climate-change-but-it-will-take-massive-international-government-coordination/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=Daily%2520Nov%252025&utm_campaign=daily  The general DDPP report (with chapters for each of the fifteen countries) was presented at the UN climate summit in September.  The US target is 80% emissions reductions on a 1990 base by 2050.  The US report, released November 20, shows how it could be done using any of four pathways: High Renewable, High Nuclear, High CCS, and Mixed.  The incremental cost would be on the order of 1% of GDP (not including non-energy benefits, and making quite conservative estimates).  http://unsdsn.org/what-we-do/deep-decarbonization-pathways/   The DDPP is a major effort of major players.  It is the most hopeful thing going on in the world to my knowledge, and worth a thanksgiving all its own.  Obama’s recent program of reducing emissions by 26-28% on a 2005 base by 2025 is consistent with the goals of the report (US report, page 17).
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.unf.edu/pipermail/gwsg/attachments/20141125/b2eeec07/attachment.html