Never underestimate the ability of humans to overestimate their own intelligence. - moi

2025.03.14 IAnother view of what climate change looks like in the early stages

U.S. insurance giant seeks 22% premium hike for homeowners after LA fires (National Observer)

2025.03.14 Implementing BIPV on new builds would reduce costs by making the PV part of the roof structure, and provide revenue.

Covering every roof with solar could supply 2/3 of global electricity – study (electrek)

2025.03.14 Will NASA be disbanded before it can provide its next annual report?

NASA Reports Sea Levels Rose by 'Unexpected' Amount in Earth's Hottest Year (sciencealert)

2025.03.12 Grid defection. A for-profit utility will never get this account now.

Business owner refuses power company's $200,000 demand: 'I can figure that out' (TCD)

2025.03.12 The UK closes its last coal-fired power station.

Analysis: UK emissions fall 3.6% in 2024 as coal use drops to lowest since 1666 (CarbonBrief)

2025.03.12 Electricity which happens to be cheap, fast to deploy (months), zero-emissions, massively scalable, and avoids U.S. tariff tantrums.

So, why does Doug Ford hate it? Is it because he has a side deal with purveyors of non-existent nuclear reactors and U.S. based fossil natural gas? It's the best explanation I have, because his approach to the electricity file is screwing Ontario taxpayers and ratepayers.
Ontario doesn't need much additional storage for this, as we have massive hydro reservoirs for storage. The exception is Ottawa and eastern Ontario which OPG has ignored for decades, and needs more generation or transmission capacity or both. But adding renewables like wind and solar and battery storage could overcome all that at a lower cost than more nukes with no waste disposal plan or GHG-emitting, imported natural gas.
Ontario, please purchase the lowest-cost electricity (National Observer)

2025.03.11 Now, if provincial premiers, Canada could accelerate zero-GHG, zero-fuel-cost, non-tariffed electricity generation.

The world regulated sulfur in ship fuels - and the lightning stopped (The Conversation)

2025.03.10 Now, if provincial premiers, Canada could accelerate zero-GHG, zero-fuel-cost, non-tariffed electricity generation.

Canada deploys 314 MW of solar in 2024 (PV magazine)

2025.03.10 Climate change could make the upper atmosphere less stable, affecting the orbits of satellites, more space debris

Climate change could even make Earth's orbit a mess: study (Global News)

2025.03.10 Yes, that Texas. Oil and gas country. But they know a good deal when they see one. No tariffs on wind and sunlight.

Renewables Set New Records In Texas (CleanTechnica)
But if the fossils in the Texas state legislature get their way, taxpayers will once again subsidize the oil and gas industry to increase pollution.

2025.03.07 While Canada appears wedded to making the same hydrogen mistakes, again and again, Europe embraces the winning solution - electric buses

The End of Diesel: Europe's Buses Are Going Fully Electric - Fast (CleanTechnica)

2025.03.07 It would appear the U.S. economy is so bad, that the U.S. government now has to renege on past international financial commitments.

US exits fund that compensates poorer countries for global heating (The Guardian)

2025.03.07 Assuming you trust any voluntary carbon credits model, this initiative should also improved indoor air quality.

Global Carbon Standards Body ICVCM Approves Three Clean Cookstove Methods

Top scientists confirm Antarctica's ozone hole is actually recovering and could completely disappear (UNILAD)

2025.03.06 Sure, keep talking about climate change to piss off Trump, but do we really care about keeping a livable planet?

World must stick to climate goals despite US, UK envoy says (Reuters)

2025.03.03 Parts of EU flirt with free electricity due to renewables,

U.S. consumers will see record prices due to dependence on nuclear, coal, natural gas and tariffed imports from Canada.
Northwest Europe Power Prices Plunge Below Zero on Strong Solar Output (Oilprice.com)

2025.03.02 This is also climate change.

Wildfire season is changing in Canada - posing even greater risks to the nation’s communities and ecosystems (The Conversation)

2025.03.02 Wind turbines don't have to be big, they just have to be installed where wind blows, and storage can be implemented.

North America's largest wind turbines head for construction in Nova Scotia (National Observer)
If NS installs enough wind power WITH STORAGE to make it dispatchable power, it could end its reliance on imported coal and reduce its GHG emissions by kilotonnes CO2e annually.

2025.03.02 Let me help. No, nuclear fission SMRs won't be ready before 2040, but they will produce nuclear waste.

NB Power CEO now 'unsure' if first SMR will be ready by 'late 2030s' (Telegraph-Journal)
What you need to know is that SMRs ("Small Modular Reactors") are not small (typically around 300 MW or about half the size of a Pickering reactor, not 'modular' as they have to be assembled on-site, and none of the candidates are even close to prototype stage yet (the first design in Canada is strictly just on 'paper' so far, and has just begun review by the CNSC). Canada has never built a fission power reactor in under a decade, let alone commissioned one and licensed it for operation, even starting from a previously built model. By comparison, a photovoltaic array could be in operation in months, and big wind turbines within a year of approvals. Oh right, I missed the years it will take to get provincial and community approvals for a new, unproven nuclear fission reactor. 2040? Try 2050.

