MORE BLAH BLAH BLAH
Greta Thunberg says COP26 unlikely to lead to 'big changes'

Issued on: 16/10/2021 - 

Thunberg said climate activists had to keep on 'pushing' for real change

 MIGUEL MEDINA AFP/File

Stockholm (AFP)

Swedish activist Greta Thunberg on Saturday said upcoming climate talks in Glasgow, billed as humanity's last chance to avoid catastrophic global warming, were unlikely to "lead to big changes".

Thunberg, whose Fridays For Future movement has inspired massive street protests around the world, said activists needed to keep on "pushing" for real change.

"As it is now, this COP will not lead to any big changes, we're going to have to continue pushing," she told AFP on the sidelines of a climate concert organised in Stockholm.

"My hopes are, of course, that suddenly we will realise that we are facing an existential crisis and act after that," she added.

The COP26 meeting in Scotland, being held from October 31 until November 12, will be the biggest climate conference since landmark talks in Paris in 2015, and is seen as a crucial step in setting worldwide emissions targets to slow global warming.

Thunberg said that international summits like COP26 "have a potential of changing (things) since they gather so many people together.

"So we may need to make sure that we use that opportunity to actually change things," she said.

Thunberg stressed the need to "switch the focus from trying to create loopholes" to "actually saving the planet".

The Glasgow gathering will try to persuade major developing economies to do more to cut their carbon emissions, and get the rich world to cough up billions more to help poorer countries adapt to climate change.

© 2021 AFP

Dark matter and the multiverse help scientists decode mysteries of the brain

Studying physicists' brains reveals how they wrap their head around complex ideas that can't be experienced.


Monisha Ravisetti
Oct. 14, 2021 9

American physicists Richard Feynman and Yang Chen Ning, circa 1950s.

Science & Society Picture Library/Getty contributor

Quantum particles exist and don't exist. Space is likely a moldable fabric. Dark matter is invisible, yet it binds the entire universe. And our universe, created from an explosion 13.8 billion years ago, is infinitely expanding into something. Or, maybe nothing.

Unless you're a trained physicist, at least one of those statements probably hurts your brain.

We experience a sort of cognitive dissonance when attempting to comprehend the vastness of such unimaginable, complex concepts. But theoretical physicists think about, and even conjure, these ideas all day, every day.

How do they do it?

According to new research, published Monday in the journal npj Science of Learning, physicists' brains grapple with counterintuitive theories by automatically categorizing things as either "measurable" or "immeasurable."

"Most of the things we encounter every day, like a rock, a lake, a flower, you can say, 'Well it's about the size of my fist... but the concepts that physicists think about don't have that property," said Marcel Just, a psychologist at Carnegie Mellon University and first author of the study.

To study exactly how physicists' brains work, Just and fellow researchers gave 10 Carnegie Mellon physics faculty members -- with differing specialties and language backgrounds -- a ledger of physics concepts. Then, they used fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) scans to examine the subjects' brain activity as the individuals went down the list.

In contrast to normal MRIs, which help with anatomical studies, functional MRIs can detect brain activity based on fluctuations in blood flow, glucose and oxygen.

Turns out, each physicist's brain organizes concepts within the field into two groups. The researchers were just left to figure out how to label each group.

"I looked at the list, and said well, 'What do concepts like potential energy, torque, acceleration, wavelength, frequency ... have in common? At the other end of the same scale, there are things like dark matter; duality; cosmology; multiverse," explained co-author Reinhard A. Schumacher, a particle physicist at Carnegie Mellon University.

The average person might lump Schumacher's descriptions on the latter end of the spectrum as mind-bending and inexplicable, but the most important connecting factor, he realized, is that they're immeasurable.

In the brain scans, these concepts didn't indicate activity of what he calls "extent," loosely referring to placing tangible restrictions on something.

Physicists' brains, the team concluded, automatically discern between abstract items, like quantum physics, and comprehensible, measurable items like velocity and frequency.

Basically, the stuff that provokes a sense of perplexity in us non-physicists doesn't elicit thoughts of "extent" for them. That's probably why they can think about those things with relative ease, whereas we begin worrying about scale.

Physicists' powers come from brain evolution

Speaking from experience, Schumacher says considering abstract physics ideas as a student can be very different from conceiving them as a longtime physicist.

