- 10-Second Climate
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- 10-Second Climate - 21st Jan 2024
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What you need to know
EU bans dodgy carbon offsets: good
But my Range Rover has an offset sticker! “Climate Neutral” promises are dodge: pump the carbon, pay some South American who swears he’s planted trees. But- 90% are worthless.
EU good? Yes. This is big. Claims based on offsetting banned from 2026: e.g. Qatar can’t say the World Cup was carbon neutral 🤔
So how do I decarbonise if I can’t pay someone to do it for me? How do porcupines mate? Carefully. Real action is expensive. Cash up.
Read more: Guardian
Peak oil’s blinder; but is a real peak peeking?
Peak Oil?! Yes, a decade ago, we thought oil was over. Didn’t happen: clever Americans did their shale thing. So, a new record expected in 2024: 103.5 million barrels a day.
When do we run out? The peak could happen in 2025, as discoveries are only replacing 25% of production.
Read more: Record oil: IEA’s Oil Market Report. Peak oil: ZeroHedge reports Occidental’s warnings on shortages
Energy efficiency: $3trillion/year & you’ll swear less
Why this matters? The best electron: one you didn’t need & didn’t use. Efficiency saves everything: costs, carbon, capital, and swear words when fossil fuels explode in price (see: 2022).
How much? PwC reckons 31% of energy use can go, for the same result. The UK is ahead of the game - 37% already, more still possible.
Read more: PwC / WEF report
Source: Jan Rosenow
(and yes, it’s adjusted for final demand reductions etc)
One thing to worry about
One POV: we’ve done the f—ing about bit, and we’re now in the finding out bit. Right now:-
Himalayan ski resorts have no snow (Third Pole)
During 2023, one quarter of humanity lived through drought (NY Times)
Amazon driest ever - risking ecosystem collapse and becoming a savanna. (BBC)
Greenland’s ice sheet melting at 30 million tonnes per hour (Guardian)
321 days (& counting) of record North Atlantic sea surface temperatures
This Church is usually below water level. The reservoir supplies Barcelona- now at 6% capacity and tourists are visiting the abandoned village.
One thing to be optimistic about
Guess where heat pumps are most popular? Cold countries! Electricity magics extra energy (about 2.5x input), even from sub-zero air 🪄.
Dutch sales increased by 36% in 2023 (Cooling Post) to 30% of all new heating systems 🤩.
Can we get off domestic gas? YES! We. Have. The. Technology.*
The colder the country, the more heat pumps (2021)
*Except in the UK. We aren’t bothering. France installed 10x the heat pumps we did, in 2022. The French 😤!!
If you’ve got more time, read this…
Humanity’s impact on climate is so large our brains can’t really compute it. Zeke Hausfather has a go:
We have emitted CO2 to the combined weight of all living things & all human-built stuff on Earth
In 2022/23 the ocean’s heat increased by 15 zettajoules (billion trillion joules) due to energy trapped in Earth’s atmosphere. That’s 25 times all energy used by, and waste heat from, human activities. Mo heat, mo problems
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