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Steve Dustcircle 🌹Everything Is About to Change in Our <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/AirConditioners" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#AirConditioners</a>: Revolutionary <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/Cooling" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Cooling</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/Tech" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Tech</a> Replaces Toxic <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/Refrigerants" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Refrigerants</a> With Recyclable Metals Forever<a href="https://www.sustainability-times.com/environmental-protection/everything-is-about-to-change-in-our-air-conditioners-revolutionary-cooling-tech-replaces-toxic-refrigerants-with-recyclable-metals-forever/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank">https://www.sustainability-times.com/environmental-protection/everything-is-about-to-change-in-our-air-conditioners-revolutionary-cooling-tech-replaces-toxic-refrigerants-with-recyclable-metals-forever/</a>

DoomsdaysCW[Paywall] America Has a <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/HotSteel" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#HotSteel</a> Problem<a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Railways" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#Railways</a>, <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/roads" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#roads</a>, <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/PowerLines" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#PowerLines</a>, <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/batteries" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#batteries</a>—the heat of <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ClimateChange" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#ClimateChange</a> is making them all falter.By Zoë Schlanger August 14, 2024"A basic fact of thermodynamics is coming to haunt every foot of train track in the United States. Heat makes steel expand, moving its molecules farther apart, and as hot days become hotter and more frequent, rail lines are at risk of warping and buckling more often."Any fix must deal with this fundamental truth of physics. <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Railroads" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#Railroads</a> can slow their trains down, which avoids adding more heat. Or they can leave gaps in a rail (or cut them as an emergency measure), which relieves pressure that causes track to bulge but means a potentially bumpier and slower ride. Painting tracks white would help deflect heat, but the paint would need to be reapplied frequently. Adapting to this reality will be expensive, and might ultimately just look as it does now: slow the trains, cut the track, issue a delay."Our <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/infrastructure" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#infrastructure</a> is simply becoming too hot to function, or at least function well. High heat can also cause bridges to fail, for the same reason as with train tracks. Roads can buckle, thanks to the thermodynamics of concrete and asphalt. In Alaska, where permafrost is thawing into a substrate more akin to a waterbed, roads can resemble an undulating line of ribbon candy. Heat has two effects on <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/PowerTransmission" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#PowerTransmission</a>, and 'both of them are bad,' Bilal Ayyub, a civil-engineering professor at the University of Maryland, told me. One, heat reduces how much electricity power lines can deliver. Two, heat increases demand—everyone turns on their <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/AirConditioners" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#AirConditioners</a> in unison—further straining an already heat-strained grid, sometimes to its breaking point."<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2024/08/america-infrastructure-climate-change/679458/?utm_source=pocket-newtab-en-us" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no">https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2024/08/america-infrastructure-climate-change/679458/?utm_source=pocket-newtab-en-us</a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ExtremeHeat" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#ExtremeHeat</a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/GlobalWarming" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#GlobalWarming</a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/HeatWaves" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#HeatWaves</a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/HeatStress" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#HeatStress</a>

