by gmoke
Tue Sep 7th, 2021 at 02:58:50 AM EST
USAmerica generates around 100 quadrillion BTUs per year, more or less, and has plateaued at that level since 2000. However, about 67% of the energy produced is characterized as "rejected energy," energy that does no useful work, according to the annual energy report of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (https:/flowcharts.llnl.gov).
We waste about 2/3rds of the energy we produce, each and every year.
A lot of that is waste heat which could be used for heat in industrial processes and heating (and cooling) especially if we had district heating systems. The EU does have district heating systems and is now beginning to maximize their use in order to reduce their own "rejected energy" and the climate effects it produces. In fact, "This is how Copenhagen plans to go carbon-neutral by 2025" (https:www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/05/the-copenhagen-effect-how-europe-can-become-heat-efficient) starting with Nordhavn, a district "designed to be the world's foremost smart energy laboratory at full scale" demonstrating "how electricity and heating, energy-efficient buildings and electric transport can be integrated into an intelligent, flexible and optimized energy system."
They say, "We need to link district heating systems and expand thermal grids at scale. The next step in Europe is to make smart thermal grids that can harvest heat wasted from current and future sources such as power plants and data centres. Europe is wasting enough heat to almost cover the current heat demands in all its buildings. The Heat Roadmap Europe (HRE) project (https:/heatroadmap.eu) and World Economic Forum's Future of Europe, Energy initiative sparked the idea of creating a smart thermal grid in all EU countries. As a result, the Pan-European Thermal Atlas (Peta) (https:heatroadmap.eu/peta4) now pairs areas with heat demand and heat excess sources. In other words, it is preparing and planning the heat grid."
Let me make this clear, the EU is mapping waste heat sources throughout their participating nations and developing plans to transform that waste heat into useful work. I doubt there's anyone in USAmerica who is even thinking along those lines at that scale. Yet.
You can learn more about these ideas at the 7th International Conference on Smart Energy Systems (https:/smartenergysystems.eu) on 21-22 September 2021 at Aalborg University and Energy Cluster in Denmark.
"After being forced by circumstances into holding the conference strictly virtually in 2020, we look forward to yet again welcoming our conference participants in a hybrid setting with the possibility to attend either online or in person - this time in Copenhagen.
"The conference establishes a venue for presenting and discussing scientific findings and industrial experiences related to the subject of Smart Energy Systems based on renewable energy, 4th Generation District Heating Technologies and Systems (4GDH), electrification of heating and transport sectors, electrofuels and energy efficiency.
"This 7th conference in the series cements it as a main venue for presentations and fruitful debates on subjects that are pertinent to the development and implementation of smart energy systems to fulfil national and international objectives."
May there be USAmerican policymakers, scientists, and engineers in attendance at this conference who take good notes to bring back home.
PS: "How much CO2 equivalent is offset if we whiten all eligible urban flat roofs world- wide?
Answer: 24 Gigatonnes (Gt) - 2/3 of a year's worldwide emission - Gigatonne = billion metric tons
If implemented over 20 years (the life of a roof or a program) this is ≈ 1.2 Gt/year."
Source: https:/www.coolrooftoolkit.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Rosenfeld-Presentation.pdf
"We remain alert so as not to get run down, but it turns out you only have to hop a few feet to one side and the whole huge machinery rolls by, not seeing you at all."
Lew Welch
"the war that matters is the war against the imagination
all other wars are subsumed in it."
Diane Di Prima
"Quite clearly, our task is predominantly metaphysical, for it is how to get all of humanity to educate itself swiftly enough to generate spontaneous behaviors that will avoid extinction."
R. Buckminster Fuller
Although, given recent and current events, there seem to be a whole hell of a lot of people who seem to be in love with the death drive.
