Burning Man, for Climate Nerds

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This week, I wish to speak about my favourite convention on the earth, Local weather Week. I simply bought again from the San Francisco version of Local weather Week (there are Local weather Weeks in quite a lot of cities now), and I really feel fairly rattling reinvigorated!

I like Local weather Week. Should you haven’t been to at least one, all I can say is, go. I describe it as Burning Man for local weather nerds, as a result of it’s a really shifting, very soulful, very fulfilling, very inspiring occasion, but additionally a fairly rock star social gathering — nice meals, drinks, dancing, karaoke, superior folks … like Burning Man, there’s one thing for everybody, and it may be no matter expertise you need it to be. And in contrast to Burning Man, it’s comparatively straightforward to get to, straightforward to wash your stuff after, has showers, and doesn’t require an enormous funding. Additionally, it has a definitive constructive consequence, whereas the Burn *generally* does. LOL

I ate crickets. I drank sustainable wine. I sampled chocolate that had been grown from stem cells that tasted precisely like the true factor. I noticed somebody activate a lightweight bulb that was powered by an inert piece of steel. I attended a nature-based nervous system reset in Golden Gate Park. I watched a pitch-a-thon by sensible startups at a local weather tech VC agency. I met local weather journalists from Axios, Reutersand extra. I fell (platonically) in love a minimum of 20 occasions with superb people I met that have been doing one thing unbelievable and thought nothing of it. It’s simply who they’re.

In all, I attended in all probability 20 occasions over 5 days, at venues all throughout town. I listened, I meditated, I participated, I partied, I ate, I drank, I helped out. I even led a workshop to assist local weather activists thrive and deal with the stresses we face as a neighborhood, which we provide to any group working in sustainability as an worker engagement program.

Here’s a link to the workshop I did at Anchor Coworking in San Franciscoan important neighborhood gathering spot filled with attention-grabbing startups and funky folks.

We provide this workshop to corporations and organizations working within the local weather area on a sliding scale. Here’s more info on that.

Essentially the most mind-blowing tech I noticed was from Impulse Labs, a San Francisco based mostly startup specializing in home equipment. Their induction cookstove is completely unbelievable. Induction is superior by itself — it cooks higher than pure gasoline, with completely even heating and the flexibility to dial in a temperature with insane precision. That, and by now I feel everyone knows that natural gas stoves release carcinogenic gases inside our homeswhich in fact shouldn’t be good for us.

I watched them soften chocolate immediately in a pan (not in a double boiler, which is usually how you must soften chocolate to not burn it or smoke it), and I sampled half a dozen ripe strawberries dipped in completely melted chocolate simply to show that it was actual — for you, my CleanTechnica subscribers, and I hope this proves that there is no such thing as a size I gained’t go to, no sacrifice I gained’t make, to check clear applied sciences and save the planet!!!

The chocolate sat, completely melty, for half an hour with no downside, as a result of they have been in a position to dial the temperature to precisely 122 levels, hold it proper there, and completely, evenly warmth the pan. Second, induction cools as quickly as you cease utilizing it. I put my hand on the floor proper after the pan bought picked up, and didn’t get burned. Third, the ability was insane — it boiled water 5–6× quicker than gasoline or standard electrical stoves.

However wait, there’s extra. This induction range doesn’t require a 220 line. Impulse has built-in a battery into the equipment, permitting it to trickle cost on an everyday plug and discharge with sufficient energy to boil water 5–6× quicker than gasoline. The put in price of the equipment is due to this fact WAY lower than conventional inductions, and thus removes a big monetary barrier in new building and conversions from pure gasoline to electrification.

No, no, that’s not all — there’s extra! The machine can be good. It is aware of when there’s extra photo voltaic on the grid and electrical energy is due to this fact at its least costly, and it could actually then suck that power down, guaranteeing that the machine is powered by cheap, clear power quite than soiled, costly pure gasoline or coal as a lot as attainable.

That expertise is right here and now. The corporate has raised a ton of capital to increase, and it’s growing different good home equipment as nicely. The longer term is now, folks.

I had my thoughts blown at a Local weather Actuality Mission (CRP) meetup. It was an important session, filled with attention-grabbing and interesting folks from all walks. They did a number of classes, and the second I went to was one on local weather misinformation and disinformation. Misinformation is outlined as unintentional misunderstandings about how local weather science works or the options to local weather change. Disinformation is outlined because the intentional push by fossil gas funded PR corporations and assume tanks to confuse the general public. Many of the of us on this session (there have been 20–25) had been educated by the CRP, and lots of had taken their coaching and given public talks with it. I met one who aggregates info and creates curriculum and lesson plans that it provides away to lecturers throughout the nation to show local weather science and options, which was nice — I’m planning an article or a podcast together with her quickly.

However the factor that blew me away? Of these 20–25, actually none have been conscious that the fossil business aggressively spends cash to scare and confuse folks about clear applied sciences.

I informed them that at Local weather Week New York, I had attended a packed room session about disinformation, exhibiting how fossil funded consultants had accomplished neighborhood engagement throughout rural Ohio and scared sufficient people who the state is now virtually completely blanketed in county-level anti–clear power legal guidelines. There are just a few counties left in Ohio the place the residents there could make their very own energy, be resilient, and put money into their very own communities with issues like neighborhood photo voltaic, utility-scale photo voltaic, or wind farms. Those that do are making tons of cash for his or her faculties and creating jobs. Those that don’t are shedding economically, with their cash siphoning off to faraway pure gasoline or coal vegetation.

Actually not one of the folks on this session knew this was a factor.

After which…?

After the session, a number of of the CRP management pow-wowed, and they’re now integrating this type of info into their future trainings. That is the ability of conferences — CRP is a strong drive for good, and now they’re off and working with a mandate to teach the world about fossil-funded concern, uncertainty and doubt (FUD) campaigns and PR schemes to maintain us hooked on soiled fossil fuels.

The issue is on its strategy to being solved by a company that’s completely set as much as do it.

So, how have been the crickets? Not unhealthy, truly! The corporate is offering cricket powder as a high-protein complement to meals packages in growing nations, and integrating it into a complete suite of latest meals merchandise. The carbon footprint of cricket protein is, in fact, a tiny fraction of cow protein. This can be a local weather resolution that, till somebody does it, is simply a good suggestion on the drafting board. I’m so, so grateful to have seen that there have been tens of 1000’s of individuals engaged on stuff like this, who took time to convene and unfold these concepts, to create companies, to create options, and to behave!

My new pre-bed routine now features a prayer of gratitude and the sending of affection and help to all of the local weather activists world wide who will probably be engaged on options whereas I sleep. I sleep higher, realizing there are hundreds of thousands and hundreds of thousands and hundreds of thousands of parents on the market actively making the world higher, after which I get up extra refreshed and able to get at it myself the following day. Attempt it, if you would like. And attempt to see for those who can really feel the love and gratitude I ship you from my time zone to yours earlier than I hit the hay. Attempt laborious sufficient, and I guess you’ll really feel it, and smile. 😊

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