Climate tweets for 4 January 2014

RT Eric Holthaus ‏@EricHolthaus: California, Oregon clinched their driest year on record–2013–by 'astonishing margins'. How the stats break down: http://www.wunderground.com/blog/weatherhistorian/comment.html?entrynum=230 …

Wettest month ever for Scotland as storms hit again: @TheScotsman http://www.scotsman.com/news/environment/weather-wettest-month-ever-as-storms-hit-again-1-3255615 … #climatedisruption #divest

RT Peter deMenocal ‏@PdeMenocal: @climateprogress @MichaelEMann ... and nearly all of Eastern Europe and Russia are exceptionally warm. http://www.columbia.edu/~mhs119/Temperature/ …

Climate change brings new wrinkle to life on Palau's islands: Fear of sea: http://www.pri.org/stories/2013-12-27/climate-change-brings-new-wrinkle-life-palaus-islands-fear-sea … #sealevel #divest

RT CitizensClimateLobby ‏@citizensclimate: Think it's time for a carbon tax? So do we. Join CCL's next intro call and make it happen. http://ow.ly/sgy7b  #climate

California's Central Valley sinks as parched farms wring water from aquifers: http://www.eenews.net/stories/1059992379 … #climate #drought

A Catholic approach to fight climate change: @PEcom_news http://www.pe.com/local-news/local-news-headlines/20140103-religion-a-catholic-approach-to-fight-climate-change.ece … #globalwarming #faith #religion #divest

Coal 'renaissance' flatlines in Europe: @GreenpeaceUK http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/newsdesk/energy/data/6-graphs-showing-coal-%E2%80%98renaissance%E2%80%99-reverse … #climate #globalwarming #agw #divest

RT ClimateCentral ‏@ClimateCentral: The Midwest is cold today, but winters have warmed 1.12°/decade there since 1970. More info: http://bit.ly/JieTK5 http://pic.twitter.com/AanzCIoHyO

Mountain Water: a Steep Downhill Trend: Fairfax Climate Watch http://www.fairfaxclimatewatch.com/blog/2014/01/mountain-water-a-steep-downhill-trend.html … #globalwarming #ecology #divest

Climate, energy to be 2014 U.S. election battlefield: @TheHill http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/194317-climate-to-be-14-battlefield … #globalwarming #agw #divest

Climate tweets for 3 January 2014

Australian PM urged to rethink climate 'policy' after hottest year on record: @guardian http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/jan/03/abbott-urged-to-rethink-climate-policy … #divest

Sunny Sierra raises chilling drought fears: @SFGate http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Sunny-Sierra-raises-chilling-drought-fears-5109706.php … #California #climate #water #divest

Climate change: It's hot - & not just in kitchens of bickering MPs: @smh http://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/climate-change-its-hot--and-not-just-in-the-kitchens-of-bickering-mps-20140103-309jl.html … #globalwarming #divest

Climate Change Could Put 1/5 Of World's Population In Severe Water Shortage: http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/01/03/3113981/climate-change-water-shortage/ … #drought #divest

Australia Rings In New Year with Record-Breaking Heat Wave: @climateprogress http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/01/02/3111171/australia-new-year-heat-wave/ … #climate #divest

Donald Trump's Hair, The End Of Global Warming and Other Things That Aren't Real: http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/01/02/3112791/time-2014-hottest-year-record/ … #climate #divest

RT ClimateNexusHotNews ‏@ClimateHotNews: Joe Romm catches WSJ whopper: Paper Claims ‘Liberals No Longer Refer To Global Warming Because Winter Is Cold' http://bit.ly/1d5QnbS

RT craigjack36 ‏@craigjack36: If one boat stuck in 1 bit of ice proves there is no global warming One boat stuck in a desert proves there is: http://pic.twitter.com/wFzvOW787H

Cattle producers on lookout for heat stress: @ABCRural http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-01-02/nrn-heat-stress-02-01-14/5182142#.UsXzoHp_q0g.twitter … #globalwarming #Australia #climate #divest

Climate tweets for 2 January 2014

Caribbean Deluge Disaster Raises New Climate Change Warnings: @WLRN http://wlrn.org/post/caribbean-deluge-disaster-raises-new-climate-change-warnings … #globalwarming #flood #divest

RT Climate Desk ‏@ClimateDesk14h: Dear @realDonaldTrump: Winter does not disprove global warming http://ow.ly/sdXvH 

Loss of Tropical Coral Reefs Could Be 1st Irreversible Climate Consequence: @InsideClimate http://insideclimatenews.org/content/loss-tropical-coral-reefs-could-be-first-irreversible-climate-consequence …

RT Holly Currie ‏@hcurrie28: Hottest year in Australia since records began, but there is no such thing as climate change. @globalwarming @Greenpeace @WWF @WWF_Australia

RT Dana Nuccitelli ‏@dana1981: .@JohnKerry Quietly Makes Priority of Climate Pact http://nyti.ms/1dWZYOp  via @nytimes by @CoralMDavenport