by gmoke
Fri Aug 27th, 2021 at 04:31:25 PM EST
Zero emissions drive would grow U.S. economy - Report shows meeting Paris climate goals would add trillions of dollars in economic growth
https:/yaleclimateconnections.org/2021/03/zero-emissions-drive-would-grow-u-s-economy
https:/energyinnovation.org/publication/a-1-5-celsius-pathway-to-climate-leadership-for-the-united-
states
Zero net energy, waste, and water development in Albany, NY
http://garrisonarchitects.com/projects/the-seventy-six
https:/www.treehugger.com/triple-net-zero-development-albany-5118512
NC net zero home
https:inhabitat.com/no-waste-no-carbon-no-wonder-this-net-zero-home-breaks-the-mold
https:/www.acsarchitect.com/baboolal-residence
Carbon neutral, net energy positive ecodistrict for Lille, France
https:vincent.callebaut.org/object/210126_archiborescence/archiborescence/projects
https:inhabitat.com/vincent-callebaut-envisions-a-carbon-neutral-district-for-france
Toranomon-Azabudai Project - an urban village for Tokyo focusing on "green" and "wellness"
https:/inhabitat.com/the-toranomon-azabudai-project-puts-health-before-business
Positive net energy for Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania
https:/inhabitat.com/phipps-conservatory-and-botanical-gardens-leeds-the-way-in-green-design
Tesla Energy, Brookfield, & Dacra Are Developing A Large-Scale Sustainable Neighborhood In Austin, Texas
https:/cleantechnica.com/2021/07/09/tesla-energy-brookfield-dacra-are-developing-a-large-scale-sust
ainable-neighborhood-in-austin-texas
Editorial Comment: Anybody remember the 1979 Solar Community in Davis, CA (http://schadavis.org)?
Cantilever House - zero net energy design for India
https:/www.zeroenergydesignlab.com/cantileverhouse
https:inhabitat.com/the-cantilever-house-combats-a-hot-climate-with-sustainable-design
Editorial Comment: Finally some work on zero net energy designs for cooling as well as heating. ZED Lab looks interesting as well. They've been working since 2009.
Hot Heart - artifical islands to supply heat to Helsinki and support a tropical forest
https:/inhabitat.com/a-tropical-forest-will-soon-grow-in-helsinki-and-provide-all-the-citys-heat
Greenhouses for extreme climates
https:/www.agritecture.com/blog/2021/7/19/this-company-builds-greenhouses-in-some-of-the-worlds-mos
t-extreme-climates
Austin, TX's Whisper Valley "a net-zero capable community, and every home has a geothermal HVAC (it's a very unique* geothermal system - it's the first of its kind and the largest in the world)"
https:whispervalleyaustin.com
https:cleantechnica.com/2021/07/28/idea-for-tesla-energy-look-at-austins-whisper-valley-for-your-n
ext-solar-neighborhood
Editorial Comment: My old English teacher, Mr Neilsen, would want me to remind people that "unique" means "one of a kind" which is difficult to modify. There's no such thing as "very one of a kind."
Toyota's Woven City - a programmable city and a test bed for a hydrogen energy system (?)
https://www.woven-city.global
by gmoke
Fri Aug 20th, 2021 at 04:16:28 AM EST
from Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson
Page 294: They [a consortium of all the big central banks, with open access for more central banks to join] would issue together a single new currency, coordinated through the BIS [Bank for International Settlements]: one coin per ton of carbon-dioxide-equivalent sequestered from the atmosphere, either by not burning what would have been burned in the ordinary course of things, or by pulling it back out of the air. They promised to establish a floor in the value of this carbon coin, which exposed them to great danger from speculators trying to scare money out of the plan; and they foretold a rise in the value of the currency over the coming decades. By doing these things they made this investment a sure thing, assuming civilization itself survived.
Page 295: In fact, at the end of the agreement they all lent some fiat money of the ordinary kind, pooled into a fund administered through the BIS, which would be enough to pay for this new bureaucracy of verification that would have to be created to certify that carbon was rally being sequestered. This was a bureaucracy so vast no single bank could afford it, nor of course the ministry, not even close. It was almost a full employment plan all by itself.
Here are some programs that exist now which point in that direction:
Global Carbon Reward (https:/globalcarbonreward.org) is looking for a central bank to trade and manage a "carbon currency," their "Global Carbon Rewards," for a demonstration project. "The central bank will need permission from their regulators to establish a temporary swap line for buying the carbon currency during the demonstrations..."
Regrow (https:/www.regrow.ag/mrv) does "Measurement, Reporting and Verification (MRV)... to ensure data is transparent and reliable" in terms of carbon sequestration, among other things.
There are other models at other scales and I believe Ralph Borsodi's "Constant," an inflation proof local currency, could be adapted to carbon:
https:themonetaryfuture.blogspot.com/2009/03/borsodi-constant-inflation-free.html
Many more alternative currencies, even carbon coin possibilities, in Barbara Brandt's Whole Life Economics (1996, New Society Publishers).
