By: The Posts Author | Posted on: 4 May 22
In August of 2021, Elon Musk revealed the Tesla Bot at the companyâs âAI Dayâ event. At the time the announcement was so unexpected that some journalists, pundits, and analysts believed it to be a joke. But Musk subsequently clarified not only that the humanoid robot is a real product in development, but that the Tesla Bot, nicknamed Optimus, â[has] the potential to be more significant than the vehicle business.â On a recent earnings call, Musk said, âI was surprised that people did not realize the magnitude of the Optimus robot program ⊠The importance of Optimus will become apparent …
How Autonomous Vehicles will Trigger the Age of Robots Read More »
In August of 2021, Elon Musk revealed the Tesla Bot at the companyâs âAI Dayâ event. At the time the announcement was so unexpected that some journalists, pundits, and analysts believed it to be a joke. But Musk subsequently clarified not only that the humanoid robot is a real product in development, but that the Tesla Bot, nicknamed Optimus, â[has] …
How Autonomous Vehicles will Trigger the Age of Robots Read More »
By: The Posts Author | Posted on: 2 Mar 22
With the Sixth Assessment Report of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) being released, itâs important to revisit the climate scenarios that are its centerpiece. These scenarios form the basis of the climate science communityâs modeling and projections, which in turn affects governance and investment decisions across the world. Trillions of dollars and the policymaking of the entire planet thus ride upon these climate scenarios, and so the cost of getting things wrong is extremely high. Scenarios past and present The previous generation of climate scenarios published in the Fifth Assessment Report in 2014 were known as …
The UN climate panel still doesnât understand technology â and it matters Read More »
With the Sixth Assessment Report of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) being released, itâs important to revisit the climate scenarios that are its centerpiece. These scenarios form the basis of the climate science communityâs modeling and projections, which in turn affects governance and investment decisions across the world. Trillions of dollars and the policymaking of the …
The UN climate panel still doesnât understand technology â and it matters Read More »
By: The Posts Author | Posted on: 7 Feb 22
âWhat about the Jevons Paradox?â This is a common refrain in environmental discourse. Itâs another way of asking, âwonât new technology always just create more problems than it solves?â William Stanley Jevons was an English economist and mathematician who noticed in 1865 that, paradoxically, the consumption of coal actually increased when technological progress improved the efficiency of steam engines. Efficiency lowers costs, which lowers prices, which increases demand. And, sometimes, the increase in demand is so disproportionately large that overall consumption actually grows. This outcome came to be known as the Jevons Effect, or Jevons Paradox. The Jevons Effect …
âWhat about the Jevons Paradox?â This is a common refrain in environmental discourse. Itâs another way of asking, âwonât new technology always just create more problems than it solves?â William Stanley Jevons was an English economist and mathematician who noticed in 1865 that, paradoxically, the consumption of coal actually increased when technological progress improved the efficiency of steam engines. …
By: The Posts Author | Posted on: 2 Dec 21
We are witnessing the start of the most profound disruption of the energy sector in over a century. Like others throughout history, this disruption is the result of a convergence of several key technologies â namely, solar photovoltaics, onshore wind power, and lithium-ion batteries (SWB). A 100% SWB energy system is possible as soon as 2030 in regions that choose to lead, and because energy accounts for over half of all greenhouse gas emissions, the clean disruption of this sector will be a large part of how we can reduce emissions by 90% by 2035.  A common question that arises …
We are witnessing the start of the most profound disruption of the energy sector in over a century. Like others throughout history, this disruption is the result of a convergence of several key technologies â namely, solar photovoltaics, onshore wind power, and lithium-ion batteries (SWB). A 100% SWB energy system is possible as soon as 2030 in regions that choose …
By: The Posts Author | Posted on: 22 Nov 21
This is part 2 of a series. See part 1 on ‘How Prosperity Solves Problems’ Understandable despair The trouble with climate change â as I explained the Part 1 of this series â is that the incumbent authorities to which the public looks for guidance, including most especially the scientific community, have failed to provide a coherent and compelling plan for how to correct course. This understandably leads to despair. Being told that the way to meet the enormous challenge of climate change is with personal sacrifice, lifestyle change, and other forms of individual austerity rather than with collective …
Restoring Our Faith in Progress: Part 2 â How Science Justifies Optimism Read More »
This is part 2 of a series. See part 1 on ‘How Prosperity Solves Problems’ Understandable despair The trouble with climate change â as I explained the Part 1 of this series â is that the incumbent authorities to which the public looks for guidance, including most especially the scientific community, have failed to provide a coherent and compelling …
Restoring Our Faith in Progress: Part 2 â How Science Justifies Optimism Read More »
By: The Posts Author | Posted on: 5 Nov 21