2025.03.01 Not new tech. MEC (in Canada) has been using this since 2016 (https://takeactionburlington.ca/2016/07/05/mec-burlington-wins-the-mayors-green-business-award/)

These buildings use batteries made of ice to stay cool and save money (MSN)

2025.03.01 Another, lower cost source for lithium. EV batteries keep getting better and less expensive.

Scientists discover innovative method to extract critical material from salt water - and it could make electric cars more affordable (Yahoo)

2025.02.28 Opportunity: fix Canada's dependence on U.S. oil and gas

BOE Report: 'Big vulnerability': How Ontario and Quebec became reliant on U.S. oil and gas
Reality check: The oil and gas sector won't build pipelines north of the Great Lakes to ensure fossil fuel security for eastern Canada, and certainly not within 4 years. However, eastern Canada could build renewable energy that could be online within a year if provincial governments would stop subsidizing foreign fossil fuel companies and let local renewable energy businesses create jobs in Canada. This will be sea-change for Ontario, which continues to give sweet-heart deals to Enbridge to import U.S. natural gas, and cancelled over 750 renewable energy projects when it took office, and cancelled the EV incentive that would have led Ontario to having a real EV industry in place by now. Nova Scotia is still burning imported coal to produce electricity. Even the prospect of 4 more years of Trump won't shift the grift in Ontario or NS on power production.

I'm serious about making EVs that actually work well in the Canadian winter. Avoidable errors are a bad look.
Frankly, our 2017 Nissan Leaf has worked well and reliably, and it is sure-footed on snow, guaranteed to start on cold mornings, and the fuel and maintenance costs are miniscule. Cabin heating takes seconds. Acceleration is a treat. We did our first brake work after more than 7 years of ownership and almost 90,000 km of driving due to brake pads wear on only one side of the discs. That's the ONLY major service done in over 8 years of regular use including trips to the cottage on dirt roads, and this car goes in for regular dealer inspections every 10-12 thousand kms.
However, the idea that a brake booster could freeze if the car is parked in cold temperatures, well, Nissan sold it to us in Ottawa, so what did they expect? Regenerative braking might still be novel, but conventional brakes are industry bread and butter.
Nissan Leaf Recall Letter for freezing brake booster

2025.02.28 As an EV owner since 1979, only ever using Level 1 charging at home, I can attest it can accomplish a lot.

Why Level 1 EV Wall Charging Is More Useful Than You Think (Inside EVs)
Having Level 2 and Level 3 (DCFC) options for intercity travel and long-mission days in town is icing on the low-cost charging cake.

2025.02.28 Despite disappearing incentives, Canadians are still shiting to EVs

Canada ZEV adoption rate hit 18.9 per cent in Q4 2024: S&P - above predictions (Electric Autonomy)
Imagine if anyone built an EV actually designed for use in Canadian winter conditions - that would be a blast to drive!

2025.02.27 Renewables (zero fuel cost) and storage cost less than fossil fuels or nuclear electricity generation.

Prices fall as first pumped hydro and two eight hour battery projects win landmark storage tender (Renew Economy)

2025.02.27 Somebody knows a dumb move when they see it, and it's not Trump. We know from TMX, fossil fuel industry leaves that bill for taxpayers.

Canada wants new oil pipelines to avoid Trump tariffs; nobody wants to build them (MSN)
So, Canadian taxpayers, instead of gifting the very profitable and foreign-owned oil and gas industry more future stranded assets we'll have to clean up, how about we do the right thing for us for a change, and use that money to make renewable energy projects and create jobs and profits in Canada?

2025.02.27 Coal's still cheaper than natural gas, so if we drop 'carbon taxes', coal wins on cost and natural gas loses market share.

Asia's Coal Boom is Bad News For Natural Gas (Oilprice.com)
Funny thing is renewables like photovoltaics and wind power are cheaper than either coal or natural gas, because the fuel is free.

2025.02.26 As the planet warms, plants are absorbing less carbon dioxide

Plants losing appetite for carbon dioxide amid effects of warming climate (The Guardian)

2025.02.25 Do the math. Lower cost to build, no fuel costs, no pretend carbon capture, very low operating labour costs.

Oh, and better for health and the environment.
Solar & Battery Storage to Lead New U.S. Generating Capacity Additions in 2025 (CleanTechnica)

2025.02.25 Pity Canada, and especially Ontario, are locking into the bad bet on natural gas

Prediction: Solar Energy Beats Natural Gas By A Mile In 2025 (CleanTechnica)

2025.02.25 President Musk and Putin-Poodle Trump saving the U.S. taxpayer money - that went a bit off the rails, didn't it?

