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Ask HN: Could FAANG companies just solve climate change?

9 points by pkdpic 5y ago

Serious question, just wondering if these companies can afford to get into a space race then maybe they could just pivot to a carbon capture campaign or something?

BjoernKW 5y ago
In a way, some of them already are contributing to solving climate change because they provide the infrastructure required for moving work environments from the office into the cloud. Unnecessarily moving people around for the sole purpose of working at a specific location is a huge contributory factor to climate change.
Blackstrat 5y ago
Start by questioning the premise that climate change can be “solved”. Most of the “climate change” conversations today are politics not science. Dissenting voices tend to be suppressed in the media.
yongjik 5y ago
Cost of CO2 capture: $100/ton or somewhere in that range - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29217810 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29217810 for discussion. Global CO2 emission: about 35B ton per year globally. Which gives us 3.5 trillion dollars per year, which is, surprisingly, less than the combined market cap of FAANG. Hmm... so if all the shareholders of FAANG sells all their stocks and donate it to an international organization that use all the money for carbon capture, we may delay global warming by about a year. Not terribly bad, but not practical and I don't think it's sustainable. (Which company are you gonna sell the next year?)
belter 5y ago
Proposed solutions: Facebook: Move to the Metaverse SpaceX: Move to Mars Google: Just click on the damn commercials Amazon: Move close to the Warehouse and pick it yourself Netflix: Accepting submissions for a real Squid game Apple: This planet is not prettier than our products
- pkdpic 5y ago
  Love it. What about Tesla and Twitter though?
  - psyc 5y ago
    Twitter: better policy through shaming people. Have you shamed someone today? Tesla: Too obvious. Buy a Tesla. BTW, move to Mars.
    - mettamage 5y ago
      From what I'd gather, I'd say: Tesla: build products that can be fueled by renewable energy.
mogadsheu 5y ago
Google has committed to net zero emissions by 2030 I believe. Some one from Google can elaborate here. I haven’t seen much from the others.
- jeffbee 5y ago
  Google claims to be net-zero since 2007. Their 2030 goal is they will not even buy power from local grids that have fossil fuel inputs.
h2odragon 5y ago
I'd like to know what "climate chagne is Solved" looks like. At what point will we be able to say "its fixed, its not a problem anymore"?
- jeffbee 5y ago
  Re-glaciation of water sources for major human settlements would be one good indicator.
- killtimeatwork 5y ago
  Average global temperature stops rising?
gostsamo 5y ago
No, they cannot compensate for both China and India which as the two biggest still developing economies produce the most CO2. Don't forget that Africa is projected to enter into rapid development in the next 30-50 years. The west, no matter the good intentions, cannot balance out the produce of half of humanity if that half does not want or is unable to join in.
josephcsible 5y ago
No, because since the FAANGs aren't Chinese companies, they have no real power or influence in China, and China is polluting so much that even if every other country in the world stopped polluting completely, it wouldn't be enough to solve climate change.
muzani 5y ago
Climate change is a really big problem. Much bigger than covid. Maybe the first instinct with really big problems is that not enough money has been thrown at it. It looks like there are lots of practical problems as well.
c1sc0 5y ago
They might not be able to solve climate change, but they can for sure slow it down by kickstarting geo-engineering efforts. They may even be in a better position to do this than nation-states.
swman 5y ago
Maybe rehearsing leet code and funding studies that result in a "no shit we caused even bigger problems" outcome can make certain people think they can solve it.
tmaly 5y ago
Enough of these companies create their own custom silicon. Here is how I think they could help with just that: If they could reduce their energy costs at the data center with this, that would help. If they could sell custom hardware for crypto mining to reduce energy use, that would help. Many of these companies helps quite a lot with spreading awareness and tracking Covid-19 during the peak pandemic. If they could apply their influence and reach for this cause, just imagine. Think straws, many people do not know they these jam recycling machines. Imagine connecting and promoting material science research and products related to bio-degradable corn based plastics? There is an island of plastic in the Pacific ocean larger than France.
the__alchemist 5y ago
These companies make popular webapps (or computer hardware in the case of Apple). Why not companies in a more suitable field?

