While there has been enthusiasm for a recovering global economy, optimism is being dampened by market movements. There are some fundamental concerns about projected consumption levels and production costs. There are a number of geopolitical risks festering around the world: The strife in Hong Kong is being calmed by force. That will be re-assuring now, …
Continue reading Asset prices down, money chasing security. What’s the problem?
Category:4 Energy
Why Naomi Klein Must Not Blame Capitalism
“I haven’t finished reading the book; I don’t want to know who wins, capitalism or the climate, but I assume it’s capitalism because the book costs $30 and it’s printed on dead trees.”
–Stephen Colbert, interviewing Naomi Klein (23 Sept 2014)
Demand for action on climate change is getting loud.
Today’s UN climate change summit has provoked peaceful demonstrations around the world and drew significant media attention. The number of people changing their own behaviour and demanding change from leaders is growing. This is what is required to change the culture of permissiveness that pervades the worlds of money and politics. Some leaders appear committed …
Continue reading Demand for action on climate change is getting loud.
The end of fossil fuels.
The Rockerfeller Foundation plans to divest fossil fuel assets in its portfolio. The Fund will first focus on limiting its exposure to coal and tar sands, with a goal to reduce these investments to less than one percent of the total portfolio by the end of 2014. It is planning for further divestment as quickly …
Continue reading The end of fossil fuels.
We don’t need an education to save the planet …
I’ve liked this video since coming across it by accident about a decade ago. It’s still relavant and rocks …
Waste hemp for cradle-to-cradle and biomimicry
Research shows that “Hemp fibres ‘better than graphene’”. Scientists have made graphene-like materials for a thousandth of the price – and with waste. They “cooked” cannabis bark into carbon nanosheets and built supercapacitors, high-performance energy storage devices, which are “on a par with or better than graphene” – the industry gold standard. Graphene is too …
Continue reading Waste hemp for cradle-to-cradle and biomimicry
Biosphere destruction is being ignored but happening fast and time is running out.
In Dangerous Global Warming Closer Than You Think, Climate Scientists Say, Scientific American outlines two reports encouraging immediate and extensive action, before it’s too late. The message of the reports is that climate volatility is already here, species extinction is close to a critical level, as are levels of toxic concentrates. They are now talking …
Continue reading Biosphere destruction is being ignored but happening fast and time is running out.
Fossil fuel subsidies: over $ 500,000,000,000 a year.
That’s about $112 for each adult in the world. It’s a lot of money for any industry. It’s a huge commitment of resources for a sunset industry. Subsidies must be eliminated. The Overseas Development Institute (ODI) report notes that “these subsidies outweigh the support provided to fast-start climate finance by a ratio of 7:1”. That …
Continue reading Fossil fuel subsidies: over $ 500,000,000,000 a year.
Rebirth of a dymaxion car.
The word dymaxion makes me think of a lattice-work of struts which form triangles which form hexagons, which form a sphere. The design is intimately associated with Buckminster Fuller. A mind ahead of his time. So the idea of a dymaxion car is intriguing. And then it turned out that even the frame is built …
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Divest fossil fuel holdings, or die.
That’s a big picture perspective, presented starkly to attract some attention. Sadly, few people feel the pressure, but that doesn’t mean it’s not the right thing to do. Let’s have a look at some of the detail. A 2012 article in Rolling Stone , by Bill McKibben of 350.org, galvanised a fossil fuel divestment campaign …
Continue reading Divest fossil fuel holdings, or die.