Monthly Archives: March 2022

The circular economy is a system that aims to get the most out of materials, keep products and materials in use and design them to be cycled back into the economy, eliminating waste. It is also a vital pillar of the energy transition.

Over 70 percent of the worlds GDP is covered by a net-zero target, with many advanced economies aiming to decarbonize by 2050 and China committing to 2060.

Share of global GDP percent covered by net-zero targets. Source: Generation (2021).

Transforming our current economic system is both a daunting challenge and a massive opportunity one like the world has never known.

Getting to net-zero by 2050 will mean accomplishing what seems unimaginable, like entirely phasing out the internal combustion engine or adding the equivalent of the worlds largest solar farm every single day.

To support and scale these efforts, speed will be of the essence especially given last years climate report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) confirming that urgent action is needed to stop global temperatures from rising above 1.5 degrees C and 2 degrees C. To build out the energy infrastructure the world needs at speed and scale, circular economy will play a vital role in three main ways.

The energy transition depends on a shift to renewable power, pivoting away from natural gas and petroleum and towards solar, wind, hydrogen, geothermal power or other zero-emissions tech supported by batteries.

But transitioning to these technologies is triggering massive demand for the critical minerals required, such as lithium, cobalt and rare earths.

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), getting to net zero by 2040 will require a six-fold increase in mineral input by 2040, some key metals, such as lithium, could see growth rates of over 40 times, with nickel and cobalt demand growing more than twentyfold. Demand is already soaring: The price of lithium in February 2021 hit an all-time high of $50,000 per tonne up from $10,000 just one year ago.

Growth in demand for selected minerals from clean energy technologies, 2040 relative to 2020 (multiples). Source: The Role of Critical Minerals in Clean Energy Transitions, International Energy Agency (2021).

Obtaining these materials exclusively via mining presents sustainability challenges. For instance, the process of mining neodymium, a rare earth metal used in many electric motors and generators including those in wind turbines, is highly polluting. The metal also appears in relatively small concentrations and is hard to capture, making its extraction more intensive compared to other minerals.

These materials also present potential challenges to energy security in Europe. The EU currently supplies only 1 percent of the raw materials needed for key technologies such as wind energy, lithium batteries, silicon photovoltaic assemblies and fuel cells.

The circular economy can reduce the dependence on mining and ensure longer-term use of these materials if implemented at scale. Recycling could help recover metals from the almost 60 million tonnes of smartphones, laptops, hard drives and many other electronic devices. Currently only 1 percent of neodymium is ever recycled and other metals in electronics that are key to the transition (tantalum, lithium, cobalt and manganese) also face poor rates of recycling.

Some companies are moving ahead on this. Many initiatives to recycle these materials are based around IT equipment. The systems being applied to smartphone recycling today may be effective for wind turbines and other equipment tomorrow.

To get to net-zero, clean tech such as electric cars or energy transition equipment will need to be made from zero emissions materials, as well as not produce emissions when they are used. This will be a significant challenge. According to a World Economic Forum study, by 2040, when most vehicles are predicted to be electric, the materials used to produce them could account for60 percent of their totallifetime emissions as opposed to 18 percent in 2020.

Share of lifecycle emissions in cars use and material production 2020-2040. Source: World Economic Forum, 2020.

In fact, emissions generated by the production of all materials globally have more than doubled in the last 20 years. A recent UNEP study estimates this is from 5 billion tons of carbon dioxide equivalent in 1995, to over 11 billion tons in 2015, reaching about a fifth of all greenhouse gases emissions.

The circular economy can be a source of low carbon materials. For example, recycled aluminium emits up to 95 percent less carbon dioxide than that from virgin sources. Building energy transition infrastructure from secondary materials will help our transition to net-zero.

Creating a truly sustainable energy transition means factoring the circular economy in at the design stage.

We need to install massive amounts of renewable energy over the coming decades. However, by the early 2030s, the first generation of solar will come offline, and by 2050 its predicted that we could be decommissioning 78 million tonnes of panels per year. In the same year, wind turbine blades could account for 43 million tonnes of waste.

