8 ms·

The low hanging fruit is to decarbonize the grid with solar, wind, and a batteries (and nuclear). Meanwhile, switch automobiles from ICE to EVs. And replace nat

The low hanging fruit is to decarbonize the grid with solar, wind, and a batteries (and nuclear). Meanwhile, switch automobiles from ICE to EVs. And replace natural gas heating for homes with electric heat pumps. There are other challenges, but that is a big chunk of the job that is doable / already being done with current technology.

midoridensha 4y ago
>Meanwhile, switch automobiles from ICE to EVs. Better yet, redesign cities so they're walkable and bikable and have good public transit (running on electricity of course), so people don't need cars. Cars are bad in many many ways: emissions are only a small part of the problem with cars. Crashes kill tens of thousands of people in America alone every year, they cause people to be obese because they don't walk anywhere, I could go on and on. >And replace natural gas heating for homes with electric heat pumps. Electric heat pumps actually don't work in very cold weather.
- mmaurizi 4y ago
  How cold is "very cold" to you? There are air-source heat pumps that work all the way down to -15F now.
- Xylakant 4y ago
  Depends on what you define as “very cold”. Comparatively few people live in climates where you consistently have extended periods where the average temperature drops below zero. And there are ways to work with that. For example what’s in German called “Eisspeicherheizung” (ice storage heating). It cleverly uses the crystalization energy of water [1]. You basically bury a few tons of water and use it as a buffer. You drive a heat pump that extracts energy from the water and on the other side, you run a collector circuit that collects solar energy and heat from the air. Effectively, every time the temperature raises above 0 degrees, you fill up your buffer. The size of the buffer is designed so that at the end of the heating period, most water has been turned to ice. And now you also have free cooling for the summer. This system can cover periods where the outside temperature drops below zero without loss of efficiency. [1] freezing a liter of water at 0 degrees requires an equivalent energy to heating a liter by 80 degrees Celsius.
- stinos 4y ago
  Electric heat pumps actually don't work in very cold weather. Sure they do, their efficiency just drops to below the point where it remains feasible (i.e. cheaper than furnace/boiler). Technology has come a long way and most of the world's population doen't seem to live in that 'very cold' weather, so I'd wager heat pumps are still the way to go. Especially ground source heat pumps thrive well enough in cold climates, just not always doable to install on existing sites. https://carbonswitch.com/do-heat-pumps-work-in-cold-weather/ https://carbonswitch.com/do-heat-pumps-work-in-cold-weather/ touches the subject; not the best source perhaps but searching for 'cold climate heat pump' gives plenty of info.
- criddell 4y ago
  > redesign cities so they're walkable and bikable and have good public transit (running on electricity of course), so people don't need cars I think you underestimate how much people like their cars and aren't considering how unwilling people are to walk or bike when it's cold or hot out. Public transit should be fixed though. Keep buses and their fixed route and schedule during rush hours and for the rest of the day have publicly funded ride-share type of service.
  - doubled112 4y ago
    One way, the nearest plaza to me is a 7 minute drive. There's nothing closer than this plaza. The route Google Maps suggests walking is 44 minutes. There are no sidewalks. There are two roundabouts, one mini, where drivers aren't even really sure whose turn it is. It isn't a relaxing experience by any stretch of the imagination, especially if I wanted to bring my kids. It's not that I'm unwilling. I want to walk more. I just don't have 1h30m to dedicate to the most basic of trips.
    - criddell 4y ago
      If nobody asks, a sidewalk will never be installed. It might be worth figuring out how to ask your city to install a sidewalk. In the city of Austin, a lot of the work is driven by ADA compliance.
