Guest essay by Eric Worrall
Billionaire Richard Branson appears to be attempting to build his presence as a major global influencer on climate policy, but his new climate change club does not appear to have a lot of direct financial support.
Top CEOs form exclusive climate change club
James Fernyhough
ReporterNov 25, 2020 – 4.58pmThe CEOs of 22 of Australia’s biggest companies, including BHP, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, AGL, Rio Tinto and Wesfarmers, have joined forces to collaborate on ways to reduce emissions in line with the Paris Agreement.
The Climate Leaders Coalition is driven by Lynette Mayne, head of the Australian branch of British businessman Richard Branson’s “B Team” initiative, which attempts to embed more socially and environmentally aware thinking in business decision making.
B-Team Australasia previously drove the “Future of Work” initiative, headed by David Gonski, which brought CEOs together to attempt to mitigate the potentially damaging effects of automation and digitisation of work while embracing the progress they represent.
…
Not much money is going into the initiative, with companies paying only $3000 to be members. But Ms Mayne, who modelled the idea on a similar initiative in New Zealand, said she hoped the coalition would lead to bold projects and initiatives that would have a practical effect on emissions.
…
Read more: https://www.afr.com/policy/energy-and-climate/top-ceos-form-exclusive-climate-change-club-20201125-p56hvo
Branson’s relationship with the climate community has sometimes been troubled. The fact Branson founded a major multinational airline is frequently thrown in his face when he tries to burnish his green credentials, along with the occasional accusation from greens that Branson’s commitment of money does not match his words of support.
Richard Branson also made a very unflattering appearance in Michael Moore’s blockbuster eco-flick “Planet of the Humans”.
It is intriguing that this latest Branson climate initiative does not appear to be backed by very much money.
One meeting that Richard Branson shares with US climate czar-to-be John Kerry should be enough to forever dissuade him from “attempting to build his presence as a major global influencer on climate policy.”
That photo of Branson and Gore represents the Virgin Earth Challenge in 2007.
“His [Branson] Virgin Earth Challenge (VEC) was designed to recruit talented innovators from around the world to tackle a seemingly simple problem, remove one billion tons of CO2 from the atmosphere per year for ten years, and keep it out.”
Whatever happened to the VEC?
Defunct. From the website:
Though the Earth Challenge is no longer active, Virgin remains committed to carbon removal as part of our wider efforts to address the climate emergency.
https://www.virgin.com/about-virgin/virgin-group/news/virgin-earth-challenge
VEC died a well-deserved death.
The solution to this “seemingly simple problem” turns out to be actually simple: stimulate the growth of coral (which indirectly uses CO2 that has been absorbed into ocean water to form its calcium carbonate “backbone matrix” and that will sequester that incorporated CO2 for hundreds, if not many thousands, of years).
Scientists have discovered that microfragmentation of living coral can increase its growth rate by up to 25 times normal (see: https://marinemadness.blog/2019/03/04/microfragmentation-how-smashing-up-corals-helps-them-grow-faster/ )
There are sufficient areas in the world’s oceans currently hosting coral reefs such that performing microfragmentation around their edges could easily remove the equivalent one billion ADDITIONAL tons of CO2 (via ocean water absorption) from the atmosphere per year within, say, five years of starting such a project and would continuing do so at this or an even higher rate going forward, all other things being equal.
No “invention” is required, no new technology is required, for this method to work.
However, the problem with removing CO2 from water is the same as removing it from air. CO2 is the source of life in both places! Keep in mind that as water warms, it emits CO2 (ever drink a glass of warm soda water?) CO2 plus sunlight results in plant growth, and plants in the ocean (the likes of phytoplankton) are the basis of ocean life. This is why the great fisheries of the world are in the colder waters, especially where there is upwelling which brings the CO2-rich deep waters to the surface. Those deep waters got their CO2 from undersea volcanoes, which are caused by continental drift.
Forget the ocean acidification myth promulgated by the IPCC. The salts in the ocean neutralize any acidity.
Peter W posted: “Keep in mind that as water warms, it emits CO2 (ever drink a glass of warm soda water?)”
Sorry Peter, but it is incorrect to view CO2 as dissolved in ocean water at a pH of 8.1 to 8.2 as analogous to soda water. It is far from it, and this is a very common misconception. There is essentially no dissolved CO2 that exists for very long as a dissolve gas just waiting to be outgassed from saltwater as its temperature increases or as the gas pressure over the liquid water decreases.
