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Author Topic: Future Earth  (Read 49588 times)

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AGelbert

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Re: Future Earth
« Reply #180 on: May 07, 2016, 05:15:07 pm »
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Future Earth
« Reply #181 on: May 12, 2016, 07:50:53 pm »
An electronic chart display and information system (ECDIS) is a computer-based navigation information system that complies with International Maritime Organization (IMO) regulations and can be used as an alternative to paper nautical charts.
In Double ECDIS Failure what good is a Sextant? ???

May 11, 2016 by Editorial l

Mariner taking a reading with a sextant

By Jaquelyn Burton (Coeval, Inc.) ECDIS is becoming ubiquitous – and that is a good thing. However, as we move towards more and more vessels relying wholly on ECDIS and heavily on its integration with GPS, some new problems are of growing concern. At a time of an ever-increasing amount of automation, the U.S. Navy is going back to teaching celestial navigation after an extended period of its absence – also a good thing. But as was brought up in a discussion with former colleges – what good is a sextant if you have a double ECDIS failure?

Right now to be considered fully ECDIS compliant (see Solas Chapter V Regulation 19) the vessel needs to have at least one redundant ECDIS system (two independent ECDIS computers, databases, and screens.) If they meet this requirement, then are they not required to carry paper charts. They are only required to have valid and corrected ENC’s for their planned voyage.

In all, this is not a problem. I have sailed on many fully ECDIS compliant vessels, all of them for the same company. Almost all of the time everything goes well; install the cells that were requested, load the corrections, and continue with passage planning. However not all nations will provide their paper chart Temporary & Preliminary Notices to Mariners (T&P NM) corrections within their ENCs, therefore the responsibility of finding them lies with the mariner. I wrote about such issues in Slipping Through The Safety Net.

There are times when a single failure happens, and the systems need to be rebooted, generally while installing updates or other system maintenance. It is rare that a failure is long lasting, or that it would render the ECDIS system affected to be out of service for an extended period.

 But, things do not always progress as planned. It is possible to experience a double failure, when both the primary and secondary ECDIS’s fail simultaneously. Equipment never fails on a beautiful day in the open ocean with near perfect visibility – everything fails in narrow channels, in inclement weather, or under pilotage. For that, Murphy’s Law is reliable.  :P

If the ECDIS fails in the open ocean, it is not the worst case scenario – the vessel is clear of hazards and there is time to strategize, to make plotting sheets, and to verify your position. In open ocean there would normally be a chance to contact your company’s DPA and have them contact  your chart provider to send PDF’s of the paper chart. These can then be taped together for use to sail for the nearest port for ECDIS repairs. And perhaps the delivery of paper charts to get through the voyage before repairs can be made. If the failure occurs in shallow waters and it is not safe to proceed then sometimes it is best to wait at anchor for charts to come. This all depends on your company’s emergency plan for ECDIS Failure.

But, if you lose satellite communication, and have no paper charts the double failure could be a disaster. Being able to determine your position by GPS or even celestial is great, your position is known. If you don’t have a list of your planned waypoints that have already been checked for hazards and under-keel-clearance, then the position becomes less helpful.

 It is still possible to make a plotting sheet and to track your positions, to layout DR positions, but if you don’t know where the hazards are relative to the ship’s position, then you might as well be back at the start of modern navigation.
Quote

“In 1530, the cosmographer Reiner Gemma Frisius proposed a method based on the difference between the time at the port of departure, retained aboard ships by mechanical clocks, and the local time measured with astronomical instruments. Each hour of difference equaled fifteen degrees of longitude, and each degree of longitude was equivalent to a continuously varying distance from the Pole to the Equator.”

Once the problem of Longitude was solved – at least approximately, then the age of plotting hazards and the construction of useful navigational charts began. Sure some vessels made it to their destination, but many were lost in the effort to explore, to survey, plot and drop depth soundings, making up the base for later surveys and the charts we use now.

There were more backups for GPS and the satellite navigation systems, but they are not in use anymore. The use of systems such as LORAN-C  and DECCA (along with cancelation of plans to upgrade transmitting stations to eLoran) were taught and tested on even after the U.S. Navy abandoned the instruction of Celestial Navigation, and as transmitting stations were being shut down. Now in the event of failure or blockage of GPS type systems, ships will be sent back to the 19th century sailing solely on DR (dead reckoning) and celestial positions and then putting that data into their 21st century ECDIS systems.

Some skills such as constructing plotting sheets on blank paper are only being mentioned in passing, but they should occasionally be done in practice. Maintaining skills that would be needed in an emergency to accomplish the task of navigating safely. The same applies to the ability to navigate by the use of a sextant, and to know the names of at least a few of the stars – they are skills that were frequently used fifty years ago but unfortunately, are falling out of frequent practice. Not only do these skills need to be maintained, but they should be actively practiced, and the necessary equipment for them such as the chronometer should be kept corrected and in a working condition.

While we are always moving forward with the use of automation and new technologies – we always must keep prior methods, skills, and contingencies in mind. Problems happen, things break down, equipment fails. Even now the prospect of computer viruses and threats of hackers could create problems with ECDIS and Integrated Bridge Systems. The sea is not a safe place, and while you cannot plan for all possible problems – many what if scenarios should be outlined ahead of time, and preparations made to deal with those problems should they occur.

