June 29, 2023 BackgroundAccording to the 2017 U.S. Climate Science Special Report if yearly emissions continue to increase rapidly, as they have since 2000, models project that by the end of this century global temperature will be at least 5 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than the 1901-1960 average, and possibly as … Continue reading
Category Archives: Environment
Water, Hydrogen, Real Estate & the Dollar
Background It is indeed remarkable the propensity of our esteemed decision makers to ignore scientists’ warnings. Case in point, the March 1912 issue of Popular Mechanics correctly predicted that coal burning would accumulate carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and cause a greenhouse effect. Did the industrialized countries heed? The answer … Continue reading
Poverty, Inequality, and Hydrogen
“Unlike some other calculations, those relating to poverty have no intrinsic value of their own. They exist only in order to help us make them disappear from the scene…. With imagination, faith and hope, we might succeed in wiping out the scourge of poverty even if we don’t agree on … Continue reading
Complications
The facts have ominous overtones. As of the end of 2020 proven crude oil reserves in the U.S. amounted to 38.2 billion barrels, or about 4.89 times annual consumption. Thus, excluding unproven reserves and imports, the U.S. has about 5 years left of domestic oil at current consumption levels. In … Continue reading
Accelerating Melting of Himalayan Glaciers
December 20, 2021 A study published today in the journal Scientific Reports, a peer-reviewed publication, revealed that ice in the Himalayan glaciers is melting at a rate 10 times higher than the average rate over past centuries, far more rapidly than glaciers in the rest of the world. All told, … Continue reading
A California Template
January 22, 2017 Quotation ‘We have nearly 100 years’ worth of natural gas and more than 250 years’ worth of clean, beautiful coal.’ President Donald Trump The Situation California, long the nation’s trendsetter, is a land of extremes. It has the highest summit and the lowest natural depression in the … Continue reading
Gridlock and COP26
November 3, 2021 For the first time, the 2020 census showed a shrinking non-Hispanic White population that identifies as a single race in 35 states. While 60% of White adults say the trend is neither good nor bad for society, 35% of Whites 65 and older believe it’s bad for … Continue reading
Make or Break
October 25, 2021 BackgroundThe upcoming COP26 meeting in Scotland does not herald a breakthrough in the global cooperative, coordinated action that is absolutely essential to replace nuclear fission, coal, gas and oil with renewable energy, particularly hydrogen, to generate electricity. The probable absence of Presidents Putin and Xi speaks volumes … Continue reading
Hydrogen – Basic Concepts
September 14, 2021This paper covers hydrogen technologies regarding the role of hydrogen as an energy carrier and the possibilities of its production and use. It presents the modalities and efficiencies of current technologies of obtaining hydrogen; it also details obtaining it by electrolysis of water, the electrochemical efficiency, the specific … Continue reading