At some point we'll have SAF at scale. https://www.energy.gov/eere/bioenergy/sustainable-aviation-fuels
Leigh On 29 Jan 2024 at 03:26 PM, glen related > I feel like individual actions (like sorting recycling, buying/using EVs, > etc.) are a tiny drop in the bucket compared to institutional actions. For > example, the NIH recently held a meeting in Maryland explicitly stating a > *preference* for in person attendance. This seemed egregious to me. I mean, I > know they're not a department of ecology or biology ... or climate science or > whatever. But surely ... shirley they know that institutional pressure to fly > around the earth is a part of the problem, right? Like, how are we supposed > to compete for federal funds ... social network wise, when all the > flesh-pressing rich people fly around pressing the flesh in meatspace? > > Similarly, ALife is in Copenhagen. Very cool. I've always wanted to go there. > Luckily, IACAP (RussA mentioned) is in Eugene. I can take the train there. > Maybe if we change your "life is at stake" to "career is at stake", we could > make some interim progress. Anyone who flies to a conference is immediately > spray-painted with a scarlet letter. But, really. It's not about us. It's > about Amazon, Microsoft, P&G, Maybelline > <https://www.beatthemicrobead.org/11-makeup-brands-exposed-with-the-use-of-microplastics/>, > Dupont, etc. ... and maybe even the NIH. We should make it about their > "corporate life is at stake" and execute the bad actors. > > Speaking of the death penalty for corporations: > https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/central-ny/politics/2024/01/29/taking-away-trump-s-business-empire-would-stand-alone-under-new-york-fraud-law > > "An Associated Press analysis of nearly 70 years of civil cases under the law > showed that such a penalty has only been imposed a dozen previous times, and > Trump’s case stands apart in a significant way: It’s the only big business > found that was threatened with a shutdown without a showing of obvious > victims and major losses." > > Freewill? Agency? Pffft. The real touchstone is "identify the victim". > > On 1/29/24 14:41, Jochen Fromm wrote: > > I saw this article mentioned by Eliot Jacobson on his X/Twitter profile > > which argues that our actions will most likely not be enough until there is > > a big shock which motivates real change. It also uses the Covid pandemic to > > illustrate that people are able to change if they are convinced their lives > > are at stake > > https://time.com/6565499/apocalyptic-optimism-climate-change/ > > > > It fits to my own observations here in Europe: there are more and more EVs > > and charging stations, but not enough. There are more heat pumps replacing > > gas heatings, but not enough. There is more use of renewable energy but not > > enough. I fear people will only start to change fundamentally if they feel > > their life is at stake. Will it be too late then? I don't know. Let's be > > optimistic. "Keep your face always toward the sunshine - and shadows will > > fall behind you" > > https://quoteinvestigator.com/2019/03/05/sunshine/ > > > > -J. > > > > > > -------- Original message -------- > > From: Steve Smith <sasm...@swcp.com> > > Date: 1/28/24 8:16 PM (GMT+01:00) > > To: friam@redfish.com > > Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Bad news about the climate > > > > I love me a good dose of Sabine... her flat-delivery of equally serious and > > glib lines is killer IMO... and for the most part I feel compelled to defer > > to her facts and analyses (almost) without reserve. (/around 13:30 she said > > "so mind-f#%#%ingly stupid" /). I'm surprised she didn't actually invoke > > the biblical "four horsemen"! Her closing statement with the "stop gluing > > yourself to things" sorta made Sabine the anti-Greta? Both of those made > > me choke on my coffee <grin>. > > > > The whole North-Atlantic circulation thing (AMOC tipping point) threatening > > to undermine the British Isles and Scandinavia's relatively mild winters > > (moderated by oceanic heat transport from the equator) is one of the things > > I expect to crash a lot of expectations (and economies and ???) around the > > industrial north. New England is also implicated in a major/abrupt local > > climate change from this as well. > > > > I did a short stint with a pre-climate (atmospheric-ocean model coupling) > > modeling team at LANL in the 90s and what I enjoyed most was the cognitive > > dissonance amongst the researchers who on one hand felt they couldn't > > predict *anything* confidently but recognized the incredibly high stakes > > and the emerging awareness of the implications of dynamical systems theory > > on the domain... how many bifurcation points likely surrounded the > > relatively linear "basin" the climate has been wandering in since the > > Younger Dryas. > > > > Without exception, every scientist I worked with then privately declared > > "we have a problem!" even though they didn't feel they had anywhere near > > the evidence to say anything that strongly in their publications. > > > > Anecdotally, I've been experiencing a fairly steady winter-warming at my > > high-desert location 20 miles outside Santa Fe at about 5400ft where I > > catch the cold-air flow off of both the Sangre de Christo and the Jemez > > mtns. Winters have gotten drier for the most part and while the lows > > still maintain (see above), the highs during the winter (and dead of > > summer) have risen consistently for the last 20 years I've lived at this > > location. > > > > The climate and long-range weather forecasts for the area that I've checked > > out are somewhat mutually contradictory and my half-full/half-empty biases > > lead me to smug satisfaction when my fruit trees promise to do better than > > historically, even if my tomatoes freeze on Oct 1 no matter what (I've > > tossed plastic film over them and had them keep on growing/ripening until > > Thanksgiving a few years when I've bothered)... root vegetables can now > > stay in the ground until I dig to eat and winter squash on the vine outside > > longer and longer. > > > > On the half-empty side, surface water is becoming more and more dear here, > > my AC-free summers are getting more uncomfortable and it is likely enough > > that all of this is a minor perturbation compared to what might hit this > > region in the next few decades as various major tipping points tip. > > > > <virtue signal> > > > > If I were younger, I'd probably be more (personally) worried. I tell my > > 40-something progeny that they should plan on the possibility that they > > might live forever and their children are even more likely to. Me, I'm > > just happy that when my hand-carved wooden chompers get too slimy and > > splintery to use that the folks with drills and novacaine can make me a > > "screw-in set" like Nicks! > > > > Meanwhile the only thing I can think to do is keep lowering my own > > personal footprint and readying my home(stead) for another generation to > > pick up wherever I leave off with an equally lowered (residence-induced) > > footprint. I'm not vegan (yet) but I try to buy my eggs from local > > home-raised sources and keep my agri-industry consumption of > > milk/cheese/butter down to a fraction of my former appetite. > > > > I've lowered my heating demand (via wood-burning) to near net-zero, > > burning (almost) only the prunings and trimmings from my own (1.5 acre high > > desert) property (and some from neighbors who CBB). PV tech is mature > > enough that *used* gear on the order of $10k investment can probably allow > > me to quit spinning the hydro-turbines up the river (Abiqui Lake) and > > spewing coal-smoke out of the 4-corners plant my co-op draws primarily > > from. A couple of mini-split heat-pumps might give me both relief from > > the worst summer heat and displace yet-more of the cellulose I (grow) and > > burn. A little more PV and I can displace the 20lb propane cylinder I > > burn for cooking in the summer into induction cooking? > > > > Nevertheless, I'm still a big "part of the problem" just by being a > > member of the first-world economy... even if I quit burning any > > transportation fuel (jet or train or private auto) entirely and eat mostly > > plants (not too much as M. Pollan recommends). > > > > </virtue signal> > > > > > > On 1/27/24 1:59 PM, Russ Abbott wrote: > >> I apologize for this relatively mass email. It was prompted by a video > >> <https://youtu.be/4S9sDyooxf4?si=_A767WzYTxriYGdl> by Sabine Hossenfelder, > >> Sabine is a theoretical physicist who has spent much of her recent life as > >> a popular science writer and video maker. See her Wikipedia page > >> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabine_Hossenfelder>. > >> > >> The video linked to above talks about climate models. The bottom line is > >> that it appears that most of the current models have underestimated how > >> quickly earth will warm. The consequences are frightening. > >> _ > > > -- > ꙮ Mɥǝu ǝlǝdɥɐuʇs ɟᴉƃɥʇ' ʇɥǝ ƃɹɐss snɟɟǝɹs˙ ꙮ > > -. --- - / ...- .- .-.. .. -.. / -- --- .-. ... . / -.-. --- -.. . > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Fridays 9a-12p Friday St. Johns Cafe / Thursdays 9a-12p Zoom > https://bit.ly/virtualfriam > to (un)subscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com > FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ > archives: 5/2017 thru present > https://redfish.com/pipermail/friam_redfish.com/ > 1/2003 thru 6/2021 http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/ > > -. --- - / ...- .- .-.. .. -.. / -- --- .-. ... . / -.-. --- -.. . 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