The post Earth Day and the Carbon Removal Conundrum: Part 2 appeared first on Techso Mogro.
]]>Let’s tackle a few of these in this posting.
What’s it going to take?
Like many who go to bat to combat climate change, we tend to talk “gloom-and-doom.” This has to stop. What’s needed is the promotion of climate change success stories and the running of contests that monetize solutions, aimed at climate change mitigation and adaptation. We need government data transparency from all levels, from local to national.
Shying away from the hard decisions to transition from our carbon-intensive energy dependencies because of side issues and transient issues that arise has only stopped our progress in driving down GHG emissions. Those Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) that were asked for and agreed to following the signing of the Paris Climate Agreement in 2015 need to be updated annually, with transparent public reporting. The market vehicles created, such as carbon pricing and trading in carbon credits, should be enshrined in legislation, and the numbers generated should be publicly shared. Many governments have weakened zero-fossil-fuel and EV targets of late. This needs to stop.
I am 77, and I’m telling all of my readers to listen to the youth whose future we hold in our hands. We need, as well, to be listening to Indigenous cultures, who traditionally have been closer to the land and the environment and have practical knowledge to share. We need to teach the public about climate change, global warming, mitigation and adaptation. We need to engage the whole of society to become involved in the solution.
This section addresses questions 2 and 3. I thought it made sense to tackle them under one heading.
Technically and economically, it would be a lie not to say there are challenges in transitioning from carbon-energy dependence to alternative energy in the short term.
Is it feasible? Yes!
The Global North is responsible for 92% of global GHG emissions. The Global North created the problem and, therefore, must act responsibly by sharing its scientific and engineering know-how to tackle it.
Through carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) technologies and other climate change solutions being developed by Global North universities, laboratories and businesses, the means to stop the rise and reverse CO2 emissions is doable.
The Global South’s contribution is not to repeat the mistakes of the Global North. Just as Global South countries have leapt beyond land-based to wireless telecommunications, so too can they bypass energy generated by burning fossil fuels.
Global South demand for energy can be met by renewables like wind and rooftop solar, and by storage backup. Geothermal and new types of nuclear, like modular plants, can provide baseline power when the wind doesn’t blow and the sun doesn’t shine. Distributed and localized energy can replace national and transnational grids, creating multiple redundancies and leaving no single points of failure.
Is there a business will to move from carbon energy to renewable and sustainable, low-polluting alternatives?
A 2025 global poll involving 1,500 business executives from 15 countries from both the Global North and South, indicated 97% support for transitioning to renewables, with 80% committed to seeing it happen for their businesses by 2035. Of those surveyed, 50% indicated they would consider relocating business operations and supply chains within five years to access renewable electricity.
What businesses are looking to governments for:
What is it that businesses don’t want to hear?
How much sacrifice will be needed to make a net and negative-zero enegy transition work to help solve global warming?
While sacrifice is expected, what businesses don’t want to see happen is that they go under in support of a noble yet failed cause.
The post Earth Day and the Carbon Removal Conundrum: Part 2 appeared first on Techso Mogro.
]]>The post Earth Day and the Carbon Removal Conundrum: Part 1 appeared first on Techso Mogro.
]]>Governments have created cabinet-level representation to acknowledge that clean air and clean water are essential human rights. Many businesses have integrated sustainability into their best practices, including some in the fossil fuel industry.
Until Donald Trump won the presidency of the United States in 2016, and again in 2024, the agenda of the second-largest contributor of greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs), China, being the largest, took a leadership role in addressing environmental issues. The American participation in the Paris Climate Agreement of 2015 wouldn’t have happened without President Barack Obama’s support.
Obama was president when British Petroleum’s Deepwater Horizon disaster occurred off the coast of Louisiana in the Gulf of Mexico. The year was 2010. The explosion killed 11. The rig caught fire and sank; 4.9 million barrels of oil escaped into the Gulf; 2,080 kilometres (1,300 miles) of the coastline were fouled; 800,000 birds and 65,000 turtles died; 36% of the Gulf fishery closed.
The cleanup used controlled burns, skimmers, and dispersants, further contaminating the environment. The Gulf ecosystems have never returned to normal.
BP paid US$ 65 billion for the cleanup, lawsuit settlements and fines. Supposedly, having learned a lesson, the company changed its practices. The company projected a new green image. Its website featured solar and wind projects. Then Donald Trump happened, and BP, like many other fossil fuel companies, went right back to their old ways.
President Donald Trump calls climate change a Chinese hoax. He says coal is clean. He has turned the US Environmental Protection Agency into a joke that no longer protects the environment. NOAA, America’s primary agency for tracking weather and forecasting extreme weather events, has seen dramatic budget cuts. Meanwhile, the US Department of the Interior is following Trump’s “drill-baby-drill” agenda, opening up protected lands and waters to fossil fuel prospectors.
