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Occasional Thoughts on Climate Change

donsutherland1

By donsutherland1,
in Climate Change

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donsutherland1
donsutherland1

In the wake of the historic heatwaves that rolled through Europe smashing all-time records (including setting 55% of the all-time record highs for France's 1,050 weather stations), it seems that the c

chubbs
chubbs

This reflects properties of ice and water. In winter ice is thick, not much heat escapes through the ice, and arctic ocean acts like land with large temperature swings (same for early Spring). Water w

donsutherland1
donsutherland1

Four photos from the September 17, 2023 climate change march in New York City.

Posted Images

LibertyBell

LibertyBell

Posted
Posted
11 hours ago, bluewave said:

That video gets to what we see with all new research. The scientists need to secure funds from investors for further research. So it’s common for the headlines of the press releases to focus on the positives and minimize the challenges ahead. The last thing they want is for the investment money to dry up and then have to stop their research. We are still in the infancy of nuclear fusion research without any real way of knowing when or if it will pan out.  

The same can be said about the press releases by countries on how fast they are going to lower their emissions. Time after time we get these pledges of how fast they will transition to renewables. Only to hear that they are retiring their nuclear plants and substituting with dirty coal. The solar and wind targets hit snags since it’s a very complex process involving many moving parts and points of contention. But we don’t hear about  these challenges at the press conference. Germany is one of the further along countries on the path to renewable energy and they have been missing their emissions targets. 

I would say there is a 95% chance we can't even make 2 C let alone 1.5 C.  These pipe dreams need to be replaced with reality.

 

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rclab

rclab

Posted
Posted
On 4/8/2022 at 7:19 AM, A-L-E-K said:

yeah we aren't even trying

how about that methane number

 

On 4/8/2022 at 7:00 PM, LibertyBell said:

I would say there is a 95% chance we can't even make 2 C let alone 1.5 C.  These pipe dreams need to be replaced with reality.

 

 

On 4/8/2022 at 8:12 PM, SnoSki14 said:

Humans are a lot worse

 

22 hours ago, Vice-Regent said:

There is no free will. Life finds a way...

 

22 hours ago, Vice-Regent said:

Why try when it's an exercise in futility?

Good morning all. Perhaps best answered by the closing scene from “On The Beach”. Stay well all, as always ….

582D01DE-E46B-4EEF-AC77-33494A234ACD.png

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Buckeyes_Suck

Buckeyes_Suck

Posted
Posted
4 minutes ago, csnavywx said:

Let's hear what your doubts are and what you would have to see to change your mind. If you want engagement here, you need a falsifiable position to begin with.

I just started reading it after listening to the latest Jordan Peterson podcast. 

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csnavywx

csnavywx

Posted
Posted
2 minutes ago, Buckeyes_Suck said:

I just started reading it after listening to the latest Jordan Peterson podcast. 

 I can't comment on that piece specifically, but am familiar with his positions broadly. 

 If I'm going to address something, it'll mostly be on the science side.

 

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Buckeyes_Suck

Buckeyes_Suck

Posted
Posted
30 minutes ago, SnowenOutThere said:

Are you going to explain your views to us, I would be interested to hear them and try to explain my views to you.

My over simplistic summary is not to put all our eggs in one basket. There’s a good chance that we could devote all our resources to stopping climate change and not be successful. I’d like to see more programs dedicated to mitigating the effects. 

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bluewave

bluewave

Posted
Posted
On 4/5/2022 at 8:15 PM, LibertyBell said:

70% of the planet is covered by oceans-- why can't we put these farms on artificial floating islands in the middle of the ocean?  We can put these installations in the middle of the oceans can we not? 

 

That’s exactly what Denmark is working on right now with their new renewable energy islands concept.

 

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LibertyBell

LibertyBell

Posted
Posted
32 minutes ago, Vice-Regent said:

Grow the food on the waters and reforest the lands. Sequester the carbon safely for pennies on the dollar.

The Capital class will never agree to relinquish their stranglehold on our cities and public lands.

but we already have projects ongoing for ocean farm projects.... seaweed farming is such a good idea.

 

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bluewave

bluewave

Posted
Posted
37 minutes ago, LibertyBell said:

There are towns there which are entirely powered by renewable energy!

 

Denmark has been getting close to 50% of their energy from mostly wind power. January set an all-time record of 68%. But places like Iceland are nearly all renewable from hydropower and geothermal.

 

 

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LibertyBell

LibertyBell

Posted
Posted
16 minutes ago, bluewave said:

Denmark has been getting close to 50% of their energy from mostly wind power. January set an all-time record of 68%. But places like Iceland are nearly all renewable from hydropower and geothermal.

