ANOTHER PLANET

Good news –  scientists have developed a robot jellyfish which has synthetic muscles powered by the hydrogen and oxygen in water. The Robot is made up of eight moving parts wrapped in carbon nanotubes and coated with a platinum powder. How sustainable is that! Bad news – the research was funded by the US military who are looking at options like ‘underwater spy drones’ for the new technology.

A fascinating article on Tree Hugger about the future design of wind turbines – and they don’t have to be giant windmills, or have baldes – and they can run in low wind,  - and designs include the Makani Airborne Wind Turbine, the Altaeros Airborne Wind Turbine (pictured), the Wind Harvester, the Wind Stalk and vertical axis turbines.  Much more at http://www.treehugger.com/wind-technology/future-wind-power-9-cool-innovations.html?campaign=weekly_nl

TreeHugger also has an interstig review of a new book detailing many of the buildings that have been built for the London 2012 Olympic Games  - London 2012 Sustainable Design – Delivering a Games Legacy by architect Hattie Hartman   http://www.treehugger.com/green-architecture/London-sustainability-guide-Olympics.html?campaign=weekly_nl

The UK government is to revive its £1bn Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) competition and take its first steps to design the first workable demonstration project has been welcomed by industry.  Energy secretary Ed Davey announced the CCS Commercialisation Programme, which replaces the scrapped Longannet CCS scheme, and which aims to boost innovation in carbon capture and storage technologies.  It is anticipated the initiative, which is financed using public funding, will help the UK meet its climate change targets and boost energy security by encouraging development in CCS technology. A major change to the reformed competition is that it will be open to gas-powered stations with Stuart Haszeldine, Scottish Power Professor of Carbon Capture and Storage at the University of Edinburgh saying “This is a much, much better offer than we had before”.

A French village has proposed giving two chickens to each household to cut down on food waste.  Officials from Pince in the northwest of France say the chickens could consume up to 150kg of food waste each year from families, as well as provide eggs for the breakfast table.  So far, 20 households have reportedly already stated an interest in receiving the birds which will be handed out in September – and it works – when I used to keep chicken, ALL household vegetable waste either went to the chickens or was composted – the hens loved peas, cooked rice, potato peelings, lettuce leaves – even cabbage leaves – and produced lovely eggs and free manure too!

NHS trusts will be required to produce annual sustainability reports as from this year under new laws announced by the Department of Health. Trusts will be required to chart their sustainability progress as part of their annual reporting obligations.  The legislation aims to tackle the NHS’s immense carbon impact which totals 20m tonnes of CO2.

UK Businesses will face higher waste disposal costs as from this month as landfill tax rises to £64 per tonne under the Government’s continued materials diversion drive. The hike represents an £8 increase from the 2011-12 rate of £56 per tonne and will put companies under greater pressure to manage their waste more effectively by seeking alternative treatment and recovery options.

Edie.net reports that despite climate change posing a “substantial” risk to UK major companies less than half have contingency plans in place. New research by the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), which conducted a poll of UK FTSE 100 companies as part of its Insight into Climate Change Adaptation by UK Companies Report which found that while 80% of respondents had identified substantial risks to their business from climate change, just 46% said they had plans in place to protect against.

The UK’s paper recycling rate stands at 78.7%, an increase of nearly 5% on the previous year, according to latest figures. Data released by the Confederation of Paper Industries (CPI) shows a rise from 75.1% in 2010 to 78.7% in 2011.

Water restrictions are in force for Southern and Eastern England customers as seven water companies pull the plug on hosepipe use. This follows last month’s warning that restrictions are likely to be enforced this spring as a result of a drier than average autumn, winter and early spring which has left reservoir levels seriously low and parts of the country in drought  Southern Water, South East Water, Thames Water, Anglian Water, Sutton and East Surrey, Veolia Central and Veolia South East are the first seven companies to enforce restrictions, with some of these restrictions coming into force on April 5th in the form of a hosepipe ban with a maximum £1000 penalty.

