Germany: Do. Or Do Not. There is no Try.
June 26, 2012
At dockyards near the North Sea port of Rostock, Germany, Siemens is building a massive platform that will house equipment for managing power from wind farms far offshore. Credit: Courtesy of Siemens
It used to be that the United States was the bold technological leader of the world. The space program, jet engines, the microchip, satellite GPS, the internet – all of these were important initiatives that could not have happened without major government involvement. All of them carried a certain amount of financial, or even physical, risks. All of them spun out a wide variety of benefits that have created whole new industries that the country could lead and dominate in.
Now we are faced with a Tea Party congress bent on leading us back to the 19th century, both technologically, and socially. For now, it seems we have a faction that will opt to watch as other countries take the lead in the most important revolution of the century.
Great article in Technology Review gives plenty of space to pros and cons.
Along a rural road in the western German state of North Rhine–Westphalia lives a farmer named Norbert Leurs. An affable 36-year-old with callused hands, he has two young children and until recently pursued an unremarkable line of work: raising potatoes and pigs. But his newest businesses point to an extraordinary shift in the energy policies of Europe’s largest economy. In 2003, a small wind company erected a 70-meter turbine, one of some 22,000 in hundreds of wind farms dotting the German countryside, on a piece of Leurs’s potato patch. Leurs gets a 6 percent cut of the electricity sales, which comes to about $9,500 a year. He’s considering adding two or three more turbines, each twice as tall as the first.
The profits from those turbines are modest next to what he stands to make on solar panels. In 2005 Leurs learned that the government was requiring the local utility to pay high prices for rooftop solar power. He took out loans, and in stages over the next seven years, he covered his piggery, barn, and house with solar panels—never mind that the skies are often gray and his roofs aren’t all optimally oriented. From the resulting 690-kilowatt installation he now collects $280,000 a year, and he expects over $2 million in profits after he pays off his loans.
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Despite the costs, Germany could greatly benefit from its grand experiment. In the past decade, the country has nurtured not only wind and solar power but less-heralded energy technologies such as management software and efficient industrial processes. Taken together, these “green” technologies have created an export industry that’s worth $12 billion—and is poised for still more growth, according to Miranda Schreurs, director of the Environmental Policy Research Center at the Berlin Free University. Government policies could provide further incentives to develop and deploy new technologies. “That is know-how that you can sell,” Schreurs says. “The way for Germany to compete in the long run is to become the most energy-efficient and resource-efficient market, and to expand on an export market in the process.”
If Germany succeeds in making the transition, it could provide a workable blueprint for other industrial nations, many of which are also likely to face pressures to transform their energy consumption. “This Energiewende is being watched very closely. If it works in Germany, it will be a template for other countries,” says Graham Weale, chief economist at RWE, which is grappling with how to shut its nuclear power plants while keeping the lights on. “If it doesn’t, it will be very damaging to the German economy and that of Europe.”
Cooling towers at a nuclear power plant in Gundremmingen are visible behind homes whose owners are taking advantage of solar-power subsidies. The plant is marked for closure. Credit: David Talbot | Technology Review
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To some German economists, the country’s energy policy is simply wrong-headed. Hans-Werner Sinn, president of the Ifo Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, is especially scathing. “The Energiewende is a turn into nowhere-land, because the green technologies are just not sufficient to provide a replacement for modern society’s energy needs,” he says. “It is wrong to shut down the atomic power plants, because this is a cheap source of energy, and wind and solar power are by no means able to provide a replacement. They are much more expensive, and the energy that comes out is of inferior quality. Energy-intensive industries will move out, and the competitiveness of the German manufacturing sector will be reduced or wages will be depressed.”
German politicians, of course, are betting that Sinn is wrong. And plenty of encouraging signs argue against his pessimism. The cost of solar panels has dropped sharply, which means that solar power may become more competitive. Battery costs may follow suit. If fossil fuels continue to become more expensive, renewable power sources will look more attractive. “Forty years is a long time, and one is continuously being surprised by favorable technological developments—for example, the way in which the price of solar cells is coming down,” Weale says. “From my point of view, I want to emphasize how challenging the Energiewende is. At the moment, it’s looking difficult. But with the right incentives, one can have good reason to believe that technological progress will be a lot faster than we currently expect.”
Do you ever wonder what if might feel like to be out on the edge, pushing the envelope – instead of cringing, dithering, and clinging to the past?
Care to bet against them?
Gettin Hot in Here – Denver
June 26, 2012
Natonal Weather Service – Denver/Facebook:
It’s that time of year to haul out the chart showing the annual number of days having a high temperature of 90+ degrees in Denver. Through today, June 25th, we have had 14 days of 90+. How many will we get this year? Well, the last day of 90+ ever recorded in Denver was on October 1st, 1892, so we really won’t know till fall. Fall sounds good about now.
