Fire, Floods and Power Outages: Our Climate Future Has Arrived

SAN FRANCISCO — Now we suffer the consequences.

Firefighters battling the Saddleridge fire in Sylmar, Calif., on Thursday.

In Northern California, power was cut to more than a million people this week. Near Houston, houses that flooded only two years ago just succumbed again. The South endured record-shattering fall heat waves. In Miami, salt water bubbled through street drains yet again as the rising ocean mounted a fresh assault.

All of it was predicted, in general outline, decades ago. We did not listen. Ideologues and paid shills cajoled us to ignore the warnings. Politicians cashed their checks from the fossil fuel lobbyists and slithered away.

Today, we act surprised as the climate emergency descends upon us in all its ferocity.

The scientists knew long ago, and told us, that the sea would invade the coasts. They knew a hotter atmosphere would send heavier rains to inundate our cities and farms. They knew the landscape of California, which always becomes desiccated in the late summer and early fall, would dry out more in a hotter climate.

Read the opinion piece from The New York Times by Justin Gillis - “Fire, Floods and Power Outages: Our Climate Future Has Arrived.”

Climate change creates moral tension between medium and message

Writing in “The Violence of Climate Change: Lessons of Resistance from Nonviolent Activists” Kevin J. O’Brien said: 

 “As one small example, substantial carbon dioxide (CO2) has been released in the process of getting this book into your hands CO2 was burned to manufacture and power the computer on which it was written, the machines that bound it between covers or downloaded it onto e-readers, and the machines that got the object you are holding into your hands. Contemporary media are utterly dependent upon fossil fuels and industrial systems, so taking a public stand against the violence of climate change creates moral tension between medium and message.”

Central America's first hydrogen fuel cell bus hits the road

GUANACASTE, COSTA RICA – Just off a quiet road amid sparsely wooded fields are four rows of solar panels and a single wind turbine. The power they generate is sent a few feet away to a small-scale hydrogen production and storage plant, a cluster of structures and tanks surrounded by a chain-link fence. Next to that is a sleek digital dispenser with a gas-station style hose to deliver the compressed hydrogen to a vehicle.

Hydrogen fuel cell bus ‘Nyuti’ at the hydrogen dispenser. 

Specifically, it’s a boxy 35-passenger bus called “Nyuti” (which means “star” in the local Chorotega indigenous language) that sits in the adjacent parking lot. This is Central America’s first hydrogen transportation “ecosystem” and, seven years after the effort to introduce hydrogen fuel cell vehicles in Costa Rica began, Nyuti is taking to the road.

Read Robin Kazmier’s Yale Climate Connections story - “Central America's first hydrogen fuel cell bus hits the road.”

Scott Morrison blasts coal rebels, says new coal power twice as expensive

Treasurer Scott Morrison has blasted a call by Coalition MPs for the government to build a coal-fired power station, saying it would not provide cheap electricity as claimed, but power that could be twice as expensive.

Scott Morrison has blasted a call by Coalition MPs for the
government to build a coal fired power station, saying it
 would not provide cheap electricity. 

With a ginger group of Liberal and Nationals MPs called the Monash Forum demanding the government invest up to $4 billion to build a High Efficiency, Low Emissions (HELE) coal-fired plant in Victoria, Mr Morrison said such a project would take many years to build and the electricity it produced would be far more expensive than that being generated by existing coal-fired power stations.

"There's a difference between old coal and new coal. Old coal bids into the energy grid at about $30 a megawatt hour, it could be up to $40,' he told The Australian Financial Review Banking & Wealth Summit.

Read the story from The Financial Review by Phillip Coorey - “Scott Morrison blasts coal rebels, says new coal power twice as expensive.”

EU bank provides €25 million investment in African off-grid solar

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has this week announced its plans to invest in innovative solar systems to provide power to rural communities on the African continent.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is investing
 in innovative off-grid solar systems.

