NREL’s Open-Source Vehicle & Mobility Tools Offer Routes to Reduce Transportation Energy Use, Emissions
Simulation and modeling software helps railway operators model the integration of technologies to encourage transportation decarbonization and move toward a net-zero carbon economy.
#Microsoft#FossilFuels#Decarbonization#ClimateChange#AI: "When Microsoft Corp. pledged four years ago to remove more carbon than it emits by the end of the decade, it was one of the most ambitious and comprehensive plans to tackle climate change. Now the software giant's relentless push to be the global leader in artificial intelligence is putting that goal in peril.
The Seattle-based company’s total planet-warming impact is about 30% higher today than it was in 2020, according to the latest sustainability report published Wednesday. That makes getting to below zero by 2030 even harder than it was when it announced its carbon-negative goal.
Now to meet its goals, the software giant will have to make serious progress very quickly in gaining access to green steel and concrete and less carbon-intensive chips, said Brad Smith, president of Microsoft, in an exclusive interview with Bloomberg Green. “In 2020, we unveiled what we called our carbon moonshot. That was before the explosion in artificial intelligence,” he said. “So in many ways the moon is five times as far away as it was in 2020, if you just think of our own forecast for the expansion of AI and its electrical needs.”"
PG&E touting their energy mix. I think they get to this because of some good & average hydro years, easier summer in 2023, and their renewable and storage purchases. We will see how 2024 pans out. #Decarbonization#Renewables#RPS#GHG
#ClimateChange#GlobalWarming#Science#FossilFuels#Decarbonization: "Scientists have shown for years that it would be wise to hold global warming to 1.5°C, as outlined in the Paris Agreement. But this would require a breathtaking rate of decarbonisation: emissions would have to nearly halve by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050. So far, global emissions are not even falling, let alone halving, and 2030 is just six years away.
Is it fair to lay all the blame on serious grown-ups in successive governments and boardrooms who have spent years failing to do enough to fix the problem? Probably not. But it is fair to ask them a question that Stern posed the other night about how dangerous it would be to take more radical, unorthodox climate action: “compared to what?”
We know that unthinkable action, like sudden mass lockdowns, can be launched in the face of a problem with the frightening immediacy of a global pandemic. Climate change is a different, slower-moving type of disaster. But it is a disaster nonetheless, and one that no truly serious person can continue to ignore."
"According to the authors, a global economic model focused on wealth accumulation and profit, rather than true sustainability, is a major impediment to #decarbonization, conserving natural resources, and ensuring #SocialEquity. Therefore, the authors argue, governments should enforce radical, immediate cuts in #FossilFuel use, eliminate environmentally harmful #subsidies, and restrict trade that generates pollution or unsustainable consumption."
To become climate neutral until 2040 the state of Bavaria needs to build 104 wind turbines every year. With the first quarter of 2024 coming to an end we should be at 26 turbines. To keep track of the actual progress, Greenpeace has installed a counter in the Munich city center. Below is a picture I took today of the counter
CS: “There is no society,” as Margaret Thatcher put it. Hence the focus on individual change and market solutions in liberalism that guards against any systemic change.
Fossil energy provides individuals with a great deal of independence from other people. Fossil fuels give individuals the ability to make choices and buy items without relying on others. One doesn’t have to work as part of a group to hunt for food each day. Instead I can go on my own in my car down to the supermarket and buy what I want. That is a lot easier than having to work with my neighbors to build a different world. And one’s consumption can be used as proof of one’s status. So fossil fuel-enabled individualism in the West is seen as sacrosanct, as it enables freedom from constraints of social obligations.
It is very difficult to bring about climate action in a world that prioritizes individuals and in which we are so alienated from each other. Technology is intimately related to markets; one can define it as the practical application of science in the service of markets. I argue, much like the sociologist and philosopher Jacques Ellul, that technology changes culture, and the introduction of new technologies hinders the emergence of other ways of thinking and acting on climate change." https://www.phenomenalworld.org/analysis/liberal-blindspots/
Create “an economic benefit for communities who want to protect green space where the decarbonization happens naturally.”
How do we include Indigenous people more in the mining sector? Decarbonization work may be a key.
A panel March 5 at the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada conference in Toronto discussed financial rewards for protection and stewardship of green spaces among a number of other topics.
Which is just as well, because hydrogen mostly comes from fossil fuels today.
I can maybe see a case for hydrogen for fleet vehicles, if the operators actually have hydrolysis plants powered by renewables, because it allows for lighter and cheaper vehicles compared to BEVs, but retail hydrogen is not viable.
The Hydrogen Insight investigation uncovers concerning trends in hydrogen fuel cell vehicle (FCEV) registrations across Europe. Despite efforts to expand hydrogen refuelling infrastructure, most European markets are seeing stagnating or declining FCEV registrations. Here are the key findings:
Data from European countries with hydrogen refuelling stations (HRS) shows declines or flat registrations in FCEVs, except for three nations. Germany experienced a drastic 70% drop in new FCEV registrations in 2023. France, the UK, and Czechia are exceptions, with over ten FCEV registrations per HRS. Despite having many HRSs, Switzerland and the Netherlands also saw FCEV registrations decline.
France saw a 56% increase in FCEV sales, driven by strategic initiatives.
The UK witnessed a remarkable 261% increase in FCEV registrations in 2023.
Legislative mandates in the EU aim to bolster hydrogen infrastructure by 2030.
Despite challenges, optimism remains for future growth in the hydrogen mobility sector. While FCEV registrations face hurdles in Europe, collaborative efforts and legislative support pave the way for a promising future in hydrogen mobility. 🌱🚗