Trump's EV Charger Purge Could Cost Taxpayers Over $1 Billion (InsideEVs)
Don't worry about Musk losing any money; he's focused on markets other than the U.S. for EV sales.
Canada, Pro Tip: don't put a tariff on used working EV charging equipment being purchased from the U.S. - bargains to be had shortly.

2025.02.25 Climate change is only a problem if you need to eat.

Japanese salmon catches plummet in losing battle to climate change (JapanToday)

2025.02.24 Doug Ford has tied Ontario's hands to dependence on U.S. natural gas; so much for strengthening economic independence from the U.S.

'We are going in the wrong direction' (PressReader)

2025.02.24 Key values of hydro reservoirs is they are implicitly a form of storage, and they ramp up and down almost instantly.

Now, if BC is smart enough not to use this taxpayer-funded green electricity to power smart things like heat pumps, smart lighting and EVs, and not crypto-mining or LNG pipelines and shipping within BC, and sell some to AB and SK to displace coal and gas generation, BC can make some real coin selling green electricity (take note Saskatchewan) and reduce climate change impacts.
Site C dam's electric generation capacity grows to 50% (DH Urbanized)

2025.02.24 The proof is in (again): deregulated energy markets don't lead to lower energy costs, they lead to consumers getting Enron'ed, again and again.

(Fossil) Energy Costs Surge Across the United States (Oilprice.com)

2025.02.24 In some places, Sea Level Rise brings a partner: land subsidence. Coming to the Canadian Arctic, too.

The rise in sea levels around the Mediterranean could be three times worse than expected (WECB Radio)

2025.02.23 Another carbon credits scam, this time from the government of Saskatchewan.

Pro Tip for Saskatchewanians: If you want green electricity, it's a DIY project, not coming from a grid powered 75% by fossil fuels. Which is weird in a province with scads of free wind and sunlight.
SaskPower now offers greenwashing program (Pipeline Online)

2025.02.22 It's called Sea Level Rise (SLR). It's part of the climate change package.

Rising seas are already toppling coastal cities (earth.com)

2025.02.22 Yes, an EV battery will die some day. Probably after the car did, and it has served in a 'second-life' role.

New study addresses popular myth about electric vehicle batteries: 'Extremely unlikely' (Yahoo)

2025.02.17 Uh-oh, has Europe figured out that nuclear fission is not actually a green energy solution? Another greenspin meme gone?

Nuclear sidelined in leaked rules on state aid for clean tech (euronews)

2025.02.17 The catch is, you need a LOT of green electricity to make green hydrogen. India doesn't have that.

US-based Plug Power eyes 'multi-gigawatt' green hydrogen electrolyser plants in India by 2030 end (EnergyWorld)

2025.02.15 Air pollution, not just bad for the environment and climate change.

Lung Cancer Is Rising in Non-Smokers, And This Could Be Why (sciencealert)

2025.02.14 This IS the golden age of the Alberta oil sands; tax-payer subsidized production has never been higher.

Why Canada's Oil Sands Aren't Coming Back (Maclean's)

2025.02.14 I wonder if we'll ever take climate change seriously. I mean, it's not like it's an existential issue, right?

World's sea-ice falls to record low (BBC)

2025.02.14 Let's see, wind and solar are less expensive than fossil fuels, faster to deploy, and can be coupled with storage to ensure steady supply.

But somehow, we're supposed to believe the grand orange idiot has a better plan. So far, there's no sign he has ANY plan, for ANYTHING.
Donald Trump can't slow down the energy transitionw (National Observer)

2025.02.12 What if Canada had a lot of steel (pylons) and aluminum (high voltage power cable) it couldn't sell to the U.S.?

An east-west oil pipeline is a trap - Canada needs an east-west electricity grid (Policy Alternatives)

2025.02.12 It's curious that climate change isn't a top concern for most Canadians, but it is for those that feed us.

Poll: Climate change a top concern for Canadian farmers (chek News)

2025.02.07 The oil and gas industry seeks a cloak of legitimacy for DAC and CCUS, which they know aren't a viable solution to climate change (but good 'green' PR).

Why oil and gas companies want state oversight for carbon dioxide injection (Houston Public Media)
The state of Texas can signal their confidence by putting the first underground repositories under the Governor's residence and offices, and the State Legislature, and offices of the researchers and industry regulators.

2025.02.07 Uh-oh, UK Public Accounts Committee did a science on CCUS, with predictable results.

PAC 'unconvinced' by 'risky' CCUS technology and questions government investment (New Civil Engineer)

2025.02.06 EVs should come with a warning sticker: caution, EV driving experience may be additctive.

EV driver shares startling experience after going back to gas car: 'The instant power ... is just unmatched' (TCD)
The gas automakers know that driving electric is a superior experience, and once you have experienced the EV Grin, you won't want to go back to noise, vibration, lagging pedal response smelling like gasoline and exhaust. That's why the anti-EV mwssaging is so pervasive and persistent. They know there is no customer winback after you realize you feel relaxed instead of enraged after driving in traffic, are not doing oil changes, spending way less on fuel, maintenance and insurance. I know, having driven EVs since 1979.

