As humans try to fix the problems of climate change that they inevitably cause, they may be overlooking a very helpful, natural solution that could help restore ecosystems and capture and store carbon dioxide. Researchers from the Yale School of the Environment have found that robust populations of nine animal species could improve nature capture and carbon dioxide sequestration within ecosystems. They estimated that increasing the populations of African forest elephants, American bison, fish, gray wolves, musk oxen, sea otters, sharks, whales and wildebeest, among others, could lead to the capture of 6.41 gigatons of carbon dioxide annually. About 95 percent of the amount needed to be removed to ensure global warming remains below 1.5 degrees Celsius, a threshold set by the Paris Agreement.
The researchers found that in many cases where thriving populations of certain species were foraging, burrowing, and trampling, the ecosystem’s carbon storage increased by as much as 250 percent. This was a direct result of the dispersal of seeds and the growth of carbon-sequestering trees and plants. In Africa, every increase of 100 000 animals can increase carbon sequestered by 15 percent. Wildebeests consume carbon in the grasses they eat and then excrete it in their dung. The carbon is integrated into the soil by insects. Wildebeests also manage the grasses and help reduce the risk of wildfires.
Whales feed in deep water and release nutrients in their waste at shallower depths. This stimulates phytoplankton production, which is essential for storing carbon in the ocean. In the Amazon rainforests, tapirs are known to frequent areas that need reseeding. With a diet of herbs, shrubs, and leaves rich in nutrients, these animals leave trails of seeds in their waste and have been convenient in areas where lands have been burned.
For these solutions to be successful, the researchers recommend strengthening current animal recovery efforts. They also recommend reassessing the legislation, policies and funding to aid the conservation of these animals, many of whose numbers have been reduced by human intervention. They found that as animals become extinct in an ecosystem, their absence could transform habitats from carbon sinks to carbon sources – this makes protecting these species extremely important They also stress that it will be important to work closely with local communities to address the complex social issues that can affect conservation efforts This would involve including the local community into decision-making and governance processes and taking into account their knowledge, values and attitudes toward rewilded species.
This is just the beginning of important research that could help us reduce the impacts of climate change with a very natural solution. Protecting these animals, among many others, and their habitats can help shorten the time needed o reach our climate goals and help us live healthier lives for our populations and the planet.
Unlocking the Secrets of the Underwater World: Mapping Coral Reefs with AI
Understanding coral reefs’ intricate structure and biodiversity is paramount to their conservation and restoration. Traditional methods of mapping coral reefs can be laborious and limited by the challenges of underwater habitats. Enter machine learning, the cutting-edge technology that can revolutionize coral reef mapping.
Machine learning algorithms can analyze vast amounts of data from diverse sources such as satellite imagery, underwater cameras, and environmental sensors to create high-resolution maps of coral reefs with unprecedented accuracy and detail. These maps provide valuable insights into coral reefs’ health, distribution, and vulnerability, empowering marine scientists, policymakers, and conservation organizations to make informed decisions and prioritize conservation efforts.
Using AI to Protect Coral Reefs: Early Detection and Rapid Response
AI can also play a pivotal role in early detection and rapid response to environmental threats faced by coral reefs. Climate change can cause coral bleaching, disease outbreaks, and species composition shifts; detecting these threats early and responding promptly is critical for effective management.
Real-time data analysis using machine learning algorithms can detect environmental changes that may indicate the onset of stress or bleaching events. For instance, machine learning models can analyze sea surface temperature data, water quality parameters, and other environmental variables to identify areas where corals are at high risk of bleaching. This early warning system enables scientists and managers to take timely action, such as implementing restoration measures, reducing local stressors, or implementing temporary fishing bans to safeguard vulnerable coral populations.
AI can also predict the spread and impact of coral diseases, which can spread rapidly and devastate entire coral reef ecosystems. By analyzing patterns in disease outbreaks, machine learning algorithms can identify potential disease vectors, environmental factors that may promote disease transmission, and the genetic makeup of coral populations that may affect their susceptibility to diseases. This information can aid in developing effective disease management strategies, preventing the further spread of diseases on coral reefs.
Using AI to Help Restore Coral Reefs
Restoring degraded coral reefs is complex and daunting, but machine learning offers innovative and efficient solutions for effective strategies.
