What World Under Climate Change

[Tyger]

SOTT Earth Changes Video Summary - March 2015

TEXT: "Published on Apr 8, 2015: This is the March installment of SOTT.net's 'Earth Changes Video Summaries', showing Extreme Weather, Planetary Upheaval, and Meteor Fireballs during the month of March 2015

"Planetary upheaval continued apace in March 2015, with intense flash-flooding occurring all across Latin America, and washing away entire towns. Overnight, the Atacama Desert in Chile, the 'driest place on Earth', became one of the wettest. Melting snow combined with unseasonal rains to flood parts of Northern India, the U.S. Midwest and Western Europe, while flooding also hit Eastern Africa and Australia. One of the strongest ever cyclones in the South Pacific devastated Vanuatu, while Super-Typhoon Maysak bore down on the Philippines at the end of the month. Just as Americans living in Tornado Alley were wondering where 'tornado season' had gone, a powerful multi-vortex twister scourged Moore, Oklahoma (again).

"With snow on the ground in 49 out of 50 U.S. states on March 1st, all month long heavy snowfall continued across the eastern half of North America. Boston broke its winter snowfall record - 9 feet of snow... and the same amount fell in ONE DAY in Central Italy last month! The extreme cold in the U.S. Northeast continued to set record-breaking temperatures, and brought sea ice up to previously unseen levels. No matter the season or location, tropics or desert, hail fell everywhere: several inches in Southern California and Saudi Arabia, TWO FEET in Bogota, Colombia, and softball-sized hail in Eastern Australia. From space, large meteor fireballs were seen from across the U.S. Mountain West, Central Europe, and Western Australia, while the planet was bathed in green and pink as the strongest auroras during this solar cycle reached extreme latitudes in both hemispheres.

"Wildfires in the Southern Hemisphere hit Valparaiso, Chile (again), and 'fire-nadoes' several stories tall formed outside Cape Town, South Africa. Spectacular volcanic eruptions last month included Villarica volcano in Chile spewing lava 1km into the night sky, Turrialba volcano in Costa Rica having its most powerful eruption in 20 years, and Colima volcano in Mexico sending ash 3km high. The combined effects of these climate extremes are giving rise to ever more mass animal deaths, with notable fish and bird kills along the Western Americas last month. Meanwhile in Holland, a wolf was spotted for the first time in 150 years as the species continues its westwards spread across Europe."

 

[Tyger]

There is a difference between climate and weather - and one weather event is not an indication of climate change. We are looking at patterns of weather across the globe over an extended time. Predictions in past years by climate scientists have been that as a result of warming there would be - displaced precipitation (no rain where it usually rains, rain where it usually doesn't rain, or even snow where it doesn't snow - happening in the Middle East), more severe storms (rain or snow or hail), erratic storms, etc. This is what we have been seeing globally in recent years. Hardest hit are (predictably) coastal areas.

In the following article, Australia is being hit hard with an intense storm. In itself not noteworthy as while this storm is rare it is not unheard of - however, rare events becoming more common(place) is one of the markers of climate change, the rare event becoming the 'new normal'. What is of note, making it interesting, is it's occurrence in the worldwide context. The flash-flooding (coastal areas) very similar to what has been happening in other places - like Italy.

Australia storms: Flood-threatened homes evacuated in Sydney - April 22, 2015
LINK: Australia storms: Flood-threatened homes evacuated in Sydney - BBC News

TEXT: "Residents in parts of the Australian city of Sydney have been urged to evacuate their homes as powerful storms continue to lash the region. More than 200 homes in the south-west of the city are under threat from rising river levels, officials warned. At least three people have died and more than 100 people have had to be rescued after days of heavy rain and high winds in New South Wales. Officials say the fierce weather will continue for at least another day. About 200,000 homes are without power. Mike Baird, the Premier of New South Wales, said the next 24 hours would "remain a challenge" but that the storm did appear to be easing. Parts of the region have experienced more than 30cm (one foot) of rainfall, wind gusts of more than 100km/h (60mph) and waves reaching record heights of 15m (50ft).

'Unbelievably huge waves'
"Residents of the Milperra and Chipping Norton areas of south-west Sydney have been told to leave their homes amid fears the nearby Georges River is about to burst its bank. Officials said they predicted at least 200 homes could be affected. The ferocity of the storm has taken the region by surprise. Homes have been swept away, cars crushed, trees uprooted and power poles snapped. "To give you a sense of the size and scope - in Dungog [north of Sydney] there's more rain that has come down in the last 24 hours than they have seen in a 24-hour period for the past century," said Mr Baird.

"One resident in Greta, north-west of Newcastle, which saw 30cm of rainfall, said the water rose so fast it had reached waist height before he thought to call the emergency services. "About lunch time it was lapping at the back steps and I thought I had better get out of here. I put a pair of jeans on, a jumper and tried to get out the front door," Henry Krayevski told ABC News. By the time his rescuers reached him, Mr Krayevski said he was clinging to a tree outside with the flood water at chest height. Three elderly people died on Tuesday after becoming trapped in their home in Dungog because of flash floods triggered by such heavy rainfall. There are grave fears for two other people, described by local media as elderly women, whose car was swept away by flood waters on Wednesday. Witnesses watched in horror as the car, along with another car, was swept off a causeway in Maitland, near Newcastle. Three people from the second car were rescued, but the first car was quickly submerged by the river waters.

"In other developments:
​

• • The world's largest port for coal exports in the city of Newcastle, north of Sydney, has been shut due to the storm
  • The State Emergency Service (SES) says it has received nearly 10,000 calls for help and has conducted more than 100 flood rescues
  • Air, train and road travel is still disrupted in Sydney although some ferry services have resumed
  • SES helicopters have been able to take off for the first time in 36 hours and are taking supplies to the worst affected areas such as Dungog
  • The power supplier Ausgrid says it is working hard to restore power to some 205,000 homes in Newcastle and areas to the south and east
  • The Insurance Council of Australia says it has received 19,500 claims, with losses estimated at US$100m

There was huge relief for 2,500 passengers on board the Carnival Spirit cruise ship that had been trapped at sea since Tuesday after Sydney's dock was shut. Finally able to get their feet back on dry land, one passenger spoke of feeling "completely helpless" in the face of "unbelievably huge waves" and fierce winds and rain. "People were unable to get around, just because it was so hard to move in those heavy, heavy seas, so we all just battened down the hatches," Rachel Browne told the BBC. "Most people took to their cabins, a lot of people were just too unwell to come out and do anything."​

There is a good video embedded in the above link. The below link gives some overview. Sorry about the computer-generated voice.

