Examples of 7+7 Small Efforts
An excellent place to start is to focus your 7+7 small efforts on the largest areas in Project Drawdown’s 100 solutions, ordered from largest to smallest: https://drawdown.org/solutions/table-of-solutions
A good way to start with this could be:
sorting the 100 solutions from largest to smallest
copying and pasting the 25 largest solutions plus the 5 solutions at the bottom that have no data (these are equally important, if not more important, especially energy storage) into a Word document
deleting the second column, and
choosing between 7 and 20 of these to focus your 7+7 small efforts on per week
You can definitely focus your 7+7 on anything else that you can think of (especially applications, rebates, your own research, solutions), but the above would be particularly helpful, because Project Drawdown has found the largest solutions available for all countries to apply (and for wealthier countries to apply 2x and 3x) before 2025 and 2030. What matters is that you stay motivated for the 7+7 each week in the long-term, and keep encouraging the 8 billion to do this every week too. If you are motivated, you could also do an extra 7 small efforts for environmental priorities- it is your choice if these add to 5 minutes or more. What matters most is that the world continues these for the very long term- please have a look at the first article again and why it is so important.
You can also potentially focus some of your weekly development %s on these- if you can get the world of tech people to focus some of their weekly %s on this this would be particularly useful.
So what can you do with the 7 to 20 Project Drawdown options that you choose per week?
With some of your 7+7 small efforts, you could:
Copy, paste and reorganize the information so that it’s really easy to understand and apply. This might also clarify the areas where it is currently stuck
You could do external research on how to make these easier to apply
You could use social media or email to advocate for these for the 8 billion or for your government (if it’s safe enough)
You could apply these yourself, or practice ways to apply these as habits
Please also note that the 7+7 efforts does not mean you achieve 14 things- you might only achieve a few things- it means that you made 7+7 efforts of at least 2 seconds (and up to 10 minutes- whatever your motivation is- e.g. 10-60 seconds on something hard) on something hard. It really depends on what your motivation level and week are like.
Here is an example of how I applied 7+7 small efforts one week:
1 I wrote 7+7 in a small effort and changed the numbers as I completed a few
2 I copied and pasted the 25 largest Project Drawdown solutions and the 5 solutions without data
3 I deleted the second column as I didn’t need it
4 I started off by choosing 4 solutions:
Please note these are some of the largest solutions. However, they are not the largest 4- you can choose whichever ones you think are motivating or achievable
I then started off with tasks like
copying the most important information into another Word document and reorganizing it below the headings above so that it’s short and really motivating (e.g. goals, background, specific goals, how tos)
I could then research external information around how to solve this
I could add starting %s for how to solve this or how to advocate this to the 8 billion
I could apply some of these (e.g around social media ripples for how)
Here is a larger example I worked on (this took up quite a few of the 7+7s). You can see how I copied and pasted the most important parts, re-organized them, and set them up to try to be able to add %s. This increased understanding & advocacy all adds up.
7+7
Why energy storage is needed
Energy storage increases the flexibility and resilience of the grid. The numerous benefits of energy storage indicate that it is a key component of the future of the energy system, particularly under significantly increased electrification.
A power system with large-scale energy storage can use various types of generation in an optimal fashion.
Energy storage makes it possible to use power generated at a time other than when it is consumed.
Moreover, storage makes the power system more resilient, reducing outages and aiding in emergency preparedness.
Balancing the supply and demand for electricity
Storage can also relieve congestion on transmission lines, increase reliability and performance, and allow for the efficient use of existing infrastructure.
If the power generated by solar or wind installations exceeds demand, it can be stored rather than wasted.
Large-scale energy storage ensures electricity supply can match demand.
Storage is a crucial aspect of enabling a low-carbon grid.
Background
Currently, at low times there is a backup of other types of energy (To supplement large coal, gas, or nuclear plants, they rev up highly polluting “peaker” plants as needed)
Solar is the cheapest form of energy, but it can only be stored for one day
So it reduces costs a lot, but can be unreliable
Project Drawdown’s Utility-Scale Energy Storage solution involves the use of new technologies and practices to store energy on a utility level. Developing variable renewable energy sources. This is for replacing natural gas peaking plants and allowing increased reliance on baseload generation.
But for how long will the batteries last? Because until then, you need non-renewables as backups
How get 100th generation storage batteries and solar panels by 2050? We’re on 3rd generation
This means 4 generations per year for much needed renewables
Can you create the next generations or add a tonne of %s for achieving them?
We need 100 billion small %s (not small efforts- small %s) to get to the 100th generation of storage batteries
I know nothing about this area- these are my starting contributions:
What about aluminium? This has a large international supply. From aluminium in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_storage
Can a mix of the methods in here be used? Will our first full solution be 10 separate methods for 100% then some get more and more effective https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_storage#Methods
How exactly did computers get so small? How do you copy this process for renewable battery storage?
How:
Appropriate remuneration for the many benefits of storage would allow these technologies to reach a profitable price much faster, increasing the rate at which storage is added to the grid.
A number of governments have recognized the importance of energy storage and are helping to advance development and adoption of emerging technologies.
Regulatory agencies are in the process of determining subsidies for storage technology.
A number of other energy storage technologies—such as compressed air, batteries, and flywheels—are rapidly advancing, and their costs are decreasing.
Integrating variable renewable generation sources into the electricity grid- these can offset each other- e.g. sun and wind
Molten salt storage is accounted for in the impact of increased adoption of Concentrated Solar Power.
Energy can be stored in many forms, including: (1) gravitational potential energy (pumped hydroelectric energy storage); (2) chemical energy (batteries); (3) mechanical energy (flywheels or compressed air energy storage); (4) thermal energy storage (molten salt); and (5) hydrogen storage.
According to the US Department of Energy’s global energy storage databases (2019), there are 1,687 large-scale energy storage operational systems worldwide with a total capacity of 191 gigawatts.
Some 95 percent of this capacity is composed of pumped hydroelectric technology, with more than 350 large projects installed worldwide. Other storage technologies include thermal (1.7 percent) and electromechanical (1.4 percent) storage.
In 2017, lithium-ion batteries accounted for nearly 90 percent of large-scale battery storage additions (IEA, 2018).
The primary use of energy storage at present is power arbitrage (time shift): pumped hydropower facilities buy electricity at night when prices are low and use it to pump water from a low reservoir to an elevated one. During the day, when prices are high, the stored water is allowed to run downhill through turbines, generating electricity that can then be sold back to the grid. The remaining energy storage is used to enable penetration of variable renewable generation sources.
Thank you very much for your help with the 2025 and 2030 goals
