“Until recently, it was unclear whether variable renewable energy, nuclear, or fossil fuel with carbon capture and storage would become the main form of generation in a decarbonized electricity system,” argues a recently-published analysis titled Carbon-Neutral Pathways for the United States. “The cost decline of variable renewable energy over the last few years, however, has definitively changed the situation.” Ars Technica…
Tag: land use
Gulf of Mexico dead zone: Summer 2020 forecast
NOAA scientists forecast that this summer’s dead zone would measure roughly 6,700 square miles – bigger than the long-term average recorded since 1985, but lower than 2017’s record-high extent. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/gulf-mexico-dead-zone-summer-2020-forecast…
Could we feed one million people living on Mars?
A provocative new study looks at the resource utilization and technological strategies that would be needed to make a Mars population of one million people food self-sufficient. A detailed model of population growth, caloric needs, land use, and potential food sources showed that food self-sufficiency could be achieved within 100 years. The study is published in New Space: The Journal of…
Why the Amazon is burning: 4 reasons
Nearly 40,000 fires are incinerating Brazil’s Amazon rainforest. Apocalyptic as this sounds, science suggests it’s not too late to save the Amazon. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/amazon-rainforest-fires-burning-4-reasons-why…