QUICK NEWS, 9-14: OCEAN WIND CAN POWER THE NATION; LETTER FROM WIND; TINY SOLAR FUNNELS; DENYING CLIMATE CHANGE DENIERS

OCEAN WIND CAN POWER THE NATION
Study: U.S. Offshore Wind Capacity Exceeds Total U.S. Electricity Generation
September 13, 2010 (Environmental Leader)

"The electricity generating potential of offshore wind resources in the U.S. is 4,150 gigawatts (GW) based on offshore resources from 26 coastal states and the Great Lakes, according to the latest report from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). NREL says, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the nation’s total electric generating capacity from all sources was 1,010 GW in 2008.

"In February, NREL’s assessment showed that onshore U.S. wind resources were larger than previously estimated. A key finding indicated that onshore U.S. wind resources could generate nearly 37,000,000 gigawatt-hours (GWh) annually, more than nine times current total U.S. electricity consumption."

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"…[Assessment of Offshore Wind Energy Resources for the United States]’s estimate is based on the latest high-resolution maps predicting annual average wind speeds, and shows the gross energy potential of offshore wind resources."

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"The potential electric generating capacity was calculated from the total offshore area within 50 nautical miles of shore, in areas where average annual wind speeds are at least 7 meters per second (approximately 16 miles per hour) at a height of 90 meters (295 feet).

"For purposes of this study, researchers assumed that 5 megawatts of wind turbines could be placed in every square kilometer of water that met these wind characteristics…"


LETTER FROM WIND
…Renewable power advocates press lawmakers for mandate…
Darren Goode and Ben Geman, September 13, 2010 (The Hill)

"With lawmakers returning to Capitol Hill this week, pro-wind governors are ramping up pressure on Senate leaders to include a federal renewable power mandate in energy legislation this year, part of a broader push by advocates to win political traction for the long-sought standard in the closing weeks of the 111th Congress.

"The bipartisan Governors’ Wind Energy Coalition…[sent a letter] to Senate Democratic and Republican leaders touting a renewable electricity standard, or RES, as an economic jolt that will help the U.S. regain the ground lost to Europe, China and India in growing renewable energy markets…An RES would require many utilities to supply growing amounts of power from sources like wind, solar and biomass power over the next decade…"

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[Letter from the Governors Wind Coalition to the Senate:] “A strong RES is the most economically-efficient way to advance clean domestic energy and immediately create jobs in renewable energy manufacturing, construction of new projects and associated transmission, and ongoing operation and maintenance of these facilities…”

[Letter from the Governors Wind Coalition to the Senate:] “We wish to work with you and with the Administration to help shape federal energy legislation this year. The economic stakes are high for our states, and we see a narrow window of opportunity for Congress to enact a long overdue reworking of federal laws governing renewable energy…”

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"…[The letter is] addressed to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), and Sens. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) and Lisa Murkowsi (R-Alaska), the chairman and ranking member of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee…

"The letter is part of a broader campaign by renewable energy advocates to win traction for an RES [because they believe there are 60 votes for it in the Senate]. The House passed an RES as part of a sweeping – and now politically dead – energy and climate bill last year, and the Senate energy panel also included one in broader energy legislation it cleared in 2009."

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"The bill that Bingaman’s committee approved with a handful of GOP votes would require utilities to provide 15 percent of their power from renewables by 2021, although about a fourth of the requirement could be met with energy efficiency programs. An RES has long been a pillar of Democratic and green group energy plans, but has consistently fallen short amid resistance from many Republicans and some southeastern Democrats, who fear their states would struggle to meet the standard and face extra costs…

"An RES didn’t make the cut when Senate Democratic leaders unveiled a narrow energy package before the August break, and Reid said the provision lacked enough votes…[but is eyeing a lame duck energy vote and] has since opened the door to including a renewables standard, citing interest by some Republicans. Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) has publicly called for adding an RES…"


TINY SOLAR FUNNELS
MIT’s solar funnel concentrates solar energy 100 times
Susan Wilson, September 13, 2010 (Green.Blorge)

"Researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have developed a solar funnel that will focus solar energy 100 times more than current solar cells. These funnels are composed of two layers of carbon nanotubes that work in concert to capture and focus solar energy.

