Energy & the Environment News and Discussions

[weatheriscool]

Environmental impact of bottled water 'up to 3,500 times greater than tap water
Source: The Guardian

The impact of bottled water on natural resources is 3,500 times higher than for tap water, scientists have found.

The research is the first of its kind and examined the impact of bottled water in Barcelona, where it is becoming increasingly popular despite improvements to the quality of tap water in recent years.

Research led by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) found that if the city’s population were all to drink bottled water, this would result in a 3,500 times higher cost of resource extraction than if they all drank tap water, at $83.9m (£60.3m)a year.

Researchers also found the impact of bottled water on ecosystems is 1,400 times higher than tap water.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... -tap-water

[Yuli Ban]

Three Charts that Show the Energy Transition in 50 States

The Energy Information Administration reported last week that, for the first time ever, the United States generated more electricity from renewable sources in 2020 than from coal.

The report made official what I reported in February based on preliminary data.

I’ve spent the week looking beyond the national numbers to focus on how the energy transition is playing out in the states, with help from ICN graphic artist Paul Horn.

Texas stands out as the country’s renewable energy leader, when measured by gigawatt-hours of electricity generated.The runner-up is California, which leads in solar power but has little wind power.

And while few would be surprised that Texas and California rank as the top two, after that are some wind energy powerhouses that may not get their due.

[caltrek]

$100 Million Donation Spurs Effort to Create Solar Satellites That Beam Power to Earth
By David Coldewey
August 6, 2021

https://techcrunch.com/2021/08/06/100m- ... -to-earth/

Introduction:

(TechCrunch) It sounds like a plan concocted by a supervillain, if that villain’s dastardly end was to provide cheap, clean power all over the world: launch a set of three-kilometer-wide solar arrays that beam the sun’s energy to the surface of the Earth. Even the price tag seems gleaned from pop fiction: one hundred million dollars. But this is a real project at Caltech, funded for a nearly a decade largely by a single donor.

The Space-based Solar Power Project has been underway since at least 2013, when the first donation from Donald and Brigitte Bren came through. Donald Bren is the chairman of Irvine Company and on the Caltech board of trustees, and after hearing about the idea of space-based solar in Popular Science, he proposed to fund a research project at the university — and since then has given more than $100 million for the purpose. The source of the funds has been kept anonymous until this week, when Caltech made it public.

The idea emerges naturally from the current limitations of renewable energy. Solar power is ubiquitous on the surface, but of course highly dependent on the weather, season and time of day. No solar panel, even in ideal circumstances, can work at full capacity all the time, and so the problem becomes one of transferring and storing energy in a smart grid. No solar panel on Earth, that is.

[Yuli Ban]

China Says It's Closing in on Thorium Nuclear Reactor
With prototype reportedly firing up in September, country teases commercial thorium power by 2030

There is no denying the need for nuclear power in a world that hungers for clean, carbon-free energy. At the same time, there's a need for safer technologies that bear less proliferation risk. Molten salt nuclear reactors (MSRs) fit the bill—and, according to at least one source, China may be well on their way to developing MSR technology.

Government researchers there unveiled a design for a commercial molten salt reactor (MSR) that uses thorium as fuel, the South China Morning Post reported recently. A prototype reactor, the paper said, should be ready this month for tests starting in September. Construction of the first commercial reactor being built in the Gansu province should be complete, they noted, by 2030.

If all goes well with the prototype, says a report in Live Science, the Chinese government plans to build several large MSRs. According to the World Nuclear Association, the country is eyeing thorium MSRs as a source of energy especially for the northwestern portion of the country, which has lower population density and an arid climate.

MSRs are attractive for arid regions because instead of the water used by conventional uranium reactors, MSRs use molten fluoride salts to cool their cores. Uranium or thorium fuel can be mixed into the coolant salt. Thorium MSRs have the advantage of being more abundant and cheaper.

Between this and fusion, they're going to leapfrog the West by 2050 so hard.

[caltrek]

Scientists are Mining Metals From an Unusual Source — Plants
August 3, 2021

[url][https://grist.org/science/phytomining-n ... aysia//url]

Introduction:

(Grist) Malaysia’s Kinabalu Park, which surrounds Mount Kinabalu, the 20th-largest peak in the world, is home to a nickel mine like none other. In lieu of heavy machinery, plumes of sulfur dioxide, or rivers red with runoff, you’ll find four acres of a leafy-green shrub, tended to since 2015 by local villagers. Once or twice per year, they shave off about a foot of growth from the 20-foot-tall plants. Then, they burn that crop to produce an ashy “bio-ore” that is up to 25 percent nickel by weight.

