Passive solar heating systems collect natural light via skylights or windows and use it to directly heat spaces, without converting it to electricity. Based on a detailed analysis of heating needs and solar energy availability around the United States, such installations could supply a third of residential space heating needs nationwide, researchers found. The findings, which appear in the November issue of Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, are the first detailed survey of direct solar heating resources in the U.S.
Tag: Carbon Emissions
Urban planning experts aid first US city decarbonizing all buildings
The city of Ithaca, N.Y., is moving ahead with an ambitious plan to decarbonize and electrify all buildings — part of an effort to be carbon neutral by 2030. It’s the first project of its kind in the nation, and…
Hungry caterpillars an underappreciated driver of carbon emissions
A study led by the University of Cambridge has found that periodic mass outbreaks of leaf-munching caterpillars can improve the water quality of nearby lakes – but may also increase the lakes’ carbon dioxide emissions.
Three ways to reduce the carbon footprint of food purchased by U.S. households
Researchers in ACS’ Environmental Science & Technology report three ways that Americans can reduce the carbon footprint of their food purchases, without requiring drastic dietary changes.
Carbon neutrality – a new policy brief for municipalities world wide
How to design efficient demo areas for urban carbon sequestration? In the latest policy brief research groups from the University of Helsinki and Aalto University focus on the main principles of urban demonstration areas using biochars for carbon sequestration.
More Carbon Emissions Will Kill More People; Here’s How Many
A just-published study coins a new metric: the “mortality cost of carbon.
Bubbling to the surface: WVU engineers develop new geothermal energy technology
As part of the American-Made Geothermal Manufacturing Prize competition, a challenge designed to spur innovation and address manufacturing challenges in geothermal environments, associate professor Terence Musho and Berry Chair Emeritus Nigel Clark in West Virginia University’s Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources, have developed a new airlift approach to optimize current geothermal pump technologies.
EU climate plan faces likely pushback, progress still possible
The European Union has proposed comprehensive climate change legislation that would include a tax on aviation fuel, a carbon border tariff, emission limits for cars and more. Flavio Lehner is a climate scientist and assistant professor of earth and atmospheric…
TRANSFORMING CO2 AND SUGARS INTO BIOFUEL
With a $2.7 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), UD Professor Eleftherios (Terry) Papoutsakis is developing a system to produce bioenergy from a mix of microbes that can convert carbon dioxide into useful chemicals.
Catastrophic Sea-Level Rise from Antarctic Melting is Possible with Severe Global Warming
The Antarctic ice sheet is much less likely to become unstable and cause dramatic sea-level rise in upcoming centuries if the world follows policies that keep global warming below a key 2015 Paris climate agreement target, according to a Rutgers coauthored study. But if global warming exceeds the target – 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) – the risk of ice shelves around the ice sheet’s perimeter melting would increase significantly, and their collapse would trigger rapid Antarctic melting. That would result in at least 0.07 inches of global average sea-level rise a year in 2060 and beyond, according to the study in the journal Nature.
Biden Climate Pledge Advances ‘Faster, more Equitable Energy Transition’
President Biden is expected to announce a U.S. commitment to cut greenhouse gas emissions at least in half by 2030, as the administration pushes for other nations to make aggressive commitments to fight climate change. Flavio Lehner, a climate scientist…
New U.S. Carbon Monitor website compares emissions among the 50 states
Irvine, Calif., April 7, 2021 — Following last year’s successful launch of a global carbon monitor website to track and display greenhouse gas emissions from a variety of sources, an international team led by Earth system scientists from the University of California, Irvine is unveiling this week a new data resource focused on the United States.
Carbon uptake in regrowing Amazon forest threatened by climate and human disturbance
Large areas of forests regrowing in the Amazon to help reduce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, are being limited by climate and human activity.
Paying for emissions we’ve already released
The planet is committed to global warming in excess of 2 degrees Celsius (3.6°F) just from greenhouse gases that have already been added to the atmosphere. This is the conclusion of new research by scientists from Nanjing University, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and Texas A&M University, which appears in the latest edition of Nature Climate Change.
Michigan Tech remote sensing, ecology experts available to speak to wildfire carbon emissions, climate-related ecosystem changes
Michigan Technological University has remote sensing and ecology experts available to speak to wildfire carbon emissions, climate-related ecosystem changes, and the effects of wildfires on peatlands — which act as huge carbon sinks and when burned release an incredible amount…
EU building renovations plan ‘bold’ example of green recovery
The European Union is set to announce a large-scale building renovation project on Wednesday — an effort to cut carbon emissions and energy costs across the 27-nation bloc, while stimulating an economy struggling with the effects of COVID-19. The plan…
New Theory to Calculate Emissions Liability—”A Profound Business Risk for Some Companies”
A new study by Michigan Tech researchers questions conventional methods of calculating carbon emissions liability based on point source pollution by introducing new “bottleneck” theory.