So now is the right time to think about how these products are designed for longer life, easy disassembly and recycling and how we create and operate the systems to deal with the waste. With the right planning and attention, the panels coming offline in 2030 can become the new panels installed in 2031.

Companies have started to put this into action. For example, Siemens Gamesa recently announced the worlds first fully recyclable wind turbine blade. The resin used in blades allow for an easy separation of different materials at the end of the blades working life, allowing the component materials to be recycled. Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD also claims that its simpler battery chemistry and large cell size allows for easier recycling.

With the right planning and attention, the panels coming offline in 2030 can become the new panels installed in 2031.

Another critical part of circular design is life extension. We should make durable products designed to be repurposed for other uses. Used car batteries which can no longer hold sufficient charge for the range needed in a motor vehicle still hold a residual capacity of 60-80 percent and can be effectively used in other applications that require lower performance, such as stationary energy storage to support the grid.

This is already happening, albeit not at full scale. The stadium of Dutch football club Ajax used second hand Nissan leaf batteries to create a storage unit equivalent to the power used by 7,000 homes in one hour. This allows the club to store energy on sunny days that powers the stadium in evening games, as well as supporting the local grid.

Circular design can create valuable economic opportunities. The Global Battery Alliance predicts that the market for second use batteries could grow to $4 billion by 2030, provided that standardization and better, more flexible energy management systems can be introduced.

The energy transition is finally gathering pace. And at its core is a move away from burning fossil fuels to a system which uses a much broader range of raw materials to fulfill our energy needs.

Circular economy has to be baked into the energy transition by design to ensure the world has a sustainable supply of raw materials. This will take concerted action from companies and regulators.

Companies that use critical materials in their products need to get ahead of the issue. They need a circular economy strategy, to prioritize key materials and set targets and measurable KPIs. They need to think about a product's end of life at the start of its life. And think about the role they can play in extending the product's life or building a reverse supply chain to bring the product back.

Companies that mine critical materials have an opportunity to move beyond being an extraction company towards being a provider of materials and material services. This could include experimenting with leasing models (where the company continues to own materials in products) or investing in recycling capabilities.

As we enter a critical execution phase of limiting climate change the time to act is now for all industries and stakeholders.

Governments must recognize critical materials as a key pillar of energy security over the coming decades. They should put in place national plans and assess and mitigate economic risks, and build giga recycling plants alongside giga battery factories. Smart regulations, which encourage product take back, recycling and reverse supply chains could have a major impact and can be tested today on our old electronics.

Investors can scope opportunities to invest in new recycling capacity as well as offering financial products to their clients which enable new business models such as product as a service or leasing (where companies take back products and materials at end of life). Venture capital needs to seek out some of the most promising start-ups who are working on the tough technical problems in the recycling value chain.

As we enter a critical execution phase of limiting climate change the time to act is now for all industries and stakeholders. Designing the circular economy into the energy transition will allow us to move faster and more sustainably in getting to net-zero.

More:

3 ways the circular economy is vital for the energy transition | Greenbiz - GreenBiz

The entire 1.9-mile length was closed "out of an abundance of caution" after steel strands became loose from their anchor.

TAMPA, Fla. It's early 2021 all over again for drivers in South Tampa.

Traffic remains blocked from entering the Selmon Extention on Monday since engineers found two steel strands that had come loose from their anchor. The Tampa Hillsborough Expressway Authority says the discovery was made over the weekend during a routine inspection.

While crews could replace the wires with traffic on the extension, its entire length was closed "in an abundance of caution," THEA said in an earlier statement.

The 1.9-mile tolled roadway that stretches from the Gandy Bridge to the Selmon Expressway has been well-welcomed since its opening on April 19, 2021. Officials have said the extension cuts what's normally a 15-30 minute commute on Gandy Boulevard which lies in its shadow down to about two minutes during peak congestion.

With the extension remaining closed, drivers are again feeling what it was like prior to its grand opening. Traffic cameras showed backups on eastbound and westbound Gandy Boulevard for much of the morning.

