[GWSG] Power balloons; adapting plankton; degrading Arctic; accelerating CH4; BioMimicry; fast change; the moral case

[Tilley, Al]

1.  The Canadian company Hydrostor is piloting energy storage using excess power to fill submerged balloons with air and using that air to drive turbines to recover the power.  Cost is said to be less than half that of lithium-ion batteries with over twice the cycle life, and maintenance costs are very low.  http://cleantechnica.com/2015/11/25/underwater-balloons-store-energy-canadian-project/?utm_source=Cleantechnica+News&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=32410c07f8-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_term=0_b9b83ee7eb-32410c07f8-331994013



2.  An experiment over 700 generations of coccolithophore phytoplankton found that they were able to adapt to higher temperatures and higher acidity by increased growth and calcification.  It is possible that if the adaptation is widespread it could play a role in the eventual sequestration of the carbon we are dumping into the ecosystem.  http://news.sfsu.edu/carbon-sequestering-ocean-plants-may-cope-climate-changes-over-long-run  The abstract of the article:  http://www.sciencemag.org/content/early/2015/11/24/science.aaa8026



3.  The Arctic climate is changing forty times faster than models predicted, endangering the people of the region.  http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/climate-change-inuit-1.3338870  To get an idea of who these people are (or were in the recent past) and of what we are losing, see Knud Rasmussen, Across Arctic America (1927, repr. 1999, U of Alaska P).  The book reports an expedition across the North American Arctic in 1921-24 led by a part-Inuit Greenland Dane.  http://smile.amazon.com/Across-Arctic-America-Narrative-Expedition/dp/0912006943/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1448622051&sr=1-1&keywords=across+arctic+america



4.  A Swedish study confirms that warming is being accelerated by methane released in a positive feedback.  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/11/151126104037.htm



5.  In her 21 minute video Janine Benyus introduces BioMimicry-imitations, including commercial projects, based on the principles through which life forms adapt to their environment.  For example, study of the hydrodynamics of fish schools led to a configuration for vertical axis wind turbines which increased their power productivity tenfold; a study of how fish desalinate water led to a new kind of efficient desalination membrane which uses no energy.  The general project is to construct a sustainable culture.  http://climatecrocks.com/2015/11/27/the-weekend-wonk-janine-benyus-and-biomimicry/



6.  The history of infrastructure transitions indicates that our energy transition could be quite rapid.  (I'm used to reading irritating claims that it must take generations-as the fossil fuel corporations wish.  If that happens there won't be any, soon enough.)  http://theconversation.com/how-fast-can-we-transition-to-a-low-carbon-energy-system-51018?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=The+Weekend+Conversation+-+3884&utm_content=The+Weekend+Conversation+-+3884+CID_efc8af3a1156a4a5ec40db2657aa5b04&utm_source=campaign_monitor_us&utm_term=How%20fast%20can%20we%20transition%20to%20a%20low-carbon%20energy%20system



7. Philosopher Lawrence Torcello explains why he was among the 2000 academics making an appeal for climate action on moral grounds this week in Paris.  http://theconversation.com/making-the-moral-case-on-climate-change-ahead-of-paris-summit-50888?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=The+Weekend+Conversation+-+3884&utm_content=The+Weekend+Conversation+-+3884+CID_efc8af3a1156a4a5ec40db2657aa5b04&utm_source=campaign_monitor_us&utm_term=Making%20the%20moral%20case%20on%20climate%20change%20ahead%20of%20Paris%20summit  ?

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