QUICK NEWS, August 2: Climate Change Through Artists’ Eyes; Wind Energy Now An Energy Market Player; Tesla and SolarCity Make A $2.6Bil Deal

Climate Change Through Artists’ Eyes The art of climate change impresses but doesn’t go down a storm; A weather and climate-themed exhibition in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, does everything but bring home the scariness of global warming

Sjef van Gaalen, 2 August 2016 (New Scientist)

“…[In Weather or Not, Netherlands curator Hanneke Wetzer explores] the changing climate. The exhibition space is dominated by a tornado. The fans powering Alistair McClymont’s The Limitations of Logic and the Absence of Absolute Certainty give the space its own weather system…Spectrum MU by Berndnaut Smilde projects a rainbow across the Klokgebouw concert hall, opposite the exhibition space…[and] clouds drift through glass spheres in Commonplace Studio’s Lumière…[T]he Mediterranean sun is reproduced in Paolo Di Trapani‘s] Coelux artificial skylight. The illusion is uncanny, and the irony of having to enter a room inside a room to see some decent ‘sunshine’ is lost on no one…

“…[Contributions from Niels Bakkerus, Aernoudt Jacobs, Martijn Koomen, Jelle Mastenbroek, and David Bowen are more conceptual.] Gideon Mendel’s The Water Chapters stands alone in explicitly dealing with the human consequences of extreme weather…[by documenting the conditions in communities across the globe following severe floods…[Unfortunately, a 2 °C ort more rise in average global temperatures appears increasingly inevitable and though awe] and wonder are all very well…don’t let anyone tell you that panic is an inappropriate response…” click here for more

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Wind Energy Now An Energy Market Player Wind Energy Now A Competitive, Bipartisan Option; Wind energy is booming in 'red' states.

Bruce Lieberman, July 29, 2016 (Yale Climate Connections)

“The stereotype is that the switch to clean energy is driven by political progressives, but wind energy is booming in conservative states like Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas…Texas produces more wind-generated electricity than any other state. And Oklahoma and Kansas aren’t too far behind…[Michael Goggin of the American Wind Energy Association] says many of these states have another common characteristic that makes wind popular – they tend to have competitive electricity markets…[and wind is now] competitive on price alone…And whereas coal or natural gas prices tend to fluctuate, the price of wind can be locked in, making it even more attractive…[especially conservative Great Plains states where buyers want a more risk-averse energy] portfolio…” click here for more

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Tesla and SolarCity Make A $2.6Bil Deal Tesla and SolarCity Agree to $2.6 Billion Deal; Electric car maker had made an offer in June to buy solar-energy company also chaired by Elon Musk

Mike Ramsey and Cassandra Sweet (with Anne Steel), August 1, 2016 (Wall Street Journal)

“…[If shareholders approve, Tesla Motors will pay $2.6 billion in stocks for SolarCity…[This values SolarCity shares] at $25.83 apiece…[T]he deal would double Tesla’s workforce to nearly 30,000 employees and create a unique combination of solar, power storage and transportation, which Tesla says would be the world’s only integrated sustainable energy company…The new company also would tie together two money-losing entities, dependent on borrowing from the market, adding potential risk along with opportunity…[Elon] Musk, who owns more than 20% of both companies and is the largest shareholder in both, plans to vote his shares in proportion to the voting by the companies’ publicly held shares…[He has said] he expects two-thirds of shareholders to approve the deal, which the companies expect will close in the fourth quarter…[Some say Musk is bailing out SolarCity and others say] the deal would accelerate the development of clean energy...[by reducing SolarCity’s customer acquisition costs]…” click here for more

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