It remains unclear when exactly the extension will reopen to traffic. In the meantime, drivers can consider taking several routes when needing to get to St. Petersburg:

Drivers can also consider heading north from Gandy Boulevard at any of these above-mentioned roads to get to Tampa.

Originally posted here:

Remember life without the Selmon Extension? Here's how to get around its closure - WTSP.com

March 25th, 2022

Bucs GM Jason Licht

Yes, Tom Brady is playing for the Bucs this season. But will Brady desire his NFL freedom after the 2022 campaign?

Thats a major unknown. And Joe suspects that was part of the discussion when Brady went to England two weeks ago, assuming he actually met with Team Glazer there.Bradys unretirement does not mean hes playing only one more season, so his 2023 rights are a legitimate question.

Listening to Bucs general manager Jason Licht on SiriusXM NFL Radio this week, it sure seems like it wont be long before Brady has a new contract.

We may need to create some more cap space, or what have you, and thats one well take a look at and well talk to his representatives, Licht said while answering a question about a new contract for Brady.

Sowhether its an extension or an adjustment, well see where that goes.

Of course, the Bucs would prefer an extension to Bradys contract that expires after this season. And Joe confidently states the Bucs would give Brady anything he wants, including Aaron Rodgers money (plus an extra million, of course) in 2023 and beyond.

Team Glazer could always pay Brady a monstrous signing bonus as part of a Buccaneers-for-life contract. If he retires, then the Bucs can spread the cap hit over the life of the deal. And who could really cry foul if Brady signed a six-year contract and only played one year? The notion of Brady playing at 50 years old isnt ludicrous.

Joe suspects Team Glazer already has a massive offer to Brady on the table. And as was discussed on the Ira Kaufman Podcast, perhaps an unnamed party also will place an order for 500,000 units of The Big Tom water bottle.

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"Whether It's An Extension Or An Adjustment, We'll See Where That Goes" - JoeBucsFan.com

Loveland, also released as Expired in some countries, is Australian independent filmmaker Ivan Sens take on a futuristic cosmopolitan Asian city which really has no place for love. Visually akin to Hong Kong in real life and Los Angeles in Blade Runner, Sens futuristic city is gradually losing everything real and replacing it with fabrications, which include the residents and even their emotions. Despite having a particular and likable visual style with the use of lights and colors, a haphazard narrative, an unnecessarily poetic script, and an overall sense of pretension bring the film down to a tedious watch.

Jack is a middle-aged man with tough looks and a demeanor, but he is clearly burdened and worn out by his life in the city. In a world full of enough professional and personal rivalries, Jack works as a hired assassin, going around the dark and shady corners of the metropolis to finish off his targets. While traveling one day on the subway, he comes across a woman who he finds of attractive interest. Being someone very experienced in sneakily following people around without their knowledge, Jack goes around following this woman and reaches a club. Going in as a potential customer, he realizes that the woman is one of the many performers at the club; she sings for paying customers from behind a glass chamber, where the customer can see her, but she cannot see them.

During their session, the woman tells Jack that her name is April, and she has moved to the city in search of a living from her small native village in South Vietnam. After the session ends, Jack continues following April around on multiple occasions. He seems to feel an intense attraction towards her, something that is very new to his experience. But along with that, he is also going through bouts of ill health, sometimes pain in his chest, and sometimes something else, for which he is seen taking medicines, but the reason for which is unknown. One day, while following April, he goes into narrow and empty lanes and suddenly realizes that a dark-skinned man seems to be following him. This face is known to him, as the man was also present in a restaurant on the first night, when Jack was on a mission to kill. Jack goes back to the club, and as April recognizes him by his voice, he asks her out to dinner.

That very night, after their date is over, while walking on the streets alone, Jack once again sees his stalker and tries to approach him. But the man carelessly walks onto the main road and is violently hit by a speeding bus. As Jack goes to check on him, he sees that the man is not a human but a humanoid robot that has been destroyed by the accident. He picks up a memory chip from the scene of the accident and tracks it down to Masuka corporation, a biotech company headed by scientist Dr. Bergman who has been missing for a year. Jack tries to track down this scientist while his health grows worse, and he has to consult a doctor about it. The doctor, too, is confused by his ill-health despite having clean DNA. Jack tries to ask Bergman for help, but he refuses to trust him.

