[GWSG] Googled disinfo; 100% clean okay; backward lurch; forward momentum; ocean battery; friendly supernovae

[Tilley, Al]

1. If you do a search on something related to climate the first thing you will probably see is an ad related to your interest. About one in five of those are paid for by the fossil fuel industry, as you may have guessed. More insidiously, the “snippets,” the quotations from sources identified as particularly relevant to your search, are often also corporate propaganda. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/jan/05/fossil-fuel-firms-among-biggest-spenders-on-google-ads-that-look-like-search-results



2. “A study led by Stanford University professor Mark Jacobson has demonstrated that the US energy system running on wind, water and solar, coupled with storage, not only avoids blackouts but lowers energy requirements and consumer costs while creating millions of jobs, improving health, and freeing up land.” The standard fossil fuel talking points are that renewable energy will be less reliable and more expensive. Ha. The specifics of the study are quite encouraging. The initial graph shows how much cheaper renewables have become than any other power source.     https://climatecrocks.com/2022/01/09/new-analysis-clean-energy-grid-with-no-blackouts/

The Stanford press release goes into more detail. For example, the study assumes no new hydroelectric power. It projects that 100% renewables would take up significantly less land than is currently devoted to fossil fuels. Long-duration batteries are “neither useful nor needed.” Storage is accomplished through linking currently available batteries which store power for four hours or less.   https://woods.stanford.edu/news/stanford-researchers-point-way-avoiding-blackouts-clean-renewable-energy

The abstract of the article provides more information and a chance to buy the full text. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0960148121016499?via%3Dihub



3. US greenhouse gas emissions surged last year. While still below the pre-covid level, they reflected a rise in coal power inconsistent with our climate objectives. A five-minute video on the measurement of global emissions helps explain the gap between our reported emissions and the elevated levels indicated by direct measurement. In the US, we know what we need to do but have trouble carrying through. https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/01/10/us-emissions-surged-2021-putting-nation-further-off-track-its-climate-targets/



4. Forbes assembles five forecasts for 2022 which expect declining coal use, a jump in renewable energy, and cleaner transportation, including the beginning of a US conversion to electric vehicles. https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/01/10/us-emissions-surged-2021-putting-nation-further-off-track-its-climate-targets/



 5. An Ocean Battery stores excess energy from offshore wind in bladders on the sea floor using a version of pumped hydro. It is efficient, secure, robust, and uses no toxic or rare materials. (I can find nothing on projected storage costs, but it doesn’t look too expensive. Units have an expected lifetime of 20 years with unlimited cycles.)  https://newatlas.com/energy/ocean-battery-renewable-energy-storage/



6. Life on earth may have depended on a high number of supernovae ionizing the atmosphere. The link to clouds may have some implications for climate. https://phys.org/news/2022-01-supernovae-life-earth.html?utm_source=nwletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=weekly-nwletter

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