CO₂ Emissions

Here in Germany we have committed to reducing our CO₂ emissions by 80 - 95% from the 1990 level by 2050 and 38% from the 2005 level by 2030. That means a target level of 95-98 megatons by 2030. However, our 2018 emissions were 163 megatons from traffic alone, no change from the 1990 level :-(

So more drastic measures need to be taken to reduce our CO₂ emissions.

A study shows 61% of the traffic emissions come from cars, 35% from trucks, 1.4% from national air travel (but the study ignores most flights, i.e. international flights), 1.1% from coastal and canal/river shipping (but the study ignores international shipping), 0.6% from diesel trains (but the study ignores electric trains whose CO₂ is emitted elsewhere in the country's generating net) and 0.9% defined as "other".

So the goal is to reduce the CO₂ emissions by cars, e.g. by shifting to electric cars. These have zero emissions locally, relocating the problem to the emissions at the power generating end. Hence we also need more zero-emission generating plant (wind-turbines, solar-power, bio-power etc). Maybe it was a mistake to close down all the nuclear plants in the country; France e.g. is increasing their nuclear generating plant.

Experiments with "platooning" of trucks (convoys) only brought a 2-3% reduction in emissions instead of the hoped-for 8-9%.

Looking at the emissions in grams of CO₂ per km travelled per person, the comparison shows 201 g/km/pp for national air travel, 139 for cars, 75 for busses, 64 for subway & trams, and 36 for long-distance rail travel. So some companies are already doing business trips by train instead of flying, video-conferencing can reduce the need for travel, others use home-office to avoid the need to commute. Car-sharing hasn't made much impact yet. Proposals for lower speed-limits are still being aired in the hope to save emissions; however, given the choice car-buyers are buying more SUVs instead of smaller, lighter cars :-(

To put things in perspective, the manufacture of cement for building wordwide produces four times as much CO₂ as all the flying done in the world. And just three countries (China, India, USA) produce 85% of the world's CO₂ emissions. So we should focus on constraining these three, our own efforts will have only a minimal effect :-(

The real problem is over-population, but the politicians are avoiding that hot-potato. Look at all the side-effects that the noble Chinese effort (one-child policy) had - that went wrong in several ways and didn't reduce their population significantly. Plus, for every polluting coal generating-plant we close down here, the Chinese build 600 new ones :-(

The study I read claims we are headed for a 4°C temperature rise by 2100, but we need to keep it below 1.5°C. Also it did not simulate the effects of either the forthcoming crash of the Chinese economy nor the forthcoming civil war in the USA.

We are running out of ideas and will suffer the climate change as a consequence :-(

Comments(1)
Schorsch (D) jokes "Bundeskanzlerin Merkel must read your blog, because she's just raised the 2050 target to 100%." But without any suggestion of how to achieve it :-(

Copyright ^© Ole Phat Stu on May 12, 2019 permalink Comments Email

That Brand New Baby Smell

Now Prince Andrew has been pushed back to number eight in the UK line of succession, due to the birth of a son to Harry and Meghan Sussex, I am reminded of that Good Omens song about That Brand New Baby Smell ;-)

If you have not already done so, please go read "Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch" by Neil Gaiman und Terry Pratchett, ISBN-13: 978-0060853983, about €7.30 in paperback. You might also like to read the Book of Revelations, their source material, just for comparison ;-)

Comments (4)
Barbara (UK) wrote "Now THAT is a very funny video you linked to - "like an English lord ... brought up Americano etc" And Neil Gaiman in it!
Encrumpled Curmudgeon (Canada) wrote "FYI as of May 31, 2019 Amazon Prime members will be able to see their new series Good Omens based on he book and Neil Gaiman was involved in creating the series. Here is a trailer." Great!
Petra (A), asking for Liz2, said "They've called him WHAT? " There is a children's comic in the USA called Archie, about red-headed boy, not the brightest ;-) ...
Brian (UK) tells us "This is the original old St.Beryl's nuns video, to which the authors were hat-tipping." From the 1960s? Peter Cook was always funny :-)

