[GWSG] Case for nukes, gas, CCS; solar desalination; US heat wave; more to come; hidden deaths; corps back C tax

[Tilley, Al]

1.  A print struggle is in progress in the PNAS over an article published by Mark Jacobson et al. in 2015 detailing a plan to move the US to 100% renewable energy by mid-century.  A challenge to the plan and Jacobson's response are in the current issue.  Of the articles on the dispute, I found this rebuttal by Jacobson the most compelling.  It links to the two PNAS pieces.  Tom Larson sent a link to this EcoWatch article.  https://www.ecowatch.com/pnas-jacobson-renewable-energy-2444465393.html?utm_source=EcoWatch+List&utm_campaign=32fcc437f9-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_49c7d43dc9-32fcc437f9-85965093  Other interesting treatments are in the MIT Technology Review (sympathetic to the challenge) and in the WA Post by Chris Mooney, who illustrates some of the technical difficulties under discussion.  MIT Tech:  https://www.technologyreview.com/s/608126/in-sharp-rebuttal-scientists-squash-hopes-for-100-percent-renewables/  Mooney, WA Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/06/19/a-bitter-scientific-debate-just-erupted-over-the-future-of-the-u-s-electric-grid/?utm_term=.2b4d234a91e0



2.  A new desalination process uses sunlight alone.  The process is appropriate for home use and can scale up to communities.  The off-grid system could assist the one billion people who lack access to fresh water, and those who will find themselves in water stress through drought.  https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/06/170619165423.htm



3.  Heat waves are becoming more frequent and stronger in the southern US.  When the heat nears 120F, the air becomes too thin to support airplanes.  At first takeoff weight is restricted, and then no planes can fly at all.  Phoenix has had to cancel fifty flights in the current heat wave.  http://www.climatecentral.org/news/phoenix-heat-wave-planes-takeoff-21558?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+climatecentral%2FdjOO+Climate+Central+-+Full+Feed



4.  Lethal heat waves are expected to increase in the coming decades.  A plot of excess deaths juxtaposes humidity and heat (30C = 86F).  An interactive map shows the areas most at risk at a given time in the coming century.  https://www.carbonbrief.org/billions-face-deadly-threshold-heat-extremes-2100-study



5.  In the UK (as in the US), excess deaths from heat waves are usually obscured except in the most extreme cases.  https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jun/21/heatwaves-national-emergency-public-need-to-know



6.  A large group of corporations, including major oil companies, are supporting a $40/ton carbon tax, with proceeds returned to the public as dividends.    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jun/20/exxon-bp-shell-oil-climate-change   Most commentary remarks that the proposal has little chance of being enacted by the US congress.  Many distrust the good faith of the oil companies.  The proposal is, however, what we need, and could make the path toward the C tax easier.?

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.unf.edu/pipermail/gwsg/attachments/20170621/fb837640/attachment.html>