Waterworld  

Today's bizarre report is about a Dutch solution for global warming - Floating Cities.

With fears of artic melting and flooding taking place on more frequent basis some people are thinking into the future. Floating houses have been around for a while but just recently has there been a lot of development in foundation technology that will float whole city blocks. You can only image the possibilities.

The Dutch are gearing up for climate change with amphibious houses. If rivers rise above their banks, the houses simply rise upwards as well. Such innovation could be good news for hurricane and flood-stunned America. But are water lovers prepared to live on swimming family arks?

Looking out from the terrace, heaven and earth merge into a grey blur. Heavy rain pours so incessantly that one would expect Anne van der Molen to be getting just a little nervous...

While people might be able to build ark's of one form or another, baby walrus' can't.

In a recent post (In America, Global Warming doesn't even register) we quoted "Getting global warming is too much of an intellectual process. Perhaps pictures of drowning polar bears (which we are trying to find) will move people but even there, people will need to believe that those drownings are due to our failure to build cleaner power plants and cars." Well, there may not be pictures of drowning polar bears but there are of drowning walruses. A recent study by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution reports " an unprecedented number of unaccompanied and possibly abandoned walrus calves in the Arctic Ocean, where melting sea ice may be forcing mothers to abandon their pups as the mothers follow the rapidly retreating ice edge north." One researcher said “We were on a station for 24 hours, and the calves would be swimming around us crying. We couldn’t rescue them” All pointing out that changing ice patterns are killing animals that live on the ice- as it retreats it is over deeper water and the walruses cannot dive deep enough to find food. They may not get as many cuteoverload points as a polar bear, but they are drowning and there appears to be a direct corelation to global warming

Jeff Vail takes a look at the flexible and resilient garden pond.

I recently wrote about the importance of building resiliency into a self-sufficient system in “Creating Resiliency & Stability in Horticulture.” It’ important to build systems that serve multiple functions, that provide a yield that is decoupled with neighboring systems and that can bank resources for use elsewhere—all of which helps to smooth out the peaks and valleys of both cyclical and extraordinary systemic shocks. When it comes to accomplishing all of this and more, the all-star system may just be the humble pond.

WorldChanging and RealClimate report that one of the most famous pieces of global warming denial "science" was a botched job.

TreeHugger and WorldChanging report on what may be the world's first eco-city at Dongtan in China.

The single biggest uncertainty on the path to a bright green future can be summed up in one word: China.

By most measurements, China's impact on the planet is now second only to that of the U.S., and China's coming on strong: China is expected to have more cars that America in fifteen years, has built the second largest freeway system in the world and is expected to overtake America as the leading climate culprit. Indeed, China's impact on the future has been dubbed by some the Great Wall of Unknowns.

China has accomplished a miracle of economic development, raising hundreds of millions of people out of poverty and forging itself into an industrial powerhouse in just a few decades. But that development has extracted a terrible environmental cost, with China rapidly becoming the most polluted nation on the planet. Indeed, pollution, environmental degredation and resource depletion are so severe in China that a leading government official there warned that unless China can find a more sustainable path, "the miracle will end soon."

China has bold plans for confronting this crisis: green buildings, green cars, wind power, nanotechnology, mobile technologies, solar, even a green (or green-ish Olympics and new models of measuring economic growth to account for environmental costs. Whether these responses will actually take hold in an authoritarian and corrupt political culture is a different matter, of course, but a Green China may yet astound us all.

Since so much depends on building better cities, one of the more promising signs (though problems are still rife) is the rise of new green urban developments in Shanghai, Beijing, and Huangbaiyu. Our favorite is the Dongtan project on an island near Shanghai, billed as the world's first Eco-City, which will eventually house half a million people in green buildings powered by renewable energy. Dongtan is absolutely the best current model for bright green Chinese city planning.

Meanwhile in Denmark, there are plans being floated to build the world's first "Hydrogen City".

If the developers behind H2PIA have their way, a hydrogen future may not be as far off as some predict. It's hard to know if their projections hold true (or if the innovative project they've designed will come to fruition), but if ever there were an alluring vision of a green future, this is it.

H2PIA will be a fully self-sustaining, hydrogen powered "urban community," replete with several models of residential homes, a public center, plenty of open space, and enough commercial and office space to allow residents a commute-free lifestyle. One home even comes with a hybrid vehicle that generates power for other parts of the neighborhood when not in use.

TreeHuggerTV this week has a conversation with Lester Brown.

Mobjectivist and MonkeyGrinder both take aim at Michael Lynch over some of his claims in his recent debate with Julian Darley.



Past Peak notes:

People always get fooled by peaks (stock market peaks, for example) because peaks are, by definition, the points when things look the rosiest. Peak oil is no exception. At the peak in world oil production, the world will have more oil than ever before — or ever again. By the standards of other eras, the world will be swimming in oil, and all that oil will translate into an enormous amount of economic activity. Everyone will be bullish, and when the downhill slide begins, everyone will be surprised.

...

Obviously, oil production cannot increase forever. Peak is not a question of if, it's a question of when. Oil production will grow until it can't any more, and then it will shrink. We're like the Titanic's passengers, who thought their ship was unsinkable, right up until the moment when it sank.