Severe Storms Hit New South Wales - Three Killed As Australia Battered By Massive Storm

TEXT: "Published on Apr 20, 2015: Severe Storms Hit New South Wales - Three Killed As Australia Battered By Massive Storm - 20 Rescued From Floodwaters After Severe Storms Hit Australia Some 180,000 homes have been left without power in Sydney and across New South Wales after storms battered the Australian state. Winds of up to 135km/h (85 mph) were recorded in some areas, with up to 200mm of rainfall forecast for Tuesday. A man is believed to be missing in floodwaters in Stroud to the north of Newcastle. The State Emergency Service (SES) said it had received nearly 3,000 calls for help, with 19 flood rescues."

 

[mike]

Pollution Shrinks Brains, Causes Silent Strokes

Air pollution can shrink brains, lead to cognitive problems and even cause silent stokes, according to new research published by Stroke a journal of the American Heart Association.
Fine-particle air pollution can cause the damage to brain structures over long-term exposure, according to the researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and the Boston University School of Medicine.
The study analyzed 900 participants of the Framingham Heart Study in the greater Boston area, and used satellite imagery to assess prolonged exposure to ambient fine particulate matter, equivalent to a 2.5 millionth of a meter.
Such particles come from power plants, factories, truck, cars and burning wood, the researchers said.

“We found that people who live in areas where there are higher levels of air pollution had smaller total cerebral brain volume and were more likely to have evidence of covert brain infarcts,”

 

[mike]

Short term exposure to air pollution and stroke: systematic review and meta-analysis

 

[mike]

There is a difference between climate and weather - and one weather event is not an indication of climate change. We are looking at patterns of weather across the globe over an extended time. Predictions in past years by climate scientists have been that as a result of warming there would be - displaced precipitation (no rain where it usually rains, rain where it usually doesn't rain, or even snow where it doesn't snow - happening in the Middle East), more severe storms (rain or snow or hail), erratic storms, etc. This is what we have been seeing globally in recent years. Hardest hit are (predictably) coastal areas.

In the following article, Australia is being hit hard with an intense storm. In itself not noteworthy as while this storm is rare it is not unheard of - however, rare events becoming more common(place) is one of the markers of climate change, the rare event becoming the 'new normal'. What is of note, making it interesting, is it's occurrence in the worldwide context. The flash-flooding (coastal areas) very similar to what has been happening in other places - like Italy.

Australia storms: Flood-threatened homes evacuated in Sydney - April 22, 2015
LINK: Australia storms: Flood-threatened homes evacuated in Sydney - BBC News

TEXT: "Residents in parts of the Australian city of Sydney have been urged to evacuate their homes as powerful storms continue to lash the region. More than 200 homes in the south-west of the city are under threat from rising river levels, officials warned. At least three people have died and more than 100 people have had to be rescued after days of heavy rain and high winds in New South Wales. Officials say the fierce weather will continue for at least another day. About 200,000 homes are without power. Mike Baird, the Premier of New South Wales, said the next 24 hours would "remain a challenge" but that the storm did appear to be easing. Parts of the region have experienced more than 30cm (one foot) of rainfall, wind gusts of more than 100km/h (60mph) and waves reaching record heights of 15m (50ft).

'Unbelievably huge waves'
"Residents of the Milperra and Chipping Norton areas of south-west Sydney have been told to leave their homes amid fears the nearby Georges River is about to burst its bank. Officials said they predicted at least 200 homes could be affected. The ferocity of the storm has taken the region by surprise. Homes have been swept away, cars crushed, trees uprooted and power poles snapped. "To give you a sense of the size and scope - in Dungog [north of Sydney] there's more rain that has come down in the last 24 hours than they have seen in a 24-hour period for the past century," said Mr Baird.

"One resident in Greta, north-west of Newcastle, which saw 30cm of rainfall, said the water rose so fast it had reached waist height before he thought to call the emergency services. "About lunch time it was lapping at the back steps and I thought I had better get out of here. I put a pair of jeans on, a jumper and tried to get out the front door," Henry Krayevski told ABC News. By the time his rescuers reached him, Mr Krayevski said he was clinging to a tree outside with the flood water at chest height. Three elderly people died on Tuesday after becoming trapped in their home in Dungog because of flash floods triggered by such heavy rainfall. There are grave fears for two other people, described by local media as elderly women, whose car was swept away by flood waters on Wednesday. Witnesses watched in horror as the car, along with another car, was swept off a causeway in Maitland, near Newcastle. Three people from the second car were rescued, but the first car was quickly submerged by the river waters.

"In other developments:
​

• • The world's largest port for coal exports in the city of Newcastle, north of Sydney, has been shut due to the storm
  • The State Emergency Service (SES) says it has received nearly 10,000 calls for help and has conducted more than 100 flood rescues
  • Air, train and road travel is still disrupted in Sydney although some ferry services have resumed
  • SES helicopters have been able to take off for the first time in 36 hours and are taking supplies to the worst affected areas such as Dungog
  • The power supplier Ausgrid says it is working hard to restore power to some 205,000 homes in Newcastle and areas to the south and east
  • The Insurance Council of Australia says it has received 19,500 claims, with losses estimated at US$100m

There was huge relief for 2,500 passengers on board the Carnival Spirit cruise ship that had been trapped at sea since Tuesday after Sydney's dock was shut. Finally able to get their feet back on dry land, one passenger spoke of feeling "completely helpless" in the face of "unbelievably huge waves" and fierce winds and rain. "People were unable to get around, just because it was so hard to move in those heavy, heavy seas, so we all just battened down the hatches," Rachel Browne told the BBC. "Most people took to their cabins, a lot of people were just too unwell to come out and do anything."​

There is a good video embedded in the above link. The below link gives some overview. Sorry about the computer-generated voice.

Severe Storms Hit New South Wales - Three Killed As Australia Battered By Massive Storm

TEXT: "Published on Apr 20, 2015: Severe Storms Hit New South Wales - Three Killed As Australia Battered By Massive Storm - 20 Rescued From Floodwaters After Severe Storms Hit Australia Some 180,000 homes have been left without power in Sydney and across New South Wales after storms battered the Australian state. Winds of up to 135km/h (85 mph) were recorded in some areas, with up to 200mm of rainfall forecast for Tuesday. A man is believed to be missing in floodwaters in Stroud to the north of Newcastle. The State Emergency Service (SES) said it had received nearly 3,000 calls for help, with 19 flood rescues."

