#giantleap — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #giantleap, aggregated by home.social.
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Non-Fiction Trilogy of sorts - "#TheLimitsToGrowth; #PowerLimitsAndProspectsForHumanSurvival; and #EarthForAllASurvivalGuideForHumanity.
So, my copy of "The Limits To Growth" is a first edition from 1972, which I bought in a used book store in 1980. Whoever owned it before ("Denison") highlighted a bunch of stuff (the old school highlighters that don't fade), and put zig-zag lines around this paragraph: "In any finite system there must be constraints that can act to stop exponential growth. These constraints are negative feedback loops. The negative loops become stronger and stronger as growth approches the ultimate limit, or carrying capacity, of the system's environment. Finally, the negative loops balance or dominate the positive ones, and growth comes to an end. In the world system the negative feedback loops involve such processes as pollution of the environment, depletion of nonrenewable resources, and famine."
Fast forward to 2021, where one of the Limits To Growth authors, #DennisMeadows, describes #RichardHeinberg's "Power - Limits And Prospects for Human Survival" as "a powerful new way of understanding the historic rise and probable fall of our species. It is an impressive, sweeping, and thought-provoking narrative." Heinberg talks about how we got to where we are today (lots of history), but also offers solutions (like #Agroecology and #Degrowth).
Finally, "#EarthForAll - A Survival Guide For Humanity" -- which was a report to the #ClubOfRome, and a 50 year follow-up to Limits To Growth. This book is where I learned about the #GiantLeapScenario that we so need to survive as a species on a viable planet.
Limits To Growth influenced my thinking at a young age. "Power" explains how we went wrong, and "Earth For All" gives me hope for the future.
#Bookstodon #AmReading #History #DeGrowth #PowerStructures #ABetterWorldIsPossible #SolarPunkSunday #Earth4All #GiantLeap
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#SodiumIonBatteries offer an alternative to tricky #lithium
Oct 26th 2023
Excerpt: "Fortunately, lithium is not the only game in town. As we report this week, a clutch of firms are making batteries based on sodium, lithium’s elemental cousin. Since sodium’s chemical properties are very similar to those of lithium, it too makes for good batteries. And sodium, which is found in the salt in #seawater, is thousands of times more abundant on Earth than lithium and cheaper to get at. Most of the companies using sodium to make batteries today are also Chinese. But pursuing the technology in the West might be a surer route to energy security than relying heavily on lithium.
"Besides its abundance, sodium has other advantages. The best lithium batteries use #cobalt and #nickel in their electrodes. Nickel, like lithium, is in short supply. #Mining it on land is #EnvironmentallyDestructive. Proposals to grab it from the #seabed instead have caused rows. A good deal of the world’s cobalt, meanwhile, is extracted from small mines in the #DemocraticRepublicOfCongo, where #ChildLabour is common and working conditions are dire. Sodium batteries, by contrast, can use #electrodes built from #iron and #manganese [and wood #lignin], which are plentiful and uncontroversial. Since the chemical components are cheap, a scaled-up industry should be able to produce batteries that cost less than their lithium counterparts.
"Sodium is not a perfect replacement for lithium. It is heavier, meaning sodium batteries will weigh more than lithium ones of an equivalent capacity. That is likely to rule them out in some cases where lightness is paramount. But for other applications, such as #GridStorage or #HomeBatteries, weight is irrelevant. Several Chinese carmakers are even beginning to put sodium batteries in #ElectricVehicles."
Read more:
https://www.economist.com/leaders/2023/10/26/sodium-batteries-offer-an-alternative-to-tricky-lithiumArchived version:
https://archive.ph/7x6JX#SolarPunkSunday #EnergyStorage #SodiumIon #NewTechnology #GiantLeap #Reuse #WasteReuse #NoLithiumMining #NoMining
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Fast-charging #SodiumIon battery uses anodes made from trees
By C.C. Weiss
June 09, 2024"A month after #NatronEnergy began its first-of-kind sodium-ion battery mass production, Swedish sodium-ion developer #Altris has identified a means of making the LithiumFree batteries even more sustainable. Together with partner #StoraEnso, it's adapting tree pulp-sourced carbon toward use as an anode material.
