Two really small solar panels can power an entire home! The unstoppable future of solar power.

I've always wondered how many PV solar panels it would take to power an entire home. I usually see about 20 large panels on homes that claim to generate all their power needs, but all that can change with technology that is already in use in space since the early days of satellites. In space satellites are powered by PV panels that use gallium arsenide but on our roof tops silicone PV cells are used which are less efficient. The satellites are able to convert 40% of the sun's energy for its use while the silicone PV can convert 20% of the sun's energy to electricity at best. However gallium arsenide PVs are so expensive that its still out of reach in the burgeoning solar economy. But with changing times and the drive for clean energy becoming more entrenched in the world's politics and economy gallium arsenide cells will be scalable and affordable for centralised green power plants as the economy of scale powers into solar power.  Watch this documentary on super solar cells and the amazing research they are doing in Australia.

The video below done by VPRO channel in the Netherlands published in 2012. Its about Germany's success in powering with solar. We can all do it too if we can make our governments care enough for our future. It proves the cons of going green wrong. One of the biggest challenge against green power is that too much space is needed to produce the energy a country needs. But when it comes down to real math estimates it takes about 300,000 square kilometres in the Sahara to power man's entire electrical needs. That's about the size of France, which is relatively small considering that panels can be mounted on roof tops of all the buildings in the world. Also the technology is advancing with time on the output efficiency and size factor as seen in the previous video. 

The Curious Case of Idiocracy

Have you seen the movie Idiocracy. Its a satirical comedy that came out in 2006 about a futuristic USA when its president is a world wrestling champion who talks about nothing but thumping his enemies and the US has a big problem because they can go no crops at all. For years the land had turned infertile and US is poor because they have to import all their food. It turns out that a huge conglomerate corporation runs the show and has been feeding the idea that drinking water is unhealthy. Water it seems is only good for flushing the toilet and for everything else from drinking to watering farmland the corporation sells a green soda–and the US population has been dumbed down enough by the corporation to believe them. Its an awesome film and I am sure its authors thought it up by taking the US political right's policies through a major hyperbole.

So when I read about Donald Trump's campaign I think....ahh! Idiocracy. The apathetic and the apprehensive have a voice now. I liken Trump to a bragging wrestling ring master and his followers are his fan base who like to hear it raw. "Punch 'em in the face", "take 'em out in a stretcher"–thats what you do to those who disagree with you and that's Trumps answer to all questions about how he is going to make America great again. And someone needs to tell The Donald that being politically incorrect doesn't mean you have a free hand at throwing around insults but who's to tell an old silver spoon what he can or cannot do.

I am enjoying reading all the commentary on The Donald's stage antics and the sheer panic that is gripping the Republican Party leadership. I am for a world future with less wars and action to thwart climate change so I am for Trump becoming the eventual nominee of his party because two things the GOP leadership and Trump have in common is they don't believe in the long road of diplomacy in problem solving nor climate change and one thing is most likely–The Donald will lose to either Hillary or Sanders.  The US is still the most influential country in the world so we are far from ready to have to put up with an 'idiocratic' US.

Elon Musk's Solar City is rattling fossil fuel power producers

Warren Buffet is a billionaire philanthropist. He is one of the few billionaires, like Elon Musk and Bill Gates who exemplify the concept–that with great wealth or power comes great responsibility. When rich people are humbled by their own wealth and see the need to use the resources to be of help to the community that rich person becomes a boon to their society. Warren Buffet is such a person. Unfortunately he doesn't give a hoot about climate change. His coal fired power company that supplies Nevada has moved to edge out Solar City's innovative and popular solar panel lease that has made installing home roof top PV panels a synch. People were happy and were saving a bundle because green power was reducing their power bills by a whooping 80-90%.

