Log In Sign Up

Search for any green Service

Find green products from around the world in one place

Window cleaning

Singapore Safety Glass

Month: May 2021

Recycling textile waste: ‘A solution exists, we can’t go backwards’

Posted on by dishanth
Recycling textile waste: ‘A solution exists, we can’t go backwards’

An Australian startup working on a process to recycle textiles by turning worn-out fabric into raw materials says it has funding to build a world-first commercial-scale plant in Queensland.

The federal government held a first national roundtable on textile waste on Wednesday – recognition of a piling-up problem that results in Australians discarding an estimated 780,000 tonnes of textile waste each year, according to a 2020 national waste report.

The problem is exacerbated by the lack of an effective recycling process. Studies show many large-scale garment recycling systems provide negligible benefits and can be as environmentally harmful as producing raw fabrics.

BlockTexx, an Australian company that has developed its process with researchers at the Queensland University of Technology, hopes it can help “close the loop” by diverting textiles from landfill, and at the same time replacing virgin material.

The company’s founders, Graham Ross and Adrian Jones, say the technology has been refined during the pandemic and they now have the $5.5m investment needed to build a first large-scale facility at Logan, south of Brisbane.

 

Ross and Jones – both veterans of the clothing and fashion industry – say they have enough supply and demand to expand, before the first plant has been built.

“From this original idea we always knew we were early to the market, but also a lot of technical barriers we need to overcome,” Ross said.

“We always seem to talk about textile waste. We always think about how can we take that and turn that into a valuable product.

“The byproduct is we’re solving environmental issues.”

Alice Payne, an associate professor at QUT and the program leader at the centre for a waste free world, said problems with textile waste have been accelerated since the 1980s by global trade policies. Lowered tariffs encouraged more imports. Cheaper fabrics allowed the phenomenon of “fast fashion” to flourish.

 

“Clothes are cheaper than ever – it’s possible to buy more and more,” Payne said.

“In parallel we’ve seen this stark rise in consumption of synthetic fibres. They’re low cost, they have an ease of consumption compared to natural fibres.

“When you blend a synthetic fibre with a natural fibre you create a monstrous hybrid. The common problem with all attempts at recycling is the more mixed material you have, the more problem you have reusing those resources.”

The process developed by BlockTexx and QUT researchers – called “separation of fabric technology” – is noteworthy because it is designed to handle hybrid fabrics. It turns cotton to cellulose and polyester to flake for industrial uses like injection moulding.

Their aim for the first plant is to recycle about 10,000 tonnes a year by the end of 2022 – initially focusing mostly on commercial fabrics, including old towels and sheets from hotels and hospitals.

Ross said that after two years of lab testing, they were comfortable they could commercialise the process, and that it was producing raw recycled materials of very high quality.

“We’ve now got a product where we can consistently compare our product to virgin material,” he said.

The company would begin to recycle post-consumer waste when it scales up capacity. Plans have been drawn up for a 40,000-tonne plant. BlockTexx envisages licensing its technology on a global scale.

“[The size of the first plant] is significant, but equally only a drop in the ocean of the amount of textiles going to landfill,” Ross said.

“This is definitely a global model. The world has a textile problem. Our solution needs to go to the problem, because we can’t bring the problem to the solution.

“We see ourselves as a technology company. We already have several large waste and textile companies around the world saying this is really interesting.

“The other smart thing about our model is that it’s very modular – it can be run on a small scale and we can expand it.”

Jones said: “Whatever happens from now, because a solution exists, we can’t go backwards.

“I’m not trying to say that from tomorrow we’re not going to put textiles into landfill, we’re not going to export textile waste.

“But we’ve now got the opportunity to do something. It really does move the discussion from the art of the possible to the art of the practical and that’s really important in this space.”

 

 

Source The Guardian

17 things you can change to reduce your impact on the environment while overlanding

Posted on by dishanth
17 things you can change to reduce your impact on the environment while overlanding

Overlanders are usually use large vehicles, with either gas or diesel engines with low mpg’s.

While using hybrids or even electric vehicles for overlanding is still in the distant future (and those types of vehicles may not even be desired by the overlanding community), there are still several things that overlanders can do to decrease their impact on the environment.

 

— Please Click Here For The Infographic —

 

Travelers should preserve nature in a way for their children and grandchildren to enjoy as well.

While it is a fun, family activity, camping and overlanding have both positive and negative effects on the environment.

Camping is great for socialization since often there’s no technology around, and you have more interaction and communication with family and friends.

 

 

It also improves your mood and reduces stress. On the negative side, people may end up making campfires which can release toxic gases into the air and are harmful.

These toxic gases contain carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide, which both heavily pollute the air.

Ultimately, if the fire is not placed in an appropriate spot, it can often kill wildlife and even plant life in the area that you are camping in.

We’re not against campfires, we love them! But with moderation and with precautions.

Also, some people fall into the habit of leaving garbage and waste behind after their camping trips. This leftover trash can harm the animals because they may end up eating the garbage and choking on whatever waste is left behind, to only mention one of the downsides of such recklessness.

Ultimately what people need to remember is that how they live, shop and camp have an effect on the places that they journey actually to experience.

 

 

However, it’s never too late to start making positive choices such as using less water, pollutants, plastic, and fuel as well.

At the end of the day by creating an eco-friendly footprint, you’ll not only protect the wildlife and environment, but you’ll also save money in the interim.

 

During our travels, luckily literally no campers or overlanders we ever met were inconsiderate. Quite the opposite!

There seems to be a great trend among overlanders to really look after the environment, and many follow the awesome principle of “leave the campground cleaner than you found it“.

So let’s see, as overlanders and campers, what can we do for the environment. Here are thirteen habits that you may adopt in order to improve your stamp on the world.

