u/MnkyBzns

"Part of this engagement will involve public listening sessions in both Winnipeg and Brandon.

The Winnipeg session will be held on Wednesday, August 12,, from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM at Norberry-Glenlee Community Centre, 26 Molgat Ave.

The Brandon session will take place on Monday, August 10, from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM at Harvest Hall, on the campus of Brandon University."

Deep Sky claims the carbon capture facility will scrub 30,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere each year and inject it 1,000 metres into the ground. To do this, it will need to draw up to 15,000 megawatts of power from the Manitoba Hydro grid for the first stage of the project. The project will be financed by selling carbon credits.

...the Canadian industrial carbon price is set at $130 per tonne. At that price, Deep Sky will have to sell more than 1.5 million tonnes of carbon just to cover the upfront cost of building the plant. That’s over 51 years’ worth of carbon credits. And that doesn’t even cover the everyday operating costs, such as the electricity needed to run the plant.

Some studies suggest it requires about 2,0002,500 kilowatt hours to electricity to capture one tonne of CO2 and inject it into the ground. To capture 30,000 tonnes, that’s about 60 million kWh. Even if Manitoba Hydro sells it to the facility for only $0.035/kWh, that’s an additional $70 per tonne.

Is there something else $200 million could be used for that would help reduce carbon in the air?

In 2024, the federal government announced the two billion trees program with a budget of $200 million over 10 years. A tree absorbs about 25 kilograms of carbon annually, depending on type and size. Two billion trees would absorb roughly 50 million tonnes of carbon annually. That’s 1,666 times the amount of carbon captured by the proposed facility. And there is no operating cost.

Where can we plant two billion trees? How about replacing the trees lost to wildfire in the last few years? Unfortunately, that program was shut down and is no longer accepting applications. I guess it’s not sexy enough.

Put another way, one tree absorbs about 25 kilograms of carbon per year. To absorb 30,000 tonnes of carbon — the same as the proposed direct carbon capture facility — would require about 1.2 million trees. At a cost of $10 per tree, that would cost about $12 million, about six per cent of the cost of the plant...

Anything else that $200 million could be used for to reduce carbon?

Replacing your gas furnace with a geothermal heat pump in a typical home reduces carbon emissions by about six tonnes annually. You can install a geothermal source heat pump for about $35,000 to $50,000, depending on the type of ground heat exchanger needed. If you have an older gas furnace that is on its last legs, you’ll have to set aside about $15,000 if you wanted to include air conditioning. After all, it’s getting warmer. That makes the extra cost to install a geothermal heat pump system about $20-35,000. $200 million will pay the extra cost for about 7,000 heat pumps. That reduces carbon emissions by about 42,000 tonnes annually. About 40 per cent more carbon reduction than the proposed carbon capture facility.

The article suggests the proposed carbon capture project will create about 750-1,000 jobs during construction and about 100 permanent jobs during operation. The two billion trees program was projected to create 4,300 jobs. The design and installation of 7,250 geothermal heat pump installations would create about 800 full-time positions, not including the service and maintenance jobs for the life of the system.

I’m trying to figure out how it makes sense to spend $200 million to build a facility to get rid of something that has no real value to society. Then spend even more money for the people and electricity to run it. Who’s going to buy the carbon credits? Only rich companies such as Stripe, Google, Shopify and Anthropic, trying to say their power-hungry data centres are “green.”

A rollercoaster of emotions with this one, but it ends on a high(ish) note. Curious if anyone on here has stories they'd like to share about buying/selling a home with xeriscaping.

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Is there a way to filter out Spotify-branded playlists? I want to focus on finding compilations from other users.

Selected excerpts:

"The question, then, is not whether A.I. will change the world. It will. The question is: Who will own and control that future? Who will benefit from it, and who will be hurt by it? Will A.I. be used to make life better for working families? Will it enrich our quality of life? Will it help us eliminate poverty, extend life expectancies and solve the climate crisis? Or will the future of humanity be determined by a handful of billionaires who have promoted and developed A.I., with virtually no democratic input, who stand to become even richer and more powerful than they are today?

That is the choice before us.

Let us be clear. Artificial intelligence was not created out of thin air. The data and language used by generative A.I. tools didn’t just pop into Sam Altman’s head or Elon Musk’s imagination. A.I. is built on our collective intelligence: our books, songs, artwork, journalism, computer code, scientific research, videos, conversations, images and ideas spanning generations. That is not just the opinion of Bernie Sanders. According to Mr. Altman, the head of OpenAI, A.I. models were trained on our 'collective experience, knowledge' and 'learnings of humanity.'

For the most part, tech oligarchs have fed this knowledge into their A.I. models without permission, without acknowledgment, without compensation. In other words, the creative work of millions of people — writers, artists, musicians, journalists, teachers, scientists and ordinary citizens — has essentially been stolen by some of the wealthiest people in the world. It’s time for us to reclaim it.

That is why I will soon be introducing the American A.I. Sovereign Wealth Fund Act. This legislation would give the public a direct ownership stake in the largest A.I. companies in our country. How? It would create a sovereign wealth fund through a one-time 50 percent tax — not on the profits of OpenAI, Anthropic, xAI and other companies, but paid with something far more valuable than that: the stock."

Roof material installation order was messed up. Hoping for help with remediation...

Low slope roof (3:12) assembly spec'd as follows:

- Shingles

- underlay

- 5/8 OSB

- 1x4 vertical strapping

- 8" unfaced graphite EPS (top layer 2.5", bottom layer 5.5")

- P&S, impermeable WRB (Roofnado Laplock PSU HT)

- 5/8 OSB (added thickness for embed of strapping screws)

- 2x6 T&G plank deck (doubles as ceiling)

The guys installed the P&S on the T&G, with the OSB on top of the P&S. Things are on hold until this is worked out, so nothing above the OSB has been installed.

Builder thinks breathable underlay on the OSB would be good but I believe there's no way for the sheathing to dry with that much rigid on top, regardless of underlay breathability.

My suggestion was another layer of the P&S with liquid flash detailing to fully encapsulate the OSB.

Thoughts?

MB Hydro's 2025 Integrate Resource Plan is under review with the Public Utilities Board and open for public comment.

If you have concerns with any aspect of the 10 year plan (maybe the active omission of solar integration and/or the deployment of gas-powered turbines) now is the time to speak up.

Hydro's 2025 IRP

PUB page - select "share my views on an application before the PUB"

May 23 Free Press article, highlighting the need to further consider solar.

Climate Action Manitoba's response to the IRP

Provincial public health officials said Friday that people who were at the RRC Polytech campus at 2055 Notre Dame Ave. on May 4 and May 5 from 7:45 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. each day may have been exposed to the virus.

We've gotten to the phase where just going to school for a couple days puts you at risk...