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#carbonemissions

2 posts2 participants0 posts today
Public
MediaFaro Analysis

Is AI a force for climate good or a carbon catastrophe?

A new report from the International Energy Agency (IEA) shows that AI is driving a massive increase in electricity demand. Data centres are projected to double energy demand in the next five years.

Despite the potential for AI to have a positive impact on the climate crisis, there are concerns over its potentially significant contribution to greenhouse gas emissions.

mediafaro.org/article/20250411

An illustration of a brain against a computer circuit board. | Copyright Geralt via Pixabay
Euronews · Is AI a force for climate good or a carbon catastrophe?By Joanna Bailey
#AI#Energy#CarbonEmissions
Public
formuchdeliberation

Trump expected to sign order to allow coal-fired power plants to remain open | Trump administration | The Guardian…

Donald Trump is expected to sign executive orders on Tuesday aimed at reviving #coal, the dirtiest fossil fuel that has long been in decline, and which substantially contributes to planet-heating greenhouse gas emissions and #pollution... continue reading at the Guardian #trumpadministration #energy #greenhousegases #carbonemissions #climatecrisis…

formuchdeliberation.wordpress.

for much deliberation · Trump expected to sign order to allow coal-fired power plants to remain open | Trump administration | The Guardian…Donald Trump is expected to sign executive orders on Tuesday aimed at reviving #coal, the dirtiest fossil fuel that has long been in decline, and which substantially contributes to planet-heating g…
Public
DoomsdaysCW

The Staggering #Ecological Impacts of Computation and the #Cloud

Anthropologist Steven Gonzalez illustrates some of the diverse #environmental impacts of data storage.

by Steven Gonzalez Monserrate

Excerpt: "#TheCloud now has a greater #CarbonFootprint than the airline industry. A single #DataCenter can consume the equivalent electricity of 50,000 homes. At 200 terawatt hours (TWh) annually, data centers collectively devour more energy than some nation-states. Today, the electricity utilized by data centers accounts for 0.3 percent of overall #CarbonEmissions, and if we extend our accounting to include networked devices like laptops, smartphones, and tablets, the total shifts to 2 percent of global carbon emissions.

"Why so much energy? Beyond cooling, the energy requirements of data centers are vast. To meet the pledge to customers that their data and cloud services will be available anytime, anywhere, data centers are designed to be hyper-redundant: If one system fails, another is ready to take its place at a moment’s notice, to prevent a disruption in user experiences. Like Tom’s air conditioners idling in a low-power state, ready to rev up when things get too hot, the data center is a Russian doll of redundancies: redundant power systems like diesel generators, redundant servers ready to take over computational processes should others become unexpectedly unavailable, and so forth. In some cases, only 6 to 12 percent of energy consumed is devoted to active computational processes. The remainder is allocated to cooling and maintaining chains upon chains of redundant fail-safes to prevent costly downtime."

Read more:
getpocket.com/explore/item/the
#NoNukesForAI #RethinkNotRestart #NoNukesForDatacenters #AI #LMs #Datacenters #WaterIsLife

PocketThe Staggering Ecological Impacts of Computation and the CloudAnthropologist Steven Gonzalez illustrates some of the diverse environmental impacts of data storage.
Public *
DoomsdaysCW

#Degrowth can work — here’s how science can help

Wealthy countries can create prosperity while using less materials and energy if they abandon #EconomicGrowth as an objective.

By Jason Hickel, Giorgos Kallis, Tim Jackson, Daniel W. O’Neill, Juliet B. Schor, Julia K. Steinberger, Peter A. Victor & Diana Ürge-Vorsatz, 12 December 2022

Excerpt: "The global economy is structured around growth — the idea that firms, industries and nations must increase production every year, regardless of whether it is needed. This dynamic is driving climate change and ecological breakdown. High-income economies, and the corporations and wealthy classes that dominate them, are mainly responsible for this problem and consume energy and materials at unsustainable rates.

"Yet many industrialized countries are now struggling to grow their economies, given economic convulsions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, resource scarcities and stagnating productivity improvements. Governments face a difficult situation. Their attempts to stimulate growth clash with objectives to improve human well-being and reduce environmental damage.

"GDP is getting a makeover — what it means for economies, health and the planet

"Researchers in ecological economics call for a different approach — degrowth. Wealthy economies should abandon growth of gross domestic product (#GDP) as a goal, scale down destructive and unnecessary forms of #production to reduce energy and material use, and focus economic activity around securing human needs and well-being. This approach, which has gained traction in recent years, can enable rapid #decarbonization and stop ecological breakdown while improving social outcomes. It frees up energy and materials for low- and middle-income countries in which growth might still be needed for development. Degrowth is a purposeful strategy to stabilize economies and achieve social and ecological goals, unlike recession, which is chaotic and socially destabilizing and occurs when growth-dependent economies fail to grow.

