QUICK NEWS, October 2: Hoax? Gov Report Says Global Temps To Spike 7 Degrees; Tech $$$ Still Driving New Energy
Hoax? Gov Report Says Global Temps To Spike 7 Degrees Trump administration sees a 7-degree rise in global temperatures by 2100 Juliet Eilperin, Brady Dennis, and Chris Mooney, September 28, 2018 (Washington Post)
“…A rise of seven degrees Fahrenheit, or about four degrees Celsius, compared with preindustrial levels would be catastrophic, according to scientists. Many coral reefs would dissolve in increasingly acidic oceans. Parts of Manhattan and Miami would be underwater without costly coastal defenses. Extreme heat waves would routinely smother large parts of the globe…[But the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s draft Environmental Impact Report says that] fate is already sealed…[It] was written to justify President Trump’s decision to freeze federal fuel-efficiency standards for cars and light trucks built after 2020…[The impact statement says] that policy would add just a very small drop to a very big, hot bucket…
The document projects that global temperature will rise by nearly 3.5 degrees Celsius above the average temperature between 1986 and 2005 regardless of whether Obama-era tailpipe standards take effect or are frozen for six years, as the Trump administration has proposed. The global average temperature rose more than 0.5 degrees Celsius between 1880, the start of industrialization, and 1986, so the analysis assumes a roughly four degree Celsius or seven degree Fahrenheit increase from preindustrial levels…If enacted, the administration’s proposals would give new life to aging coal plants; allow oil and gas operations to release more methane into the atmosphere; and prevent new curbs on greenhouse gases used in refrigerators and air-conditioning units. The vehicle rule alone would put 8 billion additional tons of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere this century, more than a year’s worth of total U.S. emissions, according to the government’s own analysis…” click here for more
Tech $$$ Still Driving New Energy Tech Investments Are Powering Up Clean Energy; Spending on renewables is good for sustainability goals while being good PR. It’s also great for business.
Nathaniel Bullard, September 29, 2018 (Bloomberg News)
“…Three years ago, Alphabet Inc., Apple Inc., Amazon.com Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Facebook Inc. spent $40 billion on big-ticket physical assets; last year, they invested $80 billion, putting them in the ranks of automakers, oil and gas companies, and telecoms in terms of capital expenditure outlays…Since 2010, they’ve signed agreements to buy nearly 18,000 megawatts from [New Energy] generators of clean power…[and] are the biggest buyers; governments and universities are a distant second…[The main reason] is that long-term contracts with [New Energy generators] have no variable costs…They give companies visibility on their power prices for several decades and, at least historically, have offered cheaper prices than what the grid provides…Since 2010, it’s been mostly wind power, but we can see the approach to parity (or better) for solar in the past year...
…[T]ech companies’ demand has induced more than $15 billion in wind and solar investment just in the U.S. Announced wind and solar capex this year is more than $2 billion, with months yet to go, and with wind and solar capital costs half what they were in 2014…[That] wouldn’t have happened without tech companies…[E]very wind or solar project built to meet the needs of a tech company helps drive down the costs of wind and solar power through greater deployment…[It] makes an impact on the entire energy system…[and tech investments in vehicle electrification is also beginning to impact] the transportation sector…” click here for more
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