The Carbon Coin According to The Ministry for the Future (more quotes):
https:/hubeventsnotes.blogspot.com/2021/08/the-carbon-coin-according-to-ministry.html
Previously: How Do You Pay for the Green New Deal: The Cost of Fuel
http://solarray.blogspot.com/2019/07/how-do-you-pay-for-green-new-deal-cost.html
by gmoke
Tue Aug 3rd, 2021 at 02:20:53 AM EST
To Catch the Sun (https:/www.kickstarter.com/projects/lonnyg/to-catch-the-sun) is a book of inspiring stories of communities coming together to harness their own solar energy, with the nitty-gritty details so you can do it too!
Learn how to design and build a photovoltaic system for engagements like:
A small home in a financially rich country
A few homes in a financially poor country
School rooms and community spaces
Zombie-apocalypse equipment
Laptop and cellphone chargers
A tiny home or #vanlife
Glamping and backpacking equipment
Emergency supply, e.g., powering an oxygen machine during power outages
Isolated loads like electric gates, pumps, greenhouse fans, backup generators, and telecommunications equipment
You had me at "Zombie-apocalypse equipment" (and I wonder why none of the zombie shows I've seen take renewables seriously - it's all motor vehicles and dirty clothes).
Then again, I believe that Solar IS Civil Defense (https:www.dailykos.com/stories/2007/3/30/317777-)
by gmoke
Fri Jun 25th, 2021 at 03:35:24 AM EST
Farming communities - a Dutch model for national agriculture
https:/www.farmingcommunities.org
AlphaGarden - can a robot learn how to garden?
https:/rieff.jacksonchui.ai
https:goldberg.berkeley.edu/art/AlphaGarden
https:/youtu.be/j-7kluafRwA
Pollinator Park is a 30-minute interactive virtual reality experience "that immerses you in a futuristic world where man and nature co-exist in harmony, hoping to change your perspective and help turn the tide"
https:ec.europa.eu/environment/pollinator-park_en
https:inhabitat.com/virtual-pollinator-park-shows-a-future-with-or-without-pollinators
Singapore plans a "forest town"
https:/www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/04/singapore-sustainable-smart-town-tengah
The AgStack Foundation seeks to improve global agriculture efficiency through the creation, maintenance and enhancement of free, re-usable, open and specialized digital infrastructure for data and applications.
https:agstack.org
Cardening?
https:www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/may/19/the-rise-of-cardening-why-people-are-growing-pl
ants-in-cars-and-everywhere-else
Emerging food forest in Venice, CA
https:inhabitat.com/a-food-forest-emerges-in-las-famous-venice-neighborhood
https:/projectfoodforest.org
https:www.chelseagreen.com/product/the-community-food-forest-handbook
Abu Dhabi biodiversity park
https:/www.sla.dk/en/projects/al-fay-park
https:inhabitat.com/abu-dhabis-new-urban-biodiversity-park-enhances-local-microclimate
"Urban Food Stories is a community storytelling project that highlights the unique and important food traditions of the individuals around us. Through interviews, photographs, and recipes, these stories intend to broaden the narratives of the 'Alternative Food Movement', to make it more inclusive."
https:/www.urbanfoodstories.com/about
"Living Energy Farm is an intentional community, education center, and farm that demonstrates that a fulfilling life is possible without the use of fossil fuel."
They've been using solar DC electric microgrids for over a decade in Virginia, a technology that can be adapted to urban use as well
http://livingenergyfarm.org
Residential Greenhouse for Bremen, Germany
https:www.dmaa.at/work/greenhouse-bremen
https:inhabitat.com/dmaa-designs-residential-greenhouse-in-germany
Bee-friendly urban wildflower meadows prove a hit with German city dwellers
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jun/20/bee-friendly-urban-wildflower-meadows-prove-a-hi
t-with-german-city-dwellers
hat tip Taras Grescoe @grescoe
by gmoke
Mon May 31st, 2021 at 05:15:27 PM EST
I recently read No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference by Greta Thunberg (NY: Penguin Books, 2018, 2019 ISBN 9780143133568), a slim book of her speeches since she started her Friday School Strike, "that idea was inspired by the Parkland students, who had refused to go to school after the school shootings." [More on Parkland at https:/www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/8/7/1877501-Parkland-When-the-Targets-Talk-Back]
"And sometimes NOT doing things - like just sitting down outside the parliament - speaks much louder than doing things. Just like a whisper sometimes is louder than shouting."