Rutgers Expert Can Discuss Global Climate Change Mortality Study
New Brunswick, N.J. (Aug. 3, 2020) – Rutgers University–New Brunswick Professor Robert E. Kopp is available to discuss a major study released today on the global consequences of climate change on death rates. The study by the Climate Impact Lab,…
By the numbers: carbon emissions, energy flow charts for all U.S. states
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has updated its energy flow charts to include state-by-state energy use for 2015-2018. It also has released carbon emissions charts that depict a breakdown of all 50 states’ carbon emissions from 2014-2017.
What Happens in Vegas, May Come From the Arctic?
Climate records from a cave in the southern Great Basin show that Nevada was even hotter and drier in the past than it is today, and that one 4,000-year period in particular may represent a true, “worst-case” scenario for the Southwest and the Colorado River Basin — and the millions of people who rely on its water supply.
New international analysis narrows the range in sensitivity of climate to CO2
The most advanced and comprehensive analysis of climate sensitivity undertaken has revealed with more confidence than ever how sensitive the Earth’s climate is to carbon dioxide.
This new research finds that the true climate sensitivity is unlikely to be in the lowest part of the 2.7-8.1˚F range. The analysis indicates that if atmospheric carbon dioxide levels double from their pre-industrial levels and are maintained, the world would be likely to experience eventual warming from 4.1-8.1˚F. There would be less than 5 percent chance of staying below 3.6˚F and a 6-18 percent chance of exceeding 8.1˚F.
Geoengineering is Just a Partial Solution to Fight Climate Change
Could we create massive sulfuric acid clouds that limit global warming and help meet the 2015 Paris international climate goals, while reducing unintended impacts? Yes, in theory, according to a Rutgers co-authored study in the journal Earth System Dynamics. Spraying sulfur dioxide into the upper atmosphere at different locations, to form sulfuric acid clouds that block some solar radiation, could be adjusted every year to keep global warming at levels set in the Paris goals. Such technology is known as geoengineering or climate intervention.
How to Tackle Climate Change, Food Security and Land Degradation
How can some of world’s biggest problems – climate change, food security and land degradation – be tackled simultaneously? Some lesser-known options, such as integrated water management and increasing the organic content of soil, have fewer trade-offs than many well-known options, such as planting trees, according to a Rutgers-led study in the journal Global Change Biology.
More grocery stores means less food waste — and a big carbon cut
One strategy for reducing food waste’s environmental impact is as counterintuitive as it is straightforward: Open more grocery stores.
California can become carbon neutral by 2045
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists have identified a robust suite of technologies to help California clear the last hurdle and become carbon neutral – and ultimately carbon negative – by 2045. This groundbreaking study, “Getting to Neutral: Options for Negative Carbon Emissions in California,” was conducted as part of LLNL’s expansive energy programs work and the Laboratory’s Carbon Initiative. The goal of the initiative is to identify solutions to enable global-scale CO2 removal from the atmosphere and hit global temperature targets.
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore Lab Foundation, ClimateWorks to unveil report on California’s road to carbon neutrality
LLNL will host a briefing to unveil the new report “Getting to Neutral: Options for Negative Carbon Emissions in California,” which identifies a robust suite of technologies to help California clear the last hurdle and become carbon neutral by 2045.
Atomic-scale manufacturing method could enable ultra-efficient computers
Researchers reporting in ACS Nano have developed a new manufacturing process that could enable ultra-efficient atomic computers that store more data and consume 100 times less power.
U.S. Carbon and Pollution Emissions Policies are ‘Up in the Air’
Tangles in courts and in Congress threaten emissions-related energy regulations and incentives. If these are lost, carbon emissions are projected to climb, and the fight against health-damaging ozone may lose traction, allowing it to resurge, too. An expert explains the legal messes.
Energy Regulation Rollbacks Threaten Progress Against Harmful Ozone
The fight against harmful ozone is under legal threat. Air quality and carbon emissions regulations are currently in limbo in courts and congress, from core legislation from the 1970s to rules from the last U.S. administration. This study models the future losses in the fight to drive down respiratory-damaging, ground-level ozone if the regulations go away.