#CO2-neutral

[1weltreisender]

CO2-Ausgleich: Meine persönliche CO2-Spur

Fliegen verursacht CO2. Und gar nicht wenig. Die Fortbewegungsart Fliegen ist am umweltschädlichsten. CO2 trägt wesentlich zum Klimawandel bei, weil es verhindert, dass Wärme ins Welt­all entweicht. Die Devise heißt daher: So wenig CO2 wie möglich ausstoßen! Wo das nicht gelingt, lässt sich ein Ausgleich schaffen: Wer beispiels­weise mit einem Flug zum Klimawandel beiträgt, kann den Schaden begrenzen, indem er einen kleinen Aufschlag an Organisationen wie Atmosfair, Klima-Kollekte, Primaklima und Myclimate zahlt. Mit dem Geld werden etwa Auffors­tungs­projekte im Regen­wald oder der Einsatz von Solar­lampen in Entwick­lungs­ländern finanziert. CO2-Kompensation heißt, dass an anderer Stelle konkret dieselbe Menge CO2 einge­spart wird, die der Reisende – etwa indem er ein Flugzeug nutzt – verbraucht. Stiftung Warentest hat vier unterschiedliche Kompensationsanbieter und einige Airlines im Umgang mit dem Thema verglichen. Der eigentliche Testbericht befindet sich hinter einer Bezahlschranke. Wenn Du ihn nicht kaufen willst, wesentliche Erkenntnisse des Tests von Stiftung Warentest enthält auch dieser Focus-Artikel, der sich auf den Testbericht bezieht. Wir erfahren u.a., dass Atmosfair wieder Testsieger ist, wie auch im Vergleich 2018. Der persönliche CO2-Verbrauch hängt in erster Linie natürlich von der Länge der Flugstrecke ab, dann davon, wieviel CO2 das verwendete Flugzeug in die Umwelt während des Fluges abgibt. Neue Flugzeuge fliegen wesentlich effizienter und belasten die Umwelt geringer. Dann hängt es von der geflogenen Klasse ab. First Class oder Business Class sind CO2-intensiver. Wer im Flieger weniger Platz benötigt, ist auch für einen geringeren CO2-Ausstoß verantwortlich. Den CO2-Fußabdruck Deines Fluges kannst Du gut mit atmosfair https://co2offset.atmosfair.de/co2offset?p=1#/flight?locale=de berechnen.

atmosfair CO2-Kompensation / Screenshot atmosfair Beispiel: Ich bin im Juni 2023 mit Air Premia von von der Economy Plus-Klasse Premia 42 von Frankfurt nach Seoul und zurück geflogen. Das macht laut atmosfair einen CO2-Ausstoß von 3.783 kg CO2, die ich mit einem Beitrag von 88 Euro kompensieren kann. Siehe Screenshot. Wichtig zu wissen: Der gezahlte Klimaschutzbetrag ist steuerlich absetzbar. Auch das Bundesumweltamt https://uba.co2-rechner.de/de_DE/mobility-flight#panel-calc stellt einen umfangreichen Online-Rechner über die eigene CO2-Bilanz zur Verfügung. Dort kannst Du Deine CO2-Bilanz über nahezu alle Lebensbereiche erfahren. Das https://www.evz.de/reisen-verkehr/reiserecht/flugzeug/co2-kompensation.html Europäische Verbraucherzentrum Deutschland bietet ebenfalls eine umfangreiche und informative Seite zur CO2-Kompensation für Flüge. Soll man wegen der CO2-Belastung nun gar nicht mehr fliegen? Wohl kaum. Reisen macht Spaß, bildet, unterstützt die Wirtschaft der Reiseländer und dient der Völkerverständigung. Wer aus Spaß Vielflieger ist, sollte sich überlegen, ob ein anderes Hobby nicht auch schön sein kann und eine Reduzierung der Flüge möglich ist. Und Flüge innerhalb Deutschlands müssen sicher auch nicht so viele sein. Damit weniger innerhalb Deutschlands geflogen wird, muss die Bahn ihr Angebot allerdings ausbauen und pünktlicher werden. Ein kritischer Blick auf die persönliche Umweltbilanz hilt uns aber sicher allen weiter. Titelfoto / Beim Reisen mit dem Flugzeug wird relativ viel CO2 ausgestoßen / Foto: pixabay / extrabrandt

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[thoughtportal]

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the biggest industrial and economic transition that is ever going to happen on earth.

