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- Klimaatschok zal kredietschok (ooit) in de schaduw zetten
- Het Amerikaanse kapitalisme heeft nu officieel gefaald
- Financiële crisis maakt energieschok zwaarder voor de toekomst
- Financiële crisis is slecht voor het milieu
- Falende staten
- Een economisch stripverhaal
- Econoshock in Nederland
- Debat "what's next" 24 oktober
- De rol van de olieprijs in deze crisis
- China wil groeimotor op gang houden
- Bouwen een remedie tegen de economische crisis?
- 2009: het jaar van de herbalancering en van de risicoloze bubbel
- Obama-shock!
- De 20 beste ideeën om de klimaatcrisis te bestrijden
- 15 Most Heavily Taxed Countries In The World
- 10 (life) tips from Nassim Taleb
De 20 beste ideeën om de klimaatcrisis te bestrijden
De krant The Guardian en het Manchester International Festival stelden een internationaal expertpanel samen over klimaatverandering. Het panel moest meer bepaald op zoek naar ideeën om de klimaatcrisis te bestrijden.
Dit is een top 10 en een top 20 van de beste ideeën:
The panel's top ten
Gerry Wolff explains how concentrating solar power in deserts could supply enough electricity to power the whole of Europe.
Switching from uranium to thorium as our primarily nuclear fuel could lead to cheaper, safer and more sustainable nuclear power.
Carbon capture plants part-fired with wood
If affordable carbon capture and storage technologies can be developed, the prospect is there for "carbon negative" power plants that burn a mix of coal and wood.
Domestic fuels cells are super-efficient mini power stations that can efficiently and cheaply provide electricity and hot water.
Sequestering carbon and boosting crops with biochar
Turning crop wastes and other biomass into charcoal and spreading it on tropical soils can sequester carbon and boost crop productivity.
Marine turbines are like underwater windmills than can extract energy from fast-flowing tides or deep ocean currents.
Grazing cattle in a way that imitates the movements of wild herds could lock huge quantities of CO2 into the world's dry soils.
Simple and inexpensive biomass cooking stoves can slash emissions, save forests and avoid lung disease.
Universal family planning access
Global investment in family planning and female education could slow down global population growth, reducing future emissions and tackling climate change vulnerability.
Enhanced geothermal systems, or 'hot rocks', can be exploited in a larger number of locations and operate 24 hours a day.
The 10 runners up
Backed by the government, 'energy bonds' would allow individuals and institutional investors to finance a renewable energy revolution.
Knowledge and awareness of climate change isn't enough to influence low-carbon lifestyle changes; people need to be engaged on a emotional level.
Giant plastic 'stomachs' in the sea could be used to digest seaweed farmed at the ocean surface, converting it into CO2 for burial and methane for cooking and heating.
Methanol and artificial photosynthesis
Carbon dioxide generated by power stations can be converted into methanol and used to generate electricity or fuel cars.
Putting lime into the oceans has the potential to decrease ocean acidity and reduce atmospheric CO2 levels.
Schemes for leasing super-lightweight low-carbon cars could help slash the emissions of the transport sector.
Solar photovoltaic energy reduces emissions both directly and indirectly – and it can make an ideal long-term investment vehicle, according to its advocates.
New indicators for human development
Rethinking economics to reduce consumption and emissions and boost life satisfaction.
Ships that spray minute water droplets into the sky could increase cloud cover and reflect sunlight away from the earth.
Op de website van The Guardian kan je stemmen op de beste voorstellen.
Wie uitleg wil over elk van deze ideeën, kan de volgende video bekijken:
19 Comments
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Carl Van Keirsbilck
On 23 Jul, 2009
Ik mis iets, nl. minder vlees eten. Dieren produceren nl. methaan, een broeikasgas dat zowat 20x sterker is dan CO2. Ook zal er minder energie nodig zijn om stallen te verwarmen en te verlichten als we minder dieren kweken...
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vincent
On 23 Jul, 2009
For me family planning and education is nr1 priority.
We should limit world population.
L.R. Brown in its "Plan B" book also stress that point. A malthusean vision.
Vincent -
vincent
On 23 Jul, 2009
Also bringing the external costs in the price to have a 'true' product price is essential (pollution, climate change, waste, ....)
Vincent -
incognito
On 23 Jul, 2009
In the 1970ties, the Tory government of Edward Heath declared a state of emergency five times (because of industrial disputes). In 1974/1974, f.i., a 50 miles per hour speed limit was introduced, a three days work week, heating in the working place was restricted, etc.
We might see such states of emergency again, not only in the UK but also in other countries. Not because of the co² crisis (which requires such a drastic measure) but because of the economic crisis & the looming crisis in public finances and/or (later) the oil peak crisis. Futuyama declared the end of history, when the USSR imploded. The free market had won. It may turn out to have been the equivalent of the Dow 30.000 call.