Nearly 20 states in the USA are planning to introduce labelling for genetically modified foods - something an estimated 90 percent of American people want but aren’t getting from their federal government but it seems that that state government officials may even be dragging their feet on legislation they previously supported—with AlterNet reporting that this is because chemicals giant Monsanto is threatening to sue explaining hat the legislators changed their minds only after a Monsanto representative threatened a public official that the chemical and biotech giant would sue Vermont if they dared to pass the labeling bill. More here http://www.vtrighttoknow.org/.

Trade body Renewable UK has said that the wind power industry would create almost 80,000 new jobs in that period, taking the total number of employees in the sector to around 90,000 by 2020. And, in the shorter term in order to address the projected demand and skills gap, it pledges to create up to 2,000 places on specialist training courses by the end of 2013 to help people retrain within the sector and creating employment opportunities. Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Ed Davey welcomed the charter saying: “As an island, we have an abundance of free wind energy which we would be crazy not to harness. We have the opportunity to build a world leading wind energy industry”.

Three of the four big supermarkets in the UK have refused to publicly reveal how much food they throw away each year. According to Channel 4 news, Britain’s supermarkets collectively generate 300,000 tonnes of food waste every year, but Tesco, Asda and Morrison’s declined to disclose their individual figures when contacted by the news channel. Only Sainsbury’s was prepared to publish its food waste figures and told Channel 4 it generated about 44,000 tonnes of food waste in 2011.

A planned anaerobic digestion (AD) plant at Scottish ice cream manufacturer Mackie’s could save the firm up to £300k a year in energy costs, bolstering it’s already impressive renewable energy credentials.  The firm already has three 800kW wind turbines which supply 70% of the firm’s energy needs at its 1,600-acre Aberdeenshire site – as well as exporting 62% of their output to the national grid. A further 50kW of solar panels was added earlier this year, however, an AD plant would reduce reliance on wind or sunshine, allowing the company to power operations using only on-site renewable energy.

The Midcounties Co-operative has saved over £100,000 in waste disposal costs over the past 12 months due to an aggressive recycling drive.

ANOTHER PLANET

England’s worst drought for 30 years looks like having a potentially catastrophic on wildlife and trees in the East, South and South East. The Wildlife Trust and teh RSPB have identified dragonflies, water voles, tadpoles, frogs, toads, newts, lapwings, redchanks, avocets and curlews, as well as freshwater fish as high risk species as streams, rivers and pods dry up, alongside trees such as birch and beech which will suffer in a drought along with an increased risk of forest fires. Some parts of the country have suffered their driest 18 months since records began and a spokeswoman for the Wildlife Trust said that reduced human consumption could avert an ‘absolute disaster’.

BRE Global, the organisation that runs the BREEAM award scheme (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method),  has assessed more than 7000 projecrts in 2011, more than double the number in 2009, with  more buildings being awarded the ‘Outstanding’ mark than ever this year. Pack leader is the Dogs Trust in Shrewsbury which provides a comfortable environment for dogs awaiting rehousing: it has a 750 square metre green roof, harvests rainwater for washing the kennels, has solar panels and ceiling tiles and fencing that reduces noise.  Another outstanding building is the Lancaster Institute for Contemporary Arts which has a pre-fabricated timber frame in a building set in woodland at Lancaster University with roof mounted solar panels and rainwater harvesting, there are low water use sanitary fittings, a 75% efficient thermal heat recovery and has live digital displays. Other winners include Houghton Primary School in Sunderland (again with solar panels, a wind turbine and a ground source heat pump) , One Silk Street London (where Linklaters LLP have cut energy use by 40% since 2001), St Johns Vicarage Wembley (high thermal performance PV panels, groundsource pump and mechanical heat recovery system) , Waitrose in Straford, London, which sends all waster food to a anerobic digestion, has low carbon lighting and hot and cold air management, and Harold Hill Fire station which uses 42% less energy than an average fire station in London and has lighting provided by ‘sun pipes’ bringing light into the station even on a cloudy day.

