Obviously, 400 parts per million CO2 is a symbolic number; there’s no good reason to freak out about 400 ppm any more than there is 401 or 399. But the concept that the concentration of CO2 in the Earth’s atmosphere has permanently surpassed this threshold should be a shocking reminder that our business-as-usual approach to energy and the environment is driving us off a cliff.
A few people have commented that my anti-Trump posts could alienate his followers, and actually galvanize support for the sociopath.
No one with any sense and decency deliberately wants to alienate Trump supporters, or anyone else for that matter. But let’s look at this carefully. These people are divided into two groups:
• A smaller number of wealthy people who love the promise of a huge tax reduction and elimination of governmental regulation on things like the environment, and (more…)
Lauren Downs from Global Energy News writes: Hi Craig, I have tried many times to contact you regarding your Nomination in the 2016 Oil & Gas Awards without success. The last thing I want to do is become a nuisance, so I would appreciate your honesty. Is this something you wish to progress with? (more…)
Physicist Enrico Fermi was born on this day 115 years ago in Rome. Einstein had famously predicted the possibility of nuclear energy with the equivalence of mass and energy. But, according to the Writer’s Almanac: “It was Enrico Fermi who was the first to use that theory to build the first functioning nuclear reactor, and he went on to help build the atom bomb.”
Late in his life, Einstein said, “If I had known what they were going to do with my discovery, I would have become a locksmith.” Yet, ironically, now it’s possible that the world can downsize its nuclear arsenal and focus the attention of technologists in this space onto developing large-scale, and, most importantly, no-carbon reactors that function safely and cost-effectively. (more…)
Frequent commenter MarcoPolo reacts to my post on Donald Trump’s “climate change is a hoax” position: The vast majority of Trump supporters and significant percentage of the population, understand not to take Trump too literally…..The danger of this sort of campaign (against Trump) is it preaches to the converted, who would vote against Trump anyway, but it may also motivate a lot of people who may not have bothered to vote to vote for Trump in protest. (more…)
As a man of peace, I tend not to celebrate the lives of the world’s conquerors. Yet, on this date, I always give a tip of my hat to William of Normandy, who, 1050 years ago today, landed on British shores and commenced the Norman Conquest of England. (more…)
Here’s an email urging me to add my name to the #VoteClimate pledge: “I will vote only for climate champions who support a 100% clean energy future, and an end to taxpayer support of fossil fuels.”
I complied with the request, which I thought I would simply present it here, insofar as it needs no explanation or interpretation. It reads: (more…)
After our oceans, our soil is our planet’s next biggest carbon sink (four times more powerful than all the plant life on Earth). The bad news is that the constant depletion of the soil via a range of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, along with various unsustainable agricultural practices has led to a condition in which the ground is losing its effectiveness in capturing and sequestering carbon. (more…)
About a month ago I took this online survey of my attitudes and beliefs so that a piece of artificial intelligence could suggest the country best suited to my tastes should I be forced to expatriate due to a Trump presidency. As I previously reported, the computer recommended The Netherlands, I presume based on my progressive views, coupled with my support of civil liberties. (more…)
Here’s an exciting development that lies squarely on the intersection of the main problems we face in making the migration from fossil fuels to renewable energy. Combining solar energy with storage, it’s a device that converts incoming solar energy directly into chemical energy, stored in the electrolyte within a flow battery.
There are several strategies associated with integrating large amounts of energy from variable resources, and storage is only one. (more…)
