Iron fertilization: Scientists want to add the element to the ocean to capture carbon. Adding metal to marine life. By Devika Rao, The Week US Oct 21,2024 The climate is warming, and much of the increase is due to greenhouse gases, the most prevalent gas being carbon dioxide. Methods for removing existing carbon from the atmosphere are in the works, and some experts are arguing in favor of iron fertilization, a geoengineering approach which would help oceans trap atmospheric carbon. While the method has potential, the consequences of implementing it are still largely unknown. Iron in the ocean.....An article published in the journal Frontiers in Climate lays out a program for implementing iron fertilization to help fight climate change. Ocean iron fertilization (OIF) is a "technique where small amounts of micronutrient iron are released onto the surface of the sea to stimulate the growth of marine plants known as phytoplankton," said Euronews. "This rapid growth removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through photosynthesis. When the plankton die or are eaten, some of that carbon is captured as it sinks deep into the ocean." Geoengineering like OIF has long been in discussion as a way to mitigate carbon emissions."Given the ocean's large capacity for carbon storage … enhancing the ocean's natural ability to store carbon should be considered," Paentific community has come together to endorse a specific research plan for ocean iron," Ken Buesseler, the study's lead author and executive director of the ExOIS project, said in the statement. The program wants to raise $160 millioul Morris, one of the authors of the study and the project manager for international experts group Exploring Ocean Iron Solutions (ExOIS), said in a statement. ExOIS wants to conduct iron fertil time in over a decade that the marine scin for the trial and has already received a $2 million grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.....read on     https://theweek.com/environment/iron-fertilization-climate-change

Butter made from CO2, not cows, tastes like ‘the real thing’, claims startup. Savor, backed by Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates, says the product has a lower carbon footprint as it doesn’t need cows/ Guardian Butter made from air instead of cows? A California-based startup claims to have worked out a complex process that eliminates the need for the animals while making its dairy-free alternative taste just as good. Savor, backed by the Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates, has been experimenting with creating dairy-free alternatives to ice-cream, cheese, and milk by utilising a thermochemical process that allows it to build fat molecules, creating chains of carbon dioxide, hydrogen and oxygen. The company has now announced a new animal-free butter alternative. Reducing meat and dairy consumption is one of the key ways that humanity can reduce its environmental impact, as livestock production is a significant source of greenhouse gases, and Savor says its products will have a significantly lower carbon footprint than animal-based ones. The “butter” could potentially come in at less than 0.8g CO2 equivalent per calorie. The standard climate footprint of real unsalted butter with 80% fat is approximately 2.4g CO2 equivalent per calorie. Meat and dairy alternatives have become more and more popular in recent years, but some fall short in terms of flavour. Savor says the flavour of its butter is more exact. “So far, we had informal taste panels with tens of people,” Alexander said. “We expect to perform a more formal panel as part of our commercialisation and scale-up efforts.” The question now is whether buyers will take to such synthetic fats. Getting people to give up their favourite dairy and meat items for more “experimental” foods may pose a challenge. Advocating for the initiative in an online blogpost, Gates wrote: “The idea of switching to lab-made fats and oils may seem strange at first. But their potential to significantly reduce our carbon footprint is immense. By harnessing proven technologies and processes, we get one step closer to achieving our climate goals.    https://www.theguardian.com/science/article/2024/jul/16/us-startup-lab-made-climate-friendly-butter-savor-bill-gates?utm_term=669cc14d36125f9aee52e4302c43af5c&utm_campaign=TheUpside&utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&CMP=upside_email

Google’s emissions climbed nearly 50% in five years due to AI energy demand. Tech giant’s goal of reducing climate footprint at risk as it grows increasingly reliant on energy-hungry data centres. Guardian Don Milmo Tue 2 Jul 2024    Google’s goal of reducing its climate footprint is in jeopardy as it relies on more and more energy-hungry data centres to power its new artificial intelligence products. The tech giant revealed Tuesday that its greenhouse gas emissions have climbed 48% over the past five years. Google said electricity consumption by data centres and supply chain emissions were the primary cause of the increase. It also revealed in its annual environmental report that its emissions in 2023 had risen 13% compared with the previous year, hitting 14.3m metric tons. The tech company, which has invested substantially in AI, said its “extremely ambitious” goal of reaching net zero emissions by 2030 “won’t be easy”. It said “significant uncertainty” around reaching the target included “the uncertainty around the future environmental impact of AI, which is complex and difficult to predict”.   Google’s emissions have risen by nearly 50% since 2019, the base year for Google’s goal of reaching net zero, which requires the company removing as much CO2 as it emits.

The International Energy Agency estimates that data centres’ total electricity consumption could double from 2022 levels to 1,000TWh (terawatt hours) in 2026, approximately Japan’s level of electricity demand. AI will result in data centres using 4.5% of global energy generation by 2030, according to calculations by research firm SemiAnalysis. Data centres play a crucial role in training and operating the models that underpin AI models like Google’s Gemini and OpenAI’s GPT-4, which powers the ChatGPT chatbot. Microsoft admitted this year that energy use related to its data centres was endangering its “moonshot” target of being carbon negative by 2030. Brad Smith, Microsoft’s president, admitted in May that “the moon has moved” due to the company’s AI strategy.Microsoft’s co-founder, Bill Gates, said last week that AI would help combat the climate crisis because big tech is “seriously willing” to pay extra to use clean electricity sources in order “to say that they’re using green energy”. Big tech companies have become major purchasers of renewable energy in a bid to meet their climate goals.However, pledges to reduce CO2 emissions are now coming up against pledges to invest heavily in AI products that require considerable amounts of energy for training and deployment in data centres, along with carbon emissions associated with manufacturing and transporting the computer servers and chips used in that process. Water usage is another environmental factor in the AI boom, with one study estimating that AI could account for up to 6.6bn cubic metres of water use by 2027 – nearly two-thirds of England’s annual consumption.......read on      https://www.theguardian.com/technology/article/2024/jul/02/google-ai-emissions