 

Don’t Use Plastic Bags

 

The best way to protect the environment is to stop using plastic bags. By refusing to use plastic bags like the ones you buy at checkouts, you’re taking the first step in making an eco-friendly footprint on your local environment.

The next step, however, is to choose plastic-free food and groceries. Always opt for items packaged in recyclable cardboard cartons, tins, bottles, and boxes as these are more environmentally friendly than plastic.

Furthermore, plastic is hard to recycle, and it is never really biodegradable.

You may also choose to switch to bleach-free paper products when it comes to household items. These are supplies such as paper towels and toilet rolls and pack your fruit and vegetables in drawstring bags made from mesh as opposed to plastic packets.

 

Always Recycle

 

It’s not always easy to find recycling bins in remote places; however, it’s not impossible either.

If you simply keep the good housekeeping habits that you exercise at home when you are camping, you’ll do your share to limit waste and your footprint on the environment.

So basically staying committed to recycling means that you have to keep your glass bottles, tins, cardboard and newspapers, and jars in your own bags until you reach town or home.

Ultimately, this is the best thing that you can do as a traveler and it also it forces you to account just how much waste you are responsible for on a daily or weekly basis.

Before making your way to your camping destination, remove and recycle as much packaging from your groceries as you possibly can.

So if space is limited and you are camping in a remote site, consider switching to aluminum, crushable beer cans, and compact wine casks as opposed to space-hogging glass bottles.

Another environmental nightmare is dead batteries dumped on the roadside. While it’s all too tempting to simply throw them on the side of the road and drive away, you should think twice about this.

 

Avoid Single-Use Products

 

USB rechargeable gadgets, kinetic watches, and solar torches are all cutting-edge and mobile camping products that have been making disposable batteries a thing of the past.

However, everyone just needs to learn how to start using them.

This is the year to stop investing in single-use batteries and other once off only throwaway containers, especially the little butane stove canisters that seem to be very convenient.

We’re guilty of that too! It’s a habit we’re changing right now!

A good example where most people don’t realize the large amount of single plastic use is toiletries or anything similar, like cotton swabs!

We’ve switched over to only use reusable ones, such as the ones from Last Object:

 

They are extremely popular with travelers for quick stop cooking; however, they are incredibly harsh on the environment as well.

So instead opt for refillable gas bottles to cook your food and choose solar lights and solar powered device charging as often as you can.

 

Slow Down and Pump your Tires up

 

You can save yourself a lot of money by simply using less fuel.

By simply reducing your speed and covering fewer miles each day, you will also lessen your carbon emissions. Also, do what you can to inspect your roof and reduce your vehicle’s drag.

By keeping your tires inflated to the maximum recommended pressure on the bitumen and having your vehicle regularly serviced, you’ll keep it running smoothly.

Also, try to opt for biodiesel (if your vehicle allows) as often as you can.

 

Be Wise with Water

 

Cherishing your water supply keeps you off the beaten track for longer, but it’s also good for the environment you are camping in.

By making peace with the dust in your rig, showering less, and saving your laundry for the next holiday park, you’re doing your part for a campsite and the environment.

Ultimately, by using a lesser amount of soap and shampoo, you also reduce the amount of time you’re spending in the shower and the amount of water you’re using and storing on board.

The amount of detergent being released into the environment would also be much less.

Some tips that you can apply while water hoarding is to install low-flow taps in your rig, water-saving showerheads, and always ensure that you catch a rain shower.

Have your vehicle rigged up to catch and channel rainwater directly into your water tank is a good idea.

Another tip while showering is to use a bucket at your feet to catch the water that flows while waiting for the hot water to kick in. Ultimately this can be used in your hand-operated washing machine.

Alternatively, for long-term usage consider modifying your rig to redirect the water from the sink and shower so it can be used to flush your toilet.

– Further tips from Sirocco Overland:

Filter/Purify Water

“Do not buy water in plastic bottles. Before you leave ensure you have a sustainable water filter/purification system along with replacement filters and a back-up.

Even developed countries struggle with plastic recycling, do not increase the burden.

Fill your containers/bottles from mountain springs, streams, people’s homes etc and filter from there. We have had no issues with this since using a proper system (we do not recommend chlorine or iodine for longterm use).”

 

Eat Local and Organic

 

Always consider your foods fuel bill. By purchasing locally grown food that has fewer food miles and uses a lesser amount of fuel to transport and refrigerate it, you’ll be supporting the environment.

Consequently, you also enjoy more nutritious, fresh, and tasty produce while supporting local farmers wherever you go.

As much as possible, opt for healthier, organic food that makes use of fewer fossil fuels to produce.

Also, try to buy produce that uses no artificial fertilizers, energy-intensive pesticides, and chemical feeds. Produce that contributes less nitrogen into the environment is also recommended.

 

Use Eco-Friendly Products

 

This is the year that you should make a priority to switch to biodegradable and natural personal and washing products.

Products such as shampoo, soap, sunscreen as well as laundry and kitchen detergents.

Not only are biodegradable products healthier for you and your family, but they are also kinder on the environment.

Natural ingredients such as vinegar and bicarbonate of soda are not only cheap but safe ingredients as well.

They can be used to clean toilets, floors, showers as well as bench tops. All you need to do is spray any caravan surface with bicarbonate of soda and a blend of vinegar and water and watch it fizz.

After that simply wipe the residue off.

You can also choose to spray and wipe all hard surfaces in your RV with the vinegar mix and thereafter wipe with clove oil and one liter of water before leaving to dry.

This makes your hard surfaces mold resistant.

 

Change Your Camping Habits

 

Some people are under the impression that just because they are staying in an established campground with all the amenities and power access right at each site, they can forget their power saving habits.

