Climate Change Coming to a Century Near You

Before I point to some articles from this past week, let me remind you of two events taking place at Portland State University on Monday and Tuesday evenings this week:

• This is Climate Change: A Conversation with Environmental Photojournalist Gary Braasch, Monday, 7 PM, Smith 296
• The Scientific Case for Human Influence on Global Climate, Tuesday, 7 PM, Smith 355

I plan to attend both events and can drive a limited number of Reedies to the event so let me know if you’re interested (alan@reed.edu). Climate change also popped up in last week’s Science and Nature magazines. Read this news brief ahead of the PSU event and you will be the most knowledgeable person in the room.

• Earth Warming Faster Than Expected (ScienceNow, 25 Mar 2012) – New climate simulations conducted the University of Oxford (UK) suggest that global average temperatures in 2050 will be 1.4-3.0 C higher than the global averages measured between 1961-1990. (The ScienceNow summary contains a link to Nature GeoScience where more details can be found.)
• Sustainable Materials: With Both Eyes Open, J.M. Allwood and J.M. Cullen (UIT Cambridge, Cambridge 2012) (reviewed in Science, 30 Mar 2012, Browsings). For all the well-deserved excitement about nanomaterials, far more stuff is made out of steel and aluminum and the production of these materials has huge environmental consequences. This new book considers the steel/aluminum problem from a number of angles.
• Fundamentals of Materials for Energy and Environmental Sustainability, D.S. Ginley and D. Cahen (Cambridge U Press, Cambridge, 2011) (reviewed in Science, 30 Mar 2012, Browsings). A new textbook that “provides a tour of all aspects related to energy production and usage along with the development of new materials for generating, storing, and transporting energy.”
• Bacterium in an electrochemical cell converts CO2 to fuel. (“Integrated Electromicrobial Conversion of CO2 to Higher Alcohols, H. Li et al., Science, 30 Mar 2012, p. 1596 Brevia) Wind and solar energy plants generate electricity, but only when the wind blows and the sun shines. How can electricity be stored? One solution is to use wind/solar to drive a chemical reaction, e.g., CO2 + H2O to Organic + O2, and then use the organic fuel when and where it is needed. These researchers describe how a genetically modified bacterium, Ralstonia eutropha H16, was grown in an electrochemical cell and how the bacterium used electrical current to drive the synthesis of different alcohols from CO2.
• Don’t Let the Bees Near Your Pesticide-coated Goodies (“Field Research on Bees Raises Concern About Low-Dose Pesticides”, Science, 30 Mar 2012, p. 1555, News&Analysis) Two new studies suggest that common “systemic” pesticides may harm bees. One study on bumble bees under “seminatural” conditions suggests that exposure to a pesticide leads to a dramatic loss in queen production and colony growth. A separate study on honey bees found that exposure to a pesticide substantially reduced the chances that a foraging bee would return to the hive.

The Scientific Case for Human Influence on Global Climate: Tuesday April 10, 7 PM, PSU Smith 355

For those of you who can’t make the Monday “This is Climate Change” slide show and conversation, you have a second chance to get over to PSU and learn about climate change. The event is called “The Scientific Case for Human Influence on Global Climate: What We Learn From Analyzing ALL The Evidence.” The event is free and open to the public and a large audience is anticipated. Please arrive early.

Tuesday, April 10th, 7-9 p.m.
Smith Memorial Student Union Grand Ballroom, Rm 355, Portland State University

This is Climate Change: Monday April 9, 7 PM, PSU Smith 296

The NW Friends of Union of Concerned Scientists and PSU are sponsoring a free event (complete with free Hot Lips pizza for early arrivals) called: This Climate Change: A Conversation with Environmental Photojournalist Gary Braasch. This is not to be missed.

7 PM, Monday, April 9th

PSU Smith Memorial Student Union Room 296

Stewart Brand, March 9, 7:30 in Kaul

Look who’s coming to Reed! Mark your calendar.

Stewart Brand
Lecture: “Green Biotech, Green Slums, Green Nukes, Green Geoengineering”

Wednesday, March 9, 2011
7:30 p.m., Kaul Auditorium

Stewart Brand, member of the TED Brain Trust, is cofounder of Global Business Network and president of the Long Now Foundation. He created and edited The Whole Earth Catalog and cofounded the Hackers Conference and The WELL. His books include The Clock of the Long Now; How Buildings Learn; The Media Lab; and Whole Earth Discipline: Why Dense Cities, Nuclear Power, Transgenic Crops, Restored Wildlands, and Geoengineering Are Necessary. Brand graduated in biology from Stanford and has served as an infantry officer. This lecture is sponsored by the Sun Grant Western Regional Center and the Reed College Environmental Studies Program.

