My next novel is The Lost Cause, a rollicking solarpunk adventure about defending the #GreenNewDeal from seagoing anarcho-capitalist wreckers and white nationalist militias; #BillMcKibben called it "a chronicle of mutual aid that is politically perceptive, scientifically sound, and extraordinarily hopeful":
In my upcoming #solarpunk novel The Lost Cause (Nov 14), we get an epic struggle between the people doing the repair and care work needed to save our planet and species, and the reactionary wreckers who want to kill the #GreenNewDeal and watch the world burn:
If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
For the past week, I've been serializing the prologue of The Lost Cause, my #solarpunk novel of a post-#GreenNewDeal backlash that comes out on November 14:
If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
Hydrogen is NOT and energy source, it is an energy carrier; aka a battery.
What is true for all batteries, is that they don't work with 100% efficiency. You loose energy when you put energy into the battery (convert electricity to H2) and you loose energy when you get it out of the battery (convert H2 to electricity in a fuel cell for example).
So, when we make 'green' hydrogen, we have solar panels or windmills - already disputable 'green' sources - with a relatively low efficiency and convert the generated electricity to H2 (60% efficiency) and later back to electricity (60% efficiency again), so we are left with 36% of the original electricity of the 'green' source.
See also the attached copy from my book Crash Course
Also realise that currently >90% of H2 is produced from fossil fuels! See Wikipedia below:
... As of 2020, the majority of hydrogen (~95%) is produced from fossil fuels by steam reforming of natural gas and other light hydrocarbons, partial oxidation of heavier hydrocarbons, and coal gasification....
Cook on pretty much why everything is the way it is:
"Under the so-called #GreenNewDeal, nothing changes. We still drive our own cars ... We still holiday abroad. We still shop in large supermarkets with everything ... wrapped and protected in oil-based plastics.
"... and throw away items of new technology – from personal computers to phones – every few years through planned obsolescence."
While the record $10 billion budget for #NewMexico is great and proof that Democrats put the money in when possible, a large chunk of that is dependent on fossil fuel revenues. In order to phase out fossil fuels and bring about a #GreenNewDeal, states have an obligation to wean themselves off fossil fuel revenues for the sake of our planet. https://www.sfreporter.com/news/2024/02/12/senate-approves-record-budget/
Ein sehr grundlegendes Problem des #Wirtschaftslebens der #Erde ist die Art der Investitionen. Um sich mal die Dimensionen klar zu machen: Die Menschheit bzw. eine Elite von 1% der #Menschheit investiert laut #unep aktuell 7000 Mrd. Dollar in Bereiche, die die Umwelt schädigen. Dem stehen 200 Mrd. Dollar an nachhaltigen Investitionen gegenüber.
Over the weekend I played the latest Molleindustria game Green New Deal Simulator – it's a fantastic little toy. Super hopeful as a climate story, and puzzle. Honestly one of the best Climate Games I've played in aaaages.
Something Lesley Riddoch said towards the end of last night's meeting in Castle Douglas made me think: now that Peter Murrell's gone, is it time for folk on the left (like me) to rejoin the #SNP and try to push for a #RadicalIndependence policy?
I remain convinced that the majority for #ScottishIndependence is on the left, and that it's by creating a strong radical left vision based on #GreenNewDeal and #LandReform that we'll win.
We could be world leader in a strong immerging market of "green jobs", but why not forsake that long term growth opportunity for short term financial gain?
Not the most flattering of expressions, but it sums up how I feel when I see all these big gas guzzling drivers still polluting our wonderful countryside and national parks.
I had the pleasure of rambling through the great outdoors before the weather turned yesterday and I was just taken aback by the beauty surrounding us.
“If the bees disappear off the surface of the globe then man would only have four years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man.”
[New post] "There is a refreshing absence of HR overhead, multiple interviews and tests and so on. The purpose is clear and collective. People will need to adapt, so the main ingredients to succeed are will, ingenuity and teamwork. [...] There is plenty of work to be done, so labour demand is no issue."
"From where I'm standing, the American Climate Corps has the potential to be the flagship Green New Deal policy. It delivers climate action, workforce upskilling, workers’ rights and Keynesian benefits, all at the same time. It has the scale and the lineage. If the CCC’s experience is anything to go by, it will lift the morale of those participating in it, and will be hugely popular."