... The Met Office says it has probably been the sunniest April on record and the solar power industry reported its highest ever production of electricity (9.68GW) in the UK at 12:30 on Monday 20 April...

... By the end of last year, the world's installed solar power had jumped to about 600 gigawatts. Even with the disruption caused by Covid-19, we will probably add 105 gigawatts of solar capacity worldwide this year,...

... But wafer-based crystalline silicon is bumping pretty close to its theoretical maximum efficiency. The Shockley-Queisser limit marks the maximum efficiency for a solar cell made from just one material, and for silicon this is about 32%.

However, combining six different materials into what is called a multi-junction cell can push efficiency as high as 47%. Another way to break through this limit, is to use lenses to magnify the sunlight falling on the solar cell, an approach called concentrated solar. But...

... The fastest improving solar technology is called perovskites...

... solar tech is in a race to raise efficiency and push down costs. "Spanning this magical number 30% [conversion efficiency], this is where the solar cell industry could really make a very big difference,"...

Lots of sun = hottest on record. Not a solution.

The UK must avoid lurching from the coronavirus crisis into a deeper climate crisis, the government’s advisers have warned.

They recommend that ministers ensure funds earmarked for a post-Covid-19 economic recovery go to firms that will reduce carbon emissions...

... “The benefits of acting on climate change must be shared widely, and the costs must not burden those who are least able to pay or whose livelihoods are most at risk as the economy changes. “It is important that the lost or threatened jobs of today should be replaced by those created by the new, resilient economy.” The committee says the government must produce policies that allow the UK to reduce emissions to Net Zero in an orderly way – unlike the chaos of the Covid-19 crisis...

... “Recovery means investing in new jobs, cleaner air and improved health. The actions needed to tackle climate change are central to rebuilding our economy.

“The government must prioritise actions that reduce climate risks and avoid measures that lock-in higher emissions.”...

... The Green MP Caroline Lucas says the government should harness the lessons from the Covid-19 crisis to create a better society overall. She says ministers should force firms to show how they will meet CO2 cuts, and give people a right to locally-produced food; affordable clean energy; and access to green space...

Gas stoves are making people sick, contributing pollution that makes indoor air up to two to five times dirtier than outdoor air, according to a new report.

Despite the risks, regulators have failed to set standards for indoor air quality – a problem that is now likely to be exacerbated by large numbers of people spending time inside and cooking at home during the coronavirus pandemic.

Fossil-fuel-burning stoves are likely exposing tens of millions of Americans to air pollution levels that would be illegal if they were outside, concludes the review of decades of science by the Rocky Mountain Institute and multiple environmental advocacy groups.

Lead report author Brady Seals said little attention has been paid despite longstanding knowledge of the problem. “Somehow we’ve gotten accustomed to having a combustion device, often unvented, inside of the home,” Seals said.

... renewable hydrogen, is now a very real commercial prospect...

“With encouragement from the Government, we could triple the amount of carbon locked into buildings – one of the simplest steps we can take to help meet the UK’s climate goals.”
A government spokesperson said the consultation responses would be studied before final decisions were made.

The go-ahead has been given to the UK’s biggest solar farm, stretching 900 acres on the north Kent coast...

... The project could include one of the world’s largest energy storage systems...

... the subsidy-free project will be one of the lowest-cost power generators in the UK and will bring local councils £1m every year that it is running...

... the cost of solar panels has tumbled by two thirds since 2010.

The Energy Secretary Alok Sharma said the decision was taken after careful consideration – but said the project would be a world leader in solar and power storage.

Solar, wind and other renewable sources have toppled coal in energy generation in the United States for the first time in over 130 years, with the coronavirus pandemic accelerating a decline in coal that has profound implications for the climate crisis.

Not since wood was the main source of American energy in the 19th century has a renewable resource been used more heavily than coal, but 2019 saw a historic reversal, according to US government figures.

Coal consumption fell by 15%, down for the sixth year in a row, while renewables edged up by 1%. This meant renewables surpassed coal for the first time since at least 1885, a year when Mark Twain published The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and America’s first skyscraper was erected in Chicago.

Let us pray that the increased use of renewable energy continuous unabated.

Agronomist David Hudson, a 40-year veteran of Australia's cropping industry, has been overseeing the safflower field trials and believes the oil offers unique benefits when it comes to sustainability.

"We can take it back, add another additive into it and we can actually recycle it back into our motor mowers, chainsaws and those types of oils, which can then be broken down in the environment," he said.....

......Researchers at Montana State University’s Advanced Fuel Centre in the United States have been comparing safflower oil’s performance under heat and pressure with conventional oil in a large diesel engine.

Senior researcher Randy Maglinao said the results were more than promising.

"It's a breakthrough, a gamechanger for bio-based lubricants," Dr Maglinao said.

Aussie scientists are at it again...

This is steadily coming:

Fertility rate: 'Jaw-dropping' global crash in children being born


Personally, I'm skeptical about the overly optimistic/pessimistic slope that has been projected for the immediate future, but regardless we should be able to take advantage of our 'better ways' of living.

The bigger problems are political and social to balance the inevitable population migrations that are to come, soon...

We really do need better leaders and better politics, worldwide!

This is steadily coming:

Fertility rate: 'Jaw-dropping' global crash in children being born


Personally, I'm skeptical about the overly optimistic/pessimistic slope that has been projected for the immediate future, but regardless we should be able to take advantage of our 'better ways' of living.

The bigger problems are political and social to balance the inevitable population migrations that are to come, soon...

We really do need better leaders and better politics, worldwide!

Finally, the only thing that is known to actually reduce global warming in large enough amounts to be measurable.

This is steadily coming:

Fertility rate: 'Jaw-dropping' global crash in children being born


Personally, I'm skeptical about the overly optimistic/pessimistic slope that has been projected for the immediate future, but regardless we should be able to take advantage of our 'better ways' of living.

The bigger problems are political and social to balance the inevitable population migrations that are to come, soon...

We really do need better leaders and better politics, worldwide!

Finally, the only thing that is known to actually reduce global warming in large enough amounts to be measurable.

That's where I believe we differ in that I consider the greatest positive impetus is from the positive effects of better education and better (food, social, health, physical, political) 'security' for ALL... Consequently, a fall in birth rate is just one of many positive consequences...


Perhaps our improved tech, medicine, and possibly a reduction in physical wars, are all helping.

The issue is one of math. Reductions are always going to be at best linear. Population growth until this forecast has been exponential. No matter how large a linear reduction is, exponential growth will always overtake it.

... About 40 percent of the electricity in the first half in the 27 EU countries came from renewable sources, compared with 34 percent from plants burning fossil fuels... As a result, carbon dioxide emissions from the power sector fell 23 percent...

... “For countries like Poland and Czech Republic grappling with how to get off coal, there is now a clear way out.”...

... Coal was by far the biggest loser in 2020. It’s one of the most-polluting sources of power .... Power from coal fell 32 percent across the EU.

Despite the economics, the decision to shut off coal for good will come down to political agreements between producers and governments...