https://www.ipcc.ch/2022/04/04/ipcc-ar6-wgiii-pressrelease/ By IPCC.  Excerpt: Since 2010, there have been sustained decreases of up to 85% in the costs of solar and wind energy, and batteries. An increasing range of policies and laws have enhanced energy efficiency, reduced rates of deforestation and accelerated the deployment of renewable energy. ... We have options in all sectors to at least halve emissions by 2030 . ...“Having the right policies, infrastructure and technology in place to enable changes to our lifestyles and behaviour can result in a 40-70% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. This offers significant untapped potential,” said IPCC Working Group III Co-Chair Priyadarshi Shukla. “The evidence also shows that these lifestyle changes can improve our health and wellbeing.” ...“Climate change is the result of more than a century of unsustainable energy and land use, lifestyles and patterns of consumption and production,” said Skea. “This report shows how tak...

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/20/us/carbon-dioxide-ethanol-underground-midwest.html By  Mitch Smith , The New York Times.  Excerpt: For more than a decade, the Midwest was the site of bitter clashes over plans for thousand-mile pipelines meant to carry crude oil beneath cornfields and cattle ranches. Now high-dollar pipeline fights are happening again, but with a twist. Instead of oil, these projects would carry millions of tons of carbon dioxide from ethanol plants to be injected into underground rock formations rather than dispersed as pollutants in the air. What is playing out is a very different kind of environmental battle, a huge test not just for farmers and landowners but for emerging technologies promoted as ways to safely store planet-warming carbon. ...Supporters... say the pipelines... would lower carbon emissions while aiding the agricultural economy through continued ethanol production. ...opponents are concerned about property rights and safety, and are not co...

https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/syr/ By Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).  The  Summary for Policy Makers  (draft) [ https://report.ipcc.ch/ar6syr/pdf/IPCC_AR6_SYR_SPM.pdf ] is marked as "Approved" but "Do Not Cite, Quote or Distribute". That said, there are many many aspects of interest. E.g.:  "A.4.2 Several mitigation options, notably solar energy, wind energy, electrification of urban systems, urban green infrastructure, energy efficiency, demand-side management, improved forest- and crop/grassland management, and reduced food waste and loss, are technically viable, are becoming increasingly cost effective and are generally supported by the public. From 2010– 2019 there have been sustained decreases in the unit costs of solar energy (85%), wind energy (55%), and lithium ion batteries (85%), and large increases in their deployment, e.g., >10x for solar and >100x for electric vehicles (EVs), varying widely across regions. The mix of polic...

https://www.science.org/content/article/ultrathin-organic-solar-cells-could-turn-buildings-power-generators By Robert F. Service, Science Magazine.  Excerpt: In November 2021, while the municipal utility in Marburg, Germany, was performing scheduled maintenance on a hot water storage facility, engineers glued 18 solar panels to the outside of the main 10-meter-high cylindrical tank. It’s not the typical home for solar panels, most of which are flat, rigid silicon and glass rectangles arrayed on rooftops or in solar parks. The Marburg facility’s panels, by contrast, are ultrathin organic films made by Heliatek, a German solar company. In the past few years, Heliatek has mounted its flexible panels on the sides of office towers, the curved roofs of bus stops, and even the cylindrical shaft of an 80-meter-tall windmill. The goal: expanding solar power’s reach beyond flat land. “There is a huge market where classical photovoltaics do not work,” says Jan Birnstock, Heliatek’s chief tech...

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/14/climate/oil-gas-furnace-heat-pump.html By  Somini Sengupta , The New York Times.  Excerpt: ...In the United States, the Biden administration is trying to hasten that shift with billions of dollars in  tax rebates to electrify buildings  and make them more energy efficient. The global energy crisis, spurred by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, has also hastened that shift. In 2021, sales of heat pumps grew significantly in the United States and several other major markets, according to research published in  Nature . It’s important because emissions from buildings — primarily for heat and hot water — account for more than a quarter of the nation’s emissions. In  New York City,  it’s roughly 70 percent, and under a 2019  city law , most large buildings have to drastically reduce their numbers starting in 2024. If they exceed their emissions limits, they will be fined. Enter a new business opportunity. All summer, th...

https://eos.org/articles/major-investment-in-air-conditioning-needed-to-address-future-heat-waves By Jennifer Schmidt , Eos/AGU.  Excerpt: During Europe’s mid-July heat wave—when temperatures topped 40°C—countries such as Spain and Germany recorded thousands of excess deaths as people succumbed to heat-related injuries and illnesses. Earlier this year, India and Pakistan experienced their hottest March on record, with an unusually early heat wave that killed at least 90 people. By the 2050s, large swaths of the world will need some form of air-conditioning (AC) to ride out these extreme heat waves or face deadly consequences, according to  new research  published in  Energy and Buildings . But few countries have anywhere near enough cooling capacity to protect residents. ...When calculating energy demand, the researchers assumed that increased air-conditioning usage will come in the form of  ductless mini split units —wall-mounted air conditioners designed to co...

https://eos.org/articles/neighborhood-strategies-inform-bostons-first-urban-forest-plan By Iris Crawford , Eos/AGU.  Excerpt: Mattapan, a neighborhood in southwestern Boston, is heating up. Although some areas of the residential neighborhood benefit from the cooling effects of nearby green spaces, others are vulnerable to increasing heat stress, largely because of dark roofs, unshaded parking lots and pavements, and wide streets with limited numbers of trees. Mattapan is one of five Boston neighborhoods identified as being at particular risk for heat stress. (The other neighborhoods are Chinatown, Dorchester, East Boston, and Roxbury.) The five neighborhoods, all  environmental justice  communities, are at the focus of Boston’s  heat resilience  strategies, which include increasing the amount of light-colored surfaces and shade. A big reason for the risk is the simple fact that there are fewer trees in these neighborhoods. For example, less than  25% of the...