Always ensure that you switch off the shower while you soap up your hair and body and press the half flush button on the toilet each time.

Never leave a tap running as it can drain up to 16 liters of water per minute from your tank when left unattended.

Switch off the valve while you brush your teeth as well.

Furthermore, consider whether you actually need to wash your vehicle when returning from a camping trip.

If you would rather wear it as a badge of adventures honor letting everyone know where you’ve been, that’s perfectly fine.

However, if you absolutely must wash our vehicle, use less detergent and more elbow grease to ensure that you reduce the amount of water needed to rinse off the soapy residue.

 

Ditch Plastic Straws

 

Did you know that every single straw you have ever used is still on the planet today and they will never go away?

So basically they will always accumulate. Research suggests that people use millions of straws each day, and it’s a big problem with a rather simple solution.

And that is merely leaving straws on the counter. However, straws make sipping on your favorite drinks more convenient, and this is why people use them.

The more environmentally safer alternative is bamboo straws.

Not only are they renewable and sustainable, but they are 100% compostable.

So if you are a smoothie or juice drinker, bamboo straws are easy to pack and most come with a thin cleaner.

 

Ditch Single Use Coffee Cups

 

Perhaps one of the best and most earth-friendly things that campers do at 10:30 AM in the morning is stop to brew a cup of coffee.

Brewing your own coffee ensures that you keep non-recyclable cups at bay and out of the landfills.

You’ll be surprised at the number of cups you can keep out of the waste by simply making your own coffee in your own cup.

It is estimated that approximately 3 billion coffees are sold in disposable cups each year.

These cups are not biodegradable, and they leave behind a polyurethane lining that lives longer than you.

So if you do fancy a cup of coffee while you are on the road, you can always order one in a ceramic cup or mug and sit down and enjoy it.

And if you need to take some coffee away, simply hand the waitress your own reusable travel mug.

The best solution is, of course, is to make your own coffee in a remote place and just enjoy the moment!

 

Switch to Safer and Eco-Friendly Sunscreen

 

Sunscreen is a campers best friend; however, you may be surprised to know that most sunscreens sold contain toxic ingredients that are not only harmful to humans but also the waterways.

If you check the back of your sunscreen bottle and you see ingredients such as oxybenzone or octinoxate, then your sunscreen is toxic.

In fact, these ingredients have recently been banned in states such as Hawaii as it was proven to damage and kill coral reefs.

Natural sunscreens make use of the zinc oxide to shield your skin from harmful solar rays. This ingredient is human safe, as well.

Using toxic sunscreen is also making showering dangerous as it washes off into the drains, which eventually end up in your waterways.

So the chemicals that you put on your skin also affects the environment.

 

Invest in Good Camping Gear

 

Perhaps it may seem like a challenge to invest in proper camping gear since what’s good is never cheap, quality gear actually lasts the distance.

So ultimately you’ll save money in the long run. Furthermore, quality gear will never fail you when you need it the most.

Neither will it end up in a landfill sooner than it should. So make your goal for this year to invest in quality travel and overlanding gear, especially when it comes to clothing, footwear as well as portable fridges, kayaks, and car tires. Cry only once!

Spend your hard-earned cash wisely and invest in environmentally motivated equipment companies, such as Kupilka, that make use of recyclable materials that are not harsh on the environment and leave a small ecological print.

 

Ditch Wet Wipes

 

Using wet wipes are delightfully convenient. However, you may want to the rethink this convenience.

While lots of supermarkets claim that they are biodegradable, the truth is that many of them are not.

Most wet wipes end up in sewers after being flushed down the toilet and become what is known as fatbergs.

Unfortunately, the next destination for these wet wipes is the ocean where it will take approximately 100 years for them to break down or worse kill a sea creature that ingests it.

So an alternative which is biodegradable and environmentally friendly would be washable muslin cloth which is natural and also soap free.

 

Manage Waste Vehicle Oils

 

Top tip from Sirocco Overland: “Probably the biggest problem for long-haul overland travel.

Try to plan your service intervals around large or even capital cities (usually when you’re waiting for visas), this may be the only place with facilities to at least store or better still recycle oils responsibly.

If your servicing yourself make sure you have oil spill mats and enough containers to carry/store the waste oil in. Try not to use soft drink or milk bottles as these will likely leak in the heat.

Take all spill mats/rags, old filters along with the oil for disposal.”

 

Manage Daily Trash

 

Top tip from Sirocco Overland: “Only dispose of this stuff in towns or cities with proper facilities. Depending on your destination you may be carrying out 3-4 weeks worth of rubbish and it soon stacks up.

Consider what you are carrying and the space it will take up after you are done with it. Tinned foods for example take up a lot of room and are not easy to crush.

Transfer suitable food types to ziplock bags for re-use later whilst your in a town/city to minimise carrying waste later on.

Consider your space for waste. We use a Trasharoo spare wheel trash bag. (Read the full Trasharoo Review here.) This keeps the waste and smells outside and can take a huge amount of bagged rubbish.

We took the time to separate this stuff out so we could easily handle and recycle when needed. We managed 3 weeks of waste in ours whilst in Mongolia easily.”

 

Manage Poop

 

Top tip from Sirocco Overland: “Yes, it was going to come up sooner or later. Realistically you cannot pack this out when overlanding so its the bury option.

Human waste should be disposed of in a shallow hole six to eight inches deep at least 200 feet from water sources. Cover and disguise the hole with natural materials.

It is recommended to pack out your toilet paper but again realistically you should burn this responsibly.

Don’t forget the hand gel afterwards!”

Alternatively, we’d also say that another option is to purchase (real) recycled and eco-friendly toilet paper that you can just also bury, so there is no need to burn it.

You can read our full guide on How to Poop in the Wilderness.

