Sunday, June 30, 2013

U.S. Climate Plan Covers the Bases -- IEEE

Arguably, the most important thing about Obama's climate speech was simply that he gave it, and that he delivered it in top form, sweating all the way through it in the midday sun. But the contents of the speech also were important and deserve to be summarized in some technical detail.

U.S. Climate Plan Covers the Bases -- IEEE


A Cheaper Option to Turn Carbon Dioxide into Synthetic Fuel

Injecting CO2 underground is expensive, and turning it into fuel takes a lot of energy and often involves rare or toxic chemicals.
Researchers at the University of Delaware have taken a different approach, using an inexpensive catalyst that relies on electricity from solar energy to convert carbon dioxide (CO2) into carbon monoxide (CO) that can be used for a range of industrial applications, including liquid fuel.

A Cheaper Option to Turn Carbon Dioxide into Synthetic Fuel



Centuries Worth of CO2 Emissions Could Be Stored Underground, but at What Cost?

We could liquefy and cram our carbon dioxide emissions into the ground for some 500 years before America's geologic basins started to overflow with the stuff.

That's according to a new assessment by federal scientists, who spent years scouring America for porous rocks thousands of feet beneath the ground that might be appropriate for carbon sequestration.

They studied 36 geologic basins that could be suitable and found that the best region for storing waste CO2 would be the Gulf Coast.

Centuries Worth of CO2 Emissions Could Be Stored Underground, but at What Cost?


A Whole New Way of Thinking about Geothermal

It's baseload, but it can also make the grid work for wind and solar.

A Whole New Way of Thinking about Geothermal

Study Finds Climate Impact of Long Distance Trip Can Vary by Factor of 10

A team from Austria and Norway has found that the climate impact from a long-distance trip (310--621 miles) can easily vary by a factor of 10 per passenger depending on mode choice, vehicle efficiency, and occupancy. Among the findings of the study, published in the ACS journal Environmental Science & Technology, is that a car's fuel efficiency and occupancy are central to whether the impact from a trip is as high as from air travel or as low as from train travel.

Study Finds Climate Impact of Long Distance Trip Can Vary by Factor of 10

Hunger in Africa Combated with Age-Old Farming Practice

Unlike conventional agriculture, conservation agriculture rarely tills the soil, and it rotates crops, usually between grains and legumes like peanuts and beans. It also uses natural fertilizers, such as animal manure, leaves, and crop residues. Together, these practices slowly build the soil's ability to retain nutrients and moisture, making land more productive, efficient and resilient to climate irregularities such as droughts and heavy downpours.

Hunger in Africa Combated with Age-Old Farming Practice