Your Future Air Conditioner Might Act Like A Battery
August 6th, 2024 Courtesy of MIT Technology Review, a report on new technologies that store cooling power for when it’s needed most: As temperatures climb on hot days, many of us are quick to crank up our fans or [...]
Can Chief Heat Officers Protect U.S. Cities From Extreme Heat?
August 6th, 2024 Courtesy of Grist, a report on chief heat officers: appointed officials who have the life-saving solutions the public needs to stay safe from rising temperatures. But they don’t have political [...]
Four Lessons from Melbourne: How Cities Can Build Neighborhood Batteries That People Love
August 6th, 2024 Via Fast Company, a look at how Melbourne built public and political will for its work to develop local energy storage—and its success can be an example for other cities looking to do the same [...]
Bronze Age Technology Could Aid Switch to Clean Energy
August 5th, 2024 Via Stanford’s School of Sustainability, a report on new research that finds the cost-effective thermal properties that make “firebricks” suitable for energy storage could speed up the [...]
Heat Pumps Could Help Cut China’s Building CO2 Emissions By 75%, Says IEA
August 3rd, 2024 Via Carbon Brief, a look at the potential benefit of heat pumps in China: Wider adoption of heat pumps could accelerate decarbonisation of heating in China’s carbon-intensive buildings and light [...]
How Four Cities Are Cooling Down Creatively
August 2nd, 2024 Via Reasons To Be Cheerful, a look at how cities around the world are trying everything from reflective paint to underground water channels to manage the hotter days ahead: In the middle of a summer [...]

ABOUT
BLACK SWANS GREEN SHOOTS
Black Swans / Green Shoots examines the collision between urbanization and resource scarcity in a world affected by climate change, identifying opportunities to build sustainable cities and resilient infrastructure through the use of revolutionary capital, increased awareness, innovative technologies, and smart design to make a difference in the face of global and local climate perils.

'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.