Such a crisis may turn out to become the equivalent of the big and long 'state of emergency', called WWII (which played a crucial and underestimated role in the end of the great depression). -
incognito
On 23 Jul, 2009
my favourite (or it would be my favourite, if we would already have a spacelift, which would make the project about 100 times less costly and therefore probably véry cost-effective)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/apr/16/solarpower-spacetechnology
Because sunshine in space is practically constant, apart from a few days around the spring and autumn equinoxes, the space-based solar panels could potentially produce a steady supply of electricity. The sunlight hitting the solar panels in space would be 10 times as powerful as the light coming to Earth via the atmosphere. -
incognito
On 24 Jul, 2009
We could of course also beam electricity from the Sahara to Europe (and elsewhere):
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8165928.stm
A system that can deliver power to devices without the need for wires has been shown off at a hi-tech conference.
The technique exploits simple physics and can be used to charge a range of electronic devices.
Eric Giler, chief executive of US firm Witricity, showed mobile phones and televisions charging wirelessly at the TED Global conference in Oxford.
He said the system could replace the miles of expensive power cables and billions of disposable batteries.
Witricity is not the first jump on the concept of wireless electricity.
For example, the nineteenth century American inventor Thomas Edison and physicist and engineer Nikola Tesla explored the concept.
"In the very early days of electricity before the electric grid was deployed [they] were very interested in developing a scheme to transmit electricity wirelessly over long distances," explained Professor Soljacic.
Intel forum
Intel showed off its wireless power solution in August 2008
"They couldn't imagine dragging this vast infrastructure of metallic wires across every continent."
Tesla even went so far as to build a 29m-high aerial known as Wardenclyffe Tower in New York.
"It ran into some financial troubles and that work was never completed," said Professor Soljacic. -
JurgenK
On 24 Jul, 2009
@koen2:
We could also apply spread spectrum encoding on the power distribution to avoid illegitimate draining of energy. (Hey, if it works with data signals, it should work on power distribution too!) -
incognito
On 24 Jul, 2009
JurgenK : yes and develop electric cars that run on batteries that are recharged on the run (ride), so that they have unlimited autonomy, via powerhouses near highways, or from further away...
btw: the engineer who developed the concept of wireless electricity is called Nikola Tesla...
that sounds a bell, isn't it:)
http://www.teslamotors.com/ -
incognito
On 25 Jul, 2009
bombardier has already such a wireless system for trams (good idea for gent):
http://www.bombardier.com/en/transportation/sustainability/technology/primove-catenary-free-operation?docID=0901260d800486ab -
Erik Van Erne
On 26 Jul, 2009
This is a strange top 10 with some dangerous possibilities. Furthermore i miss the best solution to combat climate change: saving energy.
We just use far too much energy and a lot of that energy is wasted, because we are used to old habits. Just drive around in nighttime and you will be surprised by all the lights.
Here is some help to save energy. Just a cartoon and some tips. Weekly changed and guess what? Follow all tips (no investments to make) and you will save up to 28%.
In English: http://tinyurl.com/d6xrkp
In Dutch: http://tinyurl.com/2rmhrb -
Theo
On 26 Jul, 2009
Where are the business plans for all those projects?
Ideas we all have... but they need to be able to pay for themselves!
Funding ideas with taxpayers' money and then asking those same taxpayers to pay for the products of their investments... anybody can run such "business".
The Green Economy needs to comes down to Earth very soon.
Why don't we examine the cost of all the green projects currently in action in Belgium. How much taxpayers' money has been thrown by the government thus far in the form of "green subsidies"?
How much energy are solar panels currently in place producing?
How much savings is that energy bringing to all those who have "invested" in it at the expense of tax payers?
What were the initial projections made by those projects... and what is the reality of those projects?
We can all come up with a bunch of ideas.
The Dexia and other such alternative energies investment funds are full with such good ideas, but they are very vague on their very poor performance. -
incognito
On 26 Jul, 2009
Theo: we haven't examined the real cost of fossil fuel 'projects' either, they are enormous, because of the dammage they do to the environment & (human) life (fine dust, co² emission, nitrogen emission, acidification of oceans, etc.) much more than the so called free market makes us believe. Because that market can't look ahead. And also because it doesn't reflect the medical costs of fossil fuels.
The free market is blind & stupid.
In reality, many green energy projects are much cheaper than fossil fuels.
That's why the government has to intervene, tax fossil fuels (more) and finance green energy projects.
It's a very simple truth. But one that will never be accepted by the blind, irrational extremists (as blind and extreme as religious extremists), called free market fundamentalists (who believe, of course, that they are very rational, just like religious extremists). -
incognito
On 26 Jul, 2009
another example of the same principle: the free market has serious limitations:
http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/25/why-markets-cant-cure-healthcare/ -
JurgenK
On 26 Jul, 2009
Free market fundamentalists? I thought this thread was about pipe dreams!