GO GREEN! Right.....with the exception of the power plant which in the beginning was cooperative with the power sharing plan. Warren Buffet who owns the power plant started throwing his weight around in Nevada to charge tariffs on solar producers for using their grid. The state agreed with him and the new rates make it impossible for home solar producers to hold on to their savings. Overnight from making money they started losing money with solar panels.

In this instance it seems for now the coal power monopoly has won but it underscores some victories for green power. First of all that green power is viable to set up financially and if the political environment is friendly consumers gain far more than using fossil fuel power. In other words going green has been conclusively proven to be cheaper than fossil fuels. Secondly this news heralds what I call the Green Power Revolution. The Green Power Revolution puts the ability to produce electricity in the hands of the consumer. This spells trouble for power producers who are unable to compete with green power, thus the revolution. This scenario in Nevada is a representation of the revolution initiating. It is the beginning of the end of fossil fuel power plants in places where solar power is viable. In time it will spread to the rest of the world–hopefully it won't take so much time.

Greenland is opening up to a new future

More land is getting exposed in Greenland as a hundred millennia years old ice cover is lost to higher than average temperatures. According to this video at the current rate of melt it would take a thousand years before Greenland loses all of its ice. 1000 years is a long time to plan for and one might think–phew! (wipe brow) no big deal, but remember that there are already nations with thousands of people who are in trouble from a rising sea. Climate change deniers should put their money where it counts and invest in coastal cities not very high from sea level. There are many such cities all over the world or just go ahead and invest in a beach front property, but do that only after visiting the Maldives or Kiribati or Tuvalu.

Our planet is getting hotter incrementally year by year, anecdotal experience alone can confirm that. Human activity can be linked to this because there is no other natural phenomenon that can as yet be identified to cause such rapid increase in global pre-industrial temperature average. At this point the threat of climate change to humanity should be measured in decades not centuries. For most of us climate change is still a bearable nuisance but every decade of the 21st century is going to present new and disturbing even dangerous scenarios. Its is better to be vary of climate change than to ignorantly dismiss it as a hoax to escape taking personal responsibility on the state of Mother Earth. At this point waste and excess is dangerous. Anyway even if there are still many climate change deniers out there remember that it is still for all our betterment to live in a less polluted planet

US dithering between 'Hope and Change' and 'Fear and Change'

I was in Kasi (Benares), India to experience India's Ganga river culture when the news broke that Barack Obama had won the 2008 Presidential elections. I was a Malaysian in India, yet not only me but many Indians around the television set in the reception of the hotel cheered the news. The US has a place in the hearts and minds of people in other countries courtesy of US dominance in its foreign affairs which is not only limited to war mongering. For one thing the US is often the first country to offer assistance to any country struck by massive disaster. They also share a lot of scientific information from NASA's data obtained from satellites to critical intelligence with governments and Hollywood, Apple, Intel, pop stars, pizza, McDonalds, Starbucks and all the other good stuff. Even people who hate America actually have a love-hate relationship with the country. Given the chance to migrate to the Land of Opportunity, most would jump ship in a heartbeat.

I lived in the US for 11 years through all the 90's, leaving a few months after tragic 9/11. I was in a Hindu church in Hawaii where I volunteered my time and effort as a religious worker–legally of course. During that time I got interested in US politics. US politics was refreshing because Malaysian politics was as drab as a downcast saturday. In Malaysia politicians are an august group who are above criticism. You cannot highlight gaffes or use satire make fun of politicians and their antics. In other words no commentary on Malaysian politics is allowed unless 'officially' sanctioned / censored. Very boring. Of course nowadays the internet has changed all that somewhat, but still libel laws against 'unofficial' reporters, read bloggers, webmasters, you tubers etc., have been flying causing some to self-exile themselves from the country. Malaysia is still very feudal where authorities demand respect from the lay person and the mindset to professionally question and criticise politicians is still frowned upon. There should be no comedy in Malaysia's politics, its a serious business–too serious.

