• Quick note - the problem with Youtube videos not embedding on the forum appears to have been fixed, thanks to ZiprHead. If you do still see problems let me know.

Cont: Global warming discussion V

Clive Palmer-owned company withdraws appeal against ruling that coalmine would worsen climate crisis

Landmark decision from Queensland land court declared emissions from Waratah Coal project would limit the rights of future generations


A Clive Palmer-owned mining company has withdrawn its appeal against a landmark ruling that its giant thermal coalmine project would worsen the climate crisis and infringe on the human rights of future generations.

Lawyers for Waratah Coal have told Queensland’s supreme court it was discontinuing its appeal against the state’s land court decision in a case brought by First Nations young women and environmentalists.

...

A spokesperson for Palmer would not comment on the decision to withdraw the appeal or on the future of the project, saying only: “That’s a secret. You will have to wait and see what the next play is”.
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
Solitaire said:
Non-paywalled version.
Click to expand...

They have developed a process which could be fitted quickly and cheaply to existing plants, and would cut their emissions by around 90%. Steelmakers are talking to them about getting a demonstration version up and running within five years.

Drs Ding and Kildahl propose employing a closed-loop carbon-recycling system to replace most of the coke.
Click to expand...
Sounds great. It means we can make more stuff to mitigate global warming without contributing to it.
 
Meanwhile...

Solar already Australia’s largest source of electricity as rooftop capacity hits 20GW, consultancy says

Almost one-third of homes have panels, the highest in the world, says SunWiz, and will soon outpace capacity from coal


Australia’s rooftops now boast 20 gigawatts of solar panels and will soon have the capacity to produce more electricity than the country’s entire coal industry, according to the industry consultancy SunWiz.

Almost one in three Australian households have solar photovoltaics – or solar panels – the highest penetration in the world. Queensland had the highest share of solar panels installed on dwellings deemed suitable for the technology with an 82% penetration, ahead of South Australia’s 78%, New South Wales’ 51% and Victoria’s 43%.

The take-up of solar PV has quickened. It took about 11 years for Australia to reach its first 10GW of capacity, while the second 10GW took just four years, according to SunWiz.

Combining the household solar panel capacity with the 11GW of large-scale solar plants, “solar energy is already Australia’s largest fuel source for electrical power in Australia”, according to Warwick Johnston, the managing director of SunWiz.
Click to expand...
 
Electric vehicle sales in Australia overtake petrol-driven cars in medium category for first time

Sales of battery EVs also overtook conventional petrol hybrids in all categories, peak motoring body says. ‘The shift is on’


Electric vehicle sales in Australia have overtaken petrol-driven vehicles in the medium-sized car category for the first time on record, according to the peak motoring body.

The announcement on Thursday follows Labor’s release of its EV policy backing new fuel efficiency standards, which the Coalition has cautiously welcomed, in an early sign legislation could be passed with bipartisan support.

The Australian Automobile Association’s EV index revealed that from January to March 2023 7,866 battery electric medium-sized cars were bought in Australia, or 58.3% of sales in the medium-sized category. Internal combustion engines still dominate light vehicle sales in all other categories.

In all categories 17,396 battery electric vehicles were sold in the first quarter, for the first time overtaking sales of conventional petrol hybrids, which numbered 16,101.

Sales of battery electric vehicles were up 49.4% on the previous quarter, with 11,639 sold from October to December.
Click to expand...
 
Samson said:
Much to admire in this aim by private jetters to knock carbon on the head.
Irony alert

https://i.stuff.co.nz/travel/green-...st-airports-is-on-a-quest-to-ban-private-jets
Click to expand...

Which is great, but one report (see below), states that the UK must close most of it's airports by 2030. By "most" they mean all of them other than Heathrow, Glasgow, and Belfast (among various other measures). Although this is to get to absolute zero.

Link to authors site here:
https://ukfires.org/absolute-zero/
Download report here:
https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/items/33aaf353-b7de-45b0-9c40-5f62975b2127

Absolute zero, because there is little to no scope for capturing the CO2 from the atmosphere to make net zero viable. Although I occasionally talk to a group who would disagree with this, as they are trying to install carbon capture in our area.

The above is clearly not going to happen, so I just hope they are prepared to greatly upgrade the flood defences for Hull.
 
Frankly I'd rather they put a huge carbon tax/restrictions on the fast fashion industry.
It may surprise you to learn that the fashion industry produces about 10 percent of annual global carbon emissions, which is more than all maritime shipping and international flights combined. What's more, fashion's emissions of harmful greenhouse gases are projected to grow by more than 50 percent by 2030.
Click to expand...
vs 2.5% for the airline industry who at least is trying to get to zero
 
macdoc said:
Frankly I'd rather they put a huge carbon tax/restrictions on the fast fashion industry.

vs 2.5% for the airline industry who at least is trying to get to zero
Click to expand...

Do you have a link for this? I’m not saying it’s incorrect as everyone wears clothes and even production of natural fabrics would consume a lot of energy, but it seems too high.

Even if it is true, it doesn’t mean there are any alternatives.

ETA also your use of the word “fast” before fashion is curious. It seems like you are equating it with fast food. Pretty dodgy logic there.
 
Last edited:
lionking said:
Do you have a link for this? I’m not saying it’s incorrect as everyone wears clothes and even production of natural fabrics would consume a lot of energy, but it seems too high.

Even if it is true, it doesn’t mean there are any alternatives.

