One Finite Planet

Topics and Subtopics.
All: Climate Change And Other Pollution

COP27: Climate change action sabotage?

Reports from COP27 seems indicate the key initiative this year to make wealthy nations cover the cost of the damages poor nations will incur as a result of emissions that have main originated from those wealthy nations.

The proposal as it stands has a missing an essential piece, and trying to cover for that essential piece, appears most to likely to increase emissions, and move COP away from a focus on solving the climate crisis and instead toward just fighting over the cost.

This is a troubled look at the key flaw in what has been put forward and the real solution that should be in place.

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Did Al Gore nail it: Is climate change merely inconvenient, or is it an existential threat?

Claims that +1.5oC warming would be ‘catastrophic’, and that climate change represents an ‘existential threat’ can be quite vague as just what is ‘catastrophic’ or an ‘existential threat’?

This webpaper, seeks to translate ‘catastrophic’ outcomes and ‘existential threats’ into more concrete outcomes.

“We recognise climate change is a serious problem and are committed to net zero by 2050 in order to prevent the disastrous consequences anticipated to occur by around 2026”

Typical government position: Is it ok?

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The Power struggle in Australia.

From “the biggest corruption scandal ever” in Brazil, problems in Venezuela, human rights in Saudi Arabia and Iran, to the problems caused by lobbyists against action on climate change, an abundance of fossil fuels is a source of political power, yet rarely force for good, and Australia, with a wealth of coal and gas, is not spared.

The current crisis in Ukraine not only drives up energy prices globally, but it also creates a dilemma for gas producing nations.

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The environmental impact of the transition to EVs and the potential problems.

There are many claims that EVs result in more emissions than fossil fuelled vehicles. The reality is that even when an EV is powered from a ‘dirty’ grid, it is clear that driving an EV creates less emissions. What is less clear, is whether the emission reduction when driven justifies the emissions that are created when building the EV?

Buying an EV is better for the environment in the long term than buying an ICE vehicle but can be worse for the environment than not buying any new vehicle at all. The key finding is that while it is best to stop buying so many new ICE vehicles ASAP, there should be no rush to replace existing ICE vehicles with EVs, and instead allow existing vehicles the around two decades until their normal scrap date.

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Big Oil, AKA Big Fossil: How real, and what about ‘big climate’?

Yes, big oil with value at over US$7 billion per day in revenue at stake clearly has a vested interest in arguing against climate change and downplaying risks, but on the other hand, aren’t there also vested interests exaggerating and overstating the risks of climate change? Effectively could ‘big renewables’, ‘big science‘ or ‘big climate’, be out lobbying and out promoting ‘big fossil‘?

Is this really a balanced fight, or is it more like the might of ‘big tobacco’ vs ‘whistle blower medical research’ all over again?

This is a look at the financial might on each side of the argument, and the respective motives for each side to overstate their case.

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The electrical grid, V2G and EV Home Charging: Missing an opportunity for the planet.

Move to renewables for energy, and electricity for transport, and we solve the climate problem.

But renewables require storage, and uptake of EVs requires home charging, and there is a cost to both.

But what if electric vehicles could solve the “green power grid” problem, provide energy security, and avert a threat of increasing inequality, and reduce costs? It turns out this dream scenario is definitely possible but can be fully realised only if the home charging problem is solved.

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1.5°C by 2026? Already +1.25°C in 2021: What You Are Not Being Told Other Than By Greta Thunberg et al., And Why Not.

I started out wondering how much temperatures have risen so far, what is the best estimate for when will reach +1.5°C , and how bad is +1.5°C anyway. I expected that finding the first two answers would be easy, but it was not. I found the answers, and why they were not easy to find.

I found that with warming at +1.0 in Paris in 2015, +1.5 logically seemed 50 years away, but in 2021 just 6 years later, we are halfway there at +1.25°C. Much changed during the Covid-19 distraction, and at this rate +1.5°C is set to be here by 2026, not the 2050 predicted at Paris.

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COP26: Were The Deck Chairs Sufficiently Shuffled?

COP26. It sounds like a police officer who can’t be named. For me it raises questions such as:

  • Why “COP26” and what happened to the first 25 COPs?
  • Are all decisions are made in advance, or is anything really agreed at the conference?
  • Is there more than politicians and fossil fuel companies agreeing spin and token gestures?

Read More »

Climate Change And Other Pollution

Did Al Gore nail it: Is climate change merely inconvenient, or is it an existential threat?

Did Al Gore nail it: Is climate change merely inconvenient, or is it an existential threat?

Claims that +1.5oC warming would be 'catastrophic', and that climate change represents an 'existential threat' can be quite vague as just what is 'catastrophic' or an 'existential threat'?

This webpaper, seeks to translate 'catastrophic' outcomes and 'existential threats' into more concrete outcomes.

"We recognise climate change is a serious problem and are committed to net zero by 2050 in order to prevent the disastrous consequences anticipated to occur by around 2026"

Typical government position: Is it ok?
Parent / Sub topics
1.5°C by 2026? Already +1.25°C  in 2021: What You Are Not Being Told Other Than By Greta Thunberg et al., And Why Not.

1.5°C by 2026? Already +1.25°C in 2021: What You Are Not Being Told Other Than By Greta Thunberg et al., And Why Not.

I started out wondering how much temperatures have risen so far, what is the best estimate for when will reach +1.5°C , and how bad is +1.5°C anyway. I expected that finding the first two answers would be easy, but it was not. I found the answers, and why they were not easy to find. I found that with warming at +1.0 in Paris in 2015, +1.5 logically seemed 50 years away, but in 2021 just 6 years later, we are halfway there at +1.25°C. Much changed during the Covid-19 distraction, and at this rate +1.5°C is set to be here by 2026, not the 2050 predicted at Paris.
One Finite Environment: Sustainability vs perpetual growth.

One Finite Environment: Sustainability vs perpetual growth.

We live on planet with a dying biosphere that only will soon end its the brief period of being able to naturally support complex life, yet there is a common assumption that the Earth would always support complex life, with many even wanting to believe even Earth would even support perpetual growth. Assuming climate change is an existential threat and not merely an inconvenience, then surviving until that pending natural end to complex life is the current challenge, but ignoring the long-term CO2 challenges would only buy time on our dying planet. Humanity could be nature's cure for a dying biosphere, as long as we don't kill the patient and as adults accept an end to growth.
Webpapers
Base load Solar and Wind: Renewables alone not a substitute for fossil fuels.

Base load Solar and Wind: Renewables alone not a substitute for fossil fuels.

COP26: Were The Deck Chairs Sufficiently Shuffled?

COP26: Were The Deck Chairs Sufficiently Shuffled?

COP27: Climate change action sabotage?

COP27: Climate change action sabotage?

The environmental impact of the transition to EVs and the potential problems.

The environmental impact of the transition to EVs and the potential problems.

Big Oil, AKA Big Fossil: How real, and what about ‘big climate’?

Big Oil, AKA Big Fossil: How real, and what about ‘big climate’?

The Power struggle in Australia.

The Power struggle in Australia.

Why Hydrogen Cars are not the future, and EVs are here to stay.

Why Hydrogen Cars are not the future, and EVs are here to stay.

The electrical grid, V2G and EV Home Charging: Missing an opportunity for the planet.

The electrical grid, V2G and EV Home Charging: Missing an opportunity for the planet.

Methane: Can A ‘Green’ Agenda Derail Climate Action?

Fool’s Gold, Scams & realities of a Hydrogen Future: “Where does the hydrogen come from?”

Fool’s Gold, Scams & realities of a Hydrogen Future: “Where does the hydrogen come from?”