After avoiding buying a car for decades for sustainability and other reasons, I finally gave in to the allure of the North American lifestyle and necessities — The day I had been avoiding almost most of my adult life finally arrived and I bought my first car on the auspicious day of 14th February ( :) ), with feelings mixed with guilt, nihilism (and dread), and optimism. …

Python script to understand what submissions receive the most attention in the Science subreddit. — After a long hiatus, I am back to doing fun stuff in Python. I realized this is a lot more fun and satisfying experience than watching tv shows or movies online. I hope that this time I won’t lose my passion for data analytics in Python. My next few blog…

In a complex and intertwined world, sustainability needs multi-disciplinary coordination, global thinking, and local action. Academia is struggling to produce relevant, meaningful, and useful research for that to happen. The academic rigor to produce quality research on sustainability and its relevance for society has reached a conflicting point. In an…

Avoiding meat altogether is ideal but politically, socially, and economically unviable. Changing how and where we produce livestock is an alternative. — Beef production has a large environmental footprint, and with a rising population and affluence, the demand for beef will only increase. So avoiding beef production, for example through dietary changes, is an ideal solution to minimize the environmental impacts of our food production system. However, livestock farming not only supports…

Getting to net-zero carbon emissions at the current pace is almost like trying to empty the sinking Titanic using buckets — I wish renewable energy transition was analogous to uninstalling the fossil fuel app on your phone and installing the wind and solar or clean technology app. Unfortunately, it is not. Our current efforts to get to net-zero carbon emissions are grossly inadequate. …

A short poem summarizes my academic journey into sustainability research and the overall impression I had so far. — Background Growing up in a small town in India during the 1990s, I was exposed to lots of pollution, congestion, poverty, and all the problems you expect in a poor country. That somehow motivated me toward doing something about sustainable development — at that time I wasn’t aware of the word…

Using narratives and storytelling improves communication but dilutes the complexities of problems and solutions — I was reading a paper on circular economy in which the authors used a method called discourse analysis to understand the political aspects of the circular food economy in France. Reading the paper again reminded me that such discourses and narratives play an important role in influencing public support and…

Sustainability has a scale problem. A shift to a more sustainable world will require huge scaling up of energy system capacities — This post continues my thoughts on whether sustainability has a scale problem. Background We use the land for our food production quite inefficiently. It follows the 80/20 rule. We use 80 percent of the agricultural land to produce animal products (meat and dairy), which supply 20% of our calories and 37%…

Outdoor adventures such as hiking should be a core part of the curriculum to improve personality, mental health, and physical stamina — I love being around nature and enjoy hiking, trekking, camping, and other outdoor activities involving some wilderness. My favorite weather is when it is sunny and cold so that I can stay active without profusely sweating or feeling hot. …