Forget carbon neutral, Northwestern takes concrete NEGATIVE
https://electrek.co/2025/03/25/forget-carbon-neutral-northwestern-develops-carbon-negative-concrete/

We have developed a new approach that allows us to use seawater to create carbon-negative construction materials. Cement, concrete, paint, and plasters are customarily composed of or derived from calcium- and magnesium-based minerals, which are often sourced from aggregates –– what we call sand. Currently, sand is sourced through mining from mountains, riverbeds, coasts and the ocean floor. In collaboration with Cemex, we have devised an alternative approach to source sand — not by digging into the Earth but by harnessing electricity and CO2 to grow sand-like materials in seawater.

Jiri Jerabek
🇦🇹 Co plánuje nová rakouská vláda v oblasti klimatu a energetiky?

• Plánují pokrýt 100 % rostoucí domácí spotřeby elektřiny z obnovitelných zdrojů. (datum v dokumentu není)
• Plánují nový klimatický zákon, který stanoví závazné roční emisní cíle a pravidelné pětileté revize, při nichž se vyhodnocuje dosažený pokrok a případně se upravují opatření s cílem dosáhnout klimatické neutrality do roku 2040.
• Podpora rozšíření využívání zelených plynů, včetně biometanu a dalších obnovitelných plynů, na 6,5 TWh ročně do roku 2030.
• Zavést regulační rámec pro postupný přechod od fosilního plynu ve vytápění budov směrem k nulovým emisím.
• Připravuje se právní rámec pro vytvoření adekvátně dimenzované vodíkové sítě.
• Rakouský model oceňování CO₂ bude převeden do schématu EU ETS 2. V EU ETS 1 se bude jednat s EU o úpravách proti carbon leakage, aby se zajistila spravedlivá konkurenceschopnost domácích podniků.
• Vyvine se mechanismus pro řešení krizových situací v oblasti elektřiny, plynu a tepla na základě evropských právních norem, aby byly ceny dostupné i v náročných obdobích.
• Program podporuje rozvoj baterií a zmiňujě např. využití protihlukových zdí pro instalaci fotovoltaiky.
• Národní energetický a klimatický plán (NEKP) bude přepracován a implementace opatření bude dělána za účasti spolkových zemí.
• Spolková vláda bere svou roli vzoru v otázkách ochrany klimatu vážně a proto rychle zavede klimaticky šetrnou správu ve své působnosti, využije veřejné zakázky jako účinný nástroj a zvažuje vytvoření prioritních oblastí (trhů) pro ekologicky udržitelné produkty a služby.

(programové prohlášení vlády má 200 stran, body jsem sepsal s pomocí NotebookLM AI)

Carbon-Negative Construction
https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2022/01/carbon-negative-construction/

Hemp’s rapid growth, dense canopy, and ability to grow in nutrient-poor soils make the plant more efficient than trees at sequestering carbon. In construction, hemp is combined with a lime-based binder to create hempcrete, a carbon-negative biocomposite that can sequester over 100 kilograms of CO2 per square meter.

“Hempcrete’s not only healthy and nontoxic, but is also resistant to fire, pests, mold, and mildew,” says Drew Oberholtzer, cofounder of Coexist Build, an architecture studio with a regenerative organic farm that doubles as a research and development lab for hemp-based building materials. The sustainable building material also boasts benefits for indoor air quality and, as its name implies, can be precast in blocks. This eliminates the time needed for curing on site and makes it easy to incorporate it into existing construction trades.

Although hempcrete can be cast like concrete, it isn’t a substitute. The lightweight material lacks the structural integrity needed for load-bearing. It can, however, be used in place of traditional drywall, insulation, and siding—where its high thermal mass offers energy-saving benefits by reducing the need for heating and cooling.

Arctic Climate Collapse! This time it's REALLY flipped!!
https://youtu.be/LrS4PKDln0E?si=za6QYaol7wHREGSk


The Arctic region has been a massive store of carbon for thousands of years. Now it's warming between 3 and 7 times faster than the global average and that carbon is escaping into our atmosphere. The latest research suggests that more than a third of it is now a net emitter!

