Environment – Schoemann

12/01/202611/01/2026

Futures for Amazonia

Diversity is the treasure of humanity. This was and remains a permanent challenge as thinking in multiple perspectives is taxing our minds. Simplicity can be a value in science or mathematical proofs, but cybernetics teach is also about the usefulness of a “requisite variety”. The exhibition Amazonia at the Quai Branly in Paris takes us on a journey through richness of the Amazonas, its people, biodiversity and landscapes. First of all the curators Varison and Baniwa manage to accompany us in opening up our minds to non-western concepts, which have for centuries been considered as less developed, but only from a western point of view or imagined sort of cultural superiority. Even nowadays the West seems to be convinced that for the liberation of, for example Venezuela, only a western power can achieve this. The 300 different indigenous peoples of Amazonia have lived through hundreds of years of threats to preserve their cultures. They have managed and they have inherited and still develop multiple ideas about “futures” of the Amazonas region. In just 100 days this exhibition has reached more than 100.000 visitors. Most of them will be convinced of a future and, yes, futures for Amazonia.

08/01/202607/01/2026

Premium for silence

People are willing to pay a premium on housing prices for a more silent environment. In the study Enrico Moretti & Harrison Wheeler (2025) estimate that the construction of a silencing wall near a noisy traffic junction or road will increase prices for every decibel of noise reduction by about 3%. Distances closer to the noise shields get higher increases and this mechanism works even up to 400 meters away from the isolation. The investment in decibel noise reductions (not statistical noise) meets a willingness to pay a premium on housing prices. Investment in positive environmental effects (silence) have an obvious marketable premium value. This is most likely just the obverse effect that noise nearby housing is penalized and part of the social mechanism of gentrification. Housing prices and rental costs are known to be powerful drivers of gentrification as well.

05/01/202604/01/2026

Utopian Mobility

From time to time we have to reconsider our investments in mobility infrastructure. What seemed to make sense in the 50s,60s or 70s often makes no sense 60 years later. Highways, which separate city districts like walls belong to rather utopian visions about City life and mobility, progress and living conditions. These utopian individualized mobility solutions don’t seem to serve us as well as we believed, or were made to believe, more than half a century ago. Empty highways midday at the turn of 2025/26 tell their own story about liabilities from the past and outdated ideas of technical and social progress. Sharing solutions have become very popular and the younger generations adopt already different mobility patterns than older generations. Each generation adheres to its own more or less utopian mobility model, adjustments are likely to be made accordingly.

21/12/202520/12/2025

Birds nutrition

The winter diet for birds is less varied than during the other seasons. Human assistance seems to be appreciated as well even if food supply in inner cities appears to be abundant with huge amounts of wasted food in streets ans backyards. The different diets of different species are not easy to cater for. It is a two way learning and adaptation process. With a narrower range of birds feeding in cities, the task is easier than it used to be. Bringing back more diversity of birds in general starts with offering different nutrients as well. A long way to go.

14/12/202512/12/2025

Projection Painting

Nature teaches us lots of tricks. Bionics are all around us in the 21st century, but the marvelous projection of a winter tree on a huge screen comes close to a naturalistic painting. The projection of the branches and leaves of a tree originates from the early sunset in December 2025 in Berlin. Nature teaches beauty and the techniques to imitate or reproduce the effects. Its up to us to keep our eyes, senses and minds open to enjoy the beauty in our surroundings.

04/12/202502/12/2025

Installation Guide Linux

Use the info available in various help forums, maybe videos.
Optional: Check size of your hard disc for backup.
Why not renew your backup on an external drive or USB-stick now?
Test your system loading interruption key combination.
Upon RESTART on most systems you use press Power-up key, follwed by either ESC or DEL or F1, F2, F10, F11 key, while power-up runs to load your BIOS.
Have an empty! USB sticks (4 GB+) ready.
Download the for example the latest Linux Mint 22.2 on it (and flash it using etcher on USB from hard drive, if downloaded to hard disk).
Power-up computer with loading system from USB-key not hard drive. (Select option!)
Remember it has English keyboard as default when you connect your WLAN.
Basics are ready!
Keep starting from USB or after some further tests of components install Linux to the hard disk and say goodbye to a slow and costly Windows and Office packages.
Donate to whoever supported you. Perhaps your local repair shop.
Spread the word and help others.

