Building Electrification: Department of Energy Defines Zero-Emissions Buildings
July 4th, 2024
Via Utility Dive, a look at new US Department of Energy regulations that will bring clarity to support decarbonization efforts and enable clean energy technologies that can make U.S. buildings more comfortable: The U.S. Department of Energy on June 6 released the first part of a national definition of a zero-emissions building intended to provide guidance that […]
Read more »Climate Havens: Can Some Cities Provide A Refuge From Extreme Weather?
July 1st, 2024
Via BBC, a report on whether those cities which are advertising themselves as ‘climate havens’ actually protect residents from extreme weather: Over the past few years, the city of Buffalo, New York, has been all over the headlines. But instead of US media focusing only on the city’s occasional epic snowstorm, Buffalo is making news […]
Read more »Charging ‘Trees’ Could Solve Cities’ Biggest Electric Car Problem
July 1st, 2024
Via The Cool Down, a look at one company’s proposed solution to make every aspect of the on-street charging experience faster and better: Photo Credit: Rangr Studio Architecture and Gravity, Inc. A startup in New York City is planning to plant a network of high-powered electric “trees” across the city. The trees could recharge electric vehicles in […]
Read more »Batteries and Rooftop Solar Can Lead to Huge Savings for the Entire Grid
June 28th, 2024
Via Inside Climate News, a report on a new study that shows the benefits of batteries and rooftop solar for the enitre grid: The growth of customer-owned solar and batteries can help to reduce wear and tear on the grid and save ratepayers money. How much money? A new paper from University of Texas at Austin researchers […]
Read more »Could the Global Boom in Greenhouses Help Cool the Planet?
June 20th, 2024
Via Yale e360, a look at how – as agricultural greenhouses proliferate – researchers are finding that their reflective roofs are having a cooling effect. Some experts see this as an unintended experiment with lessons for cooling cities, but others point to the environmental damage that greenhouses can cause: The world is awash with greenhouses […]
Read more »How Battery-Swap Networks Are Preventing Emergency Blackouts
June 11th, 2024
Via MIT Technology Review, a look at how Taiwan’s Gogoro’s 12,500 green-and-white battery-swap stations – built to allow users of electric scooters to drop off an empty battery and get a fully charged one immediately – automatically stopped drawing electricity to stabilize the grid after the 7.4 magnitude earthquake there this April: On the morning […]
Read more »'Black Swans' are highly improbable events that come as a surprise, have major disruptive effects, and that are often rationalized after the fact as if they had been predictable to begin with. In our rapidly warming world, such events are occurring ever more frequently and include wildfires, floods, extreme heat, and drought.
'Green Shoots' is a term used to describe signs of economic recovery or positive data during a downturn. It references a period of growth and recovery, when plants start to show signs of health and life, and, therefore, has been employed as a metaphor for a recovering economy.
It is my hope that Black Swans / Green Shoots will help readers understand both climate-activated risk and opportunity so that you may invest in, advise, or lead organizations in the context of increasing pressures of global urbanization, resource scarcity, and perils relating to climate change. I believe that the tools of business and finance can help individuals, businesses, and global society make informed choices about who and what to protect, and I hope that this blog provides some insight into the policy and private sector tools used to assess investments in resilient reinforcement, response, or recovery.