When Bill Clinton became President there was a lot of intelligent discourse and his drive to make US a tech giant through Silicone Valley and the internet was futuristic and hopeful. Then this man got dragged into the mud with his antics in the White House. The President of the US got caught like a high-schooler getting caught by his parents on a fib. He almost got impeached and it taught me that in the US its President is a regular joe. No hold barred, if he does something embarrassing you can hang him with it. Then 'Baby Bush' became President of the US and played with its army, jet planes and aircraft carriers like a toddler playing with his toys. Where ever he could have a war he made sure he had one and in all of that melee the US economy exploded. Collateral damage I guess.

For us outside the US the Bush Presidency meant higher cost of living because of spiking oil prices, souring investments in the US–especially when AIA crashed–and a climate of uncertainty as Al Qaeda continued its bombing spree outside of the US. So when 'Greek God' Barack Obama came to fore to challenge the Bush legacy we were all cheers. The Clintonian times of intelligent discourse was back with a super 2.0 upgrade that was eight years in the making. Obama was a master at dispensing hope just as The Donald is a master at dispensing fear.

I think Obama is among the most effective modern Presidents the US ever had and I share much of my perspectives with the likes of John Stewart and Bill Maher–which is "Phew! A thinking man." However many people I know in Malaysia too call Obama a lame duck President. Why? Simply because he didn't go to war in Syria or Iran or Egypt! Obama is a diplomat thru and thru and he wasn't afraid to go down that path even if it made Israel's Netanyahu mad. So he brokered a peace deal with Iran that is already eroding Iran's 'evil America philosophy'. Obama also stayed away from interfering in in Egypt during the Arab Spring uprisings that saved another war and he kept his cool not committing to an all out war in Syria. So what is is like now for us outside the US? Well the price of oil is down and despite the commodities crash the economy is still able to weather shocks. We still have a global terror menace, but no matter what you do so long as there are powerful guns and RPG's available in the open market there will always be a nut-case who can rise and try to pick a fight with America, though under Obama and I hope Clinton it won't be so easy.

I am sure Hilary will be the next President of the US and I hope she maintains what Obama has done, especially in continuing to deescalate situations with diplomacy. Obama should be praised as a man of peace. The world doesn't want a US President Trump bungling around with his megalomaniac tantrums. Even if he is going to win the Republican primaries fortunately he will lose the run for Presidency because he is neither a woman nor a baby-face and there is not a damn thing he can do about those. I can just imagine Trump in a debate with Hilary saying...look I can be a woman if I wanted to. I will be the most AMAZING woman in the world–TRUMP 2016. As for 'Mr. Burns' Cruz, lets just let a yelping dog yelp.

Zone out with diving in Bali

Wow. Amazing videos of Bali underwater scuba dives. I was looking for coral scenes that I might find on Youtube and found Bubble Vision's diving in Bali in HD. As far as I heard Bali is not know much for its diving. Beaches, surfing and culture–yes. For the most part I was told most of Bali's beaches are made from volcanic rubble that don't support much coral growth so for diving most people get on an outrigger and head to Raja Ampat. However Bubble Vision has changed that for me so now I am slotting diving in Bali as one of my must do's.

The video does show the sea bed filled with grey to brown-black volcanic rubble that creates more darkness in the clear waters than white coral sand but the volcanic greys tone the landscape with a surreal light. Very mystifying. With coral gardens jutting out here and there, flat grey sand plains creates wonderful contrasts with colourful fish, nudibranchs and coral. There are seabed plains filled with garden eels and amazing micro videos on very small fish and shrimp. You will see more species of animals in this video than you can identify. There is no narration to the video which is welcome so you can enjoy the sights leisurely and its accompanying music track–electro lounge is apt.

Check out the description of the dives which is comprehensive. The dive sites are at Tulamben, Padangbai and Pura Jepun in Bali proper and in Nusa Penida, an island off Bali.

