The Norfolk train derailment that took place in East Palestine, Ohio was one of the worst environmental disasters to happen on the mainland of the USA. The strange thing about the story is that the vinyl chloride being carried in one of the rail cars, was burned on purpose. The question this, why would they do that? They claim they had no choice be…

The Dutch farmers protests had been heating up over the past summer. What are the origins of the protests? Are there technological solutions that exist to solve the issues? What is the bigger picture and the ties to the world economic forum? First Principles Podcast attempts to answer all these questions. Watch the video version of this podcast on …

In this episode, we discuss Carbon Collective, which purports to be an investment firm focused on climate conscious 'green' investments. We review their practices and portfolio, and point out some MAJOR flaws. Green Investment is a buzzword and if you are not careful, you could potentially be giving away your money to a bunch of snake oil salesmen!…

ESG stands for Environmental, Social, and Governance scoring. These are criteria that corporations must follow in order to demonstrate compliance with meta profit initiatives. But, do ESGs really do what they set out to do? Or are they just another regulatory burden and game put in place for companies to have to navigate, further creating division …

Climate Trace is the new brain child of Al Gore. It purports to use satellite data, amongst other technologies like Artificial Intelligence to track and locate CO2 pollution sources. There are several flaws with their methodology. In this episode, we unpack some of these flaws and the dangers posed. FirstPrinciplesPodcast.com Connect on social medi…

Nuclear energy resulted from the culmination of countless small discoveries made by various scientists from all over the world. It is an amazing human achievement yet it is much maligned and discredited by environmental activists. Is there merit to their criticism? Well, our findings showed that nuclear energy is even more effective in terms of saf…

Sustainability is definitely a buzzword. Whether it's corporations or governments, everyone wants to claim they are doing things in a 'sustainable' manner. But what does sustainable actually mean? There is no real definition, hence it can be easily manipulated. We took a crack at defining what Sustainability truly encompasses. We really did some in…

David Suzuki is a prominent Canadian environmentalist. He recently got himself in some hot water after his comments about oil pipelines and their link to climate change. Critics stated he was advocating for eco-terrorism by casually implying pipelines might start blowing up. Was the criticism justified? +++ Support this show at: www.FirstPrinciples…

Global leaders recently gathered for COP26 to discuss the future of climate change and how countries would take actions to 'save the planet'. Ironically, they jetted in with their private planes to make rules for the rest of the population, that they likely will not abide by (because after all they're special and have important things to do, and yo…

Electric vehicles show a lot of promise towards a sustainable future (whatever that means). Nonetheless, they are not without cost. In this episode, we explore some of the environmental costs associated with lithium and other components of electric vehicles. Support this podcast at www.FirstPrinciplesPodcast.com…

Global greening is one of the interesting developments of climate change that was unexpected by most. It's the premise that with increased CO2 concentration in the atmosphere, trees and plant life will benefit, thrive, and generate greater yield. This seems logical as plants consume CO2 as their primary energy source. This idea is however is not be…

The IPCC recently released another report documenting the status of climate change. This has led to continual media hysteria with respect to a climate crisis. Though we do not deny the existence of climate change, the crisis narrative seems to be over played. As the old saying goes, however, any good crisis is an opportunity. 'An opportunity for wh…

Hydrogen is the most abundant molecule in the universe. It can be used for a multitude of applications, including energy storage and transportation. In this episode, we analyze the potential use for Hydrogen in the current economy and environment. Support this podcast at www.FirstPrinciplesPodcast.com…

A lot of doom and gloom surrounds environmentalists due to a supposed impending climate catastrophe. We hope to change this outlook by analyzing some of the positive elements of recent climate developments and technological innovations. Technological revolutions have led to globally declining poverty at unprecedented rates. It can be argued that th…

Many countries have proposed a Carbon Tax as a means to combat climate change. The principle behind it is that carbon emissions pose an externality to people's health and as such need to priced into the cost of goods. Theoretically, this would encourage people to buy goods that have a lower carbon content, as that would be reflected in a lower pric…

In this episode we discuss various methods of energy storage for application to a large scale electrical grid. We cover well known technologies such as battery storage, as well as less prominent forms such as thermal and gravity storage. With increased incorporation of renewable energies such as wind and solar into the electrical power grid, it is …

In this episode, we look at a case study that tries to assess the feasibility of powering the Ontario electrical grid with 100% renewable energy, supplemented by battery storage. With growing integration of renewable energy systems into the mainstream grid, it is crucial to ensure the transition is done such that we do not compromise people's acces…

What would an electrical grid powered by solar and wind energy look like? We tried to analyze this problem from a simplistic model, using some basic back-of-the-envelope calculations. Mainly, we coarsely estimated the land foot print required, if all of Canada's and USA's power were supplied by wind or solar energy. Of course, the story is not so s…

Environmental discussions related to global warming and climate change are becoming more frequent. This was true in the Vice Presidential debate that took place between Kamala Harris and Mike Pence, where global warming, wildfires, forest management, renewable energy, and many such subjects were discussed. These are complex systems, and of course, …

The Green New Deal (also known as House Resolution 109) was proposed as a means of addressing carbon emissions and climate change in the United States. First Principles Podcast tries to take a fair and balanced analysis of the positive and negative aspects of the GND. We like some of the principles of higher standards of pollutant emissions, howeve…

Planet of the Humans was a documentary recently released by Jeff Gibbs and Michael Moore. It depicts a very gloom future for humanity as a result of our extensive over consumption of resources in an unsustainable manner. We took a look at the claims made in this piece of art so as to understand whether there is scientific merit or whether we are be…

The eco anxiety phenomenon has recently been increasingly discussed. We wanted to weigh in on the discussion and talk about our own experiences with the matter and how we have dealt with our own form of eco anxiety. Connect with us at: www.FirstPrinciplesPodcast.com Subscribe to our YouTube and watch the video version of this podcast: https://cutt.…

We tried to give an honest analysis of the Greta Thunberg speech at the UN and highlighted some things we liked and the things we did not like. On the one hand we admire the courage Greta has to speak in on a global stage, but on the other hand we believe the politicians dishonestly used the teenager to virtue signal to their base. For more in dept…

We looked at the environmental impact of a vegan based diet and one that used crickets for its caloric intake. So if you are strange like us and ever wondered how many crickets you would need in order to sustain yourself, check out this episode and find out! The parameters of analysis chosen as they pertain to environmental impact were the land req…

The carnivore diet has gained much popularity for its health benefits. We were, however, more curious about the environmental cost of a diet that relied explicitly on meat. What we discovered was that there was a large difference on your net environmental impact when the primary source of meat was beef vs. chicken. First Principles Podcast What is …

Peak oil theory states that global production of oil must exist as a bell curve distribution. Opponents argue that empirical data does not match this theory as production has deviated significantly. Which side is right? Is peak oil just a myth, or do we need to start thinking about post-oil? We dive into these questions on episode 1 of First Princi…