2025.02.05 Climate change (sea level rise, shoreline erosion, storm surges, bigger and more frequent hurricanes) doesn't care

Wind and water are slowly taking this luxury house overlooking Cape Cod Bay (AP)

2025.02.04 I remember when our 'leaders' said we could stay within 1.5 degrees - way back in 2024

Climate change target of 2C is 'dead', says renowned climate scientist (The Guardian)

2025.02.04 These should not be lumped together, hydrogen here isn't cleantech, and while energy storage has legs, core tech is in flux.

B.C. cleantech hits speed bump as battery, hydrogen investments stall (BIV)

2025.02.04 UK EV sales up 34% despite 18% Tesla sales nosedive (Jan 2025 vs Jan 2024)

Electric car sales 'smash expectations' in record January as new petrol and diesel vehicles slump (GBN)

2025.02.04 Climate change impacts on humans are NOT linear with global temperature rise in degrees C or F.

Half a degree rise in global warming will triple area of Earth too hot for humans, scientists warn (Phys.org)

2025.02.03 European GHG tracking satellite (Tropomi) 4 years results

Satellite data analysis uncovers top 10 persistent methane sources (Phys.org)

2025.01.31 Climate change is a boon for rats. People, not so much.

More bad news for rat-infested cities: Climate change is making it worse (CBC)

2025.01.27 Local politics and ideology beats science, economics, and rational thinking in Saskatchewan. Again.

Sask. doubles down on coal with potential plan to keep power plants running (CBC)

2025.01.27 As occurs with algal blooms. In a substantive analysis, evaporation effects should also be considered.

Floating solar can increase greenhouse gas emissions on small ponds, study finds (Phys.org)

2025.01.23 I am extremely skeptical that changing the government bookkeeping entry will fix the real problem.

However, taking a decade to prove this fantasy doesn't work any better than past industry shell games (aka 3 cups, find the ball) will suit fossil fuel profiteers just fine.
The challenge is to actually reduce the amount of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere, not carbon, which is a solid.
Removing methane would have more value on a per molecule basis, but that's not even on the menu here.
Much less expensive and more effective would be reducing methane emissions, especially fugitive emissions from oil and natural gas exploration, production, storage, transport and end-point use. It should also reduce industry shrinkage costs.
We could also explore local production of methane as a renewable biogas, and where demand exists, use that to displace fossil methane and long distance transport.
And finally, as consumers, look for ways to reduce your 'natural gas' consumption as life and budget permits. I have seen multiple reports from people who replaced gas stoves with induction stoves and have been thrilled with the superior performance. Electric clothes dryers have been around a really long time, and work well. Heat pump and condensing versions are beginning to appear. Heat pumps can fully replace gas furnaces in many areas, and also provide air-conditioning from the same unit. Heat pump water heaters are now a stock item in hardware stores and from HVAC businesses. New Oxford report: Carbon capture and storage without taxpayer billions is possible (Phys.org)

2025.01.22 States that care about human survival and quality of life are making progress on the environment and climate change. Why not the rest?

The graph in the article speaks volumes.
'Rising star': EU made more electricity from solar than coal in 2024 (The Guardian)

2025.01.21 Research shows "aligned and coordinated" use of social media to deny climate change and delay solutions.

The 8 talking points fossil fuel companies use to obstruct climate action (Grist)

2025.01.21 Irony: U.S. natural gas and crude oil prices might rise because the 'climate change hoax' is making Texas so cold that oil and gas wells 'freeze-off'.

Permian Basin Oil and Gas Output Faces Disruption Due to Freezing Temperatures (OilPrice.com)

2025.01.21 More likely WHERE will it go ahead? How about western Manitoba where renewables are not forbidden by Scott Moe?

Regina Co-op's shelved renewable diesel, canola crush projects will see light of day: stakeholders (Regina Leader-Post)

2025.01.21 Growing trees still look a solid way to capture carbon dioxide and methane from the air - if we stop setting them on fire.

Trees might not be acting in the way we thought - this forest fitted with pipes can tell us why (BBC)

2025.01.20 Did anyone relly think Scott Moe would stand up for creating green agriculture jobs in SK?

Moe under fire as province loses billions in value-added investments (Western Standard)

2025.01.20 They already have: Lytton, Fort Mac, Kelowna .. Our governments don't think it's a real problem, or they would take GHGs seriously.

Yes, cities in Canada will burn too (National OBserver) WILL burn. Take note, summer will come again this year.