We had a modified camping chair that functioned as a toilet. Get yourself something similar and in remote areas you can enjoy a view in your most private moments!

If you don’t want to be viewed, though, use a shower tent over your modified camping chair for a full setup.

 

Be Careful with Jerry Cans and Fuel Filling

 

Top tip from Sirocco Overland: “Only fill your vehicle or jerry cans at filling stations. Take your time and prepare in advance to avoid spillages.

Some pumps do not have auto shutoff and will continue to run when you have your back turned. Line up your cans in advance with lids open and have your fuel cap(s) open ready.

Only used approved fuel cans for transport not plastic barrels.”

We also came across several gas stations where the equipment was from the Soviet era and the pumps didn’t have auto-shutoff.

Those can surprise you in a very nasty way, as one of our friends’ have experienced a full diesel-shower on one of our trips in 2014 in Uzbekistan.

 

 

In Conclusion

Camping is a wonderful way to de-stress and enjoy quality time with family and friends.

Thanks to beautiful and natural campsites, you are afforded the privilege of enjoying what Mother Nature has to offer.

Therefore, it is in your best interest and that of the generations to come that you try your utmost best to limit your impact on the environment.

Overlanding may not be the most environmentally friendly option while camping, however, there are dozens of good habits that you can start practicing to ensure that you limit your carbon footprint on nature.

 

 

Source Over Land Site

Airships for city hops could cut flying’s CO2 emissions by 90%

Posted on by dishanth
Airships for city hops could cut flying’s CO2 emissions by 90%

For those fancying a trip from Liverpool to Belfast or Barcelona to the Balearic Islands but concerned about the carbon footprint of aeroplane travel, a small Bedford-based company is promising a surprising solution: commercial airships.

Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV), which has developed a new environmentally friendly airship 84 years after the Hindenburg disaster, on Wednesday named a string of routes it hoped to serve from 2025.

The routes for the 100-passenger Airlander 10 airship include Barcelona to Palma de Mallorca in four and a half hours. The company said the journey by airship would take roughly the same time as aeroplane travel once getting to and from the airport was taken into account, but would generate a much smaller carbon footprint. HAV said the CO2 footprint per passenger on its airship would be about 4.5kg, compared with about 53kg via jet plane.

 

Other routes planned include Liverpool to Belfast, which would take five hours and 20 minutes; Oslo to Stockholm, in six and a half hours; and Seattle to Vancouver in just over four hours.

HAV, which has in the past attracted funding from Peter Hambro, a founder of Russian gold-miner Petropavlovsk, and Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson, said its aircraft was “ideally suited to inter-city mobility applications like Liverpool to Belfast and Seattle to Vancouver, which Airlander can service with a tiny fraction of the emissions of current air options”.

Tom Grundy, HAV’s chief executive, who compares the Airlander to a “fast ferry”, said: “This isn’t a luxury product it’s a practical solution to challenges posed by the climate crisis.”

He said that 47% of regional aeroplane flights connect cities that are less than 230 miles (370km) apart, and emit a huge about of carbon dioxide doing so.

“We’ve got aircraft designed to travel very long distances going very short distances, when there is actually a better solution,” Grundy said. “How much longer will we expect to have the luxury of travelling these short distances with such a big carbon footprint?”

Grundy said the hybrid-electric Airlander 10 could make the same connections with 10% of the carbon footprint from 2025, and with even smaller emissions in the future when the airships were expected to be all-electric powered.

“It’s an early and quick win for the climate,” he said. “Especially when you use this to get over an obstacle like water or hills.”

HAV said it was in discussions with a number of airlines to operate the routes, and expected to announce partnerships and airline customers in the next few months. The company has already signed a deal to deliver an airship to luxury Swedish travel firm OceanSky Cruises, which has said it intends to use the craft to offer “experiential travel” over the North Pole with Arctic explorer Robert Swan.

 

 

Grundy said the company was in the final stages of settling on a location for its airship production line, which he hoped would be in the UK. He said the company would hire about 500 people directly involved in building the craft, and it would support a further 1,500 jobs in the supply chain. The company currently employs about 70 people, mostly in design, at its offices in Bedford. He said the company aimed to produce about 12 airships a year from 2025.

The craft was originally designed as a surveillance vehicle for intelligence missions in Afghanistan. HAV claims independent estimates put the value of the airship market at $50bn over the next 20 years. It aims to sell 265 of its Airlander craft over that period.

The £25m Airlander 10 prototype undertook six test flights, some of which ended badly. It crashed in 2016 on its second test flight, after a successful 30-minute maiden trip. HAV tweeted at the time: “Airlander sustained damage on landing during today’s flight. No damage was sustained mid-air or as a result of a telegraph pole as reported.”

The aircraft, which can take off and land from almost any flat surface, reached heights of 7,000ft (2,100m) and speeds of up to 50 knots (57mph) during its final tests. The company has had UK government backing and grants from the European Union.

 

 

Source The Guardian

Zero-emission zones can help cities slash transport emissions by 70%, WEF claims

Posted on by dishanth
Zero-emission zones can help cities slash transport emissions by 70%, WEF claims

Published as part of the Global New Mobility Coalition, which comprises more than 200 businesses, academics, NGOs and cities, the publication takes a look at some of the zero-emission areas (ZEAs) already operating across the world and assesses what could happen if all proposals for ZEAs go ahead.

On the former, it found that the world’s most successful ZEAs have reduced more than 70% of local road-transport-related emissions and more than 50% of key air pollutants. A significant case study is Paris; the French capital is banning through traffic from the city centre from next year, following the successful launch of its first bike and pedestrian-only streets, but more than 150 cities worldwide are flagged. They include London, Amsterdam, Madrid, Barcelona, Milan, Brussels,Berlin, Stockholm, Montreal and Seattle.