Z cyklu #doomed

Massive methane leaks detected in Antarctica, posing potential risks for global warming | Climate | EL PAÍS English
https://english.elpais.com/climate/2025-02-12/massive-methane-leaks-detected-in-antarctica-posing-potential-risks-for-global-warming.html

Scientists have found enormous columns of methane gas leaking into the atmosphere from Antarctica, with the potential for further leaks amounting to the sum total of what humanity emits over two years.

...

A team of Spanish scientists exploring the Antarctic seabed has detected “massive emissions” of methane, a gas with a capacity to warm the planet around 30 times greater than carbon dioxide (CO₂). The researchers, on board the ship Sarmiento de Gamboa, have observed columns of methane in the ocean up to 700 meters long and 70 meters wide, according to the geologists Ricardo León and Roger Urgeles, leaders of the expedition, in statements to EL PAÍS. These previously unknown emissions could potentially represent an environmental bomb for the planet’s climate.

Kamarádův článek, který se zaměřuje na klimatickou vinu, poukazuje na paralely s konceptem hříchu v křesťanství a místo pocitu viny nabízí cesty ke skutečným změnám a řešením.
Moving Beyond Climate Guilt – @goocy on Tumblr
https://www.tumblr.com/goocy/775646436555636736/moving-beyond-climate-guilt-why-carbon-emissions

The EU should cut its emissions to 90% below 1990 levels by 2040, according to a new roadmap released by the European Commission.

This will require an expanded and emissions-free power system within 16 years and an 80% reduction in the use of fossil fuels for energy, the new guidance states.

The goal is designed to bridge the gap between bloc’s existing short- and long-term emissions reduction targets.

Q&A: European Commission calls for 90% cut in EU emissions by 2040 - Carbon Brief
https://www.carbonbrief.org/qa-european-commission-calls-for-90-cut-in-eu-emissions-by-2040/

While floating solar – the emerging practice of putting solar panels on bodies of water – is promising in its efficiency and its potential to spare agricultural and conservation lands, a new experiment finds environmental trade-offs.

“There have been a flurry of papers about floating solar, but it’s mostly modeling and projections,” said Steven Grodsky, assistant professor of natural resources and the environment and assistant unit leader of the New York Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University, as well as a faculty fellow at the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability. “This is the first manipulative study to produce empirical results. It’s saying, here’s what’s actually happening. And what we found was that there was increased greenhouse gas emissions from ponds with floating solar.”

Grodsky and collaborators covered three ponds at the Cornell Experimental Pond Facility with solar panels, at 70% coverage, and found that, almost immediately, methane and carbon dioxide emissions increased – by 26.8% compared to ponds without solar panels – and dissolved oxygen throughout the ponds substantially decreased.

https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2025/01/floating-solar-increases-greenhouse-gas-emissions-small-ponds.

TUHO: Bezos následuje Muska a Trumpa ("klimatická změna neexistuje, pojďme vrtat, baby, vrtat a pálit") a stopl tenhle důležitý projekt:

Jeff Bezos’s $10bn philanthropic fund has stopped backing the world’s leading voluntary climate standard setter, following rising scrutiny over its influence on the body, in a move seen as the billionaire’s latest effort to curry favour with US President Donald Trump.

Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) je globální iniciativa, která pomáhá firmám stanovit vědecky podložené cíle pro snižování emisí skleníkových plynů v souladu s Pařížskou dohodou. Jejím cílem je zajistit, aby podniky přispívaly k omezení globálního oteplování na maximálně 1,5 °C nad předindustriální úrovní. Zakladateli jsou CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project), UN Global Compact, World Resources Institute (WRI) a WWF, do iniciativy je zapojeno 4 tisíce firem.