Yes, the green economy has to come to the Earth very soon. The amount of energy produced using renewables is very slim (1-2%) compared to nuclear, oil, coal, etc... Even heavy investments will not bring the total amount of renewable energy generated above 10% in total. The cost will drive companies away to countries reluctant to implementing cap & trade policies, not only negating any improvement in carbon emissions to also generating trade war in taxing imports from these countries. In fact any reduction in carbon emissions will come from reduced oil imports due to peak oil not from cap & trading. The whole notion cap & trade principle is also based on wrong footing: cap & trade rights are not tradeable but are a tax. It is draining resources away from the market to bureaucracies, not to renewable technologies itself. It's higher oil prices that will bring investments to renewable energy.
Paul Krugman didn't saw the crisis coming and is proposing the wrong policies:
The Second Coming of Keynes
http://mises.org/story/3583
Why Obamacare Can't Work: The Calculation Argument
http://mises.org/story/3543
Correcting Krugman on Climate
http://mises.org/story/3491
Health Care Bill Explained
http://www.netcastdaily.com/broadcast/fsn2009-0725-3b.mp3 -
Theo
On 26 Jul, 2009
Actually the solutions to both green energy and health care are the same - individual responsibility.
Free market is the solution, as governments are not in control of that.
look at what has happened to "free" education.
My point is our energy in Belgium are 40% more expensive not despite all the green initiatives taken by our government, but because of them... rather because of their financing, the limited choice of suppliers we get to choose from (as supply is limited, that authomatically increases the purchase prise, which increases the subsidy necessary, which increases the burden to the tax system, which increases the taxes government needs to collect, which in tern increases the cost of the entire program and the cost of the final product = the energy!).
Why don't we in stead set up a pan-European system offering all types of different energies. We let people decide which one they want to buy and when. This is a real free market which would be regulated by demand.
If some would like to get their own "sun house" or "wind" house... so be it. They could produce their own energy and use it.
What I don't understand is why they would need to sell it to a "national" grid which would then resell it back to them?
What I also don't understand is why our taxes have to subsidies windmills which energy we have no idea where it's then going?
At the end of the day it will all end up like the subsidies for the cows... producing bad milk no body wants, but needing 25% of the entire EU budget!
If the green economy is to mean sustainable economy (as it is being marketed to us!), then I'm afraid all these grandiose green projects have nothing sustainable about them.
If the economies of scale turned out to be unsustainable, I think we are approaching the green economy from the wrong end! -
incognito
On 27 Jul, 2009
"The amount of energy produced using renewables is very slim (1-2%) compared to nuclear, oil, coal, etc… Even heavy investments will not bring the total amount of renewable energy generated above 10% in total."
I assure, if we would all of a sudden run out of fossil fuels, that % would increase to, say, 60 to 80 % of the current production in maybe 5 years time.
And if all the costs, associated with the use of fossil fuels (environmental, medical) would be reflected in the price of fossil fuels, that % would also increase very rapidly. -
JurgenK
On 27 Jul, 2009
I see where you're going to... Yes, we will have to tax fuel heavily to prepare for the fallout from peak oil, but we have also to cut income taxes drastically to avoid collapsing the economy. Instead of taxing the income, we will have to tax the oil consumption. And it will include taxes on indirect oil consumption on imported goods also. (The Chinese will love that.) The Western world is in a precarious situation to be depending on Chinese imports, and thereby wasting oil.
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incognito
On 30 Jul, 2009
This might be, by far, the best idea & a giant step forwards (although it's much more likely that it's simply a fake idea & a fake company).
A leaked phone conversation between CEO Dick Weir & an unknown person suggests that EEStor, a small texan company, is mere months away from launching electricity storage units that can power cars for hundreds of miles and can be recharged in minutes.
It's a radical new type of battery that offers several
times the energy storage at a fraction of the size and weight of modern day lithium ion batteries. The material would theoretically have several times the lifespan as well as it isn't subject to the type of degradation lithium-ion is.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/leaked-ceo-conversation-suggests-electricity-revolution-coming-1764791.html
The Holy Grail of green energy.
Unfortunately, it's not the first time that they are 'ready' to launch this breakthrough. And they are very secretive (not even a functioning website).
As the saying goes: "If it smells like a duck, and if it floats like a duck, it probably is a duck."
So, I'm afraid that Dick Weir is yet another Weird Duck (what's in a name?).
Although in May ZENN Motor Company (who hold exclusive rights to the eestor capacitor system for vehicles under 1,400kg) confirmed that their own independent testing verified that EEStor's capacitors were on track to performing as promised.
And they do have a website and seem to be a legitimite company. -
incognito
On 3 Aug, 2009
http://www.demorgen.be/dm/nl/996/Economie/article/detail/953411/2009/08/02/Eerste-elektrische-wagen-Nissan-haalt-140-km-uur.dhtml