One promising application of machine learning in coral reef restoration is the development of predictive models for coral survival and growth. These models can analyze a wide range of factors, such as the type of coral, water quality, temperature, light, and nutrient levels, to predict the optimal conditions for coral survival and growth. This knowledge can inform restoration efforts, such as selecting suitable sites for coral planting, optimizing coral nurseries, and implementing targeted interventions to maximize the success of restoration projects.
Machine learning can also aid in developing sustainable coral reef management strategies. By analyzing data on fishing practices, tourism activities, and other human impacts on coral reefs, it can provide valuable insights for policymakers and stakeholders to develop effective conservation and management plans that ensure the long-term health and resilience of coral reef ecosystems.
The potential of machine learning in enhancing coral reef protection and restoration efforts is immense. From mapping coral reefs with unprecedented accuracy to early detection and rapid response to environmental threats, and from predicting coral survival and growth to informing sustainable management strategies, machine learning is a game-changer in the field of coral reef conservation. As we continue to harness the power of AI and machine learning, we can strive toward a brighter future for these invaluable and highly biodiverse parts of our planet.
In this interview with Roberta Barberi, Vice President, Global Water and Environmental Solutions, we hear about what PepsiCo is doing to adapt sustainably
For our readership, can you please explain what the new initiative PepsiCo Positive (pep+) is?
PepsiCo Positive (pep+) launched in 2021 and is our business transformation strategy that puts both sustainability and human capital at the center of everything we do. It is a holistic program that is shifting how we create growth and shared value for our stakeholders and shareholders, driving action across three main pillars: Positive Agriculture, which is focused on sourcing crops and ingredients in ways that restore the earth and farming communities; Positive Value Chain, which is helping to build a circular and inclusive value chain; and Positive Choices, which is inspiring people to make choices that create more smiles for themselves and the planet.
What prompted this new program and what do you hope to get out of it?
The threat of climate change is very real and we are already seeing the impacts on our business. We are a company built on agriculture and reliant on a steady supply of crops. We are already seeing growing conditions for the farmers we work with become more challenged due to climate change. We need to mitigate that impact and also build resilience for the future.
We also know consumers are demanding more of companies and have a growing interest in where the brands they buy come from and in ensuring they are sustainably produced. This presents opportunities for a company like PepsiCo as we have over one billion consumption moments a day and can play a key role in bringing consumers choice around the brands they buy.
What are some problems PepsiCo has with its suppliers in a way that makes the production process relatively unsustainable?
There are three main challenges when we think of Scope 3 and our supply base:
Capability and capacity: Outside of some of our large suppliers, there is a broad need across our supply chain for more education and capacity building to address climate change.
Technological unlocks and access to resources: achieving our goals will require our value chain partners to deploy new technologies. Some of these technologies are still on the horizon or in early stages of commercialization, requiring further investment and testing before scaling up.
Data management and sharing: as our value chain partners take action, they will need to report on progress. Data sharing is a challenge that we are working through as it has to be simple yet reliable and needs to be digitized and automated.
What are some of the programs that PepsiCo has implemented to support its suppliers?
We are working with farmers to drive the adoption of regenerative agricultural practices. To support this ambition we have launched the Positive Agriculture Playbook, which helps farmers set, achieve and report their own regenerative agriculture and climate goals. We are also financing innovation through a Positive Agriculture Outcomes Fund, providing a unique way to reduce the risk and cost of projects.
We are requiring our suppliers to set a Science Based Target on climate and to shift to renewable electricity. To help with that transition we have created pep+REnew, which provides resources to help suppliers better understand renewable electricity purchasing and jointly invest in renewable energy projects through group power purchase agreements.
With pep+ in place, and assuming it is effective, where does PepsiCo hope to be in the next five years?
We have set ambitious goals for our business to reach by 2030 across all three pillars of our pep+ initiative. A few of those goals include:
Positive Agriculture: Spreading the adoption of regenerative agriculture practices across 7 Million acres, approximately equal to our entire agricultural footprint around the world
Positive Value Chain: Reduce absolute greenhouse gas emissions across our direct operations (Scope 1 and 2) by 75% and our indirect value chain (Scope 3) by 40% (against a 2015 baseline)
Positive Choices: Develop and deploy disruptive and sustainable packaging solutions, such as bio-and paper-based packaging and reusable/no packaging options
Our vision is to be the global leader in beverages and convenient foods by winning with pep+ and using our global reach and expertise to drive solutions at scale.
Apple has issued something of a wake-up call to manufacturing partners around the world as it aims to clean up its supply chain and tackle climate change.
