Figure 1. (a) Cost-carbon space for light-duty vehicles, assuming a 14 year lifetime, 12 100 miles driven annually, and an 8% discount rate. Data points show the most popular internal-combustion-engine vehicles (ICEVs; including standard, diesel, and E85 corn-ethanol combustion), hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), and battery electric vehicles (BEVs) in 2014, as well as one of the first fully commercial fuel-cell vehicles (FCVs). For most models, the most affordable trim is analyzed. For models that are offered with different powertrain technologies, the trims are adjusted to match feature sets. The shaded areas are a visual approximation of the space covered by these models. The emission intensity of electricity used assumes the average U.S. electricity mix (623 gCO2eq/kWh). The FCV is modeled for hydrogen produced either by electrolysis or by steam methane reforming. Horizontal dotted lines indicate GHG emission targets in 2030, 2040, and 2050 intended to be consistent with holding global warming below 2 °C. Panel b shows the same as panel a but for upfront vehicle prices only, based on MSRPs. (c–f) Comparisons of different powertrain technologies used in the same car models ("conventional" powertrains include gasoline and diesel combustion engines). Because trims of these comparisons are harmonized, some models (mostly ICEVs) would be available in more affordable versions with fewer features. For PHEVs and BEVs, the impact of the federal tax refund is also shown. Costs are given in 2014 U.S. dollars.

The transportation sector accounts for 28% of U.S. greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through vehicle fuel combustion, and 13% worldwide.(1, 2) Light-duty vehicles (LDVs), which are defined by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as passenger cars and light trucks with 12 seats or fewer and a gross vehicle weight rating below 8500 lbs (10 000 lbs for SUVs and passenger vans),(3) contribute about 61% of emissions from the U.S. transportation sector.(2) LDVs are therefore a crucial element of any comprehensive strategy to reduce U.S. and global GHG emissions, particularly under growing transportation demands.(1, 4-6)...

...Here, we address two missing elements in the literature by both reflecting the diversity of personal vehicle models available to consumers and assessing these options against climate change mitigation targets. When comparing personal vehicles against climate targets, it is important to understand the wide range of models available for purchase because consumer choices are defined by this available set.

In particular, we focus on the trade-offs between costs and emissions that consumers face in selecting a vehicle model. Although cost is not the sole influence on consumer purchasing decisions,(26-31) low-carbon vehicles will only achieve a dominant market share if they are affordable to a majority of the driving population. (Our proxy for affordability is the relative cost of low-carbon vehicles versus popular, conventional vehicles on the market.) Here, we address these issues by examining a comprehensive set of 125 vehicle models on sale today, covering all prominent powertrain technology options: internal-combustion-engine vehicles (ICEVs); hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs); plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs); and battery electric vehicles (BEVs). Our analysis also includes the 2016 Toyota Mirai, one of the first commercially available fuel-cell vehicles (FCVs).

We evaluate vehicle models on a cost-carbon plot(32) to answer the overarching questions: How do the costs and carbon intensities of vehicle models compare across the full diversity of today’s LDV market, and what is the potential for various LDV technologies to close the gap between the current fleet and future GHG emission targets? Specifically, we ask: Do consumers face a cost-carbon trade-off today? Which models, if any, meet 2030 GHG emissions reduction targets? Finally, in the longer term, which vehicle technologies would enable emissions targets for 2040 and 2050, designed around a 2 °C limit, to be met? What role can advancements in the carbon intensity of electricity generation, powertrain efficiencies, and production pathways for liquid fuels play? The insights and choices identified in this study may be of interest to car owners, cars manufacturers, and transportation policymakers alike.

