The incredible shrinking solar cell

The next generation of solar cells will be small. About the size of lint. But the anticipated impact: That’s huge.

Some of these emerging electricity-generating cells could be embedded in windows without obscuring the view. Engineers envision incorporating slightly larger ones into resins that would be molded onto the tops of cars or maybe the roofs of buildings. One team of materials scientists is developing microcells that could be rubber-stamped by the millions onto a yard of fabric. When such cells shrink in size — but not efficiency — it becomes hard to imagine what they couldn’t electrify.

http://www.sciencenews.org/view/feature/id/61141/title/The_incredible_shrinking_solar_cell

Get Used to Heat Waves...

Folks sweating out the heat wave battering parts of the country may just have to get used to it.

As global warming continues such heat waves will be increasingly common in the future, a Stanford University study concludes.

"In the next 30 years, we could see an increase in heat waves like the one now occurring in the eastern United States or the kind that swept across Europe in 2003 that caused tens of thousands of fatalities," Noah Diffenbaugh, an assistant professor of environmental Earth system science at Stanford, said in a statement.

Diffenbaugh and Moetasim Ashfaq, a former Stanford postdoctoral fellow now at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, used a series of computer models of climate to calculate changes in the future with increased levels of carbon dioxide and other gases in the atmosphere. Their findings are reported in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

They calculate that within 30 years average temperature could be 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit, or 2 Celsius, higher than in the mid-1800s.

That level of increase has been reported by others and most atmospheric scientists expect it to lead to warming and a change in a variety of weather and climate conditions.

Diffenbaugh and Ashfaq focus specifically on heat waves over the United States.

They reported that an intense heat wave equal to the longest on record from 1951 to 1999 is likely to occur as many as five times between 2020 and 2029 over areas of the western and central United States.

In addition, they said the 2030s are projected to be even hotter.

"Occurrence of the longest historical heat wave further intensifies in the 2030-2039 period, including greater than five occurrences per decade over much of the western U.S. and greater than three exceedences per decade over much of the eastern U.S.," the researchers reported.

"I did not expect to see anything this large within the next three decades. This was definitely a surprise," Diffenbaugh said.

The research was funded by the Energy Department and the National Science Foundation. The climate model simulations were generated and analyzed at Purdue University.

RANDOLPH E. SCHMID, AP Science Writer

Jean-Michel Cousteau: Use of Oil Dispersants in Gulf 'A Mistake'

Jean-Michel Cousteau: Use of Oil Dispersants in Gulf 'A Mistake'

The Rundown caught up with ocean explorer and occasional PBS host Jean-Michel Cousteau to chat about what his team discovered on dives last week into the Gulf of Mexico oil leak.

Cousteau, founder of the Ocean Futures Society and son of another famous explorer Jacques Cousteau, spoke with us Monday from the bridge of the cruise ship m/s Paul Gauguin somewhere between the Cook Islands and Bora Bora.

Cousteau discussed the controversial use of dispersants to break up the oil:

"To add another chemical to the ocean, I think has some long-term consequence which we are not even aware of what it's going to do. Personally, I think it was a mistake. We are much better equipped to capture oil at the surface provided that the weather allows that to happen."

Cousteau said the smaller particles of oil are sneaking under booms set up along the coast seeping into marshland and killing it. It's creating a "monumental problem" that's effecting millions of birds, not to mention plankton -- the foundation of the marine food chain.

He also spoke about the risks that his divers took to get the underwater views of the oil spill.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2010/06/jean-michel-cousteau-use-of-oil-dispersants-a-mistake.html

Accelerated Ice Loss from Greenland

After little net change in the 1990s, Greenland is now melting and shedding billions of tons of ice, according to NASA satellite observations. This trend especially concerns scientists because meltwater and ice emptying into the ocean raise global sea level. Currently, sea level is increasing at about 1.25 inches per decade, and researchers estimate Greenland is contributing about 15% of this rate. Greenland holds a great deal of ice; if all of it returned to the ocean, sea level would rise about 23 feet. (Such a loss would take many centuries to play out, even with substantially more warming than today.)
http://www.climatecentral.org/gallery/graphics/accelerated_ice_loss/

Ice cap thaw will awaken Icelandic volcanoes?

Some scientists suggest that climate change and its consequences on Ice cap thaw in Iceland may awaken volcanoes in the future...
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE63E3Y220100416

"Our work suggests that eventually there will be either somewhat larger eruptions or more frequent eruptions in Iceland in coming decades," said Freysteinn Sigmundsson, a vulcanologist at the University of Iceland.

"Global warming melts ice and this can influence magmatic systems," he told Reuters. The end of the Ice Age 10,000 years ago coincided with a surge in volcanic activity in Iceland, apparently because huge ice caps thinned and the land rose.