03/12/202502/12/2025

Sustainability in computing

As the huge size of data centres become visible for everybody we begin to question the sustainability of computing infrastructures as well. The need for energy and water resources (for cooling) grow in line with the growth of data centers, the whole issue of input of resources and global trade has to be re-assessed. Based on European trade data, we know that computer software is heavily imported from the US, whereas we import the hardware to run the software in even higher shares from China. In view of the AI boom, this risks to worsen the European trade balance in the coming years. European digital sovereignty suffers as well, if we do not act upon it (compare Figure 8 in Eurostat report).
An easy fix is the shift to more computing-efficient software, which does not need or rely on more processor and memory imports from China for the hardware and imports of services like operating systems or office software from the US.
Just changing to Linux and OpenOffice lets you keep your hardware for several more years. Sustainability in computing isn’t hard to do. It is just a matter of determination. We can do it, if we really want to do it. The more rare earths become rare and more expensive, the larger the amount of people and businesses, who shall think twice about this.
European Digital sovereignty can work as a driver of sustainability in computing as well.

29/11/202528/11/2025

Socio-technological obsolescence

The standard literature or AI-sytems will give you a definition of on technological obsolescence, which specifies that obsolescence does not mean that a device is broken, but that it is outdated. In computers this might be due to hardware no longer supporting newer, more resource demanding software, or newer software insisting on the use of other hardware. The seemingly rapid innovation cycles in smartphones, cars or robots might justify such technological obsolescence, but the real advances like shifts from 3G to 4G to the newer 5G mobile frequency standards have taken place rather slowly due to provider coverage of sufficiently large, particularly rural areas.
Therefore, the technological obsolescence has to be enlarged as a concept to socio-technological obsolescence as the societal, legal and economic boundaries of technological innovations have to be taken into account as well. Provisions for health concerns or CO2 saving circularity, i.e. reuse of resources have to be taken into account as part of a precautionary principle.
Computer screens have asked us to move from square designs to wide screens (watch videos) to smartphones’ standards of long formats. My 20 years old square screen has been doing a reasonable job throughout these periods, though not for serious games.
The socio-technological obsolescence relies on a “socio-technical prestige score” of products, like for luxury brands in other industries, where fashions drive obsolescence more than technology.
(Image: Robotic arm made by Kuka writes on paper sheet at Frankfurt book fair 2017)

28/11/202527/11/2025

Shift to Linux

We have become rather lazy and sometimes even ignorant when it comes to what kind of operating system we use on our computers. The phasing out of security support for Windows 10 based computers creates worldwide a huge pile of computers that cannot update to 11 due to limited hardware 4Gb of active memory only. However, for many simple tasks these computers work perfectly fine. Browsing through the internet or just drafting texts or spreadsheets doesn’t ask for larger sizes of memory. Most AI applications run on the web and not locally on your computer. No need to throw away these devices and spend, spend, spend on the latest technology. It takes a bit of time and effort to read through the guides for such a shift. Maybe you need to come back several times between documentation and a bit of trial and error, but the learning of digital skills is always a rewarding experience as well. My fanless computer will serve me for many more years as a quiet companion in drafting blog entries and research. Additionally, it is a step towards digital sovereignty so many people talk about these days. (Image: Computer Screen with Linux cinnamon 2.2 and Libre Office in background).

