[GWSG] Prickly pears; Kochs buy news outlets; HFC ban in congress; mirror cooling; natural wealth

[Tilley, Al]

1. The prickly pear cactus is nutritious for man and beast, grows with little cultivation, and has a range of industrial uses. Our growing number of dry, hot areas may find them a useful crop. https://cleantechnica.com/2017/11/27/prickly-pear-cactus-crop-climate-changed-future-researchers-argue-yes/



2. The Koch brothers are backing a purchase of Time magazine. People, Fortune, and Sports Illustrated are part of the deal. The Kochs have for decades financed anti-climate science propaganda. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/nov/27/koch-brothers-time-magazine-media-power



3.  You may remember that a federal court had blocked US participation in the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, intended to cut use of hydrofluorocarbons, which are otherwise due to constitute 10% of our greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The treaty is now in effect internationally. The US could participate if congress were to ratify it; the Trump administration is submitting the amendment for ratification. https://insideclimatenews.org/news/27112017/global-warming-hfcs-trump-refrigerator-air-conditioning-montreal-protocol-slcp-climate-change

I generally don't list pending legislation, but this treaty is sort of already enacted. I plan to mention it again when the US congress passes it. Air travel, ocean shipping, and cement production each contribute about 5% of our emissions; HFCs are as bad as two of those combined. Or, you may think of them as about as large an emissions source as agriculture (excluding land use change and forestry). https://www.c2es.org/content/international-emissions/



4. A heated object radiates heat, which heats the surrounding air, returning the heat to the object. A narrow band of infrared radiation escapes, though, leaving the object cooler than the surrounding air. Mirrors tuned to this band can augment refrigeration and air conditioning by about 20% in buildings while exhausting heat to the upper atmosphere or to space. https://www.technologyreview.com/s/609321/how-high-tech-mirrors-can-send-heat-into-space/?utm_source=MIT+Technology+Review&utm_campaign=f1aad61515-weekly_roundup_2017-11-30_edit&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_997ed6f472-f1aad61515-154060389&goal=0_997ed6f472-f1aad61515-154060389&mc_cid=f1aad61515&mc_eid=fc22084f2f



5. An Oxford U study warns that we have failed to include considerations of the wealth of nature in our economic conceptions when there is no value to be had without it. https://cleantechnica.com/2017/11/29/oxford-economists-warn-vanishing-wealth-nature/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+IM-cleantechnica+%28CleanTechnica%29 ?

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