Be safe – find out more about us at http://Coeval.us training for the #modernmariner.

https://gcaptain.com/double-ecdis-failure-good-sextant/

Agelbert NOTE: LORAN was used by aircraft too, way back when I worked airplanes. It was a form of radio triangulation of position. It sucked. I would routinely identify an airliner coming into radar airspace from a long flight over the ocean nearly 80 miles off the airway centerline.  :P Considering the airway was technically only 100 miles wide, it was a bit embarrassing to the pilots.  :-[  I would save them the trouble of trying to get back to the centerline by clearing them to proceed direct to the approach fix of the airport about 200 miles away (as long as they did not have head on traffic, of course  8)). The LORAN use for aircraft was called OMEGA. It was lousy but it was better than DR (dead reckoning).

Satellite based GPS was a great improvement.    Computerizing the chart display sounds great. But I think it would be prudent to keep teaching sailors celestial navigation and how to use a sextant.  ;)
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Future Earth
« Reply #182 on: May 18, 2016, 08:49:30 pm »

Historic Victory: 4 Teenagers Win in Massachusetts Climate Change Lawsuit

Our Children's Trust | May 17, 2016 3:18 pm

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court found in favor of four youth plaintiffs, the Conservation Law Foundation and Mass Energy Consumers Alliance Tuesday in the critical climate change case, Kain et al. v. Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).

Kain v. Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection hearing on Jan. 8.

The court found that the DEP was not complying with its legal obligation to reduce the state’s greenhouse gas emissions and ordered the agency to “promulgate regulations that address multiple sources or categories of sources of greenhouse gas emissions, impose a limit on emissions that may be released … and set limits that decline on an annual basis.”

“This is an historic victory for young generations advocating for changes to be made by government. The global climate change crisis is a threat to the well being of humanity, and to my generation, that has been ignored for too long,” youth plaintiff Shamus Miller, age 17, said.

Quote
“Today, the Massachusetts Supreme Court has recognized the scope and urgency of that threat and acknowledges the need for immediate action to help slow the progression of climate change. There is much more to be done both nationally and internationally but this victory is a step in the right direction and I hope that future efforts have similar success.”

In 2012, hundreds of youth petitioned the DEP asking the agency to comply with the Global Warming Solutions Act (GWSA) and adopt rules reducing the state’s greenhouse gas emissions, but that petition was denied. As a result of DEP’s reluctance to comply with the GWSA, youth filed this case arguing that the DEP failed to promulgate the regulations required by Section 3(d) of the GWSA establishing declining annual levels of greenhouse gas emissions.

Massachusetts is not on track to meet its 2020 greenhouse gas reduction goal of 25 percent below 1990 levels—a fact that is directly related to DEP’s failure to issue the required regulations. The plaintiffs are working to ensure that Massachusetts is complying with the law and doing everything necessary to protect their constitutional and public trust rights to clean air, a healthy atmosphere and a stable climate system.

“In agreeing with the youth plaintiffs in this case, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court joins growing global judicial recognition of youth’s rights to demand that their governments act in accordance with the urgency of the climate change crisis,” Julia Olson, executive director and chief legal counsel at Our Children’s Trust, said.

“Youth around the country and internationally are bringing their governments to court to secure their rights to a healthy atmosphere and stable climate. Today, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court called Massachusetts to task and underscored the need to take significant action now, so youth are not unfairly consigned to a disproportionately bleak future should we fail to address the most important and time sensitive issue of our time.”

This win follows two other recent landmark wins in youth-led lawsuits against the federal government and the state of Washington.

Watch Eshe Sherley explain why she was involved in this lawsuit: (at link below)


http://ecowatch.com/2016/05/17/mass-climate-change-lawsuit/
« Last Edit: June 09, 2021, 06:15:01 pm by AGelbert »
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Future Earth
« Reply #183 on: May 28, 2016, 06:38:07 pm »
05/24/2016 04:08 PM     

Ontario Moves On Climate, Providing a Model for All
SustainableBusiness.com News

As Ontario enshrined its climate plan into law, Environment minister Glen Murray said it "marks the start of the next chapter in Ontario's transformation to an innovative and prosperous low-carbon economy."

Canada's most populous province will spend over $7 billion over the next four years to implement its 57-page Climate Change Action Plan. It contains about 80 policies, each with a price tag, for 2017-2021. The big goal is to cut greenhouse gas emissions 15% by 2020, 37% by 2030 and 80% by 2050, from 1990 levels.

They've already shuttered all coal plants and by 2030, fossil fuels, including natural gas   , will not be allowed for heating  ;D . New building codes require all new homes heated by geothermal or electricity by 2030, and incentives will encourage efficiency upgrades in existing buildings. All homes sold must first have an energy audit. Rebates for electric vehicles will help meet the goal of 5% of all vehicles sold by 2020 and 12% by 2025.

Much of money needed to implement the plan will come from the province's cap-and-trade program, which starts next year.  It will be linked with the Western Climate Initiative, which consists of California and Quebec. A new Green Bank will finance many programs.

