12 ms·

Nice enough design work. But as someone who works in the climate data space I think there isn't much value add here. CO2 data is already free and open and not c

by llccbb 9y ago

Nice enough design work. But as someone who works in the climate data space I think there isn't much value add here. CO2 data is already free and open and not challenging to use. It seems like a half-wasted use of electricity and contributors time to just show data and not have any call to action or resources for how to do something about the problem. From the branding and social media integration I am guessing there isn't any deep interest in actually _doing something_ about carbon emissions. It feels like the villager who is screaming about a house on fire instead of joining in the bucket line. Something like ClimateWatch[0] is actually building a strong platform for aggregating disparate data sources around climate change, GHG emissions, climate resilience practices, and multinational legislation. Granted ClimateWatch isn't built by an online community of volunteers, but maybe it is something to look at for further inspiration. [0]https://www.climatewatchdata.org/ https://www.climatewatchdata.org/

andy_ppp 9y ago
What are the things people can actually do - realistically the only way to fix this is a carbon tax that includes the environmental costs of burning carbon. Becoming vegetarian on an individual level will basically be a drop in the ocean, there are not enough people going to change. See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKCuDxpccYM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKCuDxpccYM
- titojankowski 9y ago
  ACTION: Here’s 70+ startups that see carbon dioxide as a profit opportunity: http://airminers.org http://airminers.org Climate change will create the first trillionaire.
  - andy_ppp 9y ago
    Great idea. Will apply.
    - safiume 9y ago
      Yes! The situation is dire enough that we need all hands on deck pushing forward on all solutions. The creators of AirMiners.org talk about active solutions here https://goo.gl/oUFg9c https://goo.gl/oUFg9c. An active project seeking STEM experts: Open NanoCarbon, an open science effort to solidify all the anthropogenic carbon. It's listed on the Air Miners and in the video, and is having a 2/15 meetup at Google SF: https://goo.gl/kbhuUk https://goo.gl/kbhuUk
      - safiume 9y ago
        Later on, we'll need makers, hacker and coders to help build hardware with high recycled solid carbon content, i.e: glasses, metals, plastics, electronics, etc.
- titojankowski 9y ago
  ACTION: For every star that we get on GitHub today, we remove 100 pounds of carbon dioxide via offsets. 2,800 pounds and counting! Certification incoming... Github: https://github.com/giving-a-fuck-about-climate-change https://github.com/giving-a-fuck-about-climate-change
  - titojankowski 9y ago
    Update: wow, 7,100 pounds of CO2 now!!
    - semi-extrinsic 9y ago
      About the same as if you got 7000 people to substitute a 1 mile car drive with walking, once.
      - jamroom 9y ago
        I can't believe that a car dumps a pound of CO2 every mile..
        detaro 9y ago
        If my numbers are right, that would be a car that does 20 miles per gallon.
        semi-extrinsic 9y ago
        The EPA says [1] > The average passenger vehicle emits about 411 grams of CO2 per mile Now that's only tailpipe emissions, so once you include the emissions from producing the gasoline/diesel, it's more than a pound per mile. [1] https://www.epa.gov/greenvehicles/greenhouse-gas-emissions-typical-passenger-vehicle https://www.epa.gov/greenvehicles/greenhouse-gas-emissions-t...
        detaro 9y ago
- amelius 9y ago
  We need a personal carbon profile. E.g. this means that when you buy meat, etc. it is added to your personal carbon balance. Of course, it will require a complete overhaul of payment systems, but eventually this can lead to more awareness and hence a reduction of emissions.
  - Brakenshire 9y ago
    A carbon tax at source (presumably, at a wholesale level) for electricity, natural gas, diesel, petrol etc would capture most of that, with a lot less effort.
    - amelius 9y ago
      That would certainly help, but paying != solving, unfortunately, unless you charge for storing CO2, which is rather expensive.
- Accipitriform 9y ago
  Actually one of the only realistic things you can do is advocate a large scale rollout of nuclear power to replace coal, primarily in the US, China and India. I'm not advocating dinosaur approaches like the AP-1000, but instead new, innovative designs like that championed by ThorCon Power. http://thorconpower.com/thorcons-green-nuclear-power-gains-momentum http://thorconpower.com/thorcons-green-nuclear-power-gains-m... "A comparison of all offered sources of nuclear found ThorCon’s power to be 4 to 5 cents per kWh lower than the competition and the only clean source of non-intermittent power that was competitive with coal."