The publication outlines a three-step framework through which cities can implements ZEAS – ‘laying the foundation’, ‘defining a winning concept’ and ‘quantifying the model’.

‘Laying the foundation’ does consist of a top-down regulatory push – but the report cautions nations and cities against implementing interventions without consultations. Consultations, the report states, can ensure that ZEAs are accessible and that any charges are not unfairly burdening marginalized communities. They can also help to maximise benefits in terms of carbon, air pollution, resident engagement and wellbeing.

The ‘defining a winning concept’ portion of the framework outlines how cities could incrementally introduce a series of interventions over a selected timeframe, prioritising moves that would be cost-positive and broadly accepted by the general public. Interventions could include car sharing pool launches with electric vehicles (EVs) and grants to assist SMEs and homes with EV purchases, to be run alongside bans and fines.

Under ‘quantifying the model’, potential metrics against which progress could be tracked are outlined. These include real-time traffic volumes and flows; active mobility journey numbers; EV charging station additions and polls with local businesses and households. Emissions impact per dollar spent is raised as a potential climate metric, alongside absolute emissions reductions.

Also detailed in the report is practical advice on piloting ZEAs and ensuring that investments in related infrastructure, like EV chargers and walking and cycling routes, are scaled up sufficiently.

 

Why are ZEAs becoming more popular?

The report, produced in partnership with McKinsey, reveals that more than 150 cities across the world have either launched ZEAs or committed to doing so.

Changes to national climate legislation has clearly been a big driver. Since the UK enshrined its 2050 net-zero target in law, nations representing more than 70% of global GDP have followed suit, including the US, Canada, Japan and South Korea. China has also set a less ambitious target of carbon neutrality by 2060.

For developed nations including the UK, transport is often either the most emitting sector or is in the top three. ZEAs can address the issue by creating an incentive for businesses and households to switch to EVs or other modes of transport.

McKinsey’s report states that cities and nations are also considering challenges such as urbanization and related congestion. It reveals that congestion has increased by more than one-fifth globally over the past decade. Cities and nations are also keen to maximise positive outcomes in areas such as health and safety, efficient deliveries and connectivity.

Covid-19 has been a challenging time for ZEA progress. Here in the UK, Zone launches in cities including Oxford, Birmingham, Leeds and Bath were postponed in 2020.

 

 

By Sarah George

Source Edie

More than a single moment in time: Virgin Media’s approach to sustainability reporting

Posted on by dishanth
More than a single moment in time: Virgin Media’s approach to sustainability reporting

Virgin Media is widely regarded as an innovator in the world of sustainability reporting, having shifted to a digital-only format in 2010 and subsequently launched the world’s first 360 sustainability video. 2017 saw the firm publish a string of GIFs, infographics and social media posts in lieu of a hefty PDF and, in 2018, the report was football-themed in a drive to boost engagement against the backdrop of the FIFA World Cup.

But with a net net-zero target to work towards as part of a new ‘Meaningful Connections Plan’ the company is looking to engage its workforce and key stakeholders on the journey ahead.

For the company’s head of sustainability, Katie Buchanan, the purpose of a sustainability report is to act as a “springboard for genuine engagement”, which in turn requires breaking the stories and milestones down into engaging and interactive tools for staff and stakeholders to experience.

“At Virgin Media, we talk about our sustainability performance as a period of reporting rather than a standalone report,” Buchanan said. “In doing so, we turn it from being a static look back at the past to something that can be a springboard for genuine engagement with our customers, people and sustainability colleagues about our future.

“To do this effectively we use different platforms and formats to reach each of these key stakeholder groups, presenting our performance information on platforms they’re used to using every day and in the level of detail they’re interested in.”

The company’s latest iteration of its sustainability report outlines some notable milestones and achievements.

Virgin Media has achieved zero waste to landfill operations and has reduced carbon emissions across its operations by 46% since 2014. Earlier this year, the company unveiled new commitments to achieve net-zero operations by the end of 2025 and to transition its entire fleet to electric vehicles by 2030, as part of a sweeping new sustainability strategy.

The sustainability team at Virgin Media is attempting to create long-lasting interaction with the sustainability report by sharing the results and information across different forms of media.

The company has created a virtual presentation, or ‘prezi’, a podcast, and a pop quiz so that its employees can access key findings from the report in an engaging manner. Buchanan hopes it will help employees gain a better understanding of the role they can play in delivering key environmental and social targets.

Virgin Media is well-known for its focus on social sustainability – particularly its work with disability charity Scope, which focussed on equal employment and other opportunities.

The firm is working towards a new five-year strategic partnership with Carers UK, a charity set up to support the UK’s seven million carers. A key focus will be helping unpaid carers combat loneliness and isolation using technology.

The Meaningful Connections Plan, more broadly, includes a commitment to connect 1.5 million people to their communities and each other in a “meaningful” way. One million carers will be supported to access digital services and platforms designed to build friendships and to connect with community groups and local Virgin Media workers.

On the latter, Virgin is giving every full-time member of staff five annual paid volunteering days. This will enable the firm to give 450,000 hours to community causes.

“Our annual report creates a moment to engage our people and customers in all that we are up to,” Buchanan said.

“By taking the content to them in engaging and accessible ways we are helping to reflect with pride on what we achieved together in response to the pandemic while also keeping our longer-term social and environmental impact programmes running. And create a greater understanding of Virgin Media’s new Meaningful Connections Plan and how each and every one of our employees can support our ambitions for the next five years.”

Virgin Media has recently started using Facebook Workplace to act as an employee engagement platform, and Buchanan claims that they can use this to measure engagement with the report and get feedback on any content posted on there.

Both the “anecdotal feedback and the quantitative reach and engagement data” will be used to shape future versions of the report in order to drive better understandings of other topics across the sustainability spectrum.