What Ontario will look like in 2050, taken from the Climate Change Action Plan:



According to The Globe & Mail:
 
•$3.8 billion in grants, rebates and other subsidies to retrofit buildings

•Up to $14,000 in rebates to buy an electric vehicle and up to $1000 for a home charger; subsidies for lower income families to get older cars off the road and free overnight electricity to charge vehicles at public outlets.  Funding will also help schools switch to electric buses and trucking companies to cleaner trucks. The regional rail network will be enhanced, as will bicycle infrastructure, such as separte bike lanes and parking at train stations. Total cost: $1.1 billion.
•Gasoline and diesel will have to have 5% lower lifecycle emissions by 2020. Natural gas will have to be derived from more renewable sources, such as biogas.

•$375 million for cleantech R&D, about half of which is for a Global Centre for Low-Carbon Mobility.

•$1.2 billion to help industry buy more energy efficient equipment and other measures to reduce emissions.

•$174 million to make the government carbon neutral through building upgrades, telecommuting, and carbon offset purchases.

"By 2050, we envision Ontarians will be using less energy and the energy we do use will be from low-carbon sources.
Communities will be climate-resilient, complete and compact. More people will choose electric or other zero-emission vehicles and transit to get swiftly and efficiently where they need to go. Agricultural lands, natural areas and ecosystems will be better protected for the benefit and enjoyment of all, including First Nations and Métis peoples who rely on our shared natural environment for sustainment and spiritual benefit.

"Ontario that will be employing new ways to reduce waste while ensuring that more of the waste produced is reintroduced to the economy. Industries will be thriving while generating fewer or zero emissions. Businesses and innovators will be creating world-leading clean technologies and products that drive new economic growth, productivity, and job creation. We must do it. We can do it. And we will do it, together," says Murray. 

Learn more: 


Website: www.ontario.ca/page/climate-change
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Future Earth
« Reply #184 on: June 07, 2016, 03:55:18 pm »


Imagine a world where oil, coal and nuclear energy have been phased out and carbon emissions have therefore been steadily declining for decades. RMI's programs are driving toward that vision, proven possible by 2050 in our flagship synthesis Reinventing Fire in 2011.

While our mobility transformation program is working to reduce oil consumption in the U.S. by half by 2050, our trucking and shipping programs are tackling other pieces of the oil puzzle.

The U.S. trucking industry and the world’s maritime shipping industry already emit enormous amounts of greenhouse gases today, and their emissions are projected to grow rapidly.

With your support, we can change this.


He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Future Earth
« Reply #185 on: June 07, 2016, 08:13:57 pm »
Former Energy CEO David Crane Envisions a Future without Fossils

by Sarah Parsons - June 01, 2016

“No one’s actually making money from coal-fired power plants in the United States right now,” said David Crane, former CEO of NRG Energy, one of America’s biggest power companies.

That may seem a strange sentiment coming from a man who led a Fortune 200 company owning more than a dozen coal-fired power plants. But then again, Crane is far from your typical energy exec.

During Crane’s 12-year run as CEO, he tried to transform NRG—then America’s fourth-largest carbon emitter—into a firm focused on wind, solar and nuclear power. The company made strides in that direction, but Crane was ultimately let go earlier this year.

“I was trying to turn a company from brown to green, from centralized to distributed, and wholesale to retail,” he told corporate leaders on May 24. “I was trying to do three transformations at the same time. That was probably a couple of bridges too far.”

Yet even after that setback, Crane remains dedicated to reforming the U.S. power sector.

Crane shared his views at WRI’s MindShare event, a two-day conference that brought together sustainability directors and other business leaders from our Corporate Consultative Group. During a dinner conversation with WRI President and CEO Andrew Steer, Crane offered a blunt take on how corporations can help put the United States on a sustainable energy path.

Caption: David Crane (left) addresses questions from Andrew Steer (right). Photo by IA Photography (at article link)


Change the Utilities

According to Crane, one of the biggest hurdles to scaling up solar and other renewables is utilities’ reluctance. They’ve built their business models on fossil fuels, and because of current grid design, consumers can’t go elsewhere. In short, the principles of the free market don’t apply to utilities.

“There’s no possible way that a company that doesn’t have to compete for customers has the same customer service mentality as one who does,” Crane said. “The problem with reforming utilities is there’s nothing you have to offer them that is better than what they have now.” 

While Crane pointed to energy models such as distributed solar as the next generation in the power business, other experts in the room saw a role for corporate leadership in working with utilities to expand the share of renewable power. The new Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance (REBA), for example, is a coalition of more than 60 major companies looking to buy large amounts of affordable, renewable power from local grids. “REBA really makes the demand for renewable energy from fast-growing sectors visible and brings it to utilities that are willing to have a conversation about how their business model needs to change to respond to this demand,” said WRI Energy Director Alex Perera. “This is a very powerful forcing mechanism for utilities.”

“I think of us as a significant energy consumer,” said Bill Weihl, sustainability director at Facebook, one of REBA’s members. “We want to move a lot faster than the reform process can, and I think some of that involves working with utilities.”


Create Competition within Industries

There’s also a role for stoking competition within industries. Crane recalled when the Philadelphia Eagles committed to install solar panels on their football stadium. Not two months later, the owner of the New York Giants approached Crane, who was still with NRG. “He said, ‘David, I’ve spent my whole life in football, and all I know is I want to beat the Philadelphia Eagles,’” Crane said. “’I want to beat them on the field and I want to beat them off the field. Can you get solar panels on our field before them?’”

Crane envisions similar competition in other industries, such as fast food.


