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CadeJohnson

@ CadeJohnson @slrpnk.net

Posts
29
Comments
51
Joined
3 yr. ago

retired engineer, former sailor, off grid, gamer, in Puerto Rico. Moderating a little bit.

  • We might be closer to changing course on climate change than we realized

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  • We might be closer to changing course on climate change than we realized

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  • Tthis is perhaps good news, but it does not amount to a change of course, unfortunately. If we have passed peak emissions, it is still a long way from net-zero emissions. Like if you pass your peak rate of overspending your salary, but you are still continuing to go farther into debt. Even when you get to parity between salary and expenditures, you will STILL have the accumulated debt and in the case of CO2, that debt is wreaking ecosystem destruction. Do not cheer this news.

  • Microplastics found to enter agricultural land through wastewater

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  • There is a new process for treating wastewater sludge that destroys the microfibers, so that is good news at least. I think it may be expensive, of course. It is called "hydrothermal carbonization". Basically put the sludge in a giant pressure-cooker and the heat breaks the plastics into carbon and some water-soluble residual molecules which can go back to the start of the wastewater treatment plant to be biodegraded. But like others say, the main source in general is tires - not sure if they know whether tire microplastics are the main source in agricultural land though.

  • Nature Has Value. Could We Literally Invest in It?

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  • In economic terms, nature is often referred to as an "externality" - meaning, as you say, things which do not appear on corporate balance sheets - that are unvalued. We have collectively recognized that clean water in rivers is something valuable to society, and converted the externality of "use the river to carry away the pollution!" and "use the river water to cool the process plant" into actual costs: not by making investors put their money into riverine systems for future profit, but by requiring permits which restrict what can go into or come out of the river. We can, and sometimes do, manage the land in similar ways. I advocate for it, but of course I get a little anxious about the details if it comes to MY land!

    I spent a couple of years in Guna Yala, the indigenous-peoples' territory of northeastern Panama. The Guna people live in towns on islands just offshore of the coast, and they farm and hunt in the mainland forest. When a Guna family wants to grow crops, they go with a village chief to the forest area near the village and identify a piece of land that is suitable. The chief approves it and records the location, and the family has it for three years. They can cut trees, plow soil, plant whatever. After three years, they have to abandon it and nobody can use that land for three years.

    I feel very much that my land is not REALLY mine. I have stewardship. The people that had it in the recent past (20th century), did not treat it well and shame on them. But they are dead and gone, so they don't care I guess. I am treating it better and someone later will probably be glad to acquire it because of the great soil, healthy and perhaps valuable tropical hardwoods, and well-connected ecosystem. I'll be dead and gone so I won't care. It is IMMEDIATELY gratifying to live in this place and see it heal and prosper and that is all the return on investment I could ask. But I would at least say they should give me a break on property tax for land I restore to forest (even food forest). Maybe I will donate it to the Nature Conservancy some day, to lock in the gains.

  • No data? No problem! Undisclosed tinkering in Excel behind economics paper

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  • From the immortal Journal of Irreproducible Results, "The Data Enrichment Method": ". . .its principal shortcoming is that before the enrichment process can be started, some data must be collected. It is quite true that a great deal is done with very little information, but this should not blind one to the fact that the method still embodies the 'raw-data flaw'. The ultimate objective, complete freedom from the inconvenience and embarrassment of experimental results, still lies unattained before us."

  • Handcuffed and Executed – 30 Bodies Found in Northern Gaza School

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  • Hermit crabs are 'wearing' our plastic rubbish

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  • I note that only one of the photos accompanying the article features PLASTIC rubbish. curious

  • More Bad News For Fossil Fuels: Green Hydrogen Is Making Green Steel Happen

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  • The article mentions hydrogen from electrolysis of water, but I think a bigger source in the future could be steam reforming of biomass. That is, when you heat biomass (plant matter, sewage sludge, maybe even municipal garbage) to about 300C in steam, the organic matter breaks down into simple molecules like hydrogen, carbon monoxide (highly flammable!), methanol, elemental carbon (biochar) and miscellaneous others. Some of those molecules can be recovered for important chemical feedstock (since we won't have petroleum or natural gas as feedstocks anymore, right?), and the gas can be fuel.

    In the early days of natural gas use, towns would "reform" the methane (CH4) by reacting it with steam to make carbon monoxide (CO) and 3 molecules of H2 - a mixture known as "city gas". It is not new technology.

