Nobel Conference Blog » Global Warming http://nobelconference.blog.gustavus.edu Wed, 06 May 2009 21:13:49 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 en hourly 1 Coal-Fired Utilities Ponder Carbon Risk and Future Plans http://nobelconference.blog.gustavus.edu/2007/09/13/coal-fired-utilities-ponder-carbon-risk-and-future-plans/ http://nobelconference.blog.gustavus.edu/2007/09/13/coal-fired-utilities-ponder-carbon-risk-and-future-plans/#comments Thu, 13 Sep 2007 17:22:21 +0000 James Dontje http://nobelconference.blog.gustavus.edu/2007/09/13/coal-fired-utilities-ponder-carbon-risk-and-future-plans/ As governments wrestle with the implications of carbon emissions and global warming, electric utilities dependent on coal-fired power plants are pondering their response to the situation and probable future carbon regulation. With 50-60% percent of the nation’s electricity coming from coal, the question is a huge one for utilities. The cheapest plants to operate are the oldest and dirtiest, so utilities have generally been reluctant bring plants up to the latest standards. Now they have to consider carbon risk in their future plans and weigh the possibility that what looked like a good investment in a coal-fired power plant in 2007 will turn out to be a bad ideas in a future where coal use is taxed or otherwise affected by regulation.

What role should coal play in our energy future?

]]> http://nobelconference.blog.gustavus.edu/2007/09/13/coal-fired-utilities-ponder-carbon-risk-and-future-plans/feed/ 0 Global Cooling and Scientific Confusion http://nobelconference.blog.gustavus.edu/2007/09/07/global-cooling-and-scientific-confusion/ http://nobelconference.blog.gustavus.edu/2007/09/07/global-cooling-and-scientific-confusion/#comments Fri, 07 Sep 2007 18:24:34 +0000 Jeff Jeremiason http://nobelconference.blog.gustavus.edu/2007/09/07/global-cooling-and-scientific-confusion/ A comment was made in general chemistry today about scientists in the 1970s saying we should be worried about global cooling. Now scientists are warning about global warming. Why are scientists so confused on this issue? A summary of this issue can be found at New Scientist’s web site: here The debate centers around the role of airborne pollutants that are suspended in the atmosphere in form of very small particles and droplets. Most current climate models include the cooling effect of airborne pollutants, but how much they affect global heat balances has been uncertain. Recent reports suggest their role has been greater than previously thought. This leads to the possibility that airborne pollutants have been counteracting the affects of greenhouse gases and delaying (but not stopping) global climate change .

Are scientists really confused on this issue?

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