The €25m of financing into the San Francisco-based company d.light design will enable the development of solar kits, consisting of panels, lamps and low-energy equipment, such as radios or TVs.

The bank is hoping the investment can lead to the installation of 10 million such kits within sub-Saharan Africa over the next five years. The initial focus for the programme will be on Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda.

Read the ClimateAction story - “EU bank provides €25 million investment in African off-grid solar.”

Coal plant construction extends dive - but not fast enough: report

Coal-fired power is on track to start shrinking globally by 2022, dimming prospects for exporters of the fossil fuel, including Australia, according to a report by environmental groups.

On current trends, coal plant capacity worldwide could peak by 2022.

China and India, which have dominated construction of new power plants for more than a decade, both cut new capacity sharply for the second year in a row in 2017, the annual Boom and Bust report by Greenpeace, Sierra Club and CoalSwarm found.

Read Peter Hannam’s story from The Age - “Coal plant construction extends dive - but not fast enough: report.”

This whirlpool turbine can be installed in a week and could power up to 60 homes

This whirlpool turbine can power dozens of homes, providing energy 24 hours a day. 

The water-powered turbine is a natural fit for the Goulburn Valley.

Belgian company Turbulent have possibly come up with a solution to generate energy for small-scale rural areas, but you need to live near a river.

The turbine can be installed in most rivers and canals, using the flowing water to produce energy - which the creators claim is enough to power up to 60 homes.

Read the Business Insider story - “This whirlpool turbine can be installed in a week and could power up to 60 homes.”

Redefining The Role Of Business & Sport: How Can They Join Forces To Accelerate Low-Carbon Technologies Across Different Sectors.

Can you imagine a world where combating climate change is an exciting and inspiring opportunity, an opportunity to harness the power of the best, to raise the bar, to overcome hurdles and to redefine the role of business and sport in society?

Climate change is one of the greatest challenges facing our society, already affecting natural environments and people around the world. In 2017, global CO2 emissions have risen again, after being flat for 3 years. Hence, global greenhouse gas emissions in 2020 are likely to be at the high end of the range projected by scientists under the 2°C and 1.5°C temperature scenarios, making it increasingly difficult to be on track to meet the global 2030 emission goals.

Learn more about the webinar and register here - “Redefining The Role Of Business & Sport: How Can They Join Forces To Accelerate Low-Carbon Technologies Across Different Sectors.” 

Electrify Everything & Save The Planet!

Have you ever wondered why so many of the items we use on a daily basis are switching away from fossil fuel power to electricity? About 80% of the world’s GHG emissions are a direct or indirect result of extraction and burning of fossil fuels. Electricity offers a more efficient, lower-cost, and sustainable energy alternative to fossil fuel power.

Yes, we need to electrify everything.

Consumer energy technologies fall into two basic types: those that run on electricity (anything that plugs in or has a battery) and those that directly combust fuels like oil, gasoline, natural gas, or biomass. Let’s zoom in specifically on vehicles to understand the importance of electrification.

The gas-powered internal combustion engine is intrinsically inefficient. Less than a quarter of the energy consumed is used to drive the vehicle — the balance is rejected as waste heat. The preferable scenario is to choose electricity to drive our vehicles of all sizes and capacities. If that were the case, more than 90% of the energy devoted to our personal transportation would be deployed usefully. Let’s translate that in a different way. We could provide the driving potential of a gallon of gasoline by substituting as few as 8 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity.

Read the story by Carolyn Fortuna on CleanTechnica - “Electrify Everything & Save The Planet!”

In 2020 Bitcoin will consume more power than the world does today

Can the world afford Bitcoin? The cryptocurrency is enjoying something of a resurgence as investment and central banks weighed its benefits and caused its value to balloon.

A single Bitcoin transaction could power a house for a month.

But generating Bitcoin requires a truly staggering amount of energy. The electricity used in a single Bitcoin transaction, for instance, could power a house for a month.

And bitcoin mining (the process of generating a bitcoin) now consumes the same amount of electricity every year as Denmark - 33TWh, according to one recent report.