Great post,
I used to own 40 acres of land up north in whats called tropical queensland. Every afternoon at 4 the sky would go black and it would piss down really hard, monsoon style wet.
Thats now happening down south, these sorts of floods where houses get washed away were also typical Queensland events, now they are happening down south.

Now the deniers will simply fall back on the old its changing climate not climate change explanation.

What cant be denied is ocean acidification on unprecidented levels

Ecological Sociology: Current rate of ocean acidification may be unprecidented

That resource depletion, fish stocks , forests, biodiversity is at unprecidented levels.

That pollution is doing very real very measurable damage.

We are destroying the biosphere.

Now science is suggesting we are "dumbing ourselves down" as a result. Our stupid actions are in turn making us stupid........

Humanity, circling a plughole of its own making

 

[Tyger]

I am going to start showing the current month (like April 2015) alongside the same month in the previous year (April 2014). Some interesting patterns are emerging. SOTT is doing a great job with these compilations. (No idea why they are doing it - religious? - who knows - but a good job).

Points of interest - last April 2014 there was 'the worst ever avalanche on Mt Everest' killing 50 sherpas. Now this April of 2015, one year later, we have the 7.8 Mt Everest earthquake, deadly avalanche with many killed (total count unknown at this juncture).

What is also interesting is the number of 7.5 quakes last April 2014. A 7.5 quake is a mean puppy. Big quakes happening this April.

Earth Changes - 2013 Compilation

TEXT: "Published on Jan 31, 2014: Earth Changes from 2013. This year, the signs of the times have been quite revealing and have left us with a clear message. Watch this video to find out! Knowledge protects, ignorance endangers."

The following comment gives a reason why SOTT is doing these compilations. Interesting.

Comment: "The following SOTT.net video looks back at some of the environmental upheaval from around the world in 2013.

Seemingly more destructive, chaotic and turbulent than ever before, last year we witnessed extreme temperatures, widespread flooding, tornadoes appearing when and where they shouldn't, countless volcanic eruptions, superstorms, sinkholes swallowing cars, homes and people, record snowfalls, ongoing mass animal deaths...

...and more and more such events seem to be taking place with each passing month. The frequency and intensity of these weather and geological anomalies strongly suggest that major changes are afoot on our planet.

The question is: what is it all leading up to?

For years, SOTT.net has been sharing information about how Ice Ages begin, and what typically happens beforehand. The message coming through these 'signs' seems pretty loud and clear to us: 'Winter is coming'... perhaps even sometime this year. "​

 

[Tyger]

BTW - a comment in Russian from one of the videos I've been viewing translates as: "2010 year - the murder of the Gulf Stream in the Gulf of Mexico .... the consequences already!" Hadn't considered that the Gulf Oil Spill could have impacted the Gulf Stream. Has anyone doing research, I wonder. So many variables.

 

[Tyger]

Not sure where to post this so will here - the video is very chilling.

Helicopter needed for trapped American Everest teams - April 26, 2015
Helicopter needed for American Everest climbing teams trapped by earthquake - CBS News

TEXT: "SEATTLE - Climbing teams stuck on Mount Everest need a helicopter to bring them off the mountain after a massive Earthquake in Nepal and a subsequent avalanche on the mountain, Seattle mountaineering companies said. There's no safe way to climb down through the icefall above the base camp, they said. About a half-dozen Washington climbing outfits had expeditions on or near Mount Everest when the earthquake struck. The avalanche claimed more than a dozen lives. Dan Fredinburg, a Google executive was among those killed on Mount Everest.

Fredinburg was one of at least three Americans known to have died on Everest, reports CBS News correspondent Charlie D'Agata. It has been confirmed Dr Marisa Eve Girawong, a 28-year-old medic from New Jersey was among the bodies recovered. Additionally, 61-year-old filmmaker Tom Taplin, who was there shooting a documentary, is known to be among the victims.

A YouTube user named Jost Kobusch, who is a German climber, according to Outside magazine, posted video of the apparent moment the big avalanche came down the mountain. What starts as a scene of fascination at the ground shaking quickly turns to terror. [see video below]

The subsequent aftershocks in Nepal [resulting in over 2,500 deaths at this juncture] have reportedly triggered further avalanches on Everest, but there's been no reports so far of additional deaths due to them.

The Everest Experience FB Post: Our friend Dan Mazur of Summit Climb is at Camp 1 on the south side. He reports that there were avalanches on 3 sides with the aftershock. C1 a tiny island. Icefall scouts went out later in the day and reported back that the route is there but damaged.
​

Gordon Janow, director of programs for Alpine Ascents International, said from Seattle that he's heard from his team on Mount Everest. They seem to be doing OK and have the food and warm clothing they need. Janow expects his team of about six climbers plus guides and Sherpa staff to be helicoptered off the mountain sometime in the next few days. "It's a pretty wise group of experienced guides and climbers up there," he said. The group is prepared to remain in place until help arrives, and they know their situation is not as urgent as the people injured in the earthquake and avalanche.

Saturday's magnitude 7.8 earthquake killed more than 2,500 people in the Himalayan nation. The subsequent avalanche on Mount Everest buried part of the base camp crowded with climbers preparing to summit. The avalanche began on Mount Kumori, a 22,966-foot-high mountain just a few miles from Everest, gathering strength as it headed toward the base camp where climbing expeditions have been preparing to make their summit attempts in the coming weeks, said Ang Tshering of the Nepal Mountaineering Association. Guide Dave Hahn from Rainier Mountaineering says in a message on the company's website that some Sherpa guides have tried to climb through the icefall and found it impassable.

A third Seattle-based climbing group reported a member of its team died Saturday as a result of the avalanche. Madison Mountaineering said physician's assistant Marisa Eve Girawong died in the aftermath of the avalanche that struck the climbers' base camp. In a post Sunday on the Madison Mountaineering website, Garrett Madison said the group of more than a dozen climbers and guides was climbing when the earthquake hit. "We have been up here at Camp 2 hanging tough but we are running low on food and fuel and we have to get down," Madison said in a telephone call, a transcript of which was posted on the website. He confirmed Hahn's report that there was no way to climb back down through the icefall. "So at this point our only option to get down is by helicopter evacuation," Madison said. Their plan is to climb down to a lower camp, Camp 1, on Monday then fly to base camp to reconnect with other members of their expedition. He acknowledged that these plans are weather dependent. "Our hearts go out to the family of Eve Girawong. She is loved by all of us in base camp and a great addition to our team and helped us tremendously. She will be missed greatly," Madison said.​

Pretty harrowing video of the avalanche taken from an encampment below the avalanche: "Jost Kobusch, who is a German climber, according to Outside magazine, posted video of the apparent moment the big avalanche came down the mountain. What starts as a scene of fascination at the ground shaking quickly turns to terror."

