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Postscript: a thoughtful thread and essay on this question: twitter.com/embrein/status…
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michael_nielsen
@michael_nielsen
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29. pro |
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What I really want (& I think many other people want) is a compelling overall narrative arc. And I don’t quite see that. I know a lot of people are prescribing narrative arcs for climate (“X is the answer!”) But I must admit I haven't been very compelled by what I've seen.
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michael_nielsen
@michael_nielsen
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29. pro |
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Anyways, failing an overall solution, I believe what you need to do is bite off sizeable chunks of the problem, build up your understanding. That’s what I’ve been trying to do in this thread, at least for myself!
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michael_nielsen
@michael_nielsen
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29. pro |
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4. Negative emissions technologies are essential
CO2 likely (ordinarily) takes centuries to be removed from the atmosphere. Even if we went to zero emissions tomorrow, it’d keep getting warmer due to climate inertia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_i…
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michael_nielsen
@michael_nielsen
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29. pro |
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My opinion is that we need inexpensive (or even profit-turning) scalable NETs, fast. Here’s a really great report surveying NETs: nap.edu/catalog/25259/… Click on “download pdf”, not “pay $100+ dollars”, and enjoy the amusing survey. pic.twitter.com/bYblqpnf0x
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michael_nielsen
@michael_nielsen
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29. pro |
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Good news: there’s a lot of them, many seem quite promising. If we can do scalable NET at $10 per tonne, then we can get to net zero emissions at about the same price as for the Clean Air Act (& quickly reduce it). cognitivemedium.com/dac-notes pic.twitter.com/1HPHeVb9Qy
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michael_nielsen
@michael_nielsen
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29. pro |
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The bad news: we don’t have cheap, scalable NETs :-) I do think this is a wonderful research opportunity, though, and my impression is that it’s very under-invested in.
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michael_nielsen
@michael_nielsen
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30. pro |
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5. Final thoughts: I’m repeatedly struck by the incredible size of the opportunity here. We’re going to make much better institutions, discover many amazing things, & create incredible companies.
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michael_nielsen
@michael_nielsen
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30. pro |
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I know some people don’t like the last, but think it’s good when groups of people profit from providing an enormous social good, like scalable clean energy, or carbon removal. That's capitalism operating as it should, to serve the social good. I hope it does here.
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michael_nielsen
@michael_nielsen
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30. pro |
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Of course, the flip side: there’s damage already being done, and likely to be incredible damage done.
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michael_nielsen
@michael_nielsen
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30. pro |
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We don’t yet have institutions or norms that enable us to deal with problems where inaction over the next few decades may cause much of an ice sheet to melt a century or two from now.
I hope we can develop such institutions and norms!
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