QUICK NEWS, August 26: CLIMATE MODELS PROVE RIGHT AGAIN; ABOUT INVESTING IN SOLAR; GM VS TESLA IN THE 200 MILE RACE

CLIMATE MODELS PROVE RIGHT AGAIN Unpacking unpaused global warming – climate models got it right; Global surface warming has slowed down due to internal and external factors, consistent with climate model predictions that account for these effects

Dana Nuccitelli, 25 August 2014 (UK Guardian)

"Although the global climate has continued to build up heat at an incredibly rapid rate, there has been a keen focus among climate contrarians and in the media on the slowdown of the warming at the Earth’s surface. The slowdown is in fact a double cherry pick – it focuses only on the 2% of global warming that heats the atmosphere (over 90% heats the oceans), and it only considers the past 10–15 years…[Nevertheless,] the latest IPCC report addressed it specifically:...‘The long-term climate model simulations show a trend in global-mean surface temperature from 1951 to 2012 that agrees with the observed trend (very high confidence). There are, however, differences between simulated and observed trends over periods as short as 10 to 15 years (e.g., 1998 to 2012).’ …From 1998 through 2012…[it was estimated] that global surface temperatures had warmed by about 0.06°C, whereas the average climate model projection put the value at closer to 0.3°C. This apparent discrepancy only represented a tiny fraction of overall global warming…but it was nevertheless a challenge for climate scientists…[Recent studies show] the climate models are doing a pretty good job…” click here for more

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ABOUT INVESTING IN SOLAR What You Need to Know Before You Invest in Solar Energy

Motley Fool, August 24, 2014 (NASDAQ)

"Solar energy is one of the greatest investing opportunities of our generation with well over a trillion dollars in annual market potential around the world. But with all that potential comes tremendous risk, particularly as new technologies emerge…[T]he cost of [silicon] technology has been reduced to a level that's now economically viable…[Thin-film technology and utility-scale technology] costs are too high…New solar technologies can make for great headlines but…the best bets are technologies that are tried and true…[Four keys for solar investing are…1. Make manufacturers prove it...2. Bet on cost reductions over technology improvements…3. Understand the risk a company is taking…4. Remember the bottom line…The solar industry has literally trillions of dollars in potential but with that potential comes risk…” click here for more

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GM VS TESLA IN THE 200 MILE RACE The story of Elon Musk and GM’s race to build the first mass-market electric car

Steve Levine, August 25, 2014 (Quartz)

“One of the hottest clashes in technology pits two pathmakers in the new era of electric cars—Tesla and General Motors. Both are developing pure electrics that cost roughly $35,000, travel 200 miles on a single charge, and appeal to the mass luxury market…The stakes are enormous…Experts regard 200 miles as a tipping point, enough to cure many potential electric-car buyers of…the fear of being stranded when their battery expires. If GM and Tesla crack this, sales of individual electrics could jump from 2,000 or 3,000 vehicles a month to 15 to 20 times that rate…But there is a price to such distance. The 208-mile S starts at around $70,000…Getting 200 miles of range in a $35,000 car will require a battery that can leap over the best lithium-ion technology known to be within reach. And to be ready for 2017 or even 2018 models, it has to accomplish the jump with astonishing speed…Musk’s battery economics are superior…[and GM also] lacks the pizzazz, the style, and the engineering…This makes Musk the bettors’ favorite. Yet where Musk is gambling his company on the success of the Model 3, GM has options. It could ignore Tesla, and surrender the $30,000-$40,000 electric market, along with the technological crown that will go with it…and pull a winning, 200-mile automobile from the drawing boards of its design-and-engineering teams…[or] produce an entirely different, 200-mile car, one aimed at a lower demography, such as that served by its $14,000 Chevy Sonic… GM would arguably leapfrog over Musk, into the biggest mass market of all…” click here for more

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