Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Shell admits 1.5C climate goal means immediate end to fossil fuel growth

resilience.org

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

171–180 of 356 posts

Re: Shell admits 1.5C climate goal means immediate end to fossil fuel growth

#171

Post by atlantic »

slashdev wrote: post #3

I’m not sure what’s the point of focusing on 1.5C anymore. I think the writing on the wall is pretty clear that we’re going to double that at least. Barring any miracle in carbon sequestration technology anyway. I hope we get a miracle.

The priority should be on protecting the biosphere, not on reaching arbitrary quantitative goals. The planet has adapted to much bigger temperature changes in the past, and will do so again, as long as humans stay out of the way. Staying out of the way means occupying less space, and particularly freeing up migratory corridors.

Re: Shell admits 1.5C climate goal means immediate end to fossil fuel growth

#172

Post by misiti3780 »

oezi wrote: post #128
misiti3780 wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We have a solution to this problem, it's build more nuclear plants and electrify everything with nuclear and renewables. Unfortunately, we are shutting these plants down instead of building more of them.

Why focus on a technology of the past when it all just takes continuous investment of a couple percent of GDP into renewables? Nuclear takes so long to build it doesn't help at all.

That is a policy issue, if you want to save the world, you are going to have to drop the onerous regulations. You cant have it both ways.

Re: Shell admits 1.5C climate goal means immediate end to fossil fuel growth

#173

Post by einpoklum »

jdshupe wrote: post #12

Does anyone have recommendations for good reading on this subject? What this means for combustion engines as a whole? I am trying to imagine where the push for clean energy will lead. I am fully on team green but I think the switch happened too late. I feel like there is a future where you have a large percent of the population (at least in the US) where EVs are too expensive to afford the monthly payment/up front pa…

Another "slogan", Use a bicycle.

Yes, it's:

* Not possible on non-level terrain (although e-bikes are sometimes an option).

* Potentially dangerous in some places because of traffic.

* Some places will not be accessible by bike due to various physical obstacles

* Requires some level of physical health (although you don't have to be fit to ride a bike)

but still, it's a decent solution for many of those towns without a public transport system. And if you can get your municipal authorities to support it, you can address the second and third points above.

Re: Shell admits 1.5C climate goal means immediate end to fossil fuel growth

#174

Post by onlyrealcuzzo »

legitster wrote: post #170

For all of the shellacking the fossil fuel industry gets (rightfully so), they have signalled several times that they are willing to transition to lower productions and higher prices and even into green energy. In 2016 oil companies spent the least amount on oil discovery in over 70 years ! It was only after extreme political pressure that oil companies were basically forced into re-expanding capacity again. The mark…

If we're not at peak oil, we're close to it.

Re: Shell admits 1.5C climate goal means immediate end to fossil fuel growth

#175

Post by scythe »

input_sh wrote: post #42
candiddevmike wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Our kids, who will shoulder far more of the effects of this than us, didn't get to choose this. This is their inheritance, generations of neglect for the environment and rampant profiteering culminating in a climate catastrophe.

I'd add that all our models include some form of carbon removal, which is still within the realm of fiction in any meaningful capacity. So not only do our children inherit the mess, but our most optimistic scenarios all include our children being the ones to invent some sort of miracle tech. Meanwhile we're mostly sitting on our asses and not even a global pandemic could convince us to make any sort of meaningful cha…

I don't think it makes a lot of sense that COVID would have caused some kind of climate revolution. If anything, it made in-person physical work — necessary to build sustainable infrastructure — more difficult.

As it stands, global PV installed capacity has been growing by a pretty constant 20% per annum for the last five years, about half of which is in China and Europe but with similar exponential rates in other countries (Brazil in particular has doubled its installed capacity in less than three years). At that rate, depending on the capacity factor, it would produce the majority of the world's electricity in 15-20 years. Storage is behind, but faces a chicken-and-egg problem: if you don't have installed PV capacity, there's no demand to build storage.