Sustainability is clearly high on the agenda for CEO Tim Cook. Only yesterday (27 October) Apple announced record results for fiscal 2022 fourth quarter revenue of US$90.1bn – up 8% year on year. That put annual revenue at US$394.3bn, also up 8%.
“This quarter’s results reflect Apple’s commitment to our customers, to the pursuit of innovation, and to leaving the world better than we found it,” said Cook.
“As we head into the holiday season with our most powerful lineup ever, we are leading with our values in every action we take and every decision we make. We are deeply committed to protecting the environment, to securing user privacy, to strengthening accessibility, and to creating products and services that can unlock humanity’s full creative potential.”
Let’s hope Cook has taken into account the fact that global CO2 emissions have more than doubled since Apple was founded in 1976, so leaving the world better than when they found it could be quite the task.
Apple will track and audit key manufacturing partners on carbon
The message seems consistent from Apple, and now they are putting the onus on their key suppliers to decarbonise. Apple requires reporting on Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions reductions related to Apple production.
Apple says it will track the progress of key partners as it aims to set the same standards in its supply chain – the company has been carbon neutral since 2020 and intends to meet the same standard across its entire supply chain.
“Fighting climate change remains one of Apple’s most urgent priorities, and moments like this put action to those words,” said Cook, Apple’s CEO. “We’re looking forward to continued partnership with our suppliers to make Apple’s supply chain carbon neutral by 2030. Climate action at Apple doesn’t stop at our doors, and in this work, we’re determined to be a ripple in the pond that creates a bigger change.”
That work Cook is referring to sees Apple investing in numerous projects around the world to create clean energy, and some smart updates to its products.
Apple has reduced its emissions by 40% since 2015, largely through adopting renewable energy. With more than 70% of direct manufacturing spend coming from more than 200 suppliers, it’s no surprise to hear they have also committed to clean energy solutions.
Major partners including Corning Incorporated, Nitto Denko Corporation, SK hynix, STMicroelectronics, TSMC, and Yuto have committed to 100% renewable energy for all production relating to Apple products.
Apple’s shift to clean energy means it now uses renewable energy for all corporate offices, Apple stores, and data centres in 44 countries.
Now the company is involved in constructing large-scale solar and wind projects in Europe to tackle the 22% of its carbon footprint that comes from customers charging their devices. Earlier this year, the company also announced new renewable projects in the US and Australia.
An update in iOS16 means iPhone users in the US can also use Clean Energy Charging – a feature that will charge your phone at the optimum time to take advantage of renewables.
Apple’s new climate solutions projects
Apple has announced three new projects through the Restore Fund – a carbon removal initiative that aims to generate revenue for those involved. Developed with Conservation International and Goldman Sachs, Apple is working with forestry managers in Brazil and Paraguay to restore 150,000 acres of forests and protect 100,000 acres of native forests, grasslands, and wetlands. These projects could remove 1 million metric tons of CO2 from the atmosphere in 2025.
New sustainability partnerships announced also include:
In Namibia and Zimbabwe, Apple is working with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to promote climate resilience and sustainable livelihoods through the Climate Crowd program.
In China, Apple has partnered with China Green Carbon Foundation to conduct research, demonstrate best practices, and build stakeholder networks to increasing the amount and quality of responsibly managed nature-based carbon sinks.
In Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa, Apple is launching a new partnership with ChangemakerXchange to strengthen climate action and leadership in the region. The initiative will launch in Egypt at COP27.
Climate change presents complex challenges for businesses, so how can sustainability teams move from surviving to thriving in the low-carbon economy?
At the end of July, the UK government’s net-zero strategy was found to be ‘unlawful’ in the High Court, marking the latest high-profile litigation case to find in favour of climate activists. This sort of action is neither new nor unique and the impact of cases like this reaches beyond constitutional reform and far into the business world.
The low-carbon economy is complicated. Litigation is just one test that can await businesses as they face down the very real and very current challenges presented by climate change. The risk of inaction can lead to customer attrition, supply-chain breakdown, reputational damage, direct legal action and, ultimately, serious financial impact. It has never been more important for companies to move the marker from merely surviving amidst these complex challenges to unearthing the opportunities and thriving as a business.