The fossil fuel companies tell a story. It states that the planet’s future faces a trivial threat from climate change. It’s nothing the industry cannot handle. These industry points to events like the latest war in the Middle East as evidence that humanity cannot do without oil and gas to address our energy needs. Energy is what is driving the future, and fossil fuels are king.
This is the message fossil fuel producers want you to hear. They don’t want you to notice what they have known for more than 50 years: that their products represent an existential threat to the planet’s current climate. That is a story they continue to bury.
They want to profit from the reality of humanity’s growing energy needs, fuelled by the Global South countries that aspire to achieve better conditions for their citizens. The fossil fuel companies support the Global South’s ambitions to have what the Global North already has. At the same time, the fossil fuel companies expect that the source of new oil and gas will likely come from the countries of the Global South. All the more reason to support Global South aspirations.
From nature’s perspective, it is human activities like business, manufacturing, mining, transportation and consumption that are the agents responsible for surplus GHGs in the atmosphere. What GHGs are we talking about? Predominantly, CO2 and CH4.
CO2 – in 2024, this GHG made up 0.043% (430 parts per million) of the atmosphere. That doesn’t sound like much, but before the Industrial Revolution, CO2 levels were 0.028% (280 parts per million). Human activities in less than two centuries have annually added gigatons of CO2 that, unfortunately, will persist in the air for centuries.
We should all be familiar with CO2. We breathe in oxygen (O2) and expel CO2. So do all the animals on Earth. Where does the rest of the atmospheric CO2 come from? Mostly from human activities like the burning of fossil fuels (wood, coal, oil, natural gas, and wildfires).
The natural world has abundant carbon sinks to capture atmospheric CO2 from our and others’ exhalations. Plants take in CO2, whether we are talking about temperate and tropical forests, grasslands, peat bogs, or algae (ocean kelp forests). Soil traps CO2 as well. Mineralization processes turn CO2, combined with rain falling on basalt and sandstone, into calcium carbonate (limestone).
The biggest CO2 absorber is the ocean, taking up more than a quarter of the excess. The CO2 absorbed by the ocean turns into a weak carbonic acid. This lowers seawater pH (a measure of acidity or basicity with 7.0 neutral on the logarithmic scale that goes from 0 to 14). Before the Industrial Revolution, ocean surface water pH levels were 8.2. In 2024, the pH level was 8.05. Lowering pH levels threatens shell-forming marine animals.
CH4 – In 20245, this GHG made up 0.000194% (1,940 parts per billion) of the atmosphere. Before the Industrial Revolution, CH4 levels were approximately 700 parts per billion (ppb). By 1983, CH4 levels were 1,645 ppb by 1983, and over 1,900 ppb by 2021.
CH4 doesn’t persist in the air as long as CO2. Over 12 years, hydroxyl radicals in the atmosphere remove 90% of the gas. Its global warming potential (GWP), however, while still present, is 25 to 84 times greater than that of CO2.
Sources of CH4 include us, ruminant animals like cows, pigs and other livestock. Other natural contributors include wetlands, microbes, termites and the ocean. Human activity contributors include natural gas and oil industry wellhead leaks, abandoned fossil fuel sites, and landfills.
Natural CH4 sinks include forests, soils, oceans, wetlands and permafrost. Atmospheric chemistry takes care of much of the rest. CH4 emissions, however, are accelerating. The greatest threat CH4 represents is the possibility of rapid warming spikes and consequent accelerated permafrost melt, releasing the trapped gas.
We know the two GHGs we are producing in excessive amounts that represent a significant challenge to the planet and our way of life. So, what are we doing about it?
We have several questions that need answers now, if not soon, to help make collective decisions to determine the world in which our children and their children will live. These include:
Stay tuned to the next posting on this topic as we work through strategies and answers to all of the above.
The post Earth Day and the Carbon Removal Conundrum: Part 1 appeared first on Techso Mogro.
]]>The post The New Improved EPA Says Greenhouse Gases Aren’t An Existential Threat appeared first on Techso Mogro.
]]>The EPA was established to focus on industrial pollution, vehicle emissions, pesticide use, clean air and clean water, and sewage and wastewater treatment. In 2007, a Supreme Court ruling supported the EPA’s efforts to regulate greenhouse gases (GHGs), such as carbon dioxide (CO₂), as air pollutants. In 2009, the court supported the U.S. administration in giving the EPA authority to address six key GHGs considered dangerous to human health and the climate. This led to the regulation of chimney stack and tailpipe emissions.
