#20. 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Human behavior on climate change | 💨 Wooden wind turbines | 🚛 Waabi AV trucking startup

🌡 CLIMATE CHANGE

Climate change and human behavior (long read)

This is a summary of a new academic research paper on the link between human behavior and the mitigation of climate change. Specifically, despite the overwhelming consensus around anthropogenic climate change, curiously little has been done to understand the “human factor” and its impact on climate modeling.

Slashing greenhouse gases: California revises climate change strategy (long read)

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has released an updated strategy for drastically cutting greenhouse gases including the expanded use of carbon capture projects. Included amongst the plans — set for a vote on December 15 of this year — are a reduction of 94% in oil use from 2022 levels by 2045, and a reduction in carbon emissions of 48% below 1990 levels by 2030, with net-zero reached in 2045. Carbon capture could reach 100 million metric tons by 2045.

Five countries have cost the world $6 trillion in global warming losses (quick read)

A PhD student and his team in the climate modeling and impacts group at Dartmouth College have determined that five countries — the US, China, Russia, Brazil, and India — are responsible for some $6 trillion in economic losses globally due to their climate change-accelerating carbon emissions.

🔋 CLEAN ENERGY

Indonesia signs deals to accelerate clean energy transition (quick read)

Indonesia has entered into agreements with other countries and international monetary lenders to import $20 billion dollars’ worth of assistance to ramp up its use of clean energy.

Are there enough materials to manufacture all the electric vehicles needed? (long read)

Short answer: yes, but it will require ramping up battery recycling rather than relying on new mining in order to avoid both resource and economic limitations in materials such as nickel, cobalt, and lithium. Recycling is also vastly more efficient than new mining and results in a 64% reduction in emissions. And recycling has health benefits, too: SOx and NOx specifically, leading components of respiratory destress in smog, can be reduced by 89% and 78%, respectively, by relying more on recycled than newly mined materials.

Wind turbines made entirely of wood are coming (quick read)

A German startup, Voodin Blade Technology, has partnered with Stora Enso, a renewable product manufacturer and forest owner based in Finland, to produce wind turbines entirely from wood. Advantages over standard steel and concrete wind turbines include lower weight and vastly reduced manufacturing carbon footprint. Current products include a 20 m (66 ft) blade to be installed at a 0.5 MW turbine; a future 80 m (262 ft) blade is in the works.

🚗 AUTONOMOUS & ELECTRIC VEHICLES

How electric vehicles and other transportation innovations could slow global warming, according to IPCC (long read)

This is a deep dive into myriad metrics demonstrating how EVs can play a pivotal role in slowing global warming. Based on an IPCC report however, emissions would need to be reduced by 50% by 2050 and 91% by 2100 in order to remain under the 1.5°C (2.7°F) target for global average temperature increase (a target now considered all but impossible to achieve).

As doubts grow over self-driving vehicles, this ambitious upstart rolls out its first robot trucks (quick read)

Toronto-based autonomous trucking startup Waabi has just started on-road testing in the US. Backed with an $83.5M Series A led by Khosla Ventures, Waabi’s approach differs to most other AV companies by leveraging an AI-powered simulation world first before conducting real-world testing.

Penetration of EVs to position electric car battery charger market at US$11 billion by 2032 (long read)

This is a press release summarizing a report (requires registration) that suggests an $11 billion market just for EV car chargers alone by 2032.