Energy & the Environment News and Discussions

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After helping prevent extinctions for 50 years, the Endangered Species Act itself may be in peril
Source: AP

SHARON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — Biologist Ashley Wilson carefully disentangled a bat from netting above a tree-lined river and examined the wriggling, furry mammal in her headlamp’s glow. “Another big brown,” she said with a sigh.

It was a common type, one of many Wilson and colleagues had snagged on summer nights in the southern Michigan countryside. They were looking for increasingly scarce Indiana and northern long-eared bats, which historically migrated there for birthing season, sheltering behind peeling bark of dead trees.

The scientists had yet to spot either species this year as they embarked on a netting mission.

“It’s a bad suggestion if we do not catch one. It doesn’t look good,” said Allen Kurta, an Eastern Michigan University professor who has studied bats for more than 40 years.

The two bat varieties are designated as imperiled under the Endangered Species Act, the bedrock U.S. law intended to keep animal and plant types from dying out. Enacted in 1973 amid fear for iconic creatures such as the bald eagle, grizzly bear and gray wolf, it extends legal protection to 1,683 domestic species.

More than 99% of those listed as “endangered” — on the verge of extinction — or the less severe “threatened” have survived.

“The Endangered Species Act has been very successful,” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in an Associated Press interview. “And I believe very strongly that we’re in a better place for it.”

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/endangered-s ... b6edb567e8

[weatheriscool]

[Tadasuke]

[wjfox]

For context, Judith Curry is part of the 0.1% of climate scientists who don't believe climate change is real and human-caused.

Why are you so willing to listen to her, but not the other 99.9%?

She mentions "Climategate", which has been utterly discredited –

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climatic_ ... ontroversy

Eight committees investigated the allegations and published reports, finding no evidence of fraud or scientific misconduct.

As for "corrupted" science, you could start by looking at fossil fuel companies like Exxon:

https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... er-funding

But according to you, these oil and gas giants are somehow the heroes? They couldn't possibly be worried about trillions of dollars in stranded assets and wouldn't do anything to protect all that wealth? They're the good guys, who can be totally trusted?

[weatheriscool]

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[weatheriscool]

Renewables provided a quarter of the US’s electrical generation during the first half of 2023 – a slight increase from 2022, according to new US Energy Information Administration (EIA) data.

The latest issue of EIA’s “Electric Power Monthly” report (with data through June 30, 2023) reveals that in the first six months of this year, electrical generation by renewables (i.e., biomass, geothermal, hydropower, solar, wind) accounted for 25.11% of US electrical generation. That share is up slightly from the 25.06% reported for the first half of 2022, according the SUN DAY Campaign, which reviewed the data.

Solar took the lead. Including small-scale distributed systems, it grew by 12.4%, compared to the same period in 2022. This was driven in large part by growth in “estimated” small-scale (e.g., rooftop) solar PV whose output increased by 25.6% – more than any other energy source – and accounted for nearly one-third (31.4%) of total solar production. For the first half of 2023, solar was 5.77% of total US electrical generation. For the same period in 2022, solar’s share was 4.95%.

From January to June, solar combined with wind accounted for 17.11% of US electrical generation – up from 16.48% for the same period a year earlier. For the six-month period, solar plus wind easily surpassed coal’s share (14.82%), as electrical generation by the latter plummeted by 27.33%.

Further, electrical generation by the mix of all renewables exceeded that provided by nuclear power – whose output fell by 0.67% – by more than a third (33.69%).

-snip-

Full Article: https://electrek.co/2023/08/25/renewabl ... half-2023/

[Time_Traveller]

Michael Gove is to announce a major rewriting of rules on waterway pollution in a bid to boost housebuilding in England.

29 August 2023

Alongside environment secretary Thérèse Coffey, Mr Gove is planning to rip up "nutrient neutrality" rules, which have been criticised by developers and some Tory MPs for blocking housebuilding.

The rules are in place to prevent developments or projects from dangerously increasing nutrient levels in local wetlands and waterways in protected areas.

Natural England rules on nutrient neutrality will become guidance instead, giving local officials the choice to either ignore or follow it, The Sun reports.

Property developers could be asked to help contribute to a "mitigation fund" to help tackle any pollution caused by building on greenfield and brownfield sites.

This major shift is likely to anger environmental campaigners.

https://www.lbc.co.uk/news/michael-gove ... ed%20areas.

[caltrek]

A New Way to Capture and Recycle Carbon Dioxide from Industrial Emissions
August 30, 2023

Introduction:

(Eurekalert) Carbon capture is a promising method to help slow climate change. With this approach, carbon dioxide (CO¬¬2) is trapped before it escapes into the atmosphere, but the process requires a large amount of energy and equipment. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Central Science have designed a capture system using an electrochemical cell that can easily grab and release CO2. The device operates at room temperature and requires less energy than conventional, amine-based carbon-capture systems.

Many industries are turning to electrification to help curb carbon emissions, but this technique isn’t feasible for all sectors. For example, CO2 is a natural byproduct of cement manufacture, and thus a major contributor to emissions on its own. Excess gas can be trapped with carbon-capture technologies, which typically rely on amines to help “scrub” the pollutant by chemically bonding to it. But this also requires lots of energy, heat and industrial equipment — which can burn even more fossil fuels in the process. Carbon capture could itself be electrified by using electrochemical cells, and these devices could be powered by renewable energy sources. So, Fang-Yu Kuo, Sung Eun Jerng and Betar Gallant wanted to develop an electrochemical cell that could easily and reversibly trap CO2 with minimal energy input.

The team first developed an electrochemical cell that could both catch and release emitted carbon by “swinging” positively charged cations across a liquid amine dissolved in dimethyl sulfoxide. When the cell was discharged, a strong Lewis cation interacted with the carbamic acid, releasing CO2 and forming the carbamate amine. When the process was reversed and the cell charged, the cation was removed, and the cell could capture CO2 and reform the carbamic acid in the process.

The researchers optimized the ion-swinging process with a combination of potassium and zinc ions. In a prototype cell, they used these two ions as the basis for the cell’s cathode and anode. This cell required less energy than other, heat-based cells and was competitive with other electrochemical cells in initial experiments. Additionally, they tested the device’s long-term stability and found that nearly 95% of its original capacity was maintained after several cycles of charging and discharging, demonstrating that the system was feasible. The researchers say that this work shows that an electrochemical alternative is possible and could help make continuous CO2 capture-release technologies more practical for industrial applications.

Read more here: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/999503