As usual, I flagged passages as I read and then copied them over to my computer when I was finished. Then I thought about how to share what I learned from this remarkable young woman, finally deciding that my collection of notes from her words could make one coherent speech.
What follows is my cut-up of her book to present what I believe are her core concepts. All the words are hers joined together with ellipses (...) and my own commentary in brackets ([ ]).
We want you to follow the Paris Agreement and the IPCC reports. We don't have any other manifestos or demands - you unite behind the science, that is our demand...
Right there (page 108, chapter 2, in the latest [as of July 2019] SR15 IPCC report) it says that if we are to have a 67% chance of limiting the global temperature rise to below 1.5ºC, we had, on 1 January 2018, 420 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide left in our CO2 budget. And of course that number is much lower today. We emit about 42 gigatonnes of CO2 every year. At current emissions levels, that remaining budget is gone within roughly 8.5 years. [3.5 gigatonnes per month, 0.80769 gigatonnes per week, 0.115 gigatonnes per day] And now that figure is already down to less than 360 gigatonnes [in 2019, the May 2021 figure is 276 gigatonnes and falling according to https://www.mcc-berlin.net/fileadmin/data/clock/carbon_clock.htm]...
But perhaps the most dangerous misconception about the climate crisis is that we have to "lower" our emissions. Because that is far from enough. Our emissions have to stop if we are to stay below 1.5-2ºC of warming. The "lowering of emissions" is of course necessary, but it is only the beginning of a fast process that must lead to a stop within a couple of decades, or less. And by "stop" I mean net zero [Greta and others are strongly interrogating the idea of "net zero" as accounting tricks have been used in some current "net zero" claims] - and then quickly on to negative figures. That rules out most of today's politics...
And our main enemy right now is not our political opponents. Our main enemy now is physics. And we cannot make "deals" with physics...
The fact that we are speaking of "lowering" instead of "stopping" emissions is perhaps the greatest force behind the continuing business-as-usual...
If the EU is to make its fair contribution to staying within the carbon budget for the 2ºC limit, then it means a minimum of 80% reduction [in greenhouse gases] by 2030 and that includes aviation and shipping. So, it is around twice as ambitious as the current proposal...
If the emissions have to stop, then we must stop the emissions...
We need to keep the fossil fuels in the ground and we need to focus on equity...
To do your best is no longer good enough. We must all do the seemingly impossible. [Be realistic, demand the impossible - a Che Guevara quote used as graffiti on the walls of Paris in 1968 and by Prof Donald Sadoway of MIT, the developer of the Ambri flow battery and a way to decarbonize steel production, to inspire his students]...
We should no longer measure our wealth and success in the graph that shows economic growth, but in the curve that shows the emissions of greenhouse gases. We should no longer only ask: "Have we got enough money to go through with this?" but also: "Have we got enough of the carbon budget to spare to go through with this?" That should and must become the centre of our new currency...
In Sweden, we live our lives as if we had the resources of 4.2 planets. Our individual carbon footprint is one of the worst in the world. This means that Sweden steals 3.2 years of natural resources from future generations every year: Those of us who are part of these future generations would like Sweden to stop doing that. Right now...
Now we probably don't even have a future any more. Because that future was sold so that a small number of people could make unimaginable amounts of money. It was stolen from us every time you said that the sky was the limit, and that you only live once. [The sky WAS the limit and now it's striking back.]...
Many people say that we don't have any solutions to the climate crisis. And they are right. Because how could we? How do you "solve" the greatest crisis that humanity has ever faced? How do you "solve" a war? How do you "solve" going to the moon for the first time? How do you "solve" inventing new inventions?...
"That's still not an answer," you say. Then we start talking about a circular economy and rewilding nature [or geotherapy, see http://solarray.blogspot.com/2021/04/geotherapy-not-geoengineering-please.html for more] and the need for a just transition. Then you don't understand what we are talking about...
Avoiding climate breakdown will require cathedral thinking. We must lay the foundation while we may not know exactly how to build the ceiling. [Sacred]...