GuamBat Stew reports that " The "Roof of the World" is melting - rapidly".

Guambat's associate just returned from a visit to his home in Beijing and complained of the dust storms. That Son of a Guambat lived not too far outside Beijing for a while and also reported severe dust storms.

It'll only get worse.

Xinhua News reports:

NANNING, April 30 (Xinhua) -- Pouring over four decades of research based on data from China's 681 weather stations, the country's scientists have found that global warming is seriously affecting the "roof of the world", as west China's Qinghai-Tibet plateau is known.

Professor Dong Guangrong with the Chinese Academy of Sciences is calling for world attention to the environmental deterioration of the Qinghai-Tibet plateau caused by global warming.

He has discovered that the "roof of the world" glacier, accounting for 47 percent of China's total glacier coverage, is shrinking at a rate of seven percent annually.

Crikey has a post on "What really matters", which is interesting, albeit discouraging, as it includes depletion of fossil fuels in the list of key issues (only 1% of the population cares though).

What message should John Howard be heeding from Australian voters? A new Morgan Poll on what we think are the key issues facing our nation and the world has some answers:

Only 12% of Australians now think that collectively, Terrorism, Wars, Security and Safety are the most important problem facing Australia, down from 21% in October 2005…

Now Australians most often mention Government and Human issues (25% up 11%) such as Government and the Political System (7% down 2%), Immigration (5% up 4%) and Intolerance (3% up 3%) as the most important problem facing Australia. Government and Human issues are followed by Economic issues (20% up 6%), Terrorism, Wars, Security and Safety (12% down 9%) and Social issues (11% up 8%) as the most commonly cited problems for Australia.

The nuts and bolts of the polling break down like this:

	Australians Aged 14+
Most important problem facing	The World		Australia
	October 5/6 2005 (%)	April 5/6 2006 (%)	October 5/6 2005 (%)	April 5/6 2006 (%)
Total Terrorism/Wars/Security, Safety	52	32	2	12
Total Economic Issues	16	19	14	20
Total Environmental Issues	12	14	15	8
Total Government, Human Issues	4	13	14	25
Total Social Issues	3	11	3	11
Total Health Issues	2	4	6	9
Total Energy Crisis/Depletion of Fossil Fuels/Petrol prices	2	1	8	1
Other	8	3	14	8
Can't Say	1	3	5	6

It would be interesting to see how petrol prices rate a few weeks on. Gary Morgan comments “Australians' domestic concerns have changed significantly since October last year, when the London Terrorist attacks and the Bali Bombings were still fresh in their minds”.

We're in the second half of the term of this Government. That focus on health issues, social issues, human issues and environmental issues is interesting. Relaxed and comfortable – but feeling the first signs of bed sores?

Crikey also notes that the Rodent's list of key issues are rather different - he's a man who appreciates a fine distraction, is little Johnny:

The Government's success is based on economic good times. And, as the markets adjust to the certainty of an interest rate rise of two, it's been enlightening to hear the Prime Minister's priority issues over the last weeks:

* An identity card
* The English curriculum in high schools
* Citizenship tests
* Tighter gun laws
* The sale of Medibank Private
* Uranium

What other distractions will he offer before the Budget if the RBA lifts rates this week? Same sex marriage? More on welfare? The flag?

John Howard will be keen to distract the battlers from the sixth interest rate rise in a row – including two increases since the 2004 election – particularly since if they go up as expected this week, rates will be at their highest level in more than five years.

On a more positive note, Grist notes that solar providers in the US can't keep up with growing demand - hopefully there will be a surge in investment like Germany and Japan have been seeing.

Solar power may not yet be ready for the big time: The current spike in oil prices is causing a surge of interest in home solar, but supply of polysilicon (the stuff solar panels are made of) is unable to keep up with demand. It used to be that only those in the semiconductor industry cared about polysilicon, but about half of this year's supply will go to the solar industry. The current shortage means higher prices and longer wait times. The delightfully named Barry Cinnamon of California's Akeena Solar admits that a 16-panel system now costs about $25,500, a jump of $3,500 from 2004. Residential clients in Jacksonville, Fla., are having to wait three months to solarize. The same wait applies in North Hollywood, Calif. -- though if they get desperate there, they always know where to find some spare silicone.

Grist also notes that there are some depths even some Republicans won't sink to.

Hollywood producers like to say that no one ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American people. Hollywood producers, meet Senate Republicans. Their latest gas-price gambit, coordinated by Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) -- a legislator who puts the "less" in "hapless" -- seems to have exceeded even the legendarily high pander threshold of the American people. What they proposed: Sending a $100 check to almost every American, in exchange for permission to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. As soon as word got out, scornful feedback started pouring in. "Do you think we are prostitutes? Do you think you can buy us?" asked callers to one Republican Senate office. "What kind of insult is this?" asked Rush Limbaugh. "Silly," sniffed FOX anchor Brit Hume. "I don't think much about [it]," sneered Mississippi Sen. Trent Lott. "I don't think it's a real answer," said Alaskan Sen. Lisa Murkowski. And those were the Republicans.