Hit by Avalanche in Everest Basecamp 25.04.2015

TEXT: "Published on Apr 26, 2015: The ground was shaking from the earthquake and as soon as we saw people running we were running ourselves to save our lives."

 

[Ufocurious]

And we had a Tornado in Brazil few days ago in Xanxere, a small town in my state
It was a F2 - 250 k winds
One neighborhood was destroyed - 295 houses gone with the wind
2 people dead
98 were hurt
I am not a conspiracy type of person, but a firm believer in idiocy
I have known for more than 10 years that our authorities are fully aware that we have tornados in the south of Brazil, but they keep it from the people BECAUSE
construction standards would have to change and they would have to make plans for shelters

This time was not so bad, 30 kids that were playing in this gymnasium were able to flee



The neighborhood looks like this

 

[DaveM]

Great post,
I used to own 40 acres of land up north in whats called tropical queensland. Every afternoon at 4 the sky would go black and it would piss down really hard, monsoon style wet.
Thats now happening down south, these sorts of floods where houses get washed away were also typical Queensland events, now they are happening down south.

Now the deniers will simply fall back on the old its changing climate not climate change explanation.

What cant be denied is ocean acidification on unprecidented levels

Ecological Sociology: Current rate of ocean acidification may be unprecidented

That resource depletion, fish stocks , forests, biodiversity is at unprecidented levels.

That pollution is doing very real very measurable damage.

We are destroying the biosphere.

Now science is suggesting we are "dumbing ourselves down" as a result. Our stupid actions are in turn making us stupid........

Humanity, circling a plughole of its own making

You might want to add all that radioactive Fukushima water that has been spewing into the ocean(s) for the past four years to the list of planetary ills.

 

[mike]

You might want to add all that radioactive Fukushima water that has been spewing into the ocean(s) for the past four years to the list of planetary ills.

Indeed.

I thought about it, and while there is a considerable degree of stupidity building reactors on a Tsunami affected coast, there was an element of accident in this case.
The other damage we are doing is avoidable sheer wilful destruction in the name of greed and growth.

The root cause is growth, the problem is in the short term growth is attractive

Humans are spectacularly good at pushing the known long term harmful results of a behaviour to one side and enjoying the short term reward.

On a micro level Smoking is an example
On the Macro its overfishing, deforestation, pollution.

The earth has considerable resource credit, even now we can draw more than it can sustainably renew and get away with it, but that credit is shrinking

For decades it didnt matter if you overfished, over polluted, slahed and burned thousands of acres of forest, the consequences of that behaviour wasnt going to visit the perpetrators in their lifetimes.

But if the data is correct we are at the point now where people living today will be faced with the consequences

And even now the Govts are failing to act, heres an example

Failed carbon farm company ignored expert's advice - Metro - National - General - Farm Weekly

Rather than find ways to reduce emissions, with the cocktail of HAP's inherant in many of them, they instead propose schemes like this.
Carbon farms

RM Williams Agricultural Holdings, which received $9.1 million in taxpayer funding to establish the venture, had secretly agreed to provide enough carbon to offset all of the News Corp's emissions for five years.
However it collapsed last year owing $100 million and failed to ever establish the carbon farm or sell any offsets to News Corp.
Receivers have since sold the proposed carbon farm - a remote cattle station known as Henbury in the Northern Territory - for about half what RM Williams Agricultural Holdings paid for the property.
Fairfax Media has learnt that Ken Newcombe, former Goldman Sachs' head of commodities, and a world expert on carbon trading was quietly dumped as the company's carbon adviser in 2010.
And when he tried to counsel the company against investing in the Henbury deal, he was ignored.
Mr Newcombe said the company believed it was going to be getting three tonnes of carbon per hectare per year - an impossible figure.
''It was absolutely impossible to imagine getting three tonnes per hectare per year,'' he said. ''That's what you get in a moist environment if you managed it really well and I don't know of any records of annual soil carbon increments of that level.''
Mr Newcombe, who led the development of the World Bank's Prototype Carbon Fund, said David Pearse, the company's managing director, had put forward the figures. He said he made it clear to the company that there was no way Henbury could produce carbon at the level Mr Pearse was proposing, and that he pointed out to the company that Henbury and central Australia was very volatile with the eco system being driven by El Nino and La Nina events with big pulsing systems of long droughts and big wets and was also fire prone.

What a farce...... keep belching fumes but plant trees to soak up just one aspect of the pollutant, carbon. Oh and lets do it in a fire prone area so that at some stage down the track the whole lot can catch fire and put it all back into the atmosphere.......

Polluters keep polluting
Big biz makes millions

The biosphere.... gets squat

We are screwed

No one wants to provide a solutions for a solutions sake. The only measures being tried are ones that can be monitized.

Growth continues unabated

 

[Tyger]

I thought about it, and while there is a considerable degree of stupidity building reactors on a Tsunami affected coast, there was an element of accident in this case.

I agree. After the event, though, human error compounded everything.

The other damage we are doing is avoidable sheer wilful destruction in the name of greed and growth.

Yep.

The root cause is growth, the problem is in the short term growth is attractive.

Exactly so.

Humans are spectacularly good at pushing the known long term harmful results of a behaviour to one side and enjoying the short term reward.

Yep.

The earth has considerable resource credit, even now we can draw more than it can sustainably renew and get away with it, but that credit is shrinking. For decades it didn't matter if you overfished, over polluted, slashed and burned thousands of acres of forest, the consequences of that behavior wasn't going to visit the perpetrators in their lifetimes.

What's happening with the climate situation.

But if the data is correct we are at the point now where people living today will be faced with the consequences.

That's the part where it's so much easier to say it's not happening - but also, people need leadership. The problem is too large for single individuals, though individuals must act and do.

And even now the Govts are failing to act.

It is said a special place in hell is reserved for those who mislead. Those who are pushing back on the facts are creating a deadly confusion that is not boding well.

We are screwed.

No one wants to provide a solutions for a solutions sake. The only measures being tried are ones that can be monitized.

