“The most notoriously wrong modern prophet of Malthusian doom is Stanford biologist Paul Ehrlich. My public crusade against Malthusian stupidity began with my 1990 Forbes article, “Doomsday Rescheduled,” in which I reviewed Paul and Anne Ehrlich’s book The Population Explosion.
“One thing seems safe to predict: starvation and epidemic disease will raise death rates over most of the planet,” they asserted in the book. I pointed out that this was a follow-up to Paul Ehrlich’s failed prediction made 22 years earlier in his 1968 The Population Bomb, “The battle to feed all of humanity is over. In the 1970s the world will undergo famines—hundreds of millions of people are going to starve to death in spite of any crash programs embarked on now.
At this late date nothing can prevent a substantial increase in the world death rate.”
Sun-harvesting solar panels function better when they’re not too hot. But luckily researchers have now discovered precisely how to cool them down.
Building solar panels at a specific height above crops can reduce surface temperatures by up to 10 °C, compared to traditional panels constructed over bare ground, they’ve found.
The results, published in the journal Applied Energy, are the latest contribution to a growing body of research on agrivoltaics: a farming method that aims to maximize land use by pairing solar panels with cropland, thus minimizing competition between energy production and food.
We already know that agrivoltaics can increase land-use efficiency, produce plenty of electricity on minimal land, and may also improve crop yields by shielding plants from heat and wind.
Acts such as bombing hospitals and refugees are obviously war crimes. But simply invading a sovereign neighbor just to assuage Putin’s overweening sense of inadequacy is a crime against the international order, according to former U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
There’s no law against such aggression for the International Criminal Court to prosecute, thanks to the obstruction of — you’ll never believe this — Russia.
But most nations outlaw it, and US President Joe Biden should push for a special tribunal to hold Putin and his henchmen accountable.
One of the worst examples of Russia’s criminal disregard for human life is its bombing of a maternity hospital in Mariupol.
Even when maternity hospitals aren’t being bombed, babies and pregnant women suffer more than most other people in war zones.
Somewhat less despicable, but still criminal, is taking innocent people hostage to use as bargaining chips. It’s an old Soviet tactic, and Stephen Carter writes Putin appears to have revived it by jailing American basketballer Brittney Griner.
These stories usually end with either Russia getting its way or the innocents doing hard time. Either outcome is criminal.
Putin’s big mistake
As Vladimir Putin turns himself into a dictator, the combination of conflict and sanctions is causing the biggest commodities shock in decades.
The London-based Economist argues that when Putin dreamed of restoring the glory of the Russian empire by invading Ukraine, he was also restoring the terror of Josef Stalin.
That is not only because he has unleashed the most violent act of unprovoked aggression in Europe since 1939, but also because at home he is resorting as never before to lies, violence and paranoia.
That is not only because he has unleashed the most violent act of unprovoked aggression in Europe since 1939, but also because at home he is resorting as never before to lies, violence and paranoia.
The Economist
The Economist describes Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as triggering the biggest commodity shock since 1973, and one of the worst disruptions to wheat supplies since the first world war.
Although commodity exchanges are already in chaos, ordinary folk have yet to feel the full effects of rising petrol bills, empty stomachs and political instability.
But make no mistake, those things are coming—and dramatically so if sanctions tighten further, and if Putin retaliates.
Western governments need to respond to the commodity threat as determinedly as to the senseless aggression of the 21st-century Stalin.
Western governments need to respond to the commodity threat as determinedly as to the senseless aggression of the 21st-century Stalin.
The Economist
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What Does Atlassian Billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes Really Want?
Mike Cannon-Brookes’ Grok Ventures and Brookfield, a Canadian asset management company have offered to take over Australia’s oldest listed company, AGL, which began life as Australian Gas & Light.
Cannon-Brookes styles himself as an eco-warrior, offering to shutter AGL’s remaining coal fired generating plants early.
He says that would be one of the single most important decarbonization steps on the planet.
Even if accepted at face value, that claim is somewhat overblown and frail reasoning for a multi-billion dollar investment.
So, what assets does AGL possess that Cannon-Brookes would value?
Atlassian Billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes
Failing AGL Trying To A Itself Into Two Companies
AGL is losing money and has been struggling for some years.
Management has been in turmoil, unable to successfully adapt to the changing generating and electricity distribution industry. Visionary executives have been ejected in favor of Liberal Party (and IPA)-backed business-as-usual political hacks. Political interference from the IPA think tank has driven continuous management changes, seriously damaging the market’s assessments of the company’s reliability, long term vision and earnings potential.
AGL’s market capitalisation, has fallen to significantly less than AUD $5 Billion, well below its enterprise value which is north of $7 Billion. Investors, in other words don’t have confidence in the current management.