Unleash Corporate Sustainability Officers

Crane was ultimately hopeful that we’re moving toward a cleaner energy future—as evidenced by the growth of solar and electric transport—but said we need to pick up the pace. Corporations have the power to be responsive and affect change—even more quickly and efficiently than governments. That’s why Crane thinks corporate sustainability officers have the most important and exciting jobs now.

“If you can find one champion [in your company], if you can get one of those people on your side, that’s good,” Crane said to the room full of sustainability officers. “There’s a huge opportunity to say within your company, ‘We have a chance to lead on this!’ As sustainability officers, we can really make an impact, so when it’s all done you can look your kids in the face and say ‘I did everything I could and we were successful."

http://www.wri.org/blog/2016/06/former-energy-ceo-david-crane-envisions-future-without-fossils
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Future Earth
« Reply #186 on: June 09, 2016, 08:36:42 pm »
Why Dr. Jill Stein of the Green Party is our only hope

Ruminations on the (s)Election cycles in the USA, where we are at and what that means about our future.

The idea of Neocon Russia hater Victoria Nuland as Secretary of State for the Clinton Administration is about as perfect a recipe for a war with Russia (that nobody with a brain wants) as any nightmare scenario can envision.

That is an argument which defends Trump's foreign policy is preferable. Avoiding war always is.

But I've seen this political scam played before. The first part of the scam is to convince the voting public that the candidates for the two corporate friendly parties represent the only available choices. The idea here is to fool people into thinking one party is left wing and the other is right wing.

Each election cycle, since the corporations want more corporate run government (i.e. fascist), not less, the nominally "left" wing party known as the Democratic (LOL!) Party, moves the ideological goal posts to the right. As of 2016, Hillary Clinton is farther to the right than Bush was in 2000!

This creates a problem for the perception managers. Clinton has to "look left wing liberal" somehow. So, the candidate for the right wing party has to be so far right, complete with storm troopers and rampant racist remarks, as to appear to the right of Clinton.

Observe how Trump was built up by the press for over a year when most people wanted nothing to do with him. He is the evil clown that the press will now proceed to mercilessly beat up.

The Empire wants two things:
1. Corporate Business as Usual favoring the 1% oligarchs.
2. No restraints on fossil fuel industry pollution and war profiteering.

They get that from a Clinton Administration or a Trump Administration.

The differences are cosmetic. If Trump won, he would immediately tone down the rhetoric and sign the TPP. If Clinton wins, she will sign the TPP job destroying horror, put the brakes on clean energy programs, give the Frackers a four year pollution pass, castrate the EPA worse than Reagan, both Bushes, Bill Clinton and Obama put together, and create price shocks in fossil fuels from deliberate fabrications about the "threat" of war from Russia.

Although Trump would also be an absolute horror for domestic policies, Clinton, because her foreign policy, unlike Trump's, might get us into WW3, may be an existential threat to our country.

The only chance this country has is for a Green Party President Jill Stein. With Sanders supporters, and due to the fact that there are now more people outside the corporate parties than in them (unlike when Ralph Nader ran), Dr. Jill Stein would gain the White House and usher in a period of peace and clean energy based prosperity.

Otherwise, this country, and possibly the world, is toast.

He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Future Earth
« Reply #187 on: June 11, 2016, 05:26:26 pm »
Natural Capitalism
Quote
While traditional industrial capitalism primarily recognizes the value of money and goods as capital, Natural Capitalism extends recognition to natural capital and human capital. Problems such as pollution and social injustice may then be seen as failures to properly account for capital, rather than as inherent failures of capitalism itself.

The fundamental assumptions of Natural Capitalism are as follows:[3]

1. The limiting factor to future economic development is the availability and functionality of natural capital, in particular, life-supporting services that have no substitutes and currently have no market value.

2. Misconceived or badly designed business systems, population growth, and wasteful patterns of consumption are the primary causes of the loss of natural capital, and all three must be addressed to achieve a sustainable economy.

3. Future economic progress can best take place in democratic, market-based systems of production and distribution in which all forms of capital are fully valued, including human, manufactured, financial, and natural capital.

4. One of the keys to the most beneficial employment of people, money, and the environment is radical increases in resource productivity.

5. Human welfare is best served by improving the quality and flow of desired services delivered, rather than by merely increasing the total dollar flow.


6. Economic and environmental sustainability depends on redressing global inequities of income and material well-being.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_Capitalism

Message to anyone who says the above is "pie in the sky" or a way to confiscate money from "productive job creators" :

FU  ;D

Homo SAPS WILL NOT SURVIVE if we do not STOP organizing our economy around the abstractions of neoclassical economics and accountancy and INSTEAD, totally organize our economy around the biological realities of nature.
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Future Earth
« Reply #188 on: June 15, 2016, 06:50:49 pm »
How We Get to a 100% Renewable Energy Future

Richard Heinberg | June 15, 2016 12:20 pm

I spent the last year working with co-author David Fridley and Post Carbon Institute staff on a just-published book, Our Renewable Future. The process was a pleasure: everyone involved (including the twenty or so experts we interviewed or consulted) was delightful to work with and I personally learned an enormous amount along the way. But we also encountered a prickly challenge in striking a tone that would inform but not alienate the book’s potential audience.