As of February 12, 2026, under the current Trump administration, GHGs are no longer a danger. All regulations on vehicles, industry, fossil fuel companies, and utilities related to emissions no longer exist. Climate-heating pollution is no longer a concern of the U.S. federal government. The federal government no longer sees the smog and pollutants from morning commutes as an issue it needs to address. On X, former President Barack Obama described the repeal as one that will make Americans “less safe, less healthy and less able to fight climate change.” He was joined by John Kerry, a former Presidential candidate and Secretary of State, who called the deregulation move “Orwellian” and one that will inflict “enormous damage to people and property around the world.”
Gavin Newsom, the Governor of California, and likely a future Democratic candidate for President, calls the decision “reckless” and states, “it will lead to more deadly wildfires, more extreme heat deaths, more climate-driven floods and droughts, and greater threats to communities nationwide.”
President Trump and Lee Zeldin, his pick to run the EPA, in announcing deregulation, pointed to $1.3 trillion in savings from eliminating oversight of GHGs. Standing beside President Trump, he stated that the “EPA endangerment finding is now eliminated.”
Zeldin has little to no scientific or environmental credentials. His previous history as a Member of Congress has had him vote against EPA regulations and standards. He has opposed federal actions to fight climate change. In justifying his opposition, Zeldin has accused the EPA of overreach under previous administrations. He sees pollution as a matter for state and local communities to handle.
The science of climate change is “undecided,” states Zeldin, countering the definitive conclusions of the vast majority of climate scientists. For proof, he cites a recent U.S. Department of Energy report written by handpicked global warming denialists.
Zeldin’s view is that before his appointment, the EPA was “trying to please a few fear-mongering climate alarmists.”
Through irresponsible acts by the U.S. government, our world will tackle climate change mitigation and adaptation without a leading nation responsible for it. The U.S. is the world’s second-largest GHG emitter. Through climate change denial and abdication in addressing GHGs, Zeldin and Trump are being more than reckless. They are criminals.
Dystopian futures await. If you read Stephen Markley’s “The Deluge,” you may be looking at what could be a likely future. This novel, which came out in 2023, depicts a near-future America grappling with climate change. Markley weaves science, politics, and fiction into a disturbing narrative that begins with a post-Trump administration incapable of mitigating CO₂ levels in the atmosphere from climbing past 430 parts per million by the 2030s. Global atmospheric temperatures rise beyond 1.5°C. Antarctic ice sheets destabilize. The Arctic rapidly loses sea ice. America soon feels the “tipping points” of IPCC reports: prolonged heat waves, growing wildfires, extreme rainfall and flood events, Category 5 hurricanes, superstorms, and sea level rise.
Following several people still trying to live their lives, The Deluge introduces climate threats not often discussed. At the same time, the narrative of popular resistance, ecoterrorism, and suffering feels potent and almost real.
I am surprised Trump hasn’t condemned the novel on Truth Social, or that Pam Bondi hasn’t summoned a grand jury. As for Zeldin, a shill for Trump and the fossil fuel industry, little more needs to be said.
The post The New Improved EPA Says Greenhouse Gases Aren’t An Existential Threat appeared first on Techso Mogro.
]]>The post Rice Can Be Modified To Emit 70 to 90% Less Methane appeared first on Techso Mogro.
]]>When growing rice there is a downside. Rice produces significant greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. How significant is illustrated in the subtitle of a recent article that appeared on the World Wildlife Fund site. It says, “Side of rice, hold the methane.” If only we could.
When tracking the rise in atmospheric temperatures over the last three decades, carbon dioxide (CO2) isn’t the prime suspect. It is methane (CH4), a short-term potent GHG with a greater warming impact over 12 to 14 years than CO2. Rice farming is a big contributor producing 12% of global CH4 emissions and 1.5% of our total human contributions.
Traditional flooding of paddy fields is the main cause responsible for between 50 and 80% of total CH4 emissions coming from rice cultivation. GHG-emitting bacteria thrive in flooded fields. Other than cranberries, I can’t think of another crop that begins its growth cycle under water. Rice cultivation because of this early submergence produces up to 5.7 times more GHGs than wheat and corn.
Rice also produces nitrous oxide (N2O). Its cultivation contributes 11% of total agricultural N2O emissions. N2O like CO2 is a long-lasting GHG and is 300 times more potent than CO2 and remains in the atmosphere nine times longer than CH4.
Almost all varieties of rice are grown in paddies. The rice needs the bacteria in the water to release soil nutrients to support plant growth. That’s why scientists are trying to identify the organic compounds called root exudates that are produced by the roots of rice plants. If the worst CH4-producing compounds can be isolated, then it becomes possible to develop a new rice variety that produces less of the GHG.
There are two approaches to developing rice varieties that belch fewer GHGs. The first involves identifying characteristics in rice plants that produce less CH4 and through selective breeding produce low-CH4 output. The second involves genetically modifying rice to eliminate the traits that produce CH4-emitting organic compounds.