[worldcitiesday]

Mannheim; Germany.

With 309,721 inhabitants, Mannheim is the second largest city in the Baden-Württemberg region of Germany. Over 1,800 hectares of forest surround the city and with the mission statement "Mannheim 2030", the city is implementing the 17 SDGs of the United Nations at the local level. As a Local Green Deal pilot city, Mannheim also supports the EU-Green Deal field of action, "Preserving ecosystems and biodiversity" with concrete agreements. The city's vision for their forest is to develop a healthy, ecologically valuable and climate-stable mixed forest. Mannheim's forest invites recreation, provides habitat for species and contributes to the city's CO2 neutrality through sustainable wood use. Pine forests in Mannheim, that are not adapted to the climate, are being converted into near-natural, multi-level mixed deciduous forests. 

[peterbordes]

In 2010-2019 average annual global greenhouse gas emissions were at their highest levels in human history, but the rate of growth has slowed. Without immediate and deep emissions reductions across all sectors, limiting global warming to 1.5°C is beyond reach. However, there is increasing evidence of climate action, said scientists in the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report released today.

[dsiddhant]

The global carbon offset/carbon credit market is expected to grow from an estimated USD 414.8 billion in 2023 to USD 1,602.7 billion by 2028, at a CAGR of 31.0% during the forecast period.

[mossandfog]

What Does It Mean To Be Carbon Neutral And How To Achieve It

What does it mean to “go carbon neutral?” And how can we achieve it? Here’s a look at what carbon neutrality means, why it matters, and some ways we can all help reduce our impact on the planet. Not only is it important for the environment, but it can also have a positive impact on our lives and businesses.   What is carbon neutrality and why is it important Carbon neutrality means that the…

[carbonmonoxide-detector]

Guys....lads....gender neutral chads....carbon monoxide (CO) is a toxic gas produced by some machines like cars, water heaters, and gas appliances (this is why homes/garages with these need to be properly ventilated)

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is what living things and fossil fuel powered machines produce as exhaust and then plants absorb and expel as oxygen.

[afeelgoodblog]

The Best News of Last Week

⚡ - Charging Towards a More Electrifying Future

1. The Kissimmee River has been brought back to life—and wildlife is thriving

The Kissimmee River in Florida was straightened in the 1960s, causing a sharp decline in wildlife and ecological problems. But in the 1990s, a $1 billion restoration project was initiated to restore the river's natural state.

Today, nearly half of the river has been restored, wetlands have been reestablished and rehydrated, and wildlife has returned, including rare and threatened species. Already the biological impact of the project has become clear. As the wetlands have come back, so have the birds.

2. Plastic wrap made from seaweed withstands heat and is compostable

A cling film made from an invasive seaweed can withstand high temperatures yet is still easily compostable. The material could eventually become a sustainable choice for food packaging.

Scientists started with a brown seaweed called sargassum. Sargassum contains long, chain-like molecules similar to those that make up conventional plastic, which made it a good raw material. The researchers mixed it with some acids and salts to get a solution full of these molecules, then blended in chemicals that thickened it and made it more flexible and pliable.

3. An Eagle Who Adopted a Rock Becomes a Real Dad to Orphaned Eaglet

Murphy, a bald eagle that had been showing fatherly instincts, has been sharing an enclosure with an eaglet that survived a fall from a tree during a storm in Ste. Genevieve. Murphy, his rock gone by then, took his role as foster parent seriously. He soon began responding to the chick’s peeps, and protecting it.

And when, as a test, the keepers placed two plates of food in front of the birds — one containing food cut into pieces that the chick could eat by itself, and another with a whole fish that only Murphy could handle — the older bird tore up the fish and fed it to the eaglet.

4. World's largest battery maker announces major breakthrough in energy density

In one of the most significant battery breakthroughs in recent years, the world’s largest battery manufacturer CATL has announced a new “condensed” battery with 500 Wh/kg which it says will go into mass production this year.