As just about everyone knows, there are gaping chasms separating the worldviews of fossil fuel promoters, nuclear power advocates and renewable energy supporters. But crucially, even among those who disdain fossils and nukes, there is a seemingly unbridgeable gulf between those who say that solar and wind power have unstoppable momentum and will eventually bring with them lower energy prices and millions of jobs and those who say these intermittent energy sources are inherently incapable of sustaining modern industrial societies and can make headway only with massive government subsidies.

We didn’t set out to support or undermine either of the latter two messages. Instead, we wanted to see for ourselves what renewable energy sources are capable of doing and how the transition toward them is going. We did start with two assumptions of our own (based on prior research and analysis), about which we are perfectly frank: one way or another fossil fuels are on their way out and nuclear power is not a realistic substitute. That leaves renewable solar and wind, for better or worse, as society’s primary future energy sources.

In our work on this project, we used only the best publicly available data and we explored as much of the relevant peer-reviewed literature as we could identify. But that required sorting and evaluation: Which data are important? And which studies are more credible and useful? Some researchers claim that solar PV electricity has an energy return on the energy invested in producing it (EROEI) of about 20:1, roughly on par with electricity from some fossil sources, while others peg that return figure at less than 3:1.

This wide divergence in results of course has enormous implications for the ultimate economic viability of solar technology. Some studies say a full transition to renewable energy will be cheap and easy, while others say it will be extremely difficult or practically impossible. We tried to get at the assumptions that give rise to these competing claims, assertions and findings, and that lead either to renewables euphoria or gloom. We wanted to judge for ourselves whether those assumptions are realistic.

That’s not the same as simply seeking a middle ground between optimism and pessimism. Renewable energy is a complicated subject and a fact-based, robust assessment of it should be honest and informative; its aim should be to start new and deeper conversations, not merely to shout down either criticism or boosterism.

Unfortunately, the debate is already quite polarized and politicized. As a result, realism and nuance may not have much of a constituency.

This is especially the case because our ultimate conclusion was that, while renewable energy can indeed power industrial societies, there is probably no credible future scenario in which humanity will maintain current levels of energy use (on either a per capita or total basis). Therefore current levels of resource extraction, industrial production and consumption are unlikely to be sustained—much less can they perpetually grow. Further, getting to an optimal all-renewable energy future will require hard work, investment, adaptation and innovation on a nearly unprecedented scale. We will be changing more than our energy sources; we’ll be transforming both the ways we use energy and the amounts we use. Our ultimate success will depend on our ability to dramatically reduce energy demand in industrialized nations, shorten supply chains, electrify as much usage as possible and adapt to economic stasis at a lower overall level of energy and materials throughput. Absent widespread informed popular support, the political roadblocks
to such a project  [/color]will be overwhelming.

That’s not what most people want to hear. And therefore, frankly, we need some help getting this analysis out to the sorts of people who might benefit from it. Post Carbon Institute’s communications and media outreach capabilities are limited. Meanwhile the need for the energy transition is urgent and the longer it is delayed, the less desirable the outcome will be. It is no exaggeration to say that the transition from climate-damaging and depleting fossil fuels to renewable energy sources is the central cause of our times. And it will demand action from each and every one of us.

You can help by visiting the Our Renewable Future website, familiarizing yourself with the issue, sharing your thoughts and spreading the word with friends, family, colleagues and allies.

http://ecowatch.com/2016/06/15/our-renewable-future-heinberg/

Rob Brown: Great column. To have a future, humanity has to embrace renewable energy. We may never get to 100% renewables but, unless targets are set, progress will not be made. A number of countries have reached the 50%+ barrier on renewable power. These countries have been steadily reducing CO2 emissions and other types of pollution for decades. Sweden is a good example.

https://sweden.se/society/ener...
 
agelbert > Rob Brown

"To have a future, humanity has to embrace renewable energy. "

Exactly right. 

And Amory Lovins has shown how to do that. The Post Carbon Institute's insistence that a 100% Renewable Energy powered civilization, in order to be sustainable, requires a lower energy use is true. BUT, their attempt to equate a lower total energy use to an obligatory lower standard of living is flawed because, as Amory Lovins painstakingly proves in his peer reviewed work titled Reinventing Fire, Renewable Energy plus energy use efficiency improvements can shave over 80% of current energy demand off of our civilization without any lowering of our standard of living.

Richard Heinberg portrays this 'type of energy use' argument as two sides of a polarized, and irrational, debate. It's not. Those defending unsustainable dirty energy have conclusively been proven to be, not just wrong, but an existential threat to our biosphere.

Richard Heinberg fails to point out the fact that political roadblocks to 100% Renewable energy have zero basis in science, both from an energy density happy talk for fossil fuels point of view, and climate cause and effect. It is those vested interests in a dirty energy status quo who don't want to hear the facts, not those advocating a 100% Renewable Erengy transition.

This is not, as Heinberg claims, about what "people want to hear" about the transition to Renewable Energy. This is about, as he points out without sufficient emphasis, the FACT that any dirty energy scenario is not optional to a 100% Renewable energy scenario, PERIOD.
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Future Earth
« Reply #189 on: June 17, 2016, 09:21:25 pm »
China's big investment to fix environmental wrongs shows both people and nature can win

June 16, 2016   

A village in the Wolong Nature Reserve in China's Sichuan Province is nestled closely with the reserve's biodiversity-rich mountains. Credit: Sue Nichols, Michigan State University

China's massive investment to mitigate the ecosystem bust that has come in the wake of the nation's economic boom is paying off. An international group of scientists finds both humans and nature can thrive—with careful attention.