France and Spain (which has the EU’s biggest fishing fleet) have responded to an online campaign by UK chef and campaigner Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall by reviewing their plans to carry on with the policy of ‘discards’ – simply throwing dead fish overboard once fishing quotas are met. A policy which is no good for fish – and no good for fishermen – and no good for consumers.  More than 130,000 Tweets and Facebook messages were sent to ministers. The pressure is now on for the EU to phase out discards over the next 4 years. More at  http://www.fishfight.net/. And Hugh’s Nig Fish Fight has one a Royal Televison Society Award in the UK in the Popular Factual and Features category. The  programe was made by Keo Films for Channel 4 and was described by the the judges as “An interesting, watchable and accessible series of clever and effortless campaigning. The presenter is an amazing advocate, demonstrates admirable tenacity and gains unbelievable access. The series is also distinctive in terms of online innovation and activity.”

‘A Black Wednesday for the Environment’ is Greenpeace staffer and Plane Stupid campaigner Joss Garman’s take on the UK’s budget – and its a damning account of the short sighted economic policies that Chancellor George Osbourne is following in the name of economic recovery. It’s all in the Independent on Sunday  (18th March 2012) here http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/joss-garman-a-black-wednesday-for-the-environment-7576245.html

UK Chancellor George Osborne has said that the ‘cumbersome and bureaucratic’ Carbon Reduction Commitment scheme could be replaced by “alternative environmental tax” by the autumn in his Budget statement. The Chancellor has also said that renewable energy will play a “crucial part in Britain’s energy mix” but said that they needed to be both ‘environmentally sustainable’ and ‘fiscally sustainable’. However, it is gas that will receive the biggest investment as the largest single source of energy in the coming years. The sector will be boosted by a “major package of tax changes” for North Sea oil and gas extraction and a new gas generation strategy to be set out this autumn. Unsurprisingly, the Government’s pledge to be the “greenest ever” has been dealt a humiliating blow with just 2% of the public saying they believe it has fulfilled this goal. The YouGov Poll of more than 1,700 British adults, commissioned by Greenpeace and the RSPB, found that 53% of respondents believed the Government was ‘about average’ when it came to environmental policies.

The London NHS Trust has reduced its water consumption by more than 30% – cutting more than 100m litres from its operations since 2009.

Frozen food giant Birds Eye is targeting zero waste to landfill for its manufacturing operations by 2014 under revised plans, a year ahead of its original target. And Nairn’s Oatcakes is making good progress on a zero waste to landfill ambition – achieving a recycling rate of 90% for waste generated from its Edinburgh manufacturing sites.

Extreme weather caused by climate change could increase electricity bills for UK businesses by £335m a year in by 2030 – with the retail sector hit hardest. In the past week the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has warned that the annual electricity bill for the business sector could rise by hundreds of millions of pounds by 2030 as a result of climate change. And in open letter published in the run up to the Budget, some of the UK’s largest businesses and green groups have called on the Chancellor to deliver on the Government’s commitment to be ‘the greenest ever’ by implementing a credible growth strategy that catalyses investment in renewables and energy efficiency, spurring the economic recovery.

4 out of 10 farmers surveyed by Lloyds TSB Scotland are disappointed with the performance of their wind power investments which they say are producing less income than expected.

Edie.net reports that Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman has unveiled plans to shake-up environmental regulations – by scrapping more than 50 ‘obsolete’ regulations following a red tape review.  Announcing the outcome of the Government’s ‘Red Tape Challenge’ for environmental regulations Ms Spelman denied it was about “rolling back environmental safeguards” or “cutting regulation to stimulate growth”.  Instead, she argued that “simpler and smarter” environment regulations will provide savings to businesses of more than £1bn over five years, as well as protecting the environment by making regulations cheaper and easier for companies to follow.