That means there are assets of $7 Billion up for grabs – at a price significantly less than $5 Billion. Cannon-Brookes could buy the company, shutter the coal fired generators and still be ahead of the game.
In desperation, the current management has been trying to split the company into two: AGL Australia and Accel Energy.
Grok Ventures – a $2 Billion Venture Fund
If successful, where would AGL (or AGL Australia and Accel Energy) fit in Cannon-Brookes’ investment fund, Grok Ventures?
Most of Grok’s investments have been in technology – Canva, CultureAmp, SpaceX, Who Gives A Crap, Bitcoin, Adelaide-based Fleet Space Technologies, and Spriggy.
But Grok has also taken a significant stake in a variety of renewable energy plays – right along the value chain. Among the largest is the investment in the $30 billion Sun Cable project to partially power Singapore from a solar farm in the Northern Territory.
Grok has also invested in home solar fintech Brighte, Sun Drive Solar, (a Sydney solar panel startup to provide solar panels to Sun Cable), Goterra a maggot-based waste management business, a meat replacement companies Fable Food Co. and Vow Food Co.
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Data from the European Union Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators shows which countries’ energy supply would be most at risk in the case of a Russian gas freeze. Among Europe’s major economies, Germany imports around half of its gas from Russia, while France only obtains a quarter of its supply from the country, according to the latest available data.
The biggest source of French gas was Norway, supplying 35 percent. Italy would also be among the most impacted at a 46 percent reliance on Russian gas.
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Millions of Australian workers say they dislike their boss largely because they believe their leaders struggle with soft skills such as emotional intelligence.
https://www.technologyreview.com/2023/07/05/1075865/eric-schmidt-ai-will-transform-science/ “Nevertheless, this is a profoundly optimistic moment. Previous paradigm shifts in science, like the emergence of the scientific process or big data, have been inwardly focused—making science more precise, accurate, and methodical. AI, meanwhile, is expansive, allowing us to combine information in novel ways and bring creativity and progress in the sciences to new… Read more: (no title)
Bono could pressure Western lenders to forgive debt back in the day. But he won’t have any say in Beijing. Beijing is proving to be much less generous than Bretton Woods system institutions and, as it is the dominant trade partner and investor in the majority of countries, what Beijing wants, it gets. The Chinese… Read more: China Holds Debtor Country Toes To The Fire
Max Boot in the Washington Post. “One of Vladimir Putin’s pseudo-justifications for his war of aggression was the supposed fear that Ukraine would join NATO. That was never likely (and still isn’t). But, as a result of his invasion, Finland just joined NATO, and Sweden should be close behind. Not only does Finland have Europe’s largest artillery… Read more: Putin’s Defeats Mount Up – As Do The Bodies
Robert Bailey: “The most notoriously wrong modern prophet of Malthusian doom is Stanford biologist Paul Ehrlich. My public crusade against Malthusian stupidity began with my 1990 Forbes article, “Doomsday Rescheduled,” in which I reviewed Paul and Anne Ehrlich’s book The Population Explosion. “One thing seems safe to predict: starvation and epidemic disease will raise death… Read more: Malthus Lite
– Over 40 hydrogen projects have been announced in Australia with a potential capacity of 7.0 MT H2/year by 2030, representing a third of total announced capacity.
– Australia has plans to build two of the largest green hydrogen projects in the world
– Japan aims to become a ‘hydrogen society by 2050, Australia well positioned to supply growing hydrogen demand
The interest in hydrogen as a future clean energy feedstock and carrier is snowballing as governments around the world are planning their deep decarbonization goals and strategies. As a result, the global demand for hydrogen is rising. The future growth in demand can be even more promising considering the downstream applications in power, industrial, and transport (including marine) sectors.
Australia has established itself as a top exporter of key commodities such as coal, iron ore, and natural gas to the major economies of the region – China, Japan, South Korea, and India. It is also among the few countries that are uniquely placed to produce hydrogen at scale.
But – Hydrogen production is also being pushed by coal interests who want to produce Blue Hydrogen – using coal.
In addition, Australia’s sizeable brown coal (lignite) reserves with carbon content as high as 60-70% could provide low-cost clean Hydrogen from coal gasification with carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) which can help kick-start the hydrogen export industry. Platts Australia Hydrogen price assessments for Victoria for lignite gasification with CCS were in the range of A$ 0.77-3.48/Kg for both with/without CAPEX considerations on Aug. 16. Although there are concerns around how clean such hydrogen can really be, given incremental energy needs/emission and upstream supply releases. Large-scale investments in clean technologies producing green hydrogen may follow as they mature and become economical over time.