2025.01.19 How is it that progress on climate change always seems to get started too late?

Canada-led proposal to end international fossil fuel financing dies with incoming Trump administration (CBC)

2025.01.19 When climate change destroys your home and cancelled your insurance so you can't rebuild

would that finally get your attention? That's how we get homeless climate refugees. It could be you.
Climate change is forcing us to rethink our sense of 'home'- and what it means to lose it (Phys.org)

2025.01.18 As climate change will increasingly reduce our ability to grow food crops, we may have to shift to lab-grown substitutes for nutrition.

Dual-reactor system converts CO2 to consumable single-cell protein (Phys.org)
Some day we will look back on when we used to grow food in soil, and that removed CO2 from the atmosphere using water and sunlight.

2025.01.17 Hunh, mass mortality and reverting to subsistence living standards could be bad for the economy.

Who could have guessed? Sigh, but for now, the fossil fuel industries are making record profits (courtesy of taxpayer subsidies), so party on!
Global GDP could be halved without urgent action on climate change, report warns (euronews)

2025.01.17 Yes, it's bad news for the climate. What did you expect at this point?

We built an AI model that analysed millions of images of retreating glaciers - what it found is alarming (The Conversation)

2025.01.17 No. Next question.

Will the Alberta Energy Regulator impose real fines against Imperial over Kearl spill? (National Observer)

2025.01.16 Yes, it's a result of a warming climate on this planet.

Multi-year droughts are becoming hotter, lasting longer and causing more damage: study (CBC)

2025.01.15 It's the methane.

Pipeline blasts released record-shattering amount of methane: UNEP study (UNEP)

2025.01.15 As the U.S. is threatening trade wars in contravention of the free trade agreement Trump signed, Canada and Mexico seek response measures.

How about closing their borders to U.S. waste and trash shipments? Or imposing significant fees on them? What is the U.S. going to do, keep their garbage?
'A trash can for the US': anger in Mexico and Canada over toxic waste shipments (The Guardian)

2025.01.15 Climate change will impact in many forms, including wildfires. What's the impact on your property if you can't insure your house? Can you get a mortgage?

'A Riskier Place to Live': Canada Could Be Uninsurable in a Decade, Says Expert (The Energy Mix)

2025.01.15 For fossil fuels industries, it's ALWAYS profits before people.

Big oil pushed to kill bill that would have made them pay for wildfire disasters (The Guardian)

2025.01.14 Reducing agricultural methane production can include reducing cow burps and the amount of manure produced.

But, so long as manure is being produced, isn't methane capture and beneficial destruction a net benefit?
Big Oil and Big Ag are teaming up to turn cow poop into energy - and profits. The math doesn't add up. (Vox)

2025.01.14 If we are to survive on this planet, hyper-funded "AI" data centres and servers have to build GHG-neutral sites with some of that funding.

Nearly Half of Businesses Weaken Sustainability Goals Due to Generative AI Demands, Capgemini Report Reveals (DeSmog)

2025.01.14 Once again, oil-industry greenspin tries to hide that its carbon capture projects don't work as advertised or reported.

Exclusive: Norway's Equinor Forced to Withdraw Key Carbon Capture Claim (DeSmog)

2025.01.13 Not the decision I was expecting. Maybe it would have been bad optics to go the other way while LA is burning to the ground.

[US] Supreme Court declines to hear from oil and gas companies trying to block climate change lawsuits (AP)

2025.01.13 Reduce, reuse, recycle, upcycle, avoid making more methane.

Reinventing the landfill with recycling (National Observer)

2025.01.13 Doug Ford ups the Enbridge subsidy, even in an 'energy-saving' program. Methane is still a potent GHG.

Gas still featured in Ford's energy efficiency incentives (National Observer)

2025.01.13 How do we get people to understand the consequences? Or even believe it's real?

GWYNNE DYER: How did things get so tangled with climate change? (PNI Atlantic News)

2025.01.12 Ihave been an EV fan for decades, but I think it's important to understand their limitations.

I Left My EV Unplugged In The Cold For Weeks. Here's How Much Range I Lost (InsideEVs)

2025.01.11 I appreciated the reference to Lake Mead's 'bathtub rings', as I have seen them.

I got soaked driving the Arc Sport electric boat (TechCrunch)

2025.01.11 Renewables generation just keeps getting better as demand keeps increasing. Zero fuel costs, zero emissions in use.

China: JinkoSolar's perovskite tandem solar cell hits record 33.84% efficiency (Interesting Engineering)

2025.01.10 The Conservative Party of Canada and right wing media are spreading disinformation about the 'carbon tax',

probably because they don't understand (or consciously choose to misinterpret) science, finance and international law.
Before we "axe the tax," a quick lesson in history and physics (Policy Options)

It isn't just Pierre Poilievre. He's just a mouthpiece for a well-funded and committed network of the very rich in Canada and outside this country, who wish to become richer at the expense of everyone else. As an example, that's why Canadian taxpayers paid for the TMX pipeline so that foreign-owned oil companies could increased profits from increased oil sands production, while massively increasing greenhouse gas emissions while paying none of the costs of the consequences of climate change.

Beyond Pedersen's article, just let me say, again, that the desire for a 'carbon tax election' is a conscious fallacy foisted on Canadians by the monied class and especially the highly-connected, mostly American, fossil fuel industry.
The much maligned 'carbon tax' isn't making a significant contribution to inflation in Canada.
Carbon tax had 'negligible' impact on inflation, new study says

Beyond this, it is factually incorrect to label this program as a tax; it's a feebate system. The federal government does not get to keep these funds. Like the Canada Pension Plan or the Employment Insurance Program, funds are collected for the express purpose of being paid back out to program participants.

It's not about carbon. It's about all man-made greenhouse gas emissions. like methane and carbon dioxide. Carbon isn't even a gas, it's a solid.

So, if Pierre Poilievre and the CPC want to fight an election on climate change, bring it on. But, let's agree the arguments have to be based on facts and data, not a deceitful made-up marketing term coined by the fossil fuel industry to further its own agenda.

2025.01.10 Apparently our elected 'leaders' don't care, just carry on burning stuff.

Earth records hottest year ever in 2024, a jump that surpassed a key threshold (National Observer)

2025.01.10 Trump lies about the climate change 'hoax' because he profits from it. Lies and chaos are his go-to tools.

Trump won't confront the climate crisis. He'll feast off it. (National Observer)

2025.01.10 While China is implementing renewables at a world-leading pace, as of 2021, their GHG emissions were still rising.

China says greenhouse gas emissions hit 13 billion tons in 2021 (Reuters)

2025.01.10 Seemingly random gasoline price increases in 5 Canadian cities this week - testing consumer intelligence?

Curious. It's not the 'carbon tax' (not a tax, not about carbon, it's disinfo), oil prices have not increased on world markets, there's no new taxes or tariffs, demand has not surged, crude and refined oil products inventories in North America are both rising (natural gas is a separate market). So, this is just oil companies helping themselves to your wallet to see if you will do anything other that just keep pumping and buying fewer groceries (no 'food banks' for gasoline) in anticipation of the big win when pro-fossil fuels Pierre Poilievre takes power. Because Canadians are going to vote for higher energy costs, higher insurance premiums and no rebates.
Canada gas prices rise, with double-digit gains in 5 cities this week (Yahoo)

2025.01.10 Another barrier to to energy retrofits - sketchy contractors

Ontario homeowners left with expensive contracts after company appears to go out of business (CP24)

2025.01.10 You think the folks in L.A. agree we can't afford to spend a little on reversing climate change? One city, still burning.

One event, 3 days. Destroyed the equivalent of over 6% of Canada's 2023 GDP (US$2.14 trillion).
LA wildfire damages set to cost record $135bn (BBC)

2025.01.10 You can whine it's impossible (unprofitable), or you can just get it done. Kudos to NT.

'We could get close to a 90-percent reduction in emissions by 2050' (Cabin Radio)

2025.01.09 I drive an EV for the good of YOUR health. It also saves me money and reduces my GHG footprint.

Study uncovers staggering health impact of electric cars: 'A significant, quantifiable impact' (TCD)

2025.01.09 Nuclear fission and wind are not comparable. Wind is renewable and does not produce high-level nuclear saste.

Wind power tops nuclear in Sweden for first time, trade group says (Reuters)

2025.01.09 Look at the graph: U.S. substituted natural gas for coal. Wind and solar just took up the rising demand.

US emissions 'unchanged' in 2024 despite coal power at lowest level since 1967 (CarbonBrief)

2025.01.09 A golden decade for Canadian oil and gas is ending with J.Trudeau's legacy

of signalling left and giving fossil fuels every possible gift using taxpayer money.
The oil and gas sector will miss Justin Trudeau. No, really. (National Observer)

2025.01.08 Yes, heat pumps can work in the Yukon.

Yukon heat pump program sells out in less than 3 weeks, additional applicants waitlisted (CBC)

2025.01.08 Not to worry, the federal Liberal government will cover all the bills and fatten oil industry profits with taxpayer money before they leave power in 2025.

Pathways Alliance's flagship project looks like a big money loser (National Observer)

2025.01.07 It feels like there's an Ontario provincial election coming soon, trying to bribe voters, but short on details.

