The Climate Change Discussion Thread

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by SFUVancouver

Best guess from engine HP and stated battery weight is that it is a 300kWh battery pack (essentially 3 Model S P100 battery packs), and for their use cases (Vancouver-Victoria, Vancouver-Seattle, etc.) that is perfectly fine.

It's cool that they are able to make this work by retrofitting an old Beaver aircraft.

If the business case is there, a major aircraft manufacturer could build something electric from the ground up, and likely improve the overall efficiency immensely.

[misher]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

It's cool that they are able to make this work by retrofitting an old Beaver aircraft.

If the business case is there, a major aircraft manufacturer could build something electric from the ground up, and likely improve the overall efficiency immensely.

I don't think there is room for big improvements. In the end an aircraft's shape is pretty aerodynamic and weight of the batteries and engine is set. The only chances I can see for improvement is "space," allowing aircraft to carry more of the same weight.

[lubicon]

Originally Posted by misher

I don't think there is room for big improvements. In the end an aircraft's shape is pretty aerodynamic and weight of the batteries and engine is set. The only chances I can see for improvement is "space," allowing aircraft to carry more of the same weight.

Electric engine is not the same as an internal combustion engine. It's probably not much of an engine at all. Battery weight would make up for fuel and engine weight reduction at least in part. The balance/centre of gravity of the aircraft would need to be carefully calculated.

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by misher

I don't think there is room for big improvements. In the end an aircraft's shape is pretty aerodynamic and weight of the batteries and engine is set. The only chances I can see for improvement is "space," allowing aircraft to carry more of the same weight.

Good thing we have aeronautical engineers to help us on this instead of relying on "what you think".

https://www.fastcompany.com/90440998...st-of-its-kind

For the airlines operating those planes, like Harbour Air, the technology has advantages beyond the carbon footprint. “The operating cost per flight hour will be anywhere between 50% to 80% lower,” says Ganzarski. Flying a traditional nine-passenger plane for an hour costs around $1,200, he says, but a plane retrofitted with an electric system costs around $400 an hour; a plane designed from scratch to be electric costs around $200. The savings come both from the cost of fuel and the fact that electric motors are simpler and therefore require less maintenance.

Seems like a great financial decision.

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by lubicon

Electric engine is not the same as an internal combustion engine. It's probably not much of an engine at all. Battery weight would make up for fuel and engine weight reduction at least in part. The balance/centre of gravity of the aircraft would need to be carefully calculated.

Right now pilots have to switch fuel tanks at key times to maintain weight ratios. At least with electric, it's always going to be the same weight, and a ground-up design could place that weight (battery) in the most ideal places.

[whatnext]

Happy Holidays, we're still destroying the planet!

Revealed: microplastic pollution is raining down on city dwellers

Microplastic pollution is raining down on city dwellers, with research revealing that London has the highest levels yet recorded.

The health impacts of breathing or consuming the tiny plastic particles are unknown, and experts say urgent research is needed to assess the risks.

Only four cities have been assessed to date but all had microplastic pollution in the air. Scientists believe every city will be contaminated, as sources of microplastic such as clothing and packaging are found everywhere.

Recent research shows the whole planet appears to be contaminated with microplastic pollution. Scientists have found the particles everywhere they look, from Arctic snow and mountain soils, to many rivers and the deepest oceans. Other work indicates particles can be blown across the world....

https://www.theguardian.com/environm...-city-dwellers

[Chadillaccc]

ef.

[milomilo]

Good thing we are banning straws, that will make all the difference. I don't think we should bother figuring out the actual source of this pollution and most efficient response, we should just base all our policy on an emotional kneejerk reaction.

In all serious, the article says most of this is coming from clothing. And is it actually harmful? Unknown. It is of course something that should be researched, but we have a concern that is orders of magnitude more severe than concerns about plastic, climate change (the actual subject of this thread), and our concerns and efforts should be focused on that.

[craner]

http://https://youtu.be/oYhCQv5tNsQ
... grabs popcorn.

[SaskScraper]

With some of the events this last week in Eastern half of Canada and even BC with large snow fall events ( parts of Ontario and Quebec >15cms, parts of BC like Victoria >25cms, and Newfoundland with a whooping 93cms of snow!! )
show how climate change isn't only ice sheets melting and sea levels rising but also snow events will be much more likely in snow prone places.

Conversely areas that don't receive a lot of snow fall may receive even less, Regina Sask only received a measurable amount of snow this Winter just this last week ( 4 cms ).

A Japanese study was released just this last month that suggests major snow fall events could become 5 times more likely in the more usual high snow fall places, with earth's temperature rising and water vapour increasing resulting in more frequent snow fall events.


http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201912170043.html

I have no clue how much a place like StJohn spends on snow removal each year but that ice/sea port may need to increase it's snow removal budget in the coming years for more frequent snow events like happened this last week.


https://globalnews.ca/news/6434019/n...onment-canada/

I find it really hard to put into prospective blizzards like happened in Newfoundland but the statistics speak for themselves. 93cms of snow in-one-day in some places, and 170 km/hour wind gusts on that island.

In comparison, the Saskatoon Blizzard of 2007 holds that city's record for worst Winter storm, paralyzing much of Central Saskatchewan with ~25cms of snow & 90km/hr wind gusts.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saskat...izzard_of_2007
https://globalnews.ca/news/3172999/s...zzard-of-2007/

[kwoldtimer]

I could be mistaken, but I don't think there was anything especially unusual about the amount of snow that fell in SOntario this week. With the open water on the Great Lakes this year, I imagine that the usual areas might be in for more "lake effect" snow than average.