  • CO2 capture technologies @slrpnk.net
    CadeJohnson @slrpnk.net

    Method-neutral carbon removal certification needed

  • Satellite images show China made an apparent USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier target out in the desert

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  • gotta admit, that is a lot safer approach than trying some shit on the real thing

  • The fall of Firefox: Mozilla's once-popular web browser slides into irrelevance

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  • The statistic of low Firefox use is based on accessing US government websites. Could it be that there is significantly LESS government site access by the population of users that prefer Firefox? As a corollary I recently read that game companies observed significantly HIGHER bug reporting from Linux users on Steam, not because there were more Linux-related bugs, but simply because that set of users were more likely to initiate bug reports. Of course Firefox is not Linux and Steam is not the world, but a statistic from a relatively narrow segment of the internet should not be assumed representative of the whole.

  • Do It Yourself @beehaw.org
    CadeJohnson @slrpnk.net

    comfortable wooden seats

  • CO2 capture technologies @slrpnk.net
    CadeJohnson @slrpnk.net

    Europe is spending millions to trap carbon. Where will it go?

    www.politico.eu /article/europe-is-spending-millions-to-trap-carbon-where-will-it-go/
  • CO2 capture technologies @slrpnk.net
    CadeJohnson @slrpnk.net

    Deep sea carbon sequestration with seaweed?

    noc.ac.uk /news/can-seaweed-help-store-co2-ocean-floor

  • Western Philosophy vs Eastern Philosophy

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  • wrong, western philosophy is often based on dichotomies - something is either this or that, but it is more of an analytical tool (I am not nature despite that I am a part of nature). Eastern philosophies are often mystic, though there is western mysticism - that some aspects of existence are incomprehensible on a rational basis and therefore dichotomies are illusory. But such a perspective does not inherently make people better stewards of the environment - in fact they might conclude that their every action is "natural" by definition.

  • Former Mississippi House candidate charged after Satanic Temple display is destroyed at Iowa Capitol

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  • lmao

  • Most Americans want to electrify their homes — if they can keep their gas stoves

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  • In the US, stove burners are rated in the confusing units of "BTUs" which is actually a unit of energy, not power. When they say BTU, they mean BTU/hour. The highest-rated burners on a typical stove are about 10,000 Btu (per hour), but high-end stoves can get up to about 18000 - that is equivalent to about 5000 watts. My single-element induction top is only rated for about 1000 watts. So although it heats and cools rapidly, I suspect it is not up to the demands of wok cooking (unless one wants to cook only very small portions).

  • Most Americans want to electrify their homes — if they can keep their gas stoves

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  • not Chinese, but I cook a lot with a wok. I also have a single induction cooktop and surprisingly, the wok has enough iron to work with it while some old cheap conventional cookware did not. However, wok cooking needs to be hot all over the wok and not just in that little point where the wok is close enough to the induction coil.

    I have a conventional propane stove which I need to keep, because here in Puerto Rico the power system is quite unreliable (especially during a bad hurricane year). But the conventional stove burners are not really hot enough. With a 1/16 - inch drill bit I could increase one of the burners capacity substantially. I painted the stove knob red so people have some warning when they light that burner! It burns more gas, but wok cooking is really fast, so in the long run it is probably more efficient than lots of other cooking approaches.

    I would definitely consider a wok-shaped induction heater. Induction heating is quite remarkable.

  • We're receiving at least 40 cubic yards of wood chips today - AMA

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  • Have you tried your hand at biochar? I know composting the chips for mulch is high value in a farm operation, but a few tons of biochar can work like a permanent upgrade - improving the soil permanently with one addition - though ongoing permaculture operation continues. I am about to make a biochar cooker out of two steel barrels - inner fuel chamber and outer draft shell. It would probably be more effective with wood scraps than chips though - some air passages through the fuel.

    To test it out for myself, I made a miniature version documented at https://github.com/jcadej/TLUD-biochar-reactor (uses a gallon paint can for the fuel chamber. You could test it small and see how it does with wood chips. When I make my bigger version, I will add it to the github project. My rough idea is to cut one barrel down the side and squeeze it smaller and bolt it so it fits inside the other.

  • Nash equilibrium

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  • I'd hate to think modern society is based on a giant elaboration of poker, but I can't rule it out - it MIGHT not be the worst outcome, but a pseudo-equilibrium far from the best. Every young person knows something accessible in the past is now lost to them - not sure what it is, but there is a hole. And yet, the social track laid out is almost unavoidable.