Read the World Economic Forum story by Adam Jezard - “In 2020 Bitcoin will consume more power than the world does today.”

Power companies forced to pay $5 million in compensation to Victorians hit by blackouts

Power companies are being forced to pay compensation to Victorians affected by last month's blackouts, with payments up to $180 depending on how long a household went without electricity.

As part of the $5 million package, announced on Sunday, around 50,000 households who lost power on January 28 will receive a one-off payments.

Energy Minister Lily D'Ambrosio said $180 would be given to those without power for between 20 and 30 hours, while those affected for between three and 20 hours would receive $80.

Read Daniella Miletic’s story in The Age - “Power companies forced to pay $5 million in compensation to Victorians hit by blackouts.”

How playing games on your phone or tablet could cut your power bill

Summer has arrived, and with it, soaring energy bills. Australian households are paying more for their power as generators struggle to meet consumer demand.

Money-saving screen time? 

We blast our air conditioners to stay cool, and put on that old fridge for the Christmas drinks, both of which are likely to blow out our electricity bill.

But while we wait for the situation to improve, there is something you can do to help save money in the meantime: play games.

There is growing evidence that “serious” mobile phone games (games designed for purposes other than entertainment) can help households become more energy-efficient.

Read the piece on The Conversation - “How playing games on your phone or tablet could cut your power bill.”

Old factory to make power for new

A Goulburn Valley businessman is working on a novel energy project which will use food waste to generate power for a new dairy factory.

The site of the new power plant.

Ian Bertram has received a Victorian Government grant towards the project based at the former Heinz factory at Girgarre which was once a cheese factory.

Australian Consolidated Milk is planning to build a new dairy factory on a green-field site next to the old facility this year and may be the power generator’s best customer.

Read the Country News story - “Old factory to make power for new.”

Global warming will weaken wind power, study predicts

Wind farms are key to tackling climate change but warming will significantly cut the power of the wind across northern mid-latitudes, including the US, the UK and the Mediterranean, according to new research. However, some places, including eastern Australia, will see winds pick up.

 In central US, the power of the wind could fall by nearly a fifth. 

The research is the first global study to project the impact of temperature rises on wind energy and found big changes by the end of the century in many of the places hosting large numbers of turbines.

Wind farms have grown more than fivefold in the last decade and plunging costs have made them a key way of reducing carbon emissions from fossil fuel burning. But in the central US, for example, the power of the wind could fall by nearly a fifth.

“We found some substantial changes in wind energy,” said Kristopher Karnauskas at the University of Colorado Boulder, US. “But it does not mean we should not invest in wind power.” It does mean such changes need to be taken into account in planning future wind farms, he said, and also in assessing how much wind farms overall can cut global emissions.

Read The Guardian story by Damian Carrington - “Global warming will weaken wind power, study predicts.”

‘Existential threat': climate change risks finally grab Australia's attention

When Cyclone Evan slammed into Samoa five years ago next week, it triggered the near-complete loss of power and water supplies in the capital, Apia, and forced villagers to relocate to schools and the university for months.

An overhead view of Ejit, of the Marshall Islands, where
rising sea levels are already an inescapable part of daily life.

The category-4 tempest was the strongest to hit the Pacific nation in a couple of decades. For Samoan Brianna Fruean, one of the Pacific Climate Warriors, it was another sign - along with rising sea levels, and more intense floods and droughts - that action needed to be taken. 

"Climate change is happening right in front of our eyes," Fruean said this week on the sidelines of a meeting in Fiji of Civicus, a global civil society group.

Helen Clark - the former New Zealand prime minister and an ex-senior United Nations official - was also at the Suva gathering. Clark says she is not surprised by its central topic.

Read Peter Hannam’s comment in today’s Melbourne Age - “‘Existential threat': climate change risks finally grab Australia's attention.”

Is Melbourne ready for summer?

