Prepare for Change

  https://www.businessinsider.com/airbus-operated-a380-jet-with-100-sustainable-aviation-fuel-saf-2022-3?utm_source=reddit.com   Now, Airbus is ramping up its SAF testing with the first flight of an A380 superjumbo using 100% biofuel made of cooking oil and other waste fats. The company hopes to introduce the world's first zero-emission aircraft by 2035.  "The flight test met all of our requirements, which will enable us to carry out the next phase of the project consisting of specific engine manoeuvers," Airbus test pilot, Wolfgang Absmeier, said.   This is wonderful, killing 2 birds with one stone.  No more cooking oil waste, and keeping oil in the ground.        

 It's amazing to see how the tide has suddenly turned for Russian oligarchs.  But it's not just the Ukraine war that is causing problems for them.  Our entire world is changing in how money and things can no longer be hidden: * https://www.flightradar24.com lets anybody follow where oligarch's private jets run around to * https://www.marinetraffic.com does the same for their multi-million dollar yachts * The Pandora Papers, the Panama Papers, and other leaks from private trusts around the world that once secretly held their money are suddenly leaking information like a sieve * people are beginning to understand that ill-gotten money soaked up by the oligarchs means less for everybody else * and of course the Ukraine war puts the spotlight on those few who helped Putin siphon billions from the Russian economy for himself and his cronies It won't be an easy time for the super-rich in the near future.  They may weather these changes somehow but I hope not.

 The events in Ukraine are surprising to me, and bring up a radical question.  Is the world learning how to end wars?      Consider that Putin apparently assumed a few things that weren't correct.  He thought the Ukrainians would be pushovers.  That is obviously incorrect.  He thought other countries would sit idly by since Ukraine was not in NATO nor any other union/treaty.  This was wildly incorrect.  NATO has come together and put heavy pressure on Russia itself through sanctions, military aid to Ukraine, and a heavy military display on Russia's NATO borders.      But the thing that surprises me most is how businesses have reacted, even to their own detriment.  Many western companies have suspended activity in Russia.  They don't have to do that.  It actually hurts their bottom line.  But apparently there is enough consumer pressure on them to invoke this reaction.    So Russia wi...

  https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/us-corn-based-ethanol-worse-climate-than-gasoline-study-finds-2022-02-14   "Corn-based ethanol, which for years has been mixed in huge quantities into gasoline sold at U.S. pumps, is likely a much bigger contributor to global warming than straight gasoline, according to a study published Monday. The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, contradicts previous research commissioned by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) showing ethanol and other biofuels to be relatively green." * * * * * South Dakota farmers are not going to like this.  They've been happy growing the corn that is then turned into ethanol, and then added to local gasoline supplies.  

  https://techxplore.com/news/2022-01-breakthrough-plastic-machines-distinguish.html   "The technology makes it possible to separate plastics based on a purer chemical composition than is possible today, and this opens up for completely new opportunities to recycle plastics. The technology has been tested at pilot scale and is planned to be implemented at PLASTIX and Dansk Affaldsminimering Aps in spring 2022."   Only 10% of plastic is recycled now.  This will improve things greatly.

  https://www.cbc.ca/radio/whitecoat/crisis-response-teams-achieve-70-reduction-in-people-taken-into-custody-under-mental-health-act-1.6296427   In the eight years since the program launched in Hamilton, there has been a marked reduction in taking people in mental health crisis into custody. Before the mobile team, Hamilton police apprehended three out of every four people they were called to assist. Their latest figures show a 70 per cent reduction to fewer than one in five. "You'll see a full range. It might be as horrible as somebody up on a bridge threatening to jump," Burtenshaw told Dr. Brian Goldman, host of White Coat Black Art . "It might be somebody saying, 'Listen, I'm really worried about my mom. She's not answering the door. Can you do a wellness check?'"   * * * * *   Police tend to not know how to de-escalate an encounter with someone with mental health issues.  Professionals who do know save lives.

  https://cleantechnica.com/2021/12/05/lithium-brine-bummer-could-turn-into-bonanza-soon/   “Extraction of lithium from geothermal brines is expected to be particularly challenging,” the lab explains. “The brine is extremely hot when it comes out of the subsurface, and it contains a rich stew of many dissolved minerals in addition to lithium.” To visualize how complex and delicate the extraction process is, imagine you are flipping for baseball cards, except all of your cards are stuck together and they are on fire. * * * * * Still, it's very tempting to try to get at this ready source of lithium with a power source at hand as well.  At this time, lithium is needed for electric vehicles for their batteries.