Announce without the hot air revision project & Notify Carbon Commentary about this repo and that we intend to incorporate the suggestions

[rufuspollock]

There are some really good suggestions for amendments to the text here:

https://www.carboncommentary.com/blog/2017/3/30/l6qcqgoedse1wmjjz87t09usoq6jva

Wanted to ping in the comments and mention this text is here and that we intend to incorporate those improvements.

Tasks

• Blog post on life itself (or at least community site)
• update issue on tito repo Done: Working on a fork here https://github.com/rufuspollock/without-the-hot-air titojankowski/sustainable_energy_without_the_hot_air#3 (comment)
• Post update on carbon commentary Done. See below 31 oct 2021
• post on the reddit / hn thread Can't post on old thread from 2017 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14009057 as threads close after 2w. Posted a new thread here https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29056343

[rufuspollock]

I've left a comment which is awaiting moderation:

First, great suggestions and I think this would be really useful - i came across this whilst googling precisely for updates on David's wonderful work.

I'm working on a source version here https://github.com/rufuspollock/without-the-hot-air

This is based on Tito's github work and I'm planning to integrate your comments if that is ok.

If you have more suggestions please just open a comment on github here https://github.com/rufuspollock/without-the-hot-air/issues or email via https://rufuspollock.com/contact and I'll include them.

[rufuspollock]

Posted an update as follows on https://www.carboncommentary.com/blog/2017/3/30/l6qcqgoedse1wmjjz87t09usoq6jva

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Hi! To update my last comment: we have finished creating a source version and are starting work on incorporating revisions/comments such as your (excellent) ones - https://climate.lifeitself.us/without-hot-air/.

If anyone else would like to contribute please get in touch (details on the site). I'm also including the overview of the purpose and status from web page at https://climate.lifeitself.us/without-hot-air/.

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David Mackay tragically passed away in 2016. His wonderful book (and website) were first published in 2008. The material is still of great value. However, is has not been updated since publication and now won't be (at least by David). David made his book available in machine readable formats and licensed the book (semi-)openly meaning it can be modified and redistributed.

The book remains a go-to reference and extremely useful. However it is getting out of date -- e.g. solar situation in 2020 is dramatically different from a decade earlier. Its current format is not easily editable nor is in a repository where it can be collaboratively worked on. Finally, there is the risk the book and site could one day disappear.

In this project we have:

• Created a source form in markdown which is much easier to edit, reuse and publish
• Put it in a public git(hub) repo which makes it easy for others to collaborate
• Archived original material so that it is preserved

What this makes possible

• Creating a revised edition collaboratively to bring it up to date
• Easier reuse and referencing by others
• Adding additional functionality (e.g. annotation, search etc)

We are actively working on updating the original version and welcome contributions.