Don't expect this to survive, even if Doug Ford returns to power. In a new session, they will 'discover' they don't have the money.
Ontario Launches New Energy Efficiency Programs to Save You Money (Government of Ontario)

2025.01.07 There are available guidelines on making structures more resistant, useful for areas at risk of wildfires.

Oregon places new rules on homeowners living in certain high-risk wildfire areas (AP)

2025.01.07 Climate Change is about volatility and more energetic weather systems, not cozy, gentle warming.

Why more frequent cold blasts could be coming from global warming (AP)

2025.01.05 Battery technology just keeps getting better as the market demand increases

Scientists achieve speed record with game-changing 'ion superhighway' that could transform batteries: '[It] is pretty powerful' (TCD)

2025.01.03 The global warming potential of these deep emissions was double that of surface emissions

Groundbreaking Study Reveals Thawing Permafrost Beneath Arctic Lakes Accelerating Climate Change (ClimateGenn)

2025.01.03 The Great Lakes staying open later into winter and warmer air masses will carry more snow inland.

How the warming Great Lakes could herald a new era of supercharged snowstorms (CTV News)

2025.01.02 We can make progress on GHG emissions if we want to. It's a choice, or series of choices.

UK electricity cleanest ever in 2024, with record 58% from low-carbon sources (The Guardian)

2025.01.02 Trees aren't a carbon sink if we keep setting them on fire.

Canadian wildfire risk worsens with climate change (National Observer)

2025.01.02 Current forest 'management' practice is making our forests into tinderboxes conducive to more wildfires.

Canadian forests are more conducive to high-severity fires in recent decades (Paper in Science)

2025.01.02 German power prices dropped below zero on the first trading day of the year, an increasingly frequent phenomenon in Europe as renewables expand.

German Power Slips Below Zero as Negative-Price Phenomenon Grows (BNN Bloomberg)

2025.01.02 Wine isn't the only use for grapes. They are food and can be juiced.

Researchers make shocking discovery after examining vineyard grown under solar panels (TCD)

2025.01.02 It isn't a green energy transition, rather "a delaying tactic that keeps attention away from issues like decreasing energy use."

A Reality Check on Our 'Energy Transition' (The Tyee)

2024.12.31 Methane is more than 100 times as potent as CO2 on a 10-year timeframe. Stopping leaks is our biggest bang for the buck on climate change.

Methane leaks are supercharging the climate crisis - here's what we must do, now (The Hill)

2024.12.31 Climate change is not increasing food production, it's disrupting food production and supply lines. Fine, if people don't need to eat.

More than half the world's land is drying out and it's jeopardizing food production (National Observer)

2024.12.31 Climate change includes sea level rise, stronger storms and surges; and the end of habitation on some islands and coastal communities.

'In 10 years we may cease to exist': rising seas and influx of tourists threaten to engulf Panama island (The Guardian)

2024.12.30 You can believe the oil industry, gas vehicle producers, bought media - OR - data.

Residual value on a gasser you buy today will be zero in 3 years. In 2028, the 2030 bans on gassers will be staring you in the face.
US Electric Car Sales Up 474% Since Q3 2019, Fossil Car Sales Down 15% (CleanTechnica)

2024.12.29 Battery technology, be it for mobile devices, household storage or electric vehicles is just getting better. Internal combustion seems to be getting worse.

Inventor reveals 'secret sauce' in making phone batteries last longer: 'We need a next generation' (CleanTechnica)

2024.12.29 It's just another wake-up call with facts and data, your government will continue hitting the snooze button.

2024 Wrapped: Yes, Climate Change Will Probably Kill You (Antarctic Sapiens)

2024.12.28 If you thought big electric trucks were yet to come, you're behind the times. Fleet operators value reliability and keeping costs down, so they're going electric.

Contargo logistics adds 20 Mercedes eActros 600 electric semis to fleet (electrek)

2024.12.27 CCS originally stood for Carbon Capture and Sequestration, and was co-opted by the oil industry to mean Carbon Capture and Storage.

Then that term - when we were being somewhat honest - into CCUS or Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage. That was the leap that connected Candian 'carbon capture' to its real value, which is Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR). EOR actually results in more GHG emissions than if the original carbon dioxide had not been 'captured' in the first place. As a result, Canadian taxpayers supply credits to the mostly foreign-owned oil industry so they can actually create MORE GHG emissions, and increase production a profits, by pumping it into declining wells, much of which is then brought back to the surface in the produced oil, gas, water, etc. So not stored in perpetuity. Good deal for the industry, not so much for humans.
What are the health and safety risks of storing our CO2 forever? (National Observer)

2024.12.26 US$75 Billion seems like a big number, but is it enough to get the attention of big fossil fuels? Or just the cost of doing business?

New York to fine fossil fuel companies $75 billion under new climate law (Reuters)

2024.12.26 Canadian taxpayers still footing fossil fuel industry bills (e.g. TMX, subsidies, RCMP goon squads), while foreign-owned industry takes record profits

Trans Mountain Pipeline Cost Burden Looms As Oil Exports Surge (The Energy Mix)

2024.12.25 Albertans are investing in solar panels and green agriculture, in spite of their provincial and federal governments

How agrivoltaics is marrying food production with green energy in Alberta (CBC)

2024.12.25 Law Holds Fossil Fuel Companies Responsible for Impact of Pollution on New York Communities, Broadens State Ban on Hydraulic Fracturing

Governor Hochul Signs Landmark Legislation Creating New Climate Superfund (New York State)

2024.12.20 Despite the oil and gas industries' rising emissions, Canada overall is reducing GHG emissions, thanks in part to the Climate Action Incentive.