This is event is free and open to the public. Join us!

Attend “Beyond Green Jobs: The Next American Economy”

The Oregon Humanities Center is hosting a lecture by Van Jones on, “Beyond Green Jobs: The Next American Economy,” on Monday, January 24, 2011 at 7:30 p.m. in the EMU Ballroom on the University of Oregon campus in Eugene, and on Tuesday, January 25, 2011 at 5:45 p.m. at the UO in Portland, White Stag Block (70 NW Couch Street).

As the founder of Green For All, a national organization working to get green jobs to disadvantaged communities, Van Jones was the main advocate for the Green Jobs Act, which George W. Bush signed into law in 2007. The Act was the first piece of federal legislation to codify the term “green jobs.” Under the Obama administration, it has resulted in $500 million for green job training nationally. Jones authored The Green-Collar Economy and served as the green jobs advisor in the Obama administration in 2009.

Jones’ talk is part of the Oregon Humanities Center’s “Sustenance” series—a year-long, campus-wide exploration of the things that sustain us and the earth in every sense: body, mind, and spirit. The series presents a wide array of lectures on topics ranging from spiritual wholeness to environmental justice.

Oregon Humanities Center lectures are free and open to the public. No tickets or reservations. The Eugene lecture will be followed by a book sale and signing. For disability accommodations, please call (541) 346-3934. View live streaming video of the Eugene lecture at ohc.uoregon.edu (feed begins at 7 p.m.) on Jan. 24th.

OMSI – Learn about the BP Oil Spill, M, Oct 4

Claire alerted us to this upcoming event at OMSI, the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (located on the Willamette River at the east end of the Hawthorne Bridge). It is free and open to the public and Claire plans to go. Email her or the Green Science list if you are interested in traveling together.

Date/Time: Monday, Oct. 4, 7 PM

What: Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Implications for our Oceans…and our Future

OMSI invites the community to learn more about the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and its implications for ocean ecosystems, communities, and future energy development. Panelists will discuss a recent scientific exploration led by the international marine conservation organization Oceana, as well as the role of policy and community development in energy production and the missing pieces that need to be put in place. Panelists include senior scientist and research chemist Dr. Jeffrey Short, spill response and policy expert Jim Ayers, environmental attorney Whit Sheard, and PDX 2 Gulf Coast Leader, Mike Rosen, Ph.D.

Learn more about the oil spill at ProPublica (“Journalism in the Public Interest”)

2010-11 Reading List

Will there be a Green Science Project in Fall 2010? You bet!

Although the weekly meeting time and agenda for the Project have not been set, Julie and I have been gathering together recently published ‘green science’ articles. We could discuss these. We could also rotate in films and podcasts into the mix. All we need are your suggestions and interest (send them to either alan@reed.edu or fry@reed.edu).

Possible readings for 2010-2011:

Drought-Induced Reduction in Global Terrestrial Net Primary Production from 2000 Through 2009

M. Zhao and S.W. Running, Science, 20 August 2010, 329, 940-3. Climate change will alter precipitation patterns world-wide. Does this mean climate change will trigger a reduction in ecosystem primary production?

Evolution of Organic Aerosols in the Atmosphere

J.L. Jimenez et al., Science, 11 December 2009, 326 1525-9.

New Opportunities for an Ancient Material

F.G. Omenetto et al, Science, 30 July 2010, 329, 528-31. Spiders and silkworms generate silk protein fibers that embody strength and beauty …

Putting Chemicals on a Path to Better Risk Assessment

Science, 7 August 2009, 325, 694-5. Industry and regulators are embracing new technologies to move beyond slow, expensive, and perplexing animal tests.

A New Wave of Chemical Regulations Just Ahead?

Science, 7 August 2009, 325, 692-3. The United States’s flagship law for controlling toxic compounds is ripe for overhaul …

Terrestrial Gross Carbon Dioxide Uptake: Global Distribution and Covariation with Climate

C. Beer et al., Science, 13 August 2010, 329, 834-8. Predicting the future of CO2 exchange between terrestrial vegetation and the atmosphere under climate change. This article is accompanied by a Perspective, “The Carbon Dioxide Exchange”, P.B. Reich, Science, 13 August 2010, 329, 774-5.