Cross-Breeding Produces LFHE Rice – A breakthrough for the former method has been published in the February 3, 2025, scientific journal, Molecular Plant. The published research reveals that LFHE rice produced through conventional cross-breeding produces 70% less CH4 compared to other varieties.
LFHE rice has been tested in field trials in China with yields of 8.96 tons per hectare. Compared to average global rice yields of 4.71 tons per hectare in 2024, this represents a more than 90% improvement in yield which for countries facing food insecurity is significant.
Genetically Modified Rice Eliminates CH4 – Rather than selective breeding, SUSIBA2 rice was developed through genetic intervention in 2015. A barley gene insertion into the rice plant has produced two important effects: CH4 reductions of 90% and crop yields in Chinese test fields comparable to those for LFHE rice.
Many countries, however, have barred GM crops from being grown or sold. This resistance by governments to GM crops boggles my mind and that of many agronomists and geneticists.
Consider the case of golden rice.
Golden rice is a GM rice version that organizations like Greenpeace have protested against. Developed in 1999, GM golden rice involved inserting genes from daffodils, corn, and a soil bacterium to bind Vitamin A within the rice without affecting it in other ways. It significantly increased beta-carotene production in the plant and gave the rice a golden-yellow look.
Golden rice was developed to address Vitamin A Deficiency (VAD) common to the poorest people of Africa and Southeast Asia whose diets were heavily rice-dependent. VAD, states the World Health Organization (WHO), affects 250 million people globally, 40% of them being children under the age of five living in the Developing World.
UNICEF statistics show VAD is responsible for between one and two million preventable deaths annually. Adding Vitamin A to the diet is critical. Without it, the immune system, particularly of babies and young children is compromised.
VAD is the leading cause of childhood blindness on Earth affecting 250,000 to 500,000 children annually. Half die within 12 months of losing their eyesight.
Yet GM golden rice, 25 years after development, has just been banned in the Philippines and currently is under threat of being banned in Bangladesh. These bans are counterintuitive considering that a 2019 nutrition survey done in the Philippines noted that 15.5% of Filipino infants and children aged six months to five years suffered from VAD. The Philippines provided no VAD mortality figures. A 2012 survey of preschool-age children in Bangladesh indicated 20.5% suffered from VAD with 30,000 going blind each year and at least half dying within weeks of the first blinding episode.
Let’s hope that countries that are as heavily rice-dependent as the aforementioned two are more science-aware of the benefits of new breeds of rice including GM varieties that address food insecurity and dietary deficiencies.
The post Rice Can Be Modified To Emit 70 to 90% Less Methane appeared first on Techso Mogro.
]]>The post With COP 29 In Two Weeks A Reminder To Delegates – We Are On Pace For A 3.1 Celsius Rise In Atmospheric Temperatures appeared first on Techso Mogro.
]]>In its Executive Summary, it states:
“Unless global emissions in 2030 are brought below the levels implied by existing policies and current nationally determined contributions (NDCs), it will become impossible to reach a pathway that would limit global warming to 1.5 Celsius with no or limited overshoot (>50% chance), and strongly increase the challenge of limiting warming to 2°C (>66% chance). The next NDCs must deliver a quantum leap in ambition…with accelerated mitigation action in this decade.”
It further adds “The magnitude of the challenge is indisputable.”
Just when we think COP meetings could make a difference, the UN report tells us that they are not and that global greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) are still climbing.
The rise between 2022 and 2023 was 1.3%, setting a new record of 57.1 Gigatons (57.1 billion tons of emitted GHGs from human activity per year). That rise has been faster than the average of 0.8% growth from 2010 to 2019, the pre-COVID-19 pandemic era.
The biggest contributor to the rise in GHGs has been the electrical power sector at 26%, with transportation second at 15% (see infographic below).
Since COP 28 when countries were urged to update target NDCs, the report states that only one country has done so. Several countries’ NDCs have yet to reach peak GHG emission levels. Very few countries are post-peak with reported emission drops. None, based on current policies, appear capable of meeting NDC 2030 and 2035 targets to keep within the upper and lower scenarios agreed to at the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement.
As of June 2024, 107 countries responsible for 82% of global GHGs have made net-zero emission pledges. Some have set net-zero target dates. At current emission levels, however, unless accelerated action occurs, none will achieve their 2030 and 2035 targets.
What is needed follows:
COP 29 being hosted in the city of Baku in Azerbaijan, ironically a country that is a large GHG oil and gas emissions producer, will ask delegates from member countries to submit new NDCs.
Submitting is aspirational. Committing means acting.
Acting means emission reduction policies at the national and sectorial levels. Whether dealing with advanced economies or developing world countries, it means enacting climate change mitigation and adaptation policies with teeth.
Unfortunately, to date, we see more procrastination than action. The result is an emissions gap that likely will become more difficult to close as we get to 2030 and beyond.