Growth continues unabated

I've begun to think that it must all fall down, as some scientists are saying. But - as you know - I have an interest in the arcane. In astrology the 'age' we are entering will have many 'implosions' but they will be mini or of a nature that we always recover. The implosions will just keep happening - but there will never be one granddaddy of an earthy change 'in a twinkling'.

About 20 years ago there was a psychic by the name of Michael Scallion who predicted earth changes (coming to him via dreams in the 1970's/1980's). An aside: his maps bear a striking resemblance to the sea level rise maps being generated today. Anyway, I got pulled to one of his talks by a friend those many years ago. He was clear in that he saw massive changes taking place, but he said they would take place incrementally - so that people would become adjusted slowly over time. In fact, I see it happening with the sea level rise - the 'new normal' is becoming accepted. The children alive now have no memory of anything before now, of course.

MICHAEL SCALLION - FUTURE WORLD MAP

TEXT: "Uploaded on Apr 23, 2011: Michael Scallion saw the world in this way."

There was Edgar Cayce in the 1930's indicating that Europe would change 'in the twinkling of an eye'. Looking at Scallion's maps, Europe will be no more as we know it by this prognostication. There is the uprising of 'Atlantis' off the coast of Spain - or the remains of Spain. There is the up-thrusting of New Zealand into one large continent-island. It looks like less land overall to me in Scallion's future - and far more water - but the earth thrusting up and subsiding down makes for unusual results - such as Florida surviving the sea rise. Much smaller land masses - which means far less people, and all the toxicity 'buried' in water.

I little divergence to amuse.

 

[Tyger]

Posted here because relevant to new sustainable technologies under the new conditions.

CITYSCAPE FOR TESTING DRIVERLESS VEHICLES RISES AT U-M
LINK: Cityscape For Testing Driverless Vehicles Rises at U-M | DesignDaily

TEXT: "A 32-acre “mini-city” designed expressly for testing connected and automated vehicle systems, and other emerging 21st-century smart city technologies, is taking shape on the University of Michigan’s North Campus. Called M City, the one-of-a-kind facility will include a network of roads with up to five lanes, intersections, roundabouts, roadway markings, traffic signs and signals, sidewalks, bus facilities, benches, simulated buildings, streetlights, parked cars, pedestrians and obstacles like construction barriers.

“Connected and automated vehicle technology will usher in a revolution in the mobility of people and goods comparable to that sparked by the introduction of the automobile a century ago,” said Peter Sweatman, director of U-M’s Mobility Transformation Center. “M City will allow us to rigorously test new approaches in a safe, controlled and realistic environment before we implement them on actual streets.”

M City is being built under the auspices of the Mobility Transformation Center, a partnership with industry and government to lay the foundations for a commercially viable ecosystem of connected and automated mobility. A key goal of the U-M initiative, which involves researchers from a wide range of disciplines across campus, is to implement a connected and automated mobility system on the streets of southeastern Michigan by 2021.

The MTC is also developing on-roadway deployments of more than 20,000 cars, trucks and buses across southeastern Michigan to serve as testbeds for evaluating consumer behavior and exploring market opportunities. “Connected” means that vehicles talk to each other and to elements of the infrastructure, according to a nationally defined standard of quality and reliability.

Connected vehicles anonymously and securely exchange data—including location, speed and direction—with other vehicles and the surrounding infrastructure via wireless communication devices. This data can warn individual drivers of traffic tie-ups or emerging dangerous situations, such as a car slipping on ice around an upcoming curve, or a car that may be likely to run a red light ahead.

“Automated” vehicles are equipped with new systems of situation awareness and control that increasingly replace elements of human response and behavior. Such vehicles respond automatically to traffic situations by activating certain driving functions, such as acceleration, braking or steering. The highest level of automation allows for cars to be driverless.

The convergence of connected and automated technologies accelerates the transformational power, reliability and deployment of a new system of mobility services for people and freight. When implemented on a large scale, systems of connected and automated vehicles can dramatically improve safety, relieve traffic congestion, cut back on emissions, conserve energy and maximize transportation accessibility.

Designed and built in cooperation with the Michigan Department of Transportation, M City’s roadway construction was completed in December. The facility will be operational in the spring and a formal opening is planned for July."
​

Cityscape for testing driverless vehicles rises at U-M

TEXT: "Published on Jan 13, 2015: A 32-acre "mini-city" designed expressly for testing connected and automated vehicle systems, and other emerging 21st-century smart city technologies, is taking shape on the University of Michigan's North Campus."

 

[Tyger]

This is more along the lines of earth changes - interesting on it's own.

Interesting, detailed pictures and video links within linked article.

LAND RISING OUT OF THE SEA IN HOKKAIDO JAPAN — ROSE 50 FEET (OVER 1,000 FEET LONG) OVERNIGHT APRIL 25, 2015
LINK: 4/25/2015 — Land rising out of the sea in Hokkaido Japan — Rose 50 feet (over 1,000 feet long) OVERNIGHT | Dutchsinse

TEXT: "A massive sudden (1 day) collapse and rise of land has occurred along the coast of Hokkaido Japan. Major global earthquake activity is taking place, and serious crustal movement is obviously underway in the region around North Japan.

The new land began rising from the sea yesterday morning (April 24, 2015) with just a 1 meter rise (3 feet), then began rising rapidly, the event is still ongoing as of April 25th into 26th 2015. At the same time of the land rising, the area around the rise began to subside.

One area displacing the other. The new land mass has now risen over 50 feet above the water (near 1,000 feet long), and near 10 meters wide (30 feet)! Not ‘small’ by any means, and a very rare occurrence to top it off. This is being attributed to crustal movement in the area. The pressure of the uplift has now caused minor landslides behind the rise."​

I tried to unscramble all the Updates in the following video, may have in that scrambled them. I present these without comment as it is not my intention to editorialize. It is what it is - presented as the original informant stated it.

4/25/2015 -- North Japan Land RISES 50 feet (1000 feet long) OVERNIGHT

TEXT: "Published on Apr 25, 2015: UPDATE: Japan Earthquake strikes near the sea floor rise area!
A massive sudden (1 day) rise of land from the sea has occurred along the coast of Hokkaido Japan. Major global earthquake activity is taking place, and serious crustal movement is obviously underway in the region around North Japan. The new land began rising from the sea yesterday morning (April 24, 2015) with just a 1 meter rise (3 feet), then began rising rapidly, the event is still ongoing as of April 25th into 26th 2015. The new land mass has now risen over 50 feet and 300 meters long (near 1,000 feet), and near 10 meters wide (30 feet)! Not ‘small’ by any means, and a very rare occurrence to top it off. This is being attributed to crustal movement in the area.

