[GWSG] Concrete battery; mining hydrates; avoiding trolls; 4th climate assessment; record ghg levels; Ireland divests

Sat Nov 24 08:28:24 EST 2018

1. Long-term energy storage at half the current cost and 90% efficiency: use cranes to stack up giant concrete blocks when energy is abundant and generate energy when you need it by lowering them. The Swiss/Southern California start-up Energy Vault has gone public with the process. No batteries to manufacture, and the concrete blocks, which are from recycled material, don’t wear out as they are hoisted up and down. The standard configuration produces thirty-five megawatt-hours of storage. The full-scale test is scheduled for next year. https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/energy-vault-stacks-concrete-blocks-to-store-energy#gs.kw2Hqso
[https://www.greentechmedia.com/assets/content/cache/made/content/images/articles/Energy_Vault_tower_XL_500_334_80.jpg]<https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/energy-vault-stacks-concrete-blocks-to-store-energy#gs.kw2Hqso>

Can Newcomer Energy Vault Break the Curse of Mechanical Grid Storage? | Greentech Media<https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/energy-vault-stacks-concrete-blocks-to-store-energy#gs.kw2Hqso>
www.greentechmedia.com
Once constructed, a fully charged plant will stack the bricks around itself in a Babel-like tower; to discharge, the cranes drop the bricks down, generating power from the speedy descent.

2. Storing energy in concrete blocks is a great idea. Here is a truly horrible one: mine the methane hydrates on the continental shelf. The last thing we need is a new fossil fuel source, and the last thing we will do, perhaps, is tickle the methane hydrate dragon. If the hydrates are destabilized, they have the potential to release an overwhelming blast of methane. Meanwhile, mined methane is just more carbon in the atmosphere. http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20181119-why-flammable-ice-could-be-the-future-of-energy
[http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/wwfeatures/live/624_351/images/live/p0/6r/rp/p06rrprk.jpg]<http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20181119-why-flammable-ice-could-be-the-future-of-energy>

BBC - Future - Why ‘flammable ice’ could be the future of energy<http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20181119-why-flammable-ice-could-be-the-future-of-energy>
www.bbc.com
A Japanese government funded research programme is trying to do just that. Its initial mission, after several years of preliminary research scoping out likely spots for methane hydrates, was in ...

3. What approach works when you are trying to correct someone on climate? The answer depends on your conversant. If it is a troll, don’t bother. https://www.yaleclimateconnections.org/2018/11/focus-on-those-with-an-open-mind/
[https://www.yaleclimateconnections.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/1118_conversation.jpg]<https://www.yaleclimateconnections.org/2018/11/focus-on-those-with-an-open-mind/>

Focus on those with an open mind » Yale Climate Connections<https://www.yaleclimateconnections.org/2018/11/focus-on-those-with-an-open-mind/>
www.yaleclimateconnections.org
People resist climate information for varying reasons. Start by understanding your audience. A confession. That cartoon where someone is hunched over the computer, unable to tear away from furious typing, because someone is wrong on the internet? That was me. Or at least it used to be. As a lifelong ...

4. Volume two of the Fourth National Climate Assessment—Impacts, Risks, and Adaptation in the Unites States—conveys the urgency of climate action. “While mitigation and adaptation efforts have expanded substantially in the last four years, they do not yet approach the scale considered necessary to avoid substantial damages to the economy, environment, and human health over the coming decades.” Summary Findings, section 4.  https://nca2018.globalchange.gov/
[https://nca2018.globalchange.gov/img/background/nca4_cover.jpg]<https://nca2018.globalchange.gov/>

Fourth National Climate Assessment<https://nca2018.globalchange.gov/>
nca2018.globalchange.gov
This report is an authoritative assessment of the science of climate change, with a focus on the United States. It represents the second of two volumes of the Fourth National Climate Assessment, mandated by the Global Change Research Act of 1990.

The NY Times provides an analysis of the 1656-page report. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/23/climate/us-climate-report.html?emc=edit_th_181124&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=436283741124
[https://static01.nyt.com/images/2018/11/24/climate/24cli-report-2/merlin_146590158_372cbff0-acb2-4bf5-8308-f9b1c200405d-facebookJumbo.jpg]<https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/23/climate/us-climate-report.html?emc=edit_th_181124&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=436283741124>

U.S. Climate Report Warns of Damaged Environment and Shrinking Economy<https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/23/climate/us-climate-report.html?emc=edit_th_181124&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=436283741124>
www.nytimes.com
Without major action to rein in global warming, the American economy could lose 10 percent of G.D.P. by 2100, according to a report from 13 federal agencies.

5. Levels of carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide are at record levels. The commitments to action are increasing world-wide. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/nov/22/climate-heating-greenhouse-gases-at-record-levels-says-un
[https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/47644f98c35aa7cf210cc3d22d4756ce53899d18/243_268_3447_2068/master/3447.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&s=2a6f462bb18f8d460ba364a07df4bbca]<https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/nov/22/climate-heating-greenhouse-gases-at-record-levels-says-un>

Climate-heating greenhouse gases at record levels, says UN | Environment | The Guardian<https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/nov/22/climate-heating-greenhouse-gases-at-record-levels-says-un>
www.theguardian.com
The main greenhouse gas emissions driving climate change have all reached record levels, the UN’s meteorology experts have reported. Carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide are now far above ...

6. Ireland has voted to be the first country to divest from fossil fuels. At the very least we should expect that our governments should cease supporting the fossil fuel industry; Ireland is raising the topic for the rest of us. https://www.ecowatch.com/ireland-fossil-fuels-divestment-2621293680.html?utm_source=EcoWatch+List&utm_campaign=c76d8f34df-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_49c7d43dc9-c76d8f34df-85965093
Ireland to Become World's First Country to Divest From Fossil Fuels<https://www.ecowatch.com/ireland-fossil-fuels-divestment-2621293680.html?utm_source=EcoWatch+List&utm_campaign=c76d8f34df-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_49c7d43dc9-c76d8f34df-85965093>
www.ecowatch.com
👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

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