08/11/202507/11/2025

Telework Challenge

There is a seminal trend that many employees prefer to have a choice to work on the premises of the employer or remote from home. This flexibility has become a major element of collective bargaining on work and time in larger companies in order to clarify rights and obligations.
In France it is about 1 in 5 of employees who do telework one day per month (1 in 6 in Nouvelle Aquitaine). The higher up in the hierarchy a person is, the more likely s/he is to do telework. Higher levels of educational attainment and seniority in a company also improve the access to and use of telework. There are still many employees who would like to do telework in their jobs, which technically could be done remotely, but who cannot do it (1 in 3). Most of those are denied the possibility by their employers.
Data from a survey in Germany from 2014 showed that before Covid-19 men were worked more often remotely than did women (Lott & Abendroth, 2019). The latest figures from France 2024 show that women have overtaken men as remote workers (Askenazy et al. 2025). As working from home has become more a part of the “standard employment relationship” today, the fears of loosing out on career opportunities due working from home seems to play less of a role nowadays, probably for both gender. Compared to 2014 the costs of equipment and availability and ease of installation of fast internet have become more affordable and might push the spread of telework even further.
The data from France show a strong positive correlation of remote work and commuting distance to work. Hence, long commuting distances “drive” more people into telework, which makes a lot of ecological sense, too.

03/11/202501/11/2025

Home Wind energy noninvasive

The abundance of wind energy in some regions has made the use of this source of energy more popular. During long winter nights the harvest of wind energy is a wonderful source of free energy. Regulations and oversize wind turbines have tarnished the image of wind energy in some regions. However, even in France and not only in this small village of Asterix and Obelix who resist the Roman empire, that we can find tiny wind turbines providing small amounts of energy. For all those households that have a battery they can use this power whenever they may need it. Suddenly, we are looking forward to the stormy autumn season.

27/10/202524/10/2025

All electric again

The “all electric society” has been identified by Dan Wang and Arthur Kroeber (2025 p.48) as one of the underlying driving forces of “The real China Model”. Despite the heavy reliance and pollution caused by China’s use of coal, the large share of electricity (30%) of energy use is unmatched by the rest of the world except Japan. Investment in electricity grids and innovative ways of mobility around electricity will allow China to buzz rather than steam ahead. Solar cells, batteries for electricity storage and innovative ways of distribution of electricity through AI enhanced “learning” devices will widen the gap between China and other countries that suffer from inefficient path dependency.
Taking the advent of the “All electric society” seriously will free resources through the focus on future-proof technologies. We should not be afraid of the sparks of a short-circuited “All electric society”, the environmental challenges ahead for all of us, particularly China, ask to shift to high voltage solutions urgently.

19/10/202518/10/2025

Colette nature narratives

In the 21^st century we know that posting images of cats and dogs yields thousands of likes on the digital social media. Long before today, writers have tried to make us understand our existence through the narratives among animals, also beyond cats and dogs.
Embedded in nature, stories unfolded through the interaction of these animals. Transfigurations and lessons were derived from such fables as well as the tales constructed around the interaction of nature, animals and humans. The commemoration of Colette in the park of the Palais Royal in Paris combines all those aspects.
She grew up in the countryside, wrote “La Chatte” and lived in an apartment at the Palais Royal with a splendid view of the park later in her life.
It is a tiny spot of cultivated nature in the heart of Paris, even a bit isolated from the busy surroundings. Certainly, these days in the centre of Paris you are more likely to meet “Aristocats”, maybe from the 5 star hotels around, rather than the ordinary cat passing by.
(Image, bench in park of Palais Royal, Paris: inscription is a citation from Colette 1925 letter)

29/09/202526/09/2025

Sink / Rise

Nick Brandt presented his engaged photographic projects “The day may break” in Brussels at the Hangar Gallery space in Brussels (2025-9-21). The photographic work spans the globe to document and tell the story of a an endangered planet. The environmental and social fabric is at risk of an unprecented scale in the 21^st century. Rather than producing hours of documentation, Nick Brandt focuses on images that stick. His “mise en scene” is meant to haunt us. And it succeeds in it. In the best sense of a tradition of a “photographe engagé” he intends to convey messages, even whole narratives to us about and from people in remote places, who are endangered through our inaction or paralysis in front of the challenges posed by global warming and climate change as well as the social and societal consequences.
We can save people from drowning in floods and rising sea levels. The chapter Sink / Rise of this project was produced with people from the Fiji islands who participated in the futuristic scenario of a sunk island. Without accusations, these people question us. Why? How? What for? Where to? – without speaking a word. They spend time in on a sunk island, surrounded, submerged by beautiful, but morbid, turquoise water and the graveyard-like remainders of a broken coral reef. These are photographs not of these people, but about them, about their likely fate, and (very important) produced with them as empowered actors. May they have a chance to rise like a phoenix from the ashes from these photos.
The documentation on the “Making of …” (image below) as part of the same exhibition allows transparency and additional insights into the artist’s work and proceedings.
(Image: Hangar Gallery, Brussels 2025-9-21, On the making of Sink / Rise by Nick Brandt)

