#energy

A majority of Australians (53%) support the building of nuclear power plants, based on a poll by the Institute of Public Affairs.

When predicting the impact of AI on society, we too often reach for very recent technological shifts. I think moments like the Industrial Revolution and the invention of electricity are more relevant. When electricity came around, it wasn’t immediately seen as a necessity. Of course nobody wants to live in a world without electricity today.

This idea is to tap Yellowstone to harvest energy and stop a future eruption.

Consider me a climate optimist. But, Hannes does raise a good point about our lack of investment in climate-change adaptation.

I’ve long thought that it would take a lot longer than people think for the average consumer to own an electric car, given most people buy second-hand cars.

Lithium production has grown exponentially over the last few decades and Australia is dominating. What is interesting is how little this has been talked about within Australia. It seems this truly has been an example of the invisible hand in action. We need lithium for electrification (batteries), Australia has lithium, we’re now producing it significantly.

An underrated economic tool is workforce competency. Countries with a great talent pool specialising in valuable skills, like nuclear power deployment or semiconductor manufacturing, have an edge on others. This works the same within organisations.

Many progressives see the solution to the climate problem as being degrowth: reducing our consumption, returning to a simpler way of life. Unfortunately, consumption and technological adoption is critical for alleviating poverty. Degrowth is not an option.

This is important. What is missing, though, is the fact that, without technological advancements, residents of developing countries won’t be able to achieve a significantly greater standard of living without contributing more towards carbon emissions. If we want to improve global living standards while tackling the climate change problem, we will need dramatically better technology. It’s our duty to invest in this.

Interesting profile of Electra, which is using renewable electricity to create steel without a coal-fired furnace. The approach they take is dramatically different to the traditional approach. This is inspiring to learn about because it shows there are creative solutions to the hard problems that remain regarding decarbonisation.

The U.S. Department of Energy has identified over 300 coal plants that could be swapped over to nuclear. We need a future with more energy, not less. This is an exciting prospect.