And yes, a transformed world will include lots of benefits. But you have to understand. This is not primarily an opportunity to create new green jobs, new businesses or green economic growth. This is above all an emergency, and not just any emergency. This is the biggest crisis humanity has ever faced. This is not something you can like on Facebook...
We already have all the facts and [some of the] solutions. All we have to do is to wake up and change.
by gmoke
Sat Apr 24th, 2021 at 02:30:06 AM EST
The Online Ecovillage Summit (https:/summit2021.ecovillage.org/schedule) will present talks
every Wednesday at 1pm,
April 28, 2021 to May 26, 2021,
from members of different ecovillages around the world. It looks like quite a broad line-up.
April 28, 2021, 1:00 pm
La Cite Ecologique - Quebec-based ecovillage
La Comarca y La Tierrita - Uruguay-based sister ecovillages
May 5, 2021, 1:00 pm
Sunshine Ecovillage - Chinese organization promoting the ecovillage movement
Los Portales - Spanish intentional community
May 12, 2021, 1:00 pm
Comunidade Ceu do Mapia - Brazilian village in the Amazonian South Meso-region
Kibbutz Lotan - Israel-based Eco-Jewish intentional, collective community
May 19, 2021, 1:00 pm
Ecodorp Boekel - Dutch ecovillage
Ganas Community - American 20 year old NYC intentional community
May 26, 2021, 1:00 pm
Las Canadas Bosque de Niebla - Mexican centre for agro-ecology and permaculture
Maleny Co-housing - Small australian co-housing community on collectively owned land
by gmoke
Fri Apr 23rd, 2021 at 12:03:03 AM EST
The first solar video I produced was for the Urban Solar Energy Association [USEA] back in the early 1980s. One of the 10 second public service announcements was "A south-facing window is already a solar collector. Learn how to use it." with the contact information for USEA. Another was "A south-facing porch can become a solar greenhouse. Learn how to build one." We got a few hundred dollars in a grant from a group that was refusing to pay war taxes to make 3 inch tape copies and I took them around to the TV stations. Even saw the spot, once, late at night, I think on Channel Five.
The next round of solar videos was a set of 30 second spots I did with a graphic designer, Ed Hill, for the successor organization, Boston Area Sustainable Energy Association in the 1990s when I was doing a lot of public access TV, including videotaping and cablecasting the monthly talks that BASEA hosted. There is still a lot of information to be mined from that archive but it is just gathering dust in a storage area in my house in the form of VHS and 3/4 inch tape.
My favorite of that second series was the one on solar history which showed photographs of local solar buildings since the 1940s and back a few thousand years to the solar techniques of Greek houses (https:/www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIGS5LSjlnk).
Unfortunately, when I took these solar PSAs to the local TV stations they had no time available. Only one local UHF station (remember UHF?), Channel 56, took a copy but I'm not sure that it ever made air.
Since then I've made some of my own short Youtube videos on simple solar principles as I have always believed that you can teach the basics of practical solar energy, at least for emergency/survival electricity and heat, in a half hour or less.
Recently, I compiled a playlist on Youtube of all my simple solar stuff at https:/www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_NN__fS5pM&list=PLkauPyDTdD2A9t4w-ZVMytJS8MpE2dB7N
Some of the products mentioned are no longer available but I believe the basic solar information is still good.
by gmoke
Sun Apr 18th, 2021 at 05:53:44 PM EST
Pleistocene Park Discussion with Manager, Nikita Zimov
Sunday, April 18, 9 - 10:30 AM ET (GMT-4)
Zoom https:/soil4climate-org.zoom.us/j/83756644945?pwd=elVTLytWbU5YVExIZ3k0MU9TWFRtQT09
Soil4Climate
https:www.facebook.com/groups/Soil4Climate
Kiss the Ground Movie Discussion with Producers and Writers, Josh & Rebecca Tickell
Tuesday, April 20, 2 PM ET (GMT-4)
Zoom https:/soil4climate-org.zoom.us/j/89664652320?pwd=bUozL0xpMnhkNWhjKzVHUkNDM2ZUUT09
Soil4Climate
https:www.facebook.com/groups/Soil4Climate
Free viewing of Kiss the Ground until Tuesday, April 20, here
https:/bigpictureranch.vids.io/videos/4d9ddcb41c18e5c7c4/kiss-the-ground-4k-for-soil4climate
password: soil4
"Nature-Positive Food Production" with Dr. Martin Frick of the United Nations Food Systems Summit
Thursday (Earth Day), April 22, 7 AM ET (GMT-4)
Zoom https:soil4climate-org.zoom.us/j/81682866355?pwd=b0J4dnNqMTJ6Um8yd1JJMXZqYSsvdz09
Soil4Climate Facebook group
https:www.facebook.com/groups/Soil4Climate
I believe all of these discussions will be archived at the Soil4Climate Facebook group.
