In today's column I explore batteries, a vital part of the energy transition and essential to end dependance on fossil fuels. Battery technology advances have enabled great strides in electro-mobility.
I have become aware of a pile-on against me for pointing out the unsustainability of dairy and beef expansion. The ad hominem attacks and extremely bad faith representations of my arguments, my motivations and my expertise are quite something. Thanks to those defending me.
OMFG.
“Global mean surface temperature anomalies for the month of September between 1958 and 2022, with projected 2023 value and uncertainty. Temps shown relative to a 1991-2020 baseline period”
HT:
@hausfath
In response to the IPCC report this week, the Irish farming lobby appears to be coordinating a misinformation campaign to spread confusion about the warming impact of methane. They then accuse any scientist correcting them of lobbying, sometimes getting personal.
Some examples:
Interesting that restoring former wetlands to carbon sinks and ecosystems again is described as “immoral” because it leaves the land “idle”.
Part of the transition to sustainability requires a mindset change to value land that is soaking carbon and providing space for nature.
This is brilliant. 1 million disposable coffee cups saved in
@UCC
this year. The cafes simply don't provide them any more. The world has not fallen apart - people bring their own cup or put a €2 deposit on a reusable one. Plastic drinks bottles are not sold on campus either.
“Many economists remain stuck in an inexorable growth narrative... A fixation on a narrowly defined efficiency, productivity, perpetual growth has resulted in a discipline that has become blinkered to the ecological catastrophe we now face.”
Disappointing to see
@EPAIreland
delete a perfectly reasonable tweet encouraging people to cut down red meat intake to lower their impact on the climate.
I continue to be alarmed by calls for more fossil fuels as the answer to a fossil fuel crisis. If governments had taken energy efficiency & renewables seriously in the past, households would not be facing these energy bills. The way out of this is not more fossil fuels.
"E-bikes are a scourge on the fabric of any city"
Because they weigh more than regular bikes, take up street space, make noise (!!) and go up to 25km/h?
Has she not heard of CARS??
This is scary stuff: new research shows that the ice shelf which buttresses the West Antarctic Ice Sheet will melt, irrespective of future emissions. It means we have to plan for inevitable sea level rise, which will probably be faster than expected.
It is entirely feasible to cut methane emissions by 30%. It requires redirecting farming subsidies to less polluting activities - like growing trees, crops, rewetting or rewilding - and compensating farmers for any loss of income. They just don't want to do that.
The Minister for Agriculture was briefed to tell his counterparts on trade missions that it was ‘not feasible’ for Ireland to cut methane emissions by 30%, despite the Taoiseach signing up to global methane pledge for 30% reductions at COP 26.
This is just a phenomenal book that should be widely read. I have started mentioning in many conversations “did you know Ireland’s native ecosystem is RAINFOREST??” Everyone replies “no!” with an astonished face. I didn’t know myself until I started following
@IrishRainforest
.
Today’s column: EVs are not a silver bullet solution to our unsustainable transport system. Reallocating road space and car parking to public transport, walking and cycling will require both political leadership and bottom-up support.
Delighted to hear Min. Ryan’s support for transforming the Leinster House car park to a public green space, an extension of the national gallery. What a positive signal this would give to the public on climate leadership from politicians. I hope for strong cross party support.
After a long chat with my plumber, I’ve realised it’s not so much that we need to “get people on board” for decarbonising heat, but “get plumbers on board”.
SUVs jumped from 10% of new car sales in 2010 to nearly 60% this year (still growing!).
Larger, less aerodynamic cars are wiping out lots of the efficiency gains from electrification and make the roads less safe.
@brian_caulfield
So instead of pressing pause on data centre developments to understand how much we can reliably add to the grid without compromising climate targets, they will be allowed fast-track planning? Wow.
The EPA’s tweet didn’t cause anger because it was wrong, irrelevant or against its remit, but because it confronted the prevailing narrative about foods Ireland exports, threatening the industry’s social licence.
My take in today’s
@IrishTimes
Googling “The Climate Book” to order my copy (of what I’m sure will be a landmark book).
Check out the second, third and fourth books Google promotes.
Oh dear.
“We need rewilding on a massive scale in Ireland” yes!
