Tiresia

joined 4 months ago
[–] Tiresia 1 points 2 weeks ago

No, but it will increase the fraction of total global capital that is owned by the shareholders, and isn't that what really matters?

[–] Tiresia 1 points 2 weeks ago

So what you want is that all a fossil fuel company needs to do to sabotage a climate movement is to endorse someone in it?

[–] Tiresia 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Wasting money on bad solutions is not the same as fucking it up completely.

Also, I don't know if you're being unrealistically optimistic or unrealistically pessimistic, but there are still deeper depths to sink to than just fucking up the climate. That still has a whole range from reducing the carrying capacity of the earth to 5 billion or to 5 million or 5 thousand or zero, and there are more or less horrifying ways to handle that drop too.

[–] Tiresia 4 points 1 month ago

Annoying that western charity is so self-aggrandizing that such an addendum is necessary, but fair. Ideally "send X" just *means *"send X and the systems to make good use of X".

[–] Tiresia 3 points 1 month ago

Damn, this one of the big pushes of Extinction Rebellion Netherlands. Glad to see that unauthorized disruptive protest works.

[–] Tiresia 4 points 2 months ago

They say that, but there are people out there deliberately breeding humans to keep the population up so human hunting remains justified, and these wild humans do terrible damage to the environment by over-foraging.

[–] Tiresia 17 points 2 months ago (3 children)

I fear for induced demand. If electricity is cheap, why build more efficiently? Why not do bitcoin mining or AI training?

It wouldn't be so bad if there weren't plenty of places around the world that could desperately use solar panels, that are building fossil fuel infrastructure instead. Climate change is a global problem, so the obsession with getting your individual emissions down to zero is selfish and sometimes even detrimental to the climate if "your emissions" don't include the cost of manufacturing and limited availability.

We should be sending solar panels to the developing world as fast as humanly possible, not making electricity so cheap in California that multinationals can open up a couple more data centers.

[–] Tiresia 4 points 2 months ago (1 children)

They're using hydrogen to de-rust iron, and later let the iron rust again. I don't have a degree in chemistry, but that sounds like a scam.

There are basically two sources of hydrogen that matter at an industrial scale: fossil fuel cracking (not clean energy) and electrolysing water. In the first case, if you want power it's more green to burn the fossil fuel directly.

And if you're electrolysing water and then using the hydrogen to chemically derust iron, it would (as far as i understand with high school chemistry) be strictly more efficient to electrolyse rust directly. The oxygen can dissipate into the environment or be reintroduced as necessary, like with a sacrificial metal for ship's hulls.

It's undoubtedly innovative that they have a relatively efficient way to store the latent chemical energy of hydrogen given an excess of hydrogen, but in terms of energy storage that is putting the cart before the horse.

[–] Tiresia 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

before riots

- the post title

[–] Tiresia 3 points 2 months ago

Glad to see their talking points focus on food security rather than agricultural companies' interests like the EU. Though I wonder if they'll come to the sensible conclusion and cut down on the meat industry.

[–] Tiresia 3 points 2 months ago (3 children)

Latest*

It's not even a particularly bad one, compared to Dole coups, Coca Cola assassination, and Uniroyal napalming civilians.

[–] Tiresia 10 points 2 months ago

People have survived "deadly" wet bulb temperatures long before electric refrigeration. Air conditioning is a patch for colonial societies and those that emulate them that have stupidly built western European style (Cfb climate optimized) housing in tropical climates.

Universal solidarity doesn't just mean solidarity with the poorest US citizens, it means solidarity with the billions of people who don't have AC or a car. Giving US citizens who already have AC and a car free electricity will probably be less effective and less equitable than a more egalitarian degrowth-based distribution of resources.The OOP mentions electric cars, which are simply a luxury when public transit and utility vehicles (kei trucks, vans) exist. Air conditioning likewise can be a luxury when passive design exists. Cisterns, shade, plant respiration, air flow management, high roofs, large communal spaces that reduce outer surface area, etc.

People have a right to live a cool and comfortable life, but that does not mean the right to live in a nuclear family suburban home with paper-thin walls and not a tree in sight, basking in full sunlight, with AC on full blast, using your electric SUV to drive half an hour to the grocery store or school. A tropical longhouse shared with your community, a natural or artificial cave system, or living somewhere that isn't trying to kill you (as badly) can serve that purpose just as well.

So instead of pushing for free electricity for American citizens, I would much rather push for degrowth of the American economy, with smarter designs that simply need less electricity.

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