It's Melbourne's third consecutive day over 43 degrees. The power is out. Trains are at a standstill after the rails buckle and warp in the heat.

Melbourne is set for a hot summer of warmer than average days and nights.

Ambulances and hospitals struggle to cope with massively increased patient numbers.

The sweltering conditions are more deadly than a bushfire, claiming hundreds of lives.

This isn't some dystopia. It already happened, in 2009.

And many fear Melbourne might experience such extreme conditions again this summer.

Read Debbie Cuthbertson’s story in today’s Melbourne Age - “Is Melbourne ready for summer?”

In battery boom cobalt-supply chain, Democratic Republic of Congo has the power

The cars of the future will depend increasingly upon supplies of an obscure metal from a country in the African tropics where there has never been a peaceful transition of power and child labor is still used in parts of the mining industry.

A "creuseur," or digger, climbs through a cobalt
and copper mine in Kawama, in the Democratic
 Republic of the Congo. Sixty per cent of the
 world's cobalt comes from the Congo.

Most major automakers are pledging to build millions of electric vehicles as the world's governments crack down on climate-damaging emissions from traditional-fuel engines. As a result, demand is surging for lithium-ion batteries and the materials needed to make them – including cobalt, a relatively rare substance found mostly in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The country formerly known as Zaire – which hosted boxers Muhammad Ali and George Foreman for their 1974 heavyweight title bout, dubbed the "Rumble in the Jungle" – supplies 63 per cent of the world's cobalt.

Congo's market share may jump to 73 per cent by 2025 as producers like Glencore expand mines, according to Wood Mackenzie. By 2030, global demand could be 47 times more than it was last year, Bloomberg New Energy Finance estimates.

Read the story by Tom Wilson in today’s Melbourne Age - “In battery boom cobalt-supply chain, Democratic Republic of Congo has the power.”

Sturgeon proposes cheap, state-owned energy for Scotland

Nicola Sturgeon has pledged to set up a state-owned energy company in Scotland to offer cheaper power to homeowners, as she seeks to restore her battered party’s confidence.

 Nicola Sturgeon speaks on the final day of the SNP conference in Glasgow. 

Seizing on a policy pushed by Scottish Labour, the first minister said power from the publicly owned energy company would be sold as cheaply as possible.

“Energy would be bought wholesale or generated here in Scotland – renewable, of course – and sold to customers as close to cost price as possible,” she told the Scottish National party conference in Glasgow on Tuesday. “No shareholders to worry about. No corporate bonuses to consider.” 

It was one of a series of populist policies aimed at bolstering her party’s appeal to leftwing and rural voters.

Read Severin Carrell’s story on The Guardian -  “Sturgeon proposes cheap, state-owned energy for Scotland.”

Base load power: The dinosaur in the energy debate

Base load power is a term we're hearing a lot in discussions about our energy future. But what does it mean, and is it really relevant?

Battery storage may form part of a renewable
 system that can cover base load power.

Because wind and solar are intermittent, the argument goes, we need a constant power source chugging away in the background to cover supply when the sun goes down and the wind stops.

But energy researchers say the term is a "dinosaur" that has been misunderstood, and that it no longer applies to our dynamic energy market.

Read the ABC News Story - “Base load power: The dinosaur in the energy debate.”

Northern Victorian piggery taps into its manure for energy

A family-owned piggery in northern Victoria is about to unplug from the grid and rely on a $1 million biogas system for all its power.

Pigs manure is rich in nutrients and
 can be turned into bio-gas.

The biogas system is expected to save the business operators at Yarrawalla, 80 kilometres north of Bendigo, hundreds of thousands of dollars.

While other intensive animal farms and regional hospitals across the state face rising energy prices, the Kia Ora piggery will become self-sufficient in two months time.

One interstate research fellow who advises Australian Pork Limited has described the operator as a trail-blazer in the industry.

Read the ABC News story by Stephanie Corsetti and Erin Delahunty - “Northern Victorian piggery taps into its manure for energy.”