Nearly two-thirds of local authorities in England and Wales now collect food waste, or are planning to, but service provision remains patchy with strong regional variation.

An energy recovery park is predicted to deliver a £1.5bn boost to the Northwest economy once it goes live in three years’ time A report into the economic benefits of the Ince Park development located at the Manchester Ship Canal estimates that during the first 25 years of its operation, revenue generation could amount to £3,350m, with half of this secured within the local region.  The eco-park will house energy-from-waste (EfW) and biomass facilities and is a joint venture between Peel Environmental and Covanta Energy. The study by Urban Mines also predicts the site could generate up to 2,350 direct jobs with a further 914 indirect vacancies according to Edie.net.

ANOTHER PLANET

A new exhibiton of photographs showing life in some of the most remote communities in the world is taking place in London, amidst warnings that climate change may well wipe out ancient ways of life within years. Ragnar Axelsson has spent 25 years capturing the lifestyles of traditional  innuit hunters ad fishermen in Greenland andhis new exhibition ‘LAST DAYS OF THE ARCTIC’ runs until March 11th at the Proud Gallery in Kings Road, Chelsea, London.   www.proud.co.uk. And the very next day Climate Week begins in the UK and there will be more on Climate Week here soon.

Meredith Alexander, Ethics Commissioner for the London 2012 Olympics, is leaving her post saying she cannot sanction the involvement of Dow Chemicals as a sponsor. Dow remain embroiled in a worldwide row over the Bhopal chemicals disaster at the Union Carbide plant in India in 1999.  The Commission for Sustainable London appear to have agreed to the £7 million deal, despite the fact that 3,500 people died when the within days of the Bhopal chemical gas tragedy and campaigners say more than 20,000 more have died since. Dow has a greed to withdraw branding from Olympic stadium panels.

Marks & Spencer (M&S) has signed a pilot agreement with energy storage and clean fuel company ITM Power to deliver what it claims is the UK’s first hydrogen fuel powered vehicles. The trial forms part of M&S’ ongoing Plan A Initiative which sets out a number of sustainability ambitions, including a target of sourcing 100% of its energy from renewable sources.

Food manufacturers have welcomed EU proposals to deliver a coordinated strategy to halve the amount of food waste by 2025. The European Parliament has asked the Commission and member states to draw up plans to tackle the problem. Nearly 50% of edible and healthy food is wasted every year in the EU by households, supermarkets, restaurants and the distribution chain.  The EU says food waste currently amounts to around 89 million tonnes a year and could climb to 126 million tonnes in 2020 if no action is taken. Unilever Food Solutions has developed a waste toolkit for catering venues and restaurants to help food service operators control their costs better. The toolkit breaks down the cost of commercial food waste and contains guidance on how establishments can carry out waste audits. It includes a briefing sheet for managers, guidelines for staff and menu ideas to use frequently wasted ngredients. Unilever drew up the toolkit in response to its latest World Menu Report, which highlights the growing problem of food waste when consumers dine out. According to the research, over half the food produced in the world today is wasted as a result of inefficiencies in the human managed food chain. We have just updated our ‘information pages’ at http://www.agreenerfestival.com  to include more content on food, starting with a extremely interesting article by Hannah Claxton who previously worked in the music industry and now describes herself as a ‘trainee farmer’ – with a determination to produce sustainable food. And more from Climate Week on food here http://www.climateweek.com/eat-low-carbon/

A Perthshire landowner and contractor have been handed fines of £9,000 and £900 respectively at Perth Sheriff’s Court for illegal waterworks in the River Tay, Scotland to enable gravel extraction. As a result of investigations by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), landowner Thomas Steuart Fothringham and contractor McIntosh & Robertson, run by John McIntosh, were found guilty of carrying out engineering works by building grey bank protection (river bank protection using artificial materials) on the south bank of the River Tay without a license.  According to SEPA, the engineering activities could have caused “huge adverse impacts on the water environment” as a result of silt into the river.