The group, including scientists who have done research at Michigan State University (MSU), report on China's first systematic national accounting of how the nation's food production, carbon sequestration, soil and water retention, sandstorm prevention, flood mitigation, and biodiversity are doing, and what trends have emerged. The work, which spans from 2000-2010, appears in this week's edition of Science magazine.

"To achieve global environmental sustainability and enhance human well-being, effective government policies can play crucial roles," said co-author Jianguo "Jack" Liu, Rachel Carson Chair in Sustainability and director of MSU's Center for Systems Integration and Sustainability (CSIS).

The paper notes that China's effort to lift hundreds of millions of people out of poverty since the 1970s came at a high cost of environmental degradation, including deforestation and erosion that resulted in devastating flooding. The National Forest Conservation Program (NFCP) and the Sloping Land Conversion Program, which started around 2000, paid farmers and households in critical areas to restore forest and grassland—delivering alleviation of poverty in addition to environmental benefits.

In roughly the first decade, the programs cost $50 billion dollars.

The researchers examined a staggering amount of data from all of mainland China—satellite images, field studies, historical records and more.

They found that food production and carbon sequestration were the ecosystem services that increased the most, while the programs contributed most dramatically to carbon sequestration, soil and water retention and sand fixation. They found varying gains and losses depending on what part of the country they looked at. Sometimes, there were tradeoffs—such as food production and soil retention.

This big-picture look adds to a body of work published in the past few years documenting successes in parts of China. In March, the book "Pandas and People —Coupling Human and Natural Systems" published by Oxford University Press reported the conservation policies have helped recovery of habitat for the world-famous endangered giant pandas.
 
In March 2013, two parallel papers in the online journal PLoS ONE examined gains in human well-being linked to ecosystem services in Wolong Nature Reserve of China—a new approach to quantifying and understanding the benefits that can be reaped by conservation policies.

Some results of this new paper also validate what have been reported across China. In March of this year, for example, several scientists working with CSIS published a paper in Science Advances reporting significant recovery in China's forests covered by the NFCP, although they used a somewhat different method. The authors state that this sort of aggressive and robust scrutiny of the wins and losses that come in the wake of sweeping policies already has paid off, allowing China to better target areas for more conservation efforts.

The new Science paper notes that continuing to improve understanding of how people benefit when conservation programs succeed is important to future success.

And the findings hold value beyond China's borders.

"The results of the China Ecosystem Assessment (CEA) show that improving ecosystem services and economic growth can co-exist," the paper says. "Analyses using model simulations in the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia also show that it is possible to increase the provision of key ecosystem services with economic growth through intelligent policy design, although ecosystem services can decline without proper policies in place."

Liu noted that sustainability science continues to demand the holistic approach applied to the CEA, and the increasing use of an integrated framework of telecoupling, which examines socioeconomic and environmental interactions across distance to better understand far-reaching consequences.

"It is hopeful that the experiences from increasing China's ecosystem services can help address China's enormous environmental challenges such as air pollution, water pollution, and resource shortages," he said. "They may also offer useful insights into environmental and poverty problems in other parts of the world."

Explore further: Tallying the wins and losses of policy

More information: Improvements in ecosystem services from investments in natural capital, Science, DOI: 10.1126/science.aaf2295

Journal reference: PLoS ONE search and more info website Science search and more info website Science Advances search and more info website

Provided by: Michigan State University search and more info website

http://phys.org/news/2016-06-china-big-investment-environmental-wrongs.html
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Future Earth
« Reply #190 on: June 17, 2016, 10:27:31 pm »
Catholic orders take their lead from the pope and divest from fossil fuels    
 

SNIPPET:

our Australian Catholic organisations have announced they are completely divesting from coal, oil and gas in what they say is the first joint Catholic divestment anywhere in the world.

The move comes as prominent Jewish rabbis, Muslim clerics, Anglican bishops and other religious leaders call on the Australian government to protect the Great Barrier Reef, stop approving coalmines and remove subsidies to the fossil fuel industry, in an open letter published by the Guardian.

Divesting from fossil fuels: open letter from religious leaders in full
 
The divestment announcement – the first by any Catholic organisation in Australia – and letter were coordinated by the multi-faith group the Australian Religious Response to Climate Change, in partnership with the environmental group 350.org.

It comes a year after Pope Francis, in his second encyclical, Laudato Si’, called on all people – not just Catholics – to take “swift and unified global action” to protect the environment and stop global warming. It is part of Laudato Si’ week, in which Catholic organisations around the world discuss their role in tackling climate change.

At the time the papal intervention was labelled “explosive” and “the most astonishing and perhaps the most ambitious papal document of the past 100 years”.

The four Catholic orders publicly divesting are: Marist Sisters Australia; Presentation Congregation Queensland; Presentation Sisters Wagga Wagga; and the Passionists – Holy Spirit Province Australia, NZ, PNG and Vietnam.

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We have a stark choice: protect the global commons or give in to special interests

Thea Ormerod, the president of the Australian Religious Response to Climate Change, told the Guardian it was a significant step for Catholic organisations to publicly announce they were divesting from fossil fuels.