“The launch of condensed batteries will usher in an era of universal electrification of sea, land and air transportation, open up more possibilities of the development of the industry, and promote the achieving of the global carbon neutrality goals at an earlier date,” the company said in a presentation at Auto Shanghai on Thursday.

This could be huge. Electric jets and cargo ships become very possible at this point.

5. Cat with '100% fatal' feline coronavirus saved by human Covid-19 medicine

A beloved household cat has made an “astonishing” recovery from a usually fatal illness, thanks to a drug made to treat Covid-19 in humans – and a quick-thinking vet.

Anya​, the 7-year-old birman cat, was suffering from feline infectious peritonitis (FIP), a “100% fatal” viral infection caused by feline coronavirus. That was, until Auckland vet Dr Habin Choi​ intervened, giving Anya an antiviral used to treat Covid-19 called molnupiravir.

6. Kelp forests capture nearly 5 million tonnes of CO2 annually

Kelp forests provide an estimated value of $500 billion to the world and capture 4.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide from seawater each year. Most of kelp’s economic benefits come from creating habitat for fish and by sequestering nitrogen and phosphorus.

7. Medical Marijuana Improved Parkinson’s Disease Symptoms in 87% of Patients

Medical cannabis (MC) has recently garnered interest as a potential treatment for neurologic diseases, including Parkinson's disease (PD). 87% of patients were noted to exhibit an improvement in any PD symptom after starting medical cannabis. Symptoms with the highest incidence of improvement included cramping/dystonia, pain, spasticity, lack of appetite, dyskinesia, and tremor.

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That's it for this week :)

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Buy me a coffee ❤️

Also don’t forget to reblog

[falcemartello]

•••

Sapete come fanno aziende come Gucci, Walt Disney, Netflix, Apple a diventare aziende green con basse emissioni di CO2?

Acquistando elettricità prodotta solo da eolico e solare, penserete.

I certificati sono acquistati da privati assolutamente non controllati da nessuno. I più noti sono Verra e Pachama.

Insostanza, a fronte di pagamento di milioni di dollari, i certificatori assicurano che proteggeranno tot ettari di foreste da futuri disboscamenti.

Si badi bene, che non si tratta di piantare nuovi alberi, ma di considerare le foreste già esistenti!

Vediamo alcuni esempi di aziende:

La società Walt Disney afferma di aver dimezzato le sue emissioni dal 2012. Ciò è stato possibile solo attraverso i crediti di carbonio.

Gucci afferma di essere neutrale dal punto di vista climatico. I crediti di carbonio provengono tutti da progetti di protezione forestale.

L’ONU nel ’97 aveva deciso di non includere la conservazione delle foreste come metodo per certificare la compensazione le emissioni.

Di avviso diverso alcuni uomini d’affari, il WEF, il Climate Forum, BP, StarBucks e Allianz.

Insieme hanno creato VERRA

Come si può vedere il mercato dei crediti di carbonio è in forte espansione.

Oggi le più grandi aziende del mondo compensano le loro emissioni di carbonio attraverso la protezione delle foreste.

Ogni progetto di conservazione delle foreste è radicato in una previsione su ciò che potrebbe portare il futuro.

Questo è un incentivo intrinseco a fare previsioni imprecise. Vediamo perché.

Nell'area protetta dell'Alto Mayo in Perù, negli ultimi 20 anni l'area forestale è andata perduta.

Tuttavia, le perdite forestali in aree comparabili erano ancora più elevate, quindi il progetto garantiva qualche effetto.

Ma lo sviluppo effettivo è lontano dalla prognosi dell'operatore del progetto di ciò che sarebbe accaduto senza protezione.

Più gli sviluppatori di progetti di deforestazione si aspettano nella loro foresta, più crediti di carbonio possono emettere e più la previsione è pessimistica, più soldi si possono guadagnare.

Ecco, quando comprate un prodotto di un’azienda “green”, adesso sapete quanto è apprezzabile il suo sforzo etico di “salvare il pianeta”.

Poi sono quelle che sponsorizzano Greta!