by gmoke
Tue Mar 30th, 2021 at 06:31:07 PM EST
Geotherapy not geoengineering, please.
"Geotherapy refers to the process of restoring the earth's health by strengthening natural biogeochemical and physiological mechanisms that regulate the earth's planetary life support systems and control global temperature, sea level, atmospheric composition, soil fertility, food, and fresh water supplies."
Source: Geotherapy: Innovative Methods of Soil Fertility Restoration, Carbon Sequestration, and Reversing CO2 Increase
https:/www.taylorfrancis.com/books/geotherapy-thomas-goreau-ronal-larson-joanna-campe/e/10.1201/b13
788
Geoengineering "is the deliberate large-scale intervention in the Earth's climate system, in order to moderate global warming" and "the most prominent subcategories of climate engineering are solar radiation management and carbon dioxide removal."
Source: https:en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_engineering
Geotherapy is based on working with existing natural systems and starts local, adapting to the different biomes in which a geotherapeutic technique works. Geoengineering tends to be global from the get go and the "engineering" is emphasized much more than the "geo," at least so far. Geotherapy is systems solutions, working within ecological boundaries. Geoengineering is engineering, tools based, and usually mechanistic.
The resources I used to learn about geotherapy are
Geotherapy: Innovative Methods of Soil Fertility Restoration, Carbon Sequestration, and Reversing CO2 Increase
https:www.taylorfrancis.com/books/geotherapy-thomas-goreau-ronal-larson-joanna-campe/e/10.1201/b13
788k
Proceedings of the recent conferences organized by Biodiversity for a Livable Climate on a wide variety of geotherapeutic solutions
https:bio4climate.org/conferences
John Todd's history of his lifetime building healthy and healing ecologies, Healing Earth: An Ecologist's Journey of Innovation and Environmental Stewardship
https:/www.northatlanticbooks.com/shop/healing-earth
According to the Guardian (https:/www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/mar/20/our-biggest-challenge-lack-of-imagination-the-sc
ientists-turning-the-desert-green), John Todd is working with a Dutch company, the Weathermakers (http://theweathermakers.nl), developing a plan to make the Sinai Desert green. They are using John's "eco machines," greenhouses with an extremely biodiverse environment reflecting "the aggregate experience of life on Earth over the last 3.5bn years." They will distill salt water while growing plants, fish, and animals, all powered by the sun. "The idea is that you may have 100 of these structures," says John Todd. "And they're spending five years in one site and then they're moved, so these little ecologies are left behind."
One proof of such a regreening the desert concept is a permaculture experiment near the Dead Sea over a decade ago
http://solarray.blogspot.com/2007/06/you-can-fix-all-worlds-problems-in.html
Another is Wadi Attir (http://www.sustainabilitylabs.org/wadiattir/home/) in the Negev Desert, a Bedouin sustainable farm.
The Weathermakers are also following the successful methods Li Rui developed in regreening the loess plateau of northern China in the 1990s, collaboratoring with John D Liu who documented the process for TV and film and is now associated with the Ecosystem Restoration Camps (https:ecosystemrestorationcamps.org), part of a growing group of environmental restoration and regeneration projects now launched around the world.
Just as focusing on cities drove climate politics from Copenhagen to the Paris agreement, I believe ecovillage restoration will drive practical climate solutions using geotherapy, which works at every scale from a flower pot on a window sill to thousands of hectares of land, in the next few years.
Here are some upcoming events which offer ways to participate in the action:
Smart Village Summit (https:us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUrduGgpz8pG9WyihU6tdCcuuq1F20NY6hn), powered by Future Thinkers and RegenVillages.
