In August of 2021, Elon Musk revealed the Tesla Bot at the company’s “AI Day” 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 …
How Autonomous Vehicles will Trigger the Age of Robots Read More »
With the Sixth Assessment Report of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) being released, it’s important to revisit the climate scenarios that are its centerpiece. These scenarios form the basis of the climate science community’s modeling and projections, which in turn affects governance and investment decisions across the world. Trillions of dollars …
The UN climate panel still doesn’t understand technology – and it matters Read More »
“What about the Jevons Paradox?” This is a common refrain in environmental discourse. It’s another way of asking, “won’t new technology always just create more problems than it solves?” 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 …
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 – namely, solar photovoltaics, onshore wind power, and lithium-ion batteries (SWB). A 100% SWB energy system is possible as soon as …
This is part 2 of a series. See part 1 on ‘How Prosperity Solves Problems’ Understandable despair The trouble with climate change – as I explained in Part 1 of this series – is that the incumbent authorities to which the public looks for guidance, including most especially the scientific community, have failed to provide …
Restoring Our Faith in Progress: Part 2 – How Science Justifies Optimism Read More »
OK, Doomer… 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 …
Restoring Our Faith in Human Progress: Part 1 – How Prosperity Solves Problems 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 world’s biggest financial companies have promised to end investment linked to deforestation. But in 2014, a similar ‘landmark’ agreement was reached – and this didn’t slow deforestation at all. Part …
The Great Land Liberation and the opportunity for reforestation 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 …
The 9 Profound Implications of Rethinking 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 …
We Already Have the Tools We Need to Solve Climate Change Read More »
The United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP26, is bringing together world leaders to discuss the world’s future action on climate change. At present, the world’s biggest polluters are China, the United States, and India – three enormous countries with large populations and extensive infrastructure built on fossil fuels. In these, and all, countries, it’s …
Decarbonization is an unprecedented economic opportunity for poorer countries Read More »