The Growing Human Footprint on Coastal and Open-Ocean Biogeochemistry

S.C. Doney, Science, 18 June 2010, 328: 1512-6. The title speaks for itself!

The Biofuels Landscape Through the Lens of Industrial Chemistry

P.A. Willems, Science, 7 August 2009, 325, 707-8. Replacing petroleum feedstock with biomass in the production of fuels and value-added chemicals carries considerable appeal …

Natural Gas from Shale Bursts onto the Scene

R.A. Kerr, Science, 25 June 2010, 328, 1624-6. New technologies have sparked a rush of drilling in the United States, but environmental concerns and economic unknowns could still keep shale gas from becoming a bridge to clean energy… (also see “Not Under My Backyard, Thank You“on p. 1625 about the hazards of “fracing”)

Scaling Up Alternative Energy

Science magazine published a special section on this topic in the 13 August 2010 issue. Links to all of the following articles (and a podcast) can be found by following the Scaling Up Alternative Energy link.

• Getting Better to Get Bigger. p 779 Scaling up alternative energy.
• Do We Have Energy for the Next Transition? p. 780-1 Past energy transitions to inherently attractive fossil fuels took half a century; moving the world to cleaner fuels could be harder and slower.
• Sending African Sunlight to Europe, Special Delivery. p. 782-3 Europe wants clean power. North Africa has lots of sun. Can Desertec move solar electricity across the Mediterranean Sea?
• Is There a Road Ahead for Cellulosic Ethanol? p. 784-5 After early optimism, alcohol brewed from farm and forest waste struggles to fulfill its promise as the next great biofuel.
• Energy’s Tricky Tradeoffs. p. 786-7 The world’s “energy problem” is in fact a slew of technological and sociological challenges involving the use of the land, water, and air we share.
• Out of Site. p. 788-9 Renewables like wind turbines are spreading fast, but can they survive complaints that they mar neighborhoods and threaten wildlife?
• Feedstocks for Lignocellulosic Biofuels. p. 790-2 In 2008 essentially all of the world’s biofuel production was based on food crops. What plants could serve as alternatives for biofuel production?
• Challenges in Scaling Up Biofuels Infrastructure. p. 793-6 Demand for lignocellulosic bioenergy is expected to grow rapidly. Is the supply chain infrastructure ready to meet demand?
• An Outlook on Microalgal Biofuels. p. 796-9 Microalgae are considered one of the most promising feedstocks for biofuels. What problems prevent their use? How far are we from obtaining fuel from microalgae?
• Generating the Option of a Two-Stage Nuclear Renaissance. p. 799-803 The authors describe a two-stage strategy for replacing fossil fuels with nuclear energy over the next 20-30 years.

In Feast of Data on BPA Plastic, No Final Answer

D. Grady, NY Times – Science, September 6, 2010. Conflicting studies continue to confuse our understanding of the hazards of BPA-containing plastic. In the meantime, lawmakers and interest groups continue to wrangle over what should be done to protect the public.

Trying to Measure Sustainability

A.H. Tullo, C&E News – Business, April 19, 2010. Studies that rank corporate sustainability performance are works in progress. Reports on attempts by several organizations to define and measure sustainability. Especially interesting is the group known as Sustainable Value Research which recently published a freely available study, “Sustainable Value Creation by Chemical Companies”.

IUPAC Green Chem conference to visit Ottawa this summer

The Third IUPAC International Conference on Green Chemistry (ICGC2010) is being held in Ottawa, Canada, August 15-18, 2010. The Canadian Green Chemistry and Engineering Network (CGCEN) and the Chemical Institute of Canada (CIC) extend a warm invitation to researchers, educators, business representatives and policy experts from around the world to hear and share the latest advances in green chemistry. In keeping with the theme of the conference, “The Road to Greener Industry”, industry researchers and representatives are particularly encouraged to attend.

Conference Topics

• Benign synthesis (catalysis, solvents, reagents)
• Green chemistry for energy production (hydrogen, fuel cell, greener energy production, fuels from biomass)
• Chemicals from renewables (chemicals from biomass, waste plastics, waste CO2)
• Green engineering (process intensification, energy savings, separations)
• Education in green chemistry and engineering
• Policy (corporate and government)

Plenary Lecturers

• Paul Anastas, Yale University, USA
• Brian Foody (IOGEN) (invited)
• The Honourable John Gerretsen (invited), Minister of the Environment, Ontario
• Hans-Peter Meyer, Biotechnology Research and Development, Lonza AG, Switzerland
• Bob Slater, Carleton University, Ontario, Coleman Bright & Associates, Canada

To learn more about the conference visit the website at www.icgc2010.ca.

