Climate Change Brothers

We produce moderate based pocasts on subjects related to sensible solutions on climate change.

[Climate Change Brothers @Climate_Bros]

What would be the comparison in GHG emissions if a car manufacturer made the same model, where one was electric & the other gasoline and performed a GHG study on it? Volvo did such as study with their C40 model & concluded that the electric car does emit less GHGs overall.

[Climate Change Brothers @Climate_Bros]

With our new administration we are expecting for there to be more drilling for oil & gas and also mining activities. How will we be able to satisfy these activities while helping the environment stay clean and non-polluted?

[Climate Change Brothers @Climate_Bros]

What happens when pesticides get into oceans or other waterways? The climate change effect is worse because marine plants photosynthesize 10 times more efficiently, this bringing in more carbon dioxide. Organics from pesticides would cause eutrophication in waterways as well.

[Climate Change Brothers @Climate_Bros]

Which is better, nuclear fusion or fission? It really doesn't matter because we can use both. We should keep increasing our production of nuclear fission facilities while developing nuclear fusion. When we get nuclear fusion working we can have both until it is just fusion.

[Climate Change Brothers @Climate_Bros]

What is the viability of producing hydrogen from a nuclear plant? It could work out very well. Since nuclear plants don't shut down and electricity is continually made, during off peak times or in the middle of the night they could divert some of that electricity to make hydrogen

[Climate Change Brothers @Climate_Bros]

What needs and disadvantages take place with a 15 minute city? You definitely need the proper public transportation infrastructure. These areas cannot have food deserts, therefore local agriculture may be a factor. Owning a car may be difficult due to fees & other regulations.

[Climate Change Brothers @Climate_Bros]

What is the efficiency of data centers as far as saving on power? The power management systems themselves could be worked on. But most importantly is the cooling of the data centers. On average it takes from 30 to 40 % of power to cool them. This could greatly be improved upon.

[Climate Change Brothers @Climate_Bros]

What kind of changes should be made to upgrade our electrical grid? One area involves getting closer to a smart grid, where you have networked, distributed & smaller load power plants. There would be more of them and smaller but that would be the way to go.

[Climate Change Brothers @Climate_Bros]

What can be done about making clean hydrogen? Currently it is produced from natural gas that emits carbon dioxide during the process. Technologies such as biomass, nuclear and electrolysis all make hydrogen cleanly. However, electrolysis currently relies upon the grid.

[Climate Change Brothers @Climate_Bros]

We've talked about Earthwork structures that save on energy and last longer. There are several kinds that are made. These include adobe bricks, compressed earth blocks (CEB) that are sometimes reinforced and also rammed earth structures that are monolithic (wall like) in nature.

[Climate Change Brothers @Climate_Bros]

What kind of electrical storage systems are out there? We've mentioned a few already. One interesting type is the flywheel. It converts electrical energy to mechanical, and then mechanical back to electrical. So the energy is stored while it is spinning.

[Climate Change Brothers @Climate_Bros]

What's the smart way about approaching climate change policies? There's always comprimises. For those who don't believe we should have cattle, we can always do free range, rotational cattle. We can also produce alternative proteins from sources like algae.

[Climate Change Brothers @Climate_Bros]

What has happened with food waste in the past decades? We still dump it down the drain where the nutrients feed a lot of microbial life. We should do like we did with waste grease. It was collected in a trap, picked up and recycled. Similar things could be done with food waste.

[Climate Change Brothers @Climate_Bros]

What does corn ethanol have to do with climate change? It emits carbon dioxide through fermentation. However, refinery companies want to transport that CO2 underground through thousands of miles of pipeline just to earn $1.00 per gallon fuel credit under the 45Z tax credit.

[Climate Change Brothers @Climate_Bros]

Where do a lot of our climate change policies originate from? The EPA follows a lot of air quality standards that originate from California. So when legislation gets passed there, it eventually becomes part of US regulations a lot of the time & part of our climate change policy.

[Climate Change Brothers @Climate_Bros]

What's the advantages of having earth structure homes such as compressed earth block (CEB), adobe and rammed earth (RE)? They last for several hundred years which is at least 2x that of a regular home. They also save you 4-5 times on the energy costs of the home too.

[Climate Change Brothers @Climate_Bros]

Heat storage is an excellent method to store electrical power and use it later on. There are many ways to do this. Some materials have better thermal properties than others. One good system are insulated tanks with molten salts where heat is transferred from pipes with fluids.

[Climate Change Brothers @Climate_Bros]

What programs have we had regarding chemical spraying in the atmosphere to control climate? A patent back in the 90's called for using barium oxide and aluminum oxide to scatter radiation into space and remove the carbon dioxide. Are these even good chemicals to have out there?

[Climate Change Brothers @Climate_Bros]

The resiliency of the grid has performed worse when looking at the past two decades in regard to the amount of blackouts that happen to the average household. The percent increase is over 100 and the total number of hours for blackouts doubled. Peak power has increased too.

[Climate Change Brothers @Climate_Bros]

It's hard to control carbon emissions in order to help climate change. Getting rid of oil & gas or business activities isn't the answer. The world should get together in some way or fashion to reduce them. The current effort isn't working but maybe a circular economy would.