Will Melting Mammoth Poo Speed Up Climate Change?

by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 09.17.07

Science & Technology

Though they have been extinct for around ten thousand years, some scientists are now claiming that their remains — of the "organic" variety — are coming back to haunt us. Sergei Zimov, chief scientist at the Russian Academy of Science's North Eastern Scientific station, believes that layers of mammoth waste and organic matter once trapped within the Arctic tundra's permafrost are being lifted back from suspended animation by its thawing. This large amount of frozen dung — more so than many other sources of organic matter, he argues — will accelerate the onset of global warming.

According to Zimov, the thawing of the dung will lead to the reawakening of microbes that have been dormant for thousands of years. He is worried that their activity will prompt the large-scale emission of carbon dioxide and, more worryingly, methane, as by-products. In Yakutia, Siberia, the region of permafrost encompassing the layers of mammoth-era waste covers an area equivalent to the combined size of France and Germany. "The deposits of organic matter in these soils are so gigantic that they dwarf global oil reserves. Permafrost areas hold 500 billion tonnes of carbon, which can fast turn into greenhouse gases," Zimov claims.

While seemingly hard to believe, Julian Murton — a member of the International Permafrost Association — argues that Zimov's theory may not be too far off the mark. He explained that there is indeed "quite a bit of truth in it," and that the "methane and carbon dioxide levels will increase as a result of permafrost degradation." Indeed, a report recently issued by the UN noted the potential threat of the melting permafrost, stating that:

"Permafrost stores a lot of carbon, with upper permafrost layers estimated to contain more organic carbon than is currently contained in the atmosphere. Permafrost thawing results in the release of this carbon in the form of greenhouse gases which will have a positive feedback effect to global warming."

Only time will tell what effects the wide-scale thawing of tons of mammoth dung will ultimately have in intensifying the impact of global climate change. Zimov cautions that those living in surrounding areas should start taking notice as the domino effects of the melting permafrost would likely affect them within the next few years: "Siberia's landscape is changing. But in the end local problems of the north will inevitably turn into the problems of Russia's south, the Amazon region or Holland."

Via ::Reuters: Mammoth dung, prehistoric goo may speed warming (news website)

General Motors Plans 870 kW Solar Power Array

Sep 14 2007

General Motors says it is adding one of the largest solar power installations in corporate use in the U.S. to the roof of its Service and Parts Operations warehouse in Fontana, California. The 870 kW solar power array, that’s 1.3 million kilowatt hours of electricity a year, will provide about half of the electricity needed to run the facility and will feed enough extra electricity back to the grid to power over 300 California homes for a year.
The Fontana solar array will be installed on GM’s 300,000 square foot warehouse facility and will become operational in December. It joins a similar sized solar installation at another GM Service and Parts Operations warehouse in Rancho Cucamonga.

Constellation Energy will design, build, own, and operate the array. GM has a long-term contract with Constellation to purchase electricity generated from the system.

General Motors estimates that the solar array at its SPO facility in Fontana will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 355 metric tons each year, while reducing its electricity costs by about 10 percent a year.

Safeway To Install Solar Power Panels On 23 Stores

Sep 14 2007

Safeway plans to power 23 California stores with solar energy. The company installed solar panels atop a newly renovated Safeway Lifestyle store in Dublin, California and plans to extend the program to nearly two dozen stores as part of a broader renewable energy initiative.The Dublin store’s solar unit is currently generating electricity to power the 55,000-square-foot retail facility.

Solar equipment at the Dublin Safeway store and other planned locations will produce approximately 7,500 megawatt hours of electricity per year, enough to provide 20 percent of the stores’ average power usage and up to 48 percent of power usage during the peak hours. The entire Dublin Safeway facility utilizes renewable energy. The store’s on-site retail fuel station already is powered by wind energy.

The entire 23-store solar program will remove 10.4 million pounds of carbon dioxide from the air, the equivalent of taking 1,000 cars off the road annually or planting 4,000 acres of pine trees.

Safeway is one of the EPA’s Top 25 Green Power Partners.

There have been many announcements recently concerning solar installations at retail companies:

• Macy’s is installing solar power systems in 26 stores.
• Wal-Mart is purchasing as much as 20 million kWh of solar power, from BP Solar, SunEdison LLC, and PowerLight, a subsidiary of SunPower Corporation, for 22 combined Wal-Mart stores, Sam’s Clubs and a distribution center in Hawaii and California.
• Kohl’s is converting more than 75 percent of its department stores in California to solar power beginning in May.
• Target has installed solar panels on the roofs of four of its California stores and plans to install similar systems at 14 more locations later this year.
• BJ’s Wholesale Club has installed solar power systems on the rooftops of two Connecticut BJ’s Wholesale Clubs.
• Costco has installed its second solar-powered energy system at its Lake Elsinore, California warehouse and has announced four more systems in Hawaii and California.
• Staples recently unveiled the largest solar power installation in New England at its 300,000-square-foot retail distribution center in Killingly, Connecticut.
• Tesco, the fourth-largest retail chain in the world, is installing a $13 million solar roof on its five-building, 820,400-square-foot distribution center under construction in Riverside, California.
• Wal-Mart is already using solar power in its experimental stores.