Philip Jessop, Conference Chair, Queens University
France Rochette, Conference Vice Chair, DuPont Canada
CJ Li, Scientific Program Chair, McGill University

NW Green Science Events – May and June

It is summer time and that means scientists, educators, and students hunker down with colleagues to discuss issues of mutual interest. Green science is no exception and it is truly amazing to see what is (and will be) happening online and in Portland. Try to catch at least some of these events if you can.

Spring 2010 ConfChem: Educating the Next Generation: Green & Sustainable Chemistry

• This conference will highlight the incorporation of green and sustainable chemistry across the curriculum. The papers that have been posted to date all address introductory, general, and organic chemistry.
• online (no registration fee)
• papers & discussion posted online periodically throughout May and June, 2010

Greener Nano 2010: 5th Annual Greener Nanoscience Conference & Program Review: Reducing Principles to Practice

• “Nano EHS” has become a staple in just about every undertaking or conversation involving nanotechnology.  Are we making progress at this or merely having the same meetings again and again? Is the promise of nanomaterials innovation for energy, security, medicine and resource conservation/protecting being advanced or slowed down by all this attention? SNNI’s 5th annual conference will feature the latest developments in the design and production of greener nanomaterials, discuss and debate how to move the technology forward while developing environmentally sound products and processes, and focus on a few critical developments that will determine whether the U.S. will be a leader or a follower in this critical field.
• Historic White Stag Building, 70 NW Couch Street, Portland, Oregon
• June 16-18 (registration required; free half-day workshop on June 16 – see conference site for details)

Association for Environmental Studies & Sciences 2010 Conference: Many Shades of Green

• The theme “Many Shades of Green” reflects the growing diversity of the environmental movement and the spread of “green” thinking into new and more varied venues. A bewildering profusion of green ideas are working their way through global politics and discourse as new groups enter into –– and challenge –– the traditional environmental movement. The term “green” can itself mean many things: corporations may label themselves green by adopting energy conservation, “carbon-friendly” products, and recycling/reuse strategies, while individuals and organizations may embrace widely differing green principles, ranging from eco-consumerism to eco-spirituality to eco-anarchism. Debates over technology, population, politics, equity, and regulation increasingly divide not just pro- and anti-greens, but greens themselves. We welcome proposals that engage with this proliferation of difference, contention and innovation in green rhetoric and practice.
• Lewis & Clark College, Portland, Oregon
• June 17-20 (registration required, but student registration is only $100 for entire conference – see conference site for details)

Growing Green Chemistry in Oregon

• The use of hazardous chemicals derived from non-renewable feedstocks creates significant challenges for organizations. Some of the solutions to these challenges begin in Oregon. // Oregon Environmental Council and Zero Waste Alliance are co-hosting three engaging speakers to discuss innovation through the use of green chemistry in Oregon.
• University of Oregon White Stag Building, 70 NW Couch Street, Portland, Oregon
• 9 AM – 12 PM, June 30 ($35 registration includes refreshments – see conference site for details)

Help Plan a Green Summer

10 more days of classes, another week of final exams, and maybe even a graduation ceremony, still to go. Summer sure seems like a long ways off, but that doesn’t mean we can’t start planning.

Do you have any green plans for your summer? Maybe you’ll be involved with a research project? Or working for a business or lab that operates in an environmentally-sensitive manner? Or checking out green projects in your home town? Maybe you’ll be teaching a cousin how to ride a bicycle or growing vegetables in your yard? Perhaps you have some green books or articles or movies that you’ve been saving for summer? Whatever your green plans are, share your ideas with me by emailing Alan (or add a comment to this post).

I’ll list all of the ideas that I receive here. Just to get the ball rolling, I’ll list a couple of things that I know I will be doing. (FYI – if your plans are the same as mine, PLEASE share them. I’d like to see which activities are the most popular.)

Plans for a Green Summer

• Shopping at a farmer’s market – Alan
• Getting out of my car and on to my bicycle – Alan
• Reading “Small is Beautiful: Economics As If People Mattered” by E.F. Schumacher – Alan
• Replacing our kitchen’s floor (contains asbestos) with a bamboo floor – Alan
• Growing (some of) my own vegetables - Alan