The carbon intensity of electricity is modeled as the average U.S. mix, including emissions from infrastructure construction (623 gCO2eq/kWh). We use a consistent lifetime of 169 400 miles (272 600 km) for all vehicle types, corresponding to the approximate averages for LDVs in the U.S.(41) Other GREET parameters are left at their defaults

The costs of ownership are calculated as the present value of the costs of purchasing the vehicle, paying for fuel and electricity, tire replacements, and regular maintenance, and are presented in 2014 U.S. dollars. As with the calculation of GHG emissions, we assume that each vehicle is driven a total distance of 169 400 miles at 12 100 miles (19 470 km) per year for 14 years of ownership.

Figure 2. Sales-weighted averages by vehicle class, size, and technology of (a) GHG emissions and (b) costs for the data shown in Figure 1. The shaded bars represent the averages when the most affordable trim is analyzed, as in Figure 1. The error bars represent the averages when analyzing the trim with the worst fuel economy for each model (only ICEVs have trims with substantially different fuel economies for each model). The numbers in brackets represent the number of vehicle models considered for each group. SUV = sport utility vehicle; Trck = pickup truck; Sprt = sports car.

Human hair (HH) is a complex tissue that consists of proteins, lipids, water and pigments in which proteins of hard fibrous type known as keratin are largely present (67–88%).(1) Unlike other biomaterials, structural morphology of HH-tissue is highly unique and it is nearly impossible to mimic the structure. HH-derived biomaterials have been employed in biomedical applications.(2) Walter et al.(3) utilized HH fiber as a reactor/medium for the controlled synthesis of fluorescent Ag nanoparticles. PbS nanocrystals were also formed within the HH-matrix during blacking.(4) They found that the shape and distribution of nanoparticles are controllable. In spite of these advantages and availability, the HH is often considered as biowaste.(5) Proteins in HH are heteroatom (O, N and S) rich condensation polymers of amino acid. Chemical and physical integrity of the HH units are extremely good respectively due to the presence of cystine group (-s-s- bonds) and cortex.(6) In addition, the keratin of HH is one of the highly insoluble fibrous-proteins in most of the organic solvents.(1-6) Fiber structure and the presence of heteroatom are also interesting points to be noted. Considering its unique physical and chemical properties, we assumed that the human hair would be a suitable candidate for the immobilization of catalytic metal nanoparticles (NPs). Besides, we expected that HH would overcome the drawbacks of common supports (silica, alumina, carbon materials and polymers). In general, the catalyst support provides a platform for NPs to have a much larger number of active atoms on the surface.(7) Nanocellulose,(8) wool-keratine,(9) chitosan,(10) natural pumice,(11) mycelial,(12) Gram-negative bacteria and Gram-positive bacteria(13) are some of the green supports reported to date. However, most of the common supports are moderately expensive, difficult to prepare, toxic and environmentally nonfriendly. In addition, hydrophobic nature of the common supports (carbon nanomaterials including biomass-derived activated carbons) often limits metal–support interaction which leads the further growth and aggregation of NPs.(14, 15) To overcome this issue, additional surface modifications are necessary for the supports prior to the immobilization of NPs.(16) Moreover, to control the NPs size and morphology of catalysts, surfactants are often used.(17) Expensive and hazardous acid treatments (H2SO4/HNO3 or HCl) have been performed for carbon materials to make them suitable as supports for decoration of metal NPs.(18) Similarly, the surface of cellulose nanofiber was modified with anionic groups to obtain better morphology of NPs-supported cellulose catalysts.(19) Notably, obtaining better morphology of green catalysts at high metal loading is also a highly challenging task.(20, 21) Considerable effort has been devoted to develop green and sustainable protocols for the preparation of nanomaterials by R. S. Varma.(22, 23) According to Joo et al.,(24) a good support must have strong interaction with foreign elements and have strong influence on the morphology and better activity of the targeted composites. Noble metals including Au and Ag are generally inactive in the bulk form, whereas, the Au and Ag NPs with diameter of few nanometers are highly efficient. In addition, synergistic effects between metals (Au or Ag NPs and other foreign metals) may also improve the activity of Au and Ag NPs. We postulate that the polymetallic nature of HH would enhance the activity of Ag and Au NPs. To our delight, this is the first investigation on human hair-supported Au and Ag catalysts reported for organic transformations.