"I think there's a sense that as physicists grow older, the concepts kind of crystallize in the mind, and you end up using them in a more efficient way," Schumacher said.

"The more you use these ideas, the more they become like old friends."

The brain scans also support that assertion. Not only did the team test faculty brain activity, they also looked at physics students' brains.

"In the old physicists who have been doing it for years," Schumacher said, "it's like the brain is more efficient. It doesn't have to light up as much, because you're going right for the thing right away."

Additionally, Just noted the professors "had more right hemisphere activation, suggesting that they had a greater number of sort of distantly associated concepts."

While a physics student might relate velocity to acceleration, it seems the professors were relating velocity to much more niche subjects activated by remote locations of the brain. Velocity of the universe's expansion, perhaps?
Accommodating new ideas isn't just for physicists

Just emphasizes how evolution of the brain to accommodate new, abstract ideas happens to all of us. Perhaps only theoretical physicists can easily comprehend duality or a multiverse, but people working in other fields, of course, ponder complex ideas of their own.

Chemists, for instance, have to visualize unseen orbital structures of atoms and bond configurations only drawn in textbooks. And the general public, over time, has adapted to inventions like iPhones and the cloud. Think about it. We can comprehend the cloud, which is pretty bizarre.

Imagine traveling back in time to the 1700s and explaining to someone the workings of an invisible data storage mine. They'd probably feel the way we do when we picture the quantum domain -- we'd be the "physicists" to them.

"We have this understanding now," explained Schumacher. "Even if you develop some new scientific concept, we can more or less predict what the brain is going to do with it."

For instance, during the exercise, when asked to think about oscillations, Just said some subject's brains activated sections relating to rhythmic activity. The organ had basically repurposed areas used in ancient times for general rhythms, like maybe music, to allow for modern physics concepts.

"The idea of sine waves is just a couple hundred years old," Just said. "But people have been looking at ripples on a pond forever."

Just also suggests it could become possible to actively help the brain repurpose itself, harnessing its ability to adapt. If we allow children to expand their minds through education by introducing abstract concepts sooner and more rigorously, he says, maybe one day they can readily imagine things the way scientists do.

Even further down the road, he says the findings could inform studies of mental health -- how does the brain's organizational and adaptation capabilities operate while in distress?

"I think it's the most fascinating question in the world," Just remarked. "'What is the essence of human brains? How can we make them healthier; think better?"

First published on Oct. 12, 2021 at 2:40 p.m. PT.

NASA astronaut accidentally takes picture of an airplane from space

An astronaut aboard the International Space Station has accidentally snapped an image of an airplane flying over Alberta, Canada.

Jak Connor@Jak_ConnorTT

MON, OCT 11 2021

The International Space Station (ISS) is an incredible vantage point to observe Earth, and sometimes astronauts aboard the ISS take images of the surface.

The ISS is essentially a floating laboratory, and due to its altitude, it's quite useful at spotting things down on Earth's surface. Recently, ISS astronaut Thomas Pesquet snapped an image of a "very rare" glow that was happening above Europe, more on that story here. Now, fellow ISS astronaut Megan McArthur has snapped a picture of Earth's surface, and to her surprise, she was able to spot an airplane soaring through the skies over Alberta, Canada.

Megan McArthur

@Astro_Megan

I don’t know why, but it made me laugh out loud to realize I was spotting an airplane in flight while taking photos over Alberta, Canada today. I guess it was nice to see evidence of other humans moving around Planet Earth. Where ya headed, friends?

3:34 PM · Oct 9, 2021·Twitter Web App

695

Retweets

76

Quote Tweets

5,415

Likes

McArthur posted the awesome image to her personal Twitter account, where she said that she "laughed out loud" when she spotted the airplane. Due to the ISS's altitude of 253 miles, astronauts aboard the floating laboratory rarely see any human activity on the surface, so it's quite an event when they do. According to Twitter users who used McArthur's timestamp and location from the image, the flight was Atlas Air 5Y8052/GTI8052 that was going from Anchorage, Alaska to Miami, Florida.