      - doubled112 4y ago
        They put in about 2km of parking stones with reflective indicators - the flexible kind. Couldn't even be bothered to add a curb. Took them a year to do it, too. I guess it's better than a painted line.
    - dieselgate 4y ago
      I feel you in regards to transporting your kids - or anything else for that matter. Walking and public transit is great but what about buying groceries or anything even slightly more to carry? It seems to me people often overlook the "payload capacity" needed for transit, we're not all just commuting to work all the time.
- matthiasl 4y ago
  > Electric heat pumps actually don't work in very cold weather. I think that statement needs to be qualified and quantified. Qualified: your claim is probably only intended to apply to air-source heat pumps, not ground-source heat pumps. Ground-source heat pumps are popular in places with cold weather, for instance Sweden. Quantified: If you mean -40°C, then, yes, air-source heat pumps aren't going to work. But most people don't live in places that cold, and just because we can't use air-source heat pumps in a few places doesn't mean they're useless everywhere. Here's a data sheet for a relatively cheap air-source heat pump that's rated to work down to -25°C (about -14 F): https://img.polarpumpen.se/pfiles/fujitsu-km-slim-09-12-14-produktblad__2d4bfadf-22a3-4f92-ab6e-4bc5500afca4.pdf https://img.polarpumpen.se/pfiles/fujitsu-km-slim-09-12-14-p...
  - nightski 4y ago
    They aren't readily available in the U.S. and even if you could buy it online or something no local place tends to service them. This is a generalization, so I am sure there are exceptions but it seems to be the case in most places I've seen. As far as ground sourced those are significantly more expensive. The cost/benefit is not there unless the only factor in your purchase is climate change.
    - midoridensha 4y ago
      Yeah, this is what I was referring to. The heat pumps available in the US only seem to work down to freezing (0C). After that, they just turn on resistive heating, which is very inefficient.
- AstralStorm 4y ago
  The problem with heat will solve itself, because the amount of GHG we pumped out already will heat everything up sufficiently, or more than that. As for cars, for mass transport nothing beats ships or rail. The last mile, however, remains to be trucks for the forseeable future.
- cycomanic 4y ago
  > Electric heat pumps actually don't work in very cold weather. You can use heat pumps with a underground heat sink (not sure what they are called in english). However, they really only make sense in climates where it is extensively below -10 degree Celcius. Even in southern Sweden they don't really make much sense.
qeternity 4y ago
With all due respect, I'm going to guess you don't have any experience in the commodities sector. None of this is low hanging.
at-fates-hands 4y ago
>> switch automobiles from ICE to EVs How soon before we have electrical grids capable of handling all the people charging their cars at the same time? This was five days ago - are we putting the horse before the cart right now? The announcement by the California Independent System Operator (Cal ISO) on Wednesday asking California residents not to charge their electric vehicles during peak hours to help conserve electricity continued to face backlash on Thursday, due to the state approving a ban on the sale of new gas powered vehicles by 2035 only a week earlier. At the same time, the power supply in California has been in a state of constant flux due to the same 2045 policy removing oil, gas, and coal plants at a rate faster than wind, solar, hydro, and other renewable sources of energy can replace them. On Thursday, a huge 9% loss of energy in 2025 was averted by the legislature passing a bill saving Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Station for several more years as a bridge to help meet power needs in the state. https://californiaglobe.com/articles/california-backlash-over-telling-californians-not-to-charge-electric-vehicles-during-heatwave/ https://californiaglobe.com/articles/california-backlash-ove...