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One big shift is that clean-energy innovation is higher on the agenda than ever. The world needs to get to zero carbon emissions by 2050. As I argue in the book I published this year, accomplishing that will require a green Industrial Revolution in which we decarbonize virtually the entire physical economy: how we make things, generate electricity, move around, grow food, and cool and heat buildings. The world already has some of the tools we’ll need to do that, but we need a huge number of new inventions too.
The climate conversation has shifted dramatically, and for the better.
Bill Gates
Bill Gates
So at an event like this, one way I measure progress is by the way people are thinking about what it’ll take to reach zero emissions. Do they think we already have all the tools we need to get there? Or is there a nuanced view of the complexity of this problem, and the need for new, affordable clean technology that helps people in low- and middle-income countries raise their standard of living without making climate change worse?
Six years ago, there were more people on the we-have-what-we-need side than on the innovation side. This year, though, innovation was literally on center stage. One session of the World Leaders Summit, where I got to speak, was exclusively about developing and deploying clean technologies faster.
I also helped launch the Net Zero World Initiative, a commitment from the U.S. government to help other countries get to zero by providing funding and—even more important—access to experts throughout the government, including the top minds at America’s world-class national laboratories. These countries will get support with planning the transition to a green economy, piloting new technologies, working with investors, and more.
The second major shift is that the private sector is now playing a central role alongside governments and nonprofits. In Glasgow, I met with leaders in various industries that need to be part of the transition—including shipping, mining, and financial services—who had practical plans to decarbonize and to support innovation. I saw CEOs of international banks really engaging with these issues, whereas many of them wouldn’t even have shown up a few years ago. (It made me wish we could get the same kind of turnout and excitement for conferences on global health!)
I announced that three new partners—Citi, the IKEA Foundation, and State Farm—will be working with Breakthrough Energy Catalyst, a program designed to get the most promising climate technologies to scale much faster than would happen naturally. They’re joining the first round of seven partners we announced in September. It’s amazing to see how much momentum Catalyst has generated in just a few months.
I was also honored to join President Biden and his climate envoy, John Kerry, to announce that Breakthrough Energy will be the primary implementation partner for the First Movers Coalition. It’s a new initiative from the U.S. State Department and the World Economic Forum that will boost demand for emerging climate solutions in some of the sectors where it’ll be especially hard to eliminate emissions: aviation, concrete and steel production, shipping, and more.
The third shift I’m seeing is that there’s even more visibility for climate adaptation. The worst tragedy of rising temperatures is that they will do the most harm to the people who have done the least to cause them. And if we don’t help people in low- and middle-income countries thrive despite the warming that is already under way, the world will lose the fight against extreme poverty.
So it was great to hear President Biden and other leaders repeatedly raising the importance of adaptation. I got to join the president, along with officials from the United Arab Emirates, to launch a program called Agricultural Innovation Mission for Climate. It’s designed to focus some of the world’s innovative IQ on ways to help the poorest people adapt, such as new varieties of crops that can withstand more droughts and floods. More than 30 other countries, as well as dozens of companies and nonprofits (including the Gates Foundation), are already supporting it.
As part of that effort, I joined a coalition of donors that pledged more than half a billion dollars to support the CGIAR’s work to advance climate-smart innovations for smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.
Some people look at the problems that still need to be solved and see the glass as half-empty. I don’t share that view, but this is what I would tell anyone who does: The glass is being filled up faster than ever. If we keep this up—if the world puts even more effort into innovations that reduce the cost of getting to zero and help the poorest people adapt to climate change—then we’ll be able to look back on this summit as an important milestone in avoiding a climate disaster.
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Investors pushed big miners to quit coal. They did, now its backfiring.
Bloomberg opinion writers often uncover trends others are choosing to ignore.
Here they show how the massive ‘disinvestment campaigns – so popular with environmental activists – are backfiring badly.
(Thomas Biesheuvel of Bloomberg)It was supposed to be a big win for climate activists: another of the most powerful mining companies had caved to investor demands that it stop digging up coal.
Instead, Anglo American Plc’s strategy reversal has become a case study for unintended consequences. Its exit has transformed mines that were scheduled for eventual closure into the engine room for a growth-hungry coal business.
And while it’s a particularly stark example, it’s not the only one. When rival BHP Group was struggling to sell an Australian colliery this year, the company surprised investors by applying to extend mining at the site by another two decades — an apparent attempt to sweeten its appeal to potential buyers.
Now, after years of lobbying blue-chip companies to stop mining the most-polluting fuel, there’s a growing unease among climate activists and some investors that the policy many of them championed could lead to more coal being produced for longer.
The politicians and the lobbyists are arguing furiously once more. Nuclear or renewables? We need to invest in more research and development! But, in reality, do we?
More R&D would be good, no question.
But, is it absolutely essential before we plop our bucks on the counter?
Look at the graph above – from America’s Grantham Foundation: Solar panel prices have continuously decreased over the last decade. We all knew that.
