Theres a lot of bad news about the climate, but theres also a lot of good news. Heres a fraction of the good news: Top Climate Movement Victories of 2014 tinyurl/nydko3z Beyond Divestment: Climate-Concerned Philanthropists Pledge to Move Billions to Wind and Solar. Groups have been divesting money from oil, coal, and gas for years. Now they’re hoping to get more climate-healing bang for their buck. tinyurl/mdgvcuu Scientists predict green energy revolution after incredible new graphene discoveries. The breakthrough raises the prospect of extracting hydrogen fuel from air and burning it as a carbon-free source of energy in a fuel cell to produce electricity and water with no damaging waste products. tinyurl/mgk5spz In Washington State, a Green Governor Fights Climate Change on Multiple Fronts. Jay Inslee’s multi-pronged approach includes meeting with farmers and members of indigenous tribes, working toward policies like cap-and-trade, and closing the state’s last coal-fired power plant. tinyurl/kcbw573 The coming era of unlimited -- and free -- clean energy. Solar power has been doubling every two years for the past 30 years -- as costs have been dropping. Solar energy is only six doublings -- or less than 14 years -- away from meeting 100 percent of today’s energy needs. Energy usage will keep increasing, so this is a moving target. But inexpensive renewable sources will provide more energy than the world needs in less than 20 years. Even then, we will be using only one part in 10,000 of the sunlight that falls on the Earth. tinyurl/lwjujan In Vermonts largest city, Burlington, 100 percent of the electricity now comes from renewable sources such as wind, water, and biomass. tinyurl/mge3kgv Solar power is growing so fast that older energy companies are trying to stop it. tinyurl/lvgurfe Rockefellers, Heirs to an Oil Fortune, Divest Charity From Fossil Fuels tinyurl/lvohqw3 Researchers at Glasgow University have claimed a breakthrough in producing hydrogen fuel from water. They said their process is fast, clean and cheap. It can store energy from the sun and wind. The researchers said their process is thirty times faster than the current method. tinyurl/pbx4f6d This Solar-Powered Water Wheel Can Clean 50,000 Pounds of Baltimore’s Trash Per Day. The Inner Harbor Water Wheel is proving to be an effective answer to the citys water pollution problem. tinyurl/mnxlbo5 The corporate answer to the food crisis has been to introduce genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in an effort to expand crop sizes and yields. However, on a local level, scientist Joe Breskin has found a solution for dramatically increasing vegetable yields in greenhouses, doubling the length of growing seasons and feeding more people for less money -- all while using cutting-edge energy efficiency techniques. tinyurl/mxjb8a4 In the first broad-scale estimate of air pollution removal by trees nationwide, U.S. Forest Service scientists and collaborators calculated that trees are saving more than 850 human lives a year and preventing 670,000 incidences of acute respiratory symptoms. tinyurl/ld7v4ff In Two Years, Denmarks Wind Power Will Be Half the Cost of Fossil Fuels tinyurl/kmv5ohj World first: Australian solar plant has generated “supercritical” steam that rivals fossil fuels’. A test plant in Australia has proved solar power could efficiently replace fossil fuels. tinyurl/kl4pl3k 12 African nations have come together pledging to build a 9-mile-wide band of trees that will stretch all the way across Africa, 4750 miles, in order to stop the progressive advancement of the Sahara. tinyurl/oc8hjs4 In Australia, solar has won. Even if coal were free to burn, power stations couldnt compete. As early as 2018, solar could be economically viable to power big cities. By 2040 over half of all electricity may be generated in the same place its used. Centralized, coal-fired power is over. tinyurl/klf6o5n 8 Reasons for Optimism on Climate Change tinyurl/k7dupzr Wind power was Spains top source of electricity in 2013: Remarkable new figures from Spains grid operator have revealed that greenhouse gas emissions from the countrys power sector are likely to have fallen 23.1% last year, as power generation from wind farms and hydroelectric plants soared. tinyurl/qejr57z Renewables will continue to be the