See-Through Solar Cells That Soak Up The Sun
September 25th, 2024
Via Anthropocene Magazine, a look at see-through solar cells that could he new design offers a glimpse of a future in which building facades or even windows could harness sunlight for electricity: Researchers have made near-transparent solar cells that are efficient enough to charge a phone battery. The advance, published in the journal Proceedings of the […]
Read more »Europe’s Heat Pumps Put America’s to Shame
September 25th, 2024
Via The Atlantic, a look at Europe’s heat pump adoption and trajectory: In the United States, home heat pumps have been gaining traction (and government subsidies) as highly energy-efficient replacements for gas-fired boilers and furnaces. They vary in size, but most of the units being hyped by environmentalists and installed nationwide measure just a few […]
Read more »A Chicken In Every Pot, A Battery In Every Garage?
September 24th, 2024
Via Steel for Fuel, commentary on the growth in residential battery storage: Today’s chart comes from Sunrun’s August investor presentation: In the span of a single year year, the share of Sunrun’s rooftop solar customers who opted to “attach” a battery system tripled. Notes: Sunrun points out that there is extremely high geographic variation behind these numbers. […]
Read more »The Secret Ingredient In Biden’s Climate Law? City Trees.
September 24th, 2024
Via Grist, a report on efforts to plant trees in cities: You’ve probably heard that the Biden administration’s signature climate law, the Inflation Reduction Act, gives people big rebates and tax credits to switch to a heat pump or electric vehicle. But the law also contains a much-less-talked-about provision that could save lives: $1.5 billion for […]
Read more »Barcelona Is Turning Subway Trains Into Power Stations
September 24th, 2024
Via Grist, an article on how Barcelona is using the regenerative braking of its subways to power trains, stations, and neighborhood EV chargers. Could New York do it too? Most of the passengers emerging from the station in Bellvitge, a working-class neighborhood outside Barcelona, have no idea just how innovative the city’s subway system is. […]
Read more »Colorful Paints Could Slash Heating and Cooling Energy Use
September 23rd, 2024
Via Anthropocene Magazine, a look at new paints that – by reflecting infrared heat – could could keep buildings cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter without using energy: In parts of the world with hot, sunny climates, it is common to see houses painted white to reflect sunlight and stay cool during […]
Read more »'Black Swans' are highly improbable events that come as a surprise, have major disruptive effects, and that are often rationalized after the fact as if they had been predictable to begin with. In our rapidly warming world, such events are occurring ever more frequently and include wildfires, floods, extreme heat, and drought.
'Green Shoots' is a term used to describe signs of economic recovery or positive data during a downturn. It references a period of growth and recovery, when plants start to show signs of health and life, and, therefore, has been employed as a metaphor for a recovering economy.
It is my hope that Black Swans / Green Shoots will help readers understand both climate-activated risk and opportunity so that you may invest in, advise, or lead organizations in the context of increasing pressures of global urbanization, resource scarcity, and perils relating to climate change. I believe that the tools of business and finance can help individuals, businesses, and global society make informed choices about who and what to protect, and I hope that this blog provides some insight into the policy and private sector tools used to assess investments in resilient reinforcement, response, or recovery.