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Hydrogen is generally clean. Fossil fuels mostly are not. Steel is needed by society. It is vital to modern life. But steel made with fossil fuels is carbon intensive. H2 Green Steel is working to make the creation of steel much more energy efficient.
Let's congratulate them with this petition!
Click here to sign.
(From Inside Climate News)
"H2's goal is to produce a first batch of steel by December 2025 and then ramp up to be able to produce 5 million metric tons of steel annually by 2030.
The company says its steel will be made with 95 percent fewer carbon dioxide emissions compared to conventional methods that burn fossil fuels."
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Delegates at UN climate talks agree to “transition away” from planet-warming fossil fuels
There are many questions around the resolution. On the one hand it is being heralded as a significant breakthrough. On the other some smaller nations are quite unhappy with it. It is interesting that the Associated Press uses the words “rammed through” to describe what COP president al-Jaber did.
Several minutes after al-Jaber rammed the document through, Samoa’s lead delegate Anne Rasmussen, on behalf of small island nations, complained that they weren’t even in the room when al-Jaber said the deal was done. She said that “the course correction that is needed has not been secured,” with the deal representing business-as-usual instead of exponential emissions-cutting efforts. She said the deal could “potentially take us backward rather than forward.”
Despite this it appears that most players are pleased, including the United States.
Some are even heralding this agreement as the “beginning of the end” of fossil fuels.
Yet China continues to insist on it’s own climate route, with coal and coal plants still a vital part of their development efforts. At COP 28 the Chinese were cagey.
China’s COP28 position also confirms that there is no new mandate on its domestic coal development. In the final days of COP28, the decision related to coal has seen several iterations. The final decision “calls on” parties to contribute to global efforts in “accelerating efforts towards the phase-down of unabated coal power” (paragraph 28b, FCCC/PA/CMA/2023/L.17). It did not address permitting new fossil fuel power generation capacity.
Another provision sensitive to China is related to global peaking before 2025. The decision fall short from requesting the global community to peak soon. Instead, it only “recognizes” the projection for global emissions to “peak between 2020 and at the latest before 2025 in global modeled pathways” to limit warming to 1.5 °C without overshoot, and “notes that this does not imply peaking in all countries within this time frame.”
COP28: The biggest sustainable food and farming commitments
A number of large agricultural companies, collectively representing over $2 trillion in global revenue, made new commitments at COP 28 with regard to sustainable and regenerative agriculture.
(From Sustainability Magazine)
Danone, PepsiCo, Cargill and Nestle were also among the big businesses that agreed to significantly scale regenerative agriculture practices on more than 160 million hectares by 2030.
Part of the COP28 Action Agenda on Regenerative Landscapes, investments to date have reached US$2 billion with a further US$2.2 billion committed – and businesses have agreed to report and monitor the impact of their regenerative projects, from greenhouse gas emissions to farmer livelihoods.
Click here for the article.
Plastic use in the UK goes down for the first time
Effective recycling of plastic is good. Using less plastic overall is better. In the UK there is less plastic moving through the system, but recycling levels remain stable.
(From Circular)
Plastic resource efficiency and recycling charity RECOUP’s survey estimates that there was around a 5% reduction in household plastic packaging placed on the market in the UK, around 70,000 tonnes. The survey estimates quantities collected by local authorities at the kerbside reduced by almost 30,000 tonnes, which also works out to around 5%.
However, Recoup says the development of kerbside provision has plateaued as 88% of UK local authorities collect plastic pots, tubs, and trays, which is the same percentage as in 2021.
Click here for the article.
Cost, not range, is true barrier to entry into EVs: survey
This should be obvious to policy makers and market watchers. The cost of EVs has to come down significantly. When EV prices come in line with other cars (which incidentally are more expensive in real terms today than ever) then one will see widespread adoption, assuming continued build out of charging stations and comparable range to gas engines. And it should not stop there. If EVs were LESS expensive at purchase than gas powered, which is possible, EV gluts (like many dealers are seeing now) would not be a problem. Innovation solves this problem.
(From Driving.ca)
…overall, the percentage of people considering going electric in general has declined over the last two years. In 2021, 86 per cent of respondents said they were open to an electric option for their next purchase; today, that proportion is down to 67 per cent.
The survey’s findings jive with J.D. Power’s similar conclusion earlier in the year, which suggested that more and more people won’t buy EVs.
It’s all about the Benjamins, same as it ever was. And with makers like General Motors leading their foray into the EV realm with pricey models like its Hummer EV, one of the most expensive production pickup trucks on Earth; and the Cadillac Lyriq, starting at CDN$67,000, is it any surprise people are hesitant to make the change?
Click here for the article.
EVENT
December 21, 2023 @ 11:00 am - January 17, 2025 @ 12:15 pm CST
Conversation Collective hosted by
Location: Online
Citizen Discourse’s Conversation Collective is a community from around the country — and even the globe!! — who gather for compassionate and restorative conversation. We start with a mindful moment and incorporate some writing and reflecting and one on one conversation.
First timers are welcome to come join us as a guest. Membership is available for interested parties.
Any questions at all, email Karen: karen@citizendiscourse.org