This monthly virtual summit is for people interested in the many aspects of Smart Villages and ProtoB communities. We'll be joined by experienced guests to discuss earth regeneration, permaculture, community building, governance, education, social dynamics, funding, economics, organization and leadership, affordable housing, natural building, information sharing, innovation, technology and other important subjects.
March 31, 2021 04:00 PM GMT (Vancouver)
April 28, 2021 04:00 PM GMT (Vancouver)
May 26, 2021 04:00 PM GMT (Vancouver)
Global Just Recovery Gathering (https:justrecoverygathering.org), April 9 to 11, is a three-day online event featuring interactive workshops, cultural sessions, and hands-on trainings. The events will include appearances by Greta Thunberg, Malala Yousafzai, Naomi Klein, Brianna Fruean and others. Build your skills, strengthen relationships, and hear from a powerful line-up of climate leaders, artists, and musicians in every corner of the world.
The GEN Ecovillage Summit - Living Solutions for a Regenerative World (https:summit2021.ecovillage.org) will take place from April 9-15, 2021 and will showcase how ecovillages contribute to the mitigation of climate crisis and function as resilient communities of practise bringing concrete solutions and actions for earth restoration, economic revival, social regeneration and cultural celebration.
Recently, L Hunter Lovins said that reputable scientists believe we could return to 280 ppm CO2, pre-industrial levels, in 30-60 years IF we used holistic grazing practices on the existing grasslands of the world (https:www.cambridgeforum.org?p=7205). Now, think about how quickly we could draw down atmospheric carbon IF we added marine ecosystems, which can sequester much more carbon (15 -20 times) more rapidly than terrestrial ecosystems, to the mix all while rapidly reducing our emissions to zero.
We are surrounded by insurmountable opportunities, when we think in terms of geotherapy, not geoengineering, please.
by gmoke
Mon Mar 1st, 2021 at 04:11:21 AM EST
RheingoldLearningRevolution
20 minute summary about the pedagogy and use of social media Howard Rheingold developed over 10 years teaching at Stanford and Berkeley
https://youtu.be/DgbQiDeQ12I
Howard Rheingold wrote The Virtual Community back in 1993 and has continued studying and working with communications technology up till tomorrow. My notes to his 2012 book, Net Smart: How to Thrive Online, are available at
http://hubeventsnotes.blogspot.com/2015/11/net-smart-how-to-thrive-online.html
There's a lot of considered experience here for all of us who are learning the Internet.
I've known Howard since the days when he was the editor of the Whole Earth Review. We've met only a couple of times face to face but have corresponded by mail and email, blog, and twitter for decades. He knows whereof he speaks.
by gmoke
Sun Feb 14th, 2021 at 11:33:16 PM EST
After the Obama Presidency, Gina McCarthy, the former Administrator of the EPA, landed at Harvard as a Fellow of the Institute of Politics and ran a Tuesday afternoon study group, as IOP Fellows do. Since I have way too much time on my hands, an interest in the environment, and a great deal of respect for Ms McCarthy, I attended her study group. One day, she said something about her experience in the Obama administration that struck me as important, something I'd not heard before.
What excited my interest was that McCarthy said she had never seen the kind of cooperation between different government departments that she saw in the Obama administration. This cooperation was not only on the top levels of appointed positions like Secretary and Under-Secretary but went deep down throughout the bureaucracy. McCarthy has worked for 25 years in public administration in Conneticut and Massachusetts and the Federal government. That this level of cooperation (and the implied lack of turf wars) between departments was remarkable to her is most remarkable to me.
I asked her to think about what the reasons for such cooperation might be and to write about it as I believe this to be important. My own guess is that the election of Barrack Obama gave people an opportunity to work together on a clear and beneficial common purpose. My readings on motivation have convinced me that what gives people satisfaction at work are a clear common purpose, a certain amount of autonomy, and a chance for mastery. It may be that the Obama adminstration consciously or unconsciously provided at least one of those three and, possibly, all of them.
Obama, in my reading, has had a reputation for conciliation and cooperation from his student days through his terms in the Illinois State Senate, the US Senate, and the Presidency. That "No Drama" Obama attitude may also have penetrated throughout his administration by osmosis or practice. President Biden has a similar reputation, especially in regards to bipartisanship or working with Republicans.
McCarthy was Obama's second term EPA administrator and served from 2013 to 2017. This unusual level of inter-departmental cooperation was built and sustained over two terms, eight years, and probably well worth studying. What were the mechanisms that allowed this to happen and can they be replicated?
