02.13.13AVERTING ECOCIDE - WAR ROOM - Tracking Plan B blog

***** Fracking seen by EPA as No. 2 emitter of greenhouse gases.     Study: Climate change could devastate U.S. agriculture.     Glacially Slow: Solar PV Installations Hit 32 GW In 2012, 35 GW Projected For 2013, According To IHS     Too slow to matter - Greenhouse-Gas Emissions Fall in U.S. Power Plants on Coal Cuts. Bloomberg     Sea urchin nickel 'trick' could be key to capturing carbon. BBC News     Are mini-reactors the future of nuclear power?     Billions Of Animals Die Because Of Cats     Science establishment has been rocked by claims that trees may also be the heart of its climate.     The future of energy: Batteries included? Produce the right battery at the right price, many engineers think, and you could make the internal-combustion engine redundant and usher in a world in which free fuel, in the form of wind and solar energy, was the norm. That really would be a revolution. Economist     Outgoing energy secretary Chu's parting warning on warming. TIME     US carbon emissions fall to lowest levels since 1994.     Manmade Carbon Pollution Has Already Put Us On Track For 69 Feet Of Sea Level Rise     Tribal members sign treaty calling for an end to Alberta oil sands development and Keystone XL.     Fisheries business threatened by ocean acidification.     US backs off goal of one million electric cars by 2015.     ***** US Missing Out On Its Share Of $1 Trillion In Total Global Solar Energy Revenue     Biochar cookstoves boost health for people and crops.     Report underscores vulnerabilities of U.S. coastlines.     Wind Enegy Surpasses Nuclear As China’s 3rd Largest Source Of Electrical Power     What Would Make an All-Electric Car Appeal to the Masses? TIME     China now burning as much coal as the rest of the world combined. Washington Post     Smart Grid Spending Rost to $13.9 Billion Driven by China. Bloomberg     Smart Grid May be Shortest Route to Obama's Green Energy Goals. Forbes     Protesters in Maine rally against tar sands oil     Air Travel - One Ton / 1000 miles: Your biggest carbon sin may be air travel ***** Fracking seen by EPA as No. 2 emitter of greenhouse gases. Posted: 12 Feb 2013 01:52 PM PST Fracking seen by EPA as No. 2 emitter of greenhouse gases. Natural gas and oil production is the second-biggest source of U.S. greenhouse gases, the government said, emboldening environmentalists who say tighter measures are needed to curb the emissions from hydraulic fracturing. Bloomberg News

Study: Climate change could devastate U.S. agriculture. Posted: 12 Feb 2013 01:51 PM PST Study: Climate change could devastate U.S. agriculture. Climate change could have a drastic and harmful effect on U.S. agriculture, forcing farmers and ranchers to alter where they grow crops and costing them millions of additional dollars, a government report said on Tuesday. Gannett News Service

Glacially Slow: Solar PV Installations Hit 32 GW In 2012, 35 GW Projected For 2013, According To IHS Posted: 12 Feb 2013 01:43 PM PST Solar PV Installations Hit 32 GW In 2012, 35 GW Projected For 2013, According To IHS

Too slow to matter - Greenhouse-Gas Emissions Fall in U.S. Power Plants on Coal Cuts. Bloomberg Posted: 12 Feb 2013 01:36 PM PST Greenhouse-Gas Emissions Fall in U.S. Power Plants on Coal CutsBloombergGreenhouse-gas emissions from U.S. power plants fell 4.5 percent in 2011 from the previous year as those facilities burned less coal, the most-intense source of carbon-dioxide pollution. In its second-annual accounting of greenhouse-gases, the U.S. ...See all stories on this topic » German Electricity for 2014 Advances

Sea urchin nickel 'trick' could be key to capturing carbon. BBC News Posted: 12 Feb 2013 01:25 PM PST Sea urchin nickel 'trick' could be key to capturing carbonBBC NewsResearchers say that the natural ability of sea urchins to absorb CO2 could be a model for an effective carbon capture and storage system. Newcastle University scientists discovered by chance that urchins use the metal nickel to turn carbon dioxide ...See all stories on this topic »

Are mini-reactors the future of nuclear power? Posted: 12 Feb 2013 01:08 PM PST Are mini-reactors the future of nuclear power? The U.S. government is investing millions of dollars in what it considers a promising new industry for American manufacturing: nuclear reactors. Morning Edition

Billions Of Animals Die Because Of Cats Posted: 12 Feb 2013 12:54 PM PST Billions Of Animals Die Because Of Cats

Science establishment has been rocked by claims that trees may also be the heart of its climate. Posted: 12 Feb 2013 10:44 AM PST Branching out on climate. The world's great forests have long been recognised as the lungs of the earth, but the science establishment has been rocked by claims that trees may also be the heart of its climate. The Australian

The future of energy: Batteries included? Produce the right battery at the right price, many engineers think, and you could make the internal-combustion engine redundant and usher in a world in which free fuel, in the form of wind and solar energy, was the norm. That really would be a revolution. Economist Posted: 12 Feb 2013 10:38 AM PST The future of energy: Batteries included? Produce the right battery at the right price, many engineers think, and you could make the internal-combustion engine redundant and usher in a world in which free fuel, in the form of wind and solar energy, was the norm. That really would be a revolution. Economist

Outgoing energy secretary Chu's parting warning on warming. TIME Posted: 12 Feb 2013 10:27 AM PST Outgoing energy secretary’s parting warning on warming.  Steven Chu was the embodiment of an ideal: that the truly best and the brightest could come to Washington to serve the public at our moment of need. He ended his characteristically detailed final memo with a reminder of the ethical need to fight climate change. Time Magazine

US carbon emissions fall to lowest levels since 1994. Posted: 12 Feb 2013 10:24 AM PST US carbon emissions fall to lowest levels since 1994. America's carbon dioxide emissions last year fell to their lowest levels since 1994, according to a new report. Carbon dioxide emissions fell by 13% in the past five years, because of new energy-saving technologies and a doubling in the take-up of renewable energy.

