Energy

Show Only ...
Maps - Photos - Videos

Climate models aren’t certain. So why are scientists so confident? – CSMonitor.com

|

Climate models aren’t certain. So why are scientists so confident? – CSMonitor.com

When planning for the future, certainty can be hard to come by. That’s certainly the case when it comes to climate change. Yet scientists still urge confidence in their models. Why?

Modern life is made up of predictions and models of what we think that future looks like. We expect the economy to grow at 2 or 3 percent a year in real dollars over time and inflation to exist at a similar rate. Models aren't perfect but what is the alternative? If we have no trust in the models we can't plan for the future.

Slow-Moving Atlantic Storms Like Imelda and Dorian are Growing More Common | Weather Underground

|

Slow-Moving Atlantic Storms Like Imelda and Dorian are Growing More Common | Weather Underground

melda, Dorian, Florence, Harvey, and Idai are examples of storms we have been seeing more often in recent decades: ones that move more slowly over land, resulting in increased flooding and damage. The forward speed of tropical cyclones (which includes all hurricanes, tropical storms, and tropical depressions) has decreased globally by about 10% since 1949, according to a 2018 paper in the journal Nature by NOAA hurricane scientist Dr. Jim Kossin. As a result of their slower forward motion, these storms are now more likely to drop heavier rains, increasing their flood risk. Most significantly, the study reported a 20% slow-down in storm translation speed over land for Atlantic storms, a 30% slow-down over land for Northwest Pacific storms, and a 19% slow-down over land for storms affecting the Australia region.

Elon Musk knew SolarCity was going broke before merger with Tesla, lawsuit alleges – Los Angeles Times

|

Elon Musk knew SolarCity was going broke before merger with Tesla, lawsuit alleges – Los Angeles Times

When Tesla bought SolarCity in November 2016, Elon Musk billed the deal as a match made in green energy heaven: Combine a hot electric car company with the nation’s then-largest provider of solar rooftop panels to create a one-stop shop for clean energy customers.

What Musk did not discuss at the time was that SolarCity was in deep financial trouble.

Just weeks after the merger, SolarCity auditor Ernst & Young concluded the company lacked “sufficient cash to meet its obligations” as a stand-alone company, according to court filings unsealed Monday that include previously redacted material.

 

How to Make Wind Power Sustainable Again – Resilience

|

How to Make Wind Power Sustainable Again – Resilience

For more than two thousand years, windmills were built from recyclable or reusable materials: wood, stone, brick, canvas, metal. When – electricity producing – wind turbines appeared in the 1880s, the materials didn’t change.

It’s only since the arrival of plastic composite blades in the 1980s that wind power has become the source of a toxic waste product that ends up in landfills.

New wood production technology and design makes it possible to build larger wind turbines almost entirely out of wood again – not just the blades, but also the rest of the structure. This would solve the waste issue and make the manufacturing of wind turbines largely independent of fossil fuels and mined materials. A forest planted in between the wind turbines could provide the wood for the next generation of wind turbines.