|
Because apparently we can't have a website anymore without a blog
The blah-blah-blog
As time permits, I'm going to put the esoterica I encounter related to climate change
here rather than trying to update the various pages. So this will be in reverse chronological rather
than logically organized within the structure of the rest of this website. Please don't
rely on this as a consistent and current source for climate change information updates.
Sadly, we cannot rely on our corporate-controlled mass media for good information on this, and my time is limited.
Past blog pages:
2019: May June
July August
September October
November December
2020: January February
March April
May June
July [COVID gap]
2021: 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
The 10n10 Catastophic Climate Change Blog - May-July 2023
2023.07.21 Goodbye forests, goodbye carbon sink myth, goodbye carbon credits, hello climate change death spiral.
Our forests have reached a tipping point (National Observer)
2023.07.21 Air conditioners use energy, which typically means increased GHG emissions and waste heat.
How to make homes cooler without cranking up the air conditioning (The Conversation)
Remember, if you live where the grid is powered by heat engines (e.g., burning natural gas, coal, oil, uranium,
biofuel, biomass ...) you are cooling your space at the expense of warming the planet. Eventually, that has
to be a losing proposition for us all. Cooling the planet surface should be the primary objective so
we won't have to work as hard to cool our 'conditioned' spaces.
When it comes to trees in temperate zones, lean toward deciduous types which will absorb (and block)
solar energy, and provide evaporo-transpiration cooling in summer, but allow solar gain in winter,
and act as a carbon store and anchor for soil and groundwater.
2023.08.21 I usually do a hard think when I find myself agreeing with Bloomberg. In this case, I accept
their headline, but they are understating the case in the article.
Methane Leaks Are the Low-Hanging Fruit of the Climate Crisis (Bloomberg)
The reality here is that the impact of methane emissions are undercounted (the real multiplier is greater
than 100 per IPCC GWP10 numbers from 2 decades ago, not 80 times, or the 25 times that the Canadian government
persists in using from 50 years ago), AND the amount of methane continues to be under-counted by the voluntary
reporting system used by the fossil fuels industry (though new satellites which can see methane emissions are
starting to force some grudging honesty on that front.
2023.08.17 One of the few things that can divert Doug Ford's attention from destroying the Greenbelt, is
destroying the future by increasing GHG emissions with more natural gas fugitive emissions and carbon dioxide,
while adding even more waste heat to an already too-warm planet.
Proudly and defiantly anti-people and anti-planet. Today's instalment on natural gas: problem, not solution.
Too Many Gas Power Plants Are The Problem Not The Solution (CleanTechnica)
2023.07.16 Change in blog practice - announcement
In recent days, we have seen wildfires in Canada surpass 10 times the average number and area burned.
And we're only about halfway through the typical season.
Similar stories are coming out of the U.S. and Europe.
Significant portions of the northern hemisphere are literally on fire.
We are setting records the hottest weeks planetwide consecutively.
At the same time, the oil industry is reneging on past commitments to reduce their GHG emissions,
not even taking into account downstream GHG emissions from the products they produce. They
continue to campaign for more use of natural gas, even though their fugitive emissions quantities
continue to rise, and methane is more than 100 times a potent as carbon dioxide on the 10-year scale.
And yet, I'm seeing no sign that major governments are serious about curbing emissions in the
immediate term, reducing practices that produce waste heat, or even reduce subsidies to the
massively profitable oil and gas sectors. In fact, Ontario has announced their plans to buy
even more natural gas electricity generating stations which will necessitate more gas pipelines,
and inevitably more fugitive methane emissions.
This is insanity.
Going forward, I will be focusing less on the escalating horror stories, and trying to bring forward
more information on what individuals and small businesses can do to keep the planet survivable for humans
and other species adapted to temperatures that were typical 10-100 years ago. Good luck to us all.