Wind energy costs have continuously declined, but not as fast.
The real kicker is that energy storage costs (batteries to you and me.) have decreased fastest of all!
Energy storage at home, in businesses, industry and at grid level is now an economic proposition.
Investing in renewables is no longer a warm fuzzy option – it is a fast evolving profit opportunity.
Billion dollar markets are emerging as innovation drives the creation of ever more companies in new materials, bio-engineering and the life sciences.
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As farmers install ever more solar panels, getting the most out of the available land becomes critical.
Rather than displacing crops, solar panels can be integrated with them, improving growing characteristics.
But designing the right mix of panels and crops isn’t easy.
Axial Structural, a racking systems manufacturer based in Spain, has announced the launch of the Agritracker, a solar tracker designed specifically for agrivoltaics.
The Agritracker provides easy optimization of periods of light and shade to balance optimal growth for different crop types while maximizing electricity production.
Just revealed today, the BMW CE 02 concept is designed as an urban electric motorbike that falls somewhere between an electric scooter and electric motorcycle.
This isn’t just some slow, urban 28 mph (45 km/h) bike though. It’s actually fast enough for anything an urban rider can throw at it, featuring a top speed of 56 mph (90 km/h).
It also touts decent range for an urban ride at 56 miles (90 km). Again, that’s probably more than enough for most city riding. And based on how comfortable that seat looks, I imagine the bike will be used for mostly short city hops anyways.
A Tesla battery at Victoria’s ‘Big Battery’ site near Geelong burst into flames last week – the latest in a string of battery fires that have plagued major Tesla battery installations.
Burn baby burn
Operated by French renewable energy company Neoen, the big battery site was disconnected from the grid and the fire was contained by the CFA .
No-one was hurt in the fire which began in the early testing phase and Neoen Australia’s managing director Louis de Sambucy said there would be no impact to the electricity supply.
The cause of the fire has yet to be determined.
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For 15 years China has been the largest creator of man made emissions.
Beijing talks Green but doesn’t walk the talk.
The current five year plan calls for a rapid expansion of the world’s largest concentration of coal fired power generating plants.
If that is achieved – and China has a track record of meeting its targets – it will be a catastrophe. Not just for China’s heavily polluted air, but for the global climate.
It’s time Beijing was confronted. The lunacy of it’s growth obsessions need to be highlighted. It cannot continue on this self destructive path.
Along with soaring emissions from coal fired electricity generation, coal fire steel production is increasing every year.
China dominates global steel production
Last year President Xi Jinping said China would be ‘carbon neutral’ by 2060.
Can that be done? Forty years is a long time and the climate is already changing, much faster than most expected.
For China to become carbon neutral some existing industries, like coal, would have to be closed down – almost entirely. Other industries, such as renewables and the trend toward greater electrification would have to be expanded dramtically.
China is the world’s largest producer and consumer of electricity, outpacing the United States.
Four fifths – 80%! – of China’s energy currently comes from fossil fuels. Moreover demand is climbing fast.
For China to become carbon neutral, 86% will have to come from renewables and other low or non carbon technologies. And the market is going to be more than double the current size!
On May 26, 2021, there were three events that surprised the oil and gas industry:
A Dutch court ordered Royal Dutch Shell to cut its own CO2 emissions and those of its suppliers and customers by 45% by the end of 2030 from 2019 levels.
Shareholders in Chevron surprised its board by voting for a resolution that the company should cut its emissions.
And, at Exxon-Mobil, a small shareholder group convinced a majority of investors to put at least two of its nominees onto the board – with a view to being more pro-active on climate change strategy, something Forbes likened to a “new David” taking on “one of the biggest Goliaths ever”
Monash Uni researchers reckon the costs of ‘green hydrogen’ – renewable energy stored in hydrogen – are falling fast.
So fast that they’ll reach economic targets by the end of the decade.
Green Hydrogen monetizes solar power
Australia has unlimited solar resources. What is slowing development of that fabulous resource is a lack of ways of selling the electricity – monetization.
Green Hydrogen – which can be shipped anywhere in the world – is a promising monetization path.
Korean scientists have developed a new mesh to remove salt from sea water.
The big problem with ‘sieving’ salt out of seawater is that the mesh becomes clogged and/or water logged.
Has to be replaced, so both impractical and slow. Korean scientists have designed a new nanotech material which they can make into a mesh. Removes more than 99% of the salt and, after 30 days wasn’t water logged and hadn’t dropped significantly in efficiency.
Study didn’t indicate what happened to the removed salts – but a huge potential step forward in reducing potable water costs. Large scale desalination costs could be reduced dramatically – a huge boon in arid and semi arid zones like Australia, the Arabian Peninsula, the US South West, North Africa.
Aussie Arts & Letters 
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