Fox'd Up with Jon Fox

Biggest Solar Deal Ever Announced!

by rantingkeyboard on 15/02/09 at 7:50 pm

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How’s this to kick off tonight’s show!

Biggest Solar Deal Ever Announced – We’re talking Gigawatts!

The largest series of solar installations in history, more than 1,300 megawatts, is planned for the desert outside Los Angeles, according to a new deal between the utility Southern California Edison and solar power plant maker, BrightSource.

The momentous deal will deliver more electricity than even the largest nuclear plant, spread out among seven facilities, the first of which will start up in 2013. When fully operational, the companies say the facility will provide enough electricity to power 845,000 homes — more than exist in San Francisco — though estimates like that are notoriously squirrely.

The technology isn’t the familiar photovoltaics — the direct conversion of sunlight into electricity — but solar thermal power, which concentrates the sun’s rays to create steam in a boiler and spin a turbine.

Saturday Night Live Video: No One Is As Smart As Rush

The following links are from the Fox’d Up news producer, Gene. Thank you!

Global Warming ‘Underestimated’

Professor Chris Field, an author of a 2007 landmark report on climate change, said future temperatures “will be beyond anything” predicted.

Prof Field said the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report had underestimated the rate of change.

He said warming is likely to cause more environmental damage than forecast.

Speaking at the American Science conference in Chicago, Prof Field said fresh data showed greenhouse gas emissions between 2000 and 2007 increased far more rapidly than expected.

Climate Change: Faster Than We Ever Thought

Without decisive action, global warming in the 21st century is likely to accelerate at a much faster pace and cause more environmental damage than predicted, according to a leading member of the Nobel Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

IPCC scientist Chris Field of Stanford University and the Carnegie Institution for Science points to recent studies showing that, in a business-as-usual world, higher temperatures could ignite tropical forests and melt the Arctic tundra, releasing billions of tons of greenhouse gas that could raise global temperatures even more—a vicious cycle that could spiral out of control by the end of the century.

Scientists Predict More Fires In Victoria

It has been predicted that an El Nino climate event could hit Australia this year, causing higher than usual temperatures across the country.

Professor Roger Stone from the University of Southern Queensland has told ABC Radio’s AM program the added risk highlights the need for a risk-management approach.

“At the moment there’s probably about a 60 per cent chance of an El Nino developing by mid-winter. If that happens that will exacerbate the whole drought and therefore fire situation over a lot of Australia, not just Victoria for next summer,” he said.

All this, plus music, and your calls! To join the conversation, call Jon at 304-574-7811. Email Jon: jon [at] headonradionetwork [dot] com.