Above: Oregon State University

Agrivoltaics was originally conceived by Adolf Goetzberger and Armin Zastrow in 1981. It’s the practice of combining agriculture with photovoltaic solar panels.

Agrivoltaics increases land productivity by 60-70%. Also less water is needed since the solar panels block heat from the sun that would evaporate the water.

Studies show that crops growing underneath solar cells only lose 5-20% of their yield depending on the crop. Clover only loses 5% of its yield.

In hot weather, crops growing underneath solar cells actually yield more than they normally would. Scorching heat has a very negative effect on crop yields. “Based on the 2018 potato yield, the land use efficiency rose to 186% per hectare with the agrophotovoltaic system,” says Stephan Schindele of Fraunhofer ISE.

Agrivoltaics has been massively implemented in Japan since 2004 and then, Agrivoltaics has expanded in Asia and Europe. Several crops can benefit from these systems, including fruit production.

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The world is transitioning to renewable energy sources.

China uses the most coal.

The US uses the most natural gas. Much of it is to take the place of closed coal plants.

The US uses the most oil. It’s used for gasoline and other stuff.

China uses more gasoline as people buy their first cars.

China and India have huge populations.

They need to tax carbon emissions. China plans to do so in 2020.

The share of the world’s coal consumption has decreased the past four years.

The share of renewables has increased the fastest– fast enough to cover increases in world demand.

Russia and other CIS countries need more renewables.

The Middle East needs more renewables.

Regional Electricity Percentage By Source 2018

There is no sign of oil production peaking.

Projected Energy Sources

https://yearbook.enerdata.net/
https://www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/energy-economics/statistical-review-of-world-energy/primary-energy.html

A single person has two things they can offer the world: time and money.

Here’s how people spend their time:

1. Working
2. Hobbies
3. Working out
4. Driving
5. Eating
6. Shopping
7. Going to the doctor

Here’s how people spend their money:

1. Investments
2. Housing
3. Food
4. Car fees
5. Vacations
6. Clothing
7. Subscription services

It’s clear that we spend the most time working. So for a single person to have the biggest impact, they should get a job that maximizes the impact they have on preventing climate change.

For spent money, people spend the most money on investments. Many people in low and middle income levels don’t have any investments, so they can focus on housing instead. If you own stock in a fossil fuel company, you should sell it and put it in an industry with a future. Check your mutual funds and ETFs too which could have shares of fossil fuel company stock. There are lots of profitable and green choices available.

For housing, I looked around for a sustainable apartment to live, but they’re mostly new, luxury developments. Real estate developers need to do a better job of adding passive cooling, smart thermostats, etc. to help the transition to renewable energy.

This is a good start, but it’s a simplistic way of maximizing your impact. We could create systems that run while we’re doing other things. For example, by planting trees, the trees will continuously pull carbon out of the air while we’re sleeping or at work. Or we could work with others and spark an idea that ends up creating a much bigger impact than we ever could alone.

1. Write to Congress
2. Get a job that helps change policy or educates people or shifts markets favorably
3. Live somewhere with a carbon-negative footprint
4. Sell your car and live the car-free lifestyle

Here are other things I wrote down:

• Choose plants over meat $200/month
• Drink water instead of some manufactured beverage
• Only take electric plane flights $200/month
• Use green electricity $50/month
• Drive electric car
• Put solar panels on your roof
• Recycle, minimize waste
• Educate
• Green gym
• Green tires
• Green hobbies
• Green clothing
• Green taxes?
• Green church?
• Green healthcare?
• Donate to renewable energy projects

Carbon is emitted as CO2 which causes global warming.

The 10 Countries that Emit the Most CO2 in 2019

1. China
2. USA
3. India
4. Russia
5. Japan
6. Germany
7. Iran
8. Saudi Arabia
9. South Korea
10. Canada

The Best Approach to Stop Carbon Emissions

The best approach to stop carbon emissions is for nations to pass legislation that limits carbon emissions.

Insurance Companies

Could help prevent developing countries make the right choice and choose renewable energy.
Switch to good insurance company or write a letter

Communication

Many people have rejected the scientific consensus. Cutting carbon emissions can have other positive changes to the environment and to the economy. It’s often a good idea to change your message to focus on the changes that people think are the most important.

USE: Cleaner, safer, healthier. LOSE: Sustainable/sustainability.

USE: Solving climate change. LOSE: Ending global warming.

USE: Principles and priorities. LOSE: Values.

USE: Reliable technology/energy. LOSE: Ground-breaking/State of the art.

USE: New careers. LOSE: New jobs.

USE: Peace of mind. LOSE: Security.

USE: Consequences. LOSE: Threats/Problems.

USE: Working together. LOSE: One world.

Power Supply Auctions?

reducing coal: power supply auctions 4 cents/ kW hour
can’t get loans since risk is higher and many current coal plants listed as “stranded assets”

Learn From Past Failures and Experiments

Write Letters to Your Representatives and Senators to Pass Nationwide Legislation
Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act
https://citizensclimatelobby.org/energy-innovation-and-carbon-dividend-act/
affect?
3% chance of being enacted https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/116/hr763

Worst Power Stations

the only coal plant in California is the Argus Cogen

the biggest coal plant in China is the 6,720 MW Tuoketuo Power Station

the biggest coal plant in the USA is the 3,520 MW Robert W Scherer Power
Plant in Juliette, Georgia

the biggest coal plant in Russia is the 3,800 MW Reftinskaya GRES

the biggest coal plant in India is the 4,760 MW Vindhyachal Super Thermal Power Plant

the biggest coal plant in South Korea is the 6,040 MW Dangjin

the biggest solar plant is in China: the 1,547 MW Tengger Desert Solar Park

carbon tax against
https://www.forbes.com/sites/tilakdoshi/2019/05/07/the-trouble-with-carbon-taxes-lessons-for-asian-policymakers/#3b0b7be96a9f

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/04/02/climate/pricing-carbon-emissions.html

References

https://grist.org/article/the-gops-most-famous-messaging-strategist-calls-for-climate-action/

Water vapor. The most abundant greenhouse gas, but importantly, it acts as a feedback to the climate. Water vapor increases as the Earth’s atmosphere warms, but so does the possibility of clouds and precipitation, making these some of the most important feedback mechanisms to the greenhouse effect.

Carbon dioxide (CO2). A minor but very important component of the atmosphere, carbon dioxide is released through natural processes such as respiration and volcano eruptions and through human activities such as deforestation, land use changes, and burning fossil fuels. Humans have increased atmospheric CO2 concentration by more than a third since the Industrial Revolution began. This is the most important long-lived “forcing” of climate change.

Methane. A hydrocarbon gas produced both through natural sources and human activities, including the decomposition of wastes in landfills, agriculture, and especially rice cultivation, as well as ruminant digestion and manure management associated with domestic livestock. On a molecule-for-molecule basis, methane is a far more active greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, but also one which is much less abundant in the atmosphere.

Nitrous oxide. A powerful greenhouse gas produced by soil cultivation practices, especially the use of commercial and organic fertilizers, fossil fuel combustion, nitric acid production, and biomass burning.

Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). Synthetic compounds entirely of industrial origin used in a number of applications, but now largely regulated in production and release to the atmosphere by international agreement for their ability to contribute to destruction of the ozone layer. They are also greenhouse gases.

1. Smoke stacks that are tall enough to send waste outside the atmosphere.
2. Power fasting - spend time not using power
3. Sequester C02 and put it in a decorative box.
4. A renewable power station that has a tower and a conveyer belt that catches rain which turns a turbine.
5. Fill volcanos with dirt.