Producing metal by growing plants, or phytomining, has long been tipped as an alternative, environmentally-sustainable way to reshape – if not replace – the mining industry. Of 320,000 recognized plant species, only around 700 are so-called “hyperaccumulators,” like Kinabalu’s P. rufuschaneyi. Over time, they suck the soil dry of metals like nickel, zinc, cobalt, and even gold.

While two-thirds of nickel is used to make stainless steel, the metal is also snapped up by producers of everything from kitchenwares to mobile phones, medical equipment to power generation. Zinc, on the other hand, is essential for churning out paints, rubber, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, plastics, inks, soaps, and batteries. And, as supplies of these hard-to-find metals dry up around the world, demand remains as strong as ever.

The idea of phytomining was first put forth in 1983 by an agronomist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture named Rufus L. Chaney. Other research groups before the Malaysia team have shown that the solar-powered and carbon-neutral metal extraction process works in practice — a key step to winning over mining industry investors, who have insisted on field trials of several acres to show proof of principle. The most recent data out of Kinabalu Park, a UNESCO-listed heritage site located on the island of Borneo, is finally turning industry heads, as they shows the scales have tipped in favor of phytomining’s commercial viability.

“We can now demonstrate that metal farms can produce between 150 to 250 kilograms of nickel per hectare (170 to 280 pounds per acre), annually,” said Antony van der Ent, a senior research fellow at Australia’s University of Queensland whose thesis work spurred the Malaysia trial. At the midpoint of that range, a farmer would net a cool $3,800 per acre of nickel at today’s prices – which, van der Ent added, is “on par with some of the best-performing agricultural crops on fertile soils, while operating costs are similar.”

caltrek comment: future vocabulary word for the day - phytomining.

[caltrek]

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[weatheriscool]

Data signals third year of vast Brazil Amazon deforestation
Source: AP

By DÉBORA ÁLVARES

BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — Preliminary government data released on Friday indicates annual deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon may have surpassed 10,000 square kilometers (3,861 square miles) for the third straight year, continuing a worrisome jump since President Jair Bolsonaro assumed office.

The area deforested from August to July – the 12-month period that is Brazil’s reference – was 8,793 square kilometers, just below last year’s record, according to daily alerts compiled by the National Institute for Space Research’s Deter monitoring system.

That data is considered a leading indicator for complete calculations released near year end from the more accurate system, Prodes. It uses at least four different satellites to capture images, addressing oversights in preliminary data caused by lower resolution and cloud cover.

Márcio Astrini, executive secretary of the Climate Observatory, a network of environmental nonprofit groups, told The Associated Press that he anticipates the final tally will land right around 10,000 square kilometers.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-en ... f2b89e197e

[weatheriscool]

Solar could be 40% of U.S. power by 2035 -Biden administration

Aug 17 (Reuters) - Solar could supply more than 40% of the nation's electricity by 2035 - up from 3% today - if Congress adopts policies like tax credits for renewable energy projects and component factories, according to a memo published on Tuesday by the Department of Energy.

The memo is part of a push by the White House to pump up solar as a jobs engine and pivotal pillar in the climate change agenda of President Joe Biden.

The sector is also taking center stage as officials plug the administration's legislative priorities on the road, with Labor Secretary Marty Walsh touring a new First Solar Inc (FSLR.O) facility in Ohio on Tuesday that is expected to create about 500 jobs.

To propel solar to nearly half of U.S. generation, the industry needs to grow at three or four times its current rate, creating up to 1.5 million jobs, according to an unpublished analysis by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory cited in the memo.

https://www.reuters.com/business/energy ... ce=twitter

[wjfox]

[wjfox]

[raklian]

This is precisely one of the reasons capitalism is not compatible with post-scarcity society. We will need to transition to a new economic paradigm that embraces cost-free abundance. In that society, resource allocation efficiency is the new "money." In other words, we get rewarded for being more efficient.

[weatheriscool]

Global electric power demand returns to pre-pandemic levels

Carbon dioxide emissions rose above 2019 levels as electricity demand outpaced growth in renewables in the first half of this year, putting climate goals further out of reach

By Steven Mufson
Today at 8:15 a.m. EDT

Carbon dioxide emissions from the global electric power sector rebounded in the first half of 2021 to above pre-pandemic levels, according to an analysis, signaling that the world has failed to engineer a “green recovery” and shift decisively away from fossil fuels.

As electricity demand jumped from last year’s lows, the London-based think tank Ember found, it outpaced the growth of renewable energy. That pushed global electricity-related emissions 5 percent above where they stood before the coronavirus outbreak.

The new findings have major implications for the upcoming U.N. climate talks in Glasgow, Scotland, where negotiators hope to forge a pact to cut greenhouse gas emissions and keep the planet from warming more than 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) compared to preindustrial levels. They also suggest that a surge in electric vehicles, which President Biden and many other world leaders support, will tax the electricity grid as developers work to add wind and solar.

