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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>Solar power is now about half the price of diesel in India.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>For the 25% of Indians who are not on the grid, solar has become the obvious choice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>That will be true in many other such areas of the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>While coal power still has the price edge in India for those on the grid, that is expected to change around 2015. India has set a target of 20 gigawatts of solar by 2022.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Thanks to Vijay Satoskar for the item.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>
</font></font><a href="http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21328505.000-indias-panel-price-crash-could-spark-solar-revolution.html"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21328505.000-indias-panel-price-crash-could-spark-solar-revolution.html</font></a><font size="3"><font face="Calibri"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Solar investments in India went up 52% in 2011, a global record among larger countries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></font><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/feb/03/india-green-energy-growth"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/feb/03/india-green-energy-growth</font></a><font size="3"><font face="Calibri"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>For light at night, there is the SocialLite, developed by first semester electrical engineering students at Cooper Union in 2006.
</font></font><a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/02/innovations-in-light/?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=thab1"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/02/innovations-in-light/?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=thab1</font></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"><font size="3" face="Calibri">
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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>Duxbury, MA, has gone with solar for 25% of its government building energy needs at $.10/kWh; neighboring Kingsbury is going with wind turbines, at $.155/kWh.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></font><a href="http://articles.boston.com/2012-02-02/lifestyle/31017702_1_wind-turbine-solar-option-solar-energy"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://articles.boston.com/2012-02-02/lifestyle/31017702_1_wind-turbine-solar-option-solar-energy</font></a><font size="3"><font face="Calibri"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>The levellized cost of wind energy at the best sites is approaching $.03/kWh, and efficiency generally is rising as costs generally decline.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>The production gap between great sites and okay sites is contracting thanks to new technology.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></font></font><a href="http://eetd.lbl.gov/ea/ems/reports/wind-energy-costs-2-2012.pdf"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://eetd.lbl.gov/ea/ems/reports/wind-energy-costs-2-2012.pdf</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">3.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>The Obama administration has moved to slash the time needed to gain permits for offshore wind, currently 7-9 years while fossil fuel plants require 2-3 years.
</font><a href="http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2012/02/offshore-wind-one-step-closer-to-reality-in-the-mid-atlantic?cmpid=WNL-Friday-February3-2012"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2012/02/offshore-wind-one-step-closer-to-reality-in-the-mid-atlantic?cmpid=WNL-Friday-February3-2012</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">4.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>The (contested) biotic pump theory posits that condensation over forest areas drives precipitation elsewhere.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>That would make preservation of forests vital to maintaining agriculture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></font><a href="http://news.mongabay.com/2012/0201-hance_interview_bioticpump.html"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://news.mongabay.com/2012/0201-hance_interview_bioticpump.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>The Northeast Florida Regional Council is calling for information on climate change and its regional impact as a first step toward planning for climate change mitigation and adaptation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>The Council hopes to have a committee formed and charged by next October.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></font><a href="http://www.nefrc.org/FCV/FCV-Action-Item_Climate%20Change%20Info.htm"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://www.nefrc.org/FCV/FCV-Action-Item_Climate%20Change%20Info.htm</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>Pine Island Glacier in the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is calving a large iceberg.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>The main news is that the break is unusually far into the glacier, indicating that PIG, already speedy, will accelerate and might be increasingly unstable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>It is an outlet for about 10% of the land ice in the WAIS.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></font><a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/120202-crack-antarctica-iceberg-science-glacier/"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/120202-crack-antarctica-iceberg-science-glacier/</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>A study of changes in US public opinion on climate change finds that extreme weather and public education efforts have little persistent effect.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>The main drivers are the economy and political cues.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></font><a href="http://wwwp.dailyclimate.org/tdc-newsroom/2012/02/climate-public-opinion"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://wwwp.dailyclimate.org/tdc-newsroom/2012/02/climate-public-opinion</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>Irrelevant ad: my new cookbook <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Back Porch Feasts</i> is available from Amazon, featuring low carb versions of most recipes (except desserts).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></font><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Back-Porch-Feasts-Allen-Tilley/dp/1466282258/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1328622695&sr=8-4"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://www.amazon.com/Back-Porch-Feasts-Allen-Tilley/dp/1466282258/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1328622695&sr=8-4</font></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"><font size="3" face="Calibri">
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