    I traveled a good bit the past 20 years and I've experienced first-hand the really hard work and the immense gratification of simple farming. Nobody wants to live like that (at least so they think). Having done it, I can't even say I recommend it over what modern society seems to offer. But since the best option on offer is not a true equilibrium, as the climate is making abundantly clear, what is on offer may be illusory. An alternative equilibrium - tried and true - is worth considering when opportunity arises: subsistence farming. It is NOT simple or easy - don't wait until there is no other option.

  • CO2 capture technologies @slrpnk.net
    CadeJohnson @slrpnk.net

    OpenAir - This Is CDR Episode 88 - Cascade Climate

    lu.ma /ticdrEp88

  • Taylor Swift postpones Rio concert after fan dies amid heatwave

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  • I have heard this, and I can imagine it is true, but have you seen any analysis? There must be a large crew traveling and lots of equipment - transportation is a big user of petroleum in general -- for entertainment. Though they say the entertainment is good.

  • Hypothetical question - can a swimming pool be safely turned into a walipini/sunken greenhouse?

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  • Swimming pools are normally constructed empty. They were withstanding surrounding soil before they were filled, and concrete strength increases with age (for about 90 days, typically). On the other hand, a sunken structure like a pool that is roofed over, becomes a "confined space". Unlike a typical structure, heavier-than-air gases cannot escape from the pool. Such gases could originate from the drain system or flow from leakage outside the pool area. For examples, leaking propane or various gases from sewer lines in the vicinity. A sunken greenhouse would almost certainly be a building code violation for that reason. If you build it, ventilate it by means both active and passive and do not enter if you can't verify that ventilation is working.

  • What was it like when cosmic inflation occurred?

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  • the ultimate run-away train! No matter how impossibly big it is, it just grew infinitely bigger in the past second.

  • CO2 capture technologies @slrpnk.net
    CadeJohnson @slrpnk.net

    2024 Carbon Removal Challenge - student CDR innovation competition

  • CO2 capture technologies @slrpnk.net
    CadeJohnson @slrpnk.net

    Companies capture a lot of CO2. Most of it is going into new oil.

    www.washingtonpost.com /climate-environment/2023/10/25/enhanced-oil-recovery-carbon-capture/
  • CO2 capture technologies @slrpnk.net
    CadeJohnson @slrpnk.net

    Researchers argue that reducing greenhouse gas emissions is not enough to combat climate change

    phys.org /news/2023-11-greenhouse-gas-emissions-combat-climate.html
  • CO2 capture technologies @slrpnk.net
    CadeJohnson @slrpnk.net

    CDR is a giant industry in its infancy

    www.latitudemedia.com /news/carbon-removal-progress-2023
  • Offgrid living @slrpnk.net
    CadeJohnson @slrpnk.net

    Frogs in the water tanks

  • Do It Yourself @beehaw.org
    CadeJohnson @slrpnk.net

    Made a table

  • Do-It-Yourself, Repairs and Fixes @lemmy.ml
    CadeJohnson @slrpnk.net

    magnetohydrodynamics?

  • CO2 capture technologies @slrpnk.net
    CadeJohnson @slrpnk.net

    Right now, could you prepare a slice of toast with zero embodied carbon emissions?

  • CO2 capture technologies @slrpnk.net
    CadeJohnson @slrpnk.net

    How big will the CDR effort become?

    marginalcarbon.substack.com /p/how-much-carbon-will-we-need-to-remove
  • CO2 capture technologies @slrpnk.net
    CadeJohnson @slrpnk.net

    Is there a list of carbon sequestration projects?

  • Offgrid living @slrpnk.net
    CadeJohnson @slrpnk.net

    The featured house

  • CO2 capture technologies @slrpnk.net
    CadeJohnson @slrpnk.net

    Climate scientists: concept of net zero is a dangerous trap

    theconversation.com /climate-scientists-concept-of-net-zero-is-a-dangerous-trap-157368
  • Offgrid living @slrpnk.net
    CadeJohnson @slrpnk.net

    Please don't forget, there are other places than the US for living off-grid too.

    www.lawnstarter.com /blog/studies/best-and-worst-states-for-living-off-the-grid/
  • Offgrid living @slrpnk.net
    CadeJohnson @slrpnk.net

    very good battery price

    signaturesolar.com /eg4-lifepower4-lithium-battery-48v-100ah/
  • Offgrid living @slrpnk.net
    CadeJohnson @slrpnk.net

    Off grid power fun