21/09/202520/09/2025

Marc Aurel Book 8-9

In book 7 paragraph 38 the stoic wisdom is exemplified in the the the short phrase „If you have sharp sight, use it: but, as the poet says, add wise judgment“. Being sharp in your reasoning or data collection is only part of the human endeavor. A wise judgement is, however, an ambitious aim as judgments have different short term and long term consequences. Intergenerational considerations as for climate change ask for respect of other species, biodiversity and to take into account very long time horizons. The quote from book 8 paragraph 5 appears very modern or post-modern in this context. „There can often be wrongs of omission as well as commission.“ (both citations from Penguin Classics edition) Not acting on behalf of future generations and disappearing species is the most crying omission of our time.

20/08/202519/08/2025

Fontainebleau garden

The garden of Fontainebleau is huge. The design by “Le Notre” is splendid in its combination of trees, greens and water reserves. Beyond walking in the park you may enjoy a horse ride ora tour in a carriage, some even today. Boating is an additional amenity rarely available at other castles. In the Belvedere in the middle of the water basin romantic or secretive diplomatic conversations might take place. Politics and diplomacy have always needed special locations to prepare decisions. This is a historical constant.

08/08/202507/08/2025

Timeless Nature

The beauty of butterflies has fascinated thousands of generations. It is the boomers’ generation that has increased the risks that future generations will have difficulties to enjoy the simple beauty of nature in their gardens or parks. Preservation of biodiversity is a value that should be ranked much higher than previously. Monitoring of biodiversity needs a generation of people well aware what a rich ecosystem and biodiversity looks like and how to preserve or restore it. Much to do for teaching and learning professionals as well. Curriculum development for biodiversity and sustainability is in urgent need for updates. This has to include the socioeconomic dimension as well.

31/07/202530/07/2025

Air pollution dementia

A comprehensive review and update of evidence that indicates a link between air pollution and dementia has been published in “The Lancet” open access on 2025-7-25. Besides a genetic predisposition the environmental impact of our worsening air quality caused by fine dust particles and PM 2,5 and nitrogen dioxide NO2 has been found in several studies. This updated meta study should be an additional warning to take efforts to clean up our air more seriously. The diesel engines amongst other sources of air pollution have contributed a great deal to this evolution. Inner city inhabitants are at greater risks to suffer the consequences as they are more exposed to these pollutants and for longer durations. Clean air is a matter of brain health in advanced age and biodiversity as well.

25/07/202524/07/2025

Just walk

The benefits of walking for several health outcomes is well known. The evidence is in favor of 7000 steps per day as a reasonable baseline. Some outcomes improve further if we walk even more steps, but not all. Probably, the effects of being accompanied while walking will enhance outcomes as well. Every summer the step threshold may be pushed a little bit further. Goal setting can help along to overcome eventual barriers to leave the home later in the evening. Nature rewards us with changing daylight and seasonal changes. We just have to get started to reap those health benefits.

22/07/202521/07/2025

Climate Awareness

The Musée d’Orsay has prepared a wonderful walk through its permanent exhibition of late 19th and early 20th century installations to reflect upon climate and climate change. Raising awareness about the treasures lost and those we are about to lose in the next few years. Impressionist painters have depicted landscapes, cities and monuments covered in snow, which the next generations will no longer be able to enjoy the same way. The roofs of Paris covered with snow has become a feature of a distant past. Additionally, the impression of the massive steam trains crossing metal bridges appear as the daunting future of technical progress. Mixed feelings of fascination and risk associated with those machines were captured by those painters’ eyes. Nowadays we are aware of the consequences of this technical progress for our planet. The walk through museum with a focus on climate related paintings is eye opening indeed. (Image: Extract of Éduard Veuillard, Le jardin des Tuileries, Musée d’Orsay, Paris)

17/07/202516/07/2025

Less but better

There are many examples where a new mantra for the 21st century emerges from recent scientific evidence: “Less, but better” (Lbb). In studies of nutrition and human dietary requirements, the importance to eat less has been demonstrated on a regular basis. And this is even more important than to do more exercise if weight loss is the target or the attempt to explain obesity across the globe (McGrosky et al. 2025). The case for eating less is strong. Eating better refers to the need to avoid unhealthy, toxic or cancerous food or the way to prepare food. “Less but better” could become the new mantra or “categorical imperative” if you like it more philosophical in tone. We, the people gain, and the planet will gain as well. It is an easy win-win case, albeit with some behavioral implications.