Copyright ^© Ole Phat Stu on May 8, 2019 permalink Comments Email

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Monday, May 6, 2019

Boker Oldtimer meeting

Sunday saw the annual Oldtimer get-together in nearby Boke. About 3-400 oldtimer vehicles, mostly cars and tractors, but a few motorcycles too. Here are some of my better photos. All vehicles looked like they had just left the factory (except mine, which needed polishing, so I was banished to the second row this year).

Jaguar XJ from 1987

East German oldtimers : Wartburg(L) and Trabbi(R).

BMW Isetta bubblecar (L) and a UK rhd MG cabrio sportscar (R).

1986 luxury, a Bentley.

1967 US Cobra muscle car.

In contrast, the tiny 1956 Spatz.

Opel GT 1969.

Scurrilous Moto Guzzi Falcone-based Tipper trike from the 1950s (afaik).
Pergolator has found more details on this tipper trike.

Oldest sidecar outfit on display : Imperia 500 Sport 1935.

Diesel sidecar bike, from the 1980s afaik.

Goliath 3 wheeler fifties van, 2 cyl. 2-stroke.

BMW 1973 rallye car.

One of several inevitable Porsche 911s.

Banished to the second row, my Porsche 944, unpolished.

My 1985 Porsche 944, when polished.

Copyright ^© Ole Phat Stu on May 6, 2019 permalink Comments Email

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Saturday, May 4, 2019

Chewbacca is dead :-(

What a sad Star Wars Day (today) we have this year :-(

Peter Mayhew, the gentle giant (7ft 3in) actor who played Chewbacca in Star Wars (1977), The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Return of the Jedi (1983), Revenge Of The Sith (2005) and The Force Awakens (2015), died earlier this week aged 74 at his home in Texas.

R.I.P Peter Mayhew, who played Chewbacca, may the Force be with you!

Copyright ^© Ole Phat Stu on May 4, 2019 permalink Comments Email

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Thursday, May 2, 2019

Leonardo Da Vinci Anniversary

500 years ago on this very day (changes to the calender being ignored) the Italian polymath Leonardo Da Vinci died. So there will doubtless be countless articles better than this one to commemorate the date, but we are all big fans. Probably his biggest fan of the time was Francis I of France (where he died), who shared his last breath when he (da Vinci) died.

Leonardo, was an Italian polymath of the Renaissance whose areas of interest included invention (e.g: helicopter, tank, maps and parachute), drawing, sculpting, architecture, science, music, mathematics, engineering, literature, anatomy, geology, astronomy, botany, writing, history, cartography, palaeontology, ichnology, architecture and of course being the greatest painter ever (although Raphael and Michelangelo were both active then)!

I've seen several of his works personally, including The Last Supper (now restored, in Milan, Italy), Mona Lisa in the Louvre, Paris (also there is The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne ), and The Vitruvian Man , seen in Venice. Magnificent! If you ever get a chance to go see the originals, do so! The queuing is worth it. Otherwise (and anyway) I recommend one of many books about him : "Leonardo da Vinci: Complete Paintings and Drawings (2015)" by Nathan and Zoellner, ISBN-13: 978-3836527019, beautifully illustrated, about 60 Euros.

Comments (1)
Ed (USA) asks "What do U mean by 'changes to the calender being ignored'?" At Leonardo's time they still used the Julian calender (made by Caesar's edict in 45 BC). The more accurate Gregorian calendar, promulgated in 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII, was introduced after Leonardo's death and introduced by different countries in different years. Today is 2nd May on the Gregorian calender but April 19th on the Julian calender, so the argument can be made that I posted this blog entry 13 days too early :-( Mea culpa!

Copyright ^© Ole Phat Stu on May 2, 2019 permalink Comments Email

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