MORE NEWS, 5-25 (CHINA CALLS ON WEST FOR BIG EMISSIONS CUTS; TO EARN FROM THE CALIFORNIA SUN; BEST USE OF BIOMASS)

CHINA CALLS ON WEST FOR BIG EMISSIONS CUTS
China tells rich nations to cut 2020 emissions by 40%
Chris Buckley (w/Tom Miles and Nick Macfie), May 21, 2009 (Thomson Reuters)

"Rich nations should cut their greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40 percent by 2020 from 1990 levels as part of a new global climate change pact, China said…The pact must ensure wealthy nations "take on quantified targets to drastically reduce emissions", said the statement, issued by the National Development and Reform Commission…

"Developed countries should also give 0.5 to 1.0 percent of their annual economic worth to help other nations cope with global warming and curtail greenhouse gas emissions, China said…laying down demands for a conference in Copenhagen in December meant to seal a new climate change pact…that will build on the current Kyoto Protocol."

China is working to beat the best case scenario. (click to enlarge)

"…[Echoing a document Beijing submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) last month, the] new document pointedly says a new treaty "ensure developed countries that have not ratified the Kyoto Protocol assume corresponding and comparable emissions reduction commitments"…That demand appears aimed at the Obama administration.

"The United States under President George W. Bush set aside the Kyoto Protocol, citing among its reasons that China and other big developing countries did not assume emissions caps."

China is working hard to match the West's energy intensity. (click to enlarge)

"Beijing's latest statement also says that it and other developing countries must be allowed to balance efforts to combat climate change with the need to develop…

"Experts from the state-run Energy Research Institute… [reported that China's CO2 emissions are likely to keep growing until 2035 and urged massive spending to create a low-carbon economy because emissions] …could reach 5.5 billion tonnes in 2010 and 8.8 billion tonnes in 2035 [before stabilizing]…China is widely believed to be the world's biggest emitter…[although the] latest reported estimates… are much lower than other recent estimates…The projected 2035 peak and then gradual falloff in emissions may be an unsettling prospect for governments and experts who have urged Beijing to take swifter action…"


TO EARN FROM THE CALIFORNIA SUN
California's solar push; A bill pushing rooftop solar panels deserves lawmaker support despite opposition by a union and utilities.
May 22, 2009 (LA Times)

"…Consumers who install solar panels get special meters that measure both the amount of excess electricity they send to their utility…and the amount they take…Most use more power than they generate, but because they get credit for their solar contribution, they pay very low energy bills…[P]eople with big roofs in sunny Southern California…generate more power than they use. Under California law, utilities aren't required to pay them for it…AB 920 would change that by ordering utilities to either pay consumers for their power or carry over their credit from year to year."

The million solar roofs plan needs some help. (click to enlarge)

"The bill, from Assemblyman Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael), is intended to boost the Million Solar Roofs initiative. That package of rebates and other incentives aims to raise the number of solar homes in California from 25,000 in 2006 to 1 million in 2016…[T]here are now about 52,000 solar roofs in the state…

"Utilities fought ferociously against Huffman's bill last year…and are doing the same now. They argue that solar installations are already heavily subsidized, ultimately by other ratepayers; if consumers were also being paid for the solar power they generate, it would cost non-solar customers even more."

Solar is going Hollywood. (click to enlarge)

"…[I]n truth utilities are worried that wide-scale residential solar power would cut into their income, and the union that covers utility workers fears that its members would lose ground if consumers were encouraged to install power plants that wouldn't be built or maintained by the union.

"…Under the current system, people with solar homes have no incentive to use energy efficiently…[S]ome waste power toward the end of the year just to spite their utility. Huffman's bill would encourage energy efficiency, relieve the grid when power demand peaks and help California reach its million-roof goal, which would heat up national efforts…The Legislature should pass it this time."


BEST USE OF BIOMASS
Which Is Better—Biofuels or Bioelectricity?; In the quest for alternative fuels, biofuels and bioelectricity are two of the leading solutions—but one is better for your car and the planet
Darren Quick, May 21, 2009 (BusinessWeek)

"Running vehicles on biofuels such as ethanol reduces CO2 emissions and offers a way to lessen the world's reliance on oil…[but] the energy required to produce the biofuel and the land clearing for crops that can result means biofuels aren't necessarily the environmentally friendly solution they initially appear to be…[R]esearchers have analyzed the best way to maximize the "miles per acre" from biomass and discovered that the far more efficient option is to convert the biomass to electricity… for the electric car.

"…[C]ompared to ethanol used for internal combustion engines, bioelectricity used for battery-powered vehicles would deliver an average of 80% more miles of transportation per acre of crops, while also providing double the greenhouse gas offsets to mitigate climate change."

Great graphic - click to enlarge

"…[A] life-cycle analysis of both bioelectricity and ethanol technologies, [took] into account not only the energy produced by each technology, but also the energy consumed in producing the vehicles and fuels…Bioelectricity was the clear winner in the transportation-miles-per-acre comparison, regardless of whether the energy was produced from corn or from switchgrass, a cellulose-based energy crop…[A] small SUV powered by bioelectricity could travel nearly 14,000 highway miles on the net energy produced from an acre of switchgrass, while a comparable internal combustion vehicle could only travel about 9,000 miles on the highway."

click to enlarge

"Bioelectricity also offers more possibilities for reducing greenhouse gas emissions through measures such as carbon capture and sequestration, which could be implemented at biomass power stations, but not individual internal combustion vehicles.

"…Lead author of the study, Elliott Campbell of the University of California, Merced…[said]…[such studies] could be used to ensure that the alternative energy pathways [chosen]… provide the most transportation energy and the least climate change impacts…"