 

Shaping the conversation

Against a backdrop of changing environmental science and disclosure legislation, compounded by changing public sentiment, the corporate sustainability conversation is evolving rapidly. After strings of new social and environmental targets were set over the past 12 months, many firms are also evolving ways of reporting progress. In fact, edie recently published an in-depth feature looking at how corporates are embracing new ways of reporting (read the full piece here).

Buchanan advises a “straight up” approach, whereby the report presents an accurate reflection on what an organisation has achieved, or failed to achieve in the last year. Discussing the negatives, as well as the positives, and laying out new action plans can then appease potential concern.

“Sustainability reporting should be more than a single moment in time,” Buchanan added. “Consider how you can use communications when publishing your report as a springboard to engage your people in a new (or existing) programme, campaign or activity that supports the objectives of your sustainability strategy.”

“Reporting your performance should be engaging, insightful and fun. Ultimately, nobody will read an 80-page PDF – so really focus on the design, language and length of the report.  Reports should be aimed at your customers, employees, and as a tool for your peers to learn. As sustainability professionals, we are all striving to create an impact with our work and we should be proactive and proud to learn from each other – which ultimately will have a positive effect on where we work and the communities we serve.”

 

 

By Matt Mace

Source Edie

Global hydrogen investment to grow 25-fold by 2040, Bloomberg predicts

Posted on by dishanth
Global hydrogen investment to grow 25-fold by 2040, Bloomberg predicts

Published this week to mark the launch of a new ‘Hydrogen Theme Basket’ and global dashboard on the topic for the Bloomberg Intelligence (BI) website, the report states that “a global climate push to decarbonise industries most in need of environmental remediation could turn hydrogen from a cottage sector into a behemoth with the help of government subsidies that attract investment to meet net-zero emissions targets”.

As such, hydrogen generation and related infrastructure and services could represent a $2.5trn global investment opportunity through to 2050. Sectors set to take a lion’s share include energy generation, chemical and metallurgic firms, with those already implementing low-carbon technologies set to benefit more than those lagging on decarbonisation.

Specifically, BI expects global annual investment in the hydrogen sector to average $38bn between 2020 and 2040, rising to $181bn between 2041 and 2070. The need for nations to meet net-zero targets is cited as a primary driver for scaling in this first timeframe, and the maturity of technologies and increasing energy demand cited as drivers post-2041.

Under BI’s projections, hydrogen will account for 10% of the world’s final energy consumption by 2050. The proportion will be higher in marine transport (50%), road transport (25%) and aviation (25%) than other sectors, with building heating behind the average at just 5%. Instead, ground and air-source heat pumps will be the primary technology.

While hydrogen is not presently a major sector, BI believes that some companies are poised to gain an ‘early mover advantage’. They include Shell, Orsted, Engie and Neste in the energy sector and Alstom and ITM power in the industrials and equipment sectors.

 

Truly green?

There is, however, the question of ensuring that growth is truly green. More than 90% of the hydrogen produced globally in 2020 used fossil-fuel-based processes, and criticism is mounting around ‘blue hydrogen’, which is produced using natural gas but co-located with carbon capture technologies.

BI predicts that new national legislation, including subsidies, will help to displace ‘grey’ hydrogen, but that questions about whether ‘green’ hydrogen will be the primary replacement remains. “Water supply constraints, costly components and relatively low energy density are key challenges for green hydrogen,” the report states. It forecasts that ‘grey’ hydrogen will account for less than half of global output by the mid-2030s and continue to decline steeply through to 2070.

The EU is named as a policy leader on green hydrogen. The bloc has a pledge to deliver at least 6W of green hydrogen capacity by 2030 – a feat which will take €150bn of investment, to derive from both public and private sources. Questions remain about whether ‘blue’ or ‘turquoise’ hydrogen generation will be included in accounting towards this target.

In the UK, the long-awaited Hydrogen Strategy is due imminently, following Covid-19-related delays. It will build on the Government’s initial £500m investment in the Ten Point Plan – dedicated to help deliver an ambition to host 5GW of electrolyser capacity by the end of the decade.

 

 

By Sarah George

Source Edie

Climate pledges see world closing on Paris goal, researchers say

Posted on by dishanth
Climate pledges see world closing on Paris goal, researchers say

BERLIN — Recent pledges by the United States and other nations could help cap global warming at 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) by the end of the century, but only if goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to “net zero” by 2050 succeed, scientists said Tuesday.

More than 190 countries agreed in Paris six years ago to keep average temperature increases below that level — ideally no more than 1.5 C (2.7 F) — by 2100 compared to pre-industrial times.

The Climate Action Tracker, compiled by a group of researchers who translate emission pledges into temperature estimates, projects that the world is currently set to overshoot the Paris accord’s target by 0.9 degrees.

But if 131 countries that make up almost three-quarters of global emissions meet their pledged or discussed “net zero” goal, then the 2-degree target could be met, said Niklas Hoehne of the New Climate Institute. That’s 0.1 C cooler than the previous optimistic forecast the group made in December.

 

Hoehne said U.S. President Joe Biden’s recent ambitious new climate goals had contributed significantly to the revised estimate, along with the European Union, China, Japan and Britain.

But the pledges still fall short and have to be further revised going forward, he said.

 

“We have to halve global emissions in the next 10 years,” he said.

Asked whether the more ambitious goal of 1.5 C is still within reach, Hoehne said it was technically and politically feasible.

Germany has invited about 40 countries to a virtual meeting this week to discuss further international efforts to curb global warming, ahead of a U.N. summit in Glasgow in November.

Germany’s top court last week ordered the government to set clearer goals for emissions reduction after 2030.