midoridensha 4y ago

>Meanwhile, switch automobiles from ICE to EVs. Better yet, redesign cities so they're walkable and bikable and have good public transit (running on electricity of course), so people don't need cars. Cars are bad in many many ways: emissions are only a small part of the problem with cars. Crashes kill tens of thousands of people in America alone every year, they cause people to be obese because they don't walk anywhere, I could go on and on. >And replace natural gas heating for homes with electric heat pumps. Electric heat pumps actually don't work in very cold weather.

mmaurizi 4y ago
How cold is "very cold" to you? There are air-source heat pumps that work all the way down to -15F now.
Xylakant 4y ago
Depends on what you define as “very cold”. Comparatively few people live in climates where you consistently have extended periods where the average temperature drops below zero. And there are ways to work with that. For example what’s in German called “Eisspeicherheizung” (ice storage heating). It cleverly uses the crystalization energy of water [1]. You basically bury a few tons of water and use it as a buffer. You drive a heat pump that extracts energy from the water and on the other side, you run a collector circuit that collects solar energy and heat from the air. Effectively, every time the temperature raises above 0 degrees, you fill up your buffer. The size of the buffer is designed so that at the end of the heating period, most water has been turned to ice. And now you also have free cooling for the summer. This system can cover periods where the outside temperature drops below zero without loss of efficiency. [1] freezing a liter of water at 0 degrees requires an equivalent energy to heating a liter by 80 degrees Celsius.
stinos 4y ago
Electric heat pumps actually don't work in very cold weather. Sure they do, their efficiency just drops to below the point where it remains feasible (i.e. cheaper than furnace/boiler). Technology has come a long way and most of the world's population doen't seem to live in that 'very cold' weather, so I'd wager heat pumps are still the way to go. Especially ground source heat pumps thrive well enough in cold climates, just not always doable to install on existing sites. https://carbonswitch.com/do-heat-pumps-work-in-cold-weather/ https://carbonswitch.com/do-heat-pumps-work-in-cold-weather/ touches the subject; not the best source perhaps but searching for 'cold climate heat pump' gives plenty of info.
criddell 4y ago
> redesign cities so they're walkable and bikable and have good public transit (running on electricity of course), so people don't need cars I think you underestimate how much people like their cars and aren't considering how unwilling people are to walk or bike when it's cold or hot out. Public transit should be fixed though. Keep buses and their fixed route and schedule during rush hours and for the rest of the day have publicly funded ride-share type of service.
- doubled112 4y ago
  One way, the nearest plaza to me is a 7 minute drive. There's nothing closer than this plaza. The route Google Maps suggests walking is 44 minutes. There are no sidewalks. There are two roundabouts, one mini, where drivers aren't even really sure whose turn it is. It isn't a relaxing experience by any stretch of the imagination, especially if I wanted to bring my kids. It's not that I'm unwilling. I want to walk more. I just don't have 1h30m to dedicate to the most basic of trips.
  - criddell 4y ago
    If nobody asks, a sidewalk will never be installed. It might be worth figuring out how to ask your city to install a sidewalk. In the city of Austin, a lot of the work is driven by ADA compliance.
    - doubled112 4y ago
      They put in about 2km of parking stones with reflective indicators - the flexible kind. Couldn't even be bothered to add a curb. Took them a year to do it, too. I guess it's better than a painted line.
  - dieselgate 4y ago
    I feel you in regards to transporting your kids - or anything else for that matter. Walking and public transit is great but what about buying groceries or anything even slightly more to carry? It seems to me people often overlook the "payload capacity" needed for transit, we're not all just commuting to work all the time.
matthiasl 4y ago
> Electric heat pumps actually don't work in very cold weather. I think that statement needs to be qualified and quantified. Qualified: your claim is probably only intended to apply to air-source heat pumps, not ground-source heat pumps. Ground-source heat pumps are popular in places with cold weather, for instance Sweden. Quantified: If you mean -40°C, then, yes, air-source heat pumps aren't going to work. But most people don't live in places that cold, and just because we can't use air-source heat pumps in a few places doesn't mean they're useless everywhere. Here's a data sheet for a relatively cheap air-source heat pump that's rated to work down to -25°C (about -14 F): https://img.polarpumpen.se/pfiles/fujitsu-km-slim-09-12-14-produktblad__2d4bfadf-22a3-4f92-ab6e-4bc5500afca4.pdf https://img.polarpumpen.se/pfiles/fujitsu-km-slim-09-12-14-p...
- nightski 4y ago
  They aren't readily available in the U.S. and even if you could buy it online or something no local place tends to service them. This is a generalization, so I am sure there are exceptions but it seems to be the case in most places I've seen. As far as ground sourced those are significantly more expensive. The cost/benefit is not there unless the only factor in your purchase is climate change.
  - midoridensha 4y ago
    Yeah, this is what I was referring to. The heat pumps available in the US only seem to work down to freezing (0C). After that, they just turn on resistive heating, which is very inefficient.
AstralStorm 4y ago
The problem with heat will solve itself, because the amount of GHG we pumped out already will heat everything up sufficiently, or more than that. As for cars, for mass transport nothing beats ships or rail. The last mile, however, remains to be trucks for the forseeable future.
cycomanic 4y ago
> Electric heat pumps actually don't work in very cold weather. You can use heat pumps with a underground heat sink (not sure what they are called in english). However, they really only make sense in climates where it is extensively below -10 degree Celcius. Even in southern Sweden they don't really make much sense.

qeternity 4y ago

With all due respect, I'm going to guess you don't have any experience in the commodities sector. None of this is low hanging.

at-fates-hands 4y ago

>> switch automobiles from ICE to EVs How soon before we have electrical grids capable of handling all the people charging their cars at the same time? This was five days ago - are we putting the horse before the cart right now? The announcement by the California Independent System Operator (Cal ISO) on Wednesday asking California residents not to charge their electric vehicles during peak hours to help conserve electricity continued to face backlash on Thursday, due to the state approving a ban on the sale of new gas powered vehicles by 2035 only a week earlier. At the same time, the power supply in California has been in a state of constant flux due to the same 2045 policy removing oil, gas, and coal plants at a rate faster than wind, solar, hydro, and other renewable sources of energy can replace them. On Thursday, a huge 9% loss of energy in 2025 was averted by the legislature passing a bill saving Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Station for several more years as a bridge to help meet power needs in the state. https://californiaglobe.com/articles/california-backlash-over-telling-californians-not-to-charge-electric-vehicles-during-heatwave/ https://californiaglobe.com/articles/california-backlash-ove...