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It seems that there has been a push to replace all incandescent light bulbs with the more efficient flourescent bulbs.

A standard incandescent bulb, on the left, with a more efficient bulb using Deposition Sciences technology

In some parts of the world there has been legislation introduced that would make the current type of incandescent globes unable to meet the specifications for sale. In the US, Congress has set 2012 as the time for new energy standards to be met.

This has been taken up as a challenge by some companies who are striving to produce efficient bulbs that meet the tougher standards. One has started a marketing limited quantities and others are also heading in that direction.

If the manufacture of energy efficient incandescent bulbs can be achieved, that should go some way to answering concerns that have been associated with disposal of used fluorescent bulbs, such as dealing with the Mercury content of Compact Fluoro Lights.

This situation is perhaps an indication that all is not the gloom and doom that some who have difficulty in coming to grips with changes necessary to combat Global Warming seem to use to slow those changes. Innovative R & D will often overcome the problems and improve on products that will be more efficient.

Attention of this blog to this situation came from the Climate Progress site.

The following chart shows the trend in the concentration of Carbon Dioxide over the past 50 years.

The level of 350 ppm is suggested as the upper safety limit for atmospheric CO2, and since 1985 that level has been exceeded, with the trend showing a steadily rising rate.

Cause for concern?

It makes sense that a blog or web site that is concerned with informing about Climate Change and Global Warming should be hosted by  a service powered by renewable energy sources. Well that’s not the case with this blog. YET!

Here’s what I am looking at. You might even beat me to it if you are ready to either start your own blog or transfer one that you already have established.

My first quick look at the services provided by ThinkHost compares very favourably with the current host, with a higher level in many specifications, with the benefits of using renewable energy to power the servers.

A few days ago I started my research into what gases make up the Greenhouse gases and discovered that it’s not just a simple matter of blaming everything on Carbon Dioxide.

Some of the Global Warming or Climate Change sceptics will point out that Carbon Dioxide makes up just a small portion of the atmosphere and suggest that it could not have a significant effect. (There’s another line of research that I need to follow up on!)

I have just discovered a great post at Green Living Tips where the other GG are described along with the ways in which humans affect their production. That post is certainly worth a read.

The folks at 350.org have produced an animation to encourage people to take part in a day of climate action on October 24th, just before the Copenhagen round of international discusssions.

Check it out here and prepare for action, although I’m a little concerned that Australia didn’t get to be featured on the globe at the beginning of the animation.

While beginning to research the whole field of Global Climate Change I have discovered that the issues are not just a simple relationship between carbon emissions and climate change.

One of the first eye-openers that I encountered is:

The Greenhouse Gases are actually important in helping to maintain the temperature of the Earth, its surface and the atmosphere. Without these gases, the Earth would be much colder. A lot of the discussion about Global Warming tends to give the impression that the Greenhouses Gases are the culprits, while the actual position is that they are essential components of the Earth’s atmosphere.

Now it’s time to consider just what are the Greenhouse Gases? How are they produced and what effect do they have on the temperature of Earth?

• Carbon Dioxide
  

  • Carbon dioxide is generated as a by-product of the combustion of fossil fuels or the burning of vegetable matter, among other chemical processes. Large amounts of carbon dioxide are emitted from volcanoes and other geothermal processes such as hot springs and geysers and by the dissolution of carbonates in crustal rocks.
  • Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas as it transmits visible light but absorbs strongly in the infrared and near-infrared.

• Methane
  

  • Methane is a relatively potent greenhouse gas with a high global warming potential than Carbon Dioxide but its effect is less because there is much less atmospheric Methane. Methane in the atmosphere is eventually oxidized, producing carbon dioxide and water.
  • The Earth’s crust contains huge amounts of methane. Large amounts of methane are produced anaerobically by microbes acting on decaying plant and other matter. Other sources include mud volcanoes, which are connected with deep geological faults, and livestock (primarily cows) from enteric fermentation.

• Nitrous Oxide
  

  • Nitrous oxide is also a major greenhouse gas. Considered over a 100 year period, it has 298 times more impact per unit weight than carbon dioxide.
  • Nitrous oxide concentration is increasing as a result of fertilizer use and fossil fuel burning.

• Halocarbons
  

  • Emissions from these come from the release of certain manufactured chemicals to the atmosphere. Examples include chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which were used extensively in refrigeration and for other industrial processes before their presence in the atmosphere was found to cause stratospheric ozone depletion. The abundance of these gases in the atmosphere is now decreasing as a result of international regulations designed to protect the ozone layer. Continued decreases in ozone-depleting halocarbon emissions are expected to reduce their relative influence on climate change in the future. Many halocarbon replacements, however, are potent greenhouse gases, and their concentrations are increasing.