"MIT researchers Michael Strano, the Charles and Hilda Roddey Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering, postdoctoral associate Jae-Hee Han and graduate student Geraldine Paulus…[say] solar funnels could work as antennas that focus solar energy onto photovoltaic cells. The incredible increase of energy could mean much smaller solar arrays…"

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"At 10 micrometers (millionths of a meter) long and four micrometers thick, these tiny fibrous funnels contain 30 million carbon nanotubes [in two layers with different electrical properties called bandgaps]…The outer layer of the funnel has large bandgaps and the inner layer small bandgaps. The difference in bandgap draws the excitons from the outer layer to the inner where they are concentrated…[T]he team still has to find a material that can be used as a semiconductor to generate electric current…to build a prototype solar cell. Currently the funnels lose 13 percent of their absorbed energy. The team wants to reduce that to one percent…

"Manufacturing facilities exist that could produce the solar funnels and more facilities are being built. The cost of producing nanotubes has steadily fallen. Photovoltaic solar cells using solar funnels could be an inexpensive alternative to today’s solar cells…but the time lag between the science and actual production [will be] fairly long…Incorporating Solar Funnels into the mixture [of other breakthrough MIT solar technologies] could allow cars and buildings painted in [energy-generating colors]…"


DENYING CLIMATE CHANGE DENIERS
Climate Change: Addressing the Major Skeptic Arguments
September 8, 2010 (Deutsche Bank)

"…For most of this year, the volume of [the public debate about climate change science] has turned way up as the 'skeptics' launched a determined assault on the climate findings accepted by the overwhelming majority of the scientific community. Unfortunately, the increased noise has only made it harder for people to untangle the arguments and form their own opinions. This is problematic because the way the public's views are shaped is critical to future political action on climate change.

"For investors in particular, the implications are huge. While there are many arguments in favor of clean energy, water and sustainable agriculture - for instance, energy security, economic growth, and job opportunities – we at [Deutsche Bank Climate Change Advisors (DBCCA)] have always said that the science is one essential foundation of the whole climate change investment thesis. Navigating the scientific debate is therefore vitally important…"

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"…[W]e asked our advisors at the Columbia Climate Center at the Earth Institute, Columbia University, to examine as many as possible of the major skeptic claims in the light of the latest peer reviewed scientific literature and to weigh the arguments…Although the scientific community has already addressed [them]…there is still a public perception that scientists have been dismissive of the skeptic viewpoint…The result is, we believe, a balanced, expert, and detailed assessment of the scientific case for climate change that will help investors…

"…[The clear conclusion] is that the primary claims of the skeptics do not undermine the assertion that human-made climate change is already happening and is a serious long term threat. Indeed, the recent publication on the State of the Climate by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), analyzing over thirty indicators, or climate variables, concludes that the Earth is warming and that the past decade was the warmest on record. Quantifying cause and effect or projecting future conditions is always incomplete in a system as complex as Earth's climate…Conclusions are thus presented in terms of probabilities…This uncertainty is not always adequately explained…can appear to be a challenge…[but] is an inevitable component in our understanding of any system…"

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"To us, the most persuasive argument in support of climate change is that the basic laws of physics dictate that increasing carbon dioxide levels in the earth's atmosphere produce warming…The only way that warming can be mitigated by natural processes is if there are countervailing 'feedback mechanisms'…A key finding of the current research is that there has so far been no evidence of such countervailing factors. In fact, most observed and anticipated feedback mechanisms are actually working to amplify the warming process, not reduce it.

"Simply put, the science shows us that climate change due to emissions of greenhouse gases is a serious problem. Furthermore, due to the persistence of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and the lag in response of the climate system, there is a very high probability that we are already heading towards a future where warming will persist for thousands of years. Failing to insure against that high probability does not seem a gamble worth taking."