Today, global GHGs continue to rise with the most advanced economies producing 77% of the total. With their current NDC pledges, none of these advanced countries, even if they fulfilled the NDC targets, can stop global atmospheric temperatures from continuing to rise.
That’s why this current UN emissions gap report states that the current global NDC targets established for 2030 will produce a future where temperatures will rise between 2.6 and 2.8 Celsius (4.7 to 5 Fahrenheit) by mid-century and a catastrophic 3.1 Celsius (5.6 Fahrenheit) rise by 2100. In a recent speech, the UN General Secretary called the situation “teetering on a planetary tightrope.”
Is it still possible to stay within the 1.5 Celsius limit?
Yes, but it means building public trust in climate science through a better presentation of the evidence, an explanation of the process of scientific discovery, the telling of the story in plain, jargon-free easy-to-understand language, and engagement in public dialogue that invites input into climate science research.
Doing the above will help to achieve buy-in to do the following on a global level:
Anecdotally, the average person today when asked will note that the climate is changing. Recent extreme weather events for homeowners in Florida, Georgia or Asheville, North Carolina, will have heads nodding in agreement.
The post With COP 29 In Two Weeks A Reminder To Delegates – We Are On Pace For A 3.1 Celsius Rise In Atmospheric Temperatures appeared first on Techso Mogro.
]]>The post Two Climate Stories of Consequence – On a Highway to Hell or About to Turn the Corner appeared first on Techso Mogro.
]]>In a recent speech, UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned that the planet is on a hot streak and that we need “an exit ramp off the highway to climate hell.” He noted that the nations of the world are playing Russian Roulette with the planet and that the decisions we collectively make in the next 18 months will be critical stating “It’s climate crunch time.”
The rate of warming has sped up based on results from recent studies that calculate fossil-fuel-driven warming is increasing atmospheric mean temperatures by 0.26 Celsius (0.468 Fahrenheit) degrees per decade not including the effect of the latest effect of the cyclic El Niño arising in the mid-Pacific Ocean.
A World Meteorological Organization report states there is an 80% probability that in one of the next five years, we will see mean global temperatures exceed the 1.5 Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) lower threshold target established in Paris at COP21 back in 2015.
The mean temperature rise in Canada has already surpassed the 1.5 Celsius threshold. In the last 12 months, Canada is 1.63 Celsius (2.93 Fahrenheit) higher than it was in the mid-19th century.
Guterres noted in his speech that action is needed by the richest 1% whose emissions equal the lowest 66% on the planet. He stated, “It is a travesty of climate justice that those least responsible for the crisis are hardest hit: the poorest people, the most vulnerable countries, Indigenous peoples, women and girls.”
According to a Bloomberg research study confirming results from a Climate Analytics report, 2024 may be the turning point in our struggle to reduce global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) reports that rapid growth in renewable energy has upped power generation capacity by nearly 50% approaching 510 Gigawatts. This is the fastest growth rate in the last 20 years.
Based on existing policies and forecasts the IEA projects renewable capacity to reach 7,300 Gigawatts by 2028. It’s encouraging news but if projected to 2030 will still fall short of the 11,000 Gigawatts forecasters state we need to reverse CO2 emissions significantly.
Renewables need to triple to meet Paris climate goals and emission reduction targets. Instead, we will only grow 250%. We can make up the difference over the next six years if we can increase capacity by 21% annually. Bloomberg’s report states we can keep temperatures from rising beyond 1.75 Celsius (3.15 Fahrenheit) in the next two decades by spending an additional $215 trillion on new renewable projects. Based on our pace, however, we see CO2 emissions drop by 27% by 2050, and a rise in global temperatures of 2.6 Celsius (4.68 Fahrenheit) as a consequence by 2100. This would be an unacceptable outcome with dire consequences for countries nearest to the equator making many areas unliveable.
If you want to know why cannot get to net zero by 2050, look no further than to the governments of several countries and the fossil fuel industry they support. Oil companies are doubling down on exploration and pumping out more products, they say, to meet growing world energy demand.
The industry is on a consolidation and growth path. Exxon has just acquired Pioneer Natural Resources. Chevron is acquiring Hess. ConocoPhillips is buying Marathon. These companies are spending hundreds of billions of dollars betting on the gamble that nothing will replace petrochemicals in the short to mid-term.
China isn’t about to abandon coal. The United States has become the largest exporter of fossil fuels to the world. These two countries and fossil fuel companies that operate within their boundaries and elsewhere hold the rest of the world hostage to their national and corporate objectives. The fossil fuel industry intends to exact its pound of flesh until it has pumped out and sold every last barrel and mined and delivered every last ton of coal.