15/07/202514/07/2025

All electric now

The shift over to the “All electric society” is easiest in sunny states like California in the USA, Africa or Southern Europe. For other regions of the globe not only the production of energy through the sun is a bit less abundant, but the storage of the sun’s energy production for deferred use is the next challenge. Countries of the globe near the equator have to balance 12 hours daylight with 12 hours night, countries far from the equator have to balance additionally more long-term between short winter days and long summer light.
Different energy storage solutions have to be envisaged.
On a daily basis or even weekly basis, battery energy storage systems (BESS) can do the trick. These systems become more costly for high capacity, longer duration storage. Battery size and price quickly become an issue. The number of electric vehicles (EVs) that have this more intelligent BESS is rising. This makes it possible to eventually use this storage capacity, if your car is sitting around your home or office for most of the time anyway. To make the “all electric society” function 24 hours, energy storage has to be planned at the same time as production and consumption patterns. The all electric prosumer will be the de-central “pro-store-sumer” in the 21^st century.

13/07/202511/07/2025

Green trade flows

The statistics on trade flows reported by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs have a comprehensive data base in the background. The descriptive inspection of the raw data on trade flows comprising solar panels, batteries and electric vehicles shows a stark imbalance of how future-proof the trade between countries is. The New York Times (David Gelles et al. 2025-6-30) has put this information into an impressive graphical design to show the magnitude of the imbalance of how China trades in green products with the world and how the USA is losing out on future-proof low carbon emission trade. Despite the fact that China is still heavily emitting CO₂ today due to burning coal for electrical power, the investments at home and trade with the world is moving into the opposite direction. We have seen many of these industries at risk in Europe, like solar panel production, batteries and increasingly electric vehicles, without the western countries getting organized to address crucial business and economic challenges. Falling behind in these industries and trade will shift global balances in the near future. Renovation through innovation is more promising than holding on for another decade to inefficient and more polluting energy sources. Repairs of homes and buildings have long lasting effects, which we can, nevertheless, change today.

06/07/202505/07/2025

Pervasive waste

From time to time waste from so-called highly developed countries is making headlines and then it is forgotten again. Huge amounts of plastic waste gets shipped for example from the USA to Malaysia in containers regularly (NYT 2025-7-1). The dumping of waste in other countries where it is cheaper to waste the waste is a cynical practice. Not only is the potential for reuse and a circular economy disregard, the little control that is exercised how the waste is treated afterwards is neglected. Some might just end up in our oceans later on or find its way in our food chains. The recent discovery of lots of nuclear waste at 5000 m depth in the sea in another extreme example of this practice to dump waste affecting all of is when profits have been accumulated inn the hands of a few enterprises and states. Such external effects as they are called in economic theory are part of the standard economic thinking. The challenge is to detect such behavior, persecute or better prevent it. This calls on countries who produce the waste to check for the contamination potential and treat their own waste. Fukushima has lots of barrels of nuclear waste waiting. The pervasive nature of this waste will make it last for thousands of years. “Beggar thy neighbor” with your waste is a major default of our current economic and social model. It remains an unresolved puzzle why mankind continues to work towards its own extinction. (Image: Le grisou, Constantin Meunier, MRBAB, Brussels).

