Most of those regulations are still there, and the emissions standards which choked the V8s of the 70s are much higher than ever. But technology and engineering improvements means that modern ICE drivetrains can meet those regulations, have pretty good fuel efficiency and still continue to get more powerful. And it's not just vehicles getting bigger that's causing the weight gains, but also improved passive and active safety features and luxury items.
Remarkable progress on all fronts. Interesting that weight is only back to where to was in the nautical era. To the point in this thread though, how much better could fuel economy if weight and power stayed relatively constant. It also shows what the impact of deliberate regulatory changes can be.
Pathetically embarrassing. We have the resources & land to plant the trees, nevermind an industry that could take advantage of it.
Quote:
The federal government has planted less than half a per cent of the two billion trees it pledged to put in the ground across Canada by 2030, The Canadian Press has learned.
Figures obtained through an access to information request show 8.5 million trees had been planted as of mid-November, representing just over 0.4 per cent of what the Liberals have repeatedly promised.
This is super cool. The two parts I'm a little skeptical on is a) land use and water use needed to produce at scale, b) I don't see how it can possibly be carbon neutral nevermind net negative if using lime.
90% of the CO2 emissions from making concrete is producing lime. It's still better for GHG emissions than actual concrete likely due to Incorporation of biomass, but you'd need to see carbon intensity of both the lime production and agricultural process of the hemp. You'd also need to see what GHG emissions look like for the steel structure in the block vs rebar in concrete.
The unique properties of insulation and strength may go some ways to reduce heading needs which would also offset some GHG too.
The expected departure of future climates from those experienced in human history challenges efforts to adapt. Possible analogs to climates from deep in Earth’s geological past have been suggested but not formally assessed. We compare climates of the coming decades with climates drawn from six geological and historical periods spanning the past 50 My. Our study suggests that climates like those of the Pliocene will prevail as soon as 2030 CE and persist under climate stabilization scenarios. Unmitigated scenarios of greenhouse gas emissions produce climates like those of the Eocene, which suggests that we are effectively rewinding the climate clock by approximately 50 My, reversing a multimillion year cooling trend in less than two centuries.
As the great James Hutton claimed, “The present is the key to the past.”
Last edited by TherapyforGlencross; 01-11-2022 at 08:20 AM.
Under the Representative Concentration Pathway 8.5 (RCP8.5) emission scenario,
Sigh. Researchers really not to stop using this as the basis for their "predictions".
Quote:
The creators of RCP8.5 had not intended it to represent the most likely “business as usual” outcome, emphasising that “no likelihood or preference is attached” to any of the specific scenarios. Its subsequent use as such represents something of a breakdown in communication between energy systems modellers and the climate modelling community.
While modelling potential worst-case outcomes is important, there is also a need to examine the wider range of no-policy baseline outcomes – the majority of which result in lower future emissions.
Interesting. Thanks for the article. This part caught my eye:
Quote:
In reality, it is more properly considered to be one of the worst case emissions outcomes, as according to van Vuuren and colleagues, more than 90% of the other no-policy baseline scenarios in the literature result in lower emissions.
However, I think the research is still valuable. I know they’re different areas of Earth Science, but in disciplines such as hydrology and hydrogeology, they use maximum flows for calculating Permits to Take Water, dewatering, ect. If they didn’t use “worst-case scenarios”, well, water management would be a disaster. Likewise, I think understanding the worst-possible scenarios are needed to be discussed, even if 90% of other outcomes are better than what was stated. Regardless, if they use RCP8.5 as a baseline, well I guess that isn’t a baseline then. Completely edited my post, my apologies. I ain’t no expert, that’s for damn sure.
Last edited by TherapyforGlencross; 01-11-2022 at 08:43 AM.
Interesting. Thanks for the article. This part caught my eye:
It's debatable, but most of what I have read is it is unlikely because we won't be on business as usual until 2100. At a rate of 2.3 ppm per year for 78 years, that's an ~180 additional ppm on 415, so 595. RCP 8.5 is 1000ppm.