[regexkind]

It is an age-old question: "would putting pop rocks on your pussy feel like anything?" And while the spirit of adventure and curiosity means that in the Action Potentials¹ of my mind, this pushes me closer to vaginoplasty, I think we actually have the knowledge necessary to answer this question in the negative—I have seen a number of nsfw blog posts saying that they didn't feel anything at all when doing this, beyond maybe slight mechanical perturbation. But why?

I think the main reason is that pop rocks are basically tiny candy fragments with even tinier pockets of compressed CO2 gas. When the candy dissolves, the CO2 is released. "But Ananda," you say, "pop rocks taste sort of sourish!" Indeed, and I think a major component of why is that the CO2 dissolves in your spit, which has a pH of around 6.7²—nearly neutral. But vaginal secretions are typically far more acidic, at around 3.8-5.0³. The implication is that we should expect CO2 to be far, far less soluble in vaginal secretions. In particular, in this paper⁴ we expect the dominant dissolved species to be CO2, not HCO3 (-) (bicarbonate) or CO3 (2-) (carbonate). This means the effect on pH of the pop rocks should be quite low.

¹Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect style. IYKYK

²Baliga S, Muglikar S, Kale R. Salivary ph: A diagnostic biomarker. Journal of Indian Society of Periodontology. 2013;17(4):461. doi:10.4103/0972-124x.118317

³Lin Y-P, Chen W-C, Cheng C-M, Shen C-J. Vaginal ph value for clinical diagnosis and treatment of common vaginitis. Diagnostics. 2021;11(11):1996. doi:10.3390/diagnostics11111996

⁴König M, Vaes J, Klemm E, Pant D. Solvents and supporting electrolytes in the electrocatalytic reduction of CO2. iScience. 2019;19:135-160. doi:10.1016/j.isci.2019.07.014

[carionto]

See, we got this... inclination

The Galactic Coalition is no stranger to war. Every sapient race has a history filled with external conflict, and most with some internal strife as well. Even now, the Coalition is in a stalemate with the United Federation on the North-Western arm of the Galaxy, a recently cooled hot war over what the Federation call foreign meddling in internal affairs, while the Coalition claim is an abusive contractual effective enslavement of a pre-stellar civilization, which goes against the Coalition's Ethics Directorate For All Sapient Encounters.

The Humans, who managed to learn of this on their own, sparking a hushed debate about their espionage capabilities, wanted to send their own delegation to the established Neutral Zone to speak with the Federation. As a party to the Coalition governing body, they have free reign to make contact with anyone on their own terms, with the understanding such individual activity will not represent the Coalition itself.

It did not take long for the Humans to reach back to us with an inquiry:

"So like, this might just be us, but these fellas are giving us some nasty fascist vibes, ya feel me? Maybe we're wrong (though we do got a lot of experience with that), but have a look at this data we've gathered so far."

What we saw were shockingly detailed and up-close images of clearly Federation design medical and emergency disaster relief encampments. A baffling number in fact, but technically nothing that would indicate wrongful action or intent. But there were a lot of them all across the planet.

"Yeah, we only got data from right now, so do you got info on this planet and it's folk from earlier? My gut, and all these shuttles full of some kinda cargo we can't scan hyperin' away, is telling me that it's not gonna match well."

The Human, or his... gut?... (we'll have to ask them to elaborate, we thought they only had one mind?) is correct, startlingly so. We informed the Human the atmosphere was far thinner than it was merely 40 years ago, containing a third less Nitrogen and almost no trace gasses at all, save for CO2, which was at nominal levels, but the planet used to have an abundance of Helium, now almost entirely gone. If further investigation corroborates this, and perhaps other inconsistencies, this will be cause for a full open investigation and possible sanctions!

"So... can we fight them?"

The Human's question startled us from our anger, now replaced with confusion and worry. Humanity boasted the most powerful fleet in Coalition space, there was no question about it, but they are still only a singular planet with some specialist stations dotted around local space, while the Federation was composed of dozens of races across thousands of planets in a very efficient hierarchical structure, plus the true strength of their military was unknown.

This is a delicate matter and we need them to not act rashly. We have learned, however, that outright denying Humans anything leads them to desire it more, so we must adopt a new approach to each situation we wish the Humans to... not take the initiative on.