9 points by pkdpic 5y ago

Serious question, just wondering if these companies can afford to get into a space race then maybe they could just pivot to a carbon capture campaign or something?

BjoernKW 5y ago

In a way, some of them already are contributing to solving climate change because they provide the infrastructure required for moving work environments from the office into the cloud. Unnecessarily moving people around for the sole purpose of working at a specific location is a huge contributory factor to climate change.

Blackstrat 5y ago

Start by questioning the premise that climate change can be “solved”. Most of the “climate change” conversations today are politics not science. Dissenting voices tend to be suppressed in the media.

yongjik 5y ago

Cost of CO2 capture: $100/ton or somewhere in that range - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29217810 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29217810 for discussion. Global CO2 emission: about 35B ton per year globally. Which gives us 3.5 trillion dollars per year, which is, surprisingly, less than the combined market cap of FAANG. Hmm... so if all the shareholders of FAANG sells all their stocks and donate it to an international organization that use all the money for carbon capture, we may delay global warming by about a year. Not terribly bad, but not practical and I don't think it's sustainable. (Which company are you gonna sell the next year?)

belter 5y ago

Proposed solutions: Facebook: Move to the Metaverse SpaceX: Move to Mars Google: Just click on the damn commercials Amazon: Move close to the Warehouse and pick it yourself Netflix: Accepting submissions for a real Squid game Apple: This planet is not prettier than our products

pkdpic 5y ago
Love it. What about Tesla and Twitter though?
- psyc 5y ago
  Twitter: better policy through shaming people. Have you shamed someone today? Tesla: Too obvious. Buy a Tesla. BTW, move to Mars.
  - mettamage 5y ago
    From what I'd gather, I'd say: Tesla: build products that can be fueled by renewable energy.

mogadsheu 5y ago

Google has committed to net zero emissions by 2030 I believe. Some one from Google can elaborate here. I haven’t seen much from the others.

jeffbee 5y ago
Google claims to be net-zero since 2007. Their 2030 goal is they will not even buy power from local grids that have fossil fuel inputs.

h2odragon 5y ago

I'd like to know what "climate chagne is Solved" looks like. At what point will we be able to say "its fixed, its not a problem anymore"?

jeffbee 5y ago
Re-glaciation of water sources for major human settlements would be one good indicator.
killtimeatwork 5y ago
Average global temperature stops rising?

gostsamo 5y ago

No, they cannot compensate for both China and India which as the two biggest still developing economies produce the most CO2. Don't forget that Africa is projected to enter into rapid development in the next 30-50 years. The west, no matter the good intentions, cannot balance out the produce of half of humanity if that half does not want or is unable to join in.

josephcsible 5y ago

No, because since the FAANGs aren't Chinese companies, they have no real power or influence in China, and China is polluting so much that even if every other country in the world stopped polluting completely, it wouldn't be enough to solve climate change.

muzani 5y ago

Climate change is a really big problem. Much bigger than covid. Maybe the first instinct with really big problems is that not enough money has been thrown at it. It looks like there are lots of practical problems as well.

c1sc0 5y ago

They might not be able to solve climate change, but they can for sure slow it down by kickstarting geo-engineering efforts. They may even be in a better position to do this than nation-states.

swman 5y ago

Maybe rehearsing leet code and funding studies that result in a "no shit we caused even bigger problems" outcome can make certain people think they can solve it.

tmaly 5y ago

Enough of these companies create their own custom silicon. Here is how I think they could help with just that: If they could reduce their energy costs at the data center with this, that would help. If they could sell custom hardware for crypto mining to reduce energy use, that would help. Many of these companies helps quite a lot with spreading awareness and tracking Covid-19 during the peak pandemic. If they could apply their influence and reach for this cause, just imagine. Think straws, many people do not know they these jam recycling machines. Imagine connecting and promoting material science research and products related to bio-degradable corn based plastics? There is an island of plastic in the Pacific ocean larger than France.

the__alchemist 5y ago

These companies make popular webapps (or computer hardware in the case of Apple). Why not companies in a more suitable field?