[GWSG] No batteries required; nor nukes, nor CH4, nor biofuel; Arctic N2O; CH4 from trees; and wetlands; Hansen's drafts; UK net-zero by 2050

[Tilley, Al]

1. A persistent meme is that we cannot supply significant renewable power without new battery technology. Experience and the EU plans say it is not so. https://thinkprogress.org/europe-will-be-90-renewable-powered-in-two-decades-experts-say-8db3e7190bb7/
[https://thinkprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/GettyImages-Germany-wind-power-Mecklenburg.jpg?w=1024&h=140&crop=1]<https://thinkprogress.org/europe-will-be-90-renewable-powered-in-two-decades-experts-say-8db3e7190bb7/>
A 100% renewable grid isn’t just feasible, it’s in the works in Europe - thinkprogress.org<https://thinkprogress.org/europe-will-be-90-renewable-powered-in-two-decades-experts-say-8db3e7190bb7/>
thinkprogress.org
A 100% renewable grid isn’t just feasible, it’s in the works in Europe Europe will be 90% renewable powered in two decades, experts say.


2. Another insidious commonplace is that burning methane somehow belongs in or is necessary to the transition to renewable energy. A cousin is the self-contradictory notion that now we are in a crisis and must turn to nuclear power (which takes far too long in development to be of use, even if it were a good way to boil water).  I am going to rerun the Clean Technica piece on Stanford professor Mark Jacobson’s plan to convert to 100% renewable energy economically with no fossil fuels, biofuels, or nuclear power. https://cleantechnica.com/2019/01/24/mark-jacobson-has-a-plan-to-convert-the-world-to-100-renewable-energy-is-it-realistic/
[https://cleantechnica.com/files/2018/11/Renewables-Wind-and-Solar.jpg]<https://cleantechnica.com/2019/01/24/mark-jacobson-has-a-plan-to-convert-the-world-to-100-renewable-energy-is-it-realistic/>
Mark Jacobson Has A Plan To Convert The World To 100% Renewable Energy. Is It Realistic? | CleanTechnica<https://cleantechnica.com/2019/01/24/mark-jacobson-has-a-plan-to-convert-the-world-to-100-renewable-energy-is-it-realistic/>
cleantechnica.com
Mark Jacobson of Stanford and his colleagues have created a road map for how the nations of the world can transition to 100% renewable energy quickly and safely. Are his ideas realistic?


3. Nitrous oxide is 300 times as potent as CO2 in its greenhouse effect and is an ozone destroyer. New and much more extensive sampling shows a twelve-fold increase of Arctic emissions. https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2019/06/harvard-chemist-permafrost-n2o-levels-12-times-higher-than-expected/
[https://news.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/alaska-aerial-permafrost2500.jpg?w=945]<https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2019/06/harvard-chemist-permafrost-n2o-levels-12-times-higher-than-expected/>
Harvard chemist: Permafrost N2O levels 12 times higher than expected – Harvard Gazette - news.harvard.edu<https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2019/06/harvard-chemist-permafrost-n2o-levels-12-times-higher-than-expected/>
news.harvard.edu
A recent study shows that nitrous-oxide emissions from thawing Alaskan permafrost are about 12 times higher than previously assumed. About a quarter of the Northern Hemisphere is covered in permafrost, which is thawing at an increasing rate. And, even though researchers are monitoring carbon dioxide and methane, no one seems to be monitoring N2O, the most potent greenhouse gas.


4. Trees, especially in tropical wetlands, emit more methane than the Arctic permafrost. They also store carbon, including absorbed methane, and are most likely a net carbon sink. Their role in carbon sequestration will have to be recalculated taking their emissions into account.  https://e360.yale.edu/features/scientists-probe-the-surprising-role-of-trees-in-methane-emissions
[https://e360.yale.edu/assets/site/TupanaBrazil_MultipleTrees_AmauriAquiar_flickr_web.jpg]<https://e360.yale.edu/features/scientists-probe-the-surprising-role-of-trees-in-methane-emissions>
Scientists Zero in on Trees as a Surprisingly Large Source of Methane - Yale E360 - e360.yale.edu<https://e360.yale.edu/features/scientists-probe-the-surprising-role-of-trees-in-methane-emissions>
e360.yale.edu
Recent research is showing that trees, especially in tropical wetlands, are a major source of the second most important greenhouse gas in the atmosphere, methane. The knowledge that certain woodlands are high methane emitters should help guide reforestation projects in many parts of the world.

The initial work on methane emissions from trees was done in the Amazon and published in 2017. https://phys.org/news/2017-12-amazon-floodplain-trees-emit-methane.html
[https://3c1703fe8d.site.internapcdn.net/newman/gfx/news/hires/2017/amazon.jpg]<https://phys.org/news/2017-12-amazon-floodplain-trees-emit-methane.html>
Amazon floodplain trees emit as much methane as all Earth's oceans combined - Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and Technology<https://phys.org/news/2017-12-amazon-floodplain-trees-emit-methane.html>
phys.org
Environmental scientists from The Open University (OU) have discovered that trees growing in the Amazon floodplains surrounding the Amazon River emit as much methane (CH4) into the atmosphere as ...


5. Wetlands even without trees are a source of methane, and new wetlands are especially productive. https://phys.org/news/2019-06-unexpected-culpritwetlands-source-methane.html
[https://3c1703fe8d.site.internapcdn.net/newman/gfx/news/2019/unexpectedcu.jpg]<https://phys.org/news/2019-06-unexpected-culpritwetlands-source-methane.html>
Unexpected culprit—wetlands as source of methane - phys.org<https://phys.org/news/2019-06-unexpected-culpritwetlands-source-methane.html>
phys.org
Wetlands are an important part of the Earth's natural water management system. The complex system of plants, soil, and aquatic life serves as a reservoir that captures and cleans water. However ...



6. In Saving Earth, James Hansen supplies a few pages to summarize the current climate situation and his ongoing activities. In the first lines he links to 25 pages of his draft of Sophie’s Planet, which he hopes to finish this year. The chapters recount his activities before congress in 1982-89 in the context of the Children’s Trust lawsuit in which he and his granddaughter Sophie are engaged.  http://www.columbia.edu/~jeh1/mailings/2019/20190627_SavingEarth.pdf

7. The UK has enacted a goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, the first G-7 nation to pass such program into law. https://e360.yale.edu/digest/uks-goal-of-net-zero-carbon-by-2050-becomes-law
UK’s Goal of Net-Zero Carbon by 2050 Becomes Law - Yale E360<https://e360.yale.edu/digest/uks-goal-of-net-zero-carbon-by-2050-becomes-law>
e360.yale.edu
The United Kingdom’s goal to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 has now become law, making the UK the world’s first G7 country to establish this form of legally binding target, Reuters reported.The target was announced earlier this month by outgoing Prime Minister Theresa May, who called it a “crucial” plan for protecting the planet.


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