No. 14: Less gas and more gummy bears
Welcome new subscribers, happy to have you here and hope you enjoy this issue! I apologize for it being shorter, and not doing the section on Aldi as promised. It’s a work in progress and will likely be posted in the next issue. (Things have gotten busy!)
Check out…
‘tings newsletter - how to undo the mess we’ve put ourselves into, while calling out corporations and countries.
MEAT/LESS by Vox newsletter - how to eat less meat in just 5 segments!
The Weekly Planet newsletter - discovered through reading the last article, written by the same person that writes this!
Sign these emails (fill in your name and basic info, it already comes with an email draft and will be delivered to the correct recipient. If someone receives hundreds of these, they’ll be more likely to act on what the senders are asking) if interested:
Support the EPA’s efforts to restore clean water protections
Tell the EPA to clean up toxic coal ash
Electrify the Postal Service
We’re thinking about carbon credits all wrong - Popular Science
A better question may be: ‘What is the most effective way to spend our climate money right now?’ That answer may be decarbonizing the future, not offsetting the past.
On the edge of a Kansas field, workers toss bales of corn stalks and tassels into an anaerobic furnace. Rather than incinerate the waste, the lack of oxygen and high temperatures reduce it into two distinct substances: a gooey black oil (bio-oil) and a form of charcoal called biochar. Biochar returns to the fields to fertilize the next crop, while storing carbon in the soil. The bio-oil, also rich in carbon, is pumped into old salt caverns left behind by gas and oil extraction.
…The cost of solar power has fallen from $1,825 per Watt in the 1950s to just $2.94 per Watt today…
The EPA Just Quietly Got Stronger - The Atlantic
Thanks to the INflation Reduction Act, greenhouse gases (CO2, hydrofluorocarbons, methane, nitrous oxide, perfluorocarbons, and sulfur hexafluoride) are now recognized as form of air pollution, and the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) and the many subsidies will lower costs of regulating (things like air pollution, for example) allowing the EPA to pass more expansive rules!
Diet for a hotter climate: five plants that could help feed the world - The Guardian
Amaranth - fully edible, a complete protein with all nine essential amino acids, drought resistant
Fonio - drought resistant, able to grow in poor soil, low glycemic + gluten-free
Cowpeas - fully edible, drought resistant
Taro - being adapted to grow in the winter
Kernza - being adapted to produce large yields that can withstand climate change
Good climate news
Washington state to ban sales of new gas cars by 2035, following California - This is awesome news, and more states are likely to follow, as quoted below.
Massachusetts has also said it will follow California’s lead and more states are likely to. New York and Pennsylvania are among 17 states that have adopted some or all of California’s tailpipe emission standards, which are stricter than federal rules.
Bioplastic for wind turbine blades can be recycled into gummy bears - So instead of going to the landfill, we’d eat the blades (example of a circular economy!).
The thermoset composites making up the turbine blades of today cannot be recycled, and with a lifetime of around 25 years, some studies have suggested there'll be more than 40 millions tonnes of the material in landfill by 2050.
Dorgan and his team have developed a new resin for turbine blades that consists of glass fibers and both plant-derived and synthetic polymers. The material was fashioned into panels that were tested for strength and durability, with the team finding they met the performance requirements for use in turbines, or even automobiles.
Most impressive, however, was the recycling potential of the new resin. The panels could be dissolved and the glass fibers removed, enabling the material to be cast into new products. The team mixed it with different minerals to produce cultured stone that could be put to use as kitchen countertops, and say it could be mixed with other plastic resins to make things like laptop covers.
Also check out these two reels and the Weekly Earth Wins newsletter which comes out today for more! :)
Wrap up
Sorry that was it, hope it was kind of helpful for you this week! Also follow me on Twitter to keep up with me throughout the week!