Synopsis Version

One hour long of wonderful nature

The videos are compiled from 2009 to 2011 from the description. I am keeping my fingers crossed that I can see these places before climate change takes its toll on them or better still lets work to preserve these places. Stop climate change.

Heatwave advisory in effect in Malaysia, El Nino is blamed but no mention of climate change

The Malaysian government has created a new committee in the Education Ministry to monitor temperature conditions in the country. If the maximum temperature during the day exceeds 37ºC for 3 days straight they have the authority to shut schools and cancel outdoor activity. The heatwave has been hitting headlines for the last few weeks and on March 18 the seriousness of the weather came to fore with the untimely death of a police cadet from dehydration. The cause of death was attributed to heatstroke from an El Nino induced heatwave–an obvious conclusion and comparison is being drawn to the heatwave caused by El Nino 1998. The apparent thinking is that this is a normal cyclic weather phenomenon with no mention of climate change as a culprit too.

What has also perked my intrigue on government reporting is that the peak temperatures officially published by the Met. department across Peninsular Malaysia range between 36ºC to 38ºC though I have consistently recorded air temperatures above 40ºC in Klang, Selangor and Manjung, Perak–the highest hitting 42ºC with ground temperature soaring above 50ºC. The peak recorded temperature in Malaysia during El Nino '98 was 40.1ºC. According to the meteorological department that temperature has yet to be recorded anywhere in Malaysia but I own investigations prove otherwise. I blame this intensification weather to climate change. Thus we have three geological and weather phenomenons conspiring to create this year's scorcher namely the spring equinox, El Nino and climate change.

This heatwave should taper after two weeks and news headlines will follow other headwinds. This danger will pass and life will continue as usual albeit we will continue to complain about the blistering non-heatwave heat. We will have missed another important alarm bell that nature is blaring at us as we go along stubbornly preserving our no-limits lifestyle, secure in the ignorance that nature is somebody else's problem.

El Nino 2016 and Climate Change baking Malaysia

Let me be clear, I and my fellow Malaysians are used to warm even hot weather, but this is going to be another year of bumper sales for air conditioners. The last time it was this hot was in 2009, an El Nino year. The difference this time is that it feels more like a tipping point of what we can bear. In 2009 we didn't complain half as much. The scorcher this year is making us keep our air conditioners turned on at home almost throughout the day. This has caused Malaysia's Ministry of Energy to come out with an advisory to keep intense home energy consumption to non-peak hours. I remember in the 70's when the government TV used to air ads on tips to be energy conservative.

The biggest energy guzzlers those days was the iron. So they would advise people to iron all their washed clothes from the day at one go at night . The big no-no was to turn the iron on for only one or two pieces of clothing during the day. Those days only very rich people had air-conditioning and electric hot water heaters. In the 70's Malaysia just didn't have the electrical generation capacity it has today, so conservation was due to that. To think that we are back to the same old advise but this time its not just ironing but air-conditioning. Turn off air conditioning in homes in the day because the generators are running over capacity at more than 17,000 Megawatts/day. We didn't have this problem in 2009, then again this is the strongest El Nino on record so it shouldn't be surprising.

Usually El Nino also spells drought in South East Asia. During the 1998 El Nino Peninsular Malaysia was hit by the worst drought it had seen in decades. This time around though the drought concentrated in the southern part of Peninsular Malaysia, the state of Johor. It may still be too early to wave the concern of a drought away especially since record high temperatures can dry up the land quite fast and logging activities in watershed areas that feed most of Malaysia's cities continue unabated.

Delay is also the game El Nino 2016 is playing in parched California, USA. Hit by a mega drought Californians who were eagerly waiting for El Nino rains in February had to wait till March to see much desired precipitation. It looks like they are going to get what they wished for, a little late thats all.