ETA also your use of the word “fast” before fashion is curious. It seems like you are equating it with fast food. Pretty dodgy logic there.
Click to expand...

Random article about Fast Fashion -

What Is Fast Fashion and Why Is It So Bad?

Also -

Fast fashion has spawned a mountain of leftover clothes in the Chilean desert that's so massive it can now be seen clearly from space

Neither of these support the 10% annual global carbon emissions claim, but they should help educate a little on Fast Fashion.

This link, on the other hand...

Fast Fashion and Climate Change 101

In 2021, the World Economic Forum identified the fashion industry and its supply chain as the world’s third-largest polluter. On average, it releases 10% of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions annually. Per year, the industry contributes 1.2 billion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. By the year 2030, it is predicted that total greenhouse gas emissions will increase by 50%.

One reason why fast fashion exacerbates climate change is through clothing and textile waste. Whether your clothes no longer fit or aren’t in style, 57% of discarded, unsold, and used clothing ends up in landfills. The United States alone contributes 14 million tons of clothing waste annually. Once these landfills reach their capacity, the trash is then incinerated which contributes to many public health and safety issues as well as releases more greenhouse gasses back into the atmosphere. As clothing degrades in landfills it releases methane, a potent greenhouse gas that is 28 times more powerful than carbon dioxide. According to the Clean Clothes Campaign, three out of five fashion items end up in a landfill. This has been a recurring theme since the 1990’s as consumerism shifted towards purchasing clothing more frequently. The Environmental Protection Agency estimated that in 2017, 11.2 million tons of textile waste in the United States ended up in landfills.
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
percentage
How Much Do Our Wardrobes Cost to the Environment?
Click to expand...
https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2019/09/23/costo-moda-medio-ambiente

Fast fashion is a thing. and unneeded in my view and often worn once
1/04/2022 —What is fast fashion?

Fast fashion can be defined as cheap, trendy clothing that samples ideas from the catwalk or celebrity culture and turns them into garments in high street stores at breakneck speed to meet consumer demand. The idea is to get the newest styles on the market as fast as possible, so shoppers can snap them up while they are still at the height of their popularity and then, sadly, discard them after a few wears. It plays into the idea that outfit repeating is a fashion faux pas and that if you want to stay relevant, you have to sport the latest looks as they happen. It forms a key part of the toxic system of overproduction and consumption that has made fashion one of the world’s largest polluters. Before we can go about changing it, let’s take a look at the history.
Click to expand...
https://goodonyou.eco/what-is-fast-fashion/

It does not bear much resemblance to fast food and I'm hardly the originator. I was just shocked at the carbon footprint.
 
End of native logging in Victoria ‘a monumental win for forests’, say conservationists

The shutting down of the industry six years earlier than scheduled comes after decades of conflict


Native forest logging in Victoria will end in December, six years earlier than previously planned, after the state government decided severe bushfires and legal campaigns had made it economically and environmentally unviable.

The announcement by the Andrews Labor government in Tuesday’s state budget follows a landmark supreme court judgment last November that the state-owned logging agency, VicForests, had broken the law by failing to protect endangered species.

It triggered a shutdown of operations that contributed to Australia’s last white paper mill, located in the Latrobe Valley, ending production of office paper in February.

...

Sarah Rees, who has campaigned for the creation of a great forest national park, said the decision was “a win for communities, endangered species and testimony to the Andrews government’s commitment to climate change”.

But she said damage from fires and logging meant the state’s forests would need investment – beyond that offered to timber workers – to back recreation plans and to restore degraded land.

Prof David Lindenmayer, an Australian National University ecologist who has researched Victoria’s forests for decades, said the decision would be good for the local environment, the economy and the climate. He said its effect would be equivalent to preventing greenhouse gas emissions from 730,000 cars every year.

“A major workforce will be needed to build new tourism infrastructure, protect and then boost carbon stocks, tackle problems with exploding numbers of feral deer and develop elite fire-fighting crews to make rural communities safe,” he said.

The national campaigns director for the Wilderness Society, Amelia Young, said “living, breathing, intact forests” were the best safeguard against the climate crisis. “It’s crucial that workers and families, who have been led astray about the longevity of Victoria’s native logging industry, are properly supported,” she said.

Alana Mountain, a forest campaigner with Friends of the Earth, said: “This is justice for climate, forests, and humanity.”
Click to expand...
 
macdoc said:
It may surprise you to learn that the fashion industry produces about 10 percent of annual global carbon emissions
Click to expand...
I'm skeptical.

What is fast fashion and how is it damaging the planet?
It may surprise you to learn that the fashion industry produces about 10 percent of annual global carbon emissions...

Fast fashion is a term used to describe the clothing industry’s model of mass-producing clothes at low cost with high-speed turnaround times to replicate the latest streetwear and fashion trends...

The average person today buys 60 percent more clothes than they did at the turn of the century and yet we keep them for roughly half as long
Click to expand...


10% eh? From the link in the article,
“The fashion industry is highly greenhouse gas intensive, with estimated emissions ranging between 2 and 8 percent of the global total.”
Click to expand...


So 'fast fashion' actually just means 'clothing'. One reason we 'buy 60% more yet keep them half as long' is because they only last half as long.

But don't worry, the cure is on our doorstep. With inflation eroding real incomes, people will have to put up with wearing worn out or second hand clothes like we did in the old days. As well as having a perfect justification for doing so, we can now virtue signal our concern for the environment.

Not so long ago a faded tee shirt and frayed jeans was the height of fashion. We need to bring that trend back!
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom