ApocaDocuments (8) for the "Recovery" scenario from this week [see full week] ~ [see full Recovery scenario and stories]
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Sun, Sep 13, 2009 from CleanTechnica:
US Must Socialize Grid to Add Renewable Energy, Study Finds
We need to build a supergrid like the national highway system we built in the 1930's. But a new study finds that this might be almost impossible to do in this country. A historical legacy of Balkanized ownership of multiple tiny grids and ineffective regulatory structure has hindered upgrades to and expansion of the U.S. transmission network.
In these political times of political hysteria against any kind of national common good, it will be hard to overcome a legacy that grew out of our rugged individualism.
By contrast, China and Europe have easily added more renewable power, by socializing the grid. ...
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You're not putting socialist "death panels" in my fusebox!!
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Sun, Sep 13, 2009 from New Scientist:
Better world: Tax carbon and give the money to the people
A universal carbon tax could be far simpler. NASA climatologist James Hansen is a vocal proponent, favouring a variant in which fossil fuels are taxed at source or at a country's port of entry. The most polluting fuels in terms of carbon emissions, such as coal or tar-sand-derived oil, could be taxed more heavily than others. Consumers would not pay the tax directly, but its effect would permeate through to everything from the price of gas to the price of food: the more carbon-intensive goods or services are, the more heavily they will be hit.
That doesn't mean that consumers need be out of pocket. As Hansen envisages the scheme, the proceeds of the tax should not be kept by the government, but instead distributed equally among all citizens in the form of payments into their bank accounts. Those who make greener choices -- flying less, insulating their home, running a more energy-efficient car -- will make a net profit from the tax.... "A carbon tax is honest. It takes one page rather than 1400," [Hansen] says. "That doesn't go down too well in Washington." ...
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Simple and sensible leaves too little room for opportunism.
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Sat, Sep 12, 2009 from Huffington Post:
No Impact Man: The Movie Everyone Is Talking About
Colin Beavan decides to completely eliminate his personal impact on the environment for the next year.
It means eating vegetarian, buying only local food, and turning off the refrigerator. It also means no elevators, no television, no cars, buses, or airplanes, no toxic cleaning products, no electricity, no material consumption, and no garbage.
No problem -- at least for Colin -- but he and his family live in Manhattan. So when his espresso-guzzling, retail-worshipping wife Michelle and their two-year-old daughter are dragged into the fray, the No Impact Project has an unforeseen impact of its own. ...
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How can the economy recover without impact?
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Thu, Sep 10, 2009 from BBC (UK):
EU proposes billions annually for poor nations' climate protection
The European Commission says the EU should provide $2-15bn each year to help poor countries protect themselves against impacts of climate change.
The UN estimates that poor nations will need about $100bn per year for climate adaptation, with much of that coming from levies on carbon trading.
The commission hopes its proposal will stimulate negotiations leading up to December's UN summit in Copenhagen.... The commission sees about 40 percent of the $100bn coming from the global carbon market that is supposed to emerge from the Copenhagen treaty.... "The EU is trying to get away with leaving a tip, rather than paying its share of the bill to protect the planet's climate," said Joris den Blanken, climate and energy policy director of Greenpeace-EU. ...
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A tip of the hat, at least.
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Wed, Sep 9, 2009 from Washington Post:
Coalition Launches Campaign to Pass Climate Bill
A coalition of environmental, labor, veterans and religious groups formally launched a national lobbying campaign Tuesday aimed at mobilizing grass-roots support for passage of a Senate climate bill this fall.
The group -- dubbed Clean Energy Works -- marks perhaps the most ambitious effort yet to enact legislation that would cap greenhouse gas emissions linked to global warming. The coalition has enlisted organizers in 28 key states to help build support for a cap-and-trade bill, and is scheduled to launch paid television ads this week. It also plans to bring 100 veterans to Washington this week to lobby, and has held town halls and rallies in several states. ...
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If only we could remove the word "coal" from coalition.
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Wed, Sep 9, 2009 from Daily Mail, via Slashdot:
Teenager invents [$38] solar panel that could be solution to developing world's energy needs ... made from human hair
A new type of solar panel using human hair could provide the world with cheap, green electricity, believes its teenage inventor.
Milan Karki, 18, who comes from a village in rural Nepal, believes he has found the solution to the developing world's energy needs.
The young inventor says hair is easy to use as a conductor in solar panels and could revolutionise renewable energy.
The hair replaces silicon, a pricey component typically used in solar panels, and means the panels can be produced at a low cost for those with no access to power, he explained....
Melanin, a pigment that gives hair its colour, is light sensitive and also acts as a type of conductor. Because hair is far cheaper than silicon the appliance is less costly....
The solar panel can charge a mobile phone or a pack of batteries capable of providing light all evening.
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So maybe those hippies were right!
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Tue, Sep 8, 2009 from New Scientist:
Barcodes will (eventually) stop bushmeat from being swiped
Science is gradually making the work of illegal bushmeat traders more difficult. The DNA "ID tags" of African red river hog and 13 other species of illegally traded bushmeat animals have been added to an online database, making it more straightforward for conservationists to check the provenance of meat at markets.
The Barcode of Life database already contains the barcodes of thousands of species, but the biologists hope the new additions – which also include the spectacled caiman and the slender-snouted crocodile -- will start a "bushmeat chapter" in the database.... "Legally, if you want to take someone to court and prosecute them for selling bushmeat, you have to have genetic evidence to back you up so having a library of barcodes for illegally killed animals is an essential first step," says Mark Stoeckle, a DNA barcoding expert at the Rockefeller University in New York. "That said, sequencing DNA takes time and money and you need a lab to do it, so we're still a long way off from instant species identification." ...
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I suspect that instant DNA analysis is unlikely in the remote village markets.
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Mon, Sep 7, 2009 from BusinessGreen:
Solar panel maker to create 4,000 green jobs
US solar specialist Solyndra has begun construction of a second fabrication plant, which it claims could result in 3,000 temporary jobs and 1,000 or more long-term positions in the new plant.... The company said that the new site will allow it to address its $2bn order backlog and could create enough solar panels, along with the existing facility, to cut more than 350 million metric tons of C02 or 850 million barrels of oil.... Solyndra, which gets its name from its cylindrical solar modules, also announced that it has become the first company to receive a loan -- of around $535m -- guaranteed by the US Department of Energy under Title XVII of the Energy Policy Act of 2005. ...
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Leeeeet the sun shine, leeeet the sun shine in!
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