@IrishRainforest
I took these photos in and around Killarney NP - rhododendron, spruce plantations, no tree saplings, bare hills, a dying forest that should be our treasured ecological heritage.
In my column in tomorrow’s
@IrishTimes
I discuss how toxic culture wars attacks and disinformation have poisoned the debate on agriculture and climate, stoking farmers’ anger.
This unprofessional and unprovoked tweet illustrates my point perfectly.
This is monumental. For 75 years, Bord na Móna has been Ireland's peat extraction company. This year it ended all peat extraction and yesterday it rebranded as a Climate Solutions Company, producing renewable energy and having stewardship over rehabilitating peatlands.
Today marks the beginning of a new era for Bord na Móna, as we launch our new brand identity, repositioning our business as Ireland’s Leading Climate Solutions Company.
I got chatting with someone organising against renewables, who has faith in hydrogen as an alternative...
They were surprised to learn that hydrogen is an energy *carrier* and decarbonising with that fuel would actually require more renewables than direct electrification.
Cork County Council has turned down planning permission for a large-scale 126-hectare solar farm south of Midleton, after receiving dozens of objections from locals over the proposed development
@GardaTraffic
In most cases it’s not possible to take personal responsibility for your safety as a cyclist because the infrastructure mixes you with dangerous vehicles.
Great to see - I live on a one-lane rural road with an insane 80 kph speed limit. I can’t take my kids out for a walk or cycle without being extremely stressed. New guidance recommends reducing to 60 kph, and speed limits in residential streets to 30kph
I would caution anyone thinking of switching their bank to
@RevolutApp
. They seem to have misplaced a large chunk of my money and have been extremely frustrating to deal with.
"There is absolutely no hard science to confirm that the methane produced by cattle and other ruminant animals is adding substantially to the greenhouse gas burden that is impacting the plant as a whole."
This is absolutely false but is stated in farming media *all the time*
The fact jet kerosene is subject to neither excise nor carbon tax - not even for internal flights, or private jets - is a regressive distortion of climate and transport policy.
The world is on fire - we are throwing petrol on the flames.
Nature is declining faster than ever.
It is outrageous that these hill fires, many on peat, are still allowed and financially rewarded for sheep farming.
These hills want to be reforested - we should let them.
Major hill fire Dún Chaoin in West Kerry… a number of houses in danger. Fire crews have been working tirelessly trying to control it since 4pm this afternoon.
Super excited to pick up the
@GreenCampusUCC
e-bike for a 2-week trial.
According to Pat
@uccenergy
this bike helped 6 people decide to give up their car so far (!!) and has encouraged lots of e-bike purchases on the bike-to-work scheme.
Such an impactful initiative.
The Taoiseach has defended allocating some of the most valuable public space in the capital to parking for life for former parliamentarians. Why not plant a green there instead and give them all a free lifetime public transport ticket, or an ebike?
To be clear, beef and dairy production will probably always be part of Irish agriculture and industry, climate change academics are not attacking farmers. But the first step is to tell the truth about the global scientific and political consensus on climate change.
RT if you agree that CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere, greenhouse gas emissions & projections should be reported on in the media as much as GDP is.
🌍📈 🏆 We just pushed the atmosphere to a new RECORD HIGH for WEEKLY
#CO2
😰 424.40 ppm CO2 at Mauna Loa (via Maunakea) in 17th week of 2023 🏆 Up 4.21 from 420.19 ppm a year ago 😰
@NOAA
data 🌍 records 🌍
Revealed: How the livestock industry funds the ‘greenhouse gas guru’. Mitloehner is a pro-meat scientist, funded by the livestock industry, whose downplaying of livestock’s role in climate change has been very influential in Ireland.
via
@UE
The state teaches my daughter about being a safe pedestrian - even gives her a high-vis vest - when there is *no footpath* connecting her school the few hundred meters to town. No cycle lane, no pedestrian crossing, NO FOOTPATH!
“Who has two thumbs and helps reduce Ireland’s emissions every day?”
People who cycle! 🚴
Happy
#worldbicycleday
to you two-wheeled heroes. To those of you who have been thinking about making the switch from your car to cycling – today’s the day!
One of Europe’s largest GHG emitters launched a series of personal attacks on Ireland’s climate minister
@EamonRyan
today. Pathetic.