 

 

Source NBC News

Australia just broke a major record for new solar panel roof installation

Posted on by dishanth
Australia just broke a major record for new solar panel roof installation

Australia, one of the world-leaders in household rooftop solar panel uptake, has once again broken its own record for the number of solar panels installed in a year. In 2020, installations were up nearly 30 percent from the year before, according to an analysis from Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO.

 

The data, compiled by energy efficiency experts and reported in a CSIRO statement, come from Australia’s Clean Energy Regulator, a national body tasked with reducing the country’s carbon emissions and accelerating its use of clean energy.

It shows that while their federal government leaders are lagging behind on climate action, everyday Australians are doubling down on renewable energy, installing more rooftop solar panels than ever before and beefing up the size of their rooftop arrays.

“Sustained low technology costs, increased work from home arrangements and a shift in household spending to home improvements during COVID-19 played a key role in the increase of rooftop solar PV systems under the SRES,” said Clean Energy Regulator senior executive Mark Williamson, referring to a national scheme in Australia that allows homeowners and small businesses to recoup some of the costs of putting the panels on their roofs.

The record-breaking year is really just another one for the books for the sun-soaked country, which has seen installations rise year on year as the cost of renewables has fallen. In 2018, rooftop solar installations jumped almost 60 percent from 2017.

 

“Australia is one of the sunniest places on the planet,” said Michael Ambrose, a senior experimental scientist at CSIRO who led the CSIRO analysis, which mirrors a separate annual assessment of the Australian rooftop solar market from consultancy firm SunWiz.

“We lead the world in PV capacity on a per capita basis at 591 watts per person which is almost eight times the worldwide average,” he said.

Photovoltaics, or PV, is what scientists often call solar panels, which are made of solar cells stacked together to capture the Sun’s energy and turn it into electricity. Capacity is the amount of electricity a solar system can produce at its peak.

“The [latest] solar PV installation data shows how quickly PV systems have been taken up across Australia and the increasing size of the PV arrays,” Ambrose said.

Data used in the CSIRO analysis from Australia’s federal Clean Energy Regulator showed that in 2020, a record-high 362,000 solar panels were installed and certified under the scheme for small-scale renewables.

At the year’s end, Australia had a total of over 2.68 million rooftop solar systems on homes – which means one in four households are now soaking up sunlight and converting it to electricity.

 

And the country’s rooftop solar capacity is only expected to grow, with installations already trending higher in 2021 based on early data.

But amidst the fanfare, there are bigger questions that need tackling: can Australia’s aging electricity network cope with the huge influx of solar energy – it’s old and really needs to be upgraded – and could solar panels coupled with household batteries in fact keep the grid stable and bolster electricity supplies in the event of extreme weather, such as lightning strikes.

“How these systems behave when sitting on our rooftops can have material impacts on the broader electricity grid,” renewable energy researcher Naomi Stringer from UNSW told Renew Economy.

“Impacts of rooftop solar can be particularly acute during disturbance events when the grid is already strained, posing new risks to power system security,” she said.

“However, there are also important opportunities to harness rooftop solar capabilities to help restore power system security.”

That potential is seen by many small Australian communities who faced power outages as they fought fire fronts during the country’s devastating ‘Black Summer’ bushfires and who are taking matters in to their own hands – going off-grid, installing their own standalone solar-powered systems.

When we take a step back though, some researchers say that Australia is playing catch-up to other renewable leaders such as Germany.

Australia might be building new renewable energy infrastructure, including large solar arrays and wind farms, at a per capita rate ten times faster than the global average, in recent years. But it still trails behind other countries in the total amount of energy it generates from renewables.

 

“Denmark is generating about two-thirds of its electricity from renewables – non-hydro renewables – and it has a population a fifth of Australia, so their per capita annual generation is many times that of Australia, and similarly for Scotland,” renewable energy expert Mark Diesendorf from UNSW Sydney told the Australian Associated Press in early 2021.

 

All the while, solar cell scientists have been testing new-fangled configurations with materials other than silicon that can capture more parts of the light spectrum and could be used to build more efficient solar cells – and they’re smashing record after record, too.

Nothing like a bit of healthy competition.

 

 

By Clare Watson

Source Scienc Alert

 

New eco-friendly way to make ammonia could be boon for agriculture, hydrogen economy

Posted on by dishanth
New eco-friendly way to make ammonia could be boon for agriculture, hydrogen economy

Chemical engineers at UNSW Sydney have found a way to make ‘green’ ammonia from air, water and renewable electricity that does not require the high temperatures, high pressure and huge infrastructure currently needed to produce this essential compound.

And the new production method — demonstrated in a laboratory-based proof of concept — also has the potential to play a role in the global transition towards a hydrogen economy, where ammonia is increasingly seen as a solution to the problem of storing and transporting hydrogen energy.

In a paper published today in Energy and Environmental Science, the authors from UNSW and University of Sydney say that ammonia synthesis was one of the critical achievements of the 20th century. When used in fertilisers that quadrupled the output of food crops, it enabled agriculture to sustain an ever-expanding global population.

But since the beginning of the 1900s when it was first manufactured on a large scale, production of ammonia has been energy intensive — requiring temperatures higher than 400oC and pressures greater than 200atm — and all powered by fossil fuels.

 

Source: https://www.greencarcongress.com/

 

Dr Emma Lovell, a co-author on the paper from UNSW’s School of Chemical Engineering, says the traditional way to make ammonia — known as the Haber-Bosch process — is only cost-effective when produced on a massive scale due to the huge amounts of energy and expensive materials required.

“The current way we make ammonia via the Haber-Bosch method produces more CO2 than any other chemical-making reaction,” she says.

“In fact, making ammonia consumes about 2 per cent of the world’s energy and makes 1 per cent of its CO2 — which is a huge amount if you think of all the industrial processes that occur around the globe.”