Taking in the view
Often overlooked, transition risks, business-related risks that follow social, economic and political trends related to a low-carbon and more climate-friendly future, are, by their very nature, more near term – presenting a significant challenge for businesses, now. We live in a fickle, fast-moving world. Consumer sentiment ebbs and flows on the rising tides of popular opinion; investors decide which companies dive, survive and thrive; and reputations can be wiped out with one extreme event. Often presented as a cost-prohibitive challenge, climate action actually gives companies an opportunity that business leaders can’t afford to miss.
Analyses carried out by Risilience found that the valuation of businesses failing to take climate action could be eroded by as much as 30% over the next five years, depending on company profile and how aggressively they tackle climate change. As climate-related legislation increasingly takes hold across the globe; from the proposed European Union’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) to the UK’s International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB), the temptation to view climate change as a problem for tomorrow’s enterprises has been eclipsed by the reality that it is a very real problem for businesses today.
A look ahead
Detailed analysis for where these pressures are likely to erode the value of the business shows where new opportunities can be found. The low-carbon economy is competitive and plays to the changeable nature of consumers, who can be highly discriminating and prone to switching brands according to how sustainable they believe the company to be –an opportunity for early movers to gain market share. We can take the lesson from the nineties when early changemakers saw the Internet economy coming.
Today we have the green economy, which is gaining momentum, so the choice is whether to grasp the opportunities that it creates or wait until it erodes your business model and, ultimately, the bottom line. Key actions involve upgrading manufacturing technology in processing plants to reduce emissions; substituting raw materials and suppliers for lower-emission alternatives; changing transportation and distribution fleets to electric vehicles and shortening the distribution footprint.
Finally, companies are finding that motivation and changing attitudes in their management and wider workforce are key to bringing about internal change from within an organisation. Internal incentivisation, shadowcarbon pricing and mandating changing practices, such as updating corporate travel policies, are all ways to instil a culture that seeks to prioritise climate action at both the strategic and operational levels of the business. To develop a comprehensive strategy, each of these initiatives needs to be evaluated for the volume of emissions that are saved relative to the costs and effort required, in terms of capital investment budget and operational change; and the resulting benefits and opportunities that the initiative provides for reducing risk.
A net-zero planning framework is essential and starts from a detailed understanding of the business and where its emissions come from, combined with detailed analyses of the costs and benefits each proposed initiative, respectively, requires and delivers, as part of an integrated strategy.
Data for a fresh perspective
A successful net-zero strategy is founded on three elements; climate-change science, business transformation and technology. When combined, and driven by data, all three provide sufficient visibility and operational efficiency such that the business can progress and thoroughly prepare for all risks that lie ahead. This same data will also be needed to seek and acquire buy-in from the top to ensure the value of acting, and fiscal damage for failing to, are highlighted to decisionmakers and budget holders in the business.
In addition, as we know, actionable insights are essential for driving momentum and evolving strategies. Organisations should seek risk analytics to shape their net-zero journey and truly understand the internal and external pressures that come from their customers, competitors, board and legislators –challenges that don’t lie in the future but sit very much in the here and now.
We’ve all heard of planting trees to combat climate change. Now, a team in Nova Scotia is working on “reforestation” for the ocean.
Dalhousie University and the Ecology Action Centre in Halifax are managing a project this summer to plant an often overlooked species — eelgrass — in the race to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
To the untrained eye, eelgrass looks like your average seaweed, but project lead Kristina Boerder says it’s much more.
“It’s a bit of a treasure, a secret treasure. Not a lot of people know about it,” said Boerder.
Eelgrass boosts biodiversity along shorelines by providing shelter for young fish, crustaceans and even food for some waterfowl. It also has many benefits for humans.
Eelgrass stores carbon and methane in its root system
“It protects our coasts from erosion. It’s good for water quality. And also it stores our emissions. So it’s a secret weapon in our fight [against] climate change,” she says.
Seagrasses on the whole absorb carbon and methane through photosynthesis and sequester them in their root systems. One study estimates an acre of seagrass can store over 335 kilograms of carbon per year — the equivalent of carbon emitted by a car driving from Yarmouth, N.S. to Dingwall, N.S. eight times.
Researchers are working to see how effective eelgrass is at carbon storage in Nova Scotia specifically.
The group is using different methods of planting eelgrass to see which is most effective.
Its carbon-storing root system also helps moderate levels of acid in the ocean, which are rising due to climate change and damaging the health of some marine life.
But eelgrass meadows are shrinking, according to researchers due to damage from coastal development, pollution, invasive species and some types of fisheries mooring and anchoring practices.