23/06/202522/06/2025

Home cooling 2

As a consequence of global warming architecture has to cater for the cooling of our homes as well. The 1st option is to keep the heat outside. Isolation is key in this respect as well. Colors outside have a long tradition in protecting against heating up due to abundant sunshine. Doors and windows ask for additional protection as well. Historically, trees have been instrumental in providing shade for homes. Greening of facades is another natural option. For a long time homeshomes have been built above an underground floor or a cellar. Originally these naturally cool rooms served as storage rooms for food and drinks. Nowadays, such basements offer additional cool space during (exceptionally) hot summer days. The distribution of cool air from basements to upper floors is an alternative way of cooling, which uses little energy. For newly built homes this is another reason to drill builders drill. Even office space has been built in this way, much appreciated during the warm seasons. (Image: Paris UNESCO headquarters office space).

22/06/202514/07/2025

Home Energy

Energy production and consumption in a home are determined by many factors. The number of persons in a household has, of course, a considerable impact on consumption patterns. The investment in home energy production can cover the basics, but is less likely to cover peaks of consumption like friends on a visit wanting to charge their electric vehicle.
In a test with a simple small scale solar panel (fixed on a balcony for example with 860W peak) it was possible to produce a full days consumption on a sunny summer day for a 1-2 person household without use of electricity for personal mobility, but hot water through heat pump provision. The potential for an own production of electricity during summer months is within reach without major behavioral changes.
Okay, digital steering of energy consumption for hot water during hours of bright sunshine and washing machine around high noon are not for everybody to program or carry through.
Digital tools complement the energy consumption at the right time. There is a lot of power in sunshine. The usual caveats of bad weather and winter months change the calculations. The return on investment or break even point needs 300 days of about 2 kWh to recover the 500€ initial costs of the solar panels. After about 3 years the initial costs are recovered and savings begin to accrue. The bridge between energy theory and practical applications is to be found in experimental setups and tests of different scenarios for the modern “prosumer” of the 21^st century.

21/06/202520/06/2025

Energetic Architecture

The link between energy and architecture is all to obvious. For at least a century we believed that energy had to serve architecture and could be relegated to second place. With global warming the overriding importance sits with energy concerns for some years to come. We spend billions to repair the bad architectural and fast growth architecture of the post 2WW era of architecture, especially the construction boom of the 60s and 70s. The driver of change in architecture has moved from the period of social architecture (60s, 70s) to energetic architecture. Energy in architecture has multiple dimensions. Whereas a century ago the shift consisted in the installation of central heating systems in the northern hemisphere of the globe at scale, in the 21st century the concern there shifts to isolation from heat (and cold) to more efficient, less polluting energy provision. Cooling houses and office spaces during extended periods and higher peeks of heat, ask for substantial revisions of existent architecture and the next generation of energetic architecture. Before long, we shall also think more seriously about the handling of water in architecture, a topic which is closely linked to energy consumption and design.
From a sociological point of view we are used to ask questions of social inequality related to this issue as well. We are on the way to move into a society of energy-rich versus energy poor households and enterprises. Financing of adaptations of housing and offices to the energetic challenges is likely to create severe additional inequalities, which exacerbate the already existing ones. If you have no money to spare, you will be unable to invest into energy savings with more distant returns on investment (ROI). At older age you are less resistant to heat waves and causes health disadvantages. If previous investments were impossible or the urgency for energetic architecture was neglected for too long, additional health inequalities shall arise.
The “Deutsches Architekturmuseum” has built an exhibition around this theme, which widens the perspective of architecture and energy. This highlights the additional concern for energetic architecture and people living or working in (modern) architecture.
(Image Trier Roman arena 2025)

20/06/202519/06/2025

Global warming

The annual update of the global warming indicators (source: Earth system science data 2025-6) gives more reasons to worry about the future of our climate. The objective to limit global warming to +1.5°C, established at the Paris climate agreement in 2015, is no longer achievable. This is the hard evidence based on the global network of scientific data collections and their projections. Fossil fuels are a major cause, deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions as well (Forster et al. 2025). As a consequence, human-induced warming of average surface temperatures and flows of heat into oceans continue. The first consequences, we witness in many parts of the world already. France is particularly affected (Le Monde 2025-6-20, p.7). What used to be called “natural disasters” is better described as long-term consequences of human-induced global changes like global warming. About time to take our CO₂ footprint even more seriously. The “All electric society” can reduce reliance on fossil fuels considerably, as of now.