[GWSG] Battery coating; food waste emissions; H2 leaks x 2; post crisis world; a likely house; Germany's emissions down

[Tilley, Al]

1. Scientists at the Berkeley Lab have developed a coating for the components of lithium-ion batteries which promises to improve their longevity by 50% and allow a heavier use of silicon, reducing their price. https://cleantechnica.com/2023/03/13/electric-vehicle-batteries-could-get-big-boost-with-new-polymer-coating/
2. Food accounts for a third of greenhouse gas emissions in a new accounting in Nature Food, and food waste is responsible for half of those. The UN Food and Agricultural Organization has provided an analysis organized to help authorities identify opportunities to limit waste and its effects. Meat and animal products produce 73% of emissions from waste.   https://www.carbonbrief.org/food-waste-makes-up-half-of-global-food-system-emissions/?utm_source=cbnewsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=2023-03-14&utm_campaign=Daily+Briefing+14+03+2023
3. Stephen Mulkey sends this technical article from last July on the climate consequences of hydrogen emissions. The article is especially concerned to investigate the effects of hydrogen leakage.  https://acp.copernicus.org/articles/22/9349/2022/acp-22-9349-2022.pdf
4. Princeton U and NOAA have analyzed the role of hydrogen in the atmosphere with regard to methane. Leakage rates will be crucial in determining whether replacing methane with hydrogen has a positive impact on global heating. The article explains the situation clearly. https://phys.org/news/2023-03-hydrogen-fuel-prolong-methane-problem.html
More analysis needs to be done on how far it is possible to reduce the H2 leakage rate. Even if it is small, though, the general goal cannot be simply to outperform commercial methane in emissions. The goal must be energy with zero emissions so that we can draw down existing greenhouse gas pollution.  Given the findings of this article and the previous one I do not see how the use of hydrogen as a fuel is consistent with that goal. I do not find the bridge argument persuasive when there are renewable, zero emissions alternatives to hydrogen energy, even if they were to be expensive, which they are not, and cumbersome, which they may be. I will consider the question closed unless a zero emissions hydrogen technology is found, though I do not guarantee that I will not run pieces complaining about the delay and expense associated with H2 development.
5. It may well be that a large number of our coastal communities will begin relocating as soon as this decade. If we are not to avoid a future of gated enclaves and FEMA shantytowns we should begin planning for a world we would like to inhabit. This WA Post story describes the pleasures of living in a sustainable society, more at home in the world. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/03/15/rebecca-solnit-climate-change-wealth-abundance/  Thanks to John Maraldo for the article.
6. This 2015 plan for a low cost modular home, designed for FL’s climate in consultation with Habitat for Humanity, shows what is possible. Similar principles could be applied for multistory housing and for other climates. https://www.solardecathlon.gov/2015/competition-team-florida-singapore.html
7. Germany’s greenhouse gas emissions fell by 1.9% last year, bringing its emissions to 40% below 1990 levels. Germany is on track for its goal of cutting emissions 65% below 1990 levels by 2030.  https://www.dw.com/en/germany-meets-2022-greenhouse-gas-emissions-target/a-64993301?utm_source=cbnewsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=2023-03-16&utm_campaign=Daily+Briefing+16+03+2023

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