“They’re often happy to make lifestyle changes, to take responsibility in their own congregations for a lighter carbon footprint,” she said. “But going out and saying what they’re doing is a bit against the culture of the organisation. The nature of the organisation is quite different – it’s a private spirituality.”

Ormerod said her organisation had been working with Catholic groups – as well as other faith groups – encouraging them to take a public stance, treating environmental issues the way many religious groups have approached Australia’s detention of asylum seekers.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/jun/16/catholic-orders-take-their-lead-from-the-pope-and-divest-from-fossil-fuels

He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Future Earth
« Reply #191 on: June 19, 2016, 06:14:52 pm »
700-year-old West African soil technique could help mitigate climate change

June 16, 2016

A farming technique practised for centuries by villagers in West Africa, which converts nutrient-poor rainforest soil into fertile farmland, could be the answer to mitigating climate change and revolutionising farming across Africa.

A global study, led by the University of Sussex, which included anthropologists and soil scientists from Cornell, Accra, and Aarhus Universities and the Institute of Development Studies, has for the first-time identified and analysed rich fertile soils found in Liberia and Ghana.

They discovered that the ancient West African method of adding charcoal and kitchen waste to highly weathered, nutrient poor tropical soils can transform the land into enduringly fertile, carbon-rich black soils which the researchers dub 'African Dark Earths'.

From analysing 150 sites in northwest Liberia and 27 sites in Ghana researchers found that these highly fertile soils contain 200-300 percent more organic carbon than other soils and are capable of supporting far more intensive farming.

Professor James Fairhead, from the University of Sussex, who initiated the study, said: "Mimicking this ancient method has the potential to transform the lives of thousands of people living in some of the most poverty and hunger stricken regions in Africa.

"More work needs to be done but this simple, effective farming practice could be an answer to major global challenges such as developing 'climate smart' agricultural systems which can feed growing populations and adapt to climate change."

Similar soils created by Amazonian people in pre-Columbian eras have recently been discovered in South America - but the techniques people used to create these soils are unknown. Moreover, the activities which led to the creation of these anthropogenic soils were largely disrupted after the European conquest.

Encouragingly researchers in the West Africa study were able to live within communities as they created their fertile soils. This enabled them to learn the techniques used by the women from the indigenous communities who disposed of ash, bones and other organic waste to create the African Dark Earths.

Dr Dawit Solomon, the lead author from Cornell University, said: "What is most surprising is that in both Africa and in Amazonia, these two isolated indigenous communities living far apart in distance and time were able to achieve something that the modern-day agricultural management practices could not achieve until now.

"The discovery of this indigenous climate smart soil-management practice is extremely timely. This valuable strategy to improve soil fertility while also contributing to climate-change mitigation and adaptation in Africa could become an important component of the global climate-smart agricultural management strategy to achieve food security."

The study, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, entitled "Indigenous African soil enrichment as a climate-smart sustainable agriculture alternative", has been published in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and Environment can be found here.

 http://phys.org/news/2016-06-year-old-west-african-soil-technique.html#jCp
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Future Earth
« Reply #192 on: June 22, 2016, 07:33:53 pm »
Quote
Let Gratitude Overflow

This visually stunning short film offers an inspirational message: If we only open our eyes, there is so much to be grateful for.

 "You think this is just another day in your life. It's not just another day. It's the one day that is given to you today. It's a gift. It's the only gift that you have right now. And the only appropriate response is gratefulness" says the narrator in this unique video.

 If we remember that we have so much to be grateful for, then we can rally more courage, strength and empowerment -- and then we can move more mountains!

 --Bibi Farber

 This film was made by Louie Schwartzberg, see www.movingart.tv


http://www.nextworldtv.com/videos/enlightened-simplicity/gratitude.html


Agelbert NOTE: This is a beautiful and moving video. All humans are one family and it is our responsibility as self aware beings to preserve the beauty of the biosphere and its life giving function.

Unfortunately, expect the biosphere math challenged apologists for fossil fuels to cherry pick certain portions of the above video in order to claim that we should direct our gratitude to the fossil fuel industry for being the "savior" of civilization. 

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"The core responsibility assigned to governments in democracies is the public welfare, protecting the human birthright to basic needs: clean air, water, land, and a place to live, under equitable rules of access to all common property resources.

It is astonishing to discover that major political efforts in democracies can be turned to undermining the core purpose of government, destroying the factual basis for fair and effective protection of essential common property resources of all to feed the financial interests of a few.

These efforts, limiting scientific research on environment, denying the validity of settled facts and natural laws, are a shameful dance, far below acceptable or reputable political behavior.

It can be treated not as a reasoned alternative, but scorned for what it is – simple thievery." —George M. Woodwell, Woods Hole Research Center founder

Quote
"The rich executed a coup d’état that transformed the three branches of the U.S. government and nearly all institutions, including the mass media, into wholly owned subsidiaries of the corporate state." -- Chris Hedges

I celebrate the beauty of our God given biosphere and recognize the value of human ingenuity.

However, I am not blind to the damage our "civilization" is visiting on the biosphere. The polluters are not content with getting away with multi-species murder with the aid of a corrupt government and legal system; they want us to be grateful to them too.

I am grateful for good people and God's bounty, not greedy, disingenuous polluting liars.


