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Comment by sxates | Hacker News Reader

I agree that heat is more challenging in climates like yours. But it's not impossible. Extreme insulation and smart energy management goes a long way (check out passive houses), and if thermal is really needed natural gas is not our only option. Do trees grow near you? Grind them up and burn them, they're carbon neutral. Better yet, geothermal heat pumps which I'm hopeful will become more cost effective in the near future.

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Tens of thousands of houses already exist in the city that are nearly all heated with natural gas. There is not a single economically feasible way to change those houses

You just moved the goal posts from "impossible" to "not economically feasible" - those aren't the same thing. I agree, economically, it's very difficult. We need governments to help with the cost, because it will be enormous. The cost of not doing it is even higher.

Also, the % of people who live in climates like yours is relatively small, so everyone who doesn't live in those places should not be using this as an excuse for inaction.

No they simply don't work either.

If trees are carbon neutral, then fossil fuels are also carbon neutral - just a different timespan.

Burning trees typically creates an enormous quantity of particulates.

This isn’t true. Our fossil fuels were produced during the Carboniferous period, something which the planet is very unlikely to go through again.

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