Solar Decathlon: News from Europe ... News from DC ...

by A Siegel

The biannual Solar Decathlon, sponsored by the US Department of Energy and bringing together 20 university teams from the United States and other countries, is an amazing event that merits far more attention than the hundred or so thousand visitors and the spotty news (and blog) coverage of the event.  Truth be told, the Solar Decathlon is far from just a few week event on the Mall but encompasses years of effort from the multi-disciplinary teams developing a vision and making it a reality.  As someone who has been to all of the (US) Decathlons and had the chance to visit most (sigh, not all) of the homes, there is something quite important to note: with each Decathlon, the overall quality of the homes has improved -- significantly.  Every home had things that made it stand out.

Virginia Tech's Lumenhous' precision cut steel louvers made a statement on the Mall ... and, well, in Europe as well as it won Solar Decathlon Europe.

NOTE: Exhibit in DC for one more week on the 2011 competition ... beneath fold

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Breaking – reports of a seep found near the BP well

by deepsouthdoug

Reuters:

Engineers monitoring BP's damaged well in the Gulf of Mexico detected seepage on the ocean floor that could mean problems with the cap that has stopped oil from gushing into the water, the U.S. government's top oil spill official said on Sunday.

snip

But late on Sunday, the U.S. government released a letter to BP Chief Managing Director Bob Dudley from retired Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen that referred to seepage near the mile-deep (1.6 km-deep) well as well as "undetermined anomalies at the well head."

"I direct you to provide me a written procedure for opening the choke valve as quickly as possible without damaging the well should hydrocarbon seepage near the well head be confirmed," Allen wrote.

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News from the Arctic: 18 July 2010

by billlaurelMD

This is the next in an occasional series of diaries on the state of Northern Hemisphere Arctic sea ice (and other topics as warranted), written in memory of Johnny Rook, who passed away in early 2009. He was the author of the Climaticide Chronicles.

Headlines:

• The decrease noted in sea ice melt noted in the last few diaries continued last week.
• Record heat has been going on across Russia and Siberia for the last week; readings in the 90s°F in northeastern Siberia were noted yesterday afternoon local time (map below the fold
• The Arctic Ocean basin has been rather cool over the past week, particularly on the North American and Asian side.

More after the jump.

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Plumber Joe Saves BP, but No Credit Yet

by Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse

Joe the Plumber (not that one) says he helped stop Gulf oil spill leak.

Last May, a mystery plumber sent BP 3 sketches of a containment cap but was "told by BP that they were not working on stopping the leak, but simply capturing the oil." Distressed by the worsening situation with the BP oil gusher, and feeling BP gave him the "brush-off," this plumber started emailing his design to everyone he could think of, including engineering professor Robert Bea, who forwarded the designs. BP has not given the plumber credit, but professor Bea recognized his design when BP televised the containment cap being lowered onto the well. And now the plumber has stepped forward to tell his story.

Tonight's Climate Change News Roundup also includes news that BP is working to control scientific research of its oil disaster as well as climate change news.

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National Academies suggests a different Climate Change Metric

by jamess

ClimateGate Advocates -- just got their work cut out for them ...

Emissions, Concentrations, and Impacts Over Decades to Millennia
July 16, 2010  

Choices made now about carbon dioxide emissions reductions will affect climate change impacts experienced not just over the next few decades but also in coming centuries and millennia, says a new report from the National Research Council. Because CO2 in the atmosphere is long lived, it can effectively lock the Earth and future generations into a range of impacts, some of which could become very severe.

Who is the National Academies?
ABOUT:

The National Academies perform an unparalleled public service by bringing together committees of experts in all areas of scientific and technological endeavor. These experts serve pro bono to address critical national issues and give advice to the federal government and the public.

Four organizations comprise the Academies: the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, the Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council.

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rogue test drive: earthship new tables

by boatsie

just out for a spin testing new ekos tables and thought i'd add a few tidbits of eco news floating past the flight deck being sent my way via wingman ...

free  ~ by alicepopkorn
~ liberate your heart from the cage of fear ~

Love is what we are born with. Fear is what we have learned here. The spiritual journey is the unlearning of fear and the acceptance of love back into our hearts.
Marianne Williamson

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Corn based ethanol: a waste of taxpayer money. CBO

by shpilk

Roughly 10 billion gallons ethanol were used in 2009, costing taxpayers about $5 billion in tax revenue the ethanol producers collected as tax credits.

Here's the kicker.

http://www.cbo.gov/...

"Because the production of ethanol draws so much energy from coal and natural gas, it can be thought of as a method for converting natural gas or coal to a liquid fuel that can be used for transportation."

http://cboblog.cbo.gov/...

Roughly 11 billion gallons of biofuels were produced and sold in the United States in 2009, and ethanol produced from corn accounted for nearly all of that total. Blenders of transportation fuels receive a tax credit of 45 cents for each gallon of ethanol that is combined with gasoline and sold. Although the credit is provided to blenders, most of it ultimately flows to producers of ethanol and to corn farmers —in the form of higher prices received for their products.