{snip}

The Energy Information Administration, part of the Energy Department, forecast that the U.S. economic recovery and a changing fuel mix would lead to a “significant increase in energy-related carbon dioxide emissions this year.” The EIA in its August short-term energy outlook said that after tumbling 11 percent in 2020, the U.S. power sector’s carbon dioxide emissions would increase by 7 percent this year and an additional 1 percent in 2022.

EIA acting administrator Steve Nalley said then that “despite significant growth in energy-related CO2 emissions as the U.S. economy opens up, we don’t see these emissions returning to pre-pandemic levels, at least in the short term.”

China’s economy is the only major economy to experience an increase in greenhouse gas emissions last year, according to the Ember report. Based on preliminary data, the group estimated that China’s greenhouse gas emissions increased by 1.7 percent in 2020.

{snip}

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate- ... te-change/

[caltrek]

Remember the Midwest Drought of 2012? This is How One Corn State Stacks Up Against the Current Drought in the West.
by Pam Dempsey
September 2, 2021

https://investigatemidwest.org/2021/09/ ... -the-west/

Introduction:

(Mid-West Center for Investigative Journalism) Ninety percent of the West is considered to be "in drought," according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, housed at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

As of Thursday, the monitor reported: "In addition to impacting fire conditions, the on-going drought in California continues to strain the state’s water resources. This is reflected in the reservoir levels of California’s two largest reservoirs, Lake Shasta and Lake Oroville, which are currently at 43% and 34% of historical averages, respectively. In the Southwest, Lake Powell is currently 31% full and Lake Mead is 35% full. The total Lower Colorado system is at 40% full, according to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, compared to 50% full at the same time last year."

Drought conditions in the Midwest in 2012 impacted water systems as well. As Investigate Midwest reported in 2017, the drought and its damage to Illinois' corn and soybean crops spurred a growth in irrigation systems.

“Agricultural irrigation increased in 2012,” wrote Jim Angel, Illinois state climatologist. “The combination of the drought and high commodity prices triggered a significant expansion of irrigation across Illinois that continued in 2013. There were several complaints of irrigation operations pumping hard enough to drop neighboring farms’ well levels.”

Below, here is what drought in Illinois looks like over time compared to California.

(See article link above quote box for graph of California.)

[weatheriscool]

Cleanup boats on scene of large Gulf oil spill following Ida
Source: Associated Press

By MICHAEL BIESECKER 46 minutes ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Coast Guard said Saturday that cleanup crews are responding to a sizable oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico following Hurricane Ida.

The spill, which is ongoing, appears to be coming from a source underwater at an offshore drilling lease about two miles (three kilometers) south of Port Fourchon, Louisiana. The reported location is near the site of a miles-long brown and black oil slick visible in aerial photos first published Wednesday by The Associated Press.

So far, the growing spill appears to have remained out to sea and has not impacted the Louisiana shoreline. There is not yet any estimate for how much oil was in the water, but recent satellite images reviewed by AP on Saturday appeared to show the slick drifting more than a dozen miles (more than 19 kilometers) eastward along the Gulf coast.

Coast Guard spokesman Lt. John Edwards said response teams are monitoring reports and satellite imagery to determine the scope of the discharge. He said the source of the pollution is located in Bay Marchand, Block 4, and is believed to be crude oil from an undersea pipeline owned by Talos Energy.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/business-env ... 0eb9ac4a9c

[weatheriscool]

Ford plant spilled 1,400 gallons of gas into city sewers, forcing evacuations and production halt
Source: USA Today

A fuel leak at the Ford Motor Co.'s assembly plant in Flat Rock, Michigan has resulted in some residents evacuating the town and the automaker shutting down production of the Ford Mustang.

Ford has plugged the leak, which released about 1,400 gallons of gasoline, said Jill Greenberg, a spokesperson for the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy.

The Dearborn, Michigan automaker has also pledged $1 million to benefit Flat Rock residents affected by the leak, identified by Ford on Wednesday, which sent benzene-containing vapors into the sanitary sewer systems.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Wayne County Chief Executive Officer Warren Evans declared states of emergency for Monroe and Wayne counties, as the vapors were detected at manhole covers and in some homes at flammable levels.

Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/ford- ... ar-AAOcklV

[weatheriscool]

Report: Solar could power 40% of US electricity by 2035
https://techxplore.com/news/2021-09-sol ... icity.html
by Matthew Daly

Solar energy has the potential to supply up to 40% of the nation's electricity within 15 years—a 10-fold increase over current solar output, but one that would require massive changes in U.S. policy and billions of dollars in federal investment to modernize the nation's electric grid, a new federal report says.

The report by the Energy Department's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy says the United States would need to quadruple its annual solar capacity—and continue to increase it year by year—as it shifts to a renewable-dominant grid in order to address the existential threat posed by climate change.