Dr Lovell says in addition to the big carbon footprint left by the Haber-Bosch process, having to produce millions of tonnes of ammonia in centralised locations means even more energy is required to transport it around the world, not to mention the hazards that go with storing large amounts in the one place.

She and her colleagues therefore looked at how to produce it cheaply, on a smaller scale and using renewable energy.

“The way that we did it does not rely on fossil fuel resources, nor emit CO2,” Dr Lovell says.

“And once it becomes available commercially, the technology could be used to produce ammonia directly on site and on demand — farmers could even do this on location using our technology to make fertiliser — which means we negate the need for storage and transport. And we saw tragically in Beirut recently how potentially dangerous storing ammonium nitrate can be.

“So if we can make it locally to use locally, and make it as we need it, then there’s a huge benefit to society as well as the health of the planet.”

 

OUT OF THIN AIR

ARC DECRA Fellow and co-author Dr Ali (Rouhollah) Jalili says trying to convert atmospheric nitrogen (N2) directly to ammonia using electricity “has posed a significant challenge to researchers for the last decade, due to the inherent stability of N2 that makes it difficult to dissolve and dissociate.”

Dr Jalili and his colleagues devised proof-of-concept lab experiments that used plasma (a form of lightning made in a tube) to convert air into an intermediary known among chemists as NOx — either NO2- (nitrite) or NO3- (nitrate). The nitrogen in these compounds is much more reactive than N2 in the air.

“Working with our University of Sydney colleagues, we designed a range of scalable plasma reactors that could generate the NOx intermediary at a significant rate and high energy efficiency,” he says.

“Once we generated that intermediary in water, designing a selective catalyst and scaling the system became significantly easier. The breakthrough of our technology was in the design of the high-performance plasma reactors coupled with electrochemistry.”

Professor Patrick Cullen, who led the University of Sydney team, adds: “Atmospheric plasma is increasingly finding application in green chemistry. By inducing the plasma discharges inside water bubbles, we have developed a means of overcoming the challenges of energy efficiency and process scaling, moving the technology closer to industrial adoption.”

 

STORAGE SOLUTION

Scientia Professor Rose Amal, who is co-director of ARC Training Centre for Global Hydrogen Economy, says in addition to the advantages of being able to scale down the technology, the team’s ‘green’ method of ammonia production could solve the problem of storage and transport of hydrogen energy.

“Hydrogen is very light, so you need a lot of space to store it, otherwise you have to compress or liquify it,” says Professor Amal.

“But liquid ammonia actually stores more hydrogen than liquid hydrogen itself. And so there has been increasing interest in the use of ammonia as a potential energy vector for a carbon-free economy.”

Professor Amal says ammonia could potentially be made in large quantities using the new green method ready for export.

“We can use electrons from solar farms to make ammonia and then export our sunshine as ammonia rather than hydrogen.

“And when it gets to countries like Japan and Germany, they can either split the ammonia and convert it back into hydrogen and nitrogen, or they can use it as a fuel.”

The team will next turn its attention to commercialising this breakthrough, and is seeking to form a spin-out company to take its technology from laboratory-scale into the field.

 

 

Story Source:

Materials provided by University of New South Wales. Original written by Lachlan Gilbert. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

Journal Reference:

  1. Jing Sun, David Alam, Rahman Daiyan, Hassan Masood, Tianqi Zhang, Renwu Zhou, Patrick Cullen, Emma Catherine Lovell, Ali Rouhollah Jalili, Rose Amal. A hybrid plasma electrocatalytic process for sustainable ammonia production. Energy & Environmental Science, 2021; DOI: 10.1039/D0EE03769A

 

Half of emissions cuts will come from future tech, says John Kerry

Posted on by dishanth
Half of emissions cuts will come from future tech, says John Kerry

The US climate envoy, John Kerry, has said 50% of the carbon reductions needed to get to net zero will come from technologies that have not yet been invented, and said people “don’t have to give up a quality of life” in order to cut emissions.

He said Americans would “not necessarily” have to eat less meat, because of research being done into the way cattle are herded and fed in order to reduce methane emissions.

“You don’t have to give up a quality of life to achieve some of the things that we know we have to achieve. That’s the brilliance of some of the things that we know how to do,” he told BBC One’s Andrew Marr show. “I am told by scientists that 50% of the reductions we have to make to get to net zero are going to come from technologies that we don’t yet have. That’s just a reality.

“And people who are realistic about this understand that’s part of the challenge. So we have to get there sooner rather than later.”

Kerry is visiting London next week to meet government representatives before the UN climate change conference Cop26 due to be held in Glasgow in November.

On Saturday Kerry met Pope Francis in Rome, and he described him as “one of the great voices of reason and compelling moral authority on the subject of the climate crisis”.

“I think that his voice will be a very important voice leading up to and through the Glasgow conference, which I believe he intends to attend,” Kerry told Vatican News. “We need everybody in this fight. All the leaders of the world need to come together and every country needs to do its part.”

When asked by Marr if the US would support an end to all coal-fired power stations if called for by the UK at Cop26, Kerry said Joe Biden had set a goal of making the US power sector carbon-free by 2035 but he could not speak for the president on specific proposals.

“What’s the phase-out schedule? Is it reasonable? Is everybody working in the same direction? Those are questions I’m sure President Biden will want answered, but he is leading this charge to move America on to renewable, alternative energy,” Kerry said.

The US is the second largest producer of greenhouse gas emissions after China, and has one of the highest per capita CO2 emission rates.

“We’re determined to turn that around,” Kerry said. “We are going to be moving very rapidly to a new economy, building out a new grid, moving towards alternative renewable energy, and pushing the curve on the discovery of new technologies. There are a lot of possibilities out there.”

 

 

Source The Guardian