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The Downplaying of Dispersants

by scorpiorising

I almost choked on my breakfast cereal when I read this headline in the Times Picayune today: Senator gently scolds EPA's Director(for that headline today there is no online link posted yet, so I included a link from basically the same article yesterday). Now I didn't see the entire video of that questioning, but I did see a compilation of remarks both from Senator Mikulski and Lisa Jackson. "Gentle" is a value ascribed to the interaction that I wouldn't necessarily use. I will admit though, it could have been a lot stronger from Mikulski and company. There is also a grilling, at the same hearing, of a NOAA official that is worth seeing.

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Cleanliness is next to ECSTASY!

by rb137

I've suffered with varying degrees of Multiple Chemical Sensitivity for twenty years, so I was one of the early devotees to environmentally friendly cleaning products. Given that most American families regularly use toxic chemical cleaners in their homes, housekeeping creates a huge impact -- our sinks and toilets create a nasty assault on our health and the environment.

Most "freshening" chemicals contain VOC's that cause respiratory problems, and chlorine is a menace to health and environment. The truth is that most companies don't have to disclose the chemicals they use in the cleaning products they sell. And there are a lot of harmful toxins in the products we think make us clean.

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A DEMOCRATIC legislative & regulatory WIN you didn't know about

by Eclectablog

Cross-posted at Eclectablog.com.

Last October, I wrote about freshman Senator Amy Klobuchar's bill to regulate formaldehyde emissions from engineered wood panels. These are the panels used to build our homes, our desks and other furniture and that are ubiquitous throughout our lives, often unnoticed. Shop at any Office Max, Ikea, or discount furniture store and you'll be surrounded by things made from medium density fiberboard (MDF) and particleboard.

Last week, with little fanfare or notice, President Obama signed Senator Klobuchar's bill into law. And to add to the magnitude of this Dem-Win, the EPA declared formaldehyde to be a carcinogen, paving the way to further action from this governmental body.

More on these most-awesome, under-the-radar regulatory wins for Democrats, Senator Klobuchar and President Obama after the fold.

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UPDATE BP Ecocide v11.3: Seabed Geysers

by vets74

Your pics and vids are welcome. There's nothing like a direct image.

Edger posted at yesterday's diary:

Seabed blow out ejecta, videoed by Viking Poseidon ROV 1.

The blow out continues with approximately 2,250 PSI of oil going lost. UPDATE: YouTube of another secondary outflow below. Senator Nelson confirms info.

Back on April 20th a strong shock wave holed DWH's BOP/manifold structure. Other pipes and joints were also blasted. Now an estimated 2,250 PSI of oil is escaping.

BP claims "puzzling pressure readings."

For every truth, there is an attractive Chernobyl-modeled lie. This blow out could leak for years.

More BTF :::

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Dawn Chorus Birdblog: Quest for the Red-throated Diver

by matching mole

Two weeks ago I lied to you.  I described and showed you my adventures with seabirds on the Shetland Islands.  But not seabirds in kilts.  Or even viking helmets.  Today, in my sequel, I promise paragraphs of unvarnished truth about Scottish seabirds.  Unfortunately there won't be quite as many bird pictures but I will make up for that with some pictures of beautiful landscapes.  Before I resume my narrative on Shetland I must beg your indulgence once again with a small preamble.  Also completely truthful - in fact in it I bare a dark secret of my soul.  But first have some ponies.

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The Exploding Water of the Gulf

by Scarce

If you aren't pissed off enough already with the slow-motion disaster in the Gulf, watching this news report from over the weekend might force you to let out a few more expletives. The video is genuine but still unbelievable.

Via WKRG in Mobile, Alabama-Pensacola, Florida.

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BP Catastrophe Liveblog Mothership: 54

by Gulf Watchers

Please rec the new Mothership #55 here. This one has expired.
The current ROV DIARY: Daily Kos Gulf Watchers ROV #222 - BP's Gulf Catastrophe - Gulf Watchers Overnight/peraspera

Rules of the Road

• We take volunteers for subsequent diaries in the sub diaries or ROV's as we have playfully coined them.
• Please rec this mothership diary, not the ROVs.
• Please be kind to fellow kossacks who may have limited bandwidth and refrain from posting images or videos.

PLEASE visit Crashing Vor and Pam LaPier's diaries to find out how you can help the Gulf now and in the future. We don't have to be idle! And thanks to Crashing Vor and Pam LaPier for working on this!

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Overnight News Digest: Science Saturday (First Flight of VSS Enterprise edition)

by Neon Vincent

Welcome to Science Saturday, where the Overnight News Digest crew informs and entertains you with this week's news about science, space, and the environment.

This week's featured story comes from Space.com.

Virgin Galactic's Private Spaceship Makes First Crewed Flight
By Clara Moskowitz

A private suborbital spaceship built for the space tourism firm Virgin Galactic made its first flight with a crew onboard Thursday as it soared over California's Mojave Desert beneath its enormous mothership.

The commercial spaceliner – called VSS Enterprise, one of the company's fleet of SpaceShipTwo spacecraft – did not try to reach space in the test flight. Instead, it stayed firmly attached to its WhiteKnightTwo VMS Eve mothership.

The two crewmembers riding onboard VSS Enterprise evaluated all of the spacecraft's systems and functions during the 6-hour, 12-minute flight, Virgin Galactic officials said in a statement. In addition, automated sensors and ground crews conducted thorough vehicle systems tests.

More science, space, and environment stories after the jump.

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