[GWSG] 13 Us; corps vs. planet; gas places 2nd; Hg from permafrost; ecosystems; prophecy scores; 100% renewable

[Tilley, Al]

1. Thirteen universities, including Cal Tech, U CA, SUNY, and the U of WA have joined the University Climate Change Coalition, pledging to cut their carbon emissions and to work for climate action in their communities.  https://grist.org/briefly/13-universities-band-together-to-fight-climate-change/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=daily



2. Peter Dauvergne's book Will Big Business Destroy Our Planet? observes that at best transnational corporations will work for their own sustainability, not the earth's. Governments must counter destructive corporate policies. https://mailchi.mp/climatenewsnetwork/big-business-threatens-planets-future?e=ea792e87f2



3. For the fourth year in a row, new renewable energy in the US has exceeded new natural gas (though by a small margin). Renewables now account for 20% of US energy generation. No new coal power was added in 2017. https://cleantechnica.com/2018/02/07/new-us-renewable-energy-capacity-beats-natural-gas-fourth-year-running-renewables-now-account-20/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+IM-cleantechnica+%28CleanTechnica%29



4. Arctic permafrost contains twice as much mercury as all other soils, the atmosphere, and the oceans combined. Thawing poses a global pollution threat. https://climatecrocks.com/2018/02/08/permafrost-now-with-added-mercury/ The article itself:   http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2017GL075571/full



5. Three studies-of the effects of seabird poop on climate, of methane releases from the Amazon, and of the effects of algae on Greenland's albedo-remind us that the earth's environment is a complex system of interactions, still incompletely understood. https://mailchi.mp/climatenewsnetwork/seabird-poop-warms-the-earth-and-cools-it?e=ea792e87f2



6. The Chief Editor of Renewable Energy World went back to check the accuracy of predictions for 2020 they printed ten years ago when she first took a job there.  They underestimated solar pv, did not talk about storage, and were much too pessimistic about Chinese wind, but overall they did pretty well.  http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/articles/print/volume-21/issue-1/departments/from-the-editor/when-we-talk-about-the-future-of-renewables-we-re-only-right-about-half-the-time.html?cmpid=enl_rew_renewable_energy_news_2018-02-09&pwhid=0064918d43befb8a690dd568b8f217edbb3b02e9198549c12236d4755aa8e299a6f766c3089d548f6dede2bde19e4024bb026a0f81e2a1b83ae47eadbc77bb41&eid=291059574&bid=1998773



7. Last August a team led by Stanford's Mark Jacobson published a scheme to take 139 countries to 100% renewable power by 2050. Their assumptions about storage were challenged. A new paper in response divides the countries into twenty regions and checks grid stability every thirty seconds for five years. No problems and no blackouts are anticipated under any of the multiple solutions proposed. The system will be 75% cheaper than fossil power (largely because of avoided health costs) and require only half the power (because it takes a lot of power to discover, mine, process, and transport fossil fuels). The wind turbines needed would reduce global warming by 3% and quickly (by reducing water vapor). Jacobson: "Based on these results, I can more confidently state that there is no technical or economic barrier to transitioning the entire world to 100 percent clean renewable energy with a stable electric grid at low cost." https://cleantechnica.com/2018/02/08/new-jacobson-study-draws-road-map-100-renewable-energy/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+IM-cleantechnica+%28CleanTechnica%29  ?

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