The Climate Change Discussion Thread

[lio45]

If it's to build dense urban housing that will, with appropriate maintenance, last "forever", I say either is environmentally friendly.

[lio45]

Originally Posted by rofina

Correct, a lot of it is third growth, its been logged twice already.

That's what I thought. Thanks for the answer!

[O-tacular]

There's a danger in focusing solely on emissions as the be-all-end-all metric for environmental health it seems. If we reduced emissions but obliterated all biodiversity through lumber farming techniques then that's still a loss.

[Hackslack]

When the total fleet of cars in Canada are electric, how much will electrical generation need to be increased to support the 35 million + cars that will be registered?

[DoubleK]

Originally Posted by lio45

The forest diversity in most of the interior of BC seemed pretty low to me (unlike the rainforest on the drive to Tofino for example), is that because most of what's visible from roads has been logged already and reforested with the same softwoods?

Further to this point, the Boreal forest is low both in terms of biodiversity and species richness. It's largely dominated by uniform stands of fire origin conifer trees (pine, spruce and fir). Most of this can be attributed to the nutrient poor soils that predominate these forests.

When you move to places like Ontario and points east that are in the Great Lakes/St Lawrence forest type, you get much more biodiversity and a tendency for more broad leaf species (maples, ashes, oaks), but also some huge White Pine trees. This type is my personal fave.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by lio45

If it's to build dense urban housing that will, with appropriate maintenance, last "forever", I say either is environmentally friendly.

Trees literally pull CO2 out of the air. So if you cut them down over and over and build indefinitely-lasting urban housing from them you're doing carbon sequestration.

I don't think a lot of old growth is being logged in BC today. It was mostly cut down decades ago before people cared about such things.

(What is happening in BC is a pipeline is being built against the wishes of the people who live around here. Last oil spill reported in BC was May 27, 2018.)

[lio45]

Originally Posted by someone123

Trees literally pull CO2 out of the air. So if you cut them down over and over and build indefinitely-lasting urban housing from them you're doing carbon sequestration.

Bitcoin: mostly powered by thermal plants; uses more power than Argentina. Bad!

Empty condos (in wood-framed buildings) used strictly for investment/speculative purposes: Carbon sequestration

[someone123]

Originally Posted by lio45

Empty condos (in wood-framed buildings) used strictly for investment/speculative purposes: Carbon sequestration

I have always said it's great if we sell empty condos as bitcoins to investors. We should just make sure it doesn't interfere with the lives of the people who actually live/commute around here, and tax them appropriately (no 0% capital gains, probably no permanent land ownership as bitcoins either). Maybe BC should set up a "special economic zone".

It's possible the party's over by now, given the situation in China and around the world, even though as we all know none of that is in any way connected to Vancouver real estate prices and it was just completely random that say the Huawei lady happened to own a double digit millions portfolio of property here and had a complicated ownership/PR scheme.

[Truenorth00]

Originally Posted by Hackslack

When the total fleet of cars in Canada are electric, how much will electrical generation need to be increased to support the 35 million + cars that will be registered?

Analysis from the EU says decarbonizing transport, buildings and industry by 2050, required a doubling of generation between 2015 and 2050. Sounds daunting until you see that it is a CAGR of 2.1%.

https://cdn.eurelectric.org/media/35...h-4484BB0C.pdf (pdf warning)

Just decarbonizing 80% of cars only adds about 10-15% to demand. It's not nearly as onerous as people think. And it's also why utilities are happy to get into this game. It's no accident that the second largest charging network in Canada, behind Tesla, is Hydro Quebec's The Electric Circuit. This is a huge opportunity for utilities. And the faster that provinces with clean power transition, the more economically resilient the country will be.

[Truenorth00]

Originally Posted by someone123

Trees literally pull CO2 out of the air. So if you cut them down over and over and build indefinitely-lasting urban housing from them you're doing carbon sequestration.

This is the intent with the push to use CLT. But also, now that we're running into a global sand shortage, there's a good reason to try and change building practices towards more sustainable materials. Added bonus, CLT can be pre-fabbed, so it can be used to substantially speed up construction. This 18 storey building in Norway shows what is possible:

• Video Link

[WarrenC12]

You don't need to go outside of Canada for an example:

https://globalnews.ca/news/2943184/w...pleted-at-ubc/

BC is pushing to be a world leader here. They should push harder.

[Hackslack]

Originally Posted by Truenorth00

This is the intent with the push to use CLT. But also, now that we're running into a global sand shortage, there's a good reason to try and change building practices towards more sustainable materials. Added bonus, CLT can be pre-fabbed, so it can be used to substantially speed up construction. This 18 storey building in Norway shows what is possible:

That is really cool

[Truenorth00]

Originally Posted by Hackslack

That is really cool

It really is. And I have no idea why Europe is ahead of us on this stuff. We should be building a lot more with this stuff.

[WhipperSnapper]

There's still the billion cows dilemma. They required cleared land and produce more GHGs than a car.

Most of the high rises built in Southern Ontario are erected using interlocking precast panels on a concrete raft slab. It works. The industry is not into innovation.

[WarrenC12]

Meat eaters will become the next public enemy #1.

[lio45]

Originally Posted by Truenorth00

But also, now that we're running into a global sand shortage,

Not surprising, given that there are even less grains of sand on this planet than there are stars in the universe

[WhipperSnapper]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

Meat eaters will become the next public enemy #1.

It's probably necessary in my limited views. I love cow too.

[Truenorth00]

Originally Posted by WhipperSnapper

There's still the billion cows dilemma. They required cleared land and produce more GHGs than a car.

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

Meat eaters will become the next public enemy #1.

Precision Fermentation + Cellular Agriculture

A lot of cattle farming is going to be in trouble in a decade. If I can get a lab grown A5 Wagyu steak for the same price as regular chuck roast, I know what I'm buying.

Dairy is the first domino. Milk is 97% water. PF and call ag can create the proteins in the other 3%. Given that most dairy is sold business to business as milk powder, it's not like they will be picky on getting milk from a cow instead of a lab, if the effect on the Cheetos or Doritos they make is the same. And if dairy goes, well the business case for the rest of the cattle industry gets hurt. Next is the leather after that. Bit by bit, as more of the cow gets disrupted, the industry's margins collapse.

• Video Link

Think this is a long way off? In 2013, the first lab grown burger costed over $300k. Today it costs under $10.. The vegans aren't going to solve climate change. Guys in lab coats giving us the ability to eat Mastodon burgers will.

[WhipperSnapper]

Yup. Personally, I think this is a bigger step forward than electrifying vehicles.

Taking a life is our biggest crime. Despite that, it doesn't bother me like milk production.

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by WhipperSnapper

Taking a life is our biggest crime. Despite that, it doesn't bother me like milk production.

On both accounts, future generations will look at us like sadistic monsters when it comes to how we treat animals for food.

My family (wife leading the way) originally went to local farm raised animals that were given reasonable lives and not factory farmed or processed. This led to an increased price, better quality, and reduced consumption.

Now we are going more plant-based than ever. This doesn't mean "beyond meat" style food, but just significantly less meat. We will go days without eating anything animal based.

It can't be stressed how much better plants are for your long term health. Even the conventional wisdom on "protein requirements" being fulfilled by animal meat is not holding up to actual science.