El Nino's direct influence on the weather is on a waning course and by April's end it should be done. This heating trend of the eastern equatorial Pacific is generally followed by a welcomed cooling trend called the La Nina. Scientists will be hawk-eyed when it comes to measure the extent of the cooling to see if global warming will have any impact on this phenomenon as it most definitely had on El Nino 2015-2016. 

Kiribati's population is 100,000–They need new homes already

Here is a video in 2010 where the humble President of Kiribati talks about their helplessness in dealing with rising seas.

In 2015 a family tried to be the world's first officially recognised climate change refugees. Ioane Teitiota his wife and three children tried to apply for asylum from the Government of New Zealand in 2011 arguing that their island nation was unsafe especially for the future of his children due to rising sea levels. "Going back to Kiribati there is no life, no hope. We are sending back the children to a place that is not safe for them," said his pastor supporting Mr. Teitiota with his climate change argument for asylum.

Unfortunately the New Zealand courts denied the application Mr. Teitiota and his family and ordered their deportation. Earlier in 2015 the New Zealand Supreme Court acknowledged that Kiribati is facing climate change problems but New Zealand's law, for that matter the laws of other countries, do not recognise climate change as a legitimate reason for the application of refugee status.

There are 100,000 people in Kiribati. They want to stay put in their island paradise and their main source of hope is their belief in Christianity. According to them God promised Noah that the world will never flood over again after the great floods. Nevertheless as their President points out they still have to be prepare with alternative plans but as Mr. Teitiota can testify moving out as climate change refugees will be an uphill battle. There are no cheap or easy solutions to settling tens of thousands of people across the world. One of the proposal from President Anote Tong in his most recent address is to build floating platforms like petroleum rigs for his people. That would cost a whooping 2 billion dollars.

Playing with fire is dangerous, ignoring it is even worse.

If I see a building on fire and I cared I would call the fire department otherwise I would simply walk on past it. If I did the latter I won't tell anyone that I saw the burning building because I might have to tell them that I did nothing about it which would be embarrassing.

Please click on this link-go to earthday.org

I am writing about environmental degradation and climate change because I am passionate about nature conservation. I get sad when I see trucks hauling huge old growth primary forest trees. I also care about my daughter’s well being to the point that I feel responsible for what the world might be like when she hits 25 the height of her youth though she is only 3 months old today. That picture that is forming in my mind is uncomfortably bleak so I feel compelled to do something about it because I choose to care.

I am doing my part in trying to preserve the environment by recycling, using cars conservatively and being as energy and water efficient as I can. From 2005 to 2010 I used only a bicycle and public transport to go places. In 2010 I had to use a petrol car because I couldn’t afford an electric hybrid car. At least the car I used was fuel efficient and I used it to haul 5 people here and there. Even today the car I use for my family is a 1.5 litre engine and I am opting for a much smaller second car because I want to reduce my carbon foot print. But I am just one person who cares. Most everyone I know ignore climate change, they just complain about the hot weather and flood induced traffic jams. I don't think that they don’t care rather they assume that the most serious effects of climate change is too far into the future to be bothered with now. They still buy expensive homes not far from the coast and love their powerful cars. When I talk about climate change eyes roll and I assume they would rather I just walk past the burning building and not tell anyone about it. I can’t.

This is why I am writing these articles on environmental degradation and climate change because it is the best I can do for now. The awareness of just how serious the problem of climate change is has not sunk in to the mass population except for those who choose to care. So spreading awareness on the dangers of climate change is still necessary. More of us who care need to continue to shout at the top of our lungs so more people will finally stop and start to demand our governments to push for green energy, electric cars and sustainable environmental practices. Not only do all these technologies already exist and are quite advanced they will also make our livelihood easier.

Many people are still of the opinion that climate change can be ignored. When overly optimistic reports claim that we just have to anticipate a 1 meter sea level rise by the year 2100 and when world leaders prematurely celebrate that we can still continue to pollute the world until we reach a 2ºC rise in average global temperature they are blatantly ignoring the pleas of low lying island nations like Kiribati, Tuvalu and Maldives. These are countries that are already grappling with the sea overrunning their lives. Its happening now and the sea is rising everyday already. The global climate is warning us every year with record breaking extreme weather and we must act now. If we don’t or act too late at least I can tell my daughter that I was part of the group who cared.