Edie.net reports that UK retailers will have to extend their takeback schemes for e-waste under new rules governing the WEEE Directive which have effectively strengthened producer responsibility requirements. The recast of the directive, which was approved by the European Parliament means that large stores selling electronic items – with a floor space of over 400 square metres – will be obliged to take back small items of WEEE free of charge, regardless of whether a customer makes a purchase or not. In addition, manufacturers of electrical and electronic equipment will continue to contribute financially towards meeting tougher reprocessing targets, although they will benefit from a cut in red tape, with simplified registration and reporting requirements.

Sony Corporation has exceeded its waste minimisation targets across all of its global business sites, achieving a 54% reduction rate in 2010 set against a 40% objective. The electronics giant is now embarking on a number of pioneering initiatives to take its ambitions further. Out in Korea, Sony has launched a zero electronic waste campaign in collaboration with the Korean Government and various recycling companies, signing a memorandum of understanding with a national council of green consumers. Across Europe Sony says it is also reducing waste.. Recycling levels have increased from 73% in 2000 to 99% in 2009, meaning that 99% of the waste generated by Sony Europe’s manufacturing facilities is now either reused or recycled.

Northern Ireland will be bringing in a 5p levy on plastic bags from next year. A similar move in the Republic of Ireland which currently has a 18p levy per bag led to a 90% drop in plastic bag use. The Northern Ireland levy will rise to 10p in 2014.

Supermarket giant Tesco is back tracking on its support for carbon labelling of its products.  The chain says the labels, which it launched with the Carbon Trust four years ago, is frustrated at the lack of take up by other retailers and the time it takes to organise reports the Grocer magazine.  Tesco displays the label on around 500 products and is one of more than 100 businesses currently using it.

Edie.net reports that London’s police force has begun installing solar PV on its buildings as part of carbon cutting drive. The latest installation on the a Metropolitan Police Service’s building has seen solar PV panels installed on the roof of Lewisham station, in south east London.  So far, including Lewisham, three of the Met’s buildings have had PV installed on roofs.  The National Trust is also supporting solar power industry by commissioning renewable energy consultants Dulas to deliver its biggest solar panel installation yet. The works at the National Trust’s Grade 1 listed villa Llanerchaeron, Wales is expected to generate up to half of the electricity the property requires, with installation reaching completion before the cut to Feed In-Tariffs (FITs) came into force last month.

Plasterboard manufacturer British Gypsum has reached zero waste across all of its UK production operations, resulting in the closure of an internal landfill site.  The company has implemented a comprehensive waste reduction programme at its Kirky Thore manufacturing facility and is now recycling all of its gypsum waste. It has since closed and restored a nearby landfill site where the waste was previously sent to.  The programme reduced the amount of production waste going to landfill from an average of 5,000 tonnes per month in 2004 to zero in just six years.

The average UK family home is comfortably warm at 17.3C a rise of more than 5C since 1970 according to figures from University of Salford Retrofit 2012 conference which showed the average temperature at risen by just over a degree C a decade since the 70s.  Another challenge is that expectation of personal comfort in the home had risen, with the public’s definition of ‘comfortable’ home temperature rising from 12C in 1970 to 17.3C in 2008.

As the Environment Agency continues to urge businesses to reduce their water use, drinks giant Coca-Cola has unveiled how it will continue to hit “stringent” targets to reduce water usage in its first digital Global Reporting Initiative. As part of the ‘Reasons to Believe’ sustainability report, which follows GRI sustainability reporting guidelines, ‘water stewardship’ is one of four key areas focused on by Coca-Cola. And car giant Ford has revealed that it has invested Euro 2.3m in its five-year water reduction strategy.