Read more: https://www.tweaktown.com/news/82095/nasa-astronaut-accidentally-takes-picture-of-an-airplane-from-space/index.html

 

Quarks and antiquarks at high momentum shake the foundations of visible matter

by American Physical Society

Artistic rendering of quarks in deuterium. Credit: Ran Shneor

Two independent studies have illuminated unexpected substructures in the fundamental components of all matter. Preliminary results using a novel tagging method could explain the origin of the longstanding nuclear paradox known as the EMC effect. Meanwhile, authors will share next steps after the recent observation of asymmetrical antimatter in the proton.

Both groups will discuss their experiments at DOE's Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility and Fermilab during the 2021 Fall Meeting of the APS Division of Nuclear Physics.

One study presents new evidence on the EMC effect, identified nearly 40 years ago when researchers at CERN discovered something surprising: Protons and neutrons bound in an atomic nucleus can change their internal makeup of quarks and gluons. But why such modifications arise, and how to predict them, remains unknown.

For the first time, scientists have measured the EMC effect by tagging spectator neutrons, taking a major step toward solving the mystery.

"We present results from a new transformative measurement of a novel observable that provides direct insight into the origin of the EMC effect," said Tyler T. Kutz, a postdoctoral researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Zuckerman Postdoctoral Scholar at Tel Aviv University, who will reveal the findings at the meeting.

Inside the Backward Angle Neutron Detector (BAND) at Jefferson Lab, tagged spectator neutrons "split" the nuclear wave function into different sections. This process maps how momentum and density affect the structure of bound nucleons.

The team uncovered sizable, unpredicted effects. Preliminary observations offer direct evidence that the EMC effect is connected with nucleon fluctuations of high local density and high momentum.

"The results have major implications for our understanding of the QCD structure of visible matter," said Efrain Segarra, a graduate student at MIT working on the experiment. The research could shed light on the nature of confinement, strong interactions, and the fundamental composition of matter.

A team from Fermilab found evidence that antimatter asymmetry also plays a crucial role in nucleon properties—a landmark observation published earlier this year in Nature. New analysis indicates that in the most extreme case, a single antiquark can be responsible for almost half the momentum of a proton.

"This surprising result clearly shows that even at high momentum fractions, antimatter is an important part of the proton," said Shivangi Prasad, a researcher at Argonne National Laboratory. "It demonstrates the importance of nonperturbative approaches to the structure of the basic building block of matter, the proton."

Prasad will discuss the SeaQuest experiment that found more "down" antiquarks than "up" antiquarks within the proton. She will also share preliminary research on sea-quark and gluon distributions.

"The SeaQuest Collaboration looked inside the proton by slamming a high-energy beam of protons into targets made of hydrogen (essentially protons) and deuterium (nuclei containing single protons and neutrons)," said Prasad.

"Within the proton, quarks and antiquarks are held together by extremely strong nuclear forces—so great that they can create antimatter-matter quark pairs out of empty space!" she explained. But the subatomic pairings only exist for a fleeting moment before they annihilate.

The antiquark results have renewed interest in several earlier explanations for antimatter asymmetry in the proton. Prasad plans to discuss future measurements that could test the proposed mechanisms.Examining the origins of proton spin

More information: J. Dove et al, The asymmetry of antimatter in the proton, Nature (2021). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-03282-z

Meeting: web.mit.edu/dnp2021/

Journal information: Nature 

Provided by American Physical Society 

This Is “The Center Of The Universe” – A Sound Anomaly Found In Tulsa


Optical illusions tend to get the lion's share when we talk about things that make us question reality, but acoustic anomalies can be equally trippy especially if they were not designed with the intention to confuse and mystify. This is the case for the "Center of the Universe", a peculiar location known as a sound anomaly.

It is located on a pedestrianized bridge in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It is marked by a spot on the floor by a concrete circle and surrounded by planters and benches that form a wider circle around it. And when you step in it, your voice is echoed back at you but louder, and noises from outside the circle are distorted.


A video by Youtube user Trueson Daugherty called "Guy discovers the Center of the Universe, Tulsa OK", shows the echo effect from inside the circle (as well as the nearby “Artificial Cloud” statue).

There is no official explanation for how the anomaly formed, but the most likely cause is the planters around it that reflect the sound waves creating the peculiar effect. There are other anomalies in the world such as The Mystery Spot of Lake George. There too a small round stone structure created some acoustic abnormalities.

Such weird sound displays are also found in circular buildings. The dome of St Paul Cathedral in London is known as a whispering gallery, where your hushed tones are delivered across the huge dome thanks to the reverberation of sound waves.