  - greglindahl 9y ago
    What's realistic about calling for a large-scale rollout of something which has never been built, in an industry where cost-overruns are typical? Shouldn't you build at least one before betting the farm on it? Meanwhile, coal is already on the way out in the US, replaced by... unrealistic? ... power sources.
    - Accipitriform 9y ago
      "What's realistic about calling for a large-scale rollout of something which has never been built, in an industry where cost-overruns are typical? Shouldn't you build at least one before betting the farm on it?" (Sorry for the delay in responding, busy times...) If you read the ThorCon material, you'll find that there's nothing controversial about its design. It's all based on the solid ORNL molten salt work. ThorCon is in the process of building a first reactor, which will likely be in Indonesia due to the broken nuclear approach in the US. "Meanwhile, coal is already on the way out in the US, replaced by... unrealistic? ... power sources." Most of the true replacement (reliable) power is natural gas, which still produces very significant CO2. Wind and solar will never really be effective replacements without reliable backup power, even with grid storage. The problem is there will eventually be an outlier event where there is too much calm air, and too much overcast, to supply enough electricity. At that point lots of people will die, if it's very hot or very cold. Reliable power is very important.
- llccbb 9y ago
  You are entirely right that almost any change you make on an individual level will not stack up enough to transform the world to carbon neutral or carbon negative. Actions must be collective. Help your neighborhood, city, state, build and implement a climate resiliency plan. Support and foster societal practices that are less carbon intensive (more bike stands and less parking spots; support public transporation;). Act within your network to promote more sustainable behavior. Does your work have a carpool system? Does your work __or the business you own__ provide incentives to their employees to ride bikes? Does your work recycle? Do you work in an energy efficient building? Is your house/apartment energy efficient? The "Green" trend should never stop. Optimization and efficiency are key. Monetarily, divest your wealth from high carbon enterprises. Spread this suggestion and work with your employer to provide investment funds that are low carbon. Don't work in an carbon-heavy field. Work to actively solve the problem. Don't buy that Tesla. Don't own a car if it isn't a necessity. Tell other people about your wonderful car free life. Save money on insurance, gas, oil, tires, brakes.... You don't have to go to a completely plant-based diet. Host a party once a month and only serve vegetarian. That converts N hypothetical meat-containing meals into plant-based meals. Maybe someone likes your tofu dish and starts making it every other week for themselves. A top-down carbon tax is a very logical economic mover, but it is only one tool in the tool belt. Recarbonization of the biosphere (plants, forest) is a necessity to have any chance of going carbon neutral or negative. Also climate change will not be stopping. We __are__ going to be in a different world and people will be in different places than today. The actions taken now will still mean everything to 10+ billion people.
titojankowski 9y ago
Good perspective! I hear you on people screaming and freaking out about climate, we have too many of those already. That’s part of the inspiration for Carbon Doomsday. The skulls escalate it more to a Monty-python type of violence and humor. Tis but a scratch! And in case you didn’t know, No One Gives a Fuck About Climate Change: http://titojankowski.com/no-one-gives-a-fck-about-climate-change/ http://titojankowski.com/no-one-gives-a-fck-about-climate-ch...
- titojankowski 9y ago
  Also this: http://blog.ycombinator.com/why-toys/ http://blog.ycombinator.com/why-toys/ Climate change needs more toys
titojankowski 9y ago
Any suggestions for actions we can guide visitors towards? We’re a bunch of hackers and coders, and that’s who this site is for. Maybe there’s other open source projects that need development help?
- safiume 9y ago
  Ok,today, Deep learning experts needed to help ONC meta1 project https://goo.gl/yutZP8 https://goo.gl/yutZP8 That's extending the sanity server and extracting relevant CO2 dissociation data. I intend to have it completed by next week's ONC meetup https://goo.gl/nz2wHr https://goo.gl/nz2wHr, and welcome additional help.

