eBikes are Killing the Oil Industry

- Adam Clare

This Earth Day it’s good to reflect on one’s own love for the planet Earth. If you want to express your love and appreciation for this ball of rock and air that orbits then Sun then you should ride a bike everyday. If an ordinary bike isn’t your style then you may want to consider an ebike. The future of our built environment will be about two wheels instead of four, and this can’t happen too enough. Thankfully the rise of ebikes is bringing us that future by getting people to ditch their lethal four wheel machines for better two wheeled solutions. Indeed, the oil industry may come to end sooner than projected because ebikes are lowering demand for gasoline!

If taken up, electric micromobility can cut urban emissions. A study of e-scooter riders in the United Kingdom found these trips produced up to 45 percent less carbon dioxide than alternatives.

US researchers estimate that if e-bike trips expanded to 11 percent of all vehicle trips, transport emissions would fall by about 7 percent.

As petrol prices increase and battery prices fall, the cheaper running costs of electric vehicles and even cheaper running costs of electric mopeds, bikes, and scooters will keep eating away at the demand for oil.

Global oil demand is now projected to peak in 2028 at 105.7 million barrels per day—and then begin to fall, according to the International Energy Agency.

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Floating Flowers Clean Pollution in Waterways

- Adam Clare

Industrial farming, golf courses, and some industries all contribute an incredible amount of nutrient runoff that enters our waterways. This influx of unexpected nutrients can cause algae blooms and otherwise damage the local ecosystem. To combat this damage from runoff a team from the Florida International University created a floating platform that allows flowers to grow while not flooding out their root systems. The flowers they have chosen to grow are ones that are in demand so they can be sold commercially to fund more floating flowers. This is a novel idea that looks promising and they are already looking to expand the project.

We floated 4-by-6-foot (1.2-by-1.8-meter) mats of inexpensive polyethylene foam called Beemats in 620-gallon (2,300-liter) outdoor test tanks that mirrored water conditions of nearby polluted waterways. Into the mats, we transplanted flower seedlings, including zinnias, sunflowers, and giant marigolds. The polluted tank water was rich in nutrients, eliminating the need for any fertilizer. As the seedlings matured into plants over 12 weeks, we tracked the tanks’ improving water quality.

Encouraged by the success of the marigolds in our tanks, we moved our trials to the nearby canals of Coral Gables and Little River. We anchored the floating platforms with 50-pound (22.7-kilogram) weights and also tied them to shore for extra stability. No alterations to the landscape were needed, making the process simple and doable.

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Let’s End Gas Subsidies

- Adam Clare

For some strange reason countries like Canada keep giving tax money to ultra wealthy oil and gas companies even though they keep killing all life on the planet. Let’s stop this. The team at Solar Share hosted a good information session on how we can reduce government money going to oil and gas, and of course, channeling that money to renewables. It’s worth a watch.

On February 12, over 30 participants joined us for our webinar about ending gas subsidies in Ontario, featuring Kent Elson (Elson Advocacy) and Jessica Hamilton (former political candidate and staffer).

We discussed the Ford government’s plan to overrule the Ontario Energy Board’s decision on gas subsidies, what “natural” methane gas is, and how to effectively engage with our elected representatives in Ontario.

There were some excellent questions and comments, and you can watch the recording here!

Hot People are More Likely to be Depressed

- Adam Clare

There’s a popular theory that hot people have it easier in life, and that might be true for looks but not for temperature. People were asked to self report their levels of depression and it turns out that there’s a correlation between their body temperature and mood. The results revealed that people with higher body temperatures were more likely to be depressed. This connection can help researchers better understand depression and how we can treat it better.

The study data showed that as self-reported depression symptoms became more severe, body temperature averages got higher. There was also some association between higher depression scores and lower daily temperature fluctuations, but not to a statistically significant level.

With around 5 percent of people around the world thought to be living with depression, efforts to understand and effectively treat it are now more urgent than ever. Each new discovery brings more hope in tackling the problem.

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Norway Gamed Oil to Get Rich and Go Green

- Adam Clare

Norway figured out how to make money from its oil while going green, and other countries should learn this nifty trick. Yes, oil is bad and we need to stop using it right away to avoid climate collapse. What Norway has done is take their bad oil and export it to other countries and used the money to turn their economy to a renewable powerhouse. Many years ago Norway created the Sovereign Wealth Fund to manage their oil revenue and is now worth 1.2 trillion dollars. All of that money is being used to improve life in the country. And, as their economy gets more green they basically get to run their country for free and profit from everything they export. Other countries, like Canada, with oil can do the same thing – so why don’t they.

Plus, recent discoveries of valuable minerals such as titanium and vanadium in southern Norway have significantly bolstered the country’s economic prospects, with estimates indicating reserves of up to 70 billion tons of economically recoverable phosphate. These resources are crucial for various industries, including aerospace, electronics, and renewable energy technology — positioning it as a global economic powerhouse for generations.

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