This loss of seagrass meadows is a global phenomenon. One study estimated the world loses up to two football fields worth of seagrass each hour. Boerder says something needs to be done.
Boerder, along with students from Dalhousie and volunteers from the Ecology Action Centre, have spent the summer with snorkels and wetsuits out in the water, working to regenerate this precious plant.
Amy Irvine is a marine biology masters student involved with the project who endures long, muddy, cold days to plant the eelgrass.
“When you see all the trees around you, you recognize how important they are. But then when you come to the ocean, you don’t think about this,” she said, holding up a piece of the eelgrass.
The study
The team’s days are long. Starting at 7 a.m. and going until 6 in the evening.
They meet at Cherry Hill Beach to harvest eelgrass from a lush bed where they suit up, wade in and fill buckets with the green grass.
“This is actually the easiest part of the day,” said Irvine. This area is shallow and warm compared to the area where the eelgrass is transplanted.
The planters swim out, with Boerder following them in a boat. She hands them the grass and they dive down through the cloudy water to plant it.
They are trying different planting methods to see which is most effective.
“We don’t know what works best for Nova Scotian Water. So we’ve got to explore that first,” said Boerder.
The experiment consists of four different methods: planting seeds on their own, planting seeds in burlap sacks, planting sods, or the full plant with its roots, and planting shoots. They’ve planted over 6,000 eelgrass plants using these methods.
When it comes to improving biodiversity, planter Lauren La Porte says she’s already seeing some results.
“Every time we’re snorkeling, we see little critters swimming along in there, we see crabs and lobsters, and those are super beneficial to our local fisheries. ”
Civilian science
Jordy Thomson, the senior marine coordinator for the Ecology Action Centre, is happy to see volunteers coming out to help plant the eelgrass.
“We want to build up public momentum for an interest in conservation of eelgrass as a really critical coastal species for us here in Nova Scotia.”
Thomson says community involvement has been key for the project. People offered up their private land for the group to provide access to ocean beds, and volunteers have been helping collect data on eelgrass by filming from their kayaks.
Many people have also been sending information about eelgrass through the iNaturalist app.
INaturalist is an app that encourages citizen science and the Ecology Action Centre asks people to upload photos of eelgrass beds to the app to help map their distribution and better understand their health throughout the province.
“We really are looking for anybody in Nova Scotia who lives or spends time along the coast to get involved and to send in some photos of eelgrass meadows in their area,” Thomson said.
Switching from fossil fuels to renewable energy could save the world as much as $12tn (£10.2tn) by 2050, an Oxford University study says.
The report said it was wrong and pessimistic to claim that moving quickly towards cleaner energy sources was expensive.
Gas prices have soared on mounting concerns over energy supplies.
But the researchers say that going green now makes economic sense because of the falling cost of renewables.
The cost of green energy like wind and solar has been falling for decades
“Even if you’re a climate denier, you should be on board with what we’re advocating,” Prof Doyne Farmer from the Institute for New Economic Thinking at the Oxford Martin School told BBC News.
“Our central conclusion is that we should go full speed ahead with the green energy transition because it’s going to save us money,” he said.
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The report’s findings are based on looking at historic price data for renewables and fossil fuels and then modelling how they’re likely to change in the future.
The data for fossil fuels goes from 2020 back more than 100 years and shows that after accounting for inflation, and market volatility, the price hasn’t changed much.
Renewables have only been around for a few decades, so there’s less data. But in that time continual improvements in technology have meant the cost of solar and wind power have fallen rapidly, at a rate approaching 10% a year.
The report’s expectation that the price of renewables will continue to fall is based on “probabilistic” modelling, using data on how massive investment and economies of scale have made other similar technologies cheaper.
“Our latest research shows scaling-up key green technologies will continue to drive their costs down, and the faster we go, the more we will save,” says Dr Rupert Way, the report’s lead author from the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment.
Wind and solar are already the cheapest option for new power projects, but questions remain over how to best store power and balance the grid when the changes in the weather leads to fall in renewable output.
Cost of net zero
Back in 2019 Philip Hammond, then Chancellor of the Exchequer wrote to the prime minister to say that the cost of reaching net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 in the UK would be more than £1tn. This report says the likely costs have been over-estimated and have deterred investment.
It also says predictions by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that the cost of keeping global temperatures rises under 2 degrees would correspond to a loss of GDP by 2050 were too pessimistic. The transition to renewables was, it says, likely to turn out to be a “net economic benefit”.