Similar structures are to be found in so many buildings both ancient and modern. From the Mayan city of Chichen Itza to Grand Central Station in New York.

Workers at Pathfinder publisher Paizo have announced the formation of the United Paizo Workers union

Staff say they are “underpaid for their labor, required to live in one of the most expensive cities in the United States, and subjected to untenable crunch conditions on a regular basis”.


About Pathfinder 2E
Released: 2019
Players: 1-100

News by Chase Carter

Contributor

Published on 14 Oct, 2021

Over 30 Paizo staff members from several departments have signed a letter announcing the formation of the United Paio Workers union, in coordination with the Communication Workers of America. This effort is the first of its kind in both the tabletop RPG and board game industry.

The letter states that Paizo workers have been organizing for some time but were spurred to act by September firing of customer service and community manager Sara Marie and what they call the sudden departure of customer service representative Diego Valdez and several others in the recent past. Many former and current employees, as well as freelancers and contract workers, took the opportunity to share stories of abuse, harassment, mistreatment and hostile management.

“These events, as well as internal conversations among Paizo workers, have uncovered a pattern of inconsistent hiring practices, pay inequity across the company, allegations of verbal abuse from executives and management, and allegations of harassment ignored or covered up by those at the top,” the letter said. “These findings have further galvanized the need for clearer policies and stronger employee protections to ensure that Paizo staff can feel secure in their employment.”

The letter goes on to say Paizo’s workers are “Paizo’s workers are underpaid for their labor, required to live in one of the most expensive cities in the United States, and subjected to untenable crunch conditions on a regular basis.”

The United Paizo Workers will be asking Paizo management to voluntarily recognise their union and open good-faith negotiations for better working conditions and stronger worker protections. The letter ends with a request for the tabletop community to lend their voice to this push.

“Changes have been promised, internally and externally, by the executive team. However, the only way to ensure that all workers’ voices are heard is collective action. It is in this spirit that the workers of Paizo have united to push for real changes at the company. The UPW is committed to advocating on behalf of all staffers, and invites all eligible Paizo employees to join in the push for better, more sustainable working conditions.”

Paizo is the publisher of two popular tabletop RPGs, Pathfinder and Starfinder, and is considered second only to Dungeons & Dragons publisher Wizards of the Coast. The company publishes several books and supplements each year and distributes them to more than 36 countries, along with maintaining a long-running living campaign through its official Pathfinder Society program.

Dicebreaker has reached out to Paizo and the United Paizo Workers for comment and will update this story as more information becomes available.

Ecological civilisation’: an empty slogan or will China act on the environment?

Xi Jinping’s vision for a greener future was showcased at the UN biodiversity summit in Kunming this week, but what does it mean for China and the world?

China's President Xi Jinping opens the UN biodiversity conference (Cop15) in Kunming. Ecological harmony is one principle of ‘Xi Jinping Thought’. 

Photograph: AFP/Getty

The age of extinction is supported by


Patrick Greenfield and Vincent Ni
Sat 16 Oct 2021 

This week, China took charge of hosting a major UN environmental conference for the first time, at the opening of Cop15 in Kunming. The world’s biggest greenhouse gas emitter and largest consumer of natural resources might seem a strange choice to host talks to stop the destruction of ecosystems and mass extinctions of wildlife, but the conference marks a tipping point in China’s development and an international debut for “ecological civilisation”, a little-known phrase outside its borders with big implications for the planet.

Amid uncertainty around whether President Xi Jinping will attend critical climate talks at Cop26 in Glasgow, the environmental slogan is at the heart of a potential misunderstanding between China and the west. Some commentators have been quick to suggest that Xi’s reported absence is proof that China has reverted to type, an example of the world leaders that “talk but don’t do” who have so irritated the Queen. But others point out that Xi, who has not left China since last year – he did not attend the UN general assembly in New York – and did not even travel to Kunming for the Cop15 summit that China was hosting this week, has been clear about his guiding principles on the environment.

“We shall take the development of an ecological civilisation as our guide to coordinate the relationship between man and nature,” Xi said in his keynote speech at the largely ceremonial opening of Cop15 in the southern province of Yunnan on Tuesday, where he announced a $233m (£170m) fund to protect biodiversity in developing countries. Governments are expected to reach a Paris-style UN agreement for nature during phase two of the summit next year by agreeing targets on reducing pollution, halting the spread of invasive species and increasing protected areas.

