[GWSG] US gvt. energy use down; US in transition; green cars; CCS w/baking soda; G'land's lakes; XL & ghg

[Tilley, Al]

1.  According to the US Energy Information Administration the government used less energy last year than it has since 1975.  The lowered consumption shows up broadly in both electricity and liquid fuels.  http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/u.s.-government-energy-consumption-at-lowest-level-since-1975



2.  Bloomberg New Energy Finance has released a report indicating that the US has turned toward an energy transition.  It augments the USEIA report above with a look at the entire economy, not just the government.  http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2015/02/04/report-wind-and-solar-energy-have-tripled-since-2008/  The actual methane leakage rate will moderate this report's emissions accounting (though the basic picture of energy transition remains valid).  The report includes natural gas along with renewables as if they were both green.  That is arguable only if the leakage rate is in the neighborhood of the EPA estimate of 1.5%. http://www.climatecentral.org/news/limiting-methane-leaks-critical-to-gas-climate-benefits-16020   The actual leakage rate in East Texas and North Dakota is about 10%.  http://www.eenews.net/stories/1060007693



3.  The American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy's site Greenercars.org provides comparative data and judgments on the environmental impact of all 2015 vehicles.  The site also now provides scores for all models since 2000.  http://greenercars.org/greenest-meanest/greenest  The data for the new Lexus CT 200H overstated the Lexus web site on gas mileage.  I recommend double checking the list, though it is a good place to start.



4.  Baking soda used as a carbon sorbent in a power plant's flue stream provides an order of magnitude increase in efficiency, adding promise to carbon capture and sequestration.  The storage medium would not be CO2 but solid, and stable, carbonate.    http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/02/150205083700.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+%28Latest+Science+News+--+ScienceDaily%29  FutureGen, a project to capture and store 90% if the carbon from a small power plant, has been cancelled.  It was to store CO2 in underground reservoirs below Illinois and Kentucky.  Some suspected the reservoirs would leak.  If the carbon is not stored indefinitely the project would have little point other than to defer warming.  http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/clean-coal-power-plant-killed-again/



5.  Meltwater lakes at the base of Greenland's glaciers increasingly destabilize the surrounding ice as temperatures rise, lending urgency to the project of limiting global warming.  http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/feb/05/greenlands-hidden-meltwater-lakes-store-up-trouble



6.  The EPA has concluded that approval of the Keystone XL pipeline would increase greenhouse gas emissions.  President Obama has said that if that were true the administration would not approve the pipeline.  http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/energy-and-resources/keystone-would-significantly-boost-oil-sands-emissions-us-environment-agency-says/article22758527/
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