I know who will come out on the right side of history.
Highlights from today’s
@Fingalcoco
meeting…
Everyone: “isn’t the passenger cap damaging Irish tourism?”
@EamonRyan
: “and this is how I hold my handlebars”
It’s disingenuous to claim that the EPA tweet was dietary advice - it was intended to inform environmental behaviour, which is totally within their remit.
Alarming to read Sen
@voteTimLombard
say that the
@EPAIreland
‘are out of control’ & calling for them to ‘be brought to task’. Urge
@FineGael
@LeoVaradkar
to step up, have a word w/politicians who seem to challenge envtl science & the EPA supporting CC behavioural change.
I published this last week, questioning the “carbon leakage” rationale for not cutting Irish beef exports. No substantive arguments against the points I raised in the article, but lots of personal attacks and astonishing misinterpretations.
This year, Ireland stopped generating electricity from peat - the most polluting electricity source there is - after more than 70 years.
This year might also be the last one where we burn coal for electricity.
Great news!
Where it had been made free, public transport use went ⬆️22% .. driven by
⬇️in walking by 7%
⬇️in cycling by 13%
only 1%⬇️in car trips
Better quality & quantity of public transport, congestion/parking charges & land use planning will reduce car trips.
Price alone does not get people to shift to public transport. Quality, frequent, accessible services are far more likely to persuade them.
And that’s what we’re focusing on.
Free public transport would mean just 1% reduction in car travel, says report
Varadkar said it was "not ideal" but added there are mechanisms in place which will allow him to offset his emissions.
There can no vote pairing in no-confidence motions, unless a member is sick.
My eyes are going to pop out from rolling at all the climate denial trolls swarming around today, and the politicians from major political parties blaming the Green Party for climate inaction (!!)
Expanding Irish airport capacity by 25% would cause an increase in emissions of approx. three quarters of a million tonnes of CO2, equivalent to adding ~290k fossil fuelled cars onto the roads.
It's equivalent to the GHGs avoided by ~20% of the wind energy already installed.
🧵
New column:
We’re already on a trajectory to overshoot carbon budgets - the new Taoiseach will need to take a lead on delivering the next Climate Action Plan.
Here, I propose eight top priorities to immediately accelerate climate action.
No paywall on this one.
EPA said they removed it because "Our intention was ..not to cause any confusion".
I'm confused about what could have caused confusion. There is no doubt that red meat has a very high climate impact.
Disappointing to see
@EPAIreland
delete a perfectly reasonable tweet encouraging people to cut down red meat intake to lower their impact on the climate.
An incredibly misleading article about the contribution of methane to global warming, aiming to delay meaningful cuts in Irish GHGs. There is zero scientific doubt that methane from ruminants is a strong driver of warming. Shame on
@irishexaminer
Very dangerous to plan for future tech “fixing” climate change, like continuing a terribly unhealthy lifestyle with the belief that a drug will fix the problems it creates.
We already have all the tech we need to cut GHGs very rapidly* - which would bring wider benefits -
Listening to techno-optimism dross from (non-expert) Prof Luke O’Neill on how carbon capture, new inventions etc etc are going to “solve”
#ClimateCrisis
with Brendan O’Connor in
@rte
radio just now.
Soothing, delusional nonsense
In my latest
@irishtimes
column I address school transport.
The failure to build safe walking & cycling infrastructure and expand school bus services means most children are now driven to school.
Grassland on drained peatland emits nearly as much CO2 as the power sector in Ireland.
Instead, it should be a precious carbon sink - that can only be achieved by re-wetting. It’s also part of mandatory carbon budgets which will require rapid decarbonisation this decade.
As
@businessposthq
reports the gvt is launching a review of Ireland’s self-made energy crisis, Paul Deane points out that continuing to connect data centres while encouraging households to reduce energy use is not a good look
Climate activists and carbon capture scientists are working on the same ultimate goal. Implying that activists, by glueing themselves to roads, are impeding the work of CCS scientists from getting to work is not a constructive take.
It blows my mind that it’s legal to blanket-spray hedges with weedkiller. The left picture is what several hundred meters of a local road looks like - the right picture is what it should look like (humming with insects).