"Reports this year by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (#IPCC) and the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on #Biodiversity and #Ecosystem Services (#IPBES) suggest that degrowth policies should be considered in the fight against #ClimateBreakdown and #biodiversity loss, respectively. Policies to support such a strategy include the following.

"Reduce less-necessary production. This means scaling down destructive sectors such as #FossilFuels, mass-produced meat and dairy, #FastFashion, #advertising, #cars and aviation, including #PrivateJets. At the same time, there is a need to end the #PlannedObsolescence of products, lengthen their lifespans and reduce the purchasing power of the #rich.

"Improve #PublicServices. It is necessary to ensure universal access to high-quality #HealthCare, #Education, #Housing, transportation, Internet, #RenewableEnergy and nutritious food. #UniversalPublicServices can deliver strong social outcomes without high levels of resource use.

"Introduce a green jobs guarantee. This would train and mobilize labour around urgent social and ecological objectives, such as installing renewables, insulating buildings, regenerating #ecosystems and improving social care. A programme of this type would end unemployment and ensure a just transition out of jobs for workers in declining industries or 'sunset sectors', such as those contingent on fossil fuels. It could be paired with a #UniversalIncome policy.

"Reduce working time. This could be achieved by lowering the retirement age, encouraging part-time working or adopting a four-day working week [and hybrid or remote work]. These measures would lower #CarbonEmissions and free people to engage in care and other welfare-improving activities. They would also stabilize employment as less-necessary production declines.

"Enable #sustainable development. This requires cancelling unfair and unpayable debts of low- and middle-income countries, curbing unequal exchange in international trade and creating conditions for productive capacity to be reoriented towards achieving social objectives.

"Some countries, regions and cities have already introduced elements of these policies. Many European nations guarantee free health care and education; Vienna and Singapore are renowned for high-quality public housing; and nearly 100 cities worldwide offer free public transport. Job guarantee schemes have been used by many nations in the past, and experiments with basic incomes and shorter working hours are under way in Finland, Sweden and New Zealand.

"But implementing a more comprehensive strategy of degrowth — in a safe and just way — faces five key research challenges, as we outline here."

Read more:
nature.com/articles/d41586-022

Archived version:
archive.ph/AtJ87
#FourDayWorkweek #RemoteWork #HybridWork #CircularEconomy #CapitalismKills #RightToRepair #ProtectMotherEarth #CorporateColonialism #BuyLess #BuyNothing #LibraryOfThings #SolarPunkSunday

www.nature.comDegrowth can work — here’s how science can helpWealthy countries can create prosperity while using less materials and energy if they abandon economic growth as an objective.
Public
MediaFaro News Digest

Bottom trawling in European waters costs society up to €11bn a year, new study finds.

A first-of-its-kind study released today found that this cost is largely due to carbon dioxide emissions from disturbed sediments on the seafloor.

The study is the first to measure the full economic cost of bottom trawling in European waters - including the EU, UK, Norway and Iceland.

mediafaro.org/article/20250325

A trawler off the coast of Germany. | Copyright Pexels
Euronews · Bottom trawling in European waters costs society up to €11bn a year, new study finds.By Euronews
#Seabed#CarbonEmissions#Carbon
Public
Miguel Afonso Caetano

"One of President Donald Trump’s most damaging strikes at the foundation of U.S. climate policy is buried deep in a sweeping Inauguration Day executive order focused on “Unleashing American Energy.” Half way through the lengthy document is a directive that would obliterate an obscure but critically important calculation the government uses to gauge the real-world costs that climate change is imposing on the U.S. economy.

Getting rid of the measure, called the “social cost of carbon,” would upend energy and environmental regulations meant to address climate change and could have the long-term effect of shifting costs from polluting industries directly onto Americans as the expenses of climate change rise.

The measure essentially establishes a price for each ton of carbon emitted, based on the long-term damages it is expected to cause in the future. It has become the government’s primary tool to weigh the economic costs of climate change — such as disaster cleanup or health impacts from warming — against the burden of regulations."

propublica.org/article/trump-c

ProPublicaTrump Order Shifts the Financial Burden of Climate Change Onto Individuals
More from ProPublica
#USA#Trump#ClimateChange
Public
formuchdeliberation

Half of world’s CO2 emissions come from 36 fossil fuel firms, study shows | Fossil fuels | The Guardian…

Half of the world’s climate-heating carbon emissions come from the fossil fuels produced by just 36 companies, analysis has revealed... #climatechange #carbonemissions #fossilfuels #globalwarming #oilandgas

formuchdeliberation.wordpress.

for much deliberation · Half of world’s CO2 emissions come from 36 fossil fuel firms, study shows | Fossil fuels | The Guardian…Half of the world’s climate-heating carbon emissions come from the fossil fuels produced by just 36 companies, analysis has revealed… #climatechange #carbonemissions #fossilfuels #globalwarmi…
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