A blog about nothing

Climate change is a time war. It's main opponent is the fossil industry 'extinction machine' but still pretty handy in some applications where there are no affordable green alternatives during the 'Just green transition' ATM. This can change! So, how much time left do we have to build a 'Fossil Free Civilization'? What could it look like? How much will it cost? Who will pay for it?

Here's some discussion points

      -fossil fuel is the main source of C pollution warming the Earth's climate system leading to the 6th Great      Mass Extinction event
    - most Countries are dependent on fossil as their main energy source
    - more Countries, mainly developing ones, are getting hooked on a fossil future which Australia is helping (We're the world's third largest fossil exporter). We need to help these Countries, including our own, to leapfrog fossil addiction and build renewable energy solutions

    - a climate Exodus is expected. A billion climate refugees for every 1 degree Celsius increase of average global atmospheric warming since 1850-1900. Are we ready to play our part?

    - https://www.unicef.org/wash/water-scarcity

How much do we value our future groundwater resource? The expanded water trigger is now in doubt with recently proposed watered down environmental laws...
    - renewable energy sources are everywhere
    - many renewable energy technologies are mature
    - many more renewable energy technologies are in the pipeline
    - many of these technologies will fail commercially
    - Gov subsidies are best spent on startups and not spent propping up existing fossil or renewable energy companies that would otherwise have been commercially uncompetitive. However, I'm not opposed to PPP's with renewable energy companies providing grid energy products

     - liquid fossil fuels and green fuels for transport should not be Gov subsidized or taxed. Let the market decide for a level playing field for logistics which is disruptive but could heal the divisions. Who knows, maybe better electrified alternatives will be found?

- domestic fossil fuel production shouldn't be subsidised...if the fossil Corporations need our money, they should be out of the game
    - large tax increases on domestic fossil fuel production could subsidise manufacturing for and building of green housing (an economic CPU), with many materials built from biochar feedstock

  - value adding the 'critical' mineral and plant (hemp, bamboo, macroalgae (kelp), microalgae and acacias) industries could be a manufacturing and economic winner, especially for green housing but also for food and nutrition products

    - A CO2 import and export industry proposed by AEP with ALP interest is the most ridiculous and unsustainable idea I have ever heard (CCS doesn't work, CO2 can be converted to or added to other products and materials, CO2 aquifer storage acidifies groundwater, logistics of moving CO2 around the world has a high C footprint)
    - time is of the essence to Research, Design, Build, Test, Develop, Commercialise renewable tech
    - Australia can be an energy thought leader and manufacturing model with supportive policy and effective incentives and disincentives

    - Green energy supply is only half the problem. The other half is energy demand implying that energy efficiency should also take a prominent role as well in the future of energy policy for pragmatic action. But, there are many excellent DIY options on the ground independent of policy, such as an energy efficient and unpowered 'Carbon negative' TLUD stove eg.Navigator stove 'Backpacker' or Kon-Tiki kiln eg.KTE that both produce biochar -> a 'critical' material and feedstock for other C based materials
    - trade imbalance is here aka we import more than we export
    - economic complexity/diversity is immature
    - The Trans-Pacific Partnership will increase imports and increase the chance of Gov litigation (ISDS clauses) if we block imports and affect Corporate bottom lines BUT there could be some advantages if we fire up manufacturing BUT it would need to be top tier because the Oz cost of labour can't compete with most of Asia
    - the space industry needs a lot more moula if we want to take that top tier advantage but sustainable solutions need to be built from the grassroots and up too
    - the fun stuff...the apptech and greentech that has, is and could be deployed

There's definitely options which may be inconvenient for some parties. What more can I say? The smartphone revolution has increased transparency across the board. Anyone worth their salt knows Carbon neutrality is political fantasy (though initally galvanised some climate action after Paris) given how much C has been released into the atmosphere by three consecutive Industrial Revolutions. C removal is now becoming the main agenda with new CRM operations popping up all around the world. Maybe Industry 4.0 can get it right for a 'fossil free Civilisation' but there's a lot more to it than just industry. Every energy transaction counts.

In 1989, H.T.Odum, an American ecologist, described humans as playing a central role on the Earth and that the "human is the biosphere's programmatic and pragmatic information processor for maximum performance". 

Go figure...