TreeHugger reports that Portugal is about to build the world's largest solar farm. Its a shame countries like Australia, which could be largely powered by solar and wind, aren't making the same investments - courtesy of government myopia.

Reputedly famous for its creamy cheeses, Serpa is described in a travel guide as “a sleepy agricultural hilltop town of white houses”. Quite soon this ancient walled town, founded in 400 BC, will be catapulted into the future. It’s about to get an 11-megawatt solar power plant, comprising 52,000 photovoltaic modules, in what is being dubbed the “world’s largest solar photovoltaic power project.” (If I had a buck for every time I’ve typed that claim I could almost retire.) The three movers and shakers on this project are as follows: GE Energy Financial Services is putting up the dough ($75 million USD) so they get to own it. PowerLight have designed and will operate the facility. And local Portuguese renewable energy company, Catavento, will maintain and manage it. According to the press release this will all happen on a 60-hectare (150-acre) southern-facing hillside that will remain productive farmland. And if all goes to plan (construction starts next month) the solar juice will flow by January 2007, so it can power 8,000 homes, and save more than 30,000 tons a year in greenhouse gas emissions.

The SMH has a report that nuclear is no cure for climate change.

AUSTRALIA could not develop a domestic nuclear power industry in time to stave off the effects of climate change and such a program would be prohibitively expensive, energy experts say.

The cost of building the large number of nuclear power stations needed to even partly replace coal as a source of electricity would be so heavy no private investor would take on the risk without huge government subsidies, they said.

The Federal Treasurer, Peter Costello, warned at the weekend that Australia would have to get used to the idea of a domestic nuclear power industry because it was part of the solution to global warming.

Scientists have warned the world needs to make large cuts in greenhouse gas emissions now to avoid further big changes to weather patterns.

But coal-fired power plants could not be replaced fast enough with nuclear plants to make any real difference, said the research principal at the Institute for Sustainable Futures, Chris Riedy.

"It would take 10 years to get one nuclear power plant up even if there was no public protest," Dr Riedy said. "And all of the evidence from where they have been built [overseas] shows they have had to have massive [government] subsidies to keep them going."

Also in the Herald, a report that developers are trying to wind back building standards for energy efficiency (maybe they should go to one of James Kunstler's motivational speeches) and the Poles are getting nervous about energy deals between Russia and Germany.

As expected, the new Bolivian government has moved to nationalise their energy reserves.

Speaking at an oilfield in the south of the country, Bolivia's left-wing president called it an "historic day". "The pillage of our natural resources by foreign companies is over," he declared. He said the companies had six months to re-negotiate their contracts and urged them to "respect the dignity of Bolivians".

Foreign companies would receive 18% of oil and gas revenues during the transition period, reports said. Vice President Alvaro Garcia said the military and officials from the state energy firm YPFB moved to take control of 53 energy installations - including gas fields, pipelines and refineries - immediately after the decree was signed.

There is a great slideshow of Chernobyl photos here.

Veering off into political entertainment, Billmon analyses the latest Colbert report from the White House.

It's no great surprise, then, that American Dreamz has come and will soon go without much critical or political reaction of any kind -- not even from the professional hysterics of the Michelle Malkin right. Which you definitely can't say about about Stephen Colbert's gig at the White House Correspondents Dinner.

Colbert's routine was designed to draw blood -- as good political satire should. It seemed obvious, at least to me, that he didn't just despise his audience, he hated it. While that hardly merits comment here in Left Blogostan, White House elites clearly aren't used to having such contempt thrown in their faces at one of their most cherished self-congratulatory events. So it's no surprise the scribes have tried hard to expunge it from the semi-official record -- as Peter Daou notes over at the Huffington Post.

Colbert used satire the way it's used in more openly authoritarian societies: as a political weapon, a device for raising issues that can't be addressed directly. He dragged out all the unmentionables -- the Iraq lies, the secret prisons, the illegal spying, the neutered stupidity of the lapdog press -- and made it pretty clear that he wasn't really laughing at them, much less with them. It may have been comedy, but it also sounded like a bill of indictment, and everybody understood the charges.

And to close, Odograph says be happy, after all, there is a statistical correlation between less oil and happiness (there is also an interesting correlation between your physical surroundings and the structure of your brain apparently).

I am listening now to the recent joint talk by Rep. Roscoe Bartlett and Dr. Robert Hirsch, the top item on this EnergyBulletin page:

http://www.energybulletin.net/15440.html

It rocks, and blows my mind. It’s been a while since a peak oil presentation did that for me, jaded TOD reader that I am …

I am surprised by the pessimism that comes through Hirsch’s verbal comments. And I am surprised by the good grounding in science that comes through Bartlett’s talk.

I think I’ve been listening to talks by Bartlett and others which were pitched at a more general audience (congressmen), and maybe haven’t heard him open up with facts and figures like he does here.

He also hits one of my old themes, one that maybe I should return to in face of PO fear … that happiness varies around the world, and that people who burn less oil per capita can be as happy as we are now … or even happier.

Be happy…