Offering the delegation leader command of our own covert investigation units, and requesting he withdraw his ships to act as emergency response and intervention forces in the area seemed to please him. He had an important task to do, and his crew busied themselves preparing for a variety of possibilities, thus making the Humans feel both needed and engaged in productive activity, preventing them from escalating the situation. For now.

We really hope this "gut" will not cause rash action.

[alpaca-clouds]

About Nucear Permanent Disposal Sites

So, a couple of days ago someone commented under my one blog about nuclear energy what boiled down to: "But what about the waste? We need to take responsibility for the next thousands of years of humanity!" And yes, that is very much the favorite argument for the anti-nuclear lobby... and it is pretty much based on the science of the 1980s.

What a lot of people do not understand is:

How little nuclear waste we actually have.

How little of that waste is actually the highly radiating stuff.

How well we can contain this stuff.

That we actually have figured out a solution for permanent disposal.

First need about nuclear waste you have to understand that most of it is not that dangerous. Most of the waste we get out of the nuclear facilities is actually just stuff that was around the radiation and got slightly radiated. 90% of all nuclear waste is stuff like items that just happened to be within the nuclear facilities for a long while. Tools, wortk clothing and so on. This stuff radiates, yes, but it is technically not dangerous levels AND it will stop doing so within 100 years max. We literally do not need to worry about it. Those yellow barrels you will keep seeing in old media that somehow end up mutating people? Yeah, those are used for this kind of waste. And to be quite frank, we are super extra that we store this either way. Because we have waste from other types of facilities (like coal power, but also from places like airport) where this kinda waste also happens and we... just throw it away normally.

Then there is about 7% of nuclear waste that is a bit more radiated. This is mostly metal parts and such that were in direct contact with the nuclear elements. This gets more radiated and as such will radiate for a longer time. But, this, too, is radation that will be gone or down to safe levels within a few centuries.

Only 3% is waste, that is high-level radiating and even from this not all will radiate for millennia! In fact we have gotten real good with recycling this high-level waste and if we are now talking SciFi scenarios like Solarpunk, we could actually just switch to thorium based reactors, where almost all of it is recyclable.

But... Even with the high level radiating stuff that we cannot recycle and need to permanently store, we... actually long have a solution for it.

You have to realize that those fuel cells are actually pretty small. And that we have materials that can basically protect you from the radiation. So, we basically just take those small spend fuel cells, put them into glass, put that into several layers of metal, put all of that into a deep, deep hole the ground and then fill everything up with clay. And... done.

Chances are: Nobody is gonna find it. Because it is gonna be so deep underground. Even if they did: It is protected enough that nobody is gonna die of radiation poisoning directly. Not only that: But the best rock material to burry this stuff in, is already radiating. So... Like, duh. We already have super radiactive stuff in nature.

And even if someone got radiation poisoning... Unless you suppose that humans of the future are dumber than most animals... They will learn: "Dude died. Area bad. Do not dig there."

Scientifically speaking... The entire nuclear waste thing is such a fucking non-issue, that keeps getting pushed up mostly by fossil fuels (that, again, also produce radiating waste!) to keep folks from going for a full renewable + nuclear energy mix. Aka: The clean option.

The reason why so many politicians do not just agree to those disposal options is that a) they do not understand it themselves and b) nor do their constituents and there is sooooo much fearmongering about this going on.

Again, I am not saying that we should go full nuclear energy. But rather for an energy mix of renewables and nuclear. Be CO2 neutral. Because I can tell you one thing: If we do not do that, there are not gonna be humans in 3023 we have to worry about. Because they are all fucking dead, with the planet being inhospitable to life.

