Micro, Macro and Me

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 ...

In this blog post, I'll try to visualize how much energy we handle in our everyday lives. It's not rocket science but it's important to be able to relate quantities of energy to ones everyday life. The SI unit for energy is 1 Joule. Lifting an apple of 100 grams one meter corresponds to one Joule. One kilowatt hour corresponds to 3,6 megajoules. Like a 1 kW heater running for one hour. Comparing One Day of Manual Work with Buying Energy An adult of good fitness can sustain some 50-150 watts when biking one hour. 100 watts for one hour corresponds to 0,1 kWh. The efficiency of human muscles is some 20% , so the input energy of 0,5 kWh will give an output mechanical energy/work of 0,1 kWh. Eight hours of manual work consumes four kWh of input and generate 0,8 kWh of mechanical work. If one would instead choose to work at an office for 8 hours, that person would be able to earn some 1300 SEK after taxes (140 USD or 130 EUR). That money will buy almost 83 liters of di...

This blog will be updated once a month with subjects that I think are relevant. Considering the last months events, the posts should be more frequent. The drought in Sweden continues, and a one-third reduction in food production is forecasted.  The rainfall in the southern parts are only a fraction of the normal levels.  Another consequence of the drought are forest fires are now estimated to have consumed 25 000 hectares of forests (MSB and the Coast Guard). Swedish firefighters are getting help from French, Polish, Portugese firefighters along with countless of volunteers. Still, the fires will probably keep burning for several weeks. This operation will exhaust the firefighters', require a lot of supplies and wear out the equipment. The ability of handling large-scale disasters will be reduced for the short-term future.  CONCLUSION:  The firefighters and volunteers need to revover for months before they will be able to save the day again. Hydro power is an im...

The last two months has been fantastic from a vacation/parental leave point of view. With temperatures in the range of 20-30 degrees Celsius, only a few cloudy days and almost no rain at all, it has been a great summer. However, I'm more and more concerned about the weather and the consequenses of the drought. According to SMHI Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute), the recent statistics for May and June indicates very dry and warm months. For May ,  the average temperature was 4-5 degrees above average and there was some 2,3 millimeters of rain (measured in Lund). June had some more rain, but only a fraction of the average. Temperatures in May in 2018, as a deviation from the average temperatures.  Rainfall in May in 2018, in percent of the average rainfall. The forecast indicates high temperatures and no rain at all. This summer will be a very dry one. In my hometown, I can see the consequences of the drought. The grass goes yellow and the soi...