Žádná klimatická změna není. Bezos zastavil penězovod | Newstream
https://www.newstream.cz/leaders/klimaticka-zmena-neni-bezos-s-partnerkou-zastavili-penezovod
Subscribe to read
https://www.ft.com/content/c3bf3f5f-afa2-44ce-8314-18ad321cd983

ROGER_WILCO:

Climate change target of 2C is ‘dead’, says renowned climate scientist | Climate crisis | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/feb/04/climate-change-target-of-2c-is-dead-says-renowned-climate-scientist

“The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPPC) defined a scenario which gives a 50% chance to keep warming under 2C – that scenario is now impossible,” he said. “The 2C target is dead, because the global energy use is rising, and it will continue to rise.” The new analysis said global heating is likely to reach 2C by 2045, unless solar geoengineering is deployed.

...

A key focus has been on emissions from shipping. For decades, the sulphate particles produced by ships burning fuel have blocked some sunlight from reaching the Earth’s surface, suppressing temperatures. But in 2020, new anti-pollution regulations came into force, sharply cutting the level of the aerosol particles. This led to more heat from the sun reaching the surface, which scientists measure as watts a square meter (W/m2).

Hansen’s team’s estimate of the impact of this – 0.5W/m2 – is significantly higher than five other recent studies, which ranged from 0.07 to 0.15 W/m2, but would explain the anomalous heat. Hansen’s team used a top-down approach, looking at the change in the reflectivity over key parts of the ocean and ascribing that to the reductions in shipping emissions. The other studies used bottom-up approaches to estimate the increase in heat.

“Both approaches are useful and often complementary,” said Dr Gavin Schmidt, director of Nasa’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies. “But I think in this case, Hansen’s approach is too simple and doesn’t factor in changes in Chinese emissions, or internal variability.”

The new study also argues that the planet’s climate sensitivity to rising carbon emissions has been underestimated, partly because of the underestimation of the impact of reduced shipping emissions.

Catastrophic tipping point in Greenland reached as crystal blue lakes turn brown, belch out carbon dioxide | Live Science
https://www.livescience.com/planet-earth/climate-change/catastrophic-tipping-point-in-greenland-reached-as-crystal-blue-lakes-turn-brown-belch-out-carbon-dioxide

Record heat and rain turned thousands of Greenland lakes brown in 2022 as they hit a tipping point and began emitting carbon dioxide.
...
Less sunlight was able to penetrate the lakes as they darkened, which had a ripple effect on the microscopic plankton living in the water. The number of plankton absorbing CO₂ through photosynthesis — the process of turning sunlight into energy — declined, while the amount of plankton breaking down and releasing carbon increased, according to a statement released by the University of Maine.

The lakes normally absorb CO₂ in the summer, but by the following year they had flipped to become carbon dioxide producers. These types of widespread changes would normally take centuries. Researchers have observed the browning of lakes across the Northern Hemisphere, including the U.S., but it typically takes multiple decades — much longer than the transformation of Greenland's lakes.

Katerina Kolouchova (Fakta oklimatu)


🇪🇺 European Commission dnes představila očekávaný Kompas konkurenceschopnosti, ve kterém v návaznosti na Draghiho zprávu nastiňuje, jak chce zvýšit konkurenceschopnost unijních podniků.

Celé je to hodně o zjednodušování (povolovacích procesů, státní podpory, reportingu), inovacích, zvyšování soběstačnosti a odolnosti.

💡 Důležité je pro mě opakované potvrzení, že cíle Zelené dohody a klimatické neutrality v roce 2050 zůstávají a že Komise stojí za emisním cílem −90 % pro rok 2040. Stejně tak zůstávají stejné emisní cíle pro automobilový průmysl (ač s explicitní zmínkou technologické neutrality a e-paliv).

Jsem zvědavá na konkrétnější vykreslení dekarbonizačních opatření, které na konci února přinese Clean Industrial Deal.

V samotném Kompasu mě ještě mj. zaujalo, že Komise navrhne vznik 28. právního režimu, ve kterém by pro inovativní podniky odpadaly starosti s 27 různými regulačními prostředími.

Co v Kompasu zaujalo vás?

