Franz Prettenthaler

The Persian wind tower (بادگیر) or how a 700-year-old air conditioner could cool an environment up to 12°C with no electricity [📹 Never Enough Architecture] x.com/i/status/17809…

We observe the retreat battle of a technology that was never efficient unless the main plan was to subsidise the production of nuclear bombs.

Very impressive weather pattern in Europe right now. Strong easterly winds and hot in Central/Northern Europe meanwhile heavy rain plagues the west with much cooler conditions. The heat is breaking records (for this time of year). THREAD

Until this heatwave... Sweden 🇸🇪 and Norway 🇳🇴 had never hit > 30 °C in September. New national records have been set and by huge margin. Extraordinary weather pattern in Europe right now. THREAD

„… There is genuinly a revolution happening.“ A desperately needed revolution.

@DirkdeVos @robbie_andrew Probably one should retain the subsidies as long as the expectation of falling prices for BEV’s prevails.

@robbie_andrew There is a point at which a new technology cannot be subsidised anymore, provided the carbon price for CO2 emissions is at the right level. The cost of the subsidy should be moved to support a newer, less developed cleantech.

Here’s the time-lapse I promised you from yesterday’s solar activity. Complete with Earth to scale and a bonus of the sun’s rotation. This is easily one of my cleanest time-lapses I’ve managed over such a long period. Enjoy!

If you want to understand the depth of China's industrial policy and economic statecraft, look at gallium. China produces 98% of the world's gallium, which is not mined directly but is a byproduct of aluminum production. China makes 59% of the world's aluminum. DARPA originally helped to develop gallium nitride (GaN) which is a semiconductor material used for next-gen radar systems, high-speed power charging, 5G base stations, and consumer electronics. Since as early as 2008, China has poured state resources into developing GaN semiconductors as a way to potentially leapfrog the traditional silicon-based semiconductor industry. Chinese entities have tried to acquire GaN technology from the US and elsewhere. Chinese state-owned enterprises, such as China Railway Construction Corporation, have invested in bauxite mining in Guinea, which has the world's largest reserves. Bauxite ore is the main ingredient for aluminum and thus gallium production. Chinese policy has required domestic aluminum producers to also extract gallium. A surge in Chinese gallium production in the 2010s caused volatility in global prices. Most other countries shut down their gallium production, leaving basically just China. Now China is able to use its dominance in gallium production as a leverage point over global supply chains. Last year, China announced new restrictions on the export of gallium in response to US-led semiconductor restrictions on China. Since then, China's gallium exports have dropped by half. The gallium example shows the breadth and sophistication of policy tools that China uses to dominate a critical industry, from SOE-led foreign mining deals to special requirements for domestic aluminum producers. Much of this is a summary of an excellent CSIS report from last year by Matthew Funaiole, @BrianTHart, and Aidan Powers-Riggs. Check out the full report: De-risking Gallium Supply Chains: The National Security Case for Eroding China’s Critical Mineral Dominance csis.org/analysis/de-ri… Also see this recent FT piece: China’s export curbs on semiconductor materials stoke chip output fears ft.com/content/9cd568…

The Economist just published a deeply-researched story about car bloat, and it's very, very damning: "For every life that the heaviest 1% of SUVs and trucks save, there are more than a dozen lives lost in other vehicles." Well worth your time: economist.com/interactive/un…

Good morning with good news: Skyrocketing wind & solar are now generating more electricity than gas in UK. W&S generated 54 TWh, compared to 40 TWh for gas, from January to July 2024! UK has also nearly ended coal. In the UK, first coal; now gas! Credit @janrosenow

“Solar is terrible for farming”

Good news of the day …

@sollidnuclear If you want more expensive electricity prices you are right @solidnuclear

WE NEED MORE NUCLEAR IN THE EU 🇪🇺 People trying to fight this position are not acting in good faith, period

🎉According to our friends at @RenewableUK, today the UK has reached 30GW of wind generation capacity. This milestone was reached as our member @sserenewables opened its 443 MW Viking Wind Farm on the Shetland Islands.

Norway unveils the first wireless charging road 🇳🇴

Good news Friday: In the UK wind and solar are on track to generate more electricity than gas in 2024. Note: The last coal plant will go offline by 30 September 2024. Source for data is @EmberClimate