fastest-growing energy source, supplying a bigger share of the world’s needs than nuclear by 2025 tinyurl/pk5dcyx Peru To Provide Free Solar Power To 2 Million Of Its Poorest Residents By 2016 tinyurl/m2eulcf Elon Musk announces plans to build one of the single largest solar panel production plants in the world, and send people to Mars in ten years. Solar panels, paired with batteries to enable power at night, can produce several orders of magnitude more electricity than is consumed by the entirety of human civilization. - Elon Musk tinyurl/lhcr3cm Energy [R]evolution: Nearly 100% Renewable Is Doable. Study shows how US could democratize systems, create jobs, and radically reduce emissions by 2050. tinyurl/ll657y5 Plastic shopping bags, an abundant source of litter on land and at sea, can be converted into diesel, natural gas and other useful petroleum products, researchers report. tinyurl/o2jfm55 New solar panels are cheaper, more environmentally sustainable Tin can replace lead in new, more efficient solar cell design tinyurl/k2lys5l California installed as much rooftop solar in 2013 as the previous 30 years combined tinyurl/nkt96ys This 19-Year Old Has A Plan To Clean Up Half of The Pacific Garbage Patch In 10 Years tinyurl/ljjnpm5 To My Friend the Climate Defeatist: Heres Why Im Still In the Fight It is good to mourn for whats being lost. But giving up just gives the fossil fuel industry what it wants. tinyurl/pfjaba8 More solar power was installed in the United States last year than the previous 30 years combined, and the per unit cost of solar power is falling so rapidly it’s soon likely to drop below that of coal. - Robert Reich On Wednesday, March 27th, 2014, Texas got almost one-third of its electricity by harnessing the wind. tinyurl/myvzex6 Stanford University researchers have developed detailed plans for each state in the union to move to 100 percent wind, water, and solar power by 2050 using only technology that’s already available. The plan doesn’t rely, like many others, on dramatic energy efficiency regimes. Nor does it include biofuels or nuclear power. tinyurl/nvmbd9f A Pay-It-Forward Approach to Funding Solar Power. Donations to a California nonprofit dont just fund one solar installation, but circulate from one project to the next. tinyurl/moootf2 + Ten Environmental Triumphs of 2013 It’s important to note the environmental triumphs and victories that tribes either helped engineer or benefited from, or both. Several species began coming back, many of them thanks to the efforts of tribal programs. Northwest tribes were pleased to see a record return of Chinook salmon to the Columbia River. A healthy wolf population flourished in Yellowstone National Park, strengthening the wildlife web around it. Here are some of the more notable wins, and the tribes involved in making them happen. 1. Pushing Back Against Mega-Loads 2. The Return of the Salmon 3. Black-Footed Ferret Rebounds 4. White Sturgeon Stages Comeback 5. Air Spawning Keeps Steelhead Trout Alive 6. Cougars Swarm Turtle Island 7. Big Oil Admits Defeat in the Chukchi Sea 8. Bison Gets Its Day 9. Eagle Killing Doesnt Pay 10. Wolves Prove Their Worth tinyurl/luqmml6 + Worlds Largest Floating Solar Plant Planned for Japan news.discovery/.../worlds-largest-floating... Restored Forests Breathe Life into Efforts Against Climate Change tinyurl/me4fcx3 Scotland Headed Towards Being Fossil Fuel-Free by 2030 - Renewable energy projects combined with energy savings could decarbonise the country’s power sector. We need to see the phasing out of conventional generation in Scotland. tinyurl/o2fr9px The US has stunned the world by overtaking Germany as the worlds number one in solar power installations. Residential solar is up 45% with strong continuing demand in a record shattering year for the solar industry. tinyurl/k76aqfx In 2011, 92 percent of Idaho’s net electricity generation came from renewable energy resources, and Idaho had the lowest average electricity prices in the United States. tinyurl/kjk2tl9 For a Future that Won’t Destroy Life on Earth, Look to the Global Indigenous Uprising. Idle No More is the latest incarnation of an age-old movement for life that doesnt depend on infinite extraction and growth. Now, armed with Twitter and Facebook, once-isolated groups from Canada to South America are exchanging