Manmade Carbon Pollution Has Already Put Us On Track For 69 Feet Of Sea Level Rise Posted: 12 Feb 2013 10:03 AM PST Manmade Carbon Pollution Has Already Put Us On Track For 69 Feet Of Sea Level Rise

Tribal members sign treaty calling for an end to Alberta oil sands development and Keystone XL. Posted: 12 Feb 2013 10:01 AM PST Tribal members sign treaty calling for an end to Alberta oil sands development and Keystone XL. Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman’s approval of that state’s section of the disputed Keystone XL pipeline has united not only indigenous from the U.S. and Canada but also non-Native ranchers, farmers and concerned citizens who oppose the pipeline.

Fisheries business threatened by ocean acidification. Posted: 12 Feb 2013 10:01 AM PST Fisheries business threatened by ocean acidification. Between 2005 and 2009, billions of oyster larvae began dying at hatcheries around Washington state before anyone knew what was going on or could do anything about it. The reason, scientists learned, was ocean acidification. Everett Herald

US backs off goal of one million electric cars by 2015. Posted: 12 Feb 2013 09:59 AM PST US backs off goal of one million electric cars by 2015. The U.S. Department of Energy on Thursday eased off President Barack Obama's stated goal of putting 1 million electric cars on the road by 2015, and laid out what experts called a more realistic strategy of promoting advanced-drive vehicles and lowering their cost over the next nine years.

***** US Missing Out On Its Share Of $1 Trillion In Total Global Solar Energy Revenue Posted: 12 Feb 2013 09:47 AM PST US Missing Out On Its Share Of $1 Trillion In Total Global Solar Energy Revenue

Biochar cookstoves boost health for people and crops. Posted: 12 Feb 2013 09:38 AM PST Biochar cookstoves boost health for people and crops. Three billion people worldwide rely on open-fire cookstoves. A recent study found that the fumes from those stoves are the largest environmental health threat in the world. Cookstoves that burn cleaner can help fight this epidemic, and when configured to produce biochar, can become a prized asset for rural

Report underscores vulnerabilities of U.S. coastlines. Posted: 12 Feb 2013 09:37 AM PST Report underscores vulnerabilities of U.S. coastlines. No part of the U.S. will escape the harsh consequences of climate change, which has already begun to cause trouble, and which will worsen as the century goes on. But according to a new report, the nation’s coastlines — Atlantic, Gulf, Pacific and Great Lakes — are likely to get the worst of it.

Wind Enegy Surpasses Nuclear As China’s 3rd Largest Source Of Electrical Power Posted: 12 Feb 2013 09:35 AM PST Wind Enegy Surpasses Nuclear As China’s 3rd Largest Source Of Electrical Power

What Would Make an All-Electric Car Appeal to the Masses? TIME Posted: 12 Feb 2013 09:26 AM PST   What Would Make an All-Electric Car Appeal to the Masses?TIMEIt's widely assumed that the car of the future will be powered by gasoline. At least partly powered by gas, that is, and at least for the near future. When, if ever, will the pure electric car—one powered solely by battery, without a drop of gas—go ...See all stories on this topic »

China now burning as much coal as the rest of the world combined. Washington Post Posted: 12 Feb 2013 09:23 AM PST China now burning as much coal as the rest of the world combinedWashington Post (blog)Coal, of course, is the world's premier fossil fuel, a low-cost source of electricity that kicks a lot of carbon-dioxide up into the atmosphere. And China's growing appetite is a big reason why global greenhouse-gas emissions have soared in recent ...See all stories on this topic »

Smart Grid Spending Rost to $13.9 Billion Driven by China. Bloomberg Posted: 12 Feb 2013 09:05 AM PST Smart Grid Spending Rost to $13.9 Billion Driven by ChinaBloombergInvestments in smart-grid technologies that boost efficiency and curb energy waste rose 7 percent last year to $13.9 billion, driven by spending in China, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. China raised investments by 14 percent to $3.2 billion ...See all stories on this topic »

Smart Grid May be Shortest Route to Obama's Green Energy Goals. Forbes Posted: 12 Feb 2013 09:03 AM PST Smart Grid May be Shortest Route to Obama's Green Energy GoalsForbesA smart grid could have profound implications on electric power markets, affecting the whole utility supply chain — from the way power is generated to the way it is delivered to customers, and ultimately how much energy is consumed. At the moment ...See all stories on this topic »

Protesters in Maine rally against tar sands oil Posted: 12 Feb 2013 08:55 AM PST Protesters in Maine rally against tar sands oil. More than 1,000 people rallied in Portland on Saturday in what was billed as the largest protest yet against the possibility of so-called tar sands oil being piped in from Montreal. Associated Press

Air Travel - One Ton / 1000 miles: Your biggest carbon sin may be air travel Posted: 12 Feb 2013 08:54 AM PST Your biggest carbon sin may be air travel. One round-trip flight from New York to Europe or to San Francisco creates about 2 or 3 tons of carbon dioxide per person. The average American generates about 19 tons of carbon dioxide a year; the average European, 10. New York Times