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Today’s Stories:
Wind Farm Goes Underwater (In a Good Way)
Sarkozy and Brown Hold Hands on Transaction Tax
Solar Panels Now Even More Efficient
New Energy Possibilities for New York
Pope Benedict XVI Acknowledges Climate Change Crisis

Wind Farm Goes Underwater (In a Good Way)

http://cleantechnica.com/2009/12/15/london-calling-nexans-to-supply-undersea-cable-for-worlds-largest-wind-farm/

The world’s largest wind farm still in the process of being built, the London Array, is taking another step towards completion. The project, which is being installed in the Thames (Tehms) Estuary, has just signed a 100 million euro contract with global cablers Nexans to supply the high voltage undersea power cables that will transmit power from the array to the U.K. grid.

The London Array, all told, will house up to 341 turbines and generate up to 1,000 megawatts of electricity.  That is enough wind power to supply 750,000 homes or about a quarter of Greater London. The deal just agreed upon will mean Nexans will supply a total of four submarine power cables for the London Array, each about 54 kilometers long.

Sarkozy and Brown Hold Hands on Transaction Tax

http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/010885.html

UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown and French President Nicolas Sarkozy have jointly proposed a global financial transaction tax or Tobin tax, the proceeds of which would go towards the halting of global warming. This statement comes in response to the European Union commitment of €2.4bn a year from January to immediately help the world’s poor countries cope with climate change.

In a world whose leaders are attempting to learn from its recent economic crisis, the idea of a Tobin tax has been gaining support. Stability and accountability are big factors under consideration as the leaders of European nations feel pressure from their constituents to come to an agreement on climate action, and a properly executed Tobin tax could potentially provide both.

So far, England has pledged the most funding to poorer countries facing climate change, with France and Germany making slightly smaller pledges. The EU also emphasised its willingness to increase its target for cutting greenhouse gases 30% by 2020, if the rest of the world signs up to a sufficiently ambitious package in Copenhagen. The EU is currently committed to 20% cuts by 2020.

Solar Panels Now Even More Efficient

http://www.ecogeek.org/component/content/article/3016

Scientists at Tel Aviv University unwittingly came up with a breakthrough in nano-technology with sustainable applications recently, while trying to work on a cure for Alzheimer’s. Sufferers of Alzheimer’s have been shown to have a particular peptide found in the plaques that form in their brains, and the researchers found a way to get peptides to self-assemble in a vacuum.

Why is this significant? Because the resulting arrangement of peptides acts as a dust- and water-repelling coating. This isn’t very helpful for a human brain, however it is helpful if used to coat solar panels. Not only can the coating keep solar panels clear from debris, but it also could be used as a supercapacitor, meaning better lithium batteries.

Alzheimer’s research will continue at Tel Aviv University, but it’s not certain who will pick up funding for the solar panel applications of their research.

New Energy Possibilities for New York

http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/14/bloomberg-eyes-danish-offshore-wind-farm-and-sees-new-yorks-future/

Michael Bloomberg, mayor of New York City, is considering using wind turbines to help power his city. The turbines, which have been proposed to be located several miles off the shores of Long Island, would provide less than 1 percent of New York’s energy, based on the planned distribution: 350 megawatts to Long Island, and 350 megawatts to New York City.

However, the mayor has conceded that it’s not just one effort that will help the city to become more sustainable and less wasteful. New legislation in New York City aimed at improving the energy efficiency of buildings would shave nearly 5 percent off the city’s carbon footprint. A new natural gas power plant in Astoria, to the extent that it displaces aging, less efficient facilities, will knock off another 1.5 to 2 percent.

New York is heading in the right direction, one percent at a time.

Pope Benedict XVI Acknowledges Climate Change Crisis

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/15/pope-urges-action-on-clim_n_392311.html

In his annual message on the Roman Catholic Church’s World Day of Peace, the Pope called for urgent action to protect the environment, saying Tuesday that climate change and natural catastrophes threaten the rights to life, food, health – and ultimately peace.

“We can no longer do without a real change of outlook which will result in new life-styles,” he said, touching again on a theme that has earned him a reputation as the “green pope.”

Benedict called on advanced societies to adopt “more sober lifestyles,” reducing energy consumption and favoring energy-efficient policies. He encouraged research into ways to exploit solar energy, to manage forests and to improve waste disposal.

We’ll have more on the Pope and the Copenhagen Climate Conference in just a minute here on Newlygreens on the Morning Blend, when we’ll be talking to our good friend Stuart Scott. More on that in just a minute on WP 88.7FM – Brave New Radio.