Category Archives: Climate

Climate, research, Science

These companies are creating food out of thin air | MIT Technology Review

A new crop of biotech startups are working on an alternative to alternative protein.

Some of these companies are focused on industrial animal feed, fish meal, and pet food—products with slimmer profit margins but less exacting consumers and fewer regulatory hurdles. Human food, however, is where the real money—and impact—is. That’s why several companies, like Dyson’s Air Protein, are focused on it. In 2023 Air Protein opened its first “air farm” in San Leandro, California, a hub for the commercial food production industry, and announced a strategic development agreement with one of the largest agricultural commodity traders in the world, ADM, to collaborate on research and development and build an even larger, commercial-­scale plant. The company’s “Air Chicken” (which, to be clear, is not actual chicken) is slowly making its way toward grocery store shelves and dinner tables. But that’s only the beginning. Other companies are making progress at harnessing bacteria to spin air into protein, too—and someday soon, these microbial protein patties could be as common as veggie burgers.

An alternative to alternative proteins

The environmental case for microbial protein is clear enough; it’s a simple calculus of arable land, energy, and mouths to feed. The global demand for protein is already at an all-time high, and with the population expected to grow to 9.7 billion by 2050, traditional agriculture will have a hard time keeping up, especially as it battles climate change, soil degradation, and disease. A growing global middle class is expected to raise levels of meat consumption, but factory-farmed meat is one of the leading drivers of greenhouse-­gas emissions. Although protein-rich alternatives like soy are far more sustainable, most of the soy grown in the world is destined for use as animal feed—not for human consumption.

In contrast, bacterial “crops” convert carbon dioxide directly into protein, in a process that uses much less land and water. Microbial protein “farms” could operate year-round anywhere renewable electricity is cheap—even in places like Chile’s Atacama Desert, where farming is nearly impossible. That would take the strain off agricultural land—and potentially even give us the chance to return it to the wild.

“We are liberating food production from the constraints of agriculture,” Juha-Pekka Pitkänen, cofounder and CTO of the Finnish startup Solar Foods, explained in a recent company video. In April 2024 Solar Foods opened a demonstration factory in Vantaa, a short train ride from the Helsinki airport. It’s here, at Factory 01, that the company hopes to produce enough of its goldenrod-yellow protein powder, Solein, to prove itself viable—some 160 metric tons a year.

Source: These companies are creating food out of thin air | MIT Technology Review

Climate, research, Science

Tipping Point after Trump Victory: Why No One Can Stop the Global Energy Transition – CounterPunch.org

 

Donald Trump’s victory as next president of the United States is depressing news for climate protection. He already made clear that under his presidency

So, in addition to the “silent revolution” of solar and wind energy, strong pressure on governments to change course is still needed. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), around seven trillion dollars, or 7,000 billion dollars, are spent each year on direct and indirect state subsidies for fossil fuels – a record amount – which distorts energy markets and prices, offloads damage and costs onto the general public and puts renewables at a massive disadvantage.

Redirecting these funds to clean energy would be an important, fair and socially responsible way to speed up the energy transition.

Source: Tipping Point after Trump Victory: Why No One Can Stop the Global Energy Transition – CounterPunch.org

Climate, Health, Science

‘You’re not the boss of me’ – by Bill McKibben

America’s current conspiratorial politics offers some possibilities for action

Solar power is cheaper. (and those who oppose it know so, and are conspiring to make sure you keep paying them for energy when the sun provides it for free)

It’s more reliable. (and you can plug your EV to your house after a hurricane and run everything for a week).

It’s the ultimate liberty to have your own powerplant on your roof.

It’s far better to have a wind farm in your county than to rely on Saudi Arabia (or Chris Wright).

An electric car goes zero to sixty far faster than your antiquated gas model and it costs half as much to run. (Rich guys in their Teslas are laughing at you)

Because it has fewer moving parts, you don’t have to visit your mechanic nearly as often. You can drive right by the gas station.

Oil companies are a scam, pushing antiquated technology to keep you hooked. They don’t care if you breathe dirty air as long as it makes them money.

Their shareholders are getting rich while you pay for repairing roads and bridges everytime there’s a new climate disaster.

Source: ‘You’re not the boss of me’ – by Bill McKibben

Alt, Anarchy, Climate, History, inspiration, Kindness

Mutual Aid

Mutual Aid as a concept was first broached by Peter Kropotkin in 1902 (although the concept is older than that.) in a book of Essays called Mutual Aid: A Factor in Evolution.

Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution is a 1902 collection of anthropological essays by Russian naturalist and anarchist philosopher Peter Kropotkin. The essays, initially published in the English periodical The Nineteenth Century between 1890 and 1896,[1] explore the role of mutually beneficial cooperation and reciprocity (or “mutual aid“) in the animal kingdom and human societies both past and present. It is an argument against theories of social Darwinism that emphasize competition and survival of the fittest, and against the romantic depictions by writers such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who thought that cooperation was motivated by universal love. Instead, Kropotkin argues that mutual aid has pragmatic advantages for the survival of human and animal communities and, along with the conscience, has been promoted through natural selection.

Mutual Aid is considered a fundamental text in anarchist communism.[2] It presents a scientific basis for communism as an alternative to the historical materialism of the Marxists. Kropotkin considers the importance of mutual aid for prosperity and survival in the animal kingdom, in indigenous and early European societies, in the medieval free cities (especially through the guilds), and in the late 19th century village, labor movement, and impoverished people. He criticizes the State for destroying historically important mutual aid institutions, particularly through the imposition of private property.