OK, DoomerâŠÂ Doom and gloom are everywhere, and not just because of what the COVID-19 pandemic has done to societies and economies across the globe over the last 18 months. A deeper contagion of pessimism has been spreading as well. The belief that we are doomed by climate change, and that all other human progress has been for nothing, is a pathogenic idea that has infected an entire generation worldwide.  Although it is dead wrong, this idea is far more pernicious and destructive than is widely appreciated.  At the individual level, despair over climate change and the false belief that …
Restoring Our Faith in Human Progress: Part 1 â How Prosperity Solves Problems Read More »
OK, DoomerâŠÂ Doom and gloom are everywhere, and not just because of what the COVID-19 pandemic has done to societies and economies across the globe over the last 18 months. A deeper contagion of pessimism has been spreading as well. The belief that we are doomed by climate change, and that all other human progress has been for nothing, is …
Restoring Our Faith in Human Progress: Part 1 â How Prosperity Solves Problems Read More »
By: The Posts Author | Posted on: 2 Nov 21
Over 100 world leaders have pledged to end, and even reverse, deforestation by 2030 at the COP26 UN climate summit. And over 30 of the worldâs biggest financial companies have promised to end investment linked to deforestation. But in 2014, a similar âlandmarkâ agreement was reached â and this didnât slow deforestation at all. Part of the problem is that decision-makers are locked into trying to solve problems within the framework of the incumbent paradigm. But this paradigm is about to be dramatically transformed, opening up entirely new ways of thinking about forests. Far from focusing purely on âband aidâ …
The Great Land Liberation and the opportunity for reforestation Read More »
Over 100 world leaders have pledged to end, and even reverse, deforestation by 2030 at the COP26 UN climate summit. And over 30 of the worldâs biggest financial companies have promised to end investment linked to deforestation. But in 2014, a similar âlandmarkâ agreement was reached â and this didnât slow deforestation at all. Part of the problem is that …
The Great Land Liberation and the opportunity for reforestation Read More »
By: The Posts Author | Posted on: 27 Oct 21
Technology disruptions already underway in the energy, transportation, and food sectors have extraordinary implications for climate change. These three disruptions alone, driven by just eight technologies, can directly eliminate over 90% of net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions worldwide within 15 years. Our previous research has shown that these disruptions are inevitable. Solar, wind, and batteries (SWB) will disrupt coal, oil, and gas. Autonomous electric vehicles (A-EVs) providing transportation-as-a-service (TaaS) will disrupt internal combustion engines and private vehicle ownership. And precision fermentation and cellular agriculture (PFCA) will disrupt meat, milk, and other animal products. The three disruptions are already unfolding simultaneously, …
The 9 Profound Implications of Rethinking Climate Change Read More »
Technology disruptions already underway in the energy, transportation, and food sectors have extraordinary implications for climate change. These three disruptions alone, driven by just eight technologies, can directly eliminate over 90% of net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions worldwide within 15 years. Our previous research has shown that these disruptions are inevitable. Solar, wind, and batteries (SWB) will disrupt coal, oil, …
The 9 Profound Implications of Rethinking Climate Change Read More »
By: The Posts Author | Posted on: 26 Oct 21
Despite all of the doom and gloom that surrounds climate change today, there has never been greater cause for optimism about the future of the environment. The reason why is that we already have the tools we need to meet this formidable challenge. But some tools are better than others, and if we get distracted by the wrong ones we could lose trillions while failing to solve the problem, so it is crucial that we stay focused and use the right tools for the job. Climate change represents a genuine existential threat to our civilization that is rivaled in magnitude …
We Already Have the Tools We Need to Solve Climate Change Read More »
Despite all of the doom and gloom that surrounds climate change today, there has never been greater cause for optimism about the future of the environment. The reason why is that we already have the tools we need to meet this formidable challenge. But some tools are better than others, and if we get distracted by the wrong ones we …
We Already Have the Tools We Need to Solve Climate Change Read More »
By: The Posts Author | Posted on: 21 Oct 21
The United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP26, is bringing together world leaders to discuss the worldâs future action on climate change. At present, the worldâs biggest polluters are China, the United States, and India â three enormous countries with large populations and extensive infrastructure built on fossil fuels. In these, and all, countries, itâs often assumed that decarbonization requires painful sacrifices that could damage prosperity. But in reality, itâs the opposite. Greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation actually offers an unprecedented opportunity for new forms of economic prosperity that regenerate the earth. This is not just an opportunity that every country …
Decarbonization is an unprecedented economic opportunity for the developing world Read More »
The United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP26, is bringing together world leaders to discuss the worldâs future action on climate change. At present, the worldâs biggest polluters are China, the United States, and India â three enormous countries with large populations and extensive infrastructure built on fossil fuels. In these, and all, countries, itâs often assumed that decarbonization requires …
Decarbonization is an unprecedented economic opportunity for the developing world Read More »
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