---
Kompas obsahuje i časový rámec pro jednotlivé iniciativy, např.:

– Clean Industrial Deal and an Action Plan on Affordable Energy [Q1 2025]
– Amendment of the Climate Law [2025]
– Industrial Decarbonisation Accelerator Act [Q4 2025]
– New State Aid Framework [Q2 2025]
– Strategic dialogue on the future of the European automotive industry and Industrial Action Plan [Q1 2025].
– Joint purchasing platform for Critical Raw Minerals [Q2-3 2025]
– Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism Review [2025]
– Circular Economy Act [Q4 2026]

Pán, co neco dělá (u Ferrise)

Chris Sacca is the co-founder of Lowercarbon Capital and manages a portfolio of countless startups in energy, industrial materials, and carbon removal. If it’s unf**king the planet, he’s probably working on it

Chris Sacca — How to Succeed by Living on Your Own Terms
https://youtu.be/jIBo69EsAzw?si=PuUw_8g9_yRoSEu7

meanwhile, EU goes skanzen

China's solar, wind power installations soared to record in 2024
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/chinas-solar-wind-power-installed-capacity-soars-2024-2025-01-21/

China broke its own records for new wind and solar power installations again last year, official data showed on Tuesday, accelerating from a breakneck pace set in 2023 as the country looks to peak its carbon emissions before 2030.

Installed solar and wind power capacity climbed 45.2% and 18%, respectively, in 2024, the National Energy Administration said on Tuesday.

There is now 886.67 GW of installed solar power, up from 609.49 GW in 2023, it said. The United States had 139 GW in 2023, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency

The installations mean China in July hit its 2030 target six years ahead of schedule, underscoring the speed of its clean energy rollout at a time when President Donald Trump has pulled the United States out of the Paris climate deal for a second time and pledged to make it easier to drill for oil and gas.

By 2030, solar power capacity should meaningfully outstrip coal, which still dominates China's grid, at 1,780 GW to 1,440 GW, state-owned oil major China National Petroleum Company said at a separate briefing.

Last in August, China's state planner unveiled a three-year plan to upgrade the power system, increasing its use of renewable energy and easing the strain of rising power demand on the national grid.

z obecnejsi duskuze o politice asset managementu


There was a phenomenon where in the five or six years after the Paris climate agreement, which was in 2015-2016, there was significant hope amongst large parts of the population and the professional classes that governments were getting serious about climate. The belief was that they were going to take measures, whether that's significant carbon taxes or whatever else it might be, that would really entail a shift away from fossil fuel capitalism.

I think that what's happened over the last three or four years in particular is that the realization has kind of dawned—and people don't want to say it explicitly, but I think people are sort of implicitly seeing it—that it's not happening and that the governments are actually not serious about taking the types of actions that are necessary to keep temperatures at two degrees, two and a half degrees. You know, forget 1.5 degrees—governments aren't serious about keeping temperatures to two and a half degrees. I mean, of course they're not going to say that, but no, I don't think they're remotely serious about it.

I was in Norway recently, and in May 2021, the International Energy Agency came out with this really, I think, incredibly significant report which they called "Net Zero by 2050." They basically said, look, for the energy sector, which is obviously the very heart of the climate problem, to be able to be net zero—not actual zero, net zero—by 2050, this is the kind of path it has to take over the next 29 years, whatever it was (it was 2021, so the next 21 years). And basically, for that to be possible, there can be no new approvals of oil and gas field developments and no new approvals of coal mines anywhere in the world from this day forward—none, zero—to have any chance of hitting net zero by 2050.

And so, as I said, I was in Norway a few weeks ago. Over 160 approvals of new oil and gas field development licenses have been approved just in Norway since May 2021. So no, the governments aren't remotely serious. Oil and gas field development licenses have been showered like confetti around the world since then, and so I think the investment world looks at what governments are doing and they say, "Governments, which have to be the ones that take the lead, are not serious about this, so why should we be serious about this? If governments are not taking the types of actions that will make fossil fuel investments less profitable and green capitalism much more profitable, why would we bother with ESG?"

Woke Capitalism Just COLLAPSED. Here’s Why. | Aaron Bastani Meets Brett Christophers
https://youtu.be/W98jFzvl7q4?si=z-IvmiNHhTV3cSML