A tax on private planes and superyachtd could bring much needed revenue in, making billionaires pay for some of the harm they’re doing. Judging by the quote at the end of the article, I don’t think this government has the sense or courage to do it, though.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/sep/18/superyacht-private-jet-oxfam-climate-finance
It certainly sounds it. The creation process generates more heat than it uses- meaning manufacture could be self sustaining, or used as energy generation. Once made, it acts as a form of carbon capture, putting it back into the ground. And once in the ground, it can aid water retention, improve soil structure, and aid access to nutrients.
There are some potential issues, mainly around the possibility of contamination depending upon the feed stock, but this sounds like a technology we should all be thinking about.
I wrote Pickers about breaking into a seed and equipment repository in the Alps. Maybe there needs to be a sequel about one on the moon.
https://www.wired.com/story/scientists-want-to-build-a-doomsday-vault-on-the-moon/
The use of biofuels in aviation is just beginning, and it has a long way to go to cut even the current levels of pollution, let alone that from projected rises in air travel. But it’s a start. Couple it with sensible replacements for short haul flights, and it may be worthwhile.
Heat pumps are an incredible technology, and a key part of cutting the carbon impact of heating and cooling homes. But no technology is perfect. Air heat pumps can be less efficient in high winds and when it is cold and humid. Luckily, manufacturers have spotted these issues, and are improving the technology as they go.
https://www.wired.com/story/how-heat-pumps-are-affected-by-climate-change/
Carefully managed, solar farms can produce more than just renewable energy. They’ve been found to boost wildflower growth and pollinators. Done properly, the land they’re on can still be used for some forms of farming.
https://theconversation.com/new-solar-farms-can-benefit-nature-heres-how-235991
There are fears for the future of British beer, as hop yields fall due to climate change. But there are scientists on the job, breeding more resistant strains, as well as looking at possible future flavours.
As large scale solar schemes become more common, planners need to think about their effect on the land they are built on. Introducing the concepts of agrivoltaics and ecovoltaics.
If I was in a permanent job, rather than working as agency staff, I would long ago have got myself an ebike through the Cycle to Work scheme. I may have ridden through most of the winter, too, rather than putting of getting back in the saddle for far too long.
Schemes like Cycle to Work may be relatively expensive as ways to cut carbon emissions, but they have many other benefits that more than make up for that. The authors of the article below have considered some of them and looked at ways to increase uptake further.
As the article says, it’s not enough to stop pumping out carbon dioxide, there need to be schemes for soaking it up and locking it away again. I’m filling my concrete covered back yard with plants as my bit, but industry has the options for larger and more complex schemes.
https://www.wired.com/story/carbon-removal-cur8-gabrielle-walker-credits-offsets-greenwashing/
Los Angeles is an unlikely champion of a new wave of water savvy urban planning. A city most of us think of as all about cars and concrete has introduced more permeable surfaces to soak up water rather than turning it into run off. The change has been so successful that not only was severe flooding avoided during recent extreme rainfall but it will help solve the city’s water supply issues.
https://www.wired.com/story/los-angeles-just-proved-how-spongy-a-city-can-be/
Global greenhouse gas emissions could peak as soon as this year. Then there’s the hard job of bringing them down to a safe level, of course, but it’s an important milestone.
https://www.wired.com/story/global-emissions-could-peak-sooner-than-you-think/
Wobbles of the Earth on its axis have created periods when the Sahara was savannah rather than desert. These periods recur roughly every 21,000 years, and the last one was around 10,000 years ago. Counterintuitively, the greeting happened when the tilt moved the Northern Hemisphere so it was warmer, which increased humidity and rainfall. It’s not clear whether climate change is going to have a similar effect, or if that would matter with all the other problems it causes.
The movie pitch is that some ancient or mythological creature is defrosted by climate change and wreaks havoc on mankind. The truth is going to be more pervasive, with populations shifting, plant life changing, and massive changes no matter how well they adapt.
As if things couldn’t get worse- climate change is set to reduce the quantity and quality of beer. Warming and changing seasons and precipitation patterns mean a reduction in the hops harvest, with flowers containing less of the alpha acids that give the flavour.
The Conservative Party needs to be so thoroughly beaten at the next election that it collapses and is never heard from again. It’s the least they deserve for policies that leaves us poorer, colder and at greater risk from climate change just so their rich friends can get a little richer.
A California man has been sentenced to 6 years and 9 months for a scam where he took money from investors for non-existent anaerobic digestors at big dairy farms. In classic pyramid scheme style, money from later investors paid out imaginary dividends to earlier ones.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jun/27/us-man-cow-dung-scam-prison
As the Titanic tourist submarine coverage dragged on, more and more signs of its inevitability were revealed. But, driven by tech-bro arrogance, warnings were ignored- and staff even sacked for giving them, right up until the second hand carbon fibre collapsed under pressure.
Ocengate isn’t alone. Studies of disasters have shown that nearly half had given rise to ‘red flags’ that could have averted them if heeded.
Arrogance and greed are going to continue to cause catastrophes, right up to the biggest of them all- climate change- unless there is a huge change in the culture.
Some of the worst off parts of the country are also the best placed for geothermal plants. It should be a no-brainer to use the resources to help those areas and reduce the country’s carbon footprint. I’m not holding my breath on a Tory government doing anything that sensible though.