by llccbb 9y ago

andy_ppp 9y ago

What are the things people can actually do - realistically the only way to fix this is a carbon tax that includes the environmental costs of burning carbon. Becoming vegetarian on an individual level will basically be a drop in the ocean, there are not enough people going to change. See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKCuDxpccYM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKCuDxpccYM

titojankowski 9y ago
ACTION: Here’s 70+ startups that see carbon dioxide as a profit opportunity: http://airminers.org http://airminers.org Climate change will create the first trillionaire.
- andy_ppp 9y ago
  Great idea. Will apply.
  - safiume 9y ago
    Yes! The situation is dire enough that we need all hands on deck pushing forward on all solutions. The creators of AirMiners.org talk about active solutions here https://goo.gl/oUFg9c https://goo.gl/oUFg9c. An active project seeking STEM experts: Open NanoCarbon, an open science effort to solidify all the anthropogenic carbon. It's listed on the Air Miners and in the video, and is having a 2/15 meetup at Google SF: https://goo.gl/kbhuUk https://goo.gl/kbhuUk
    - safiume 9y ago
      Later on, we'll need makers, hacker and coders to help build hardware with high recycled solid carbon content, i.e: glasses, metals, plastics, electronics, etc.
titojankowski 9y ago
ACTION: For every star that we get on GitHub today, we remove 100 pounds of carbon dioxide via offsets. 2,800 pounds and counting! Certification incoming... Github: https://github.com/giving-a-fuck-about-climate-change https://github.com/giving-a-fuck-about-climate-change
- titojankowski 9y ago
  Update: wow, 7,100 pounds of CO2 now!!
  - semi-extrinsic 9y ago
    About the same as if you got 7000 people to substitute a 1 mile car drive with walking, once.
    - jamroom 9y ago
      I can't believe that a car dumps a pound of CO2 every mile..
      - detaro 9y ago
        If my numbers are right, that would be a car that does 20 miles per gallon.
        semi-extrinsic 9y ago
        The EPA says [1] > The average passenger vehicle emits about 411 grams of CO2 per mile Now that's only tailpipe emissions, so once you include the emissions from producing the gasoline/diesel, it's more than a pound per mile. [1] https://www.epa.gov/greenvehicles/greenhouse-gas-emissions-typical-passenger-vehicle https://www.epa.gov/greenvehicles/greenhouse-gas-emissions-t...
        detaro 9y ago
amelius 9y ago
We need a personal carbon profile. E.g. this means that when you buy meat, etc. it is added to your personal carbon balance. Of course, it will require a complete overhaul of payment systems, but eventually this can lead to more awareness and hence a reduction of emissions.
- Brakenshire 9y ago
  A carbon tax at source (presumably, at a wholesale level) for electricity, natural gas, diesel, petrol etc would capture most of that, with a lot less effort.
  - amelius 9y ago
    That would certainly help, but paying != solving, unfortunately, unless you charge for storing CO2, which is rather expensive.
Accipitriform 9y ago
Actually one of the only realistic things you can do is advocate a large scale rollout of nuclear power to replace coal, primarily in the US, China and India. I'm not advocating dinosaur approaches like the AP-1000, but instead new, innovative designs like that championed by ThorCon Power. http://thorconpower.com/thorcons-green-nuclear-power-gains-momentum http://thorconpower.com/thorcons-green-nuclear-power-gains-m... "A comparison of all offered sources of nuclear found ThorCon’s power to be 4 to 5 cents per kWh lower than the competition and the only clean source of non-intermittent power that was competitive with coal."
- greglindahl 9y ago
  What's realistic about calling for a large-scale rollout of something which has never been built, in an industry where cost-overruns are typical? Shouldn't you build at least one before betting the farm on it? Meanwhile, coal is already on the way out in the US, replaced by... unrealistic? ... power sources.
  - Accipitriform 9y ago