Residential tower blocks in Beijing. China’s rapid economic growth in recent decades has come at a great cost to nature.

 Photograph: Greg Baker/AFP/Getty

Xi emphasised the importance of living within planetary boundaries and building a green, low-carbon circular economy while solving problems created by industrialisation. Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, also alluded to an ecological civilisation in his remarks to delegates. Prince Charles has hinted at it too, paying tribute to the “intimate understanding of nature” that has underpinned Chinese civilisation for thousands of years.

But what does ecological civilisation mean for China and the world? Superficially, it is the slogan for Chinese efforts to embrace environmental sustainability and move on from four decades of rapid economic growth that have come at great cost to nature, say experts. Beijing’s 2060 carbon-neutrality target, commitment to reach peak emissions by 2030 and decision to end financing for coal-fired power stations overseas are part of it, they add, but it also covers traditional medicine, the wildlife trade, hydropower dams and farming methods. Ecological civilisation is an axiom of “Xi Jinping Thought”, the Chinese president’s political ideology, now enshrined alongside Mao Zedong Thought and Deng Xiaoping Theory in the Chinese Communist party’s constitution.

Books by Xi Jinping on sale at Cop15 this week. The president’s policies now rank alongside Mao Zedong Thought within the Chinese Communist party. 

Photograph: AFP/Getty

“It started from 2017 when Xi Jinping inserted ecological civilisation into the party charter,” says Dr Yu Jie, of the London-based thinktank Chatham House. “It shows the huge significance of a policy revolving around environmental protection. Sustainable development is one of the key policy areas he is focusing on in his term. In the past few years, ecological civilisation has mostly been about words but very little deeds on the international stage. But I think the announcement from China about abolishing funding for coal-fired plants [abroad] is part of a change that is beginning to emerge.”

The opening of the repeatedly delayed Cop15 has presented China with an opportunity to bring ecological civilisation to the world stage. Unlike the UN climate talks, the US is not a party to the convention on biological diversity and China can more easily set the agenda. A declaration backed by more than 100 environment ministers this week has Ecological Civilisation: Building a Shared Future for All Life on Earth emblazoned at the top, a sign that Beijing wants to make its mark on biodiversity and climate talks.

“Many western policy analysts believe that perhaps climate diplomacy will be one of the elements where the US and China could work together. But actually, I don’t think so,” Yu cautions. “China will play a much bigger role in international environmental governance. We will see a much stronger push from Beijing for their environmental agenda to be adopted by the rest of the world.”

In China, ecological civilisation is marked by phrases with awkward English translations such as “green mountains are gold mountains and silver mountains”, commonly cited by Xi, which is meant to highlight the importance of a healthy environment to economic development. In the past few years another phrase, “building a beautiful China”, also popped up in Chinese state media, suggesting a top-level push in a similar direction.

Shennongjia, a world heritage site in Hubei province. ‘Green mountains are gold mountains and silver mountains,’ is a slogan Xi uses to highlight the environment’s importance in economic development. 

Photograph: Sipa Asia/Rex/Shutterstock

Since Xi first used the phrase, a flurry of documents have been issued by central government, and reforms have been introduced. On Tuesday, Beijing announced it would establish China’s first national parks. State media say that the protected land area covers 89,000 sq miles (230,000 sq km), and nearly 30% of the main terrestrial wildlife species identified in China.

Phrases that feature ecological civilisation are everywhere now in Chinese media, says Ma Jun, a Beijing-based environmental campaigner and a former investigative journalist. Ma’s writing on pollution helped spark an environmental awakening in China in the early 2000s. His book, China’s Water Crisis – published in China in 1999 and in the west in 2004 – detailed the suffering of communities caused by pollution, which had largely been accepted as the price of economic development.

He said: “Chinese people are getting increasingly more affluent and they want a safe and sound environment. We are entering a new phase in human development. For the Industrial Revolution, man gained all this power to conquer and transform nature. But this new civilisation means that we need to try to live in harmony with nature. Mountains, rivers, forests, farmland, lakes, wetlands and grasslands: they are all part of a community. For an ecological civilisation, we must try to tackle the pollution of air, water and soil.”