The research has been published in the journal Joule and is a collaboration between the Institute for New Economic Thinking at the Oxford Martin School, the Oxford Martin Programme on the Post-Carbon Transition, the Smith School of Enterprise & Environment at the University of Oxford, and SoDa Labs at Monash University.
The total energy demand from buildings has risen dramatically in recent years. Driven by improved access in developing countries, greater ownership of energy-consuming devices and increasing urban densities, today it accounts for over one-third of global energy consumption and nearly 15% of direct CO2 emissions. As the climate crisis aggravates and its consequences are more visible than ever, the architecture and construction industry must respond accordingly. It must take responsibility for its environmental impact and give priority to reducing energy consumption, whether through design decisions, construction techniques or innovative products. The key lies, however, in not sacrificing aesthetics and comfort in the process.
The main areas of energy use in a building correspond to heating, ventilation and air conditioning, meaning that the role of building envelopes and fenestration is pivotal. Of course, windows and doors are essential for natural light, views, air flow and entries. With the right systems and materials, they can also provide insulation for improved temperature control, creating a barrier against cold weather during winter and blocking outdoor heat during summer months. In this way, energy-efficient thermal fenestration systems can open many possibilities in the path towards efficient, cost-effective spaces – although they have higher initial costs, these are offset in a few years thanks to substantial energy savings.
Often, the Passive House Certification is set as the leading standard in ensuring resiliency in buildings. Projects designed according to its criteria perform 60-85% better on an energy consumption basis when compared to code compliant projects. But in many large-scale buildings with complex configurations, like multi-family housing projects, meeting this standard can be quite the challenge. And if we add to this the desire to create spaces that are appealing to live or work in, it is clear that design professionals face a complicated task.
Recognizing these needs, manufacturers of large format fenestration have focused on offering products that can be easily incorporated into a variety of building schemes. To be effective, these must follow a set of requirements: the glass selected in multi-pane units should restrict thermal heat flow or solar heat gain based on the building’s climate zone, the frames must be designed to control heat flow and thermal bridging within them, and the whole assembly needs to open easily to provide ventilation, yet still be able to close tightly to restrict unwanted air infiltration. All of this while responding to today’s visual demands, including expansive views, a connection to the surrounding landscape and a sleek, clean line contemporary style.
Recent innovations in engineering and design have taken these criteria into account to produce some appealing and efficient choices. For instance, CRL – the industry’s leading manufacturer and supplier of architectural glazing systems – has developed a series of large-scale fenestration products with a high thermal performance and outstanding functional (and aesthetic) qualities. We present some of them below, exploring their unique characteristics.
Sliding doors
Although oversized glass doors create striking visuals, they can also cause excessive heat loss or solar gain. With this in mind, CRL’s large-format sliding door systems provide daylight, uninterrupted views and maximum transparency while mitigating heat transfer using thermal breaks and insulating glass. Working with the rest of the building envelope to maintain comfortable interior temperatures, they place less strain on heating or cooling systems and foster user well-being. For example, the Palisades S100 Sliding Door, known for its elegant minimalistic look, is designed with ultra-slim panel rails and stiles, with panel heights up to 13 feet (approximately 3960 mm) and widths up to 7 feet (approximately 2130 mm). It features specialized seals designed to resist the entrance of air and water and is suitable for exterior applications with high loads, limits on deflection and heavy usage, exceeding in structural and thermal performance.
Palisades S100 Sliding Doors. Image Courtesy of CRL
Bi-folding doors
Characterized by multiple hinged panels that stack to one side, the latest bi-folding glass door systems also offer advancements regarding thermal and aesthetic qualities. When opened, they provide seamless transitions that allow for ventilation and daylight; when closed, they deliver a streamlined look, prevent obstruction to preserve views, and seal up tightly to protect against water and air infiltration. In addition, these can feature thermally broken frames and 1-inch (2.5 cm) double pane insulating glass that together produce standard U-factors of 0.36, maintaining comfortable interior temperatures year-round and putting less strain on air conditioning systems. This applies to products like the Monterey S80 and the Palisades S90, which are able to meet the aesthetic and functional needs of today’s buildings with their sleek appearance, smooth movement and ability to reduce heat transfer.