My point is: 20% YoY growth is fast by the standards of almost anything, let alone durable infrastructure. Rome wasn't built in a day. Part of the challenge is to make sure we keep it up.

Re: Shell admits 1.5C climate goal means immediate end to fossil fuel growth

#176

Post by digging »

scythe wrote: post #96
slashdev wrote: post #3

I’m not sure what’s the point of focusing on 1.5C anymore. I think the writing on the wall is pretty clear that we’re going to double that at least. Barring any miracle in carbon sequestration technology anyway. I hope we get a miracle.

This is going to sound kind of cynical, but the primary mechanism of democratic — popular — feedback, in most countries around the world, is embarrassment. In the West, embarrassment means you lose elections; in less democratic countries, it may mean you get forced from power by other means. So the optimal climate target should maximize the utility of this embarrassment. It should not be too achievable, or countries…

I'm not sure if you're familiar with American politics, but embarrassment is not a factor for roughly half our politicians. They can literally be child predators, why would their base care if they're destroying the environment future generations, even if they believed it?

Re: Shell admits 1.5C climate goal means immediate end to fossil fuel growth

#177

Post by mcny »

yodsanklai wrote: post #162
candiddevmike wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Our kids, who will shoulder far more of the effects of this than us, didn't get to choose this. This is their inheritance, generations of neglect for the environment and rampant profiteering culminating in a climate catastrophe.

> Our kids, who will shoulder far more of the effects of this than us, didn't get to choose this Are today's kids more concerned about the environment than we were? It seems they like to consume as much as anybody else

> Are today's kids more concerned about the environment than we were? It seems they like to consume as much as anybody else

I think we are talking about people who are yet to be born (in the future), not younger humans already born.

Re: Shell admits 1.5C climate goal means immediate end to fossil fuel growth

#178

Post by underlipton »

thomascgalvin wrote: post #68
davidw wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The city where I live is considering a tree ordinance, driven by some local NIMBYs. I did some rough numbers based on things I found around the internet and: One year of carbon sequestration from a mature tree == 1 or 2 days of commuting to the city 20 miles away that many people who are priced out of this town drive back and forth from. Trees are great, and most places should plant more street trees. But if you pres…

There is no single silver bullet, but if you combine tree planting with nuclear / renewable power with remote work with electric vehicles ... eventually it starts to add up. Shooting down solutions because they aren't the entire solution will mean we never make any progress.

Replace EVs with mass transit, and you've got something there. Density as an important component in reducing consumption doesn't end at the apartment building/Nplex lobby. Walking and cycling infrastructure also reduces health costs. Do you want to help curtail the oncoming Medicare crisis? Make Boomers bike.

Re: Shell admits 1.5C climate goal means immediate end to fossil fuel growth

#179

Post by courgette »

piuantiderp wrote: post #4
slashdev wrote: post #3

I’m not sure what’s the point of focusing on 1.5C anymore. I think the writing on the wall is pretty clear that we’re going to double that at least. Barring any miracle in carbon sequestration technology anyway. I hope we get a miracle.

[flagged]

I really hope you have property near a cost, any cost.

Re: Shell admits 1.5C climate goal means immediate end to fossil fuel growth

#180

Post by jonasdegendt »

oezi wrote: post #128
misiti3780 wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We have a solution to this problem, it's build more nuclear plants and electrify everything with nuclear and renewables. Unfortunately, we are shutting these plants down instead of building more of them.

Why focus on a technology of the past when it all just takes continuous investment of a couple percent of GDP into renewables? Nuclear takes so long to build it doesn't help at all.

For those wondering, it’s about 6% of global GDP [0], annually. That’s what the world was spending on all things military during the Cold War, so it’s very doable.

[0] https://adamtooze.substack.com/p/chartbook-carbon-notes-3-fo...

Post reply on HN