Pioneering technology using microbubbles could solve the difficulties of harvesting algae for use as a biofuel, according to scientists. The technique, developed at the University of Sheffield, builds on previous research in which microbubbles were used to improve the way algae is cultivated.  Algae produce an oil which can be processed to create a useful biofuel. Until now however, there has been no cost-effective method of harvesting and removing the water from the algae for it to be processed effectively.

The rise of mixed plastics collections in the UK is starting to pose serious material quality problems for reprocessors, according to new research, According to a technical guide from WRAP, increasing amounts of mixed plastic packaging are diluting the presence of PET and HDPE bottles, making it difficult for plant operators to extract these polymer types to a high enough standard. The cost of this fall in quality in turn is now being passed onto local authorities through a reduction in the price they receive for their plastic bottles, and this trend is likely to continue until more infrastructure capable of sorting bottles from mixed plastics comes on-stream.

UK Government takes a backwards step on food waste

In the UK we throw away a third of the food we buy. Most of that waste goes to landfill where it decomposes and produces methane, a green house gas that is far far more damaging than CO2 in climate change and global warming. If it can be divered from landfill it can be composted or it can be used to feed anaerobic digsters and produce green renewable energy. So surely and right thinking government would be promoting a move from landfill to promote a ‘zero waste’ society in the UK. Errrrrrrrm, nope! The Coalition government has bowed to pressure from Local Authorities and some in the press , and has lifted an order that would ban food, textiles, paper, wood, garden waste and metals being sent to Landfill. DEFRA say that a ‘revised interpretation’ on municipal waste showed that a landfill ban was not needed to meet Englands 2010 landfill target. How encouraging to see DEFRA (still) sticking to the much discredited system of targets – created by administrators to create bureaucracy, business people to create profit and politicians to create muddle and waste! Another chance missed we think here. Shame.

Do we have an appetite for energy from food?

Rotting leftover food and even sewage are going to be used to produce greener energy to heat Britain’s homes. From the 22nd November homes will be able to use the Ecotricity green gas tariff as a way of cutting greenhouse gas emissions and reducing waste going to landfill. With 18 million tonnes of food waste thrown away each year Ecotricity say that 700,000 homes could be heated by biogas which in generated in anaerobic digesters and can be used to produce electricity – or put into the gas network. At the moment homes would still be supplied with traditional gas but Ecotricity plan to move customers onto increasingly green sources, so homes could get their energy from sources that included up to 50% from biogas.

We have to point out that turning food into energy is not perfect – it would be better not to waste food in the first place, it would be better to use excess food on feeding humans and if not humans animals and it is probably better to compost food waste rather that use a biodigester.  Still the Food Recovery Hierarchy does say that it is better to biodigest than incinerating waste or sending to landfill.

Tipping point – green news from around the globe

time is slippng away

Food waste is back on the menu with an interesting article by Tristram Stuart (“if my pigs can eat it, so can we”) highlighting just how much perfectly edible food is thrown away producing more greenhouse gas emissions, water usage, land degradation and deforestation – as well as adding to world hunger calling on supermarkets to cut down on waste and making waste reporting obligatory.

 

 

Interesting news that Munich Re, the world largest reinsurance group, have put together a consortium of companies to develop solar power generation in the Saraha – hoping to produce 15% of all of Europe’ s power by 2050. The twelve member companies have stumped up millions of pounds for a three year feasibility study of the scheme which involves concentrated solar power (CSP) – mirrors which direct sunlight to produce heat which then drives steam turbines to generate electricity. Desertec, a European network of scientists and engineers says that by covering just 1% of the World’s deserts with CSP schemes would produce all of the electricity the world needs.

 

In other news, a coalition of businesses have produced a report with the working title “Lessons from UK Climate Policy” criticising current government policy and calling on ministers to introduce firm prices for carbon, extra tax breaks and other incentives including better capital allowances for green technology investment.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article6727581.ece