Please click on this link-go to earthday.org

Black Ice on Greenland

There is such a thing as "dark snow" or "black ice". What causes it? Like everything else that dims and dulls with time the culprit is dust and dirt. More specifically soot and ash from burning stuff and its not stuff burning in Greenland, there is not much to burn up there on the Arctic circle. Its stuff settling on the ice from the rest of the world. So the burning forests in Sumatra and Borneo that cause the chocking haze of South East Asia finds its way to Greenland to colour the ice and snow. Check out these photos on The Guardians website–stunning and foreboding. So what?

Unfortunately darkening ice is bad news. Scientist say that the landlocked ice in Greeland is melting two times faster than previously recorded and anticipated. One of the reason is obviously because the average global temperature have risen by almost 1ºCelsius. But scientists alarmed by the rate of ice melt have been observing that the darker ice melts faster than pristine white ice. The reason for this can be found in high school science books. Basically if you leave a white object in the sun and a similar object in black in the sun for a while and picked them up you will find the white object will be cooler than the black object. Simply said white reflects away solar radiation better than black or other darker colours which are better at absorbing solar radiation. So if the ice is white it melts slower than ice covered in soot or ash which are be better absorbers of the sun's rays and therefore melt easier.

With the observation of speedier ice melt in Greenland scientist have revised their estimate of Greenland's contribution to annual sea level rise from 1mm to 2mm. Sure 1 mm is such a small value its like 1/32 of an inch but 1 mm to 2 mm also means 100% increase in rate. The darkening ice is partly to blame but there are other runaway factors also such as boring melt water.  If the soot and ash can find its way to Greenland's ice we can be sure its getting on the ice on mountain tops and in Antarctica. So now preventing forest fires are just as important as moving away from a carbon power economy. If black ice is not a double whammy its a triple whammy.

Greenland is the largest island in the world. It is estimated that if all of its ice melts the oceans will rise by 6 meters. Thats just slightly shy of 20 feet and if we consider that the planet is hot enough that the Arctic sea ice melts completely in the summer Greenland may loose its ice cover well before we reach the 2º Celsius rise ceiling. What has kept Greenland's ice cover stable is its thickness which ranges from a whooping 2 km (2000m) to 3km (3000m) and as we are now realising its pristine whiteness but with every year that goes by the planet is getting hotter, the ice is getting thinner and less white. Lest we forget consider that this is happening to all the ice on our planet.

If you are thinking of getting an ocean front property you might want to consider where the coastline is going to be 20 years from now. Remember the Paris Climate Summit has doomed all of Earth's coastline to inundation of at least 2 meters and I think we can expect that in 20 years instead of 80 years. So people living on or close to low lying coastlines will want to move inland. We all believe when it comes to the weather the best policy is to be safe than sorry. Thats why we have an umbrella in our car and build our buildings to withstand earthquakes even if there is only a remote chance of a trembler. Science has already proved that the sea levels are rising and we can easily surmise that the planet is hotter than the past. We also know that climate change is becoming more and more susceptible to previously unforeseen runaway factors like blackening ice. The big worry is a massive methane belch from the thawing permafrost in the north and south pole–it has happened before in Earth's past and can happen again. Such an event will push climate change to overdrive. Put 2 and 2 together and you must realise its time to make plans to live inland. If inland becomes crowded we will have Greenland and Antarctica to populate once most of the ice is gone. So time to stake out some cheap land in Greenland and Antarctica. Is there a way to do this I wonder.

Please watch this documentary and be informed. Stunning landscapes and whats the happening now.

