Micro, Macro and Me

I've been busy with our next home - papers are signed and relocation will happen next spring. The impact for this blog will be a slight shift of focus on this blog. I'll still have some discussions about resources on a macro and micro scale but I'll also investigate how to approach a sustainable life in suburbia. I won't move far though. We'll move to a community between Lund and Malmö, 8 km from our current home. During the summer, I've helped out with reviewing some sources for a publication by Extinction Rebellion that is distributed to political leaders around Sweden. I have reached the conclusion that reducing my own emissions won't be enough to stop the ongoing global heating. I need to speak louder and I'm grateful for the opportunity to help XR with the publication. I'll elaborate more on my thoughts in the next blog post. Side note:  My current prediction is 2.3 tonnes of CO2e of personal consumption based emissions for 2019. To...

Summary : The idea behind offsetting carbon emissions is to pay someone else to reduce his/her emissions and to relate that reduction to ones own emissions. It can be a good thing - or a bad thing.  If the purpose is to keep polluting with a green-washed conscience, it is a bad thing.  If the purpose is to reduce your own pollution and help others to reduce theirs, it is a good thing. There are some ways to offset carbon as an individual. Some are credible and others seems to be scams and green-washing.  In this blog post, I'm trying to learn more about offsetting, when to use it and how to do it. Ester hoped that her younger cousin Grace would fall a sleep early this evening - in vain. Three days before the last year project in Chemistry was due and a "B" in STEM wasn't an option. Now, Grace was occupied with a jigsaw puzzle and Ester was able to focus on her project. The smell of kerosene from the lamp was a bit ironic - Ester's project was focusing...

30-second summary: We emitted more CO2e than ever in 2018.  Heat waves in Europe with higher temperatures than the disastrous heat wave in 2003.  Heat wave and severe water shortage in India that will worsen the coming years.  Heat waves are predicted results of global heating. The Strait of Hormuz is essential for oil supply. Anyone who controls it will control the world economy. US are deploying troops and amphibious assault ships to that region. Is that a threat or preparations for war against Iran? 660k Swedish Facebook users are opposing high petrol prices. The group has addressed an urban-rural conflict area, and might defer politicians from tackling global heating. When I started this blog, I wanted to avoid discussing current events and focus on slower and more profound changes in the world we live in and the lives we will be able to live. This blog post will be an exception and I will discuss some recent events. Oil - BP's Statistical Review of Global ...

20 Second Summary: Three out of five of the worlds largest economies (EU, Japan and India) have almost no oil reserves. China are currently importing most of its oil, and USA will need to import most of its oil very soon. The demand of oil is rising and the supply will eventually fall.  I expect price shocks  and shortage of oil and oil-related products. Price shocks for oil will not save the climate - there is enough of oil, natural gas and coal to reach 450 ppm and above.  Peak-oil is a second strong reason to stop wasting our resources and to stop heating our planet. Oil Reserves, Consumption and  Production  Recovery In this post, I will investigate the supply and demand of oil for different regions of the world. I'll start with listing the countries with the biggest  GDP, reserves, production and consumption respectively. GTOE is a billion tonnes of oil equivalents and MTOE is a million of oil equivalent. The five largest  economies ...

Here is an update on my New Years resolution. Using a spreadsheet that is inspired on Klimatkontot , I note my consumption of housing, travels, food and commodities on a weekly basis. I calculate relevant sums or averages of that consumption and I use that when updating Klimatkontot. For the February report, two months are facts and the rest is predictions. The blue rows are the past weeks and the green row is the current week.  The future weeks are estimated to the average of the blue weeks. For food, I've added the annual CO2e emissions per weekly portion. Red meat such as lamb and beef is very CO2e-intense. Replacing with other meat (or preferably vegetarian food) will reduce the emissions a lot.  I fill in the consumption weekly for three reasons: I need to know my actual consumption, without any happy numbers or green-washing. I need to understand what actions are efficient in order to reduce my global warming footprint. I need an immediate feedback of my b...

A couple of months ago, I discussed how much land each of us would have, if the global land mass was distributed evenly. Now, I'll look at some important natural resources. Return of Investment When discussing resources and reserves, it is very important to distinguish them. I'll illustrate with an apple tree that provide me with apples to eat. The first apples that I pick are the big, juicy ones between one and two meters above the ground. Why those apples and not smaller, half rotten apples that lie on the ground or big apples five meters above the ground? The answer is Return of Investment . The effort (investment) of picking easily accessible, big and juicy apples is low and the returns are high. When all the low-hanging fruit is taken, I'll pick the slightly smaller and non-perfect apples. The returns are diminishing and thus the Return of Investment falls. Perhaps, I decide to go for the high-altitude apples, taking a risk of falling, buying a ladder or asking ...

For 2019, my New Year's resolution will be to monitor my personal CO2e emissions and meet the 2030 target from IPCC . To reach the 1.5 degree target, the global emissions must be 45% lower, compared with 2010. By 2050, the emissions must be net-zero. Average Footprint The numbers for the average footprint are a bit confusing and some clarification is needed. A person (in Sweden for this example) emitted almost 11 tonnes of CO2e  in 2010. Almost 4,5 tonnes are produced in  Sweden and more than six tonnes abroad. The abroad emissions include imports, such as Brazilian beef, American/Chinese Iphones and holiday travels abroad. Most of the emissions from a person is from his/her personal consumption (7 tonnes 2010), but a fraction is from hospitals, police, schools, care of children and elderly (4 tonnes). I'll use the Swedish web site klimatkontot to calculate my personal emissions. Step 1: Measure Current Footprint. The first step is to understand how much I emitt...

Vi vet vad som händer. Vi vet vad som vi behöver göra. Men vi fortsätter att göra det vi gjort innan. Vi köper den där biffen, bokar den där resan, tar den där bilen till gymmet och köper den där paddan. Vissa av oss får dåligt samvete men vi kan liksom inte låta bli. På ett sätt är vårt beteende rationellt. Vi lever i en tid med ett unikt materiellt välstånd. För några månadslöner kan vanliga människor nå andra sidan jorden, snabbt och säkert. Vem vill vara en "sucker" som låter bli när grannen ändå gör det. Tänk Fångarnas Dilemma och Allmänningens Tragedi. Ska vi begränsa skadorna av den globala uppvärmningen räcker det inte med att vädja till våra samveten. Vi måste djupare i våra själar. Till plånboken. Ett system som får människor att minska sitt koldioxidavtryck måste: Tas fram inom befintliga system (läs: Skatteverket) Tas fram snabbt (Läs: innan januari 2020) - Internationella avtal kommer ta för lång tid Vara enkelt och konkret Uppmuntra låga utsläpp ...