 

 

what are your thoughts on getting energy from the power of ocean waves?

that could be a nearly unlimited source of energy

 

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bluewave

bluewave

Posted
Posted
4 hours ago, LibertyBell said:

what are your thoughts on getting energy from the power of ocean waves?

that could be a nearly unlimited source of energy

 

it looks like the first few wave power stations are beginning to get built.

 

 

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bluewave

bluewave

Posted
Posted

If this solid-state battery technology works out, then we could begin to see much wider acceptance of EVs in the future. Faster charging times, improved safety, and lower cost than the current battery technology. Then we’ll just need to build out the charging infrastructure. Cell towers rapidly expanded once everybody wanted to have a cell phone.
 

 

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Buckeyes_Suck

Buckeyes_Suck

Posted
Posted
3 hours ago, bluewave said:

If this solid-state battery technology works out, then we could begin to see much wider acceptance of EVs in the future. Faster charging times, improved safety, and lower cost than the current battery technology. Then we’ll just need to build out the charging infrastructure. Cell towers rapidly expanded once everybody wanted to have a cell phone.
 

 

My money is on these guys. https://www.quantumscape.com

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bluewave

bluewave

Posted
Posted
5 hours ago, Buckeyes_Suck said:

My money is on these guys. https://www.quantumscape.com

Numerous research teams are working on how to commercialize solid-state battery technology. 

https://cleantechnica.com/2022/04/11/nissan-nasa-to-take-on-solid-state-battery-challenge/

The solid-state battery is the Holy Grail of energy storage technology. It is projected to cost less than traditional lithium-ion batteries, have higher energy density, charge faster, and last longer. In other words, it is the “magic bullet” the world is waiting for to make the EV and energy storage revolutions complete.

There’s only one problem. The solid-state battery doesn’t exist outside of the laboratory yet. Research into how to make it in commercial quantities is going on in hundreds of places around the world. Toyota says it is getting close. QuantumScape and StoreDot say they are almost there. CATL, LG Energy Solutions, SK Innnovation, and Samsung SDI are all hot on the trail.

Now Nissan and NASA say they will team up to crack this particular nut using “computational materials science,” which is code for running zillions of computer models in the hopes of finding something that works.

Most solid-state battery research today is focused on replacing the semi-liquid slurry that separates the internal components of conventional lithium-ion battery — which makes them look a little like a jellyroll when you slice them open. That goop is what burns when batteries overheat. It also increases the cost of batteries because it must be dried in the production process, which takes time, lots of energy, and requires a great deal of factory space.

According to ArsTechnica, the Nissan/NASA collaboration will go beyond finding new solid materials to separate the anode from the cathode. They want to find ways to replace the raw materials used in today’s batteries completely — things like nickel, cobalt, manganese, and all the other minerals that require specialized mining techniques and are subject to wild commodity price swings. For instance, the price of nickel has more than doubled since the January, causing most manufacturers to raise the price of their electric cars at a time when economies of scale should be driving prices down.

Nissan says it will have a pilot production facility to begin making batteries based on the new research by 2024 and expects cars powered by the next generation batteries to be available to customers by 2028, according to Detroit News. The new battery is expected to be half the size of today’s batteries and capable of charging in 15 minutes, although Nissan doesn’t say whether that performance will be possible with Level 2 charging equipment, as opposed to Level 3 DC fast chargers.

Nissan vice president Kazuhiro Doi told the press this week, “Both NASA and Nissan need the same kind of battery.” Nissan and NASA will use what is called an “original material informatics platform” — a computerized database of hundreds of thousands of materials — to see which ones will work best to create new battery technologies. The battery development program will include researchers from the University of California San Diego.

There is no guarantee that Nissan and NASA will achieve their goal, or that some other battery researchers won’t get a solid-state battery into production before they do. The good news for EV enthusiasts is better, cheaper, and faster charging batteries are coming. And when they arrive, the transition to affordable carbon-free transportation will accelerate dramatically.

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Typhoon Tip

Typhoon Tip

Posted
Posted

Just a pure scientific curiosity:  

...I wonder what kind of safety protocols would have to build into such devices that capacity ginormous storage - star in the pocket. 

At some point ...charge density makes an object a veritable bomb - what happens in instances of catastrophic failure? where does that go?  

 

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bluewave

bluewave

Posted
Posted

The current policies will make it a challenge to keep warming below  +2°C to +2.5°C. The long wait for approval of renewable projects is greatly slowing the energy transition in the US. China is continuing to expand their coal production. But it’s possible that the damages caused by global warming over the next 50 years will become intolerable to the international community. So the chances of extreme warming scenarios above +3°C could be diminished. 
 

 

 

 
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