The great climate scientist Jim Hansen has published in the primary scientific literature a paper with something called scientific references, data that shows that nuclear energy 1.8 million lives. (Environ. Sci. Technol., 2013, 47 (9), pp 4889–4895) Hansen shows that were it not for fear and ignorance, nuclear energy might save 10 million lives more, with just a minor tech.

It follows that anti-nukes are not merely enemies of the people, they are murderers, pure and simple, murderers whose weapons are fear and ignorance.

Have a nice of evening.

...A point of interest is the passing of 400 ppm in the Mauna Loa record. Although there is nothing physically significant about this concentration, it has recently become an iconic milestone in popular discourse regarding the ongoing rise in atmospheric CO2 (for example, ref. 15). In the last two years, CO2 has fluctuated around 400 ppm through the annual cycle, which has amplitude of approximately 6–7 ppm at Mauna Loa. 2014 was the first year that monthly CO2 concentrations rose above 400 ppm, and in 2015 the annual mean concentration has passed 400 ppm for the first time, but the monthly mean concentration fell back below 400 ppm for three months at the end of the boreal summer, reaching a monthly mean of 397.50 ppm in September. Adding the recent mean growth rate of 2.1 ppm yr?1 to this value would suggest a 2016 September concentration of 399.60 ppm. However, on the basis of the observed and forecast Niño 3.4 SSTs as of November 2015, we predict a Mauna Loa CO2 concentration in September 2016 of 401.48 ± 0.53 ppm (Fig. 3)...

...In the longer term, a reduction in CO2 concentration would require substantial and sustained cuts in anthropogenic emissions to near zero. Even the lowest emissions/concentrations scenario assessed in the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report projects CO2 concentrations to remain above 400 ppm until 2150. This scenario, RCP2.621, is considered amongst the lowest credible emissions scenario, and relies on assumed development of 'negative emissions' methods whose potential is considered limited22. Indeed some argue that RCP2.6 is now beyond reach without radical changes in global society23. Hence our forecast supports the suggestion24 that the Mauna Loa record will never again show CO2 concentrations below the symbolic 400 ppm within our lifetimes.

For the first time in recorded history, the weekly year to year comparisons at the Mauna Loa carbon dioxide observatory have exceeded a 5.00 ppm increase over levels a year ago.

On July 31, 2016, the concentration of carbon dioxide at Mauna Loa was 403.47 ppm; one year ago it was 398.43 ppm.

Mauna Loa Weekly Trends, accessed Aug 7, 2016

During summers in the Northern Hemisphere, carbon dioxide levels fall slightly from the peaks usually observed in April or May; the minimums usually occur in September. The 2016 max, observed during the week ending on April 10, 2016 was 408.31 ppm.

All of humanity's efforts to address climate change have failed. This includes all the, rhetoric, charts and graphs about the "triumph" of so called "renewable energy" on which we bet, foolishly as it turns out, our planet's atmosphere.

The long-term rise in atmospheric CO2 concentration, approximately 2.1 ppm yr?1 over the past decade, is caused by anthropogenic emissions arising from fossil fuel burning, deforestation and cement production1, 2. The annual growth rate, however, varies considerably as a result of climate variability affecting the relative strength of land and ocean carbon sources and sinks. The annual growth rate measured at Mauna Loa, Hawaii3, 4 is correlated with the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO), with more rapid growth associated with El Niño events5, 6, 7, 8, 9 through drying of tropical land regions and forest fires. To test the predictive value of this relationship, we present a forecast, made in October 2015, of the CO2 concentrations throughout 2016 based on the relationship, and verify against observations available so far. We predict the monthly mean CO2 concentration at Mauna Loa to remain above 400 ppm even in its annual minimum in September, which would not have been expected without the 2015–2016 El Niño...

Historically there have been markedly large annual CO2 growth rates in El Niño years (Fig. 1), probably due to warming and drying of tropical land areas resulting in reduced carbon uptake by vegetation growth, increased carbon release by fire and drought-induced tree mortality. In 1997, dry conditions in Indonesia and Malaysia allowed human-ignited fires to escape control and ignite carbon-rich peatlands, which continued to burn for some months. An estimated 0.81 to 2.57 GtC were emitted to the atmosphere as a result11, equivalent to 13–40% of global annual mean carbon emissions from fossil fuels at that time and hence a substantial contribution to the anomalously large CO2 growth rate that year12. During La Niña events, when the equatorial Pacific is colder than average, the annual CO2 growth rate is slower.

The recent El Niño, now in its declining phase, was comparable with the 1997–1998 event in some respects. Although maximum SSTs were cooler in the eastern tropical Pacific, the Niño 3.4 index was 2.6 ± 0.30 °C over November 2015 to January 2016 (larger than November 1997 to January 1998) and most tropical land regions were again anomalously dry. Once again, drought conditions allowed human-caused fires in Indonesia to burn large areas. Estimates for 2015 suggest that the total greenhouse gas emissions from these fires is equivalent to 0.4 GtC, with large uncertainty — less than those in 1997 13, but still larger than for non-El Niño years.

...A point of interest is the passing of 400 ppm in the Mauna Loa record. Although there is nothing physically significant about this concentration, it has recently become an iconic milestone in popular discourse regarding the ongoing rise in atmospheric CO2 (for example, ref. 15). In the last two years, CO2 has fluctuated around 400 ppm through the annual cycle, which has amplitude of approximately 6–7 ppm at Mauna Loa. 2014 was the first year that monthly CO2 concentrations rose above 400 ppm, and in 2015 the annual mean concentration has passed 400 ppm for the first time, but the monthly mean concentration fell back below 400 ppm for three months at the end of the boreal summer, reaching a monthly mean of 397.50 ppm in September. Adding the recent mean growth rate of 2.1 ppm yr?1 to this value would suggest a 2016 September concentration of 399.60 ppm. However, on the basis of the observed and forecast Niño 3.4 SSTs as of November 2015, we predict a Mauna Loa CO2 concentration in September 2016 of 401.48 ± 0.53 ppm (Fig. 3)...

With the growth rate expected to reduce again after the El Niño, could the annual minimum CO2 concentration fall back below 400 ppm again next year or further in the future? This is exceptionally unlikely. In the instrumental record that covers the last half-century, annual growth rate has always been positive as a result of ongoing anthropogenic emissions, and the amplitude of the seasonal cycle has not varied substantially. Both the annual mean and September minimum CO2 concentrations have therefore increased year on year. This was the case even in years with large La Niña events or major volcanic eruptions that temporarily caused cooling and greater net uptake of CO2 by the biosphere, resulting in smaller, but still positive growth (Fig. 1a). For example, in the large La Niña in 1999–2000, the growth rate remained above 1ppm yr?1. Unless a very large volcanic eruption injects substantial quantities of aerosol into the stratosphere, we would expect concentrations continue to rise further above 400 ppm in the next few years.

In the longer term, a reduction in CO2 concentration would require substantial and sustained cuts in anthropogenic emissions to near zero. Even the lowest emissions/concentrations scenario assessed in the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report projects CO2 concentrations to remain above 400 ppm until 2150. This scenario, RCP2.621, is considered amongst the lowest credible emissions scenario, and relies on assumed development of 'negative emissions' methods whose potential is considered limited22. Indeed some argue that RCP2.6 is now beyond reach without radical changes in global society23. Hence our forecast supports the suggestion24 that the Mauna Loa record will never again show CO2 concentrations below the symbolic 400 ppm within our lifetimes.

The first solar cell was invented at Bell Laboratories in 1954. After the energy crisis of the 1970s, the products of solar cells started to be used in civilian fields. Converting the energy of sunlight into an easily usable form is one of the most attractive solutions to the shortage of fossil energy.(1) Photovoltaic energy has been known as the cleanest energy in the 21st century. With the rapidly expanding of photovoltaic market, the output of solar cells is growing by about 28.14% a year in China.(2) The solar cells have been widely used in transportation, communications, space, and other fields. Crystalline silicon has become an important and dominant semiconductor material in most of solar cells.(3) Apart from Si wafer-based module, gallium arsenide (GaAs) which is a compound semiconductor has been used for decades to make ultrahigh-efficiency solar cells because of its advantages, including their high photoelectric conversion efficiency and excellent antiradiation performance.(4, 5)...

...Gallium, as an important strategic resource, has been categorized as one of 14 mineral resources by the European Commission in extreme shortage.(11) The world reserve of gallium has been estimated to be 18 000 tones, which is merely one tenth of gold.(12) In nature, gallium has no ores of its own at all; rather it occurs in trace and minor amounts in various associated minerals types, such as bauxite, zinc, tin, and tungsten ores.(13, 14) Hence, it has led to strong interest for recovery of gallium from wastes. At present, various researches have been developed to recycle gallium. Technologies include acid leaching,(15) organic solvent,(16, 17) chemical precipitation, electrochemistry,(18, 19) and supercritical extraction(20) etc. I.M. Ahmed(21) proposed extracting method by Cyanex 923 (a mixture of four trialkylphosphine oxides) and Cyanex 925 (bis(2,4,4-trimethylpentyl) octylphosphine oxide) in kerosene from hydrochloric acid medium to recycle Ga(III). Although these studies have focused on recycling gallium resource, environmental improvement are still challenging due to limitations on using large volume of acid/alkali/organic reagent with high concentration.

The effect of temperature on the organic conversion rate was investigated in the range from 573 to 1073 K at 0.5 L/min N2 flow rate lasting 30 min. It could be seen from Figure 6(a) that the organic conversion rate was low when temperature was 573 and 623 K, which was 19.61% and 36.02%, respectively. But when temperature reached 673 K, the organic conversion rate sharply increased and exceeded 98%. With the temperature over 773 K, the organic conversion rate reached approximately 100%. It indicated that the pyrolysis temperature of plastic components was 773 K. We analyzed the organic components of oil products from 773 to 1073 K. The results were summarized graphically in Figure 7(a). We found that the organic components of oil and gas products had obvious changes with the increasing of temperature. When the temperature reached 773 K, alkanes and olefins were main organic components in the oil products. But, some naphthenes, acetophenone, and methyl naphthalene, etc. began to be detected in pyrolysis oil products with the temperature rising to 873 K. When the temperature arrived 973 and 1073 K, anthracene, phenanthrene, and homologues of benzene were main components of pyrolysis oil products. For pyrolysis gas products from panel materials (as shown in Figure 7(b)), benzene rapidly increased with increasing of temperature. But, components of gas products were not change. Therefore, the temperature of pyrolysis should be controlled under the condition of 773 K.

he effect of temperature on the recovery efficiency of gallium was investigated in the range from 973 to 1273 K, maintaining system pressure of 1 Pa and reaction time of 40 min. As shown in Figure 9(a), the recovery efficiency of gallium increased sharply with an increase of temperature from 973 to 1023 K. The recovery efficiency reached 60.9% when the temperature was 1023 K, and then its rise began to slow. The recovery efficiency of gallium increased to 76.4% with the temperatures reached 1273 K. Figure 9(b) showed the theoretical and experimental evaporation rate of Ga particles. In theory, the evaporation rate of gallium should be increased with the increase of temperature, according to Langmuir-Knudsen eq (eq 3). However, the evaporation rate has not changed in our experiment. The experimental evaporation rate of Ga presented nearly linear relationship with temperature, which was range from 5.64 × 10–5 to 2.12 × 10–4. Its explanation may be that on the one hand, first, the decomposition reaction of GaAs is happened, which needed a high temperature and then metallic gallium can volatilize.