Celine Cousteau: Environmentalism Should be Taught in Schools

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/04/celine-cousteau-environme_n_164001.html

La science ne se fait pas sur des plateaux télé!

Il était grand temps que les scientifiques français se réveillent:

"Le coup de gueule contre Allègre des climatologues français":
Entre climatologues et climato-sceptiques, ça tourne à la guerre ouverte. Ce mercredi, plus de 400 scientifiques français ont adressé un appel à la ministre de la Recherche pour que cessent les remises en cause permanentes de leur travail par l'ancien ministre de l'Education...
« La lettre est adressée à Pécresse, mais nous ne demandons pas à la ministre de se prononcer sur le contenu scientifique. Nous visons avant tout les structures compétentes : l’Académie des sciences bien entendu, mais aussi les centres de recherche regroupés dans l’alliance AllEnvi qui travaillent sur le climat, CEA, CNRS, Météo France, INRA… », explique Jérôme Chappellaz, directeur de l’équipe climat au laboratoire de glaciologie et géophysique de l’environnement du CNRS à Grenoble et l’un des premiers signataires de l’appel.

Pour ces scientifiques, une telle sortie se donne avant tout comme objectif de recadrer le questionnement scientifique au sein d’un débat « serein ». « Allègre, Courtillot, Galam et compagnie sortent de ce cadre. La science ne se fait pas sur des plateaux télé, mais dans des journaux spécialisés. », cingle Jérôme Chappellaz.

http://www.terra-economica.info/Le-coup-de-gueule-contre-Allegre,9525

Permafrost Line Recedes 130 Km In 50 Years

Quebec City, Canada (SPX) Feb 18, 2010
The southern limit of permanently frozen ground, or permafrost, is now 130 kilometers further north than it was 50 years ago in the James Bay region, according to two researchers from the Department of Biology at Universite Laval.

In a recent issue of the scientific journal Permafrost and Periglacial Processes, Serge Payette and Simon Thibault suggest that, if the trend continues, permafrost in the region will completely disappear in the near future.

http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Permafrost_Line_Recedes_130_Km_In_50_Years_999.html

Bill Gates on energy: Innovating to zero!

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/bill_gates.html

This is our moment!

Dear Friends,

NRDC is working hard to build a groundswell of support for the strongest possible climate bill, and I wanted to let you know about a powerful new viral media campaign that is giving us a huge lift in this effort. This is our Moment is a 3 minute video featuring NRDC Trustee Leonardo DiCaprio and a host of Hollywood celebrities urging people to speak out to urge the Senate to pass clean energy legislation that will create jobs, reduce our dependence on foreign oil, and limit global warming. The response to this online campaignhttp://www.nrdcactionfund.org/thisisourmoment/ , which was launched by NRDC's Action Fund, has been fantastic. The video, dubbed "The best PSA ever" by Rolling Stone online, has been played more than 1.6 million times through http://www.nrdcactionfund.org/thisisourmoment/ and the many other websites that embedded the video on their own pages. As of last Friday, more than 35,000 emails have been sent to senators in support of clean energy legislation had been sent through the NRDC Action Fund website. Take a look at http://www.nrdcactionfund.org/ and please pass it on!

Will China Eat America’s Lunch in Cleantech?

From TechCrunch/Editor’s note: Guest writer Vivek Wadhwa is an entrepreneur turned academic. He is a Visiting Scholar at UC-Berkeley, Senior Research Associate at Harvard Law School and Director of Research at the Center for Entrepreneurship and Research Commercialization at Duke University. Follow him on Twitter at @vwadhwa.

In the State of the Union Address last Wednesday, President Obama said “the nation that leads the clean energy economy will be the nation that leads the global economy and America must be that nation.” At the same time, on the other coast, 75 clean energy investors, entrepreneurs, and researchers were debating whether the U.S. can gain this leadership position. They agreed that even though Silicon Valley leads the world in technology, it is not clear if it will ever lead in Cleantech. The Valley may develop some breakthrough technologies, but without government help these are unlikely to translate into global leadership. The technology world is rightfully allergic to government assistance and intervention. Cleantech is different, however, and we aren’t dealing with a level global playing field.

more on:
http://techcrunch.com/2010/01/30/will-china-eat-americas-lunch-in-cleantech/?utm_source=feedburnerutm_medium=emailutm_campaign=Feed%3A+Techcrunch+%28TechCrunch%29

Jean-Michel Cousteau interviews Mikhail Gorbachev

Jacques Cousteau's 100th Birthday is on Jun 11th, 2010. His son Jean-Michel is preparing a movie for the occasion. On January 15 in Geneva, Jean-Michel Cousteau interviews Mikhail Gorbachev who knew Jacques Cousteau (1910-1997). A brief preview captured during the interview...

