Gusdai

Gusdai t1_jai2430 wrote

Reply to comment by commentist in German scientists show a commercially feasible method for cyanobacteria to extract 17 rare earth elements from low-concentration sources. Currently, most of the world's supply of these elements is mined in China. by lughnasadh

It takes a couple of years to shift, because it takes a lot of infrastructure (and planning) to mine and refine.

But remember when China talked of export quotas on these minerals, to punish certain countries (Japan at the time)? That was a couple of years ago, and countries started developing their own supply already, because they understood the problem. So China doesn't have the same leverage anymore.

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Gusdai t1_j6roh0t wrote

Reply to comment by jough22 in Planting more trees could axe summer deaths by a third. Modelling of 93 European cities finds that increasing tree cover up to 30% can help lower the temperature of urban environments by an average of 0.4°C and prevent one in three heat deaths as a result. by MistWeaver80

Asking the real question here.

In most European cities, if you could free up 30% of space you should probably use most of it for housing.

This would also avoid people commuting from far away, thus saving a ton of energy and CO2 emissions. The CO2 captured by a 20-year tree through its growth is probably emitted in a few months max by a single suburban car commuter.

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Gusdai t1_iux7fyh wrote

Reply to comment by Goldenslicer in Researchers fed microalgae on leftover coffee grounds to produce high-quality biodiesel | It could decrease reliance on palm oil to produce biofuel. by chrisdh79

Exactly: these algae produce energy from the sun. This process is just a very complex solar panel, of which coffee grounds are one of the costs, not the source of energy.

The process would make sense if you could produce something with high added value, like nutritious food. If you produce something that you're literally burning away by the gallon in cars, it makes no sense. Just build solar panels instead, and turn the coffee grounds into compost, or even burn them for energy directly (which can already displace a lot of fossil fuel use).

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Gusdai t1_iur6c53 wrote

Reply to comment by Roxerz in Oregon Trail with new dysentery mechanics by shot_collar

It's a matter of numbers.

One human sh*tting on the beach is fine. A whole village and it's not. Villages all along the coast doing it, that's an issue.

Animals don't usually live in the same numbers as humans; for animals living in large colonies I don't know how they avoid diseases. Maybe they don't, and their young ones dying of diarrhea is common?

For the story, New York City used to dump raw sewage out at sea, through a long pipe. It caused issues, so they tried to dump further at sea (for more dilution), but it never solved the issue, so they ended up treating their sewage instead, like a normal city.

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