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.
Greenwashing Debunked in 11 FortisBC Gas Claims (The Tyee)
The article appropriately rejects the 100-year impact horizon for fossil gas, using the
20-year GWP number instead. However, even this is not sufficient. The typical lifetime of
methane in the atmosphere is about 10 years. We have less than 10 years left - per the IPCC -
to drastically reduce our fossil fuel use to avoid completely catastrophic climate change.
[The GWP number for the 10 year horizon for methane is 104, again per the IPCC. (page 39 of the PDF file,
Table 8.SM.17, the second row - CH4 is methane or fossil gas - and the first data column is the GWP10 number: 104.2.]
That is, for each molecule of methane we release into the atmosphere, it will produce 104 times the
warming impact of a molecule of carbon dioxide for the time it remains in the atmosphere. 104 times!
2022.10.19 This is where you hit fossil-fuel extraction for impact - in their wallet.
Next, stop buying their products.
Insurers withdraw from high-risk oil, gas, coal projects (National Observer)
2022.10.19 A restaurant chain in the United Arab Emirates - an oil exporter - have been running
their trucks on 100% biodiesel from used cooking oil (zero net GHGs) since 2011.
But, in North America, we still haven't read the memo. This is true 'waste-to-energy' in action.
McDonald’s UAE vehicles hit biodiesel landmark (biofuels international)
2022.10.18 The rate of ocean warming in the top 2km has doubled from levels in the 1960s, review finds
Amount of ocean heat found to be accelerating and fuelling extreme weather events (The Guardian)
2022.10.16 Despite record profits this year, and even after the $7.1 billion tax credit announced in the last federal budget,
so they can chase their pie in the sky carbon capture dream.
Oilsands Alliance Demands Federal Backing for $24.1B CCS Project (The Energy Mix)
2022.10.16 As climate change is accelerating and producing larger consequences, we need more
good data and information and guidance, not less.
CSIRO abruptly scraps globally recognised climate forecast program (The Guardian)
2022.10.15 If rainfall and drainage patterns are changing (rapidly), and this has negative
consequences for hydro dams, nuclear plants and fossil fuel generating stations that need a lot of
cooling water, we should be shifting away from such centralized large plants as a resilience measure.
[dead link: https://bigindynews.com/business/climate-graphic-of-the-week-world-weather-agency-sounds-alarm-on-dams-power-and-nuclear-plants]
Climate graphic of the week: World weather agency sounds alarm on dams, power and nuclear plants (Big Indy News)
Fortunately, solar and wind lend themselves to small installations, and continue to improve.
Rooftop wind energy innovation claims 50% more energy than solar at same cost
2022.10.11 The only way that increased use of fossil methane (natural gas) and paying for the supporting
infrastructure (not a short-term investment), is if the migration path includes a massive
shift to bio-methane.
Sadly and predictably, that is not the Ontario Ford government's plan, but
rather to make taxpayers pay for the big spend for a short-term problem and then toss it away when they eventually
shift to battery storage, 'emissions-free generation' (because the Ontaro Conservatives can't
say 'renewables' out loud after wasting millions of taxpayer dollars on scrapping the climate
change plan they inherited and was working). For less money up-front and greater long-term value,
Ontario could just agree to buy hydro electricity from Quebec and be prepared to reduce
exports, which would give the Ontario grid plenty of headroom.
Ontario doubles down on gas-fired electricity generation, admits emissions will rise (National Observer)
2022.10.10 Greece installed renewables during forced austerity times to reduce electricity costs.
And they're not finished yet.
Greece runs entirely on renewables for the first time in its history (PV Tech)
2022.10.09 Thirty-three of these wind turbines could replace a Pickering class nuclear reactor.
Probably at a lower construction cost, no fuel cost, no spent fuel problem, no
radioactivity problem and likely with better uptime. If we put them in Lake Ontario, close to
the existing generating station, they could 'plug-in' to the exsiting transmission infrastructure.
Intermittent wind could be managed with a large power-conditioning battery (e.g. Tesla Megapack).
Record energy haul: Offshore prototype operates over capacity for 24 hrs (Business Insider)
2022.10.09 Some years ago I said: "EVs are the killer app for the Smart Grid."
I know a fair bit about
EVs (made my first in 1978-79, and have had a succession ever since). I know a bit about the electrical
generation, transmission and storage system. So, just 15 years or so later, it's nice to see some media
are also figuring this out. EVs are not a threat to the grid, they are a golden opportunity. They are a
threat to the fossil fuel industry, and an opportunity to massively reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
EVs won't overload the power grid — and they could even help modernize our aging infrastructure (Business Insider)
2022.10.08 'The climate is not just changing. It is destabilising. It is breaking down.'
Greta Thunberg on the climate delusion: ‘We’ve been greenwashed out of our senses. It’s time to stand our ground’ (The Guardian)
2022.10.02 Reducing landfilling and embedded energy used in replacements helps slow climate change.
The fix is in: how Repair Café and other organizations are changing the way we reuse things (Toronto Star)
2022.10.02 One way to mitigate climate change is to reduce fossil fuel consumption. Every reduction helps.
Giant supertanker uses 9.8% less fuel thanks to 130-foot sails (New Atlas)
2022.10.01 There is no idea so beneficial or benign that it can't be screwed up.
Contractors devastated by N.B. program offering free heat pumps (Global News)
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
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