Energy & the Environment News and Discussions

[weatheriscool]

Brazilian semi-arid biome could lose over 90% of mammal species by 2060
https://phys.org/news/2024-01-brazilian ... ammal.html
by André Julião, FAPESP

The foreseeable effects of climate change on the Caatinga, the semi-arid shrubland and thorn forest biome in Brazil's Northeast region, will be catastrophic for most terrestrial mammal species that live there.

A study reported in the journal Global Change Biology by researchers in Brazil affiliated with the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), the Federal University of (UFPB) and the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) forecasts species loss for 91.6% of species assemblages in the Caatinga and habitat loss for 87% by 2060.

"This is the best-case scenario, which assumes humanity keeps the promises made in the Paris Agreement, cuts greenhouse gas emissions, and slows the pace of global warming forecasted for the decades ahead," said Mário Ribeiro de Moura, corresponding author of the article and coordinator of the study.

The researchers cross-tabulated data from the latest projections of future temperatures published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) with occurrence data for terrestrial mammals in the Caatinga.

They used several statistical models to capture the species' physiological tolerance to the existing climate and future climate change scenarios.

[caltrek]

Reflective Materials and Irrigated Trees: Study Shows How to Cool One of the World’s Hottest Cities by 4.5°C
January 11, 2024

Introduction:

(Eurekalert) It’s possible to significantly reduce the temperatures of a major city in a hot desert climate while reducing energy costs, a new study by UNSW Sydney shows.

The findings, published today in Nature Cities, detail a multi-faceted strategy to cool Saudi Arabia’s capital city by up to 4.5°C, combining highly reflective ‘super cool’ building materials developed by the High-Performance Architecture Lab with irrigated greenery and energy retrofitting measures. The study, which was conducted in collaboration with the Royal Commission of Riyadh, is the first to investigate the large-scale energy benefits of modern heat mitigation technologies when implemented in a city.

“The project demonstrates the tremendous impact advanced heat mitigation technologies and techniques can have to reduce urban overheating, decrease cooling needs, and improve lives,” says UNSW Scientia Professor Mattheos (Mat) Santamouris, Anita Lawrence Chair in High-Performance Architecture and senior author of the study.

Prof. Santamouris specialises in developing heat mitigation technologies and strategies to decrease urban temperatures in cities. Extreme urban heat affects more than 450 cities worldwide, increasing energy consumption needs and adversely impacting health, including heat-related illness and death.

Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, is one such city. Situated in the centre of a desert, it is one of the hottest cities in the world, with temperatures that can exceed 50°C during summer. Furthermore, climate change and rapid urbanisation are increasing the magnitude of overheating.

Read more here: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1031106

[weatheriscool]

[wjfox]

Oh. But going green and cutting emissions was meant to "destroy the economy" and "kill billions" (according to room-temperature IQ climate deniers I see claiming this on Twitter).

[wjfox]

‘Magic balls’ installed by drones may soon be revolutionizing the US power grid: ‘Unrivaled quality at scale’

January 13, 2024

High-voltage power lines in the United States will soon be monitored by “magic balls” from Norway.

Heimdall Power is rolling out unique technology in the form of sphere-shaped sensors that have increased power-line capacity by 30% in Europe, according to a story on the tech from Electrek.

Better yet, early users of the sensors are reporting that they are saving money because transmission lines are better utilized in their networks.

“This summer … We were able to disconnect one of two parallel lines and ‘overload’ the other because we had full control of the temperature,” Trond Are Bjørnvold, department manager of Network Development at Arva in Norway, said in a Heimdall press release.

The spheres measure line temperature, current, and other key metrics. What’s more, Heimdall has partnered with Switzerland’s Meteomatics, a weather data company. The combined analysis is geared to help grid operators maximize line capacity, possibly allowing for more renewable power to be transmitted into the grid, all per Electrek.

https://www.thecooldown.com/green-tech/ ... -heimdall/

[weatheriscool]

Frigid temps cut US natural gas supply as demand soars, Texas faces possible shortfall

Source: Reuters

January 14, 2024 5:18 PM EST

Jan 14 (Reuters) - U.S. natural gas output fell to a preliminary 11-month low on Sunday as frigid weather froze wells across the country, while gas demand for heating and power generation was on track to hit record highs. In Texas the state's power grid operator, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), forecast electric demand on Tuesday would top last summer's all-time high and warned power supplies could fall short on both Monday and Tuesday.

ERCOT, which said operating conditions were normal on Sunday, has ways to increase supplies and reduce usage if necessary. Those include calls for conservation and programs that encourage businesses to use on-site generation. The drop in U.S. gas availability so far this week was the most in over a year, with supplies on track to fall by around 9.6 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) from Jan. 8-14 to an estimated 11-month low of 98.6 bcfd on Jan. 14, according to data from financial firm LSEG.

That decline so far was small compared with gas supply losses of around 19.6 bcfd during Winter Storm Elliott in December 2022, and 20.4 bcfd during the February freeze of 2021. Electricity supply and demand forecasts can change quickly, however, as power plant availability and weather patterns develop.

The February 2021 freeze left millions in Texas without power, water and heat for days and resulted in over 200 deaths as ERCOT scrambled to prevent a grid collapse after an unusually large amount of generation shut. Some of those power plants shut because they could not access enough gas supplies after frigid temperatures froze wells and other equipment, known in the energy industry as freeze-offs.

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/business/energy ... 024-01-14/

[firestar464]

Scientists discover southern Africa's temps will rise past rhinos' tolerance

https://phys.org/news/2024-01-scientist ... hinos.html

[wjfox]

[Time_Traveller]

Minister vows to end water firms’ pollution self-monitoring in England

Wed 24 Jan 2024 17.05 GMT

The environment secretary has told water companies in England that they will no longer be able to monitor and report on pollution from their own treatment works.

Steve Barclay told the privatised industry he would put an end to operator self-monitoring in a toughening of the regulatory approach.

The system, which has been criticised for allowing water companies to “mark their own homework”, was introduced more than 10 years ago, ending the practice by which Environment Agency officials carried out all the testing of treatment works and sewage discharges.

Water companies were allowed to do their own testing of treated effluent to make sure it met the legal requirements of their permits, as well as monitoring their releases of raw sewage via storm overflows.

The Guardian revealed recently that the Environment Agency was failing to regularly audit water companies to check they are telling the truth about pollution and illegal sewage discharges. The agency is conducting a major criminal inquiry into suspected widespread illegal sewage dumping from treatment works.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... monitoring

[weatheriscool]