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5 Big Ideas for High-Temperature Superconductors

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In 1911, Dutch physicist Heike Kamerlingh Onnes plunged a mercury wire into liquid helium and noticed that the wire’s electrical resistance vanished. But the materials could show up sooner in a wide array of practical applications, including wind power, energy storage, and nuclear magnetic-resonance machines.

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Duke study finds China’s synthetic natural gas plants will have heavy environmental toll; 2x vehicle GHG if used for fuel

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Coal-powered synthetic natural gas (SNG) plants being planned in China would produce seven times more greenhouse gas emissions than conventional natural gas plants, and use up to 100 times the water as shale gas production, according to a new study by Duke University researchers published in the journal Nature Climate Change.

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Berkeley study finds renewable portfolio standards insufficient to meet 2030 GHG emission targets; new policy required

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One possible scenario for the electricity system in the Western US in 2026-29. Under a range of resource cost scenarios, most coal power plants would be replaced by solar, wind, gas, and/or nuclear generation, with intermittent renewable sources providing at least 17% and as much as 29% of total power by 2030. Click to enlarge.

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Taking the Measure of the Earthquake That Destroyed Tokyo

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The violent vertical thrusts of the quake ruptured gas lines and water mains. In Tokyo, the fires merged into a firestorm so intense that it created its own wind system and set alight the city’s many wooden buildings. Palmieri’s seismograph consisted of U-shaped tubes filled with mercury. Survivors rushed to seek safety.

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EPA proposes rule for nationwide 30% cut in GHG from existing power plants by 2030 relative to 2005

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The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released the already widely-discussed (albeit without much detail) “Clean Power Plan” proposal, which mandates a national average 30% cut in greenhouse gas emissions from existing power plants from 2005 levels by 2030. Expanded lower-carbon generation. state compliance) to $7.4

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PCAST suggests 6 key components for climate change strategy to President Obama; adaptation and mitigation

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Continue efforts to decarbonize the economy, with emphasis on the electricity sector. Key recommended steps here are: Support continuing expansion of shale-gas production, ensuring that environmental impacts of production and transport do not curtail the potential of this approach.

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A New Wildfire Watchdog

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In the case of the 2017 Tubbs Fire, the 2018 Camp Fire, and the 2020 August Complex Fires, high winds blasted flames through populated areas in the early morning hours while residents were sleeping. At a predetermined temperature threshold, the absorbed heat will deform a metal finger that mechanically closes an electrical switch.