The truth at any cost lowers all other costs — curated by former US spy Robert David Steele.
David Roberts' report is about the best I have read on the issue of the existing grid and the transition to noncarbon energy. It raises most of the major relevant issues. See the SR archive for the previous piece referenced.
Why wind and solar power are such a challenge for energy grids
This report has good news. Glyphosate is the modern DDT — whose lingering presence now decades later it should be noted is still killing people. Like DDT it has been hugely profitable, but grotesquely destructive, not only as intended, but in other ways as well. Now a gathering resistance driven from the bottom up challenges this corporate greed, and is succeeding.
Monsanto Herbicide Faces Global Fallout After World Health Organization Labels It a Probable Carcinogen
It seems I am not the only person talking about a real estate collapse because of drought. Although it is a bit flippant, I agree with most of this essay, and believe this is going to be a huge issue within the next five years.
EXTRACT
And just like that, the property values of millions of dollars worth of homes belonging to 15,000 residents nosedives toward zero.
NASA: The Earth is Running Out of Water
More than half of the world's 37 largest aquifers are losing water due to population and climate stresses
The Real Story: What’s Really Going on at Fukushima?
by ROBERT HUNZIKER
Fukushima’s still radiating, self-perpetuating, immeasurable, and limitless, like a horrible incorrigible Doctor Who monster encounter in deep space. Fukushima will likely go down in history as the biggest cover-up of the 21st Century. Governments and corporations are not leveling with citizens about the risks and dangers; similarly, truth itself, as an ethical standard, is at risk of going to shambles as the glue that holds together the trust and belief in society’s institutions. Ultimately, this is an example of how societies fail.
Yet another creative variant of solar. Japan is a country where only 11.65% of the land is really suitable for agriculture. They don't have the land to spare for big installations. Particularly with the loss of the Fukushima area, a loss that was both physical and psychological. Solution: take solar to sea.
Japan is building huge solar power plants that float on water
Here is another electricity generating technology I first covered in SR about 11 years ago. It made a splash at the time then disappeared. Now it has come back, and it has fascinating implications. This is yet another example of what happens where carbon energy is no longer thought of as the only way.
Good, this is.
EnergyTorrent Releases Open-Source Documentation Of Its Solar Concentrators
Renewable energy has just become a closer option for everyone. And it is not about the price but rather about the access to the very technology of using solar energy. In this case, it is about solar concentrators — devices allowing you to obtain high-temperature heat (and with some tinkering, electricity). Now one can produce such devices right in their home workshop using open-source blueprints and documentation from the EnergyTorrent project. All of the documentation, with detailed step-by-step manufacturing instructions, can now be downloaded at the EnergyTorrent Wiki.