[userparamore]

hi! genuine question - why is it a disappointment that pmore performed at eras tour? i’m very neutral on taylor swift so i don’t really know the issues surrounding it. thank you in advance ❤️

i'm no taylor swift stan so i don't really want to, or have the energy to mention everything. but from a paramore fan perspective it's disappointing bc it's makes them come across as hypocrites. i've talked about this before and i don't want to get into it again but they've spoken up about climate change, hayley even jokes about root being about our planet "running out of time", they've partenered with REVERB on their this why tour (which i guess is a little greenwashing-ish but better than nothing). but this ends up being ungenuine when you tour with the artist who releases the most co2 emission out of every celebrity. the fact that she sued the kid who called her out for this, i think says alot about her as a person. paramore preaches about the shows being a safe place for everyone; all poc and lgbtq+. but then they tour with the prime example of white feminism, who only speaks up/comments on things if it affects her. and again with paramore claiming to be more political during the this is why album cycle, and expressed multiple times how important the diversity of their fans are etc. it does not seem genuine when they're praising an artist like taylor swift as much as they have been doing. i think that saying of: if you want to know someone, just look at who they choose to spend their time with, is very true.

another part of this and i think this is probably the biggest one for paramore fans in general is that the tours during this is why didn't include europe mainland (or asia). they toured only in uk&ireland for this is why, and then in interviews said they did an european tour. is the european tour in the room with us now? anyway, the last european mainland tour was jan 2018, and had only 3 dates that wasn't in the uk out of 8. so the last real european tour was summer 2017 with 18 dates. 6 of them was in the uk&ireland and 4 of the rest of the european dates were festivals leaving only 8 "real" concerts in mainland europe. lots of the countries on the eras tours, like italy, poland, switzerland etc paramore haven't played in over a decade (aka during the self-titled era). to have waited this long for them to tour and then for it to cost close to 400 dollars for a nosebleed ticket, if you even get a ticket, does not feel great. another thing is that for some of these countries paramore have made 2 albums since the last time they toured, and they've never had the opportunity to hear any of the songs from those albums live. as the opener act on the eras tour, paramore played 9 song. most of these were their greatest hits. as a paramore fan you obviously want to go to a concert to see them perform, but for that amount of money i think it's reasonable to want to hear other songs than still into you, ain't it fun and misery business. the setlist was catered to reach non-fans, and that's fine honestly, it would probably be worse for them to play songs "nobody" had heard, than the one's that had commercial success and makes them be able to have some crowd interaction.

either way, i don't think people would've been as disappointed by this tour if they had also announced an solo european tour. the argument that this will get them new fans and make them a bigger name doesn't hold water in my opinion bc paramore are already a big band. they're already a band who can sell out tours and big venues on their own.

[waytooinvested]

Forgotten, Not Forgiven - Chapter 23

This and previous chapters are also on AO3

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lena laid her suitcase down on the thoughtfully provided stand and took in the space that would be her home for the next couple of nights.

The room was decorated in neutral shades of white and grey, with small pops of colour provided by a couple of throw pillows and a large arrangement of flowers on the desk. The entirely of one wall was made up of a window overlooking the city skyline, with a sliding panel door out onto a balcony that had been set with a table and chairs, so that guests could dine under the stars if they so wished. The over all impression was clean and uncluttered, a blank canvas to allow her the space to think without all the noise. Impersonal yes, but that just made it feel like home. After all, Lena had grown up in rooms like this one, and being here brought her back to the part of herself she had been neglecting of late.

This was the first stop on the long awaited launch tour for L-Corp’s about-to-be-released combustion emissions converter, which meant that she would be away from National City for a full week of press conferences, demonstrations, stakeholder events and corporate networking opportunities in various major cities across the country. It was the first time since Kara’s kidnapping that she had been out of town for more than a night or two, and it felt strange to be stepping away now, for all Project Atlantis was still stalled and she wouldn’t have been doing all that much on it even if she had been there.

Well... except seeing Kara. But Lena was long past the point of being able to convince herself that that had anything to do with ‘maintaining positive relations for the project’. If she had been there to spend time with Kara, it would just have been because she wanted to. And she would have wanted to. It was months since they had gone so long without at least a quick morning coffee catch up on the way to work.

But even so, there was something nice about stepping away for a while. Both she and Kara had been working through so many big feelings, and while Lena felt lighter for it, more complete than she had felt in years (possibly ever), it was exhausting. Having seven whole days where her only job was to do her actual job, without all the complicated emotions and Atlantis work on the side would be almost like a vacation (and alright, it was a vacation filled to the brim with press scrutiny, speech prep and making nice with very important, very stuffy business men, but she would take what she could get).