Africa powers on with solar

If anyone or a company wants to build a new power plant now there should be no excuse for them not to use renewable energy unless they are way up north or south where sunlight is limited through the year. Solar, wind, rivers and the sea can be easily harnessed to provide energy. The renewable energy technology is now advanced enough to replace fossil fuels when you factor energy in and energy out efficiency. Energy in is the amount of effort required to collect fossil fuels from mines and such and get it to the power plant to create electricity. Energy out is the amount of electricity produced plus the energy wasted. Nowadays you have to add another aspect of fossil fuel power into the efficiency equation that we used to take for granted, which is cost of pollution neutralisation. Gone are the days when you can simply build a chimney high enough or dump ash in a pit and call it good. Today the amount of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide and toxic metals in ash have to be made to disappear! Our atmosphere and lands have already become too polluted to be able deal with our carelessness. So we have to care. But no government is brave enough to require fossil fuel power plants to factor in greenhouse gasses and other pollutant nullification cost because it will passed on to the consumer. Just imagine if we had to pay for that in our power bill! It would be too expensive. We'd say bring on green energy since green energy is neither wasteful nor waste producing.

Its amazing what 200 square meters of PV solar panels can do. Its powering 41% of George Airport's  needs in South Africa. 20 meters by 10 meters can provide almost 50% of an airport's needs. Its not the biggest airport in South Africa, it moves 600,000 passengers a year and is the nation's agricultural air cargo hub. Check out the news report here. Meanwhile in Uganda Kiira Motor Coporation has unveiled a solar powered bus. The 35 seater "Kayoola" can go 50 miles straight on solar power alone and at night it can suck electricity from the grid to serve its needs. If I had the wherewithal to open up a business I would distribute these buses all over South East Asia and most of Asia. It would be a boon to have quiet energy and environment friendly busses instead of the bellowing overpowered diesel and gas monsters on the road driven by racing enthusiasts. I will keep an eye on this Kiira Motors hopefully they will grow, get better and eventually come up with solar powered trucks.

Northwards on to Morocco is the world's largest concentrated solar plant (CSP) that started its operation in 2015. The Noor Ouazazate Solar Complex is currently producing 160 MW of energy by concentrating sunlight to heat brine that runs a steam engine. By 2018 it will be producing almost 500 MW. Its not a PV solar complex. Instead of PV cells it uses a mirrors to concentrate sunlight to a point like using a magnifying glass to start a fire. Find out more about CSPs here. This is probably going to be the technology that powers our future.

In Rwanda their modest array of about 28,000 PV solar panels is producing 6% of the countries energy needs. Gigawatt Global a company that forms partnerships with governments around the world to create PV solar power fields built the power plant and is in negotiation with other African countries to build more.

The fact is we do not need fossil fuels to generate electricity anymore even in coldest regions. Even if we have to burn something to produce electricity we can burn existing vegetation that will grow back quickly such as grasses, leaves, twigs and food waste. I believe all fossil fuel power plants can be shut down in 5 years or less. It takes no more than two years to get a green power plant up and running. Such a global undertaking would reduce our annual carbon emissions by trillions of tons annually and will make a huge dent on the progress of global warming. To do this requires cooperation from the power plants themselves. They need some incentive to move towards shutting down and coming back online with renewable energy.

The need for renewable energy is not understated anymore and the world is trending towards it. At the current rate almost certainly within the turn of the century I imagine we will be running 100% on green power. It is highly likely within that time the internal combustion engine will have seen its days. The key now is how fast we will move to this paradigm. With climate change predictions becoming more and more uncertain time is of the essence. At the very least stop building fossil fuel power plants already. 

Being blissfully oblivious of global warming is still ok for now, so we think.