If you really dig into the chemistry of how CO2 enters and chemically reacts with sea water (understanding such things as the Revelle factor and, most importantly, the Bjerrum plot), you will find that CO2 gas “solubility” into the ocean is not a reversible process, independent of water temperature, as long as the water pH remains above 8 or so. At the current ocean average pH of 8.1-8.2, far less than 1% of the CO2 entering the ocean remains available as dissolved CO2 that might possibly come out of solution gradually with increasing ocean temperatures.
Basically, an insignificant amount of CO2 remains as a gas in aqueous solution in the world’s oceans, and would therefore be available for temperature-induced “outgassing” (see Figure 1, the Bjerrum plot, at https://www.soest.hawaii.edu/oceanography/faculty/zeebe_files/Publications/ZeebeWolfEnclp07.pdf ).
BTW, you are correct to state “Forget the ocean acidification myth promulgated by the IPCC. The salts in the ocean neutralize any acidity.” It is specifically the salts produced by the ocean’s absorption and rapid chemical reactions with CO2 that provide the basic-side buffering that prevents ocean acidification, as is elegantly explained by in the above-referenced article at the hawaii.edu link.
While what you write is true, there is still an equilibrium concentration of free CO2 in seawater. Higher temperatures will move the equilibrium and thus increase the partial pressure of the gas above the solution.
I notice that you ignored my pointing out the fact that it is the cold oceans which are the more productive. Relatively speaking, the warm oceans are deserts. As I pointed out, the obvious reason for this is the increased availability of CO2 in the colder oceans.
Peter W, not everything that appears to be “obvious” to humans is truth.
Science has taught us that . . . many, many, many times.
OK, I will rephrase what I said. It is due to the increased availability of the carbon put in the oceans by the CO2 from the undersea volcanoes which provides the basis for plant growth. Any way you look at it, putting CO2 into the oceans is not a problem but a benefit, whatever happens to it thereafter.
From a film recommended by Micahel Moore:
A TV interviewer asks Richard Branson (with Al Gore sitting next to him): “Is Al Gore a prophet?
Branson replies: “Uhh..ah…How do you spell ‘profit?”
Branson, Gore and the interviewer then let out huge sustained laughs.
Gore was uncomfortable, too close to the truth for public consumption
What do you call Branson and Gore?
Two [moderated] [moderated] in a [moderated]
Yet another clue as to who the real intellectual black holes of human achievement are. If someone answers yes to any of the following:
“Are you a member of:
1. Climate leaders coalition
2. Club of Rome
3. Davos Economic Forum
4. Extinction rebellion
5. Green Peace
6. Friends of the Earth
7. Unelected EU Plutocracy
8. World bank
9. Antifa or
10. Joe Biden’s Ceremonial Puppet Masters Guild”
They should be provided free passage as soon as possible on the first Douglas Adams memorial flight of Ark Fleet Ship B.
Richard Branson can be first pilot just to be sure he enjoys the full impact on arrival at their destination.
Thanks Andy, I read the comments right to the end for a “B ark” reference and have now found it.
Virtue signalling is the price of remaining cool in his social circle. One of the brilliant realizations of the left during the waning years of the 20th century was to make being a cabillionaire socially acceptable. All that was required was some money and a superficial fealty to the Progressive agenda.
I figure that as long as I maintain a carbon footprint smaller than that of Richard Branson, I’m a superior human being.
Ah, Branson pictured again with the source of profit/prophet a la “spell prophet/profit for me”.
Just another bloodsucker looking to attach to the money train
If normal people are subjected to stringent carbon budgets, there will be more and cheap hydrocarbon
fuel for his space tourism. Preach water and drink wine…
Branson the chancer got lucky with Tubular Bells & Mike Oldfield, but even then he had no judgement. He wanted to add LYRICS!! See Tubular Bells The Mike Oldfield Story – Full Version https://youtu.be/gYGfaYI1n8c
If the gods are willing, Gore will nick all Branson’s loot & he’ll get his just deserts.
More on Branson’s green deals here
https://cliscep.com/2017/03/06/heat-the-rich-1-friendly-british-virgins-or-paradise/
with, as a bonus, a photo of the great man nude in his solid hardwood bath hand carved by Amazonian natives.
Branson is a hypocrite, though perhaps less so soon as his airline is going broke.
Though how much carbon does fuel for his space efforts produce?
I’m laughing because of his escapade with Christy Clark when she was premier of BC.
They’d met at a reception or conference or something.
So he sends her an email with a photo of him water-skiing with a woman on his ack, apparently nude.
She whacked him verbally for that, perhaps because she is a devout Anglican, perhaps for political appearances. (She was a fairly good looking woman, divorced.)