The report released Wednesday is not intended as a policy statement or administration goal, officials said. Instead, it is "designed to guide and inspire the next decade of solar innovation by helping us answer questions like: How fast does solar need to increase capacity and to what level?'' said Becca Jones-Albertus, director of the Energy Department's solar energy technologies office.

Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said in a statement that the study "illuminates the fact that solar, our cheapest and fastest-growing source of clean energy, could produce enough electricity to power all of the homes in the U.S. by 2035 and employ as many as 1.5 million people in the process."

[weatheriscool]

EPA to protect Alaska's Bristol Bay, blocking major gold mine
Source: Washington Post

The Environmental Protection Agency said Thursday it would restore protections for Alaska’s Bristol Bay, blocking the construction of a massive and controversial gold mine near the world’s largest sockeye salmon run. The policy shift, indicated in a court filing Thursday in response to a lawsuit filed by the mine’s opponents, deals a serious blow to a project that has been in the works for more than a decade and would have transformed southwest Alaska’s landscape.

Pebble Limited Partnership, the U.S. subsidiary of Canada’s Northern Dynasty Minerals, argued its proposed mine had the potential to be one of the most important metal-producing projects of the 21st century. But a coalition of Alaska Natives, environmentalists, fishing operators and recreational anglers — including some prominent Republicans like Donald Trump Jr. — countered that it was too risky to start a hardrock mine at the headwaters of a fishery teeming with sockeye, coho, chum, and pink salmon that has provided generations with a vital food source and lured fishing enthusiasts from around the globe.

In the filing, EPA said it plans to invoke its powers under the Clean Water Act to ensure the region’s waters are not filled in or contaminated by material from the proposed open-pit mining site. “It is essential to the livelihood and the community well-being of many Alaskan tribes. And it is also one of the most productive salmon fisheries in North America,” Radhika Fox, head of the EPA’s Office of Water, said in an interview Thursday.

Bristol Bay, she added, “is a unique resource that needs unique protection.” EPA’s move does not ensure the area’s permanent protection, and could be reversed by a subsequent administration. But coming on the heels of a series of setbacks the project suffered last fall, it could hamper the company’s ability to raise capital going forward.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate- ... gold-mine/

[wjfox]

U.S. House panel passes reconciliation bill protecting Arctic reserve from drilling

September 10, 2021

The House Natural Resources Committee late on Thursday passed legislation that will go into a wider budget reconciliation package that includes restoring protections for a pristine Arctic wildlife refuge from oil and gas drilling.

https://www.reuters.com/business/enviro ... 021-09-10/

[wjfox]

Record number of environmental activists murdered

11 hours ago

A record number of activists working to protect the environment and land rights were murdered last year, according to a report by a campaign group.

227 people were killed around the world in 2020, the highest number recorded for a second consecutive year, the report from Global Witness said.

Almost a third of the murders were reportedly linked to resource exploitation - logging, mining, large-scale agribusiness, hydroelectric dams and other infrastructure.

The report called the victims "environmental defenders" killed for protecting natural resources that need to be preserved, including forests, water supplies and oceans.

Since the Paris Agreement on climate change was signed in 2015, the organisation says on average four activists have been killed each week.

It said this "shocking figure" was likely to be an underestimate because of growing restrictions on journalists and other civic freedoms.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-58508001



Credit: Instituto Socioambiental Handout

[caltrek]

California Lawmakers Go All-in for Offshore Wind
by Nick Cahill
September 10, 2021

https://www.courthousenews.com/californ ... hore-wind/

Introduction:

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Courthouse News) — An armada of wind farms is planned for the California coast under new legislation intended to spur an offshore wind energy revolution in the Golden State.

Touted as the perfect complement to solar energy, lawmakers believe offshore wind will reduce reliance on fossil fuels and provide badly needed new jobs at a time when California is dealing with electricity shortages and massive unemployment. In unanimous fashion, the Assembly approved a proposal late Thursday that commits the state to building the infrastructure and securing permits needed to bring the offshore wind industry fully online by 2045.

“We don't have that many opportunities to work on matters that will have an impact long after we're gone, but this is one of them," said the bill’s author, Assemblymember David Chiu. “With offshore wind, we can counter the threat of climate change, meet our clean energy goals, and create thousands of new good-paying jobs in the process.”

California’s outdated electrical grid has faltered in recent years in the face of summer heat waves, prompting doubts as to whether the state can meet its ambitious goal of a fully green grid by 2045 and keep the lights on for 40 million residents. Though California is already a prodigious producer of solar power, experts say the state must continue to diversify its clean energy portfolio as it continues to shutter its dirtiest power plants.

In this Aug. 15, 2016 file photo, three of Deepwater Wind's turbines stand in the water off Block Island, R.I.
AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, File