    "What's realistic about calling for a large-scale rollout of something which has never been built, in an industry where cost-overruns are typical? Shouldn't you build at least one before betting the farm on it?" (Sorry for the delay in responding, busy times...) If you read the ThorCon material, you'll find that there's nothing controversial about its design. It's all based on the solid ORNL molten salt work. ThorCon is in the process of building a first reactor, which will likely be in Indonesia due to the broken nuclear approach in the US. "Meanwhile, coal is already on the way out in the US, replaced by... unrealistic? ... power sources." Most of the true replacement (reliable) power is natural gas, which still produces very significant CO2. Wind and solar will never really be effective replacements without reliable backup power, even with grid storage. The problem is there will eventually be an outlier event where there is too much calm air, and too much overcast, to supply enough electricity. At that point lots of people will die, if it's very hot or very cold. Reliable power is very important.
llccbb 9y ago
You are entirely right that almost any change you make on an individual level will not stack up enough to transform the world to carbon neutral or carbon negative. Actions must be collective. Help your neighborhood, city, state, build and implement a climate resiliency plan. Support and foster societal practices that are less carbon intensive (more bike stands and less parking spots; support public transporation;). Act within your network to promote more sustainable behavior. Does your work have a carpool system? Does your work __or the business you own__ provide incentives to their employees to ride bikes? Does your work recycle? Do you work in an energy efficient building? Is your house/apartment energy efficient? The "Green" trend should never stop. Optimization and efficiency are key. Monetarily, divest your wealth from high carbon enterprises. Spread this suggestion and work with your employer to provide investment funds that are low carbon. Don't work in an carbon-heavy field. Work to actively solve the problem. Don't buy that Tesla. Don't own a car if it isn't a necessity. Tell other people about your wonderful car free life. Save money on insurance, gas, oil, tires, brakes.... You don't have to go to a completely plant-based diet. Host a party once a month and only serve vegetarian. That converts N hypothetical meat-containing meals into plant-based meals. Maybe someone likes your tofu dish and starts making it every other week for themselves. A top-down carbon tax is a very logical economic mover, but it is only one tool in the tool belt. Recarbonization of the biosphere (plants, forest) is a necessity to have any chance of going carbon neutral or negative. Also climate change will not be stopping. We __are__ going to be in a different world and people will be in different places than today. The actions taken now will still mean everything to 10+ billion people.

titojankowski 9y ago

Good perspective! I hear you on people screaming and freaking out about climate, we have too many of those already. That’s part of the inspiration for Carbon Doomsday. The skulls escalate it more to a Monty-python type of violence and humor. Tis but a scratch! And in case you didn’t know, No One Gives a Fuck About Climate Change: http://titojankowski.com/no-one-gives-a-fck-about-climate-change/ http://titojankowski.com/no-one-gives-a-fck-about-climate-ch...

titojankowski 9y ago
Also this: http://blog.ycombinator.com/why-toys/ http://blog.ycombinator.com/why-toys/ Climate change needs more toys

titojankowski 9y ago

Any suggestions for actions we can guide visitors towards? We’re a bunch of hackers and coders, and that’s who this site is for. Maybe there’s other open source projects that need development help?

safiume 9y ago
Ok,today, Deep learning experts needed to help ONC meta1 project https://goo.gl/yutZP8 https://goo.gl/yutZP8 That's extending the sanity server and extracting relevant CO2 dissociation data. I intend to have it completed by next week's ONC meetup https://goo.gl/nz2wHr https://goo.gl/nz2wHr, and welcome additional help.