As China grows richer, its citizens expect the environment they live in to be protected. It is also rewriting the social contract between the ruler and the ruled. Reports of water contamination and air pollution anger citizens, who then turn to social media to complain.

A residential block in Chengdu, Sichua. Although environmentalism looms larger in Chinese policy, the country’s coal and gas imports have surged. 

Photograph: AFP/Getty

But despite the prominence of the phrase in China, some suggest that ecological civilisation is a triumph of style over substance when it comes to the environment.

Experts say that the decisions China makes in the next decade will define the success of international agreements on the climate and nature. But amid a growing energy crisis, China coal and natural gas imports have surged. Nor, so far, has Beijing joined the growing movement of countries pledging to protect 30% of land and sea by 2030 (the “30x30” initiative) led by France, Costa Rica and the UK, which recently added India to its ranks.


We are running out of time to reach deal to save natural world, says UN talks chair

It is a dilemma for China’s policymakers. But whatever the final definition of ecological civilisation, Xi has made it the core of Beijing’s action on the environment.

“Ecological civilisation represents the development trend of human civilisation,” he said, as he concluded his speech on Tuesday. “Let us join hands and follow the philosophy of ecological civilisation and shoulder our responsibility for future generations.”

Find more age of extinction coverage here, and follow biodiversity reporters Phoebe Weston and Patrick Greenfield on Twitter for all the latest news and features

Hydrogen needs to be more than just hot air: Eco friendly gas is good for the planet - and could send your portfolio soaring

By ANNE ASHWORTH FOR THE DAILY MAIL
PUBLISHED: 15 October 2021 

At this month's Cop26 global climate change summit in Glasgow, delegates should be able to ride on a hydrogen-powered train.

The Hydroflex, retro-fitted by rolling stock company Porterbrook, embodies the aspiration that hydrogen fuel cells can be harnessed to power trains, trucks and ships, forms of transport for which batteries are not a suitable driving force.

Storage of energy produced by renewables such as solar and wind is another area in which hydrogen could be exploited.


On a roll: The Hydroflex, retro-fitted by rolling stock company Porterbrook, embodies the aspiration that hydrogen fuel cells can be harnessed to power trains, trucks and ships

But the major uses of the gas could be in industrial processes for which electricity cannot supply sufficient heat and in our homes, as a substitute for gas in boilers.

The International Energy Authority – which this week warned that the current fuel crisis has been exacerbated by a lack renewable energy spending – estimates that $1.2 trillion of investment in hydrogen will be required by 2030 if global net zero targets are to be met by 2050.

By this date, hydrogen technologies should be able to eliminate as much as one-tenth of carbon dioxide emissions.

These are high hopes for a gas which has disappointed its supporters before, leading to the witticism that 'hydrogen is the fuel of the future – and it always will be'.

The euphoria that surrounded hydrogen-related stocks late last year dissipated amid the realisation that returns were not assured.

But as Cop26 turns the spotlight on the urgency of reducing emissions, is this the moment to back the hydrogen revolution, particularly if you worry about the planet and can risk some cash in support of this cause? After all, even BP and Shell acknowledge that hydrogen will be a part of the solution.

Or is the energy crisis a reminder that our reliance on the output of BP, Shell and fossil fuels will last longer than we thought, suggesting that expectations for hydrogen may be too ambitious?

The barriers to success include the need to clean up the manufacturing of the gas, of which there is no natural source.

Alex Monk, co-manager of the Schroder Global Energy Transition fund, which has stakes in all types of green energy companies, comments: 'The potential for hydrogen in decarbonisation is super-exciting.

'But hydrogen has to be green. At present 99 per cent of the gas is 'black' or 'grey', in other words, it is made with fossil fuels, which isn't sustainable.'

The other methods are the combination of fossil fuels and carbon capture, which creates 'blue' hydrogen – and the much more expensive mix of renewables and the electrolyser process that gives us 'green' hydrogen.

However, Monk argues that the cost of green hydrogen should fall, if government policy and corporate demand come together.

The energy crisis, whose causes include soaring coal and gas prices, may even expedite the process as companies' bills mount.

David Harrison, manager of the Rathbone Greenbank Global Sustainability Fund, also emphasises that we are in the early stages of hydrogen development.


He says: 'Hydrogen will play a role in de-carbonisation, but will sit alongside other fuel sources such as wind and solar.'