resources and support like never before. tinyurl/l6u2raw The return of sea otters to an estuary on the central Californian coast has significantly improved the health of seagrass. tinyurl/krgstpn A new report predicts that renewable power energy generation will exceed that of gas and nuclear by 2016. tinyurl/o2ec4xo The City of Palo Alto, California Is Switching to 100% Renewable Energy Sources tinyurl/qerhjgh A major new technology has been developed by The University of Nottingham. It enables all of the worlds crops to take nitrogen from the air rather than expensive and environmentally damaging fertilizers. tinyurl/nx8u7pb Models of Sustainability: Sweden Runs Out of Garbage: tinyurl/cc5ph3j A University of Colorado Boulder team has developed a radically new technique that uses the power of sunlight to efficiently split water into its components of hydrogen and oxygen, paving the way for the broad use of hydrogen as a clean, green fuel tinyurl/pvrsr8m Dutch scientists say their revolutionary concrete can cut urban air pollution by 45 percent. tinyurl/khn7wdx German designers create a building that will harvest fast-growing algae to create biofuel, produce heat, shade the building, abate street noise, and make history. tinyurl/p7w6rkr California reduced trash to record low in 2012 tinyurl/m8yrrvs 2. Cost Of Solar Panels To Drop To $0.36 Per Watt By 2017. A 1,000-watt panel will cost $360 (not counting installation), but last about six times longer than batteries. Suddenly, that $360 sounds good. tinyurl/m8btmoc Cuts in diesel emissions have drastically reduced the amount of pollutants in the air that cause global warming in California, potentially valuable information in the fight to save the worlds climate from a predicted catastrophe. tinyurl/lo39usd Renewable power will soon start to be seen as normal. Wind farms already provide 2% of the world’s electricity, and their capacity is doubling every three years. If that growth rate is maintained, wind power will overtake nuclear’s contribution to the world’s energy accounts in about a decade. But it is in the field of solar energy that the biggest shift of attitude will be seen, for sunlight has the potential to disrupt the electricity market completely. tinyurl/cvhwgnw Scientists develop CO2 sequestration technique that produces supergreen hydrogen fuel tinyurl/kursldl In the past 15 years, Chad Pregracke has helped pull more than 67,000 tires from the Mississippi River and other waterways across the United States. About 70,000 volunteers have joined his crusade, helping him collect more than 7 million pounds of debris through his nonprofit, Living Lands & Waters. tinyurl/bu8y7mx Researchers have identified a new mechanism to convert natural gas into energy up to 70 times faster, while effectively capturing the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2). This could make power generation from natural gas both cleaner and more efficient. tinyurl/btftvdv The Washed Ashore Project builds large art sculptures of sea life made from plastic marine debris. These unique art pieces are part of a traveling exhibition which includes educational signage and programs that encourage reducing, refusing, reusing and recycling. washedashore.org/ A team of researchers has found that air pollution has reduced dramatically in U.S. National Parks over the last 20 years. Government-sponsored bills, like the Clean Air Act and the Acid Rain Program, have had a major impact. tinyurl/cpvj6km In a village in Indias poorest state, Bihar, farmers are growing world record amounts of rice – with no GM, and no herbicide. Is this one solution to world food shortages? tinyurl/crpjpye A Bolivian woman is on a mission to build homes for the poor from the only resource she can find in abundance -- garbage. tinyurl/ag69wr7 A Subaru production plant in Indiana produces less waste in a year than an average family of 4 does in a week. It is also the only manufacturing plant that is a designated wildlife habitat, co-existing peacefully with local wildlife. tinyurl/bjbxdf6 Solar energy is on the rise in Germany. The recent solar boom means the alternative form of energy now reaches 8 million homes in Germany, a 45 percent increase. tinyurl/bk6ssmw
Posted on: Sat, 17 Jan 2015 04:03:04 +0000
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