Tag Archives: economics

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The tipping point for climate change denial?

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While there are still some loud shrill voices denying the reality of climate change, Jamais Cascio thinks we may have finally reached the tipping point where such denialism is irredeemably exposed as obfuscation by those with vested interests – I sincerely hope he’s right.

That said, even advocates for environmental issues should be prepared to question the accepted dogmas; for example, a detailed study seems to indicate that the “eat local” philosophy may be misguided by the best of intentions, and that the long distance transportation of foodstuffs may actually have a smaller footprint than locally grown equivalents when other factors are introduced into the equation. [Brian Dunbar]

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The Great Ethanol Swindle

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cornVia PZ Myers: an article at Rolling Stone that looks at the sudden swing into favour of ethanol as an alternative fuel in the US … does the word ‘ subsidies’ ring any bells? There’s little doubt we need alternatives to crude oil derivatives, but we should probably be picking them on the merits of their environmental impact, rather than how much money they can make for shady business-persons … and how many votes they can garner in an election year. [Image by WayTru]

Edited for extra: the panic is over, we don’t need to switch to ethanol. A biotech start-up claims it will have created bacteria capable of making “petroleum-like fluids” within the next three to five years. Rather than voicing my opinion on the plausibility or practicality of such a solution, I’ll instead point out that Julian May posited that very idea in her 1988 novel, Intervention.

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Is it time the print media stopped printing?

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newspapersAn article on the Business Week website suggests that some of the bigger American newspapers should stop printing physical copies and withdraw to publishing solely on the web – maybe not right away, but within the next year or two. It’s hardly a new suggestion, but it’s gaining more weight as time goes by – the logistics and overheads of print media are making it a tricky business in which to make a profit, and we’re consuming more media online all the time. The UK’s Guardian already lets you download the latest editions in PDF form, to print or not as you choose. How long will it be before all periodical publications are electronic? [Print Is Dead]

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A Future For Organic Farming

323166029 7D432392Ba MOrganic farming is not just the way forward for wealthy suburbanites. A new study of studies estimates that if all world agriculture shifted to organic farming techniques the world would produce at the low end 2,641 calories per person per day, and at the high end 4,381. The current world agricultural output, including synthetic factory farming techniques, is estimated at 2,786 calories. Even more interesting is the fact that in developing countries small-scale, organic techniques may produce food more efficiently than synthetic alternatives. [kurzweil ai] [photo by Frankie Roberto]

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Sports venues as solar farms

Sometimes commercial interests can actually be beneficial to the environment. Let’s say you own a sports stadium: how do you monetize that huge piece of real estate in the hours when there’s no events being held in it? Why not imitate AT&T Park, home of the San Francisco Giants, and [beware pop-ups]cover the building with solar panels that will create nice clean energy you can sell back to the grid. That way, everyone’s a winner. [Engadget]