Harrison contends that, although it is less virtuous, blue hydrogen could still deliver beneficial change, as carbon capture technology evolves.

Green hydrogen may be the preferable option, but its viability also depends on further research.

Yet there are considerable grounds for optimism, as Harrison points out: 'It's argued that green technology will not be cost-competitive.

But wind power was not competitive a decade ago, and today its cost is below that of fossil fuels in many countries.'

Concern for the environment, a readiness to take a risk on the achievement of the net zero targets and a wish to diversify mean that I am putting money into renewable energies through funds and trusts like Downing Renewables.

I am opting for this route since assessing individual clean energy companies requires an in-depth understanding of the complex technologies which I do not claim to possess.

If you are in the mood for an adventure, you can participate through ETFs (exchange-traded funds) such as L&G Hydrogen Economy or Vaneck Vectors Hydrogen Economy.

The share price of the Hydrogen One Capital trust is at an 11 per cent premium to the net value of its assets, underlining the conviction in some quarters that hydrogen will make the world better.

Besides being braced for thrills and spills, be prepared to hear endless poor jokes about the fate of the hydrogen-inflated Hindenburg airship which burst into flames in 1937. Maybe don't mention that hydrogen could also be powering some planes.

The fight against climate change goes beyond reducing CO2 emissions

The Secret Negotiator

An insider talks about efforts to cut methane, one of the most prevalent greenhouse gases but which has had little attention

Cows are one of the biggest producers of methane, but also have huge economic and cultural value in many countries.

 Photograph: Robin Utrecht/Rex/Shutterstock

Sat 16 Oct 2021

While global climate efforts have tended to focus on the fight against carbon dioxide, many other threats that attract less attention are just as dangerous to our planet.

Negotiations over these more granular issues take place away from the limelight. But the policies and agreements that emerge are some of the most vital steps in the fight against climate change.

Over the past few weeks, one of these issues our team has focused on has been methane reduction. Methane, one of the most prevalent greenhouse gases, has accounted for nearly a third of global heating since the pre-industrial era. Yet efforts to combat it have been half-hearted.

On Monday, my country chose to join the fight to reverse this trend. We became one of 24 new signatories to the Global Methane Pledge, initiated by the US this year. The pledge, which is outside the traditional UN framework on climate change negotiations, committed its signatories to a 30% cut in methane emissions by the end of this decade.

Methane is up to 80 times more powerful than carbon dioxide, though it breaks down faster. Making urgent and drastic cuts will therefore have an immediate impact on reducing global temperatures.

Among the negotiating teams of climate vulnerable countries such as mine, however, scepticism is still rife. While the goals of the pledge are admirable, actions are needed to convince those of us most at risk that these efforts will pay dividends.

The international community has a recent history of lagging behind on some of its most celebrated pledges. The $100bn annual target for climate finance for poor countries, for instance, from 10 Cops ago, has still not been reached. Progress on the Paris agreement’s key commitments is mostly lagging around the world.

The only way forward is for the developed world to take immediate action and lead by example. The developing world is more than willing to commit to action, but it is a significant challenge. In our country, as in many others, methane is the principal source of emissions. Cows, which produce methane, have enormous economic and cultural value to many of our nations. Furthermore, rapid urbanisation results in huge increases in waste production, which also releases methane.

The only way forward is for the developed world to take the lead, share technology, and provide financial assistance. Then we can decouple economic development from methane, and strive towards a cleaner future. While there are barriers to cutting emissions in the developing world, we are more than willing to work with our international partners to overcome them. The security of our people is at risk, after all.

While the past week has demonstrated the potential of international collaboration to produce positive outcomes, there is far more to be done. For one, only 33 countries have signed on to this pledge. Major emitters – including China, India and Russia, which are among the top methane emitters – cannot shy away. For another, not enough financial support has been pledged to achieve the targets.

The negotiations around the methane pledge have been similar to the overall negotiation process. The demands from the climate vulnerable ring out as clear as ever: urgent action, global collaboration, and increased financial support are the only routes to a stable future. As Cop26 looms, these demands must be heard, understood, and acted upon by the developed world.

Every week we’ll hear from negotiators from a developing country that is involved in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change negotiations and will be attending the Cop26 climate conference.