[b31den]

Originally Posted by SaskScraper

With some of the events this last week in Eastern half of Canada and even BC with large snow fall events ( parts of Ontario and Quebec >15cms, parts of BC like Victoria >25cms, and Newfoundland with a whooping 93cms of snow!! )
show how climate change isn't only ice sheets melting and sea levels rising but also snow events will be much more likely in snow prone places.

Conversely areas that don't receive a lot of snow fall may receive even less, Regina Sask only received a measurable amount of snow this Winter just this last week ( 4 cms ).

A Japanese study was released just this last month that suggests major snow fall events could become 5 times more likely in the more usual high snow fall places, with earth's temperature rising and water vapour increasing resulting in more frequent snow fall events.


http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201912170043.html

I have no clue how much a place like StJohn spends on snow removal each year but that ice/sea port may need to increase it's snow removal budget in the coming years for more frequent snow events like happened this last week.


https://globalnews.ca/news/6434019/n...onment-canada/

I find it really hard to put into prospective blizzards like happened in Newfoundland but the statistics speak for themselves. 93cms of snow in-one-day in some places, and 170 km/hour wind gusts on that island.

In comparison, the Saskatoon Blizzard of 2007 holds that city's record for worst Winter storm, paralyzing much of Central Saskatchewan with ~25cms of snow & 90km/hr wind gusts.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saskat...izzard_of_2007
https://globalnews.ca/news/3172999/s...zzard-of-2007/

That's called weather, not climate. Record breaking weather happens and is nothing new. Climate is long term average weather. Nothing can be gleaned from a couple storms. They happened and may or may not have been enhanced by climate change but no one can say for sure either way.

[SaskScraper]

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

I could be mistaken, but I don't think there was anything especially unusual about the amount of snow that fell in SOntario this week. With the open water on the Great Lakes this year, I imagine that the usual areas might be in for more "lake effect" snow than average.

Sorry, yes of course, lots of places in snow areas that undoubtedly have more snow, just checking places like Midland in Ontario & Quebec City, each has half a meter of snow on the ground & they still have several months of Winter to go.

Originally Posted by b31den

That's called weather, not climate. Record breaking weather happens and is nothing new. Climate is long term average weather. Nothing can be gleaned from a couple storms. They happened and may or may not have been enhanced by climate change but no one can say for sure either way.

Hmm, I don't remember saying the word 'climate' in of it's self, but thanks for defining the word for us, what would you call the Japanese study illustrated above?
I call it thought provoking

[WarrenC12]

^^^ Yes I've read about the chances of extreme events increasing. Could be cold snaps and snow up here, or hurricanes and floods in SE US. Hence these "once in 100 year events" are becoming "once in a decade", and so on.

[CityTech]

In southern Ontario/southern Quebec, an increase in winter temperatures does generally mean more snow. It's why river flooding is such a symptom of climate change out here - warmer temperatures result in more snowfall in winter and faster melts of that snowfall in spring.

[WarrenC12]

Pretty obvious, but:

Most Canadian households will get more than they pay from carbon tax: PBO

https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/most...-pbo-1.4796511

It seems like all major CPC leadership hopefuls are still running on cancelling the carbon tax.

[jawagord]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

Pretty obvious, but:

Most Canadian households will get more than they pay from carbon tax: PBO

https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/most...-pbo-1.4796511

It seems like all major CPC leadership hopefuls are still running on cancelling the carbon tax.

I think the headline should read more households will pay more than they get back than Liberals promised during election. Can’t wait to see what the percentage drops to in the next report.

"However, by now accounting for the carbon cost embedded in the provincial and federal sales taxes, fewer households will be categorized as better off, on a net basis, in comparison with the analysis in the previous report."

While the federal government has said the carbon tax will be revenue neutral, the PBO found it will raise about $100 million this fiscal year in additional GST because of the added cost on products, a figure that will triple by 2022-23 as the price of carbon rises to $50 per tonne.

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by jawagord

I think the headline should read more households will pay more than they get back than Liberals promised during election. Can’t wait to see what the percentage drops to in the next report.

"However, by now accounting for the carbon cost embedded in the provincial and federal sales taxes, fewer households will be categorized as better off, on a net basis, in comparison with the analysis in the previous report."

While the federal government has said the carbon tax will be revenue neutral, the PBO found it will raise about $100 million this fiscal year in additional GST because of the added cost on products, a figure that will triple by 2022-23 as the price of carbon rises to $50 per tonne.

Won't somebody think of the 10%?

The Federal carbon tax was only ever meant to be 90% returned.

[milomilo]

The whole revenue neutral thing really is a political ploy that is going to have to be discarded eventually. In the end it doesn't matter much if the government rebates you or not or changes your income tax rate. The net result is the same.

[lio45]

Originally Posted by CityTech

In southern Ontario/southern Quebec, an increase in winter temperatures does generally mean more snow. It's why river flooding is such a symptom of climate change out here - warmer temperatures result in more snowfall in winter and faster melts of that snowfall in spring.

It may mean slightly more total snowfall over the season, but here in Southern Quebec it also looks like it'll mean on average less snow on the ground throughout winter, as temporary melting periods become more frequent.

This winter was mild so far... and as a result we have really little snow cover for late Jan/early Feb, 'cause there have been many periods in Dec and Jan when it was above zero for a while during the day.