What's Really Behind Alabama Coal Industry's Attack on Clean Energy Groups? Market Share: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gabe-elsner/whats-really-behind-the-a_b_4499553.html … #climate

Archeologists Race Against Time In Warming Arctic Coasts: @NPRnews http://www.npr.org/2014/01/01/258889938/archeologists-race-against-time-in-warming-arctic-coasts … #climate #globalwarming #divest

RT ClimateNexusHotNews ‏@ClimateHotNews: Heat Wave Ends Across Buenos Aires after temps climbed above 88 F (31 C) every day since Dec. 13 http://ow.ly/sdZP6 

RT @climateprogress: Climate change will starve deep sea--that's not great 4 humans either. http://thkpr.gs/1lCYnAl  #divest

Ford Debuts New Car That Saves Each Driver 4 Metric Tons Of Greenhouse Gas/Year: http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/01/02/3110341/ford-solar-hybrid-car/ … #climate #divest

Farm Forecasts Try to Decode Capricious Climate: @IPSnews http://www.ipsnews.net/2013/12/farm-forecasts-ease-climate-uncertainty/ … #globalwarming #ag #Trinidad #divest

Climate tweets for 1 January 2014

Experimenting with a new idea and format here, so please bear with me ...

Planet likely 2 warm by 4C by 2100, scientists warn: @Guardian http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/dec/31/planet-will-warm-4c-2100-climate … #climate #globalwarming #agw #divest

Water risk as world warms: @NatureNews http://www.nature.com/news/water-risk-as-world-warms-1.14446 … #climate #globalwarming #drought #ag #food #divest

‏@BoxingKangaroo: What global warming? “@GuardianAus: Heatwave: temperatures climb towards 50C in parts of Australia http://bit.ly/1bB3qf1 ”

Dana Nuccitelli ‏@dana1981: 13 Dumbest Things Media Said About Climate In 2013, dominated by @FoxNews & Rush Limbaugh http://mm4a.org/1l1wNiG  via @mmfa by @deeRobbs

David Spratt ‏@djspratt: Scorching #climate record? Longreach expected to have 9 consecutive days of 44- to 46-degree heat. http://www.smh.com.au/environment/weather/mild-new-year-for-melbourne-as-australian-temperatures-soar-20140102-306qx.html … #connectthedots

Malawian Farmers Say Adapt 2 Climate Change Or Die: @NPRFood http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2014/01/01/250482654/malawian-farmers-say-adapt-to-climate-change-or-die … #globalwarming #food #Africa

U.S. Flood Insurance Program Drowning In Debt. Who Will Pay?: @NPRnews http://www.npr.org/2014/01/01/258706269/federal-flood-insurance-program-drowning-in-debt-who-will-pay … #climate #globalwarming

Climate Change Misinformer Of 2013: The Daily Mail: @mmfa http://mediamatters.org/research/2013/12/30/climate-change-misinformer-of-the-year-the-dail/197340 … #globalwarming #agw #journalism #divest

America Burning: The Yarnell Hill Fire Tragedy & Nation's Wildfire Crisis: @weatherchannel http://weather.creatavist.com/story/8137  #climate

Daunting Calculus 4 Maine Shrimpers as Entire Season Is Lost: @NYTimes http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/01/us/for-maine-shrimpers-a-frightening-calculus.html … #climate #food #divest

Take that, Exxon!: EV insights, Day 21

We've had our Mitsubishi MiEV electric auto for three weeks as of today.  Current mileage totals for our "fleet":

EV: 629
Prius: 240

Total: 869
Gallons of gasoline consumed: 4.8
Gallons of gasoline displaced through trade-in of Honda Insight hybrid for EV = 14.5
Fleet mileage: 869/4.8 = 181 miles per gallon
Fuel savings @ 4.5 cents per EV mile = 629*4.5 = $28.31

These numbers suggest annual gasoline displacement of roughly 250 gallons and fuel savings (counting the electricity consumed) of about $500.  As previously mentioned, that's based on trading in a 40-mpg auto, so for a 20-mpg auto, those numbers could be doubled.

- The EV is performing very nicely--it's now clear that we can consistently drive it twice to "town" (the "micropolitan" area consisting of Hanover, Lebanon, White River Junction, and Norwich) each day, with overnight fillups, even at the "slow" charging rate (using a regular 110 outlet), for at least several days without running low on battery charge.  We've used it exclusively, except when we have multiple commitments that conflict or overlap.

- As with the Honda we traded in, the range indicator is flighty--after the car is fully charged (the "charging" indicator light goes out), the range has so far read anywhere from 72 to 81 miles. It seems to go down faster when it's 81 than when it's 72, but that could just be my imagination--variables such as temperature, precipitation, cargo weight, headlight use, etc., all make it difficult to get precise, comparable measurements.  In any event, the lowest the range has gotten is about 40, except for the deliberate deep discharge described in my previous post.  While the EV takes 22 hours to charge from 0 to full, 10 hours of charging will take it from 40 miles on the range indicator to more than 70, so the charging fits well into a regular daily schedule.

