Solar panel windows are latest weapon against global warming

July 11 2008 - Windows could be turned into solar panels using a new technology which could slash the cost of making electricity from sunlight.

The technique involves painting the glass with a transparent, organic dye to absorb and transport light to photovoltaic (PV) cells in the window frame, which convert it to electricity. Engineers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston claim the system could generate ten times more power than a PV cell alone. It could also substantially reduce the cost of generating solar power, because the expensive cells need only be mounted around the edge of the panels.

Traditional panels use mobile mirrors to track the sun and focus the rays onto a solar cell, but the moving parts are expensive. The MIT team found that by using specific combinations of dye, which each absorb a different wavelength of light, they could avoid light being lost as it travelled to the solar cells at the edge. Electrical engineer Marc Baldo, who lead the team, said the 'solar concentrator’ system is simple to manufacture and could be implemented within three years.

The materials also can be added to existing solar panels. "We think this is a practical technology for reducing the cost of solar power," he said. More >>>

American Carbon Output

July 9th 2008 - In April 2008, atmospheric scientist Kevin Gurney and several colleagues from Purdue, Colorado State University, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory published the first detailed inventory of carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of fossil fuels across the United States.

Known as the Vulcan Project, for the Roman god of fire, the inventory catalogues how much carbon dioxide different human activities produce on an hourly, daily, and monthly basis—from vehicles to industrial activity to electricity used by homes or businesses. More >>>

G8 urged to do more for climate

Five of the biggest emerging economies have urged leading industrial nations to do more to combat climate change.

Mexico, Brazil, China, India and South Africa challenged the Group of Eight countries to cut their greenhouse gas emissions by more than 80% by 2050.

The so-called G5 countries threw down the gauntlet in a statement before they joined the G8 summit in Japan.

Earlier, the G8 restated a lower target of 50% cuts over the same period, which environmentalists said was "pathetic". More >>>

Global Warming Chief Among Threats to Coral Reefs

FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida, July 7, 2008 (ENS) - Nearly half of U.S. coral reef ecosystems are considered to be in "poor" or "fair" condition according to a new analysis of the health of coral reefs under U.S. jurisdiction by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA.

The report was released by NOAA today at the opening of the 11th International Coral Reef Symposium in Fort Lauderdale where more than 2,500 scientists and government officials are gathered this week to discuss coral reef protection strategies and research priorities to further protection of sensitive coral ecosystems.

The symposium's theme, Reefs for the Future, highlights the importance of the world's coral reefs, as well as the urgent need for accelerated action to protect them. More >>>

Only seven years left to meet global warming target: UN panel chief

PARIS (AFP) 4 July 2007— The head of the UN's Nobel-winning panel of climate scientists on Friday said only seven years remained for stabilising emissions of global-warming gases at a level widely considered safe.

Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), delivered the bleak warning at a gathering of European Union ministers where he pleaded with the EU to take the lead in global talks on tackling climate change.
The UN negotiations "must progress rapidly, otherwise I am afraid that not only future generations but even this generation will treat us as having been irresponsible," said Pachauri.
"The EU has to lead. If the EU does not lead, I am afraid that any attempt to bring about change and to manage the problem of climate change will collapse," said Pachauri. More >>>

'US has done least to address global warming'

NEW DELHI: 3 Jul 2008. The US has done the least among the world's eight biggest economies to address global warming, a study released on Thursday found.

The G8 Climate Scorecards 2008, released ahead of next week's gathering of the Group of Eight on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, also found that none of the eight countries are making improvements large enough to prevent temperature increases that scientists think would cause catastrophic climate changes.

The gathering includes the heads of statesof the US, Japan, Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Canada and Russia. More >>>

Pay Up: Insurers Raise Rates Over Global Warming

July 1, 2008: Plenty of companies are angling to make money off climate change sometime in the future. The insurance industry isn’t waiting around for the science or the politics to settle: It’s raising premiums now on the premise that rising temperatures will lead to more hurricanes, more damage, and more claims.

M.P. McQueen reports today in the WSJ that insurers across the U.S. are increasingly relying on “computerized catastrophe modeling” which tells them just what they want to hear: Hurricanes will get bigger and more frequent in coming years, so homeowners in coastal areas have to pony up even more to protect their houses—even as insurers rack up record profits. The shift from using historical data to computer models is to blame, the paper says:

Companies that rely too heavily on cat-model data “are subjecting their businesses and their customers to the volatility of computer models,” says [Karen] Clark, who now runs a Boston cat-model consulting business. “The models are being used as if they produce definitive answers rather than uncertain estimates.” Ms. Clark says she advises clients to use them in conjunction with other factors, such as broad historical data. More >>>