Insights
16.12.20
a new measure of circular disorder
A group of British mathematicians at the Isaac Newton Institute tried to model circular plastic problems. They came up with a concept of "(non-thermodynamic) entropy" that could represent processes taking place (incineration, wear and tear, and even upcycling...).
We love this idea - if we look at the classis S=Q/T, one can say that resource efficiency proponents are focusing on the Q (reducing heat loss) and CE people are focusing on the S (preventing entropy increases).
4.11.20
crossing biodiversity threshholds
Pandemic era is here because we had crossed the threshold – turned too many wild areas into habitable land, and are exposed to a larger variety of wildlife. 1.7M viruses exist in mammals and birds – 850K could infect people. The IPBES report
1.11.20
See the answer and understand the question
Scientists are currently calling for preservation of 50% of earth land, in order to avoid biodiversity collapse (that's much more than the existing agreement of 15%). Scientists are also calling for 7% annual GHG reductions. If these are the needed measures, can you figure out how dire are the issues?
30.8.20
A report from Pew charitable and Systemiq shows that in tackling the plastic waste crisis, there's no time to lose. A delay of just 5 years would result in 80 million tonnes of plastic entering our oceans between now and 2040 - equivalent to 13,000 bottles per second for the next 20 years..
23.8.20
Last week I wrote about technological optimism. This week let's talk about the opposite – what we call "de-innovation" – getting rid of "innovation" that is not helping any more. Saul Griffith describes how a 70-80% reduction in GHG within the next 15 years is..
16.8.20
Technological optimism is a contested issue is the sustainability arena. While wonderful solutions exist, from the very simple ones like painting the blades of wind turbine black to reduce 70% of bird deaths, to Changing the catalysis of aluminum production..