In other words, policy needs to be designed not to pick sectors or #technologies as “winners”, but to pick the willing by providing support that is conditional on companies moving in the right directions.
How extreme weather will affect the insurance and energy sectors - By Matthew Wright, Matthew Priestly, originally published by The Conversation May 29, 2024
"...Insurance companies evaluating risks must account for a combination of the most extreme weather systems, and those affecting built-up, developed areas. The most risk-prone areas are quantified by examining historical events and assessing other possible scenarios that are generated by models. Risk experts also consider what impact historical events would have today. Increases in risk may be due to increases in population, density of the built environment, or GDP. For example, Hurricane Katrina’s impact would be $40 billion higher if it occurred today..."
Switching to renewable energy could save trillions - study
New report says falling cost of renewable energy makes switch from fossil fuels cheapest option.
Mmm, snake meat. As a protein source it's even more efficient than harvesting crickets!
I suppose MAYBE ... conceivably ... a factory farm swarming with hundreds of thousands of pythons could pose some risk to the neighborhood. But: say bye-bye to your rat problem.
Credit to @clive 's latest Linkfest. I always learn something.
'What if a common element rather than scarce, expensive ones was a key component in electric car batteries?
A collaboration co-led by an Oregon State University chemistry researcher is hoping to spark a green battery revolution by showing that iron instead of cobalt and nickel can be used as a cathode material in lithium-ion batteries.'
These U.S. Cities Have More Parking Lots Than Housing - They paved paradise again and again and again.
by Frank Jacobs, Big Think May 17, 2024
"...On average, about one-fifth of all land in city centers is dedicated to parking. But what’s the actual harm being done by all that parking space? For one, city centers that are more “parkable” become less walkable. In other words, fewer things are casually accessible.
...Americans’ attitude toward driving is changing. The share of high school seniors with a driving license has dropped from 85.3% in 1996 to 71.5% in 2015. The rise of shared, multi-modal, and (soon, they keep promising us) autonomous mobility will further reduce the need for driver’s licenses, individual cars, and massive parking facilities in city centers.
Perhaps it’s time for American cities to become denser, more lived-in, more walkable—and less “parkable.”
I'm interested in hearing about any #Linux projects that are targeting #sustainability ping me if you know of anything. Stuff like this from KDE etc https://eco.kde.org/
Got this message from #slack:
> Our records indicate that your mobile device uses a mobile OS version that Slack will stop supporting after September. For the best experience and to continue receiving regular updates [..], we strongly recommend updating your mobile OS as soon as possible.
Growth or Scale? By Tom Murphy, originally published by Do the Math May 22, 2024
"...It’s not too hard to lay hands on records of global resource use. One publication I ran across has some useful graphs for a few raw materials in common use. The first graph shows annual extraction of copper, zinc, and lead since 1900, usefully...
...From 1960 to 2005, in no region of the world did annual production of timber moderate alongside growth. The total global activity almost doubled (77% increase) over this interval rather than stagnating or tumbling by a factor of two as growth did.
The result for all of these resources is clear: scale is a more apt correlate than growth. The curves bear a family resemblance to the hockey-stick scale curves: far less resemblance to the peaking growth curves. A confounder in this is that per-capita resource extraction has also risen for many materials, in association with economic growth..."
UK breakthrough could slash emissions from cement (lighthouse-eco.co.za)
Scientists say they’ve found a way to recycle cement from demolished concrete buildings.