After another date with April, Jack confronts another man who seems to have been following him, and the latter explains that Jack had killed his brother, and he wanted to get some sort of revenge. Taking complete control of the situation, Jack is about to shoot the man dead, but falters at the last minute as he loses control over his own body and throws up and falls to the ground.

Spoilers Ahead

Jack is quickly helped back to his feet by Bergman, who had been tailing him the entire day. He takes the ailing assassin to his small apartment and checks on his vitals. Jack reveals that he has been feeling sick since around the same time that he met with April, and the scientist suggests that the two might be somehow linked. After he leaves, Dr. Bergman starts to look into this curious case, trying to read up on his old research documents on life extension and also secretly visiting his old laboratory at Masuka. He realizes that a stranger is also stalking him and trying to get into his well-guarded apartment.

Meanwhile, Jack and April spend a lot of time with each other, growing closer and confiding secrets about their past. April reveals that she once had a daughter who she lost in the world and that she regularly prays for her well-being. Jack, too tells her about his fazed past, about his mother, who abandoned him at a young age, and his father, with whom he does not keep in touch. Although April wants Jack to spend the night at her place, he insists on leaving, saying that it is not safe for her to be near him.

The next day, Jack visits the last address of his father that he had and is informed that the old man had died a year ago. Jack, once completely unaffected by any of these emotions till one point in his life, now almost breaks down after hearing of his fathers demise. Bergman also visits Aprils club and tries to convince her to stay away from the hitman. Then, meeting with Jack, he reveals that in his early childhood, the man was subject to an experimental program in which street children were taken to test trials to extend life. In it, some hormones were restricted from being produced in their bodies, which essentially made them devoid of any deep emotional feelings. Jack had been a part of this and therefore could be a cold-blooded killer, and the corporation was now sending men, or humanoids, to bring him in and conclude the research. However, these hormones now caused a resurgence in Jacks body, which made him feel so strangely attached to things, and also, this was causing an imbalance in his body which was making him so sick.

Bergman also reveals that he was the one heading all such experiments, but is now terribly remorseful of them, and also that Jack is sure to die if his body keeps producing the hormones. For some time, Jack tries to stay away from April, still looking at her from a distance, but then ultimately gives himself in as the two spend a romantic night together.

Despite the character of Jack being framed as a source-less drifter, enough information has been provided about him. He remembers his mother, and tries to very twistedly grow closer to her memory by paying for a night with an elderly sex-bot and then only sleeping with her hand over his head. He remembers his father, and remembers not to meet him. He recalls the sounds and experiences of his childhood, presented in black and white by the film.

But he also has this ever-growing doubt about the actuality of these memorieswhether they were really memories or just a dream. This fixation with what is real and what is not continues, as there is enough reason to be doubtful in the world he lives in, where fake plastic-like strawberries are served at clubs. It is perhaps Jacks gradual realization about the fabric of his life, along with his growing ability to feel, that the director wants to talk about throughout the film. But overall, there seems to be a shroud of almost forced inexplicability and depth to the film.

All three characters are assigned poetic and lyrical monologues, which do not add anything, but instead become dull very quickly. The backdrop of science-fiction also does not play much of a role other than Jacks condition and the ever-present flashing neon lights. There are one or two scenes where civilian protests on the streets are shown in news programs, quite like the recent conditions in Hong Kong, but nothing more of that is explored either.

The next morning, Jack wakes up alone in the apartment, and there is no sign of April anywhere. Coming down to the street, he sees two men (one of whom was earlier seen outside Bergmans apartment) and a black van waiting to abduct him. He starts limping towards the other side of the street, with the two men following him, and then suddenly sees the young man he had not been able to kill earlier in the film. The man now yields a gun and shoots at the two perpetrators. A gunfight follows, which kills all three men, but Jack remains unharmed in the middle; he limps into a corner alley and possibly passes out. With a slow fade, the scene changes to a tall skyscraper where Jack is seen working as a construction laborer. He used to work in this profession earlier, and is now seemingly back to it. He goes back to the club and asks for April, but is told that she has returned to Vietnam. Looking at the plate of fake strawberries, he walks out of the club with a disheartened spirit and walks into the crowd.

