notes

A megatrend way bigger than decarbonization is probably the key to abundance and sustainability both.

Some articles from Orca contributors over the last few months.

They are incentivized to waste electricity anywhere it results in less capex.

How cheaply can it pull CO2 from the air?

Exponential wind loading near the atmosphere’s length scale for turbulence might prevent airships from getting much longer than about 400m.

We'll make more decarbonization progress by inventing the materials of the future than by reinventing the materials of the past.

We tried to use a cheap laser to grow carbon fiber directly from methane gas. It worked quickly and repeatably, but the carbon fiber wasn’t as strong as it’d need to be to make a good commercial product.

Microwave phased arrays seem to be a more realistic option than batteries or H2 for powering long-haul electric aviation. We still doubt anybody will build them.

~1% of global warming addressable at around $1/ton CO2 equivalent.

If it takes more than a calorie of fossil hydrocarbons to produce a calorie of food, should we just eat the oil directly?

Revisiting intriguing Soviet-era results showing efficient N2 oxidation in non-equilibrium plasmas. An intriguing approach to low-cost nitrate fertilizers without Haber-Bosch.

Powerful infrared lasers are getting extremely cheap. What should we use them for?

Some interesting misfires from the last year