• Ozone
  

  • Ozone formed by the reaction of sunlight on air containing hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides that react to form ozone directly at the source of the pollution or many kilometers down wind.
  • There has been increase in ozone in the atmosphere and this is concerning because ozone present in the upper troposphere acts as a greenhouse gas, absorbing some of the infrared energy emitted by the earth. Scientific review on the climate change (the IPCC Third Assessment Report) suggests that the radiative forcing of tropospheric ozone is about 25% that of carbon dioxide.

• Water Vapour
  

  • Water vapor accounts for the largest percentage of the greenhouse effect, between 36% and 66% for water vapor alone, and between 66% and 85% when factoring in clouds. Water vapor concentrations fluctuate regionally, but human activity does not significantly affect water vapor concentrations except at local scales, such as near irrigated fields.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenhouse_gas and various links in that article.

Global Climate Change

As indicated in an earlier post I am trying to track down information and data relating to Global Warming, Climate Change and Carbon Emissions.

A recently released report from U.S. Global Change Research Program has some easy to read (well relatively easy) information brochures or downloadable chapters that could be a useful starting point.

In particular there is a section in the report on Global Climate Change, and it can downloaded at the the link in this sentence. There you will a summary of human activity that is contributing to Climate Change with predictions for the future.

Another handy brochure is the 4 page companion with an easy to follow outline of the impacts of Climate Change.

The full report can be downloaded and read from links at the USGCRP site.

The slideshow below  includes a sample of some of the figures from the report. Click through to see data on climate change impacts on precipitation, wildlife habitat and more and click the title to see the slides in a larger format.

According to a news report on radio this morning Senator Fielding has met with top scientists to review the data on carbon emissions and Global  Warming.

The question that he wants answered is basically, “If the levels of carbon emissions have risen is there an equivalent Global Warming?”

It appears that he does not have that data yet, so rather than wait I willl try to follow up on that and post what I have found in future posts.

Listening to the radio this morning there was lots of talk and heat generated over the announcement that the Solar Rebate Scheme had been cut, and no more submissions would be accepted after June 9th.

This announcement apparently caused a melt down at Solar retailers who were expecting the scheme to run until June 30, and were advertising with catchphrases like 20 Days To Go. Potential buyers were queued to get their paperwork in and processed before the last courier run to get it delivered to Canberra.

In an interview on 891 (the ABC Local Radio station in Adelaide) the minister responsible, Peter Garrett, tried desperately to outline reasons for the unexpected cut-off time.

These included:

• The rebate scheme was being monitored constantly, and it appears that it had been to successful. Especially in the last month or so, with a huge number of applications received or expected in the last few days. In other words the Rebate Scheme was Too Successful.
• The work generated by the applications already received now has the timeline for installation out to 12 months, and a sudden increase in expectations would lead to an even longer wait for installations.
• The price of Solar Panels has come down in recent times, meaning that some people using the Rebate would be getting their installation FREE or for little outlay.
• There was always going to be a transition to the Solar Credits (RET), and the early closure of the Rebates has just brought the introduction of the RET forward. Even though legislation for that has not even been introduced, and consequently not passed.

Many of the above points were also made in the Press Release made by the minister on June 9th.

Where is the heat coming from?

It seems that many people have been caught out by  waiting until the last few days to get their applications in to the retailers. Some have obviously started with the process that involves selecting the units to be installed and the installer to fit them. I assume that this process takes a few days to complete, so there will be some who have had to try to speed that up and get their completed applications in before the cutoff time. That is, if they found out about the sudden end point of the scheme.

The numbers in that situation have also been exaggerated by the advertising that has been done by those same retailers who were expecting the scheme to run until June 30th, and were advertising with a countdown to the number of days to get in before that deadline.

Obviously the retailers who were hoping to make sales in the last few days of the scheme have been caught short by what, to them, is an early cut off date. But if the waiting time for an installation is 12 months, their potential clients would be waiting for a long time for their job to get to the installer. There is also the possibility that rushing the decision to go Solar in the last few days of the scheme could lead to hasty and less than optimal choices.

One installer, who called the talkback radio session, implied that many of the installations using the Rebate Scheme would not be making significant savings and that there are ways that the householders could make those savings by more careful use of energy around the home. It appears that not all panels are efficient as they might be when compared to their rating. That is something to check out, and making a rushed decision might just lead to installing an inferior product just to get the rebate.

I guess time will tell! Perhaps the new Renewable Energy Target (Solar Credits) scheme will do the same thing, or maybe even be shown to be better.