Climate Change and "Information and Communication Technologies"

Here are some excerpts from the speech by Dr. Hamadoun Touré at the Green Cross International general assembly which I attended last week in Geneva. I thought they were quite relevant especially to my other activities in the ICT world:

§ I am here today as one of the newest members of the GCI’s Climate Change Task Force – and I am deeply honoured to join a group which is led by President Mikhail Gorbachev and which includes Nobel Peace Laureates, the Club of Rome, the Club of Madrid, and other very distinguished members.

§ Those who know me well, know that I am an optimist. And as an optimist, I am positive that we can succeed.

§ There was an interesting interview last week on CNN’s website with another optimist, Mark Lynas, a British journalist and environmental expert. He said: “we need to try and change the language used to discuss climate change, from all about burden sharing, to opportunity sharing. That's a big mental shift, it's a big political shift and it's a big economic shift,” he added.

§ And he’s right. This is all about opportunity.

§ Information and Communication Technologies – ICTs – will play a vital role in helping us win this battle.

§ Indeed, I would go further, and say that without ICTs we cannot possibly hope to win.

§ ICTs are the single most powerful tool humankind has at its disposal to avoid potential climate catastrophe. While technology contributes around 2.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions, more efficient use of modern technologies could cut global power consumption by 15%.

§ ICTs help to reduce waste, cut business travel and make industry more efficient.

§ New technologies being developed within ITU – such as Next-Generation Networks – can reduce network and data centre power consumption by up to 40%.

§ The universal charger, which has just been standardized by ITU, will deliver a 50% reduction in standby energy consumption, eliminate up to 80,000 tonnes of redundant chargers, and cut GHG emissions by at least 13 million tonnes annually.

§ Satellites are also tremendously important – not just in monitoring, but in helping increase food output and reduce emissions. Satellite-based intelligence services for farmers, for example, which cost less than US$ 15 per hectare annually, can increase yields by as much as 10%. And using satellite monitoring produces 98% fewer emissions than ordinary ground monitoring

Green Cross Assembly renews priorities

The biennial General Assembly of Green Cross International (GCI), held on 15-16 January in Geneva, reviewed the priorities and programmes of the global network to build on its niche activities.

As the first order of business, the Assembly – led by President Gorbachev, the Founding President and the Board Chairman Dr. Jan Kulczyk - adopted a statement on Haiti. Nearly 100 delegates from 23 of the 29 Green Cross national organisations urged world leaders to speed up preparedness to natural calamites as part of responding to climate change.

Among the keynote opening speakers were Mr. Sergei Ordzhonikidze, Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva and Dr. Hamadoun Touré, Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union and the newest member to join the Climate Change Task Force (CCTF). Both speakers outlined the importance of a timely and adequate global response to climate change within the extended one year deadline from Copenhagen.

The accent on promoting renewable sources energy and cutting down consumption of fossil fuels was prioritised in the programmes and strategic activities of Green Cross

national organisations. The Assembly decided to encourage partnerships that respond to climate change mitigation and adaptation needs.

The Green Cross national organisations will continue working on international Programmes. They discussed plans to strengthen them. These include focus areas such as Water; the Legacy of the Cold War (reduction of threats from nuclear and chemical weapons stockpiles); the Social, Medical and Education (SocMed) programme related to catastrophes such as Chernobyl and Agent Orange in Vietnam; the Smart Energy programme; and the Education and Value Change programme.

Professor Mohan Munasinghe, a renowned climate scholar and IPCC member, was welcomed as a member of the GCI Board. The GCI Board of Directors, shaped by the General Assembly, now consists of:

Mikhail Gorbachev, Founding President
Dr. Jan Kulczyk, Chairman
Alexander Likhotal, President
Sander Mallien, Treasurer & Green Cross Switzerland President
Mohan Munasinghe, Member of the IPCC and member of CCTF
Mario Soares, former President of Portugal
Sergey Baranovskiy, Green Cross Russia President
Celso Luiz Claro de Oliveira, Green Cross Brazil President
Ousséni Diallo, Green Cross Burkina Faso CEO
Shoo Iwasaki, Green Cross Japan President
Scott Seydel, Global Green USA Chairman

To Save the Planet, Save the Seas

FOR the many disappointments of the recent climate talks in Copenhagen, there was at least one clear positive outcome, and that was the progress made on a program called Reducing Emissions From Deforestation and Forest Degradation. Under this program, key elements of which were agreed on at Copenhagen, developing countries would be compensated for preserving forests, peat soils, swamps and fields that are efficient absorbers of carbon dioxide, the primary heat-trapping gas linked to global warming.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/27/opinion/27lafolley.html