Many biologists[3][4] (including Stephen Jay Gould, one of the most influential evolutionary biologists of his generation) also consider it an important catalyst in the scientific study of cooperation.[5]

He argued against Darwin’s “survival of the fittest” theory, and this has become somewhat of a tenet among anarchists.

You can buy a beautiful copy of it here: https://blog.pmpress.org/authors-artists-comrades/peter-kropotkin/#mutualaid

Get a free copy here: https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/petr-kropotkin-mutual-aid-a-factor-of-evolution

Or buy it on B&N:https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/mutual-aid-peter-kropotkin/1101158703?ean=9780241355336

Also there’s a new book titled Mutual Aid by Dean Spade.

Around the globe, people are faced with a spiralling succession of crises, from the Covid-19 pandemic and climate change-induced fires, floods, and storms to the ongoing horrors of mass incarceration, racist policing, brutal immigration enforcement, endemic gender violence, and severe wealth inequality. As governments fail to respond to—or actively engineer—each crisis, ordinary people are finding bold and innovative ways to share resources and support the vulnerable. 
Survival work, when done alongside social movement demands for transformative change, is called mutual aid.
This book is about mutual aid: why it is so important, what it looks like, and how to do it. It provides a grassroots theory of mutual aid, describes how mutual aid is a crucial part of powerful movements for social justice, and offers concrete tools for organizing, such as how to work in groups, how to foster a collective decision-making process, how to prevent and address conflict, and how to deal with burnout.   
Writing for those new to activism as well as those who have been in social movements for a long time, Dean Spade draws on years of organizing to offer a radical vision of community mobilization, social transformation, compassionate activism, and solidarity.

You can get it wherever fine books are sold. https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/mutual-aid-peter-kropotkin/1101158703?ean=9780241355336

Here’s him talking about it, and organizing.

Mutual aid is the radical act of caring for each other while working to change the world.

Organizing is what mutual aid is about, and it’s easy to do. You can just help your neighbor with a project, that is mutual aid. (The Amish know how to do this.) Start, or contribute to, a community garden, or a community tool share. Small things as well as big things.

Here’s a link to Mutual Aid Disaster Relief, which is helping in the wake of the devastating hurricanes, down south.

I’m going to close this here, I think I’ve given plenty of links to get you started with this. Good luck.

Solidarity not charity.

Climate

A Pocket Guide to All Electric Retrofits of Single Family Homes – Redwood Energy

This booklet is a simple “how-to” guide to help homeowners, home renters, and utilities and policy makers who want to replace existing gas appliances with efficient electric alternatives. Many of the electric products highlighted here are simple and require no home modifications. This booklet has three sections, the first to explain the costs, benefits and strategies for electrifying a home, the second section is lessons learned from case studies of retrofitted homes, and the third section is an extensive product guide to help choose your electrification appliances.

Source: A Pocket Guide to All Electric Retrofits of Single Family Homes – Redwood Energy

Anarchy, Art, Climate, gardening, Kindness, Monday Musings, survival

Monday Musings 11NOV24

1 Comment

Well, its been a week hasn’t it? I wasn’t very happy with the election results, like many of you out there. I’m not a big fan of the orange man (someone called him a yam which I think is funny and somewhat appropriate)and voted for Harris.

Not a big fan of her either, but I wanted the Dems to stay in power because a lot of their agenda aligns with mine (climate, unions, anti-monopolist). That isn’t happening, and it’s time to dig in and do it ourselves, which is pretty much par for the course.

I don’t really expect the government (on either “side”) to do much for us, since both Reps and Dems are in bed with the global elites/big business. Although Biden was definitely making waves in monopoly busting.

So what do we do now? How do we address climate change, union busters, genocide in Gaza, monopolies, etc.?

We need to organize. That means unions need to step up. If your workplace isn’t a union shop, organize one. There are unions for everyone. If you can’t find one join the IWW (wobblies). They are a worldwide grassrootsunion, with a long history, that can help you organize your workplace (even us self employed workers–I belong).

Josh Hill has a nice post about this with several resources at the end. Here (Time to Prepare)

Worried about book bans? Join your school board, and/or the board of your local library. Give to your local library. Also, here’s an organization that organizes country wide. https://www.librariesforthepeople.org/

Climate change is a monster. What do we do about that? Solar and wind power are getting cheaper. Put some solar on your roof, add a windmill somewhere on your property. Buy an EV, car or bike. Bikes are great in cities and small towns. Battery life on vehicles is getting better all the time, and prices are actually coming down. Start a garden, or just grow a few plants if all you have is a patio to grow on. Buy local at farmers markets. Better food, and shorter distances for it to get to you. Invest in a heat pump, electric appliances. You can still grill, don’t be a jackass.

Make sure your utilities are investing in and using alternate sources of energy. Join organizations that are trying to mitigate climate change. Boycott and protest big oil, join, or donate to organizations that do that.

Here’s one https://regeneration.org/

Don’t like the wars we’re involved in join a peace organization. Preferably local. Protest, make sure the politicians know.

Don’t like abortion laws, write your reps, join, or donate to, Planned Parenthood

There is so much more to do. What’s important to you? Find organizations that work on that problem. No organization, build one. Do what you can to the best of your ability.

Make art, write, help a senior.

Speaking of which. Write letters to seniors or others that can’t get out and about. Here’s a couple of sites that ate specifically for that:

https://www.lettersagainstisolation.com

https://www.postcrossing.com

https://loveforourelders.org/letters

Feed people. Join a food bank, volunteer in a soup kitchen, find a chapter of Food not Bombs near you.

Find something you can do. The government isn’t going to help.

It never was.