A 100% RENEWABLE WORLDWIDE ENERGY SYSTEM IS POSSIBLE--SEE IT IN ACTION HERE

If you've had a chance to drive or ride in a Prius, you know how you can watch the flow of energy to and from the battery, motor and brakes. it's a great feeling, for example, to see the battery being charged by the regenerative braking system--free energy!

Prius energy display/Credit: Kmf164 (at) en.wikimedia.org

Now imagine watching a similar visualization for the entire world, and a 100% sustainable one at that. Its designers call it the internet of energy. You can view it in action right here. It's great fun to play around with. 

Screenshot of renewable energy flows in European region/Credit: Neo Carbon Energy

You might think this is just a lovely fantasy, but it's not. The worldwide and region-by-region visualizations are the result of extensive and detailed research. Christian Breyer and colleagues at Lappeenranta University of Technology (LUT), in Finland, analyzed exactly what it would take to provide 100% renewable electricity worldwide using the most appropriate and efficient regional mix of solar, wind, hydro, biomass and other sources of renewable energy, along with the needed resources for transmission and storage. 

Contrary to those who argue that we must continue to depend on fossil fuels, the researchers found that renewables can provide ample energy anywhere on Earth, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, conceivably by 2030.

The model was presented for the first time on November 4 at the World Clean Energy Conference in Geneva, Switzerland.

'The visualization shows exactly how a fully renewable electricity system operates. So let’s just build it,” urges chemical engineer Pasi Vainikka, a member of the research consortium. 

So far the group has only modeled a 100% renewable electrical system. Their next goal is to expand their work to include the entire energy system including heating, cooling and transportation. They also plan to map a feasible transition from our current unsustainable situation to a 100% sustainable future.

“Every country in the world has to find pathways to achieve the Paris agreement targets and to avoid stranded assets," says Breyer. "This model can provide the help for policy-makers, industrial decision-makers and societal stakeholders to do that."

It's do-able. Let's do it!

ARCTIC SEA ICE MELTDOWN--STRIKING 3D VISUALIZATION

The volume of arctic sea ice varies season by season and year by year. Unfortunately, the trend is clearly down, with current ice volume about one-quarter of what it was in 1980. That's not good news, since it's part of a vicious cycle of warming, melting and carbon dioxide release and that impacts the entire northern hemisphere.

NASA finds oldest and thickest Arctic sea ice is melting fastest

Credit: NASA Goddard

You can find more details plus a brilliant 3D visualization of the data -- thanks to physicist and climate expert Joe Romm andmulti-talented IT consultant Andy Lee Robinson -- at this URL.

The loss of Arctic sea ice cover does not only impact polar bears and Inuit communities. Scientists are becoming increasingly sure that a smaller temperature difference between the Arctic and the rest of the northern hemisphere makes for a much wobblier jet stream, which, ironically, can cause much colder winters, for example in the eastern U.S. and the U.K.

For another brilliant--and scary-visualization, check out Ed Hawkins' spiral map of global temperature change from 1850 to 2016. It's the most powerful anti-denial intervention I've ever come across.

Credit: Ed Hawkins