Norway is the latest country to announce a national wellbeing strategy, reports the Wellbeing Economy Alliance.
Speaking of national strategies, the UK government has announced one for hydrogen. This is something I wanted to know more about, so I’ve been doing some reading on it with a view to writing a series on it. Hydrogen stories and links appreciated please, whether for or against or in-between.
“What if the most American symbol of unsustainable consumption isn’t the automobile, but the air conditioner?” asks Rebecca Leber in her article for Vox, with an interview with Eric Dean Wilson, who has written a book on climate and air conditioning.
I really liked this story about L’Apres M, a closed down McDonalds in Marseille that was commandeered as a food bank. (HT Postgrowth Institute)
With Extinction Rebellion back on the streets this week, it’s time for another round of media interviews arguing about XR rather than discussing the climate crisis. XR Scotland have a bingo card for this lazy deflecting which made me laugh.
How to Think About the Climate Crisis, by Graham Parkes
Reading How to Think About the Climate Crisis, I got the distinct impression that it was a difficult book to write. The author spent ten years on it, and at one point mentions “the torment of writing this book.” Given that there is a website with an appendix for every chapter, some of which run…
Extinction Rebellion and the prophetic imagination
Yesterday Extinction Rebellion (XR) began their latest week of action in the centre of London. I was there with the kids, joining the crowd in Trafalgar Square for the launch and giving out stickers. We marched from there up Charing Cross Road, although it turned out that the march was really something of a decoy…
Insect farming in a circular economy
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation posted a series of videos this summer, all exploring how to create circular economy food systems in Africa. You can view the whole series on Youtube, but I found this one particularly interesting. It includes several things I keep an eye on, such as insect foods, alternative toilets, and the circular…
The Earthbound Report 
The Times_17 October 2020_Microwaves could turn plastic waste into hydrogen fuel _
The annual IMechE Railway Challenge to build hydrogen powered locomotives is in its tenth year. This year was won by Huddersfield Univesity
https://www.imeche.org/events/challenges/railway-challenge
Regarding hydrogen, did you see Robert Howarth’s paper on Blue Hydrogen having worse impacts than just burning the methane?
Click to access news-38015-etude-energy-science-engineering-hydrogene-bleu.pdf
Also that Chris Jackson resigned as chair of the UK Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Association, over concerns about ‘false claims’ made by oil firms regarding costs of blue hydrogen?
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/aug/20/oil-firms-made-false-claims-on-blue-hydrogen-costs-says-ex-lobby-boss
(sorry, I thought that would just leave a link, not fill the whole page with a preview of the paper….)
Also I guess you’re aware the last two issues of Carbon Commentary both heavily feature Hydrogen?
https://us9.campaign-archive.com/?u=a336c39e55a6260d59adbffb0&id=9e492048d1
https://us9.campaign-archive.com/?u=a336c39e55a6260d59adbffb0&id=65ccb1521d
Thanks all. Yes, it was the combination of strategy announcement plus resignation that made me think I ought to give this some attention.