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<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">1.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>US greenhouse gas emissions decreased 5.8% from 2008 to 2009, according to the Energy Information Agency report.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>The drop was linked to the recession and the drop in prices for natural gas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Thanks to Tom Larson for the link.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>
</font></font><a href="http://www.eia.gov/environment/emissions/ghg_report/"><font size="3" face="Calibri">http://www.eia.gov/environment/emissions/ghg_report/</font></a></p>
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<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">2.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>An MIT team has produced an artificial leaf constructed with 3 cheap metals which uses sunlight to produce H and O from water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>It has the potential to produce cheap hydrogen as a fuel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Commercialization is expected to take 2-3 years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></font><a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/content/332/6025/25.full?sa_campaign=Email%2Fsntw%2F1-April-2011%2F10.1126%2Fscience.332.6025.25"><font size="3" face="Calibri">http://www.sciencemag.org/content/332/6025/25.full?sa_campaign=Email%2Fsntw%2F1-April-2011%2F10.1126%2Fscience.332.6025.25</font></a></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><o:p><font size="3" face="Calibri"> </font></o:p></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">3.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>China is now the world’s top investor in clean energy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>The US is third after Germany.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></font></font><a href="http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-04-03/china-buries-obama-s-sputnik-goal-for-renewable-energy-use.html"><font size="3" face="Calibri">http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-04-03/china-buries-obama-s-sputnik-goal-for-renewable-energy-use.html</font></a></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><o:p><font size="3" face="Calibri"> </font></o:p></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3" face="Calibri">4.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Australia’s Great Barrier Reef will be lost to acidification and other effects of global warming unless we manage drastic cuts in greenhouse gas emissions within the next ten years, according to the U of Queensland’s Ove Guldberg.
</font><a href="http://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/10year-window-to-save-reef-expert-20110404-1cycl.html"><font size="3" face="Calibri">http://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/10year-window-to-save-reef-expert-20110404-1cycl.html</font></a></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><o:p><font size="3" face="Calibri"> </font></o:p></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">5.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Seattle’s Principal Power is producing a floating, anchored offshore unit which draws from both wind and waves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>The combination saves money on transmission (since more power is produced by both than by either one alone).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>The unit is designed to be anchored in over 50 meters of water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></font><a href="http://blog.energy.gov/blog/2011/03/28/innovative-deepwater-platform-aims-harness-offshore-wind-and-wave-power"><font size="3" face="Calibri">http://blog.energy.gov/blog/2011/03/28/innovative-deepwater-platform-aims-harness-offshore-wind-and-wave-power</font></a></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><o:p><font size="3" face="Calibri"> </font></o:p></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">6.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Last month wind was Spain’s largest energy source.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>42% of their electricity was supplied renewably (down from 48% for March 2010).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></font><a href="http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2011/04/wind-becomes-spains-biggest-energy-source?cmpid=WNL-Wednesday-April6-2011"><font size="3" face="Calibri">http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2011/04/wind-becomes-spains-biggest-energy-source?cmpid=WNL-Wednesday-April6-2011</font></a></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><o:p><font size="3" face="Calibri"> </font></o:p></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">7.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>According to an article in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Nature Geoscience</i>, mangroves may be the world’s most carbon rich forests, with up to 4 times the carbon sequestration of other tropic forests.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>We have lost about 35% of our mangrove forests in the last 20 years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></font><a href="http://news.mongabay.com/2011/0405-hance_mangroves.html"><font size="3" face="Calibri">http://news.mongabay.com/2011/0405-hance_mangroves.html</font></a></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><o:p><font size="3" face="Calibri"> </font></o:p></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">8.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Large quantities of fresh water are accumulating from rivers and ice melt in the Arctic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>The water has the potential to alter the thermohaline conveyor belt, and thus the climates of Europe and America (among other effects).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The reference study, a collaboration among institutes from 10 European countries, does not predict the pace or intensity of the effects.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></font></font><a href="http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-04/fmi-imp033111.php"><font size="3" face="Calibri">http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-04/fmi-imp033111.php</font></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"><font size="3" face="Calibri">
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