"A byproduct of wood pulp manufacturing, #lignin has long been investigated for possible use as a more sustainable electrode material. Finnish renewable materials company Stora Enso made headlines in 2022 when it partnered up with Swedish battery manufacturer #Northvolt toward using its proprietary #Lignode material in lithium-ion battery anodes. Stora Enso describes Lignode as a hard carbon material refined from lignin.
"By teaming with Altris, Stora Enso looks to go even more sustainable while further localizing the European battery supply chain. As we looked at when Natron Energy kicked off production a few weeks ago, sodium-ion batteries eliminate the need for rare minerals like lithium, cobalt and nickel, relying on abundant sodium that can be sourced locally without harmful #mining. "
Read more:
https://newatlas.com/energy/wood-based-sodium-ion-battery/#SolarPunkSunday #EnergyStorage #SodiumIonBatteries #NewTechnology #GiantLeap #Reuse #WasteReuse
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Sustainability-inspired cell design for a fully #recyclable #SodiumIon battery
Tiefeng Liu, Yaping Zhang, Chao Chen, Zhan Lin, Shanqing Zhang , Jun LuNature Communications, 2019 Apr 29
"Effective #recycling technologies represent a solution to the #sustainability and environmental consequences of spent #RechargeableBatteries . Here, the authors show a bipolar electrode design that allows not only good electrochemical performance but a closed loop of material use for sodium ion batteries."
Read more:
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6488666/#SolarPunkSunday #Reuse #SodiumIonBatteries #NewTechnology
#GiantLeap #EWaste #EWasteRecycling #EWasteReuse -
Well, here's a good use of #AI. Now, let's make it so!!! This is the #GiantLeap we all need to survive!
I Asked #ChatGPT What Would Happen If #Billionaires Paid Taxes at the Same Rate as the #WorkingClass
Story by Laura Beck
10/23/2025Excerpts:
What That Money Could Actually Buy
"To put these numbers in perspective, ChatGPT explained what this kind of revenue could fund. Even the conservative estimate of $500 billion per year could pay for transformative programs.
"That amount could cover free public #college tuition, universal pre-K programs, massive #infrastructure investments and a huge #healthcare expansion. It could fund comprehensive #ChildCare support and #FoodAssistance programs.
"The AI emphasized that we’re talking about enough money to fundamentally change how the government operates and what services it can provide."
The Global Ripple Effects
"ChatGPT pointed out that if major economies like the United States started taxing billionaires at working-class rates, it could encourage similar moves worldwide.
"This might lead to reduced global tax avoidance, more coordinated international tax policies and pressure on tax havens to reform their systems.
"The AI said this could create a positive cycle where it becomes harder for the ultra-wealthy to avoid paying their fair share anywhere in the world."
#World3 #SolarPunk #PayYourFairShare #Billionaires #TaxTheRich #UltraWealthy #NoTaxHavens #SocietalChange #ShareTheWealth #SolarPunkSunday
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Well, here's a good use of #AI. Now, let's make it so!!! This is the #GiantLeap we all need to survive!
I Asked #ChatGPT What Would Happen If #Billionaires Paid Taxes at the Same Rate as the #WorkingClass
Story by Laura Beck
10/23/2025Excerpts:
What That Money Could Actually Buy
"To put these numbers in perspective, ChatGPT explained what this kind of revenue could fund. Even the conservative estimate of $500 billion per year could pay for transformative programs.
"That amount could cover free public #college tuition, universal pre-K programs, massive #infrastructure investments and a huge #healthcare expansion. It could fund comprehensive #ChildCare support and #FoodAssistance programs.
"The AI emphasized that we’re talking about enough money to fundamentally change how the government operates and what services it can provide."
The Global Ripple Effects
"ChatGPT pointed out that if major economies like the United States started taxing billionaires at working-class rates, it could encourage similar moves worldwide.
"This might lead to reduced global tax avoidance, more coordinated international tax policies and pressure on tax havens to reform their systems.
"The AI said this could create a positive cycle where it becomes harder for the ultra-wealthy to avoid paying their fair share anywhere in the world."