At 3:34 PM MDT Monday, June 25th, the temperature at Denver International Airport reached 105 degrees. This ties the ALL time record high temperature ever recorded in Denver (also reached on July 20, 2005 and August 8, 1878. This reading breaks the all time JUNE record high temperature (previous 104 degrees) in Denver, and also marks four consecutive days of 100+ heat.
Starting today, you can help kickstart Climate Crocks to a whole new level – at kickstarter.com.
As of now, I am starting a 3 week fundraiser aimed at outfitting myself to join a scientific team on Washington’s Mt Baker, an active volcano in the Cascades Range. I’ve been invited by one of the world’s foremost glacier experts, (and an advisor to this series..) Dr. Mauri Pelto, to come along and document his annual research foray onto a rapidly declining mountain glacier.
Unlike well-funded, professional climate deniers, I don’t have the Heartland Institute, The Koch Brothers, Oil, Fossil Fuel, and Tobacco Companies paying my way. If this is going to happen, I have to rely on my viewers to jump in and help out, as many have in the past.
Therefore, from now until midnight, Friday, July 13th, I’m running a fundraiser on kickstarter.com, a crowd sourcing site with a good track record, and inviting any and all friends of Climate Crocks – if you’ve ever thought about what you could do to help communicate the science on the issue of the millennium, here’s one of the most direct and efficient opportunities you could have.
My first goal is to get there and back with all my fingers and toes intact, so I’ll need to outfit myself with some decent mountain gear and the appropriate tools. With any luck, this will be stuff I can use on future research expeditions as well. Then I have to have some resources for travel and accommodations. I have therefore set a modest funding goal of 4000 dollars. Imagine what it would cost some giant organization to get where I’m going and do what I’m going to do – any gift you give is going to go a lot farther than it would almost anywhere else!
Under kickstarter rules, I have to raise ALL of the goal by the deadline, or none of the pledges will be collected. If I go OVER the goal, then that’s great, and more resource that will quickly be plowed into better cameras, better sound, and more videos.
Now – here’s the cool part – you can get some GREAT gifts for pitching in – Just look!!
$25 or more:
Disc 1 of the three DVD collections of the earliest Climate Crock videos!
Save ’em, swap em, collect ’em, show ’em on your local cable channel!
Bring ’em to your local tea party meeting and watch the fireworks!
Disc One: –
•Party like its 1998
•2009 Arctic Ice Update
•”Creepy at the EPA!”
•”Birth of a Climate Crock”
•”The Temp Leads Carbon Crock!” (first edition)
$50 or more:
Three Disc Set of Climate Crock Classics:
Disc One, see above.
Disc Two
•”32,000 Scientists!”
•”It’s so Cold, there Can’t be Global Warming”
•”Climate Crock Sacks Hack Attack” Part 1 – the story of ‘Climate Gate’
•”Climate Crock Sacks Hack Attack” Part 2 •”In the 70s, Scientists Said there’d be an Ice Age”
Disc Three
•”How do We Know About Climate Change?”
•”Flogging the Scientists”
•Renewables Solution of the Month: Hybrid Cars
•Renewable Solution of the Month: Wind
$100 or more:
Long before there was Climate Denial Crock of the Week, there was Alex’s Restaurant, the first green cartoon strip, syndicated (briefly) in papers across the planet. I put the strip together in part inspired by James Hansen’s testimony to congress in 1988, and for a few years in the early 90s, it was syndicated by the giant King Features syndicate. I like to think it was ahead of its time – but it still exists in book form.
These are true collector’s items, I’ve had book and comic collectors write to me over the years about finding them in out of the way book shops and garage sales. I have 75 mint condition copies, ready to go for anyone that wants a piece of Climate Crocks, not to mention comics, history.
This volume, published by Crossing Press in 1993, features the first year and a half or so. Comes with the DVD set mentioned above, as well.
“There are so many strips around with no heart…..Alex’s feels real and has a ring to it – the drawing is terrific!” -Pulitzer winner Jim Borgman
“The drawings are great, and the IDEAS are wonderful!” – Pulitzer winner Mike Peters
Those that have been watching this series and reading this blog can judge for themselves what an opportunity like this could mean, and what I’ll bring home from this trek. My commitment is to keep learning, keep growing, keep speaking and spreading the best information possible.
The fundraiser starts now. There are 18 days to go.
Duluth Storm: Yet Another Postcard from the Future
June 25, 2012
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Duluth is a jewel of a city spread out on bluffs at the western tip of Lake Superior. Another one of those towns that doesn’t get much press, where the women are strong, the men are good looking, and the inhabitants are happy to have you visit, just don’t come and muck up their good thing.