I'll write a bit more about the MiEV's transmission settings in a future post.

Take that, Exxon!: EV insights, Day 12

So, I've been out of town for most of the past week, but want to set down a few more thoughts while they are fresh. At this point, the mileage numbers since our EV arrived April 30 look like this:

EV: 367
Prius: 147

Not quite the 80 percent I was hoping for (71.4 percent), and I'm sure that was a little unrealistic. Still, the improvement over our previous transportation mix (two hybrids, one getting 50 mpg and the other 40 mpg) is obvious:

Previous: 514 miles, average 45 mpg = 11.4 gallons of gasoline
Current: 514 miles, 147 fueled by gasoline, average 50 mpg = 2.9 gallons

Another way to put it: we've gone from averaging 45 mpg to averaging almost 175 mpg (514 divided by 2.9), which I think is pretty cool. That in turn leads to the conclusion that the  mpge (miles per gallon of gasoline equivalent) rating doesn't tell the whole story. The mpge rating emphasizes that the EV is still consuming energy (certainly important to keep in mind), but doesn't communicate the full benefits in terms of gasoline use.  While the MiEV's mpge rating is 112, its actual mpg is, of course, infinity, and our average mpg is limited only by how many miles we can load onto it.

Yesterday, we fulfilled one of the basic MiEV battery requirements--a fairly deep discharge. The manufacturer advises driving it until the fuel gauge drops below two bars and then recharging it fully. After two trips Friday and charging overnight, its range indicator read 55 miles.  Two more trips yesterday took it down to 19, and then I drove it enough to take it to two bars (12 or 13 miles on the indicator) and then home.  It was exciting!  We live on the side of a hill, and the range indicator drops steadily when driving uphill.  The refuel warning was flashing steadily and I had visions of falling a few hundred yards short, which would have been a minor disaster. In the end, I eased it into the garage with 5 miles still on the indicator.  Whew.  Won't be doing THAT again anytime soon (the manufacturer says it needs doing every two years).

Some additional stats:

367 miles on the EV, fuel savings 4.5 cents/mile = total savings to date $16.51 (not too impressive, but we traded in a 40-mpg hybrid--if you replace a 20-mpg auto, the savings would be 9 cents/mile). For the fuel savings calculation, see this previous post.

Take that, Exxon!

I posted here not long ago about taking a ride in a friend's electric vehicle, and how attractive it was. Well, after some dithering, we took the plunge and ordered one for ourselves. It arrived late Tuesday and we have just finished Day 2 of owning/driving.  It's great!

The perfect car for someone like me who likes to dig into the numbers.  So, here are a few early insights:

- This is a Mitsubishi i MiEV (we call it the mee-EHV) and it is rated by EPA to have a 62-mile range and fuel economy of 112 mpge (miles per gallon of gasoline equivalent).  What does that mean?  Well, EPA figures 33.7 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity for the gallon of gasoline equivalent, so for that many kWh, the MiEV is supposed to travel 112 miles (as the saying goes, your mileage may vary).

- This means that the MiEV's battery "tank" only holds a bit over half a gallon of gasoline equivalent (62 divided by 112).  And it also means that the MiEV gets about 3.3 miles per kWh.  A kWh, in our neck of the woods, costs about 15 cents, so the cost per mile for fuel is 15/3.3 = 4.5 cents.  This compares with the cost of gas for the Honda Insight we traded in--$3.60 per gallon for 40 mpg, or 9 cents/mile.  And that's for a 40-mpg hybrid.

- The MiEV will also cost less to maintain, as it has a much less complicated motor (no oil changes). And I'm guessing that, as we focus on making it our main car for local driving, the wear and tear on our other auto, a Toyota Prius with just under 137,000 miles, will be drastically reduced.

As of Day 2, we've had five trips to town for meetings, work, etc.  We were able to take four of them with the EV, which has so far traveled 66 miles, leaving one for the Prius (18 miles).  I'm hopeful that over the long term, that ratio (close to 80% of local travel with the EV), can be maintained.

- 66 miles on the EV amounts to about 20 kWh, which is substantial--it's pretty clear that our total electricity bill is going to go up, perhaps nearly double, but that's because our previous usage was quite low.  At the same time, obviously, our gasoline spending is going to plummet.  Take that, Exxon!

OK, so enough geeky stuff.  

How does it look?  See above--you can be the judge.  I drove a VW Beetle for about 25 years, so a car's looks are not high on my list of required attributes.  

How does it handle?  Fine, drives like a normal car.  

What happens when you're merging onto a freeway and you need extra speed?  I think this is an interesting question, because I've been asked it a couple of times, in almost exactly the same words--evidently it is something that really preys on some drivers' minds.  Hasn't happened yet, but the pickup is quite good and ... I drove a Beetle for 25 years.

This post is already fairly long, so I'll leave it at that for now--I can provide more specifics about the transmission settings and gauges later.  We have a bare-bones version of the MiEV--to find out more about the deluxe version, see the excellent series of blog posts that begins here.

Other questions?  Ask away.