Closing In on Zero-Carbon Cement
December 29th, 2023
Via Volts, an interesting podcast on the effort to develop carbon-free cement: Of all the so-called “difficult to decarbonize” sectors, cement is among the most vexing. Making cement produces CO2 not merely through fuel combustion (in kilns that reach temperatures of up to 1400 C), but also through chemical processes that split CO2 off from […]
Read more »Geothermal Heat Pumps
December 29th, 2023
Courtesy of ImpactAlpha, a look at geothermal heat pumps: The Inflation Reduction Act offers HVAC owners tax credits up to half the cost to install geothermal heat pumps, also known as ground-source heat pumps, enticing building owners to adopt the traditionally costly systems. In late September, New York governor Kathy Hochul signed a law easing […]
Read more »Ultra-white Ceramic Tiles Can Cool Buildings Without Electricity
December 29th, 2023
Via Croucher, a look at how ultra-white ceramic tiles can cool buildings without electricity: By combining high reflectivity with radiative cooling, a new ceramic material can reduce the need for air conditioning in buildings. With increasing global temperatures, more and more energy is being used to cool buildings with air conditioning (AC). This has led […]
Read more »What Happens When Facebook Heats Your Home
December 20th, 2023
Via Wired, a look at how data centers are not only being used to power the internet but also to heat people’s homes: Søren Freiesleben has lived in Odense his entire life. He likes the historic Danish city for its size. It’s not too big—just 200,000 people live there—and he never feels like he’s drowning […]
Read more »Burning Up: Is Your City Heatproof?
December 19th, 2023
Via The Economist, a report on the extreme heat risk facing America’s cities: The monsoon is late again. Without the almost biblical rains, there is nothing to break the heat during a long stretch of days above 43°C (109°F). The pavement is scalding. Hospital wards are filling with burn victims. Even the cacti seem crispy. Many […]
Read more »How China’s Buses Shaped the World’s EV Revolution
December 16th, 2023
Via BBC, a look at how China’s buses shaped the world’s EV revolution: In the 2010s, China rolled out a rapid and widespread electric bus network. Today, China’s electric buses are influencing not just the country’s EV uptake, but the world’s. There are two distinctive types of electric buses making their way along Nanjing Xi […]
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.