What climate science tells us, what it doesn’t & why it matters

Thus an interesting experiment will be his and other Democrats’ response to a book by Steven Koonin, who was chief scientist of the Obama Energy Department. Mr. Koonin argues not against current climate science but that what the media and politicians and activists say about climate science has drifted so far out of touch with the actual science as to be absurdly, demonstrably false.…

Companies announce world’s first CO2-free gas plants

Unlike at a conventional natural gas plant, the energy startup’s technology burns natural gas with pure oxygen, instead of the air, only producing carbon dioxide and water as byproducts. Most of the CO2 is reused as part of Net Power’s four-step cycle, with the excess CO2 captured and “pipeline ready” for underground storage.…

Deconstructing Wilde and Mulholland’s Analysis of Earth’s Energy Budget

Unfortunately, I expect that it is impossible to say, a priori, what the energy recycling fraction β of an atmosphere will be. I believe it is an emergent property of the system as a whole. It can only be computed after the fact, after one has accurately modeled or measured the thermal behavior of the atmosphere.…

Atmospheric Energy Recycling

Yet, a simple model like what I’ve shared here can help illustrate general mechanisms, and clarify some otherwise mystifying phenomenon. These simple models explain things like how back-radiation fluxes can be larger than the absorbed solar flux, and how more atmospheric radiation can reach the surface than reaches space.…