Opinion:
¶ “In Scotland, ray of hope for future of clean power” • For the first time ever, on August 7, the army of spinning white turbines that has sprouted across the lush countryside generated enough electricity to power all of Scotland. Scotland has joined Portugal, Denmark, and Costa Rica among those that have achieved this goal. [The Columbian]
Wind turbine, on Sanday, in the Orkney Islands
(Photo by hayley green, CC BY-SA, Wikimedia Commons)
¶ “400 ppm CO2: The Case For Renewable Energy” • Climate change is a ticking time bomb. If left unchecked, it will spare no one. But we can counter it successfully through the renewable energy revolution. And it can start with the single step of spreading climate change education and awareness in our communities. [CounterCurrents.org]
Science and Technology:
¶ Removing carbon dioxide emissions from the atmosphere to prevent global warming from becoming catastrophic may be a fool’s game amounting to a “moral hazard par excellence,” according to a paper published in the journal Science. No one knows if it will work, and the future is treated as a bet in a high-stakes gamble. [Grist]
San Juan generating station (Photo via WildEarth Guardians)
¶ According to a new study in the journal Science Advances, a geothermal hotspot softened the mantle rock beneath Greenland in a way that ultimately distorted their calculations for ice loss in the Greenland ice sheet. This caused them to underestimate the melting by about 20 gigatons (20 billion metric tons) per year. [Net Newsledger]
World:
¶ The first full week of the Yukon election campaign ended
with the three major parties making promises about renewable energy, and the Yukon Party again warning against the other parties’ plans for a burdensome carbon tax. The leader of the Yukon Party promised a “made-in-Yukon” approach to greenhouse gas emissions. [CBC.ca]
Solar panels at Yukon College (Philippe Morin/CBC)
¶ The Renewable Energy Future Iran, a conference connecting over 150 international and local stakeholders to discuss wind and solar opportunities is taking place in Tehran this month. With the lifting of the sanctions, the country is welcoming foreign financiers and the leading players of the renewable energy sector. [TechRasa]
¶ After introducing stringent penalties in the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill 2015, the Indian government has finally put in place a satellite based monitoring system that will help the nation get rid of illegal mining. They say that the Mining Surveillance System is a fool-proof monitor. [EnergyInfraPost]
Mining in India
¶ After a hiatus spanning several years, commercial-scale renewable energy development in Oman is expected to make headway in 2017 with movement on tendering of the nation’s first large-scale solar project. The tendering process will be overseen by the Oman Power and Water Procurement Company. [Zawya]
¶ A joint statement issued after the bilateral meeting between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin said that India is working on finding a second site for a Russian-designed nuclear power plant. They are also investigating ways to work together on developing natural gas in the Arctic. [Business Standard]
Nuclear power plant
US:
¶ Many Ohio residents believe the 2016 election has put the country at a crossroads on climate change. They see it almost as a referendum on anything from the state of Ohio’s coal industry to combating western Lake Erie’s algae-plagued water. While both major presidential candidates favor fracking, they differ on most of the rest. [Toledo Blade]
¶ Iowa is seeing heavier rains and more flooding as climate change takes its toll, yet the state has little idea how much it would cost to protect its homes, schools, factories and other infrastructure, let alone how to pay for it. Iowa communities have $1.4 billion in plans for flood protection, but it is not enough. [DesMoinesRegister.com]
Flooding in Iowa (Rachel Mummey / The Register)
¶ If there were some way to utilize all the energy being spent in this year’s Pennsylvania Senate campaign for electric power, everyone’s utility bills might be a lot cheaper. And few issues generate more heat than the energy policies of first-term Republican Pat Toomey and his Democratic rival, Katie McGinty. [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]
¶ A lot of pieces will have to fall in place, but there’s still hope among those favoring nuclear power that the Clinton nuclear power plant can stay open. The plant faces demand that has slackened, other renewable energy sources have grown. and natural gas prices are still low. But special legislative action might yet save it. [Bloomington Pantagraph]
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