Meanwhile, the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty (FFNPT) which represents an alliance of environmental groups, scientists, and the public tries to muster international collaboration to end global dependence on fossil fuels. Against the ambivalence of China, the United States, and other countries equally committed to their fossil fuel industries, it will take years before the FFNPT is ratified by the UN.
The post Two Climate Stories of Consequence – On a Highway to Hell or About to Turn the Corner appeared first on Techso Mogro.
]]>The post U.S. Transitional Energy Strategies and Policies Continue to Not Address the Climate Change Elephant in the Room appeared first on Techso Mogro.
]]>The EPA policy relies on carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) projects to reduce GHGs from fossil fuel energy sources. The reality is, however, that of the 3,400 coal and gas-fired plants currently operating in the U.S., a mere handful (less than 10) have CCS installed. So between now and 2032, utilities are going to have to churn out more than one new CCS project a day to meet the deadline. Considering the regulatory environment to get approval for modifications to existing power plants let alone standalone direct-air-capture (DAC) technology, it seems the EPA is “blowing smoke.”
The EPA proposal also addresses the use of green hydrogen as a substitute in gas-fired thermal power stations. A reality check shows that total annual regional production of green hydrogen in 2022 amounted to 691,000 metric tons. That’s enough hydrogen to generate 33 megawatt hours of energy, a fraction of what natural-gas-fired plants produce at an average of between 600 and 700 megawatts.
Green hydrogen production requires electrolyzers that use renewable energy to remain green. Think about it. Why do you need the gas when you already have wind and solar producing zero-emission, renewable energy? It is adding an unnecessary extra step just because some existing gas-fired plants can be converted to use green hydrogen.
Here’s another bit of lunacy. Although the EPA has proposed GHG limits and the adoption of green hydrogen where possible, if coal-fired plant operators shut down or install CCS, total emission reduction will amount to 28% by 2032. At the same time the policy notes the need for utilities to invest and build more natural gas-fired plants as part of a “transitional energy strategy” of which we will talk more.
The legacy of natural gas as a transitional fuel from coal goes back to the administration of Barack Obama when it was first proposed. Natural gas produces about 50% less carbon dioxide (CO2) and other GHG polluting gasses and particulate matter than coal.
The Obama administration became convinced by fossil fuel energy industry lobbyists and major utilities that a two-step approach involving eliminating coal and substituting it with natural gas would bend the carbon curve downward while the country could gear up its renewable and other zero-emission energy capacity. The reason for retaining the burning of a fossil fuel to produce electricity was that renewable intermittency needed a reliable legacy baseline capacity provided by fossil-fuel power.
The insanity of the policy was that it traded one polluting fuel for a lesser one while ignoring alternatives. And the Obama administration and those that have followed it have continued to the lunacy while ignoring other solutions including:
What is the estimated cost of implementing the latest EPA proposal thrashed out with the cooperation of utilities and fossil-fuel providers? It comes in at between $10 and $14 billion with retail electricity rates expected to rise by 0.2% annually.
The end result of the proposal if implemented would be a decrease in CO2 emissions by 617 million tons annually from coal-fired power plants when what is needed amounts to between 100 and 1,000 Gigatons (a gigaton is a billion metric tons) annually by 2050.
So in other words, a lot of nothing that sounds like good policy but in fact is greenwashing.
This proposed policy governing U.S. utilities is being joined by others in the global community with their own net-zero short and long-term strategies. I intend to explore what the European Union, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, China and others are doing and weigh in on what will undoubtedly show the inadequacies of current activities by governments on the climate change file.
The post U.S. Transitional Energy Strategies and Policies Continue to Not Address the Climate Change Elephant in the Room appeared first on Techso Mogro.
]]>The post A Health Checkup for the Planet on Earth Day 2023 – Part 1: The State of the Atmosphere appeared first on Techso Mogro.
]]>Until COVID-19 came along and doctors stopped seeing patients face-to-face, when we wanted a measure of the state of our wellness we would undergo a physical examination. Our doctor would listen to our heart, and lungs, look in our ears, check our reflexes, blood pressure, weight and height and compare observations with those from the past. Our doctor would order bloodwork, and maybe an electrocardiogram (ECG).
The Earth doesn’t go through the same type of physical. Scientists, however, for much of the 20th and 21st centuries have been taking measurements that look at air and ocean temperatures and chemistry, and sea and land ice levels to get an up-to-date picture of the planet’s well-being.
Trying to find out what the global average temperature was back in 1970 should be an easy task, but it isn’t because there is no single definitive source for this data. So to get my bearings on the subject I looked at American, United Nations, and European Union resources.
