In Between Times 2-16-2024
Digital recycling deposits, First net-zero concrete, Hydrogen cars to overtake electric?, Good and bad fires and the politics thereof in the American west
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Hilton Anatole | Dallas, Texas
April 22-26,2024
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Enter code: EARLYBIRD15 for 15% off conference tickets.
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What is a Digital Deposit Return Scheme and is it feasible?
We like this idea. It’s simple. It makes sense. It would probably increase participation. Plus one could do it with crypto if people were inclined.
(From Circular)
A digital deposit return scheme, or digital DRS, refers to a type of DRS design that gives consumers the ability to scan a serialised code on a drinks container using a smartphone app to redeem a financial deposit.
The consumer would then place the container in their existing kerbside recycling bin instead of having to travel to a return point to redeem the deposit, such as an in-store reverse vending machine, like with a traditional scheme.
Click here for the article.
We use our recycled poop to cook food in our tiny off-the-grid shed
Finally treated wastewater is starting to be recycled into community water systems (In CA, NV, and CO). Waste water is water with particulates suspended within it, which can be eliminated. Done right there is absolutely no reason not to drink treated wastewater.
Perhaps there are other ways in which human waste can be approached in novel, more sustainable ways. The below scheme might not be for everyone, but if it doesn’t smell up the property, what a good idea.
(From The New York Post)
John adds that the machinery came with a price tag of under $1,500 — a fraction of the cost of indoor plumbing, which would have set the woodsy couple back a whopping $18,000.
And the outré chef insists his feces fuel is better for the environment.
“We save natural resources by creating the methane biogas that we use for cooking,” began John. “[This] uses less water. And we’re able to create a nutrient-rich fertilizer.”
Click here for the article.
Heidelberg Materials behind world’s first net-zero concrete
It appears that this effort starts much closer to scale than other projects being grown from the ground up.
(From Sustainability Magazine)
rather than a startup, it is a century-old company that's paving the way for concrete decarbonisation – recently launching the world’s first carbon captured net-zero cement.
Enter Heidelberg Materials (formerly Heidelberg Cement) – the world’s first heavy building materials industry that has grown over 150 years into one of the world’s largest manufacturers of building materials with revenues of €21.1 billion.
Armed with a 51,000-strong workforce at 3,000 locations in more than 50 countries, Heidelberg Materials supplies cement, concrete and a range of building materials, solutions and services worldwide.
Click here for the article.
Will hydrogen overtake batteries in the race for zero-emission cars?
Two years ago we would have said almost certainly not. Today however we say, maybe.
(From The Guardian)
Many of the strongest claims for hydrogen’s role in the automotive world come from chief executives at the heart of the industry. Japan’s Toyota is the most vocal proponent of hydrogen, and its chair, Akio Toyoda, last month said he believed the share of battery cars would peak at 30%, with hydrogen and internal combustion engines making up the rest. Toyota’s Mirai is one of the only hydrogen-powered cars that is widely available, alongside the Nexo SUV from South Korea’s Hyundai.
Oliver Zipse, the boss of the German manufacturer BMW, said last year: “Hydrogen is the missing piece in the jigsaw when it comes to emission-free mobility.” BMW may be investing heavily in battery technology but the company has its BMW iX5 Hydrogen fuel cell car in testing – albeit using Toyota fuel cells. Zipse said: “One technology on its own will not be enough to enable climate-neutral mobility worldwide.”
We’d love to have a Mirai, which though not that great on the drag strip (0-60 in 9 seconds) would be a very fine family car. The problem is where do we get the hydrogen?
Click here for the article.
The largest greenhouse in Europe and its amazing tech
Indictment of US Forest Service ‘burn boss’ in Oregon could chill ‘good fires’ across the country
This is a fascinating and nuanced story with good guys being bad and bad guys being good and no one really knowing who the “good guys” actually are because everyone appears wrong and everyone appears right.
One thing we do know is that because the Forestry Service has let our western forests overgrow for decades we have far too much fuel on the ground. Under the right circumstances all this fuel can become a catastrophic fire. (And often has.)
The truth is that like people who build houses on the beach and shouldn’t (because they are destined to fall into the sea) people probably shouldn’t be building houses on the sides of mountains covered with of arid timberland either. (Because fire is a matter of time and the way that ecosystem renews itself.)
We have sympathy for the property owners who fear that there home was in danger, but we also have sympathy for those doing the controlled fire because in the end this lowers the fire risk overall. Like we said the story is nuanced.
(From Inside Climate News)
A “burn boss” with the U.S. Forest Service is facing unprecedented criminal charges for an escaped prescribed burn in rural Oregon, which may complicate nationwide goals to set low-intensity fires that can thin out excess vegetation and dead wood in overgrown forests to improve forest health and lower the risk of uncontrollable wildfires igniting.
Forest Service employee Ricky Snodgrass, a firefighter who is federally qualified to lead prescribed burn operations, was indicted by a Grant County, Oregon, grand jury for “reckless burning,” a misdemeanor charge punishable by up to a year in prison and a more than $6,000 fine. The indictment stems from the controversial arrest of Snodgrass in October 2022 for a prescribed burn in the Malheur National Forest that jumped its containment lines and burned a few dozen acres of a privately owned ranch. The indictment was first reported by the Blue Mountain Eagle.
No doubt there are probably some ugly local politics going on here too.
Click here for the article.
Event
February 24 @ 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm EST
Being Blue in a Red Environment
Focus of the workshop
This free online workshop is for political liberals who are surrounded by conservatives in key areas of life like work, family, social circle, religion, or community. The idea for the workshop came from conversations with individuals who said they are looking for safe and effective ways to communicate their liberal values and beliefs in environments where conservative ideas are assumed to be correct—and where liberal people may be seen as ignorant, misguided, or even immoral. Although there will be examples of the challenges you may face with conservatives in your world, this will be a “no whining” zone. We will focus on the question, “What can I do?” rather than “Aren’t they awful?”
Workshop Goals
Learn new strategies for handling the challenge of being a political minority in a mostly conservative environment.
Develop new skills for communicating liberal values and beliefs in a way that others might hear.
Feel more confident as a liberal in environments where everyone else is trying to make you red.
Who can come? Please respect the requirement that this workshop is for blue leaning participants only. Thank you.