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Enviro News Wrap Up: 400 PPM CO2 Threshold Reached; Winters and Global Warming; Innovative Solar Financing a Game Changer, and more…

The Latest Environmental News HeadlinesGlobalWarmingisReal contributor Anders Hellum-Alexander wraps-up and comments on the climate and environmental news headlines for the past week:

Enviro News Wrap: Climate Change and National Security; Keeling Curve On the Brink of 400; Getting Beyond Politics Leads to Climate Action, and more…

The Latest Environmental News HeadlinesGlobalWarmingisReal contributor Anders Hellum-Alexander wraps-up and comments on the climate and environmental news headlines for the past week:

Video Friday: Solar Impulse Sets Out Across America

Solar Impulse across AmericaWe recently posted about a press conference we recently attended at Moffett Field outside San Francisco, California for a close-up look at Solar Impulse, the world’s most advanced solar-powered airplane. The preparations for the Solar Impulse Across America adventure have now come to fruition and the graceful bird took off early this morning into clear Bay Area skies.  Solar Impulse will cross the US making 5 stops along the way, reaching its first stop at Phoenix Sky Harbor airport tomorrow, May 4th at about 1am, for an estimated flight time of 19 hours.

Subsequent stops include Dallas/Ft. Worth International  Airport; Lambert-St. Louis International Airport; Dulles International Airport and a final stop at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York. At each stop Solar Impulse will be on display for the public to see the groundbreaking airplane as it kicks off the Clean Generation initiative to raise awareness of the potential of clean and renewable sources of energy.

Follow progress of Solar Impulse live and stay tuned as we track progress of the airplane as she makes her way across the country in the coming weeks.

Featured image credit: Dominique Favre

EarthTalk: Biomass Energy – Hype or Solution?

Biomass can be a part of the effort to cut back on fossil fuels, but only if it is harvested and used in ways that reduce pollution, cut emissions and protect forests. Pictured: A biomass-burning power plant.

EarthTalk® is a weekly environmental column made available to our readers from the editors of E/The Environmental Magazine

Dear EarthTalk: What is “biomass” and why is it controversial as a potential source of energy?    – Edward White, New Bedford, MA

Biomass is plant matter that is burned as a source of energy. Fallen or cut wood that is burned for heat is one primary form of biomass, but another includes plant or animal matter that is converted into biofuels.

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), which was formed during the oil shocks of the early 1970s to help ward off future energy shortages, biomass combustion is a carbon-neutral process because the carbon dioxide released at burning has previously been absorbed by the plants from the atmosphere.

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Video Friday: Old King Coal

Episode 13 of Dr. Joylette Portlock’s YouTube series Don’t Just Sit There – Do Something!  In this episode Dr. Portlock looks at “old king coal,” the dirtiest of of fossil fuels and the source of much of the world’s energy generation. Even though coal use is declining in America, primarily from the explosion natural gas fracking, coal consumption continues to expand globally. Portlock also looks at the myth of clean coal and prospects for carbon capture and sequestration (CSS) technology. As with all her videos, Portlock offers ideas for actions we can take, including finding local sources of clean energy and urging President Obama to make sure the EPA finalizes standards to limit carbon emissions from new power plants.