Rising Insurance Costs
A shareholder advocacy organization Investors for Paris Compliance is highlighting how property and casualty insurance companies are:
https://www.investorsforparis.com/insurance-climate-contradiction-exposed-in-new-report/?mc_cid=ab6355d23a&mc_eid=974f9ac839
Electric Plane For Flight Training
B.C.'s Sealand Flight first in Canada to use electric plane for flight training.
Sealand gets green light from Transport Canada for flight training.
Air Canada is buying 30 electric-hybrid planes and plans to use them for shorter regional flights in 2028. B.C.'s Helijet has also ordered an electric vertical takeoff and landing helicopter, and Harbour Air plans to start using electric seaplanes between Vancouver and Vancouver Island as early as 2025.
https://www.bchydro.com/news/conservation/2024/sealand-flies-electric.html?utm_source=connected&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=24-07&utm_content=plane
Improvements With Extracting Lithium From Liquids
As the electric vehicle market booms, the demand for lithium—the mineral required for lithium-ion batteries—has also soared. Global lithium production has more than tripled in the last decade. But current methods of extracting lithium from rock ores or brines are slow and come with high energy demands and environmental costs.
Researches have an improved method for extracting lithium from more dilute—and widespread—sources of the mineral, including seawater, groundwater, and "flowback water" left behind from fracking and offshore oil drilling.
Today, most lithium used in lithium batteries comes from two basic extraction processes. Lithium rock ores can be mined, smashed up with heavy machinery, and then treated with acid to isolate the lithium. Lithium brine pools, on the other hand, use massive amounts of water pumped to the earth's surface and then evaporated away — over the course of more than a year — to yield dried lithium.
[The researchers] approach isolates lithium based on its electrochemical properties, using crystal lattices of olivine iron phosphate.
https://phys.org/news/2024-06-method-optimizes-lithium-seawater-groundwater.html?mkt_tok=MTg4LVZEVS0zNjAAAAGUJqzMgC6zjKSpDHOHVWYcfcr22gOr1Hv25FnBWcmgjz-pYwJRFLWm7fjJFxJM10K0Pff6NE9Cqy14t5YPHDrKldxQyZENJm-fu-9BHDWQ9mT84wl3VngYtBk
Will Thermal Trapping Of Solar Heat Allow The Smelting Of Steel And Cooking Of Cement?
Up until now, thermal trapping had only shown that solar heat could be trapped up to 338 degrees Fahrenheit (170 degrees Celsius).
Swiss scientists are trapping ridiculously hot energy from the sun — over 1,832degrees Fahrenheit, or 1,000 degrees Celsius — by utilizing synthetic quartz.
Will this new method of thermal trapping transform the smelting and cement industries?
https://www.thecooldown.com/green-tech/solar-heat-smelting-industry-eth-zurich/?mkt_tok=MTg4LVZEVS0zNjAAAAGUJqzMgA6ZzJ6EQc8iDL_M-V1_ugQ-dP8hoWoEtKpJxlBnn2j2-I2hWgt9XWvsf8oM2O37GMdmpOFwkm4CQTKPWxD0BauZBoiFt9jWhJ7MCoY6H1mY7IEJxn0
Are EVs Really Better For The Climate?
I strongly urge you to watch this 12 minute video provided to us by Ann Duong.
This is a great video – from 1 year ago, largely reflecting upon a 2021 report. The information contained in the video is supported by sources.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vi7U6Cj_2aI
Are EVs Worse For The Environment?
Ann Duong provides this 14 minute video.
This is a great video – from 5 years ago. Even better, the information contained in the video is supported by sources and is presented by an engineer. Sadly, it is interrupted by a number of advertisements.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RhtiPefVzM
Which Pollutes More – EV Or Gas Vehicle?
Ann Duong provides this 14 minute video.
Note: 70,250,400 cars can be powered by the energy used to pump oil out of the ground in the US and offshore!!! not 19,500,000 in the video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oVrIHcdxjA
While I agree with the overall conclusions, and most of the magnitude - that gas vehicles emit way more pollution -, and appreciate a lot of the ‘facts’ provided, this video does not provide a balance of ‘facts’ about the pollution and loss of energy associated with the EV side of the equation. The making of electricity does pollute, and there are electricity losses associated with the transmission and use – sadly these omissions diminish the credibility of the (correct) conclusion that EVs pollute less.
Sankey Flowchart Explained
11 minute video provided by Ann Duong explains how Sankey charts help you understand how much energy is wasted.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVJkq4iu7bk
Transitioning from fossil energy to electric is easier than it seems. This is because electric technologies are much more efficient than fossil technologies. 2/3rds of the fossil energy that goes in to a process is wasted. This means we do not need to produce nearly as much energy to do the same work after we have transitioned to electric technologies.
Draft Quebec Bill Would Ban PHEVs
A draft regulation, if passed, will ban the sale of light-duty internal combustion and plug-in hybrid vehicles in Quebec as of 2035.
While Quebec first announced its intention to ban new ICE vehicle sales by 2035 in 2020, a draft regulation which would make this happen has only recently been prepublished and is open for public consultation until August 25th.
“Combustion vehicles of model year 2034 and previous model years already registered in Quebec before 2035 will be able to continue to circulate and be resold,”explains the ministry spokesperson. “A used vehicle of model year 2034 or previous years could also be imported.”
https://electricautonomy.ca/policy-regulations/2024-07-17/quebec-draft-regulation-ban-ice-vehicle-sales-2035/
Gas Stations Are In Decline
While 2/3rds of Canadian residences can already charge at home, and the number of publicly accessible charging stations are increasing in number, the number of gas stations are on the decline.