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/aug/15/goats-and-sheep-deploy-their-appetites-to-save-barcelona-from-wildfires By  Ashifa Kassam , The Guardian.  Excerpt: ...Barcelona’s newest firefighting recruits began delicately picking past hikers and cyclists in the city’s largest public park earlier this year. The four-legged brigade – made up of 290 sheep and goats – had just one task: to munch on as much vegetation as possible. Their arrival turned Barcelona into one of the latest places to embrace an age-old strategy that’s being revived as officials around the world face off against a  rise in extreme wildfires . The idea is simple: wildfire-prone areas are handed over to grazing animals, who chomp and trample over dry vegetation that could otherwise accumulate as fuel for fires. Whether the animals are semi-wild or overseen by a shepherd who is usually compensated for their efforts, a job well done usually leaves behind a landscape dotted with open spaces that can act a...

https://eos.org/articles/building-resilience-in-the-face-of-a-dwindling-colorado-river By Jane Palmer , Eos/AGU.  Excerpt: Policymakers, industry and conservation professionals, and tribal members explore pathways to a sustainable future for the millions of people reliant on the “lifeblood of the American West.” In the past couple of decades, however, severe drought has plagued the Colorado River Basin, and the  current period is the driest in the past 1,200 years . The situation is so dire that on 14 June, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation commissioner Camille C. Touton told a U.S. Senate committee that states within the region will need to  cut usage by between 2 million and 4 million acre-feet in 2023  to protect the Lake Mead and Lake Powell reservoirs. ...various stakeholders have already been exploring pathways to resilience to dwindling water resources. Urban water authorities have increased water efficiency and are experimenting with changing city landscapes in...

https://eos.org/articles/climate-action-plans-tailored-to-indian-cities By Deepa Padmanaban , Eos/AGU.  Excerpt: Many Indian cities are developing climate action plans to adapt to increasing risks they face because of climate change (such as flooding and heat waves) and to mitigate greenhouse emissions associated with extensive  urbanization . Abinash Mohanty , program lead for the Council on Energy, Environment and Water, New Delhi, said, “The discourse of city climate action plans started because the hierarchy of decisionmaking, operation, preparedness, prevention, and mitigation is different at city and national levels. We need to understand where the hyperlocal action happens—that can only happen at a city level.” Mumbai  is the latest Indian city to release a climate action plan (CAP).…

https://newscenter.lbl.gov/2021/08/09/latest-ipcc-report-points-to-urgent-need-to-cut-emissions/ Source: By  Julie Chao , Berkeley Lab News Center.  Excerpt: Our planet’s oceans, forests, and soils perform a valuable service, absorbing half of our carbon dioxide emissions. But the more that our planet warms, the more that these so-called “carbon sinks” weaken in their ability to perform this service. If we continue on our current trajectory of high emissions of greenhouse gases, by the next century not only will oceans and forests absorb less carbon dioxide, they could even reverse their role and become carbon sources. This is one of the key messages from Working Group I of the  Sixth Assessment Report  of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), released today. ...Reports from Working Groups II and III, which focus on adaptation and mitigation, respectively, will be out next spring. ...Another potent short-lived climate forcer is hydrofluorocarbons, or ...

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/20/world/europe/germany-climate-protection-merkel.html Source:   By Melissa Eddy, The New York Times. Excerpt: BERLIN — Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government on Friday agreed to support a $60 billion package of climate policies aimed at getting Germany back on track to meet its goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. ...Under the terms of the new package, Germany will work to reduce carbon emissions by 55 percent of 1990 levels by 2030. A cornerstone of the agreement is to begin charging in 2021 for carbon emissions that are generated by transportation and heating fuels. Companies in the transportation industry will be required to buy certificates for 10 euros (about $11) per ton of carbon dioxide emitted. The price will increase to 35 euros per ton by 2025, and a free-market exchange will open afterward, allowing the polluters to auction their carbon pollution permits. Consumers will likely face higher gas prices that the government w...

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/aug/30/climate-strike-teachers-students-greta-thunberg Source:  By Jonathan Isham and Lee Smithey, The Guardian. Excerpt: We risk losing credibility with young people if we cannot take action in support of the defining cause of their generation. Sometimes it’s the students who teach. This week, 16-year-old Greta Thunberg arrived in New York City in a zero-emissions yacht, en route to the United Nations climate change summit. The purpose of the trip? Let’s call it a teachable moment. Over the past year, Greta and more than 2 million teens around the world have led school strikes for climate justice, demanding that their leaders end the age of fossil fuels. Now these young people have declared 20 September 2019 a historic day for a global climate strike by all people, young and old....