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The old “Wait, wait, stop what you are doing. I’ve got a better idea.” You know what would really be better than planting trees? For the world to stop burnin

The old “Wait, wait, stop what you are doing. I’ve got a better idea.” You know what would really be better than planting trees? For the world to stop burning so much coal. 40% of global electricity is from coal. Europe needs to increase coal usage because of the war. https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/germany-coal-renewable-energy-climate-russia-1.6500354 https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/germany-coal-renewable-energ... There are 8 billion people on the planet. “Hey, everyone stop what you’re doing, let’s all do this” is quite ineffective. We don’t need to stop planting trees in Iceland in order to save the rain forests.

scifibestfi 4y ago
> 40% of global electricity is from coal. Europe needs to increase coal usage because of the war. Or put another way, because they didn't bother to become energy independent and shut down nuclear plants instead of investing in more.
hedora 4y ago
I wonder if there's a charity that will pay for / subsidize heat pumps in Europe this winter. The war in Ukraine is an actual existential crisis for many countries over there, and ending gas imports is the easiest way for them to defend against future Russian invasion. I'd expect the politicians to be launching a WWII-style industrial mobilization to ramp up heat pump installations. Even if they can't switch away from coal / natural gas this year, typical heat pump coefficients of power are well above 4. Going from 100% gas furnaces to 100% heat pumps powered off of natural gas peaker plants would more than halve natural gas demand! (And, in coming years, the natural gas plants could be replaced with greener options.)
- fleddr 4y ago
  Note that in moderate/colder countries (taking the Netherlands as an example), heat pumps are not a solution when your house is not up to modern insulation standards. Which is true for almost all houses older than say 15-20 years. The insulation needs to happen first for those houses, and this can be a massive undertaking costing tens of thousands of euros. The next best thing is a hybrid heat pump. Although there's some subsidies here and there, you're very much right that we need something way more aggressive. For the houses I mentioned (which is almost all), a total sum of ~50K EUR is just not something the average family can afford. Those that do probably up their mortgage to finance it. Also take into account the shortages. I have a family member that installs heat pumps, he orders them by the dozens. Currently he's afraid to place orders as the delivery time is a minimum of 6 months with no guaranteed final date nor is the price fixed. It's "6K but we will charge you whatever it will actually be when we deliver". "I don't know when it is coming or what it will cost" is not a great message towards home owners.
bloppe 4y ago
While I appreciate the irony of this comment, you actually have a point. I would love the ability to personally sponsor the energy transition. Privately subsidized renewable energy projects could be a game changer. Anybody here done much research into this? Again, I think planting Icelandic trees is awesome! Just since OP specifically mentioned "offset my carbon emissions" I thought I'd shill one of my favorite ways of doing that :)
- User23 4y ago
  I'm sure you'd have no trouble getting people to let you pay for their solar install and buy them an electric vehicle.
- krallja 4y ago
  Duke Energy’s “Shared Solar” in North Carolina USA is one such community-funded system https://www.duke-energy.com/home/products/renewable-energy/nc-shared-solar https://www.duke-energy.com/home/products/renewable-energy/n...
- melling 4y ago
  Yes, losing the rainforest is a serious problem and it doesn’t seem to be improving. https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/19/deforestation-in-brazils-amazon-rainforest-hits-15-year-high.html https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/19/deforestation-in-brazils-ama... Isn’t the land being destroyed so people can have more meat, palm oil, etc. https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/2022/03/09/amazon-rainforest-deforestation-beef/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/2022/03/09/... What are organizations doing to improve the situation? Fighting consumer demand is difficult
  - otikik 4y ago
    I also find it hypocritical. My ancestors on my “civilised” country uprooted an tore down all the trees and forests, most of the countryside is farmland. And now that we have destroyed our forests we go “no no, preserve the rainforests”… so we can keep planting wheat?

scifibestfi 4y ago

> 40% of global electricity is from coal. Europe needs to increase coal usage because of the war. Or put another way, because they didn't bother to become energy independent and shut down nuclear plants instead of investing in more.

hedora 4y ago

I wonder if there's a charity that will pay for / subsidize heat pumps in Europe this winter. The war in Ukraine is an actual existential crisis for many countries over there, and ending gas imports is the easiest way for them to defend against future Russian invasion. I'd expect the politicians to be launching a WWII-style industrial mobilization to ramp up heat pump installations. Even if they can't switch away from coal / natural gas this year, typical heat pump coefficients of power are well above 4. Going from 100% gas furnaces to 100% heat pumps powered off of natural gas peaker plants would more than halve natural gas demand! (And, in coming years, the natural gas plants could be replaced with greener options.)

fleddr 4y ago
Note that in moderate/colder countries (taking the Netherlands as an example), heat pumps are not a solution when your house is not up to modern insulation standards. Which is true for almost all houses older than say 15-20 years. The insulation needs to happen first for those houses, and this can be a massive undertaking costing tens of thousands of euros. The next best thing is a hybrid heat pump. Although there's some subsidies here and there, you're very much right that we need something way more aggressive. For the houses I mentioned (which is almost all), a total sum of ~50K EUR is just not something the average family can afford. Those that do probably up their mortgage to finance it. Also take into account the shortages. I have a family member that installs heat pumps, he orders them by the dozens. Currently he's afraid to place orders as the delivery time is a minimum of 6 months with no guaranteed final date nor is the price fixed. It's "6K but we will charge you whatever it will actually be when we deliver". "I don't know when it is coming or what it will cost" is not a great message towards home owners.

bloppe 4y ago

While I appreciate the irony of this comment, you actually have a point. I would love the ability to personally sponsor the energy transition. Privately subsidized renewable energy projects could be a game changer. Anybody here done much research into this? Again, I think planting Icelandic trees is awesome! Just since OP specifically mentioned "offset my carbon emissions" I thought I'd shill one of my favorite ways of doing that :)

User23 4y ago
I'm sure you'd have no trouble getting people to let you pay for their solar install and buy them an electric vehicle.
krallja 4y ago
Duke Energy’s “Shared Solar” in North Carolina USA is one such community-funded system https://www.duke-energy.com/home/products/renewable-energy/nc-shared-solar https://www.duke-energy.com/home/products/renewable-energy/n...
melling 4y ago
Yes, losing the rainforest is a serious problem and it doesn’t seem to be improving. https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/19/deforestation-in-brazils-amazon-rainforest-hits-15-year-high.html https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/19/deforestation-in-brazils-ama... Isn’t the land being destroyed so people can have more meat, palm oil, etc. https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/2022/03/09/amazon-rainforest-deforestation-beef/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/2022/03/09/... What are organizations doing to improve the situation? Fighting consumer demand is difficult
- otikik 4y ago
  I also find it hypocritical. My ancestors on my “civilised” country uprooted an tore down all the trees and forests, most of the countryside is farmland. And now that we have destroyed our forests we go “no no, preserve the rainforests”… so we can keep planting wheat?