14 January 2016, Business Green, New York State to phase out coal by 2020 in bid to become ‘international capital’ for clean energy. Governor Andrew Cuomo’s new environmental package also includes $15m fund for training workers in solar installation and technology. New York’s State Governor Andrew Cuomo yesterday announced plans for the US state to eliminate all use of coal by 2020 as part of a new environmental package designed to accelerate New York’s transition away from fossil fuels and towards wind and solar power. The environmental package, which was announced during Cuomo’s State of the State address, will see the state’s remaining coal-fired power stations close or transition to cleaner fuels within the next four years. The package also contains plans for a significant expansion of the State’s solar industry, with the installation of solar panels on more than 150,000 homes and businesses in the state and a $15m funding pot to train workers for solar installation and technology. Last month Cuomo set new clean energy mandates for New York – the new Clean Energy Standard will require the state to source at least 50 per cent of its electricity from renewables by 2030. Cuomo said he wants New York to become the “international capital” for clean energy. “The problem of climate change is finally being recognized by most world leaders, anyway,” he said. “Here in New York we have already been actively working to address it. Now, New York State has a business and an environmental opportunity. Let’s become the international capital for clean and green energy products.” The news was welcomed by New York’s director of the environment Heather Leibowitz, who said the measures would help lead the way in the fight against climate change. “The governor’s action will accelerate New York’s transition away from polluting fuels and towards efficient use of clean power from the wind and the sun. This means cleaner air for families, less global warming pollution, more stable electricity bills, and a stronger economy,” she said. Read More here
Monthly Archives: January 2016
9 January 2016, Climate News Network, Ice melt speeds up sea level rise. Scientists have found evidence suggesting that melting icecap water from the interior of Greenland is adding to sea level rise faster than previously realised. Water may be flowing from the Greenland icecapand into the sea more quickly than anybody expected. It doesn’t mean that global warming has got conspicuously worse: rather, researchers have had to revise their understanding of the intricate physiology of the northern hemisphere’s biggest icecap. There is enough ice and snow packed deep over 1.7 million square kilometres of Greenland that, were it all to melt, would cause a rise in global sea levels of about six metres. Climate calculations Since the icecap is melting as the atmospheric levels of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide rise, and global temperatures rise with them, as a consequence of the human combustion of fossil fuels, the rate at which summer meltwater gets into the oceans becomes vital to climate calculations. The latest rethink begins not with the pools of water that collect on the surface each summer, or the acceleration of the glaciers as they make their way to the ocean, but with a granular layer of snow just below the surface, called firn. This is old snow in the process of being compacted into glacier ice, and covers the island in a layer up to 80 metres thick. Until now, researchers have understood this firn layer as a kind of sponge that absorbs meltwater and holds it, thus limiting the flow of melting ice into the sea. Read More here
7 January 2016, ARENA, National bioenergy database to create new opportunities. The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) today announced $3 million funding support for the Rural Industries Research & Development Corporation (RIRDC) to undertake a comprehensive biomass for bioenergy assessment. ARENA CEO Ivor Frischknecht said the $6.2 million project would uncover new opportunities and make it easier to develop biomass generation and biofuel projects in Australia. “RIRDC will deliver a national database that brings together data on biomass resources across Australia, providing a clearer picture of where untapped sources of biomass are available,” Mr Frischknecht said. “There is currently no central, national source of data to assist with planning of bioenergy projects and existing local data is incomplete. “Australia’s growing bioenergy industry has cited this lack of reliable information as a significant roadblock to getting new projects off the ground.” RIRDC will work with states and territories to collect data on the location, volumes and availability of biomass for inclusion on the ARENA-supported Australian Renewable Energy Mapping Infrastructure (AREMI) platform. AREMI is a centrally accessible repository for ARENA project information and shares mapping data and information with the renewable energy industry. Mr Frischknecht said the new resource would build on existing work and assist project development and decision making. Read More here
5 January 2016, YALE Climate connections, Managing Climate Information Overload. After more than 15,000 volunteer hours of development, a climate change expert here describes a sophisticated knowledge-management tool to provide ‘actionable’ climate change information to those most needing it … all of us. Many of us over recent years have become all too familiar with the term “too big to fail.” But what about “too big to follow?” That term applies well to the issue of global climate change, where the daily flood of new and worthwhile information and data can easily swamp even the most sophisticated library database information aficionado. What a waste, what a pity. What if policy makers, legislators, educators, and media just plain engaged citizens were more able to gather and digest the vast volumes of authoritative information on the issue, and make it “actionable”? What if we all were able to find that proverbial needle in the haystack that could lead to informed and cost-effective decision making both individually and globally? A pipe dream? Not so fast. ‘If only we knew what we know …’ The recent release of the Climate Knowledge Brokers Manifesto made clear the challenge of the “too big to follow” situation. We’re engulfed by a cacophony of “climate noise.” As John Naisbitt puts it, “we are drowning in information but starved for knowledge.” It’s far more than an academic or theoretical concern: Climate-related decision-making is becoming much more important throughout broad segments of society, nationally and internationally. Read more here