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]

[Time_Traveller]

EU will force cosmetic companies to pay to reduce microplastic pollution

Mon 29 Jan 2024 16.00 GMT



Beauty companies will have to pay more to clean up microplastic pollution after EU negotiators struck a new deal to treat sewage.

Under draft rules that follow the “polluter pays principle”, companies that sell medicines and cosmetics will have to cover at least 80% of the extra costs needed to get rid of tiny pollutants that are dirtying urban wastewater. Governments will pay the rest, members of the bloc said, in an effort to prevent vital products from becoming too expensive or scarce.

Virginijus Sinkevičius, the bloc’s environment commissioner, said the steps would safeguard citizens from harmful discharges of pharmaceuticals and cosmetics that end up in water bodies. “This will make our water cleaner and protect our health.”

The rules, which have been agreed by the European parliament and council of Europe but not yet formally adopted, bulk up requirements to remove nutrients from water and set new standards for micropollutants. They also broaden the areas covered by the law.

By 2035 EU member states will have to remove organic matter from urban wastewater before releasing it into the environment in all communities with more than 1,000 people. By 2045 they will have to remove nitrogen and phosphorus in all treatment plants covering more than 10,000 people. They will also have to add an extra step to remove a “broad spectrum” of micropollutants, according to the European parliament.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... -pollution

[Time_Traveller]

‘Grossly irresponsible’: UK hands out 24 new North Sea oil and gas licences

Wed 31 Jan 2024 17.21 GMT

Britain has handed major oil companies the right to drill for fossil fuels in 24 new licence areas across the North Sea as part of the government’s mission to extend the life of the ageing oil and gas basin.

The North Sea regulator said 17 oil companies, including Shell and BP, were granted licences in the Central North Sea, Northern North Sea and West of Shetland areas to “provide benefits to the local and wider economy”.

The latest licences, which follow an initial tranche of 27 licences offered in October last year, could begin producing oil and gas before the end of the decade, according to the North Sea Transition Authority.

The move has angered MPs and environmental campaigners who called the move “grossly irresponsible” and accused the government of overstating the economic benefits of the North Sea and sacrificing Britain’s climate leadership for “a pipe dream”.

Graham Stuart, the minister for energy security and net zero, was forced to defend the government’s decision to encourage more North Sea oil and gas drilling despite signing up to a pledge to phase out fossil fuels at the Cop28 UN climate talks in December. He told MPs on the environmental audit committee that the new licences would be “good news in our transition to net zero”.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/20 ... s-licences

[firestar464]

New study reports that Greenland is a methane sink rather than a source

https://phys.org/news/2024-01-greenland ... emits.html

[weatheriscool]

WaveRoller sea-floor generator approaches commercial deployment
By Loz Blain
February 02, 2024

https://newatlas.com/energy/waveroller-wave-energy/

Wave energy remains one of the least-exploited clean energy options, with huge potential as part of a green energy grid. Finland's AW Energy is preparing to field a contender at scale – the Waveroller – which sits on the sea bed generating up to 1 MW.

Wave power does not seem to be a super fast-moving sector. We've seen plenty of fascinating ideas in this space, from jetty-mounted pump arms, to telescoping barrels, to elastic sea-bed flappers, and two different flavors of artificial blowhole generators, to name just a few, but nearly all remain at a pilot/prototype stage.

Which is annoying; wave energy is super-reliable, super-predictable, and available 24/7 at coastlines worldwide, which is right where a lot of people tend to like living. It should be a dream addition to the renewable energy mix. But it's moving so slowly that you have to wonder where the holdup is.

[FuturismFan]

Extraction of raw materials to rise by 60% by 2060, says UN report

https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... -un-report

[wjfox]

[Time_Traveller]

Aberpergwm: Eco campaigners appeal in bid to stop coal mine

18 minutes ago



Welsh government ministers could and should have intervened to stop the expansion of the UK's last coal mine, a court has heard.

A further 42 million tonnes of coal is to be dug up at Aberpergwm mine, near Glynneath, in Neath Port Talbot.

Climate campaigners lost a legal challenge over the site's future last year but were granted an appeal.

Welsh government lawyers argued they had no authority over how the mine's plans were approved.

Aberpergwm mine's licence dates to the 1990s, but was altered in 2013 to expand the maximum area that could be mined in future, subject to conditions.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-68221601

[weatheriscool]

Inexpensive, carbon-neutral biofuels are finally possible
https://techxplore.com/news/2024-02-ine ... fuels.html
by Jules Bernstein, University of California - Riverside

When it comes to making fuel from plants, the first step has always been the hardest—breaking down the plant matter. A new study finds that introducing a simple, renewable chemical to the pretreatment step can finally make next-generation biofuel production both cost-effective and carbon-neutral.

For biofuels to compete with petroleum, biorefinery operations must be designed to better utilize lignin. Lignin is one of the main components of plant cell walls. It provides plants with greater structural integrity and resiliency from microbial attacks. However, these natural properties of lignin also make it difficult to extract and utilize from the plant matter, also known as biomass.

"Lignin utilization is the gateway to making what you want out of biomass in the most economical and environmentally friendly way possible," said UC Riverside Associate Research Professor Charles Cai. "Designing a process that can better utilize both the lignin and sugars found in biomass is one of the most exciting technical challenges in this field."

[Time_Traveller]

Calls to ban wood-burning stoves in UK by 2027

06:46, 9 FEB 2024

Campaigners are calling for a ban on wood-burning stoves in UK homes by 2027 due to serious health and environmental worries. Despite rules on what can be burnt, wood burning is still a big polluter.

New wood-burning stoves have had to meet emissions targets since 2022, meaning they burn cleaner and are labelled Ecodesign. The fuel used in these devices is also strictly regulated, with only wood containing 20 per cent moisture or less, certified by Woodsure and HETAS, allowed to be burnt, reports LeicestershireLive.

However, new research has shown the problem is severe. Ecodesign models can emit a shocking 750 times more tiny particle pollution than a modern HGV truck, according to the European Environmental Bureau.

A report by Professor Chris Whitty, England's chief medical officer, found that Ecodesign models in homes produce 450 times more emissions than gas central heating. This has led the campaign group Mums for Lungs to demand a ban on wood burners.

Mums for Lungs is asking for stricter measures, including giving local authorities more power to stop unlawful burning, and requiring all wood burners to be registered with local authorities for enforcement purposes. Burning wood at home is the biggest source of PM2.5, a harmful pollutant, and stoves have been linked to nearly half of people's exposure to cancer-causing chemicals in air pollution in cities.

https://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/n ... tem_mobile

[weatheriscool]

28-ton, 1.2-megawatt tidal kite is now exporting power to the grid
By Loz Blain
February 11, 2024

https://newatlas.com/energy/minesto-tidal-kite/
Minesto's fully operational Dragon 12 looks like some sort of futuristic military drone – but it behaves remarkably like a kite underwater. It uses lift generated by tidal flows to fly patterns faster than the currents, harvesting renewable energy.

Solar energy is the bedrock of most renewable energy grid plans – but lunar energy is even more predictable, and a number of different companies are working to commercialize energy generated from the regular inflows and outflows of the tides.

One we've completely missed is Minesto, which is taking a very different and remarkably dynamic approach compared to most. Where devices like Orbital's O2 tidal turbine more or less just sit there in the water harvesting energy from tidal currents, Minesto's Dragon series are anchored to the sea bed, and fly around like kites, treating the currents like wind.