Weather, Water, Energy 2-06-07

Australia, as usual, is playing “let’s pretend” with global warming. Its idiot PM is claiming that a global system of pricing greenhouse gas emissions is basically the only thing that can be done and, well, until that virtually impossible system is in place, let’s just do nothing, shall we? Meanwhile, that silly backward country Turkey has put global warming and water shortages together (unlike the government in AU) and is preparing a plan to meet the needs. Wanna bet on which nation is more powerful 100 years from now? . . . Wanna know exactly how much the taxpayers will likely have to shell out for the “field of ethanol” dreams of so many states, despite the very shaky foundation ethanol will likely rest on? Here’s one estimate--$118 b. For something that will probably cause more problems than it solves global warming-wise. But here are two key quotes that highlight the silliness:

the cost of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by switching to corn-based ethanol was calculated to be more than 200 times higher than other existing policy options to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

For comparison, the authors calculated that the net energy benefits from increasing automobile fuel efficiency by one mile per gallon would be equivalent to three or four corn ethanol plants or 13 biodiesel plants.

Climate Progress has a couple of good posts, one taking Bushnev apart on the talk part of his climate walk and one on the unexpected depth (literally) of the warming of the oceans, with the subsequent impact on their absorptive power and their expansion. . . . Finally, let’s leave on some good news. I didn’t know you could actually find “wind resources” but some folks have off the Mid-Atlantic coast and it could provide 330 gigawatts of average power if turbines get put there (wind ones, not those Arab things). Not sure exactly what that output means either except it’s almost twice what that area uses now. And what they don’t use from old sources can be shifted to other users. See? You didn’t think I could do “good news,” did you?