[GWSG] CCS in Kemper Cty.; US drought prospects; reliable wind; India's goals; biomass warnings; straight talk

[Tilley, Al]

1.  Grist's Sara Bernard has provided an unusually thorough story describing the Southern Company's partially completed model CCS coal gasification plant in Kemper County, Mississippi, designed to capture much of the noxious components in its fuel and to sequester 65% of its CO2.  Its impact on the local people is a mirror of the impact it promises for the world, and the prospect is grim.  Studies such as this should help ensure an expansion based on such a model does not come to pass.  The Grist story includes consideration of the history and nature of the project, recorded and reported interviews concerning its general and local impact, photos, and brief videos.  Among the things I learned: CO2 used to drive oil out of voids in the earth has rather quickly corroded pipes meant to contain it and escaped to the atmosphere; this model CCS project is geared to strip mine and exploit the dirtiest coal and then get on to the next area, much like mountain top removal and with similar lack of concern for the long term health of the earth.   http://exp.grist.org/clean-coal



2.  A new study of the likelihood of drought in the US central plains and southwest indicates a high chance this century of decades-long droughts, far worse than any in the last thousand years.  http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/feb/12/us-faces-worst-droughts-1000-years-climate-change-predict-scientists



3.  At the grid level, wind is generally more reliable than conventional base load sources.  http://www.midwestenergynews.com/2015/02/13/blowing-away-myths-study-says-wind-energy-could-be-even-more-reliable-than-baseload-power/



4.  India's new goal of 100 gigawatts of solar by 2022 promises to add around a million new jobs and greatly improve access to energy.  They are also adding 60 GW of wind to a currently installed total of 250 GW of energy.  http://www.aninews.in/newsdetail2/story203900/india-039-s-new-renewable-energy-goals-promise-up-to-one-million-new-jobs.html



5.  In spite of what the EPA and the European Union say, burning biomass for power is not necessarily carbon neutral and could lead to deforestation, say a group of scientists.  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/11/epa-biomass-climate-carbon_n_6664784.html



6.  Dennis Bushnell, chief scientist for NASA at the Langley Research Center, gave an interview on Jacksonville's WJCT February 11.  His thoughts on food, fuel, and fresh water from aquaculture; the pace of sea level rise; the promise of renewables; and the fate of Florida and other coastal areas can be found between minutes 25:30 and 40 on the linked tape.  He shares why he is hopeful that we will be able to cope with the changes ahead in some of the straightest and best informed talk I have heard on the subject.  Thanks to Sarah Boren for the chance to hear him.  http://www.wjct.org/fcc-february-11-2015/
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