• pewter@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    US Olympics is probably being overly cautious ever since Taliyah Brooks collapsed from exhaustion when they refused to delay a US Olympic trials a couple years back due to extreme heat.

    Taliyah was on pace to make it to the Olympics until that happened.

  • AutoTL;DR@lemmings.worldB
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    5 months ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:


    EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — The U.S. Olympic team is one of a handful that will supply air conditioners for their athletes at the Paris Games in a move that undercuts organizers’ plans to cut carbon emissions.

    U.S. Olympic and Paralympic CEO Sarah Hirshland said Friday that while the U.S. team appreciates efforts aimed at sustainability, the federation would be supplying AC units for what is typically the largest contingent of athletes at the Summer Games.

    “As you can imagine, this is a period of time in which consistency and predictability is critical for Team USA’s performance,” Hirshland said.

    The Washington Post reported earlier this month that Germany, Australia, Italy, Canada and Britain were among the other countries with plans to bring air conditioners to France.

    According to the International Energy Agency, fewer than 1 in 10 households in Europe has air conditioning, and the numbers in Paris are lower than that.

    “It’s a high-performance environment,” Australian Olympic Committee spokesman Strath Gordon explained to The Post.


    The original article contains 367 words, the summary contains 165 words. Saved 55%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!

        • BradleyUffner@lemmy.world
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          5 months ago

          No, it’s just posturing. The emissions from AC at the Olympic Village would have zero impact on climate change. This is just green washing for public perception points.

          • emergencyfood@sh.itjust.works
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            4 months ago

            The emissions saved from removing a few hundred ACs are negligible. But the message it sends to the millions watching the Olympics is significant. Which, again, is why I am hoping there will be at least some symbolic action against rule-breakers - it will start a conversation about the need to regulate / ban ACs.

        • Crashumbc@lemmy.world
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          5 months ago

          Lol that’s bullshit, someone fucked up to save a dime and they’re trying spin it

    • Crashumbc@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      If living areas of the Olympics are getting hot enough that AC gives an advantage. They’re too damn hot, and that’s on France…

      • emergencyfood@sh.itjust.works
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        5 months ago

        ACs are not being provided to reduce emissions. Everyone is being asked to accept an equal handicap, so that the world does not become even hotter in the coming years. It’s largely symbolic, I agree, but I suppose kicking out a team that prioritises its medal tally over the climate crisis would send an even stronger signal.

  • naturalgasbad@lemmy.caOP
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    5 months ago

    AP again has a shit take: Olympic Village is real estate and will likely be sold off as real estate when the Olympics end. Installing AC, even if it makes sense in the short term, makes zero sense for the long term utility of the building.

      • naturalgasbad@lemmy.caOP
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        5 months ago

        France’s energy supply is almost entirely nuclear, which isn’t the easiest to ramp up and down on a minute-by-minute basis.

        All electricity has some GHG footprint, and not using that electricity by definition has a lower GHG footprint. Plus, AC creates a heat island effect that forces other city occupants to also install AC, making the outside increasingly miserable over time.

      • bloubz@lemmygrad.ml
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        5 months ago

        In France high demand periods are met with fossil. The rest of the time it’s mainly just nuclear. We don’t have enough renewable energy

      • cm0002@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        Nothing really, unless the system leaks refrigerant and isn’t taken care of promptly.

        • naturalgasbad@lemmy.caOP
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          5 months ago

          This is a shit take that completely ignores the laws of thermodynamics. Where do you think all that heat goes?

          • sandbox@lemmy.world
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            5 months ago

            I’m not sure what you think is happening here, but energy is just being moved around. Air conditioners aren’t just belching out extra heat. If air conditioners were 100% efficient then they’d break even on heating, but in reality they’re much better than that, pretty much all air conditioners are at least 200% but most are more than that. This is achieved by using the same effect that your refrigerator uses - the radiator behind the freezer isn’t mega hot, right? You could look into vapor-compression refrigeration to learn more.

            • naturalgasbad@lemmy.caOP
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              5 months ago

              I don’t think you understand thermodynamics.

              ACs are heat pumps that use temperature differentials to move heat from one side to another. There are inherent losses there (e.g., moving 1000kJ of heat out of a room might take 500kJ, for 200% efficiency). That excess 500kJ is dumped outside into the world along with the 1000kJvof heat, creating a local heat island effect. That’s why ACs consume electricity, and that’s where the energy goes.

              The radiator behind the freezer isn’t mega hot because of advances in insulation that limit the amount of heat that needs to be moved and advances in efficiency when operating in specific temperature regimes. A modern fridge consumes 400kWh a year, which averages out to 1.1kWh/day, or 45W continuous draw. That’s about the same as a laptop charger. But, well, obviously your house is much larger than your fridge. A fridge might average 400L in volume, but your house averages more like 600000L (1500x more).

              If you could move heat around without incurring losses, you could use that to construct a perpetual motion machine. Conservation of energy is a thing and entropy always increases.

              • davel@lemmy.ml
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                5 months ago

                Reporter: [REDACTED]
                Reason: Breaks Community Rules

                Community rules against the laws of thermodynamics 😂

              • Tak@lemmy.ml
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                5 months ago

                Realistically the heat added via electricity is likely going to be added to the compressor itself not the radiator so ofcourse the radiator will be cooler. Also, a laptop charger has to convert from AC to DC so they will always consume more than the listed power output.

                If we want to really dive into the depth of the subject though, more thermal energy is created, stored, and radiated in heat islands from cars than air conditioning. You’d be hard-pressed to heat the planet via electricity when the sun is really the thing doing all the work here. If the AC is powered via solar it’s a big nothing burger really, especially if the solar panels are in the same geographical area as there would be no exporting energy to different locations.

                Now, let’s consider all the cars, planes, and asphalt that will be used for the olympics. Seems to me the best way to reduce the effects of climate change in this scenario is to not have the olympics unless it is walked to.

                • naturalgasbad@lemmy.caOP
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                  4 months ago

                  AC/DC converter losses are on the order of 10%. Negligible, and don’t change the point. Your pedantry is noted and ignored.

      • Thann@lemmy.ml
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        5 months ago

        They could sell that renewable energy to Germany who only burns hydrocarbons