tingilinde

albert and the xl pipeline

Alberta is the Canadian Texas - right wing politics in control and a big stake in oil.  Alberta's problem is the global demand for their oil isn't what it used to be and they are no longer the players they thought they were - even within Canada.  Some commentary by a resident.

 

 

just how much can biden undo?

Rule changes and conservative courts will probably get in the way of many.

snip

...

ome of the environmental policy changes, though, will be harder to reverse because the rules that implement key laws, such as the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Clean Water Act, were changed.

“With the most damaging policy decisions and initiatives, the problem is when they have been done by rule-making and not executive orders and they have political support in the Senate, in particular, it can be hard to undo those things,” said Jim Lyons, the deputy assistant secretary for Land and Mineral Management at the Interior Department under Obama.

...

 

 

truer than not

 

Republicans: the Orcs of the carbon-fueled underworld

 

will the aptera make it this time?

The first Aptera was an extremely efficient three wheeled car that didn't make it to production.  Years later it's been rethought and now Sandy Munro - one of the serious gurus on automotive production - is involved. It's radically different from anything else and would be very interesting if it catches on.

br>

13 megawatts

Size rules when it comes to wind turbines.  A race to build giant offshore turbines is beginning.

 

energy use and inertia

The history of American energy use - turning ships takes a lot of time.  Always nice seeing Sankey diagrams.

 

a tip of the hat to Mike

 

 

range and teslas

a nice analysis and a tip of the hat to greg

trying to change minds in montana

Karin Kirk writing in Scientific American

snip

...

My usual work revolves around the discourse on climate change and energy. Science communicators have distilled useful guidelines for public engagement with science, but I took a reprieve from the academic and hypothetical to test these strategies in a very real—and sometimes intimidating—setting. How do you break it to a rural voter in a major coal state that coal is never coming back? What tactics can one use to tiptoe through a conversation with a staunchly religious person to make the point that, in fact, humans are responsible for warming the climate?

I made my share of blunders and endured a never-ending case of “I should have said …” playing in my mind. But I also learned reliable strategies for having pleasant, productive and persuasive conversations.

...

 

climate policy and citizen groups

Using short-term citizen groups to break political stalemates on climate and other science laden policy.  It seems risky in the US, but is probably better than the current polarized situation.

 

 

daytime radiative cooling

Radiative cooling has been around forever - making ice in the desert at night when the air temperature is above freezing has been done for thousands of years.  Now a clever material science trick allows for daytime operation potentially reducing AC needs by ten or more percent with no operational energy cost.