QUICK NEWS, January 5: CLIMATE CHANGE AND EXTREME WEATHER; TEXAS TAKES OVER WIND; MISSISSIPPI MOVES INTO SOLAR

CLIMATE CHANGE AND EXTREME WEATHER Climate Change’s Evolving Role in Extreme Weather

Andrea Thompson, January 2, 2015 (Climate Central)

“…In 2014, researchers were able to make firm connections between climate change and some extreme weather events…The easiest parallel to draw between extreme weather and climate change has been, not surprisingly, heat…Multiple independent efforts, including some led by Climate Central, found that both Australia’s record hot year in 2013 and Europe’s expected heat record in 2014 were made many times more likely by climate change…It has been more than 100 years since the planet last had a record-cold month…Extremes in precipitation, from drought to downpours to blizzards, have proven tricky to tie to climate change. Drought in particular has complex causes…[A]t the other end of the spectrum, torrential downpours…are expected to happen more often as more water vapor accumulates in the warming atmosphere…

“The signal of climate change in extreme weather may continue to elude researchers for some time, as those signals could be too quiet — at least for now — for climate models and other tools to separate it from the loud cacophony of natural variability…A consensus has emerged to predict that warming will raise the intensity of hurricanes while lowering their overall numbers. Now, scientists have begun to focus on changes in where hurricanes occur and the damage they cause…Also in 2014, scientists began the first earnest looks into how climate change might be affecting smaller-scale phenomena like lightning and tornadoes, with clues that warming may bring more lightning in the U.S. and tornadoes may be clustering…Many of these efforts remain in their early stages and produce inconsistent findings, but scientists will forge ahead…” click here for more

Tweet

TEXAS TAKES OVER WIND Texas now hands-down leader in wind power

Jim Malewitz, January 1, 2015 (Midland Reporter)

“…In 2000, wind farms composed just 116 megawatts of capacity on the state’s main electric grid. That number has since soared to more than 11,000 megawatts, while wind fuels about 10 percent of all generation. (On average, one megawatt-hour of wind energy can power 260 typical Texas homes for an hour.)…Former Gov. George W. Bush laid the groundwork for Texas’ rapid wind energy growth. He signed a bill in 1999 that ultimately deregulated the electric sector — a mammoth undertaking that [now outgoing Governor Rick] Perry would oversee — and established a renewable-energy requirement that kick-started wind development. Perry added to that in 2005 by signing legislation that required Texas to increase its renewable-energy capacity to 5,880 megawatts by 2015…The state has shattered that goal…

“Perry also backed a $7 billion electrical transmission project to connect windy, largely empty West Texas to growing cities demanding more power. Completed a year ago, the Competitive Renewable Energy Zone, or CREZ, initiative stretches nearly 3,600 miles and can send up to 18,500 megawatts of power — including from non-wind sources — across the state…[Many Texas Republicans are] scrutinizing wind policy as Perry exits office…” click here for more

Tweet

MISSISSIPPI MOVES INTO SOLAR Pair of solar energy projects planned in Mississippi; Entergy Mississippi, Phoenix Solar efforts could boost sun-based energy’s profile in the state

Jeff Ayres, January 1, 2015 (The Jackson Clarion-Ledger)

“A pair of solar energy projects planned for Mississippi could help determine whether electricity derived from the sun’s rays becomes a more commonplace power source in the state…The state Public Service Commission recently approved a plan from Entergy Mississippi to install sets of solar panels at to-be-determined sites…Entergy will install 500 thin-film solar panels on about five acres apiece…The utility’s $4.3 million project aims to see if solar energy can become part of its fuel-source mix…[T]he panels should be operating by the end of 2015…[A larger-scale, 30-acre project] will feature roughly 9,800 solar panels…enough to power 300 homes…Each initiative could raise the profile of solar energy in Mississippi…

“Electricity produced from the sun has been a mainstay power source in California and other western states for decades but has been slow to catch on to this point in the South, where climatological patterns and conditions can be much different and not as conducive to solar power. Entergy’s plan is said to be the first utility-backed solar power development in Mississippi…Georgia had the fastest growing solar power market in the country in 2013…Nationally, capacity has grown for three consecutive quarters, according to SEIA, with more growth projected in 2015…Despite such gains, solar power doesn’t yet have a significant role in producing electricity in Mississippi. Practically all of the state’s electricity currently is derived from natural gas, coal, nuclear energy or biomass…The PSC has encouraged the state’s utilities to look for new ways of generating power while keeping ratepayer bills from rising…” click here for more

Tweet