Climate crisis

Link works again

Will biomethane become a common fuel for HGVs in the UK? If so, is it a good thing? And could ICE cars run on it if they have a conversion kit, like the conversion kits for LPG? I ask because I have a petrol-burning camper van and am wondering what to do with it. I need a fuel which is widely available across Europe. A domestic charger won't be any use, because I won't be at a domicile much.

It is not uncommon already, companies like M&S and waitrose already run thier HGV's on it. It is better than fossil fuels but not without its issues, methane still gets leaked in its production and transportation which leads to warming. I would imagine your problem is having a petrol engine, if it is diesel then HVO would be the obvious substitution and this will become increasingly prevalent over time for HGVs, mainly as if they can't get any they can't just substitute with diesel. It is hopefully a transition fuel until we can electrify everything and there are concerns around it similar to palm oil that its use will drive deforestation.

Yes, my engine is petrol and I can't afford the HUGE fortune required for an EV camper. The numbers for biomethane seem positive to me, and many HGV fleets are committed to it as you say. It's accepted as a plank of net zero targets in Europe. Lots of filling stations being built. The cost of conversion is higher than LPG. I haven't worked out the cost per mile for refuelling.

Does the Renewable Fuels Assurance Scheme allay concerns about leaks? https://www.zemo.org.uk/work-with-us/fuels/the-renewable-fuels-assurance-scheme.htm

Plastic recycling has had a bad press recently. Is it worth recyling plastic coffee pods? The Podback service says the pods are taken to Yorkshire and shredded. Then the coffee grounds go to a local anaerobic digester to make biogas and the plastic is "reprocessed". Which means it might be made into plastic bags? Which will one day be burned?

I have 50 kg of capsules. Getting them to the Podback service is proving to be difficult. The council (Lambeth) accepts them in the non-recyclable rubbish, which I suppose means they burn them.

(Making coffee with a proper espresso machine is not something I can manage in the mornings. I've tried.)

50kg!? Good on you for not just chucking it out. (Even if that’s what ends up having to happen because of council waste management)

I've asked Illy to send a van. They'll get back to me. They use the Podback recycling service, which in practice means putting my capsules into 50 1kg bags, printing a label for each one and taking them to a shop 1 mile away. But I can't walk that far. Maybe I could take them in an Uber. Maybe I'll do that if recycling them would help the human race or the other creatures on the planet.

Depending on how far you are from Herne Hill, I can volunteer a van to drive that mile. Hopefully youre not in the £12 (£15?) charge zone?

Edit- but printing 50 labels + packaging is madness, and possibly more expensive and wasteful than chucking them and buying trees with the money.

Thanks but I'm inside ULEZ

But I can't walk that far.

Radical suggestion on a cycling forum, have you considered riding a bike?

I'd like to but I haven't for some time. My bikes are in bits and not set up for carrying stuff. Maybe I could remedy that. It would feel good.

Reasons not to recycle plastic, from the Washington Post https://archive.ph/K8okK

IMO a pretty dismal approach https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/apr/22/net-zero-has-become-unhelpful-slogan-says-outgoing-head-of-uk-climate-watchdog

The government’s climate action plan unlawful.

Back to the drawing board. Another year before a proper plan is produced and of course it will be a different government by then.

Meanwhile, a constant sequence of major flood events, in Dubai, Brazil, China, and Houston, Texas:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/may/04/houston-texas-flooding

Hope your folks are safe, @Aroogah.

Not the first time we've had 28" in 24 hours. I remember working Tropical Storm Claudette back in the 90s and it dumped 26" of rain in 24 hours. Nuts.

Parents are enjoying life 7 stories above the ground these days. All safe.

Washington Post has a huge article:
"One of the most rapid sea level surges on Earth is besieging the American South...At more than a dozen tide gauges spanning from Texas to North Carolina, sea levels are at least 6 inches higher than they were in 2010" https://archive.ph/lRndb

https://www.ft.com/content/6873d96e-3e40-45c6-9d84-8ce27b7b23e1?shareType=nongift

Is the grey shading total available global wealth or what? I.e. 6000 billion in 2030 means 150% total global spend will only suffice? So well before this it is already completely fucked?

Fucking fuck if so.

Link without pay wall
https://archive.ph/pffQZ

"We" will be "fine"if funds aren't found for global transition is the sad politics of it, global South, not so much

Well, so long as we will be fine...(shrugging/facepalm emoji)

Many also mentioned inequality and a failure of the rich world to help the poor, who suffer most from climate impacts. “I expect a semi-dystopian future with substantial pain and suffering for the people of the global south,” said a South African scientist, who chose not to be named. “The world’s response to date is reprehensible – we live in an age of fools.”

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/may/08/world-scientists-climate-failure-survey-global-temperature?

so long as we will be fine

"We" won't all be fine if food prices go up in the north.

Food prices going up “in the north” will be the least of our worries as the climate crisis deepens.

On the impacts to UK food production
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/may/08/british-farmer-food-climate-crisis-business?