Climate Letter #1556

Lithium supply poses great challenges to alternative energy that must soon be overcome (New Republic).  This article does a fine job of explaining what the problems are, and why they could come to a head sooner than expected.  It also offers several approaches to finding a solution that would reduce the projected demand for lithium, which at the moment looks unrealistically excessive.

Just take a order viagra levitra deep breath and take the help of herbal supplements to overcome this problem. There is a great demand cialis cheap uk news for female enhancement products. But the Blockbuster medication has its job cut out due to the currency exchange factor levitra price between Dollar and Rupee. Achieving normal and adequate penile erection is vital for proper sexual function. review online prescription viagra without

—–
A promising breakthrough in battery technology that should help reduce demand for lithium (University of Wollongong).  Sodium-sulfur batteries are an attractive option for large-scale energy storage.  A laboratory breakthrough in Australia is reported to have overcome major difficulties that until now have discouraged commercial development.  The research results are published in the journal Nature Communications, where they were featured in the editors’ highlights webpage.  The next step for the researchers is to scale up production.  “All our previous papers, including this one, were focused on how to find an efficient host for lab-scale research. The next step for our group is to bring sodium-sulfur batteries from lab-scale to industry-scale, and make a real application for this battery system.”
—–
The rapid growth of international trade adds to the difficulty of striking an effective global climate agreement (Foreign Policy).   The author explains some of the generally obscure reasons behind how this connection stood in the way of the Kyoto Protocol in 1997 and has continued to affect decision-makers right up to the present day.  He also starts out with an ironic picture of how the climate change that excessive trade helps to produce may end up disrupting the trading system.  For example, current port facilities could all be swamped, just like so many other things, by a combination of ferocious storms and fast-rising sea level.
—–
After slowing down for about thirty years wind speeds are now picking up (Princeton University).  It’s happening in mid-latitude regions where most wind farms are located.  “Extending their findings to wind power generation, the researchers calculated that a typical wind turbine receiving the global average wind would have produced about 17% more energy in 2017 than in 2010. And using climate indices to project future wind speeds, they predicted a 37% increase by 2024.”
—–
Many climate scientists are changing their personal behavior in response to the information they help produce (Scientists for Global Responsibility).  This post has the results of a straw poll that was taken, with 153 responses.  The practices these people are following can serve as a practical guide for anyone else who understands the problem as well as they do, or just takes it as seriously.
Carl

This entry was posted in Daily Climate Letters. Bookmark the permalink.