Quote
"The end of the human race will be that it will eventually die of civilization." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Future Earth
« Reply #193 on: June 24, 2016, 08:32:19 pm »
U.S. On Track To Achieve 2030 Emissions Goals In 2016  :o   

Jeff McMahon ,  Contributor
I cover green technology, energy and the environment from Chicago.  Full Bio Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.
 
Quote
“Yes, you read that correctly: The U.S. could achieve the 2030 emission cuts this year,”

“Common sense can recognize that coal-laden trains from Wyoming, or even gas fracked from shale fields, will struggle to compete with direct-delivered breezes and sunshine as renewable technologies cheapen,” according to Rice University Prof. Daniel Cohan. Photographer: George Frey/Bloomberg (at article link)

A dramatic slump in coal production has pushed U.S. carbon emissions so low that, were the trend to continue, the U.S. would achieve its 2030 emissions goals this year, according to one professor’s analysis of data from the Energy Information Administration.

Coal production has plummeted 29 percent in 2016 compared to the same period last year, crushed in part by cheap natural gas, which emits about half as much carbon. Unless coal rebounds, the U.S. could achieve a 32 percent reduction in emissions from 2005 levels, according to Daniel Cohan, an assistant professor of environmental engineering at Rice University.

Quote
That happens to match the final goal set for the year 2030 in the Clean Power Plan (CPP).

“It’s still conceivable to meet CPP this year, depending on the weather and how much further natural gas prices rise,” Cohan told me via email.

EIA doesn’t expect that to happen.

The agency forecasts a colder winter and rising natural gas prices  ;), which would make coal attractive again to power producers.
But the notoriously fossil-friendly agency  may be overestimating coal’s prospects, and Cohan notes that EIA repeatedly lowered its carbon emissions estimates as actual data on First Quarter coal use arrived in recent editions of its Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO).

“We’re unlikely to sustain the Q1 trend, which benefited from warm weather and cheap gas. But I’m skeptical of EIA’s forecast of a Q4 rebound, given that its STEO’s have been consistently overestimating coal use. A rebound would have to overcome coal plant retirements, coal mining bankruptcies, and the possibility of another warm winter.”

In its June Outlook, the EIA noted an unusually large stockpile of coal left on hand at the end of last winter:

“Warmer-than-normal temperatures experienced throughout the United States in March 2016 (and the winter as a whole) and coal’s continuing loss of market share to natural gas for electric power generation contributed to the increase in coal stockpiles,” the document says.

In addition to warm weather and low natural gas prices, Cohan credits ”a broad array of emerging and cheapening technologies” for transforming power markets, including inexpensive renewables and increasing efficiency.

In scrutinizing EIA’s data, Cohan noticed its emissions estimates were increasingly approaching the Clean Power Plan goal. He realized that if the coal rebound fails to materialize, the goal could be attained.

“Yes, you read that correctly: The U.S. could achieve the 2030 emission cuts this year,” Cohan wrote in a blog post he penned for Bloomberg Governance.

Even if the U.S. doesn’t achieve its 2030 goal this year, the EIA’s more conservative estimates still bring the country most of the distance. Carbon emissions had already fallen 15 percent from 2005 to 2014, the last year for which reliable figures are available. EIA estimates another 4.5 percent drop across 2015 and 2016.

Cohan thinks recent emissions will fall more than 4.5 percent, because the EIA tends to overestimate coal use, and overestimate the cost of renewables. Those EIA estimates also cover energy emissions in all sectors of the economy. Focusing just on the power sector covered by the Clean Power Plan, the cuts are more dramatic, according to Cohan: a 12 percent decline in power sector emissions from 2014 to 2016, adding up to a 25 percent decline from 2005 to 2016.

“If we end up just a few percent away from the 2030 target this year, it becomes tough to argue that CPP is unattainable or too costly,” Cohan said.

It could be argued, however, that the Clean Power Plan is unnecessary, because its long-term goal has come into view while the regulation remains idled in a court-imposed stay of execution. But without the Clean Power Plan, there’s nothing to prevent a protracted coal rebound in the future that could wipe out the emissions gains.

Quote
EIA’s longer term Annual Energy Outlook forecasts an ongoing rebound in coal consumption,” Cohan said, ”if the Clean Power Plan is not implemented  .”


http://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffmcmahon/2016/06/23/u-s-on-track-to-achieve-2030-emissions-goals-in-2016/#6eba45eb42c8

Agelbert NOTE: WHY does the EIA prepare forecasts that EXCLUDE the Clean Power Plan? BECAUSE, as Forbes contributor Jeff McMahon says, the EIA is a NOTORIOSLY fossil-friendly agency. The EIA will dream up every excuse it can to DELAY the transition to 100% Renewable Energy. Remember that when you read any of their published stats and charts.   

He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Future Earth
« Reply #194 on: July 07, 2016, 11:18:49 pm »
Watch: Four and a Half Minutes of N. Atlantic Lighthouses in Storms  :o

June 2, 2016 by gCaptain


Quote
According to the uploader this footage is all of lighthouses in the Iroise Sea off northwest France. Special shout out to anyone who can name all them.

http://gcaptain.com/watch-four-and-a-half-minutes-of-n-atlantic-lighthouses-in-storms/

Agelbert NOTE: Global warming will severely exacerbate ocean wave activity. This is just a taste of what is to come.
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

 

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