UPDATE April 26 - Now reported as a large collapse followed by a sea bed floor rise. One area subsided, the other area rose. NHK report was typed (by them) wrong? Says 300 meters HEIGHT in the NHK article. Other articles say 15 meters high. It looks taller than 40 feet... hmm.. some reports saying 10 meters WIDE.. other reports saying 30 meters WIDE... hmm.. Regardless of the difference in footage, ANY footage moving upwards in Japan is worthy of note. Normally the crust moves in millimeters and inches.. not meters and feet! In my 5 years of covering events online, covering all major earthquakes, we have NEVER seen a 1 day rise of 1,000 feet (300meters) of anything.. worthy to note !

April 28: After days of silence, we now see the Northern part of Japan show movement. VERY CLOSE TO THE LOCATION which just experienced the sea floor rise and ground collapse!!!!!!!!!!! So much for the rise and collapse being blamed on "ocean waves". Also, this is the area I just warned several hours ago,warned yesterday, and warned 3 days ago in my earthquake forecast. North Japan near Hokkaido .

 

[Tyger]

I am aware of the context for the link I am offering below. People of a religious bent are assiduously following earth events right now and doing some very interesting compilations. In presenting these compilations I am not advocating any line of thinking - certainly not religious. However, given the agenda being served one needs to be cautious regarding one's own conclusions, let alone the article's. Still, the reporting appears accurate - and these groups are the only ones assembling all this content. Hence, I give it here as of interest generally.

Seven Volcanoes In Six Different Countries All Start Erupting Within Hours Of Each Other
LINK: Seven Volcanoes In Six Different Countries All Start Erupting Within Hours Of Each Other | World Truth.TV

 

[Tyger]

Again, more about the Japan earth changes - very odd in several respects.

Locals baffled by expanded coastline in eastern Hokkaido April 25, 2015
LINK: Locals baffled by expanded coastline in eastern Hokkaido - AJW by The Asahi Shimbun

TEXT: "RAUSU, Hokkaido--The appearance of newly formed land along Shiretoko Peninsula’s southeastern coast is causing a stir. The unexplained mass measures roughly 300 meters to 500 meters long, 30 meters wide and rises 10 to 15 meters above sea level, a town official said April 25, a day after it was discovered.

A local woman who was harvesting seaweed along the shoreline on the morning of April 24 noticed the area seemed to be slightly more elevated than the last time she was there. When she finished her task, the area had risen even further, exceeding her height. "The local residents said they didn't hear any sounds and there were no tremors (when the land appeared),” said Katsuhiro Tanaka, the president of the Rausu Fisheries Cooperative Association, who viewed the expanded coastline the day it was discovered. Marine organisms such as seaweed and sea urchins are attached to rocks on the land mass, suggesting it rose out of the ocean. Officials from Rausu have sealed off the area so it can be studied.​

 

[mike]

Another example of the short vs the long view.

Environmentalists don’t dispute that many if not all of the environmental problems—from climate change to species loss to overzealous resource extraction—are either caused or exacerbated by population growth.
“Trends such as the loss of half of the planet’s forests, the depletion of most of its major fisheries, and the alteration of its atmosphere and climate are closely related to the fact that human population expanded from mere millions in prehistoric times to over six billion today,” says Robert Engelman of Population Action International

Population Growth Causes Multiple Environmental Problems
According to Population Connection, population growth since 1950 is behind the clearing of 80 percent of rainforests, the loss of tens of thousands of plant and wildlife species, an increase in greenhouse gas emissions of some 400 percent and the development or commercialization of as much as half of the Earth’s surface land.
The group fears that in the coming decades half of the world’s population will be exposed to “water-stress” or “water-scarce” conditions, which are expected to “intensify difficulties in meeting…consumption levels, and wreak devastating effects on our delicately balanced ecosystems.”

Global Population Growth Creates Environmental Problems


This is a guest post by Gary Peters, a retired geography professor with a long time interest in population issues.
Earth’s population is approaching seven billion at the same time that resource limits and environmental degradation are becoming more apparent every day

Both population and consumption are parts of the problem–neither can be ignored and both are exacerbating the human impact on Earth. More distressing, however, is that many among us don’t even see that there are problems created by both growing populations and increasing affluence bearing down on a finite planet. To pretend that another 80 million people added to the planet each year is not a problem because they are all being added to the world’s poor nations makes no sense at all. Many of them will end up in rich nations by migrating, legally or illegally, and all will further compound environmental problems, from strains on oil and other fossil fuel resources to deforestation and higher emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases. As Kenneth Boulding noted decades ago, “Anyone who believes that exponential growth can go on forever in a finite world is either a madman or an economist.”

Population Growth Is Still The Biggest Problem Facing Humanity | Business Insider



“Anyone who believes that exponential growth can go on forever in a finite world is either a madman or an economist.”


And there it is.......

To an environmentalist exponential growth is insane, but to an economist its wonderful

segue to a micro example

Government seeks helpful hints on boosting the state's population - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)


"We know this is a bold target that's not without its challenges, but we need to go for growth because we recognise that population growth is critical to sustaining economic growth for Tasmania

This is perhaps our biggest challenge, We know that in the big picture exponential growth in a finate space is impossible, but in the short term economic growth is the holy grail of everyone. These two factors are at play, are not going to go away. The variable is how long can we kick this can down the road before it bites us on the arse

 

[Tyger]

Did Tesla Just Kill Nuclear Power? - 5/01/2015
LINK: Did Tesla Just Kill Nuclear Power? - Forbes

TEXT: "It would be almost three hours until Tesla’s big announcement, but inside a Northwestern Universityclassroom near Chicago Thursday night, the famed nuclear critic Arnie Gundersen had the inside scoop: Tesla Motors TSLA -0.04% CEO Elon Musk was about to announce an industrial-scale battery, Gundersen said, that would cost about 2¢ per kilowatt hour to use, putting the final nail in the coffin of nuclear power.

"Thus Tesla’s big news broke first not amongst the throng of reporters gathered under swirling colored lights at the carmaker’s Hawthorne, Calif. headquarters, but in the middle of a debate on the future of nuclear power sponsored by students agitating for a “Fossil Free NU.” It was Gundersen vs. Jordi Roglans-Ribas, the director of the Nuclear Engineering Division of Argonne National Laboratory. Roglans-Ribas had just finished arguing that any future free of fossil fuels would need nuclear power, which provides carbon-free energy 24 hours a day, supplying the reliability lacking in renewables like solar and wind. Gundersen called that claim a “marketing ploy.” “We all know that the wind doesn’t blow consistently and the sun doesn’t shine every day,” he said, “but the nuclear industry would have you believe that humankind is smart enough to develop techniques to store nuclear waste for a quarter of a million years, but at the same time human kind is so dumb we can’t figure out a way to store solar electricity overnight. To me that doesn’t make sense.”