It turns out that the most definitive sites are those coming from the U.S. government. The website of America’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Climate.gov, is a good resource to take a measure of Earth’s current and past temperatures. It states that Earth’s recorded average temperatures have risen 0.08 Celsius (0.14 Fahrenheit) per decade since 1880, amounting to an increase of 1.1 Celsius (2 Fahrenheit) in total over 143 years. It also notes that since 1981, the rate of warming has increased amounting to a 0.18 Celsius (0.32 Fahrenheit) rise per decade. Our average global temperature in the 20th century was 13.9 Celsius (57 Fahrenheit). In 2022, that average rose to 14.76 Celsius (58.55 Fahrenheit) with the ten warmest years occurring since 2010.
Data from NASA shows that 1970 wasn’t a particularly warm year consistent with much of the mid-20th century which scientists believe was caused by the increase in industrial aerosol emissions after World War Two. But since 1970, the first Earth Day year, the average global temperature has been rising to reach 0.89 Celsius (1.6 Fahrenheit) higher over continental land masses and 0.9 Celsius (1.62 Fahrenheit) and the world’s oceans. (I’m sure conspiracy theorists would point to the coincidence of the first Earth Day and global warming and suggest a plot by scientists and the government to make us give up our cars.)
Another way to measure the planet’s health on Earth Day is to look at atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with human activity. NOAA tracks CO2 levels at its observatory on the top of Mauna Loa in Hawaii. In 1970, atmospheric CO2 levels measured in parts per million (ppm) amounted to 325.68. In 2022, that number had increased to 418.56 ppm. Current monthly average readings to the end of March 2023 are 421 ppm. That’s an increase in CO2 edging towards 30% in a mere 53 years.
Another measure of the planet’s health is levels of methane (CH4), a potent GHG that has both natural and human industrial origins. NOAA has been measuring CH4 levels in the atmosphere since 1983 through a global network of air sampling sites. CH4 is measured in atmospheric parts per billion (ppb). The split between natural and human CH4 is 40/60 with scientists assigning 30% of the rise in global average temperatures since the mid-19th century attributed to its increasing presence which in 2022 varied between 2023 and 1925 ppb as gathered from marine observatory sources. That’s up from CH4 levels between 1984 and 1626 ppb in 1983.
On average CH4 levels have risen from 700 ppb in 1850 to an average of 1,974 ppb in 2022, an increase of 282% since the start of the Industrial Revolution. The CH4 cycle of highs and lows is dependent on seasonal agriculture sources such as rice fields and burning biomass as well as industrial emissions combined with the atmospheric reaction of this gas which degrades far more rapidly than CO2.
Other GHGs that in recent years are being measured at Mauna Loa include nitrous oxide (N20), and sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) which are both trending upward.
In part 2 of this health checkup for the planet, we will look at what is happening to our planetary ocean and sea and land ice.
The post A Health Checkup for the Planet on Earth Day 2023 – Part 1: The State of the Atmosphere appeared first on Techso Mogro.
]]>The post The IPCC Synthesis Sixth Assessment On The Climate Has Been Published – There Are No Surprises appeared first on Techso Mogro.
]]>GHG increases correlate to atmospheric temperature increases. Here is a direct quote about changes in GHG concentrations.
“In 2019, atmospheric CO2 concentrations (410 parts per million) were higher than at any time in at least 2 million years….and concentrations of methane (1,866 parts per billion) and nitrous oxide (332 parts per billion) were higher than at any time in at least 800,000 years.”
All of these named gasses are GHGs.
A section of the Summary for Policymakers in the report is called “Observed Changes and Impacts.” Among these are the following:
Take a look at the above illustration. I was born in 1949 so you can see the impact of global warming on me at the very bottom of the picture. My daughter was born in 1984 which conforms closely to the second from the bottom timeline. And my granddaughter who recently turned two is represented approximately by the timeline that appears above my daughter’s.
The illustration is human action dependent showing both historic emissions and temperatures and future projections. Global temperature rises are based on the level of GHG emissions we continue to put into the atmosphere.
So if I make it to 90, the warming by 2039 under a low emissions future where we bend the curve downward toward the net-zero goal of 2050, could be limited to 2 Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit). But if emissions continue to remain high, at age 90 I’ll likely witness mean temperatures exceeding 3 Celsius (5.4 Fahrenheit) more than the day I came into the world.
For my daughter should she achieve that same 90 milestone in the year 2074, if we have achieved net zero, we should begin to drawdown on GHG emissions, keeping the temperature rise to no more than 2 Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit). But if we fail to curb emissions, atmospheric temperatures will approach 3.5 Celsius (6.3 Fahrenheit) more than on the day she was born.
And for my granddaughter, who would turn 90 in the year 2111, if high emissions continue, she would be living in an environment where temperatures will have increased by 4.0 Celsius (7.2 Fahrenheit) more than on her birth date.
If that’s not a call to action for the human race, what is?
The post The IPCC Synthesis Sixth Assessment On The Climate Has Been Published – There Are No Surprises appeared first on Techso Mogro.
