151–160 of 310 posts
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- paint that has high emissivity in the IR window and high reflectivity in the rest of the spectrum. - thermochromic windows
> - paint that has high emissivity in the IR window and high reflectivity in the rest of the spectrum. paint is not free and needs replacement every few years. hardly a solution.
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Thats a good example. It would be better for 'global' warming if Britain just bought carbon credits from Morocco and skipped the transmission line. Morocco gets cheap, clean energy independence and industrial investment, the world gets less fossil co2 and even if they get taken over by Martians in the future that don't respect human laws, the climate benefit is already delivered and can’t be "cut off". However, the s…
"Free market" economics are broken for nonrenewable resources, since they misprice them - don't take future scarcity into account at all, and encourage an all-you-can-extract economy.
But fossil fuels oligarchies destroy society and civilization just as much as they destroy the environment.
Faith in government, science, rule of law, democracy and economics have been polluted as thoroughly as the air.
A grim thought, but in 50 years time when a lot of the planet is uninhabitably hot, does that reduce emissions, by virtue of, you know, there not being people to stoke the fires?
It's probably not that simple. If you have food shortages and displaced populations as a result in climate change, then you might get an increase in poverty. More poverty means less education, and less access to things like birth control. So you could see somewhat of an acceleration in population growth and energy demand as a result.
but poor people dont consume as much energy as rich Westerners.
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Somehow this has been lost over the years. I can especially see this in Zürich Switzerland where new office buildings being built are awful and there seems little thinking about temperature. Everything is managed by complex air systems to move air from one area to the other. On the other hand you go into a 200+ year old building and you notice it's cool in summer although there is no air conditioning. The building is…
As someone who was in Europe for one of the heatwaves of recent years, and whose appartment was in one of these older buildings designed this ways with thick walls etc., I can attest that this only works up to a point . This design relies on there being cold air for the building to retain. However, in a heatwave it doesn't even get cold at night. The result is your apartment gradually heating over a period of days /…
It's hot, you live with it. I'm sure it's worse on the other side of the Med.
It's one of the reasons the traditional 'siesta' exists and towns and villages are virtually dead until 5pm.
The issue I have with aircon is that it makes people ignore the local climate and, worse, actively fight it, which requires even more aircon.
Instead of relying solely on air conditioning, which often adds to greenhouse gas emissions if run on fossil power, there are a number of passive solar design strategies that work without additional energy: - Solar chimneys draw cool air in when it’s sunny via pressure differential - Building orientation along with natural shading from deciduous trees prevent excessive solar insolation heating the building - Building…
How much do these things work when the wet bulb temperature is over 90F?
I'm from the south of India and now live in Europe. My body tolerates heat quite well compared to my European friends. I remember tolerating 38-40C indoor temperatures and sleeping through it with heavy sweating. But air temperature of 42C is where I draw the line. It is almost biologically impossible to survive this.
So this story isn't just about record high temperatures, it's about record high temperatures that coincide with biological limits. If air temperature reaches 44C, it's impossible to survive this without artificial cooling and I predict a state of emergency will be declared every summer starting 2030.
There's one additional factor. The hottest months in the equator are June to August. This happens to coincide with the monsoon season in India. So I remember dreading May but looking forward to the monsoon in June. If climate change messes with the monsoon season, the Indian subcontinent is f'ed.
Instead of relying solely on air conditioning, which often adds to greenhouse gas emissions if run on fossil power, there are a number of passive solar design strategies that work without additional energy: - Solar chimneys draw cool air in when it’s sunny via pressure differential - Building orientation along with natural shading from deciduous trees prevent excessive solar insolation heating the building - Building…
Another aspect is how real-estate and building construction works in India, across rural and urban regions.Some of the regions have strong clouts of companies that control building/development in urban spaces, while supplies and other aspects in rural region.
Can see the realties changing and newer construction projects taking in newer & greener designs, in both urban and rural regions, but its got a long way to go!
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I don't see this being discussed or something any public figure has said as being considered. Various states in India are deprioritizing power supply to industries in favour of consumer household use. So domestic news is playing those "govt reduces power supply to industries by 50%" headlines. [1] Use of ACs and air coolers has skyrocketed the demand for power (38 year high), thereby increasing demand for Coal. Inter…
And is there any sentiment that this is caused by climate change, and coal phase out should be accelerated? I get the immediate need for electricity, but talk about increasing coal stocks sounds weird nonetheless in light of what the goals are now in Western countries.
But if talk of an "accelerated coal phase out" were to come up, it will face some pushback and phasing-out pace will only be in line with development and growth targets. I wouldn't be surprised if politicians point to emissions by developed nations over the years and term India as a victim of it.
Consumers would happily switch to EVs that are priced right. That shift may occur fairly quickly. The grid going hybrid is a work in progress. Coal is now showing how "elastic" it can be to meet demand spikes like these, so it may stick around longer.
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I'm a European. I think we have to accept that not the whole world has to care about a war in eastern Europe. For us, it's the world, but it's hypocritical to demand that everyone pays attention to our crisis.
I generally agree - but considering this conflict could (unlikely but possibly) become a world war then, yes, other countries should pay attention.
India is paying attention but India also knows that Russia has been good partner in the past, lot of Indian military has Russian equipment. You dont want to piss off your military partner.