How to tackle decarbonization when fossil fuels are the backbone of the economy

© istock
BY MICHAEL LENOX AND BECKY DUFF, OPINION CONTRIBUTORS — 

10/14/21 

THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY CONTRIBUTORS ARE THEIR OWN AND NOT THE VIEW OF THE HILL

Forest fires in California. Drought in the Southwest. Hurricanes in the Gulf. Flooding in New Jersey. Recent months have been filled with the deadly impact of extreme weather. Weather that scientists tell us is increasingly driven by climate change. With each new calamity, calls increase to better prepare for a future of frequent deadly weather events. But while such adaptation is surely going to be needed, if we don’t mitigate the underlying problem, reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases, we will be speeding ahead into an uncertain world.

Calls to mitigate climate change and to reduce emissions to net-zero are nothing new. Scientists having been sounding the alarm for decades. Yet, decarbonization as it is called, can be overwhelming. Fossil fuels are the backbone of our global economy. They fuel our cars, power our electrical plants, heat our homes. They are a vital feedstock for farming and manufacturing. How can we possibly eliminate them?

To understand the scope of the problem, it is helpful to know where emissions occur. About one-quarter of global emissions come from electricity production, primarily coal and natural gas plants. One-fifth of emissions come from industrial processes like the production of steel, cement and petrochemicals. Roughly 15 percent come from the use of gasoline in automobiles. Extracting and refining of fossil fuels make up another 10 percent, including the release of methane during fracking. Another 5 percent come from heating buildings. About one-quarter of emissions come from agriculture, largely from the release of methane by livestock and the creation of nitrous oxide from fertilizers.

Each sector presents unique challenges. For some, there are reasons for hope. We are in the midst of a major technological disruption with the rise of battery-powered electric vehicles. The adoption rate of EVs is increasing, new entrants and established companies are rushing to offer models, and the cost of vehicles is decreasing. On its current trajectory, EVs may be cheaper than traditional cars by the end of the decade, if not sooner.

A similar miracle is occurring in renewable energy. The price of wind and solar power has seen steep declines over the past decade. In many places, wind and solar are on par with natural gas turbines. Yet, challenges remain. To deal with intermittency — the sun doesn’t always shine and the wind doesn’t always blow – we will need to invest in substantial storage capacity and smart grid infrastructure that will encourage distributed sources of electricity generation.

Other sectors present even greater challenges. There are numerous alternatives to petroleum-based plastics, yet the demand for such plastics is increasing globally. While there are efforts to create “green cement,” these technologies are not yet market viable at scale. Biotech start-ups are pursuing lab-grown “clean” meat, but whether consumers are willing and can afford such products remains to be seen.

Yet, while the challenges are daunting, there are reasons for optimism. Markets have proven incredibly effective at diffusing new technologies when the economics become favorable. Economic history is marked by frequent “gales of creative destruction” as observed by economist Joseph Schumpeter. Think how quickly new digital technologies like smartphones and video streaming have become part of our lives. Clean technologies are gaining traction. What they need is a little push (or a big push in some cases).

As a matter of policy, economists advocate for putting a price in carbon such as a carbon tax. Advice which politicians promptly ignore especially here in the United States. Yet, there are numerous levers available to help advance clean technologies. Many of these need not be politically charged. Clean technologies are growth industries, creating jobs and driving international competitiveness. For a country like the U.S., there are huge economic opportunities in being a clean tech leader.

We need a broad technology policy that recognizes the specific needs of each emitting sector. Automobiles may need only a nudge — investments in charging infrastructure, perhaps a subsidy to retire old cars early. Electric utilities need massive infrastructure investment in storage, smart grids and building out renewable capacity. Industrials, such as steel and cement, need spending on research and development to explore alternative production technologies. Agriculture will need a broad array of policies to incentivize more sustainable farming and to encourage consumers to demand less carbon-intensive foods.

Climate change can be overwhelming. But we can, and must, get to the task of designing a decarbonized future. A well-designed technology policy can help accelerate clean alternatives and create new jobs and economic opportunities. Let’s not despair and get to making change happen.

Michael Lenox is the Tayloe Murphy professor of business at the University of Virginia.

Becky Duff is a senior researcher for the Batten Institute at the University of Virginia.

Lenox and Duff are the authors of the forthcoming “The Decarbonization Imperative: Transforming the Global Economy by 2050” from Stanford University Press.