Besides, she was excited about the emissions converter she had worked so hard to build, and wanted to give it the attention it deserved. She had actually come up with the idea almost by accident, while trying to find a way to scrub the lead she had released from the atmosphere. Instead her research had taken her in a different direction, and the end result was a deceptively small device that could be paired with just about any type of combustion engine to effectively capture and neutralise 99.99% of carbon dioxide emissions, converting them harmlessly back into their component elements. It used a technique of Lena’s own devising to split CO2 that neatly avoided the usual high cost and/or energy intensive processes required by more traditional methods, as well as successfully producing pure carbon and oxygen rather than carbon monoxide. What was more, her device could also deal effectively with carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, benzene and a whole host of other pollutants, and would beat the efficiency of existing catalytic converters by several orders of magnitude.

Of course it was at best a stop gap measure in the fight against climate change, but if it could be adopted widely enough it could certainly buy the planet some time while humanity weaned off their reliance on fossil fuels. After her failure with the Q-wave generator and subsequent inability to find a way to armour Kara against the trauma of her memory barrier, it was nice to take some time to acknowledge her successes and take another step towards making the Luthor name stand for something good.

From tomorrow morning almost every minute of her time would be filled, but for the next few hours her schedule was clear, and Lena was free to celebrate in whatever way she chose. She considered going down to the bar, or even out to see the city sights, as it was still early, but she felt a strange reluctance to do so.

Honestly, she was just so tired.

Bone achingly, soul crushingly, painfully tired.

A quiet night in then.

She made use of the clothes press to get any wrinkles out of her outfit for the next day and hung it up in the closet, then went to investigate the bathroom. It did not disappoint.

The tub was frankly ridiculous, even by her standards. It was almost big enough to swim laps in if you really put your mind to it, and covered in little circular openings that hinted at jacuzzi jets, as well as boasting a vast selection of tiny shampoos, shower gels, bubble baths and moisturisers lined up on the tiled ledge behind it. She skimmed the labels, then dumped a bottle of Sisley Soir de Lune into the tub and filled it with water just on the right side of painfully hot.

As soon as it was full she stripped off and sank gratefully into the fragrant heat and mounds of silky bubbles, almost groaning as her travel-weary muscles relaxed into it.

God, she needed to take more baths.

Most days Lena settled for a quick shower, having more pressing demands on her time than lying about in warm water, but when she did she remembered just how much she enjoyed it. She felt all her nerves about the coming week melting out of her and evaporating away with the steam as she drifted, eyes closed and hair floating on the surface. She stayed there, doing nothing but experiencing the sensation of being wrapped up in a warm embrace (even if not that of another person), until finally the water began to cool and the bubbles had mostly popped. She considered topping it up for a second round, but her fingers and toes were pruning, and now that she had worked out her tension, her book was calling out its siren song from her travel bag.

She finished her ablutions quickly and then got out, opting to pull on one of the two fluffy robes that had been provided rather than bothering to get properly dried and dressed, then helped herself to some of the complimentary mixed nuts and a not-so-complimentary miniature bottle of Talisker-25 from the mini-bar. The super-king bed was obscenely comfortable, and Lena settled down amidst a heap of pillows to the serious business of reading, luxuriating in the feeling of having absolutely nowhere she needed to be and nothing she was supposed to be doing.

She was only a couple of chapters in and fully absorbed in the story when her phone buzzed on the night stand with a text. She tutted, annoyed at the intrusion into the her brief respite from the world. It would be another nudge from her Head of PR, ‘politely’ suggesting that she really ought to make an appearance at the bar because XYZ important person was there and it would be an oh-so-perfect opportunity for a bit of impromptu schmoozing; or else a panicked message from the product demo team with a last minute crisis they needed her to solve that would inevitably keep her up until the small hours of the morning.

So much for her early night.

However, when she unlocked her phone she found it wasn’t a work emergency at all, and her irritation evaporated immediately to be replaced by a little leap of gladness in her chest as she saw who the text was from.

