As an avid science fiction fan, I have spent much of my life focusing on what is possible – good and bad. The potential negative outcomes of our technology are concerning if we let our achievements outpace any consideration of their implications. Man vs. machine narratives can serve as a popular cautionary tale in that vein, but are they simplifying the situation too much?
While the Spotted Lanternfly is on the rise in Pittsburgh, I was surprised to find very few back east when I was visiting my dad this summer. Thanks to ongoing research from academics and vigilance from the agricultural industry, we’re learning more about where they pose the most risk and what methods are – and aren’t – successful at keeping them at bay.
Since I was 19 on an anthropology study abroad trip to Ecuador, I have searched for authentic intercultural experiences. It’s difficult, to be sure, and not everyone wants their travels to be difficult. My vacation in Fiji after the Climate Lab week came to an end raised some important questions: what is the value in striving for authenticity and is it even achievable?
Traveling to Fiji in April for my Climate Lab, it seemed like an extravagant excursion, but it was with the explicit purpose of learning from the people there and then giving something back to the global effort on climate change. During our in-class sessions that week, we heard from representatives across sectors with different messages but one clear theme: we’ve got to work together.
Last year a friend told me he was very excited now that he knew he could take his hard-to-recycle plastic to our local recycling company. I bit my tongue, knowing that it was probably too good to be true. At best, those plastics would end up in a landfill, but I had also heard that chemical recycling might be even worse for the environment.
Knowing the health and climate risks of chemical recycling is one thing, but knowing how to change your own behavior to reduce those risks is another entirely. The plastics “recycling” process is opaque, but so is the process that gets our waste to the facility. This Plastic Free July, I took some time to learn more about where my own plastic waste goes.
Misconceptions abound when it comes to recycling, and a new technology called “chemical recycling” is being positioned as a major win for recycling hard-to-recycle plastics. No matter their intentions for the future, most chemical recycling facilities are currently turning plastics into fuel to be burned, not recycled plastics to replace virgin plastics. Perception is everything in the court of public opinion, and information matters.
Limiting or shifting our electricity use benefits our wallets, but it can also help support a more reliable electrical grid and limit the amount of fossil fuels we use to power our homes, which in turn limits climate change. If you don’t know where to start, you’re not alone: some utility companies offer programs to help you save money as you adjust your use.
I recently learned that the global transformer shortage can limit how well we maintain our existing infrastructure and how quickly we can expand our supply with new sources of electricity generation. A constrained supply will impact demand, resulting in negative impacts that range from inconvenient to deadly. Better demand management can ease capacity constraints, but how do we manage that in a fair way?
I certainly didn’t notice any news about the global transformer shortage until there was a possibility we would need a new one on the pole outside our house and wouldn’t be able to get it. Demand is exploding for this critical piece of basic technology, but supply will be a limiting factor in how quickly we can bring new renewable energy projects online worldwide.