[GWSG] Biden's plan; perovskite & community solar; with a guide; Heliogen; chemical recycling shuck; deforestation a threat

[Tilley, Al]

1.  Joe Biden has called for 100% clean electricity by 2035. The WA Post’s state-by-state analysis shows who will have to work hardest to achieve that. Last year we generated 38% of our electricity cleanly by Biden’s standards. Allowable sources include nuclear, biomass, and hydroelectric power as well as wind and solar, which accounted for 10%. https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2020/07/30/biden-calls-100-percent-clean-electricity-by-2035-heres-how-far-we-have-go/?arc404=true

2. A new manufacturing method for perovskite cells is leading to yet cheaper solar power, which is yet more bad news for the gas industry. Toward the end of the article are info and links concerning the Solar Partnerships, a revived initiative from the Obama administration with the goal of making solar power available to everyone in the US by 2025 through the development of community solar. https://cleantechnica.com/2020/08/01/new-perovskite-solar-cell-puts-another-nail-in-the-natural-gas-coffin/
Here is the National Community Solar Partnership website with an impressive list of partners so far. https://www.energy.gov/eere/solar/national-community-solar-partnership

3. CleanTechnica has published a Community Solar guide. What’s happening? What’s new? (It misses the Solar Partnerships! But still has lots of info.)  https://cleantechnica.com/2020/08/03/community-solar-power-whats-happening-whats-new/

4. Heliogen uses concentrating solar guided by AI to generate the heat and power necessary for such industrial processes as iron and steel manufacturing. The power costs $.01/kWh, 33-50% less than fossil fuels. Over 1,000 firms have expressed an interest. https://www.fastcompany.com/90526012/most-creative-people-2020-bill-gross

5. Chemical recycling converts plastics into fuels. “It is an expensive and complicated way to burn fossil fuels.” It depends on taxpayer subsidies, providing harmful emissions at every step in the process.  https://grist.org/climate/this-solution-to-the-plastic-crisis-is-really-just-another-way-to-burn-fossil-fuels/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=daily

6. A study published in Nature Scientific Reports found that deforestation will deprive humanity of crucial supports within two to four decades—unless the current process is interrupted, perhaps by a massive new energy source such as nuclear fusion, or by a “fundamental civilizational transformation” to a more earth-conscious culture. The authors give us about a 10% chance. https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/akzn5a/theoretical-physicists-say-90-chance-of-societal-collapse-within-several-decades
I would argue that the necessary consciousness is growing. See Bron Taylor’s Dark Green Religion: Nature Spirituality and the Planetary Future.
The Nature paper has been published in open access. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-63657-6

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