Last week’s not-so-freak rain event broke all records. It yet another of the surprises-that-should-not-be-surprising that are in store for us. As the graph above shows, extreme storms have been increasing in Minnesota for decades. (that’s true for the entire midwest)
Deniers, just keep repeating “dealing with climate change is too costly”.
“The most damaging flood in Duluth’s history”
(Minnesota Climate Working Group)“This storm eclipsed a heavy rain event in August 1972 that caused serious damage in the Duluth area.”
(Minnesota Climate Working Group)
16.6 feet – New record flood level on the St, Louis River at Scanlon?
“The climate record from Duluth shows very few stormy periods that are analogous to what happened there this week.”
(Excerpt from Dr. Mark Seeley’s Friday Weather Talk post)A 4% increase in atmospheric moisture has been observed, consistent with a warming climate. The increased moisture in the atmosphere is driving the shift to heavier but less frequent rains –“when it rains, it pours.”In turn, this increases the risk of flooding.
Source: Trenberth et al.2007 climatenexus.org
Graph of the Day: The Latest Sea Ice from NSIDC
June 25, 2012
NSIDC has no new analysis since this one last week.
The graph above is the most current, from the 24th.
This shows is sea ice extent. “Extent” means that a given grid square contains at least 15 percent ice cover. So an area might count as “ice extent”, and still have a whole lot of open water.
Below, see the trend in August ice volume, according to the U. of Washington’s PIOMAS model.
Draw your own conclusions.
Video: A Child’s Song About Tar Sands
June 25, 2012
Kid can sing. Video has hit almost 100,000 views.
It’s got a good beat and you can weep to it.
en-year-old Ta’Kaiya Blaney stood outside Enbridge Northern Gateway’s office on July 6, waiting for officials to grant her access to the building. She thought she could hand deliver an envelope containing an important message about the company’s pipeline construction. But the doors remained locked.
“I don’t know what they find so scary about me,” she said, as she was ushered off the property by security guards. “I just want them to hear what I have to say.”
The Sliammon First Nation youth put in a great effort learning about environmental issues and the pipeline in particular, and hoped to share her knowledge and carefully crafted words. Enbridge officials said they were unable to provide Ta’Kaiya space or time and failed to comment because the Vancouver office is staffed by a limited number of technical personnel. Their headquarters are located in Calgary.
So Ta’Kaiya stood outside, accompanied by three members of Greenpeace, her mother, and a number of reporters and sang her song “Shallow Waters.”
She co-wrote her song after learning of Enbridge’s bid to build twin 1,170 km pipelines to transport oil from the Alberta tar sands to British Columbia’s north coast. Like the proposedTransCanada Keystone XL pipeline that would connect the Canadian tar sands to the U.S. Gulf Coast, Enbridge’s Alberta-B.C. pipeline is widely opposed, largely because it would bring hundreds of oil supertankers a year to the Great Bear Rainforest – an ecologically significant region along a particularly dangerous route for tankers.
“Oil pipelines and tankers will give people jobs, but if there is an oil spill like the [BP spill] in the Gulf of Mexico, that will take other people’s jobs and the wildlife will die,” said Ta’Kaiya.
According to a Greenpeace website, “Twenty-two years after the Exxon Valdez tragedy, crude still coats Alaska’s shores. Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council estimates that 21,000 gallons of the 11 million gallons of crude oil that bled from the stranded tanker Exxon Valdez on the night of March 23, 1989 remain in the subsurface.”
And Dustin Johnson, a Tsimshian youth who works at the Sierra Club in Edmonton, says that the tankers that are proposed to transport tar sands crude from northern Alberta to the B.C. north coast are much larger than the Exxon Valdez. “If the tar sands pipelines are successfully built on the coast,” he said, “this would lead to at least 250 tankers per year navigating the intricate B.C. coastline – a risk the salmon- and ocean-dependent Northwest coast communities and economies cannot afford to make.”
Video Description:
10 year old Ta’Kaiya Blaney is Sliammon First Nation from B.C., Canada. Along with singing, songwriting, and acting, she is concerned about the environment, especially the preservation of marine and coastal wildlife. Shallow Waters was a semi-finalist in the 2010 David Suzuki Songwriting Contest, Playlist for the Planet. The song was recorded in studio by Audio Producer Joe Cruz. Footage from Vancouver, BC was filmed by Colter Ripley. Footage of the traditional ocean-going canoe from the Squamish Nation (Burrard Inlet, North Vancouver, BC) ; Ta’Kaiya in traditional cedar bark regalia (Tofino, BC); the Oil Refinery in Burrard Inlet; and the Vancouver Aquarium was filmed by Tina House. Additional footage contributed from Canada Greenpeace and Living Oceans Society. Lyrics on Drychum channel
Bigger Turbines, Greener Energy
June 22, 2012
In a study that could solidify the trend toward construction of gigantic windmills, scientists have concluded that the larger the wind turbine, the greener the electricity it produces. Their report appears in ACS’ journal Environmental Science & Technology.