This is why I find the argument to grow beef and dairy exports on the basis of food security insincere and immoral. No one is going to bed hungry for lack of Irish butter or steak. It’s climate *change* that will cause food insecurity.
If we are going to seriously address food scarcity, Irish agriculture needs to change. One third of global grain production – enough to feed 4 billion people – is fed to livestock. Our obsession with meat and dairy production is contributing to global hunger, not ending it
#rtept
Electricity demand from data centers grew by nearly one-third in 2022, and accounted for 18% of metered electricity consumption.
This growth - 1.4 TWh - almost entirely matched the growth in electricity from wind generation in 2022, 1.5 TWh.
The Irish Farmers Association taking pride in lobbying against ambitious carbon budgets, with a strategy based on fear, and blaming the Green Party for climate policy that every political party voted for and that has wide public support.
In my local Facebook group there are more and more complaints about the hourly bus service to the city - it’s regularly full, leaving stranded passengers late for work, college etc. There’s no wonder we are one of the most car-dependent countries in Europe.
It was a great privilege to start writing a column - At a Time of Climate Crisis - for the
@IrishTimes
in 2022, covering what was a pivotal year for energy and climate (of course, every year is pivotal).
Below a thread of my articles (including op-eds) from last year.
A national rural network of cycle lanes inside hedges - paying landowners to maintain - what a wonderful change this could make to the countryside. Kids taking themselves to school and training, sustainable tourism, less traffic on the roads, more connected rural communities.
Absolutely baffling that RTE and EPA stopped funding
@EcoEye
- the heavyweight of Irish environmental programming. Duncan is an icon and I hope we won’t be seeing the last of him - tonight 8pm.
Congratulations to
@Marcusdstewart
and all the team.
Footpaths and protected bike lanes around all schools and crèches are a cheap, healthy, pollution-negative measure to prevent lots of unnecessary car trips. It’s mind-boggling they’re so absent.
I wonder how many families have to have two cars because of this? Mine is another.
Spent far too long discussing preschool and school logistics and "do we need to buy a second car?" this morning because my daughter's preschool only NINE HUNDRED METRES AWAY has no footpath, no bike route, and just a dangerous country road with speeding drivers to get there.
“it is too late to save Arctic summer sea ice.. we’ve been warning about the loss of Arctic summer sea ice for decades.. the first big component of the Earth system we are going to lose because of global warming. People didn’t listen to our warnings”
If you’re concerned about the embodied GHGs of electric vehicles then buy a used one. I drive a 9-yr old Leaf. The battery can be replaced and reused when the range drops.
Don’t, for the love of god, keep driving an ICE because you think synthetic fuels will become available.
Interesting to see a supposedly independent IPCC lead author & member of the Climate Change Advisory Council straying into policy & lobbying
#justsaying
Did I really hear the IPCC consensus on climate change being likened to the rejection of Galileo’s discoveries?
Jaw-dropping! Well done to
@paulmurphy_TD
for countering but he really shouldn’t have to debate the basics of climate change.
Sorry to be unrelentingly negative about today’s news, but if we include emissions from international aviation (which we should), then Irish GHG emissions didn’t fall, but actually rose last year.
Meeting the first carbon budget required steady annual GHG reductions of 5-6%. But because emissions only fell by 1-2% during the first two years of the budget, that leaves us with impossible 12% annual cuts.
Some very good news to round out the year - a record capacity of new renewables connected to the Irish grid in 2022 - nearly 700 MW. We are also on the cusp of an inflection point in solar energy.
Ireland has banned fracking, stopped oil & gas exploration and divested from fossil fuels, but still remains extremely dependent on them.
To reverse that, environmental campaigners & climate activists should spend as much time promoting renewable energy* as opposing fossil fuels
It's officially been a full year since an onshore wind farm got planning permission in this country. At a time when we need to be accelerating renewable energy projects, we are at an absolute standstill because of our national planning system.
Denmark has set a 55-65% emission reduction target for agriculture by 2030 relative to 1990, planning to rewild some farmland and agreeing a $600 million compensation package for farmers.
Denmark Agrees to Binding 2030 Climate Target for Agriculture
Lawmakers set binding carbon emission targets for Denmarks’s agricultural industry to ensure green transition, in historic agreement supported across party lines
@jonasgahrstore
@audunlysbakken