After the Trmp administration whose hallmarks were chaos, petty cruelty as policy, and tactical incompetence to muddy their tracks and avoid responsibility, we might want to know how to generate increased inter-departmental cooperation now that the Trmp presidency* is over. We're probably gonna need all the help we can get and it seems to me that Biden, McCarthy, now the White House climate person, and the many veterans of the Obama era have the experience and the smarts to replicate that cooperation in depth that Gina McCarthy talked about on a Tuesday afternoon in a Kennedy School seminar room back in 2017.
by gmoke
Sun Jan 24th, 2021 at 04:10:39 AM EST
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (https:/www.bls.gov/ooh/fastest-growing.htm) says wind turbine service technician jobs should grow 61% over the next decade, the #1 fastest growing job for the next decade. Solar photovoltaic [PV] installer* is the third fastest growing job with a growth rate of 51%.
Now imagine if we pursued a goal of 100% renewables by 2030. Mark Z Jacobson and his team have provided one possible roadmap to do just that (https:www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/2/3/1831985-100-Renewables-by-2030).
Even more jobs would be created if we got serious about energy efficiency and began to retrofit our existing buildings to net zero energy or near net zero energy standards, where a building provides all or most of the energy it needs on its own. Such building energy standards are being gradually adopted in the EU and CA where all building, including renovations, will have to meet those standards by 2030. In addition, there is at least one company, EnergieSprong, which is developing prefab, mass production methods to do such energy retrofits on existing buildings (https:/www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/1/9/1824927-Mass-Production-of-Net-Zero-Energy-Retrofits-for-
Single-Family-Homes).
For comparison, in 1979 Jimmy Carter's energy plan called for insulating 90% of American homes and all new buildings and use solar energy in more than 2.5 million homes by 1985. There were 1.3 million solar installations in the USA in 2017 by one count and may be 1.9 million in 2019 by another. The DOE predicted there will be 3.8 million solar homes by the end of 2020. (https:/www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/12/17/1906361-What-I-Read-in-the-Green-New-Deal-for-Public-Ho
using-Bill). However, since there are over 83 million single family homes in the USA, we still have a long way to go.
I've been wondering for a while now why politicians, citizen advocates, and organizations who support action on climate don't focus on this extremely positive aspect of confronting climate crisis. We seem to like scaring ourselves more than focusing on building a really livable future (https:/www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/4/20/1851903-Why-isn-t-job-growth-the-first-thing-climate-act
ivists-mention).
These first days of a Biden administration may be the perfect time to be practical and demand the impossible: making 90% of our homes net zero or near net zero energy and getting 100% of our energy from renewables by 2030.
*Solar installer should be a highly trained and skilled job (with better pay) as 92% of solar system failures are from installation mistakes, according to Scott Sklar, a long-time energy advocate and practitioner. North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (https://www.nabcep.org) certifies installers and you might want to ask if your installer has heard of them.
by gmoke
Sat Jan 16th, 2021 at 02:13:01 AM EST
The U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon is a collegiate competition, comprising 10 contests, that challenges student teams to design and build highly efficient and innovative buildings powered by renewable energy.
It's been going on since 2002 and has produced hundreds of model houses built by student teams from all over the world. This year they are doing a webinar series as well. Should be lots and lots of good information here.
Resilient Home 411: Strategies to Weather and Recover from Natural Disasters
Thursday, January 21, 2021, 1-2 p.m. E.T.
RSVP at https:/register.gotowebinar.com/register/1486122315339351051
Zero Energy Ready Homes: New and Growing Fast
Wednesday, February 17, 2021, 1-2 p.m. E.T.
RSVP at https:register.gotowebinar.com/register/2818488515646035216
The Future of Solar: A Tour of Cutting-Edge Solar Research with the U.S. Department of Energy
Wednesday, March 17, 2021, 1-2 p.m. E.T.
RSVP at https:register.gotowebinar.com/register/1202756178629245968
Solar Decathlon Build Challenge Team House Tour
Wednesday, April 28, 2021, 1-2 p.m. E.T.
RSVP at https:register.gotowebinar.com/register/2467358377853890320
More at https:cleantechnica.com/2021/01/11/register-today-for-resilient-home-411-next-solar-decathlon-virt
ual-session
