Went to a talk on March 19, 2012 by Dr Joel Schwarz about a recent UNEP report on Short Lived Climate Forcers:

Integrated Assessment of Black carbon and Tropospheric Ozone and Near Term Climate Protection and Clean Air Benefits

http://www.unep.org/dewa/Porta…

Summary for Decision Makers

http://www.unep.org/pdf/Near_T…

The report focuses on three SCLF [short lived climate forcers] – black carbon, tropospheric ozone and methane [an ozone precursor*] – because reducing them will provide significant benefits through improved air quality and a slowing of near-term climate change.

Black carbon and tropospheric (10 – 20 km above ground) ozone are resident in the atmosphere for a few days to three weeks (3-8 days for carbon, up to 4-18 days for ozone).  Methane has an atmospheric lifetime of 12 years, ± 3 years.

“Full implementation” of all the identified measures could reduce future global warming by “0.5˚C (within a range of 0.2-0.7˚C)”. If implemented by 2030, this tactic  might halve the potential increase in global temperature projected for 2050. “The rate of regional temperature increase would also be reduced” wherever they are put into practice.

These measures “could avoid 2.4 million premature deaths (within a range of 0.7-4.6 million) and the loss of 52 million tonnes (within a range of 30-140 million tonnes), 1-4 per cent, of the global production of maize, rice, soybean and wheat each year.”  Benefits will be felt immediately “in or close to the regions” where black carbon, methane, and tropospheric ozone are reduced.  The potential for emissions reductions, climate, health, and economic benefits are highest in Asia but gains can also be realized in Africa, Latin America, and wherever these measures are put into practice.

A few emission reduction measures “targeting black carbon and ozone precursors could immediately begin to protect climate, public health, water and food security, and ecosystems. Measures include the recovery of methane from coal, oil and gas extraction and transport, methane capture in waste management, use of clean-burning stoves for residential cooking, diesel particulate filters for vehicles and the banning of field burning of agricultural waste.”

All these benefits can be obtained with existing technology but require significant strategic investment and institutional arrangements to make them widespread, part of general and every day use.

*Ozone is not directly emitted. It is a secondary pollutant that is formed in the troposphere by sunlight-driven chemical reactions involving carbon monoxide (CO), non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs), methane (CH4), and nitrogen oxides (NO ).  Ozone in the troposphere is the third most human-emitted greenhouse gas, after CO2 and methane.  Ozone formation increases as temperature rises.

Solar IS Civil Defense – what we are all supposed to have on hand in case of emergency – flashlight, cell phone, radio, extra set of batteries – can be powered by a few square inches of solar electric panel.  Add a hand crank or bicycle generator and you have a reliable source of survival level electricity, day or night, by sunlight or muscle power.

This is also entry level electrical power for the 1.5 billion people around the world who do not yet have access to electricity.  Civil defense at home and economic development abroad can be combined in a “buy one, give one” program like the Bogolight (http://www.bogolight.com) which is a solar LED light and AA battery charger.

Solar IS Civil Defense and could be much more.

Scientists Track Radioactive Iodine in New Hampshire from Japan Nuclear Reactor Meltdown

http://www.sciencedaily.com/re…

Testing in New Hampshire’s Mink Brook watershed during March through May 2011 resulted in calculating radioactive iodine deposition in the soil at a total amount around 6,000 atoms per square meter. Dartmouth research associate Joshua Landis commented that “at these levels, it is unlikely that this is going to cause measurable health consequences.”  The amount in stream sediments was double the amount in soil but should be reduced by river and stream dilution.

This radioactive waste from Fukushima consists of iodine-131, “highly radioactive, acutely toxic” with a half-life of about 8 days, and iodine-29, less radioactive but with a half-life of 15.7 million years.  “Due to its long half-life and continued release from ongoing nuclear energy production, [iodine-129] is perpetually accumulating in the environment and poses a growing radiological risk,” the authors of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences report point out.  A nuclear reactor produces 3 parts iodine-131 to one part iodine-129.  “Once the iodine-131 decays, you lose your ability to track the migration of either isotope.”

hat tip clamshellalliance.org

On Monday January 30th, the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) held a public meeting at Suffolk University, halfway between the State House and City Hall, to change the Boston zoning laws to allow for agriculture throughout the city, making it easier for local residents to grow and sell fresh, healthy, foods in Boston and the greater Boston Metropolitan Area.  Nearly 300 people attended.  Boston currently has about 150 community gardens serving 3000 gardeners, the highest per capita of any US city.  Now the city is trying to figure out how to change zoning to increase urban agriculture beyond gardening and household use into businesses and economic development.

