The Environment Thread

[Lisnaholic]

Just in case anyone, by mistake, is feeling optimistic or cheerful this morning, here's an article about methane in the atmosphere. Methane leeking out  from permafrost land as it thaws, which of course is happening with ever greater frequency these days. That's over such wide areas of land that it's effectively impossible to control. This article focuses on methane coming from specific, industrial sources:-

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/11/27/climate/methane-polluters-satellite/index.html

" Methane pollution has long been underestimated and not well-understood, and yet natural gas — which is up to 90% methane — is rising as the fossil fuel of choice to generate electricity. What scientists do know is that methane traps about 80 times as much heat as carbon dioxide in their first 20 years in the atmosphere." 

[Psy-Fi]

These ocean explorers have seen the damage done by industrial fishing. They want it to stop

[DJChameleon]

A controversial plan to refreeze the Arctic is seeing promising results. But scientists warn of big risks

[Psy-Fi]

Russia's Black Sea beaches flooded with oil from wreck of tankers

Long stretches of Russia's Black Sea coastline are covered in oil spilled by the wreck of two Russian tankers over the weekend, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warning of an "environmental disaster."

[Lisnaholic]

Something not immediately obvious about the "spanner in the works" metaphor is how easily one or two bad actors can screw up a complex process that would be beneficial to all. Here's a year's-end summary and article in which Saudi Arabia are named and shamed as champions of environmental irresponsibility:-

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/12/31/climate/climate-negotiations-obstruction-saudi-arabia/index.html

[Buck_Mulligan]

Something not immediately obvious about the "spanner in the works" metaphor is how easily one or two bad actors can screw up a complex process that would be beneficial to all. Here's a year's-end summary and article in which Saudi Arabia are named and shamed as champions of environmental irresponsibility:-

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/12/31/climate/climate-negotiations-obstruction-saudi-arabia/index.html

Alfalfa is one of the most water intensive crops to grow. Saudi banned the crop in 2018, then managed to get water rights and opened alfalfa farms in Arizona and California. Arizona at least, revoked their permits last year. IDK about Cali!

[Buck_Mulligan]

10 charts of the clean energy transition.

https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/clean-energy/the-state-of-the-clean-energy-transition-in-10-charts

[Psy-Fi]

Biden bans new offshore drilling along most of the U.S. coastline

[Buck_Mulligan]

In 2024 96% of new energy capacity in the US was carbon free. There are also approximately 10,000 projects (that# seems high, must be a lot of community projects) backed up waiting to be connected to the grid for lack of grid capacity.

[Buck_Mulligan]

Who'da thunk it...
Building materials as carbon storage.

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adq8594

[Lisnaholic]

10 charts of the clean energy transition.

https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/clean-energy/the-state-of-the-clean-energy-transition-in-10-charts

Thanks for all the information in that link, Buck. It's nice and clear, being set out in charts, and, remarkably for this thread, is not all depressing

Biden bans new offshore drilling along most of the U.S. coastline

Go, Joe Biden!

[Buck_Mulligan]

Here's a reflection on 2024 from the Rational Optimist Society, it's partly about the environment, so I thought this was the best place for it.

https://www.rationaloptimistsociety.com/post/part-2-the-five-frontiers

[Buck_Mulligan]

The $115 number is an aggregate. For EV's alone the number came in at $97, $3 below the estimated parity with ICE. China has even cheaper batteries because of both govt. policy and a change in manufacturing practice.

New York, December 10, 2024 – Battery prices saw their biggest annual drop since 2017. Lithium-ion battery pack prices dropped 20% from 2023 to a record low of $115 per kilowatt-hour, according to analysis by research provider BloombergNEF (BNEF). Factors driving the decline include cell manufacturing overcapacity, economies of scale, low metal and component prices, adoption of lower-cost lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) batteries, and a slowdown in electric vehicle sales growth. This figure represents a global average, with prices varying widely across different countries and application areas.

https://about.bnef.com/blog/lithium-ion-battery-pack-prices-see-largest-drop-since-2017-falling-to-115-per-kilowatt-hour-bloombergnef/

[Buck_Mulligan]

I've never been a fan of leasing a car, but for EV's at the moment it might be the way to go...

From Semafor...

Global electric-vehicle sales rose 25% to a record 17 million cars last year, a jump driven largely by soaring sales in China. Experts have warned that growth will likely cool this year, with the European market slowing after Germany removed subsidies, while Chinese producers have forecasted a domestic lull. In the US, sales increased by 9%, though the more moderate growth is partly explained by a surge in EV leasing: Federal lease subsidies have fueled the change, with almost half of all EV transactions now being leases, compared to just a quarter for the car market as a whole. "Almost everyone leases," Toyota's US sales chief told The Wall Street Journal. "You'd be a fool not to."

https://www.wsj.com/business/autos/ev-lease-tax-credit-loophole-taxpayers-85fc489b?utm_source=semafor

[Buck_Mulligan]

Of the 17M, China accounted for 11M, almost double RoW combined.

Global sales of fully electric and plug-in hybrid  vehicles increased by 25.6% year-on-year in December, reaching a total of 17 million cars in 2024, according to data released on Tuesday.

https://evmagz.com/2024-sees-strong-growth-in-global-ev-market-with-china-leading-the-way/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email