hanrahan

cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/16613982

Coal demand set a record high in 2024, according to the International Energy Agency’s annual report published on Wednesday. Considering the commodity is the most important contributor to global warming, its consumption trends matter enormously for the fight against climate change. The report makes for a depressing reading: The planet is losing to our unquenchable demand for king coal. Forget all the slogans about consigning coal to history. We’re on a path to consigning the planet to history.

Took out the China bit as its just the industrial engine we've outsourced our dirtiest emissions too

Coal demand set a record high in 2024, according to the International Energy Agency’s annual report published on Wednesday. Considering the commodity is the most important contributor to global warming, its consumption trends matter enormously for the fight against climate change. The report makes for a depressing reading: The planet is losing to our unquenchable demand for king coal. Forget all the slogans about consigning coal to history. We’re on a path to consigning the planet to history.

Took out the China bit as its just the industrial engine we've outsourced our dirtiest emissions too

cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/16538477

We are in a terrible situation and going into a worse situation,” said Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada. “I don’t know if the bird flu will become a pandemic, but if it does, we are screwed.”

We are in a terrible situation and going into a worse situation,” said Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada. “I don’t know if the bird flu will become a pandemic, but if it does, we are screwed.”

Good news! Article is paywalled but

https://archive.md/CWwUB (archived link)

Three more EU member states — including the most populous, Germany — have joined the list of countries with “ultra-low” fertility rates, highlighting the extent of the region’s demographic challenges.

Official statistics show Germany’s birth rate fell to 1.35 children per woman in 2023, below the UN’s “ultra-low” threshold of 1.4 — characterising a scenario where falling birth rates become tough to reverse.

Estonia and Austria also passed under the 1.4 threshold, joining the nine EU countries — including Spain, Greece and Italy — that in 2022 had fertility rates below 1.4 children per woman.

But in their new estimates, published last week, they say those super tax concessions will now cost the government $59.5 billion in 2025-26, which is $9.4 billion more than they were forecasting in January.

Would be chealer just to ditch Super and pay pensions? Or remove many of the tax concessuons anyway. That horse has bolted though I guess.

Earlier this year, the economist Chris Richardson said our super system was already acting like "a reverse Robin Hood" because it was taking money from poorer Australians and giving it to the rich.

Ahhh

Around the world, people are being encouraged to travel by foot, bike or public transport rather than by car. The reasons are many and varied: to mitigate climate change, pollution, traffic congestion and infrastructure costs, and to improve health and wellbeing.

But in New Zealand, despite efforts by governments, councils and individuals, sustained increases in the use of alternative modes of transport remain elusive.

Spike in fossil fuel use a result of global gas crisis triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

This sub headline makes zero sense though, gas is a fossil fuel.

Well, that burns my coal :(

Wot? Why?

With vast amounts of space, intense sunshine and a leading role in solar power’s creation, Australia is an ideal candidate to take advantage of the solar revolution.

But that’s not been the case so far for large-scale solar. In 2023, Australia fell out of the top 10 countries for solar installations for the first time in three decades.

We’ve seen mega-projects struggle to get off the ground and have been unable to fully capitalise on our geographic advantage.

As is all too common in this space, large-scale solar power has been politicised, with the Nationals calling for renewables projects in regional areas to be scrapped.