"Then Gundersen told the audience of about 80 students and visitors that it was a momentous day in history—because of something that was about to happen in California. He evoked Elon Musk, the founder of PayPal , chairman of SpaceX and SolarCity SCTY +2.6%, and the product architect for Tesla Motors: “At about ten ‘o’clock tonight he’s going to hold a press conference and he’s going to announce that he’s going to build industrial scale storage batteries. While the announcement is still two hours away, it appears that they’ll be able to produce these large batteries for about 2¢ per kilowatt hour. That’s an enormous breakthrough,” Gundersen said. “So the nuclear argument that they’re the only 24-7 source is off the table now because Elon Musk has convinced me that industrial scale storage is in fact possible, and it’s here.” And a few hours later Musk announced the launch of Tesla Energy, ”a suite of batteries for homes, businesses, and utilities fostering a clean energy ecosystem and helping wean the world off fossil fuels.” Many had anticipated the batteries—but not the price.

"Tesla will sell the home battery, the Tesla Powerall, for $3,500, a fraction of the $13,000 price observers had expected, and perhaps more importantly, a fraction of the cost of the $10,000 battery announced earlier this week by European competitors Sungevity and Sonnenbatterie. Musk did not describe the cost of the utility-scale battery, but the prospect of a cheap new battery powered Gundersen’s economic argument as he collegially set out to demolish the nuclear claim: The UK government just signed an agreement guaranteeing a price of 16 cents per kilowatt hour for power generated by a reactor proposed for Hinkley Point, on the coast at Somerset, England. That fresh contract represents an example, Gundersen argued, of the market price of new nuclear power.

"Solar power costs six to seven cents, he said, and wind costs four or five cents. Add 2¢ for the cost of a utility-scale Tesla battery, and renewables with reliable storage are still at half the price of new nuclear power. They’re also approaching the price of existing nuclear power. “Here in Illinois you know it’s true because Exelon EXC +0.29% is threatening to close five nuclear plants because they can’t compete with wind anymore.”

"The real cost of various sources of energy is a topic of debate. Last year the U.S. Dept of Energy said the cost of wind power had reached a new low of 2.5 cents per kilowatt hour (pdf). The cost of solar is typically pegged much higher, but the UN Energy Information Agency estimates solar is on a path to a cost of about 4 cents per kilowatt hour in coming decades. Gundersen is a former nuclear engineer and executive who lost his job in 1990 after reporting safety violations to his employer. He testifies and campaigns against nuclear power for Fairewinds Energy Education, a non-profit founded by his wife, Maggie Gundersen, also a former nuclear industry employee.

"Gundersen’s debate opponent, Roglans-Ribas, did not address the Tesla battery development. He based his argument largely on reliability before Gundersen played that card, and he suggested that reliability alone would not sustain nuclear power—that it would need regulatory help to compete. “To actually be able to incentivize reliability in the electric grid will be the key,” Roglans-Ribas said. “And that is where nuclear power can play a key role.”

"Each kilogram of uranium burned in a reactor saves “thousands or millions of tons of CO2 emissions,” he said, conceding that “renewables can do the same thing.” But if the U.S. depends entirely on renewables, he predicted, a point will come when the supply cannot meet the demand. “The solution to moving way from fossil fuels, moving away from greenhouse gas emissions, the solution is a mix that includes nuclear and includes also renewables and also other sources, including for example gas turbines that provide peaking power,” Roglans-Ribas concluded. But Gundersen dismissed the nuclear contribution as too expensive and too slow—even if the U.S. could license and afford new reactors, they could not come online before 2023—and he replaced the nuclear contribution with batteries and conservation. “The operative word in this discussion tonight is now. What are we going to do now to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide going into the atmosphere?” he said. “These things can be implemented immediately. We know how to insulate a building. We know how to put double and triple-pane windows in them. We know how to build windmills and put solar cells up. These are immediate things. We don’t have to invest $50 trillion and wait 15 years for that to come to fruition.

“Producing our way out of the problem with renewables is half the solution. Conserving our way out is the other half.”
​

 

[Tyger]

Tremendous announcement - and Tesla will continue to open-source it's patents, available to all, to create the industry and competition.

Elon Musk Debuts the Tesla Powerwall

TEXT: "Published on May 1, 2015: Tesla Powerwall Keynote by Elon Musk "The Missing Piece" "

 

[Tyger]

Why Tesla’s announcement is such a big deal: The coming revolution in energy storage
LINK: Why Tesla’s announcement is such a big deal: The coming revolution in energy storage - The Washington Post

TEXT: "Late Thursday, the glitzy electric car company Tesla Motors, run by billionaire Elon Musk, ceased to be just a car company. As was widely expected, Tesla announced that it is offering a home battery product, which people can use to store energy from their solar panels or to backstop their homes against blackouts, and also larger scale versions that could perform similar roles for companies or even parts of the grid.

"For homeowners, the Tesla Powerwall will have a power capacity of either 10 kilowatt hours or 7 kilowatt hours, at a cost of either $ 3,500 or $ 3,000. The company says these are the costs for suppliers and don’t include the cost of installation and a power inverter, so customers could pay considerably more than that.

"The battery, says Tesla, “increases the capacity for a household’s solar consumption, while also offering backup functionality during grid outages.” At the same time, the company said it will producing larger batteries for businesses and utility companies — listing projects with Texas-based Oncor and Southern California Edison.

[Powering your home with batteries is going to get cheaper and cheaper]

"The anticipation leading up to this announcement has been intense — words like “zeitgeist” are being used — which itself is one reason why the moment for “energy storage,” as energy wonks put it to describe batteries and other technologies that save energy for later use, may finally be arriving. Prices for batteries have already been dropping, but if Tesla adds a “coolness factor” to the equation, people might even be willing to stretch their finances to buy one.

"The truth, though, is Tesla isn’t the only company in the battery game, and whatever happens with Tesla, this market is expected to grow. A study by GTM Research and the Energy Storage Association earlier this year found that while storage remains relatively niche — the market was sized at just $128 million in 2014 — it also grew 40 percent last year, and three times as many installations are expected this year.