]]>The post If We Want to Mitigate Climate Change We Need to Focus on Legacy Building Retrofits appeared first on Techso Mogro.
]]>Revising and updating energy-efficiency building codes around the world addresses new construction. It doesn’t deal with old buildings and homes which are big contributors to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
In Canada, there are 15 million residential buildings and approximately a half million institutional and commercial ones. Residential includes houses, condominiums and apartments. The fossil fuels burned to heat, run lighting, and the appliances in residential properties produce 18% of the country’s annual GHGs. Yet energy-efficient and net-zero code standards only address new construction which on average amounts to 150 to 200,000 new units annually.
Comparing Canada to the United States is an interesting exercise. You would think that Canadian GHG contributions as a percentage would be higher here than that of the U.S. considering our colder climate. But, in fact, as a percentage, the U.S. numbers are higher based on a 2020 study. It noted that the 93 million legacy residential buildings and homes surveyed contributed 20% to the total country’s GHG emissions annually. The study also noted that the total volume of GHG emissions from residential housing equalled Brazil’s total emissions and was greater than Germany’s totals from homes, transportation, and industry.
The U.S. adds approximately one million new residential units per year. New construction codes include energy efficiency improvements. But what is available to address the 93 million plus that are already built? The misnamed Inflation Reduction Act contains a number of programs for existing homes and commercial businesses. Some of these programs provide grants for retrofits. But probably the simplest solution is the first one listed below.
Who knew that a coat of paint could provide a solution to reduce GHG emissions? I have previously written about mitigating the urban heat island effect by painting rooftops white. It’s a simple idea with a big payback.
Paint containing barium sulphate, a compound used by the fossil fuel industry for fracking fluids, is the most effective way to save energy and thus reduce GHG emissions. This paint reflects 98.1% of the sunlight falling on it. An entire building painted with it would bleed heat away from the structure.
In another study done at the University of California – Berkeley, it was estimated that adopting reflective rooftop coatings (white and blue) would have a global cooling impact equivalent to removing 24 Gigatons of GHG emissions annually.
Architects know about the light and heat-reflective properties of coatings applied to buildings they design. With the right colour and paint composition a building can even reflect ultraviolet and near-infrared light. The larger the surface, the greater the savings for heating and cooling.
Surfaces in cities including streets, parking lots, and roofs provide an immediate benefit in mitigating the urban heat island effect that is commonly observed every summer.
Even paint not containing barium sulphate can be used. Most bright white paints reflect more than 80% of sunlight.
Insulating older homes has always been a big part of renovation projects. More than ever, now, it is a necessary investment by homeowners to help improve energy efficiency and mitigate climate change.
Insulation choices abound. Materials are rated by thermal resistance or R-value. Before proceeding to insulate an older home, an owner needs to understand which of the choices is best for his or her circumstances.
In 2021 the Canadian federal government offered grants and low-interest loans to homeowners for energy audits and retrofits. The money could be used for a new furnace, a heat pump, insulation or for replacing windows and doors. The latter two contribute up to 25% of energy lost to the outside by a home or building as can be seen in a thermal image posted in a recent article on this site dealing with urban energy conservation.
Tackling old windows and doors is a good first step for homeowners to get into the climate change mitigation game. In both Canada and the United States, the governments are providing incentives to get on board.
Windows are measured using U-factors, which rate heat loss, SHGC, which calculates the rate windows block heat gain from sunlight, and finally, ER, a combination of U-factor, SHGC, and air leakage rates. Exterior shading and applied films can make windows even more efficient.
Typically, ER windows are double or triple-paned. In both types, the space between individual panes is filled with gasses like argon to reduce both the U-factor and SHGC. Triple pane windows conserve energy better than double pane but cost more. Where window upgrades fail is in installation. An improperly fitted window frame causes air and moisture leaks reducing the ER.
Doors are a forgotten contributor to home energy efficiency. It is not just the insulating properties in the door that plays a role, but also the proper framing and fitting upon installation. And finally, there is door usage. Even attached garages and their doors have to be considered.
Doors can be notorious for leaking air. Installers need to make sure the outer and inner frame, and the base provides a seal against air leaks. A feature of many Canadian and northern American homes is the use of two doors, the outer being a storm door and air and vapour barrier.
Finally, a word about how we use doors. I read a Guardian article back in 2008, where the author decried the British homeowner and retailer for their door behaviour noting they were contributing to climate change through bad habits. They were keeping doors open while running their heating. A similar experience involves air conditioning here in Canada and in much of the U.S. during summer months. Retailers are the bad actors when it comes to front doors which they often keep open to entice customers while they run the air conditioning at full blast inside.
The post If We Want to Mitigate Climate Change We Need to Focus on Legacy Building Retrofits appeared first on Techso Mogro.
]]>