Kara: you’ve been gone less than 12 hours and I already need you back

The short message made butterflies stir in Lena’s belly as she tried to work out exactly what it meant. If she was in some kind of trouble and actually did need her back she would have called rather than texting, or at least been more specific, so… what was she saying? Lena had time to consider all the possible-unlikely-wishful-thinking scenarios in which Kara had suddenly realised her feelings and couldn’t bear even one more night of not kissing Lena, when a second text followed the first.

Kara: Alex and Kelly are destroying me at game night

Ah. Well that made more sense. And was a much better answer given that she had resolved not to act on anything for as long as Kara didn’t know the truth of their history. Lena tried to tell herself the heat in her cheeks was just in response to the hot bath she had taken as she tapped out a reply.

Lena: How is that possible? You’ve trounced them the last two weeks in a row.

Kara: That’s only because I had you there. You’re like my perfect game night partner

Kara: we are unstoppable!

Kara: not so much when it’s just me. And Alex is being SO smug about it

Kara: I think she’s about 5 seconds away from doing a victory dance

Lena smiled to herself, picturing the scene even as she pressed her whiskey glass to her face to cool her still-burning cheeks.

Lena: Well that would be only fair after YOUR victory dance last week

Lena: And the winner song that went with it

Kara: hey! You’re meant to be on my side here!

Lena: I’m always on your side

Lena: Anyway, who was it that came up with half the rhymes for that song? I didn’t say I didn’t love it.

Lena: And we will make Alex pay when I’m back next week

Kara: DEAL!

Kara: How’s your night going so far? Are you still working?

Lena: Nope – I got all my prep for tomorrow out the way on the flight, so I am being 100% indolent tonight. I just had a bubble bath and now I’m curled up on my bed reading a book.

Lena: I’m not QUITE in my pajamas at 8.30pm, but I’m not sure if a fluffy hotel robe is actually any better?

Lena: I’m basically an old lady

Kara: psh, no way. You have to make the most of a night in a five star hotel or what’s even the point of paying for one? And I bet the bed is SO comfy.

Lena: It is. It’s also HUGE

She snapped a quick photo of herself sitting in the middle of the bed, one arm extended to show how far she was from being able to touch the edge, and sent it to Kara.

Lena: If you were here we could both spend the night stretched out without ever managing to meet in the middle

As soon as she hit send, she regretted it. She hadn’t even meant anything by it, but on a reread, and sent immediately following a photo of herself on said bed, all the important bits fully covered but still knowing full well that she was naked under the robe, it seemed imbued with subtext that she couldn’t allow herself to mean. She felt the tips of her ears getting as warm as her face as she tried to think of a way to minimise it or take it back without making things worse.

Before she could however Kara’s reply pinged in.

Kara: wow, it’s like an aquarium!

That was… not the response she had expected. Lena stared at her phone, brows furrowed as she tried to decode the meaning of the statement.

She gave up.

Lena: Sorry you’ve lost me. An aquarium? As in… fish?

Kara: Yes, because of how many starfish it could hold! [laughing face]

Kara: you know… like when you spread out your arms and legs in bed

Kara: so you look like a starfish

Kara: and because it’s a big bed you could fit multiple starfish on it

Kara: like at an aquarium

Lena couldn’t help laughing. Not because the joke itself was funny (it was terrible), but because it was so Kara, and made all the more so by the elaborate explanation she had given for it. She smiled fondly at the text chain, as if it was Kara herself she was holding in the palm of her hand.

Lena: you’re right, it is just like an aquarium

And then because this was Kara, and she was allowed to be a dork to Kara without feeling silly, she added:

Lena: You could say I’ll be sleeping with the fishes tonight.

Kara sent back a string of laughing-crying emojis, then a fish emoji, a sleepy face and a heart.

Kara: I’d better go back and join the others before they think I got lost on the way to J’onn’s kitchen

Kara: I was only meant to be fetching another bottle of wine, but I wanted to take a moment to lick my wounds and get a morale boost from my favourite gaming partner after my latest defeat.

Kara: sweet dreams, and good luck tomorrow, you’ll be amazing

Kara: I’m so proud of you <3

Lena: Thank you <3

Lena: Sweet dreams to you too, and I hope you manage to obliterate Alex and Kelly in your next game xxx

Kara: xxxxx