2023.07.16 Big Oil lied to us - again. (and again and again)
Big oil quietly walks back on climate pledges as global heat records tumble (The Guardian)
2023.07.14 Big Oil doesn't understand survival of their customers; they only understand money.
As heat records break, the climate movement has the right answers – but the words are all wrong (The Guardian)
2023.06.23 Oregon County Sues Big Oil For Heat Wave
Multnomah County in Oregon has filed a lawsuit against Exxon, Chevron, the American Petroleum Institute, and
other organizations for what it claims is the harm it suffered as a result of a heat wave in 2021 caused,
it claimed, by climate change. (OilPrice.com)
2023.06.09 At its core, climate change is an existential people issue
Global heating will push billions outside the livable zone (National Observer)
2023.05.26 Let's not forget CCUS is not sequestration, and to date CCUS projects have been huge disappointments
SUPER DUG: Why Carbon Capture Remains Up in the Air (Hart Energy)
2023.05.26 Scientific studies indicate nature-based solutions are all-around more effective and less expensive
than CCUS for actually removing CO2 from the atmosphere
Machine carbon capture a failure – so why subsidize it? (Asia Times)
2023.05.25 Don't you hate it when your electricity prices go down because your government chose
to shift to zero-carbon and low-carbon alternatives? The fossil fuel sector does.
Finland’s Electricity Prices Fall Below Zero (Oilprice.com)
2023.05.25 Is anyone really surprised an oil company's 'carbon offsets' are mostly a sham?
‘Worthless’: Chevron’s carbon offsets are mostly junk and some may harm, research says (The Guardian)
2023.05.24 The Southern Ocean overturning circulation has ebbed 30% since the 90s, CSIRO scientist claims, leading to higher sea levels and changing weather
Slowing ocean current caused by melting Antarctic ice could have drastic climate impact, study says (The Guardian)
2023.05.24 Researchers set out to clearly quantify connection between companies, emissions and climate events (37%)
Rise in extreme wildfires linked directly to emissions from oil companies in new study (CBC)
2023.05.24 The Canadian government is supposed to be reducing oil industry subsidies, not hiding them
‘TD crew’ got heads up Canada would obscure involvement in Trans Mountain pipeline bailout (The Narwhal)
2023.05.24 Campaign group says plastics are incompatible with circular economy as countries prepare for treaty talks
Recycled plastic can be more toxic and is no fix for pollution, Greenpeace warns (The Guardian)
2023.05.23 If ExxonMobil has a tab of $18.4 billion for climate change damage, how much is the company really worth?
Calculating the amount companies owe for causing global warming (Phys.org)
2023.05.22 Electricity generation from grid-connected renewables now second only to natural gas (U.S. 2022 data)
US Electricity from Renewable Energy Beat Electricity from Coal or Nuclear in 2022 (CleanTechnica)
2023.05.22 Another day, another country, another climate change plan that will start later (sigh)
France unveils plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent by 2030 (France 24)
2023.05.22 Polluting remains profitable, but is it good for the share price?
Big polluters’ share prices fall after climate lawsuits, study finds (The Guardian)
2023.05.21 Actually greening the grid? Nice job, Spain.
Spain has produced enough renewable energy to power its entire country for a 9-hour work day (Insider)
2023.05.16 Ontario’s electricity system moves forward with largest energy storage procurement ever in Canada
Before you get excited about the Ontario government getting with the program for survival of our species,
note that it is still planning to waste a tonne of money on procuring more fossil natural gas capacity than
the total storage capacity as a 'transitional resource', meaning they know they will throw it away in a few years,
but not before increasing GHG emissions in the next decade which is critical for reducing GHG emisssions.
Once again, the Doug Ford Conservatives are wasting taxpayer money to heat the planet and make GHG emissions worse. (ieso.ca)
It's also worth noting that while the Ontario government will fund the new but obsolete natural gas infrastructure
construction, they will require others to pay for grid-scale storage and hope to land a contract with the government
only after they have become operational.
Natural gas production in Ontario is trivial. Most of the natural gas to be used in the 'transitional resource'
will be imported from the U.S., creating jobs there and not here.
Past blog pages:
2019: May June
July August
September October
November December
2020: January February
March April
May June
July [COVID gap]
2021: 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
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
|