" “The trend is more and more players being interested in the storage market,” says GTM Research’s Ravi Manghani. Tesla, he says, has two unique advantages — it is building a massive battery-making “gigafactory” which should drive down prices, and it is partnered with solar installer Solar City (Musk is Solar City’s chairman), which “gives Tesla access to a bigger pool of customers, both residential and commercial, who are looking to deploy storage with or without solar.”

" "The major upshot of more and cheaper batteries and much more widespread energy storage could, in the long term, be a true energy revolution — as well as a much greener planet. Here are just a few ways that storage can dramatically change — and green — the way we get power:

1. Helping to integrate more renewables onto the grid.

"Almost everybody focusing the Tesla story has homed in on home batteries – but in truth, the biggest impact of storage could occur at the level of the electricity grid as a whole. Indeed, GTM Research’s survey of the storage market found that 90 percent of deployments are currently at the utility scale, rather than in homes and businesses.

"That’s probably just the beginning: A late 2014 study by the Brattle Group, prepared for mega-Texas utility Oncor, found that energy storage “appears to be on the verge of becoming quite economically attractive” and that the benefits of deploying storage across Texas would “significantly exceed costs” thanks to improved energy grid reliability. Oncor has proposed spending as much as $ 5.2 billion on storage investments in the state. California, too, has directed state utilities to start developing storage capacity – for specifically environmental reasons.

"For more power storage doesn’t just hold out the promise of a more reliable grid — it means one that can rely less on fossil fuels and more on renewable energy sources like wind and, especially, solar, which vary based on the time of day or the weather. Or as a 2013 Department of Energy report put it, “storage can ‘smooth’ the delivery of power generated from wind and solar technologies, in effect, increasing the value of renewable power.”

" “Storage is a game changer,” said Tom Kimbis, vice president of executive affairs at the Solar Energy Industries Association, in a statement. That’s for many reasons, according to Kimbis, but one of them is that “grid-tied storage helps system operators manage shifting peak loads, renewable integration, and grid operations.” (In fairness, the wind industry questions how much storage will be needed to add more wind onto the grid.)

"Consider how this might work using the example of California, a state that currently ramps up natural gas plants when power demand increases at peak times, explains Gavin Purchas, head of the Environmental Defense Fund’s California clean energy program.

"In California, “renewable energy creates a load of energy in the day, then it drops off in the evening, and that leaves you with a big gap that you need to fill,” says Purchas. “If you had a plenitude of storage devices, way down the road, then you essentially would be able to charge up those storage devices during the day, and then dispatch them during the night, when the sun goes down. Essentially it allows you to defer when the solar power is used.”

"This will be appealing to power companies, notes Purchas, because “gas is very quick to respond, but it’s not anywhere near as quick as battery, which can be done in seconds, as opposed to minutes with gas.” The consequences of adding large amounts of storage to the grid, then, could be not only a lot fewer greenhouse gas emissions, but also better performance.

2. Greening suburban homes and, maybe, their electric cars, too.

"Shifting away from the grid to the home, batteries or other forms of storage have an equally profound potential, especially when paired with rooftop solar panels. Currently, rooftop solar users are able to draw power during the day and, under net metering arrangements, return some of it to the grid and thus lower their bills. This has led to a great boom in individual solar installations, but there’s the same problem here as there is with the grid as a whole: Solar tapers off with the sun, but you still need a lot of power throughout the evening and overnight.

"But storing excess solar power with batteries, and then switching them on once the solar panels stop drawing from the sun, makes a dramatic difference. Homes could shift even further away from reliance on the grid, while also using much more green power.

"Moreover, they’d also be using it at a time of day when its environmental impact is greater. “If you think about solar, when it’s producing in the middle of the day, the environmental footprint is relatively modest,” explains Dartmouth College business professor Erin Mansur. That’s because at this time of day, Mansur explains, solar is more likely to be displacing electricity generated from less carbon intensive natural gas. “But if you can shift some of that to the evening … if you can save some to the middle of the night, it’s more likely to be displacing coal,” says Mansur.

"Some day, perhaps, some of the sun-sourced and power could even be widely used to recharge electric vehicles like Teslas — which would solve another problem. According to a much discussed 2012 paper by Mansur and two colleagues, electric vehicles can have a surprisingly high energy footprint despite their lack of tailpipe emissions because they are often charged over night, a time when the power provided to the grid (said to be “on the margin”) often comes from coal. But if electric vehicles could be charged overnight using stored power from the sun, that problem also goes away.

"All of which contributes to a larger vision outlined recently by a team of researchers at the University of California at Los Angeles’s Institute of the Environment and Sustainability in which suburban homeowners, who can install rooftop solar combined with batteries and drive electric vehicles, start to dramatically reduce their carbon footprints — which have long tended to be bigger in suburbia, due in part to the need for long commutes — and also their home energy bills.

"Granted, it’s still a vision right now, rather than a reality for the overwhelming number of suburbanites — but energy storage is a key part of that vision.

3. Helping adjust to smart energy pricing

There’s another factor to add into the equation, which shows how energy storage could further help homeowners save money. For a long time, economists have said that we need “smart” or “dynamic” electricity pricing — that people should be charged more for power at times of high energy demand, such as in the afternoon and early evening, when the actual electricity itself costs more on wholesale markets. This would lead to lower prices overall, but higher prices during peak periods. And slowly, such smart pricing schemes are being introduced to the grid (largely on a voluntary basis).

"But if you combine “smart” pricing with solar and energy storage, then homeowners have another potential benefit, explains Ravi Manghani of GTM Research. They could store excess power from their solar panels during the day, and then actually use it in the evening when prices for electricity go up — and avoid the higher cost. “There’s an economic case to store the excess solar generation and use it during evening hours,” explains Manghani by email. (For more explanation, see here.)

"Notably, if there are future reductions in how much money solar panel owners can make selling excess power back to the grid — and that’s one thing the current pushback against net metering wants to achieve — then energy storage comes in and gives panel owners a new way for using that power. “Storage increases the options,” explains Sean Gallagher, vice president of state affairs at the Solar Energy Industries Association. “It’s an enabling technology for solar. It allows customers to meet more scenarios economically.”

"So in sum — cheaper, more easily available energy storage helps at the scale of the power grid, and also at the level of our homes, to further advantage cleaner, renewable energy. So if the economics of storage are finally starting to line up — and its business side to ramp up — that can only be good news for the planet."​