Mayor Menino, the newly appointed chair of the food policy task force for the US Conference of Mayors, opened the meeting and the keynote address was given by Will Allen, Founder and CEO of Growing Power Inc. (http://www.growingpower.org), non-profit based in Milwaukee, WI which also does work in Chicago, Detroit, Ghana, and around the world.  Growing Power addresses social justice and food access issues through building local agriculture and farm-based businesses and Mr. Allen won the 2008 McArthur Foundation “Genius” Grant for his work on urban farming and sustainable food production.  Growing Power has grown an underutilized 2-acre lot into a farm that produces enough produce, eggs, honey, fish and other meats to feed more than 10,000 local residents and employs more than 100 people on 20 farms, 13 farmstands, and a year round CSA.  

This idea may be moot after all the forced evictions of the Occupations from public spaces but I thought I’d share it anyway.

I’ve visited the Occupations in Wall Street, Boston, and Providence, RI.  Every time I go to one of them, I try to connect with somebody about making the Occupation green with, as yet, little success.  In New York, I saw the greywater treatment system Mobile Research Labs set up and talked to a couple of people about using some simple solar techniques.  In Boston, I’ve tried to connect the winterization team with the student Energy Clubs at some of the local colleges and universities and alerted my own network of solar enthusiasts to Occupy Boston’s  efforts.  I’ve also tried to do the same by contacting OWS’s Sustainability Group.  In Providence, I talked with the only occupier I saw up and around early on a Sunday morning.  He was picking up trash around the park and was disappointed that the group hadn’t organized themselves enough to do recycling.  I gave him my card and my elevator pitch for a green occupation and he said he’d pass it on.

I look at the Occupations and see economic refugee camps and a possible test-bed for emergency response and sustainable economic development around the world.  Some may say that’s crazy but the links are there if you look.

The Climate CoLab is part of MIT’s Center for Collective Intelligence.

In both 2010 and 2011, the primary activities have been a pair of online contests, where teams of community members are invited to propose actions to key aspects of climate change.

The 2011 contest poses the question:

How should the 21st century economy evolve bearing in mind the risks of climate change?

In the initial stages of a contest, teams develop proposals on what should be done. Expert judges assess and select finalists among these proposals.

In the final round, Climate CoLab members are invited to vote. Winners are chosen based on voting and on a second review by the judges. A group of policy makers are briefed on the winning proposals.

On the national level, my proposal made the final cut:

How to Change US Energy in One Growing Season

http://climatecolab.org/web/gu…

You can vote for it or other proposals in the contest until November 15 at the URLs above.  Please take a look.

Solar water disinfection

http://www.sodis.ch/index_EN

A two liter plastic bottle can be made into a water treatment system simply by filling it with contaminated water and exposing it to the sun.  Sodis is an organization that promotes this technology around the world.  

The disinfection process can be speeded by turning aluminized mylar snack food bags inside out and making them into reflectors as two young students in Belo Horizonte, Brazil discovered:  http://calais.phase2technology…

Solar bottle bulbs for daylighting

http://www.elliottlemenager.co…

In 2002, during a long electrical shortage, at Uberaba, São Paulo, Brasil, Mr Alfredo Moser discovered a way to gather sun light in the house through plastic bottles hanging from the roof. First shown at the Globo Reporter in the 25th May 2007.

Alfredo Moser was pressed by a scarce electricity substitution and found out that he could light his house with a bottle of water filled with water and a protection cap made of camera film.

The bottle is just refracting sunlight very effectively and produces an equivalent light power compared to a 50/60W lamp. In a rainy day, even without much light and direct sun, one still have some light. Scientist have now visited Moser and are looking into ways to take this concept to maximize its potential.

Here’s my latest Solar PSA on how a south-facing window is already a solar collector:

http://www.youtube.com/v/FdGAd…

“Any window that sees direct sunlight is a solar collector.  You can learn how to use that free energy to make your home more comfortable and secure.  Caulk and seal the window against drafts.  Install storm windows on the exterior, interior, or both.  Cover the window at night with an insulating curtain to prevent conduction, convection, and radiative heat loss.  A valence above the window will stop night-time drafts and reduce condensation.  A sunny window can double as a greenhouse for starting seedlings or growing house plants.  Expand the solar space below, above, or beside the window with a windowbox solar air or water heater.    You can even design a living system to provide fresh vegetables and fish year round while producing space heat, cleaning the air, and reducing waste.  A south-facing window is already a solar collector.  Learn how to use it.”