This is how we live our lives. There is just too many tasks to do in a day to seriously consider something other than the run of the mill chores unless its an emergency. As far as global warming is concerned for most of us here in Malaysia its complaining about how horribly hot it is these days as the the day temperature regularly climbs above 40ºC. Few days ago I used the IR thermometer I got for my baby and it showed the air temperature just outside the house at 42ºC! The ground temperature was worse, it was above 50ºC. The thermometer displayed 'Hi', its indication that the temperature was above thermometer's capability to measure–its after all designed to measure human temperature. Technically we are still in our not so hot and super wet season in Malaysia, so the heat is  a matter to complain. Global warming effects has yet to reach emergency proportions that will make it require our serious attention. When its this hot we just turn on the air conditioning. In the 80's air conditioning in homes were a luxury. Most homes were fine with fans but in less than two decades it has become a necessity during the day and increasingly the night too. The other problem caused by global warming that is a constant here are very heavy but short rains. Nowadays even short downpours cause flash floods here and there on the roads, creating choking traffic jams. I've learnt from experts in the telecoms industry that this is because rain droplets are thicker now than they used to be. Its estimated that the amount rain that used to fall in 3 days can now come down in a half an hour! If you are working in Kuala Lumpur is to get home before the rains or hours can be lost stuck in traffic.

Global warming has definitely reached the nuisance level but for most all of us it is still not critical enough to demand for electric vehicles and green power plants. When we turn on the juice to the game console what matters is that we have power, what produces the power and its implications to our future is something we choose to be oblivious of. The same when we go to the pump for gasoline.  Life goes on and after all the sea is still not at our door step. I don't wish to preach to anyone because I am also guilty of the same trap of convenience. My problem is that I am consternated by my inability to do anything about it except to make sure I recycle as much as I can and I know this effort far from enough.

I have known about global warming since I was in high school in the 80's. I was concerned then but as far as the world of my peers for whom WWF mattered because it was wrestling instead of the World Wildlife Fund it was as far from their radar as Pluto is and it seems it still is. More than three decades on I have relented from being concerned about global warming to preparing for the changing future ahead. When I hear of my friends buying homes within a few kilometres of the sea or near deltas convinced of the promise of property gains I realise the danger of ignorance. I am certainly not going to bother investing in any land that is less than 50 meters above sea level.  Though the worst case scenario of 80 meters sea level rise is unlikely by the turn of the century, a 10 to 20 meters rise is more than likely and it will probably happen faster than scientist anticipate as we are in a period of accelerated warming.

10 to 20 meters, about 30 to 60 feet of sea level rise can happen if most of the glaciers on mountain tops melt, Greenland loses most of its ice and Antarctica loses more than its predicted share of glaciers. Scientists are discovering that ice melt rates during summers in the north and south are faster than their models had previously predicted. Many countries like Kiribati and the Maldives may have less than 30 years before they have to be abandoned.

Our problem with global warming is that its just not so apparent yet. When the days are hot, we can just as well say its been this hot in the past too and when it floods we can also say its flooded terribly before too. Assumptions based on anecdotes can be misleading because subjective experience can easily outweigh objective data–its how Donald Trump is hoodwinking his fan base with his notions of the truth to become the President of USA. But the truth is extreme weather has been breaking new ground since the turn of the century though it doesn't happen everyday. Incremental uptick of nuisance weather is still tolerable if it happens only once in a while. Tough recently we got a taste of horrible weather that lasted weeks when we were blanketed by thick haze for weeks, but then again right now its clear skies, nothing to complain about until the haze which will certainly come back again hits us. Its been going on like this for years not just in Malaysia but everywhere else.

The European Union is so far the only group of nations that are actively reducing their greenhouse gas emissions and they have now been at it for more than a decade. Their model in running on renewable energy (though not at 100% yet) should be an example for the rest of us.  However with China now the biggest contributor of greenhouse gases and the temptation of cheap development in an environment of cheap crude oil curbing global warming is no less an uphill battle than it was three deades ago. Perhaps until the sea comes knocking at our doorsteps we will still be ok with the status quo I guess.