Marloes Caduff and colleagues point out that wind power is an increasingly popular source of electricity. It provides almost 2 percent of global electricity worldwide, a figure expected to approach 10 percent by 2020. The size of the turbines also is increasing. One study shows that the average size of commercial turbines has grown 10-fold in the last 30 years, from diameters of 50 feet in 1980 to nearly 500 feet today. On the horizon: super-giant turbines approaching 1,000 feet in diameter. The authors wanted to determine whether building larger turbines makes wind energy more or less environmentally friendly.
Their study showed that bigger turbines do produce greener electricity — for two main reasons. First, manufacturers now have the knowledge, experience and technology to build big wind turbines with great efficiency. Second, advanced materials and designs permit the efficient construction of large turbine blades that harness more wind without proportional increases in their mass or the masses of the tower and the nacelle that houses the generator. That means more clean power without large increases in the amount of material needed for construction or fuel needed for transportation.
Bigger turbines, it turns out, not only are green, but save green, too. And will save even more in the near future. Better turbines perform better in lower wind speeds. That means more and more land area, that might have been uneconomical a few years ago for wind turbines, is now opening up and becoming useable.
Climatewire:
In fact, the analysis found that the amount of U.S. land area with ideal siting conditions for wind power has increased by between 130 and 270 percent since 2002-2003 due to improvements in turbine technology. Similarly, land area that can produce wind power for less than 5 cents per kilowatt-hour — a price that makes wind competitive with natural gas — has increased by almost 50 percent over the same period.
“We’re opening a lot of new ground in the U.S., so to speak, that wasn’t available a decade ago,” Wiser said.
Big Belly – The Solar Trash Compactor Saves $$$
June 22, 2012
File this under “New uses for renewable energy that I bet nobody had thought of”.
I saw these in Chicago last month, but didn’t have time to investigate. This video helps.
More here.
Trailer: Monsters University
June 22, 2012
Off topic. But funny. And reminded me of a dorm I once lived in.
MIT: “A fundamentally new kind of photovoltaic cell”
June 21, 2012
Photovoltaic solar is already competitive with traditional sources of power, especially during times of peak usage.
We’re just getting started.
About 40 percent of the solar energy reaching Earth’s surface lies in the near-infrared region of the spectrum — energy that conventional silicon-based solar cells are unable to harness. But a new kind of all-carbon solar cell developed by MIT researchers could tap into that unused energy, opening up the possibility of combination solar cells — incorporating both traditional silicon-based cells and the new all-carbon cells — that could make use of almost the entire range of sunlight’s energy.
“It’s a fundamentally new kind of photovoltaic cell,” says Michael Strano, the Charles and Hilda Roddey Professor of Chemical Engineering at MIT and senior author of a paper describing the new device that was published this week in the journal Advanced Materials.
The new cell is made of two exotic forms of carbon: carbon nanotubes and C60, otherwise known as buckyballs. “This is the first all-carbon photovoltaic cell,” Strano says — a feat made possible by new developments in the large-scale production of purified carbon nanotubes. “It has only been within the last few years or so that it has been possible to hand someone a vial of just one type of carbon nanotube,” he says. In order for the new solar cells to work, the nanotubes have to be very pure, and of a uniform type: single-walled, and all of just one of nanotubes’ two possible symmetrical configurations.
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But Strano points out that since the near-infrared part of the solar spectrum is currently entirely unused by typical solar cells, even a low-efficiency cell that works in that region could be worthwhile as long as its cost is low. “If you could harness even a portion of the near-infrared spectrum, it adds value,” he says.
Strano adds that one of the paper’s anonymous peer reviewers commented that the achievement of an infrared-absorbing carbon-based photovoltaic cell without polymer layers is the realization of “a dream for the field.”
Michael Arnold, an assistant professor of materials science and engineering at the University of Wisconsin at Madison who was not involved in this research, says, “Carbon nanotubes offer tantalizing possibilities for increasing the efficiency of solar cells and are kind of like photovoltaic polymers on steroids.” This work, he says, “is exciting because it demonstrates photovoltaic power conversion using an active layer that is entirely made from carbon.” He adds, “This seems like a very promising direction that will eventually allow for nanotubes’ promise to be more fully harnessed.”
