[GWSG] CSP tracks PV; 100 GW for India; 25 spots; the Pope's Encyclical; love motive; Envision; nuclear's failure

[Tilley, Al]

1.  Concentrating solar power (CSP) stores energy as heat, and that is 20-100 times cheaper than electrical storage, and more efficient.  The amount of CSP began to grow about ten years ago, and has soared since then.  As PV takes a greater share of the energy market CSP becomes ever more attractive because its energy storage capacity evens out the load economically.  A really cheap battery technology could change the picture.    http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/06/10/3455181/concentrating-solar-power-csp-storage/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=cptop3&elq=a47e342170e343849dda04caf42cc151&elqCampaignId=3075&elqaid=25827&elqat=1&elqTrackId=eeeddecc37304c1796e4a030fd47529e  55 gigawatts of solar pv will be installed globally in 2015, up 36% over 2014.  http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/55-gw-of-solar-pv-will-be-installed-globally-in-2015-up-36-over-2014?utm_source=Daily&utm_medium=Headline&utm_campaign=GTMDaily



2.  India has 4.5 gigawatts of installed solar.  It has set a goal of 100 GW by 2022, 40 GW of rooftop and 60 GW of utility-scale solar power.  That is a five-fold increase in its target.    http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/06/17/3670558/india-makes-huge-solar-commitment-100-gigawatts/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=cptop3



3.  The Weather Channel is running a series of 25 two minute spots on climate disruption, delivered by people intended to be influential with a generally conservative audience, but including, for example, John Holdren as well as Henry Paulson.  A great deal of expertise is represented—try Cary Fowler on crop diversity, Sherri Goodman on climate and national security, or George Luber on climate and health—as well as direct experience of climate change effects.  The spots are linked in the Climate Progress article (click “see for yourself” at the end).  http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/06/15/3669379/weather-channel-climate-change/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=cptop3



4.  Pope Francis has released the Encyclical “Laudato Si,” a careful call to action on climate in the context of many issues, and generally a consideration of what it means to be born on this planet, today.  The Washington Post story links to the 184 pages of the text.  The pages are brief, only a couple of succinct paragraphs.  It is a Christian document but likely to resonate with non-Christians as well (save for some doctrinal passages).  http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/how-pope-franciss-not-yet-official-document-on-climate-change-is-already-stirring-controversy/2015/06/17/ef4d46be-14fe-11e5-9518-f9e0a8959f32_story.html#


5.  While what animates us to work toward a transition to renewable energy may involve anger against fossil fuel companies, or the financial risk of not making the change and the rewards of undertaking it, our actions are most likely to be rooted in our love of the natural world and of one another in our deep interdependence, as the Pope’s Encyclical remind us.  http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jun/16/pope-encyclical-value-of-living-world



6.  The US Green Building Council uses the LEED rating system to gauge the sustainability of buildings.  Envision is a system devised to rate the sustainability of infrastructure projects such as highways and sewers.  http://enr.construction.com/infrastructure/environment/2015/0622-envision-tool-moves-sustainability-measure-beyond-buildings.asp



7.  The Institute for Energy and the Environment at the Vermont Law School has prepared a report on the financial failure of nuclear power.  Power Shift: The Deployment of a 21st Century Sector and the Nuclear War to Stop it seems to focus on Ohio (I was unable to find the report online).  “Looking forward, nuclear is totally unrealistic as a low-carbon resource."  http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/how-pope-franciss-not-yet-official-document-on-climate-change-is-already-stirring-controversy/2015/06/17/ef4d46be-14fe-11e5-9518-f9e0a8959f32_story.html#  The problem with nuclear power is general in the US and France.  The two growth areas are China and India, who are presumably building cheaper and have questionable safety provisions.  Advanced reactors are under development in the US and may yet find a viable role in the nation’s energy supply.   http://climatecrocks.com/2015/06/18/more-trouble-for-nuclear-industry-as-costs-explode-efficiency-renewables-dampen-demand/
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