[GWSG] Liquid air battery; IEA: 6 mos. left; IEA's plan; emissions in lock down; Mulvey's warning; McKibben's hope

[Tilley, Al]

1. The transition to carbon-free energy will require either energy storage, such as batteries or pumped hydro, or intermittent power sources such as gas peaker plants and diesel generators. The UK is building a 250MWh liquid air energy storage system, twice as big as the largest chemical battery, the Big Tesla in Australia. It will begin operating in 2022. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jun/18/worlds-biggest-liquid-air-battery-starts-construction-in-uk



2. Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), warns that we have six months to develop renewables to supply the post-lockdown surge in energy demand. If we do not the emissions from fossil fuels will surge and overwhelm efforts to remain with safe (actually, reasonably risky) limits. A green recovery would be a prodigious job creator and economy stimulator, in addition to saving the future of current life forms on the planet. So far the money is trending toward high carbon energy.  https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jun/18/world-has-six-months-to-avert-climate-crisis-says-energy-expert



3. The IEA has released a green recovery plan which would keep emissions below their 2019 peak. https://www.carbonbrief.org/iea-green-coronavirus-recovery-would-keep-global-emissions-below-2019-peak?utm_campaign=Carbon%20Brief%20Daily%20Briefing&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Revue%20newsletter



4. As of April, emissions from fossil fuels were down by 17%. Now they have climbed to 5% down. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/06/17/climate/virus-emissions-reopening.html



5. In “Burning Down the House: The Global Environmental Consequences of Tyranny in the United States” Stephen Mulkey draws on his experience as a ecologist, adviser to Florida’s state government, and program officer for the National Science Foundation in 2017 to survey the role of the US in the climate crisis.  “The best we can do as individuals is to prepare our kids to live in a hard world.” https://environmentalcentury.net/2020/06/17/burning-down-the-house-the-global-environmental-consequences-of-tyranny-in-the-united-states/



6. Bill McKibben finds hope of a paradigm shift in public opinion which will support effective and timely climate action. https://www.newyorker.com/news/annals-of-a-warming-planet/how-public-opinion-changes-for-the-better

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