nuclear-news

Just a little more than one year after freakish global warming-spurred wildfires forced a near complete evacuation of the tar sands production town of Fort McMurray, Alberta, record heat and extreme fire hazard are again settling in over this subarctic region.

(Subarctic sections of Alberta are expected to experience temperatures in the upper 80s and lower 90s [F] tomorrow. Such heat is expected to spike fire dangers throughout the region. Image source: Earth Nullschool.)

The weather forecast for Wednesday, May 31, 2017 tells a story of predicted extreme heat for a typically cool region of Northwest Canada. High temperatures for the day are expected to range from 86 to 90 F (30 to 32 C). That’s a hot day anywhere. But it’s particularly impressive for a region that shares a common climate with places like historically cold Alaska and Hudson Bay.

Average high temperatures for Fort McMurray in…

Science and Technology:

¶ A study by researchers working at the Materials, Science, and Technology Laboratory in Switzerland claims that particulate emissions from gasoline engines can be far greater than those from diesel engines. The research found the they can even emit more particulates than older diesels that were without particulate filters. [CleanTechnica]

Direct gas injection system (Credit: Bosch)

World:

¶ Kerala’s chief minister said the state has become the first in India to provide electricity to every home. To do this, it eased requirements like security deposits and land titles, and even mobilized funds from legislators to corporate sponsors for internal wiring of poor households, the electricity minister said in a phone interview. [Livemint]

¶ Acciona has switched on Spain’s first ever hybrid plant for storing energy generated by a grid-connected wind farm. The plant’s storage system consists of two batteries and is connected to…

Opinion:

¶ “Utilities’ Biggest Threat Is Not Solar + Storage, It’s Their Own Greed” • Energy utilities are fully aware of the existential threat to their current business models presented by new technologies, particularly solar, storage, and smart software. But a far greater risk that dovetails with that threat is their own short-term greed. [CleanTechnica]

Poles and wires – sticks and strings

¶ “Trump + Russia Chaos Is Tiny Preview Of Carbon Bubble Popping” • The Trump & Russian chaos – no matter how extensive it is and where it goes – is a tiny preview of the massive disruption coming as the global carbon bubble pops. The quick collapse of the oil, gas, and coal industries will have disruptive and far-reaching effects. [CleanTechnica]

Science and Technology:

¶ When Cornell University competed in 2011 to develop an applied science and engineering campus in New York City…