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ppf
searching PlanetScale…
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41 ms
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391.
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by
ppf
7y ago
The headlines absolutely do not help. They turn off people like me, who care deeply about sustainability, let alone your average reader. Nor do those promoting complex/high-tech solutions, or ideas like "you do your part if you bu
392.
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ppf
7y ago
Fair point - I did the calc all at once and screwed up my parentheses. My point still stands. How realistic is it to manufacture 500,000 x2.5 = 1.25 million wind turbines, needing 27 trillion kWh to do so, in 10 years?
393.
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by
ppf
7y ago
The US uses 4 trillion kWh per year. Assuming 3MW wind turbines at 30% capacity factor, you'll need around 3.5 billion wind turbines. They take around 23 million kWh to manufacture (each), so you'll need to find the energy for tha
394.
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ppf
7y ago
Maybe, but not all consumer spending is created equal. You get the industry and commerce that consumers purchase.
395.
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ppf
7y ago
I kinda like it, but the clickable area of the "x" buttons to close a window is smaller than the button. My first experience of your site is trying to close the window asking for money, and therefore having difficulty doing so. No
396.
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by
ppf
7y ago
Edit: nearly forgot this - I would love to see some analysis on the net CO2 balance after covering the Atlantic in algae, then transporting it all into trenches and buying it. I also assume this will kill almost all other life in that ocean
397.
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ppf
7y ago
China is also far and away the largest consumer of coal.
398.
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ppf
7y ago
I see two scenarios - the US military running out of money, or the F35 becoming necessary against an existential threat. I don't see either of those happing to the mainland US anytime soon. I'm just pissed that my own country is w
399.
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ppf
7y ago
Sadly, I can't say the same of my experience with the Defy+. I found it quite disappointing. Small screen, bulky case (that was fragile and broke around the external screws), and not much more wear and water resistant than a regular ph
400.
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ppf
7y ago
I don't know why it has proven so durable, but I'm still using a Motorola-branded charger and microUSB cable that came with a Defy+, around 2012.
401.
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ppf
7y ago
That's my point. Any scheme involving burning wood to create aviation fuel is an indicator that the wrong side of the energy usage balance is being addressed.
402.
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ppf
7y ago
If we are looking at an energy-conscious (or energy-scarce) future, then we really have to consider what forms of transport are feasible at all. For these kind of short-hop journeys, flight is probably not efficient enough.
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ppf
7y ago
True, but what is a sustainable level of tree harvesting to feed the world's energy needs?
404.
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ppf
7y ago
Excellent. Now do the same for your house, your furniture, your mode of transport, what you do for work...etc etc.
405.
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by
ppf
7y ago
To give you an idea, if you have bought a new laptop and phone, that's around another 3000kWh already.
406.
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ppf
7y ago
Do you have an idea of your share of the embodied energy of all the items you use in the course of your life?
407.
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by
ppf
7y ago
A back-of-the-envelope calculation tells me that the efficiency of a powered airship is about the same as modern airplanes. Switching truck freight to airships would use an order of magnitude more fuel.
408.
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ppf
7y ago
Not quite. I made the assertion that the ecological damage humans have already caused is much worse than that caused so far by current climate change. We both agree that predicting the further change in climate and its ecological impact is
409.
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ppf
7y ago
>allowing investors to pay for the training of employees who will be adding value Putting on my most cynical hat, what value is there in flashy web frameworks and marketing hacks?
410.
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ppf
7y ago
Because it's harder to justify being the person who raises prices that much, while claiming to "enable the internet for all" or whatever their mission statement is. With the right PR, you can sell out and try and keep a strai
411.
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ppf
7y ago
I tend to agree, I was just curious where this discussion would end up. So, what should we do?
412.
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by
ppf
7y ago
Right, so what should we do?
413.
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by
ppf
7y ago
Fair enough - so how are humans sustainable?
414.
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ppf
7y ago
I don't really have a source on that, although I'm also not aware of any particular species that are known to have been wiped out due to the current climate change. It is, however, fairly obvious that humans have had an enormous i
415.
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ppf
7y ago
The earth isn't going to return to that state any time soon :) I posed it as an open question - given any particular rise in temperature, what is the total loss and gain of inhabitable land?
416.
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ppf
7y ago
Sure, the "hothouse" earths are at the drastic end of the scale, but earth has spent significant periods of time at temperatures a few degrees above current. "There is no time" is a complex assertion that needs at least
417.
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ppf
7y ago
True, it would be new to humans, but (at least initially) it's not fundamentally a problem (please note, I'm arguing in the most theoretical sense here). Large amounts of the equatorial regions are already uninhabitable - it would
418.
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ppf
7y ago
Understood, although we have no way to know if there have ever been similar events, as the geologic record is something of a low-pass filter. Just for the sake of argument, let's say you find yourself in a car in the second scenario, w
419.
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by
ppf
7y ago
It is a very hard problem, which is why I personally hate to see so many issues conflated under one slogan. Your point about species adaption is a fair one, however if we are going to consider absolute effects on biodiversity, direct human
420.
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ppf
7y ago
Ok, I used the wrong word. I was also referring to OP's point that "nature was just fine" - the earth has been up to 12degC warmer than present, before humans could make any impact. My point is that, taken in isolation, a war
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