It's especially heartening to see the massive drop in emissions from the electricity generation sector, despite Doug Ford's sweet deals for Enbridge.
With world demand for oil and natural gas - and the economic failure of LNG and wasteful hydrogen production imminent, we can expect emissions wins there.
Canada's greenhouse gas emissions dropping but major reductions still required (National Observer)

2024.12.19 While Musk is showing his colours lately, which are as bad at the Cybertruck, the Tesla Semis hold real promise for pollution reduction.

Tesla delivers electric semi trucks to another customer, confirms efficiency (electrek)

2024.12.19 Climate change is going to make it harder to feed the human population.

Canadian farmers scramble after staple crop gets devastated: 'What we're seeing now is consecutive years of loss' (MSN)

2024.12.19 My point here is that away-from-home EV charging solutions are continuing to arrive to meet market demand.

More Bad News For Fossil Fuels: The Rise Of The Drop-In EV Charging Station (CleanTechnica)

2024.12.19 Again, my point here is that EV batteries keep getting better and less expensive.

A new EV battery could last more than 8 times longer, travel farther (National Observer)

2024.12.19 Does DAC ever win over using the same green elecricity if just used to avoid making CO2 from fossil fuel combustion?

Canadian carbon removal company scores US$40M grant from fund backed by Bill Gates (Canadian Press)

2024.12.18 Turns out potatoes don't like being cooked while they're still in the ground

Researchers developing heatwave-resistant potatoes (BBC)

2024.12.17 While everyone was wondering where Chrystia Freeland went, and if Justin Trudeau has a walk in the snow scheduled,

the Canadian government's Fall Economic Statement had some news of it's own, like another $17 billion gift to (mostly) the oil and gas sector. Merry Christmas, fossil fuels extractivists! That makes the 'HST tax holiday' a rounding error. That should cover the $11 billion Imperial Oil wants for their carbon capture fantasy project to pretend to reduce emissions. Let's see Poilievre call out that extragance.
Key climate takeaways from a dramatic Fall Economic Statement (National Observer)

2024.12.17 Hey Alberta, how are you doing on reducing GHG emissions?

Quebec's emissions dropped in 2022, below pre-pandemic levels (CBC)

2024.12.17 Australians are buying more EVs

Big shift on Aussie roads as electric car market hits 'major milestone' (Yahoo News)

2024.12.17 It's not about policy, ideology or the environment. It's about a rational assessment of lifetime total cost of ownership. Fleet owners do that.

Don't tell the Canadian government; they have a different plan and are sacrificing a Canadian electric truck pioneer.
Accelerating Electrification: Freight Trucks Will Dominate In The US (CleanTechnica)

2024.12.17 Climate change is making coffee more expensive.

Coffee companies issue serious warnings after beans become nearly impossible to grow - here's what's going on (TCD)

2024.12.16 The issue for carbon credits is credibility; is the product real?

Carbon Credit Companies Vie to Outlast a Two-Year Slump (Wall Street Journal)

2024.12.16 Imperial Oil wants Canadian taxpayers to fund 75% (about $11 billion) of its newest tarsands greenwashing project

To date, no carbon capture project has worked as advertised, and there's no reason to believe this one will break the mold.
Imperial Oil Wants More Government Aid for $16 Billion Carbon Capture Project (EnergyNow)

2024.12.12 Will humans ever understand that the oceans are not an infinite dumping ground for our trash, even CO2, and there are always consquences?

Apparently not.
Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement (MIT Climate Portal)

2024.12.06 Oil industry mouthing support for climate change mitigation is a sham. Always has been.

Opinion | As environment minister, I believed the oil sands sector would help us save the planet. I was wrong. (Climate & Nature Solutions)

2024.12.01 Even in the U.S., which still burns coal for electricity production, increased EV use is reducing GHG emissions - and the grid is getting greener

EVs Help Vehicle Emissions Drop To Historic Low In The U.S. (Inside EVs)

Past blog pages:
2019: May    June    July    August    September    October    November    December   
2020: January    February    March    April    May    June    July [COVID gap]
2021: [COVID gap] October-December
2022: January-February    March    April    May-August    September    October    November-December
2023: January    February    March-April    May-July    August-September    October-November    December
2024: January    February    March    April    May    June    July    August    September    October    November   

You can find many earlier postings (going back to year 2000) related to climate change at:
Keith's List Archive and
the Sustainable Biofuel List Mail Archive.

I present a lot of information in this blog and on this website. If you need some help sorting through the noise level and getting a forward-looking, proactive approach to climate change for your business, I can do that work for you via my consulting business. Contact