DoomsdaysCWFrom 2011:In Tennessee, <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/HeatWaves" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#HeatWaves</a> Diminish <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Nuclear" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#Nuclear</a> Power Output By Alyson Kenward April 10, 2011"On July 8, 2010, as the temperature in downtown Decatur, Alabama climbed to a sweltering 98°F, operators at the <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/BrownsFerry" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#BrownsFerry</a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/NuclearPowerPlant" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#NuclearPowerPlant</a> a few miles outside of town realized they had only one option to avoid violating their <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/environmental" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#environmental</a> permit: turn down the reactors. For days, the Tennessee Valley Authority (<a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/TVA" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#TVA</a>), which owns the nuclear plant, had kept a watchful eye on the rising mercury, knowing that more heat outside could spell trouble inside the facility. When the <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/TennesseeRiver" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#TennesseeRiver</a>, whose adjacent waters are used to cool the reactors, finally hit 90°F and forced Browns Ferry to run at only half of their regular power output, the TVA hoped the hot spell would last just a few days."Eight weeks of unrelenting heat later, the plant was still running at half its capacity, robbing the grid of power it desperately needed when electricity demand from <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/AirConditioners" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#AirConditioners</a> and fans was at its peak. The total cost of the lost power over that time? More than $50 million dollars, all of which was paid for by TVA’s customers in Tennessee. "The Browns Ferry nuclear plant, located on the Wheeler Reservoir along the Tennessee River near Athens, Alabama. It has three reactors, each producing about 1000 megawatts of electricity. Credit: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.“'Last summer, the water in the Tennessee River warmed up early and stayed warm,' says TVA spokesman Ray Golden. 'When it got hot again in July and August, we were impacted by that and had to reduce power at the plant and get it from somewhere else.'"With river water so warm, the <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/NuclearPlant" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#NuclearPlant</a> couldn’t draw in as much water as usual to cool the facility's three reactors, or else the water it pumped back into the river could be hot enough to harm the local <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ecosystem" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#ecosystem</a>, says Golden. But for every day that the Browns Ferry plant ran at 50 percent of its maximum output, the TVA had to spent $1 million more than usual to purchase power from somewhere else, he says."What happened in northern Alabama last summer, at the largest of TVA's nuclear power plants, did not present a human safety concern. Operators knew there was never a risk of an explosion or nuclear meltdown, nor was there a threat of leaking radioactive material. But the prolonged spell of hot weather put the TVA at risk of violating environmental permits, with hefty fines as one consequence and potential harm to the Tennessee River ecosystem as another."It’s not the first time high temperatures have affected the performance of the Browns Ferry plant, and extreme heat is a growing concern for power plant operators across the <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Southeast" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#Southeast</a>. While some nuclear plants can improve their cooling procedures to cope with the intake of warmer water, the upgrades can cost hundreds of millions of dollars and still don’t offer an indefinite defense against extreme heat. Because scientists say the Southeast (like many other parts of the world) can expect to see more frequent and intense heat waves by the end of this century, the problems for nuclear power and the people that rely on it for electricity may only be beginning. <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ExtremeHeat" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#ExtremeHeat</a> Limits Nuclear Energy Production"The disaster still unfolding at Japan’s <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/FukushimaDaiichi" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#FukushimaDaiichi</a> nuclear plant has refocused America's attention on nuclear power, calling into question its future role in the country's energy portfolio. Many advocates of nuclear power say that we need to maintain — and even expand — nuclear power to get away from using fossil fuels, such as coal, and to help lower greenhouse gas emissions."But nuclear power has a paradoxical relationship with <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ClimateChange" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#ClimateChange</a>. Even though it might help mitigate long-term <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/GlobalWarming" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#GlobalWarming</a>, nuclear power is already being challenged by rising temperatures and the increasing number of heat waves around the world. Throughout the last decade, several plants have had to reduce electricity production during heat waves, just when when electricity demand typically reaches peak levels.“'It’s a dilemma between mitigation of climate change, and adaptation to it,' says Natalie Kopytko, an energy policy doctoral student at the University of York in England. Having recently studied the ways in which climate change could have a negative impact on nuclear power, she says nuclear power is caught in the middle because it could be used to help lower greenhouse gas emissions, but global warming is making the technology less effective at providing electricity."Read more: <a href="https://www.climatecentral.org/news/in-tennessee-heat-waves-frustrate-nuclear-power" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no">https://www.climatecentral.org/news/in-tennessee-heat-waves-frustrate-nuclear-power</a><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Greenwashing" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#Greenwashing</a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/NoNukes" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#NoNukes</a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/NoNewNukes" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#NoNewNukes</a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/NuclearPowerPlant" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#NuclearPowerPlant</a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/NuclearPlants" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#NuclearPlants</a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/NuclearIsNotCarbonFree" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#NuclearIsNotCarbonFree</a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/RethinkNotRestart" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#RethinkNotRestart</a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ClimateCrisis" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#ClimateCrisis</a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ExtremeTemperatures" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#ExtremeTemperatures</a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ExtremeWeather" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#ExtremeWeather</a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ExtremeHeat" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#ExtremeHeat</a>

DoomsdaysCW<a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ExtremeHeat" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#ExtremeHeat</a> is pushing <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/India" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#India</a> to the brink. One obvious solution is also a big part of the problemBy 2050, India will be among the first places where temperatures will cross survivability limits, according to climate experts.By Rhea Mogul and Aishwayra Iyer, CNN Published Jan 8, 2024 9:58 AM EST"Ramesh, who goes by one name, says he borrowed $35 – nearly half of his monthly salary – from relatives to buy a second-hand air conditioner for his home."'It makes a noise, sometimes it releases dust,' he said. But he cannot do without it. By 2050, India will be among the first places where temperatures will cross survivability limits, according to <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/climate" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#climate</a> experts. And within that time frame, the demand for <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/AirConditioners" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#AirConditioners</a> (AC) in the country is also expected to rise nine-fold, outpacing all other appliances, according to a recent report by the International Energy Agency (IEA)."Ramesh’s predicament encapsulates the paradox facing the world’s most populous country of 1.4 billion: The hotter and wealthier India gets, the more Indians will use AC. And the more they use AC, the hotter the country will become."Like refrigerators, many air conditioners today use a class of coolants called <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/hydrofluorocarbons" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#hydrofluorocarbons</a>, or <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/HFCs" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#HFCs</a>, which are harmful <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/GreenhouseGases" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#GreenhouseGases</a>. And even more problematically, air conditioners tend to use large amounts of electricity, generated by the burning of <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/FossilFuels" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#FossilFuels</a>."Read more: <a href="https://www.accuweather.com/en/climate/extreme-heat-is-pushing-india-to-the-brink-one-obvious-solution-is-also-a-big-part-of-the-problem/1610417" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no">https://www.accuweather.com/en/climate/extreme-heat-is-pushing-india-to-the-brink-one-obvious-solution-is-also-a-big-part-of-the-problem/1610417</a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ClimateChange" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#ClimateChange</a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ClimateCrisis" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#ClimateCrisis</a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/GreenhouseGas" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#GreenhouseGas</a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ExtremeTemperatures" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#ExtremeTemperatures</a>

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