Jack does survive physically, but he is definitely lost spiritually. His growing feelings were already making his life more difficult, and now without even his beloved April, Jacks life is nothing but hollow. In a short sequence of fleeting scenes played in slow-motion, Aprils perspective is shown as she walked away from the apartment the previous morning. She had removed Jacks gun and thrown it away, which had rendered him defenseless and could have led to his death. She is also seen meeting with her young daughter, but by now, we really do not know what is real and what is fake. By the end, viewers are left with more confusion, as Jack promises to keep waiting for April in his seemingly unending expanded life. It would be really difficult for even the most enthusiastic viewers of the science-fiction genre to take Loveland with any seriousness.

Loveland (or Expired) is a 2022 Australian Science Fiction film written and directed by Ivan Sen.

Read more from the original source:

'Loveland' Ending, Explained: What Is The Cause Of Jack Falling Sick? Is He Dead or Alive? | DMT - DMT

As warmer weather approaches and the Appalachian region defrosts, exploring local trails is a great way to get outside.

In Cambria County, Pennsylvania, theres no shortage of opportunities to do just that at any skill level, Conservation and Recreation Authority Executive Director Cliff Kitner said

The cool thing about the trails is you can go out there every day and itll be different every day, he said. From a recreation standpoint to a connection standpoint, to the shear beauty of them, the opportunities are endless.

That includes the authority-owned 48-mile total Ghost Town Trail, with trailheads in Ebensburg, Nanty Glo, Twin Rocks, Wehrum and out-of-county access in Dilltown, Heshbon and John P. Saylor Park, as well as several extension locations; Path of the Flood Trail, which has parking areas at Stineman, Bealtown/Stineman, Ehrenfeld Ball Park, Mainline Memorial Park, Fifficktown, Staple Bend Tunnel Park and Franklin Park; and Jim Mayer Riverswalk Trail that has access at Cleavland Street, Riverside, Bridge Street, Messenger Street and Hickory Street in the City of Johnstown.

More information on those paths can be found at http://www.cambriaconservationrecreation.com.

Throughout the county theres also the nearly 300-acre Stackhouse Park off Luzerne Street; Inclined Plane trails for hiking and downhill mountain biking; Lorain/Stonycreek Hiking Trails; Honan Avenue Trail; 70-mile Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail that stretches from Seward to Ohiopyle in Fayette County; Nathans Divide outside of Ebensburg Borough; the Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site that includes part of the 6-to-10 Trail; and Prince Gallitzin State Park.

For more information on these trails, visit http://www.visitjohnstownpa.com.

In addition to those locations, theres the state DCNR Gallitzin State Forests, such as the Charles F. Lewis Natural Area off state Route 403 and Babcock Division off state Route 56 in Somerset County, Pennsylvania.

Kitner also pointed to the various benefits of getting outside.

How can you go out on trail and go by one of the streams or waterfalls and not soak it in and be happy, he said.

According to the United States National Park Service, hiking is one of the best ways to get exercise.

No matter what type of trail you find yourself on, hiking is a great whole-body workout from head to toe and everything in between, the NPS website says.

Hitting a trail can improve heart health and sense of balance and can build stronger muscles and bones.

There are mental health benefits, as well, ranging from boosts to mood to calming anxiety and lower risk of depression, according to the National Parks Service.

In addition to having mental health benefits, being outdoors opens up your senses to your surroundings and improves your sensory perception, the website says. Taking in the sights, smells and feelings of nature has so many health benefits it can even be prescribed by a doctor.

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Joshua Byers is a reporter for The Tribune-Democrat. He can be reached at 814-532-5054. Follow him on Twitter @Journo_Josh.

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Family Life | 'Different every day': Spring season provides ample opportunity to experience region's many trails - TribDem.com