#World3 #SolarPunk #PayYourFairShare #Billionaires #TaxTheRich #UltraWealthy #NoTaxHavens #SocietalChange #ShareTheWealth #SolarPunkSunday
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Well, here's a good use of #AI. Now, let's make it so!!! This is the #GiantLeap we all need to survive!
I Asked #ChatGPT What Would Happen If #Billionaires Paid Taxes at the Same Rate as the #WorkingClass
Story by Laura Beck
10/23/2025Excerpts:
What That Money Could Actually Buy
"To put these numbers in perspective, ChatGPT explained what this kind of revenue could fund. Even the conservative estimate of $500 billion per year could pay for transformative programs.
"That amount could cover free public #college tuition, universal pre-K programs, massive #infrastructure investments and a huge #healthcare expansion. It could fund comprehensive #ChildCare support and #FoodAssistance programs.
"The AI emphasized that we’re talking about enough money to fundamentally change how the government operates and what services it can provide."
The Global Ripple Effects
"ChatGPT pointed out that if major economies like the United States started taxing billionaires at working-class rates, it could encourage similar moves worldwide.
"This might lead to reduced global tax avoidance, more coordinated international tax policies and pressure on tax havens to reform their systems.
"The AI said this could create a positive cycle where it becomes harder for the ultra-wealthy to avoid paying their fair share anywhere in the world."
#World3 #SolarPunk #PayYourFairShare #Billionaires #TaxTheRich #UltraWealthy #NoTaxHavens #SocietalChange #ShareTheWealth #SolarPunkSunday
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Well, here's a good use of #AI. Now, let's make it so!!! This is the #GiantLeap we all need to survive!
I Asked #ChatGPT What Would Happen If #Billionaires Paid Taxes at the Same Rate as the #WorkingClass
Story by Laura Beck
10/23/2025Excerpts:
What That Money Could Actually Buy
"To put these numbers in perspective, ChatGPT explained what this kind of revenue could fund. Even the conservative estimate of $500 billion per year could pay for transformative programs.
"That amount could cover free public #college tuition, universal pre-K programs, massive #infrastructure investments and a huge #healthcare expansion. It could fund comprehensive #ChildCare support and #FoodAssistance programs.
"The AI emphasized that we’re talking about enough money to fundamentally change how the government operates and what services it can provide."
The Global Ripple Effects
"ChatGPT pointed out that if major economies like the United States started taxing billionaires at working-class rates, it could encourage similar moves worldwide.
"This might lead to reduced global tax avoidance, more coordinated international tax policies and pressure on tax havens to reform their systems.
"The AI said this could create a positive cycle where it becomes harder for the ultra-wealthy to avoid paying their fair share anywhere in the world."
#World3 #SolarPunk #PayYourFairShare #Billionaires #TaxTheRich #UltraWealthy #NoTaxHavens #SocietalChange #ShareTheWealth #SolarPunkSunday
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Well, here's a good use of #AI. Now, let's make it so!!! This is the #GiantLeap we all need to survive!
I Asked #ChatGPT What Would Happen If #Billionaires Paid Taxes at the Same Rate as the #WorkingClass
Story by Laura Beck
10/23/2025Excerpts:
What That Money Could Actually Buy
"To put these numbers in perspective, ChatGPT explained what this kind of revenue could fund. Even the conservative estimate of $500 billion per year could pay for transformative programs.
"That amount could cover free public #college tuition, universal pre-K programs, massive #infrastructure investments and a huge #healthcare expansion. It could fund comprehensive #ChildCare support and #FoodAssistance programs.
"The AI emphasized that we’re talking about enough money to fundamentally change how the government operates and what services it can provide."
The Global Ripple Effects
"ChatGPT pointed out that if major economies like the United States started taxing billionaires at working-class rates, it could encourage similar moves worldwide.
"This might lead to reduced global tax avoidance, more coordinated international tax policies and pressure on tax havens to reform their systems.
"The AI said this could create a positive cycle where it becomes harder for the ultra-wealthy to avoid paying their fair share anywhere in the world."
#World3 #SolarPunk #PayYourFairShare #Billionaires #TaxTheRich #UltraWealthy #NoTaxHavens #SocietalChange #ShareTheWealth #SolarPunkSunday