Palisades S90 Bi-Folding Door. Image Courtesy of CRL
Entrance doors
Entrance doors, for their part, can defy efficiency through air leaks – especially in large-scale buildings with constant circulation. In this sense, the Blumcraft Entice Series Doors were created to fulfill energy conservation requirements and simultaneously maintain an elegant appearance. The system has very slender vertical lines and the unique ability to support handle hardware on insulating glass with a “floating on air” aspect. It has also been engineered with thermally broken framing and cladding that lets the product achieve U-factors as low as 0.33. Altogether, Entice® enables architects to achieve an all-glass style while meeting increasingly stringent energy codes.
To develop complex buildings or multi-family projects that are healthy, appealing and achieve high levels of energy-saving performance, architects must adopt a series of strategies. This includes design decisions like enhancing the building envelope with the proper use of Weather-Resistant Barriers (WRBs) and incorporating effective Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) systems. Fenestration, on the other hand, can be addressed by selecting large-scale doors that provide high thermal performance without compromising comfort and beautiful visuals. If these strategies are combined, it is possible to contribute to the universal goal of net-zero architecture, promoting human and environmental well-being.
Going to the bank in his home village in western India used to be a slow, frustrating process for Kiran Patil, as frequent power cuts – sometimes lasting for days – turned what should have been a quick errand into a lengthy ordeal.
The 59-year-old farmer often had to wait for hours in line at RBL Bank, his local branch in the village of Aitawade Budruk, or abandon his transaction and return the next day, wasting time he should have been spending cultivating his crops.
All that changed after the building was fitted with a set of solar panels and backup storage batteries in 2018, breaking the bank’s reliance on the power grid and giving it a steady supply of clean electricity.
“The transactions now are so smooth and fast,” Patil told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. “These days we even find time for a quick chat with the branch manager over a cup of tea, to learn of the latest services and facilities.”
A more reliable banking experience is also bringing in new customers who previously didn’t have the time for long waits or who worried about never knowing when they would be able to access their money.
Workers clean solar panels in Yamunanagar, Haryana state, India. Image: IWMI Flickr Photos, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Flickr.
Since the solar power system was installed at RBL in Aitawade Budruk, the bank has been opening 25 to 30 new accounts every month – 10 times more than before, said branch manager Sandeep Banne.
As India boosts its use of renewable energy in an effort to wean itself off climate-heating coal, the country is leaning heavily on solar energy to cut carbon emissions and help stabilise a grid squeezed by coal shortages and surging demand from a population trying to keep cool during hotter summers.
Citizens in rural areas were walking or spending their precious money to transport themselves from their villages to the nearest bank branch, then waiting there for hours. Simply because the bank did not have electricity all day and the computers could not work. – Raghuraman Chandrasekaran, founder, E-Hands Energy
But some communities have discovered another benefit to the solar power push: greater financial system access for millions of the country’s unbanked, including the estimated 20 per cent of Indian adults who have no access to a bank account or formal line of credit.
Raghuraman Chandrasekaran, founder and CEO of E-Hands Energy, the Chennai-based firm that set up the solar unit in Aitawade Budruk, said his company has installed such systems at more than 920 rural banks across India, helping bring more than 6 million people into the formal banking system.
The company plans to install units at up to 100 more rural branches before the end of the year, he said.
“Citizens in rural areas were walking or spending their precious money to transport themselves from their villages to the nearest bank branch, then waiting (there) for hours … simply because the bank did not have electricity all day and the computers could not work,” said Chandrasekaran.
“It was all misery.”
Modern banking
The three-kilowatt solar power system at the Aitawade Budruk branch – which runs everything from the fans and lights to computers and alarm systems – means the bank now has reliable power about 95 per cent of the time, said Banne, the branch manager.
On cloudy days, backup storage batteries take over, he said.
Firms like E-Hands Energy, Tata Power Solar and Husk Power Systems have so far outfitted more than 2,000 banks in rural India with solar power, estimates Shyam Kumar Garg, who retired as deputy general manager at the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development last October.
The systems feed into India’s efforts to install 500 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy capacity by 2030, up from about 115 GW now, more than half of which is solar.
E-Hands Energy’s manager of operations Kakumanu Prathap Sagar said the solar systems the company has installed at banks around India is helping cut about 3,000 tons of carbon emissions every year.
Going solar can cut costs, too, said Banne at RBL in Aitawade Budruk, noting that the branch now spends a fraction of what it used to for grid electricity and diesel for its backup generators.
The solar systems cost between 130,000 and 150,000 Indian rupees ($1,650 to $1,900) for installation and maintenance for four years, and pay for themselves in about four years, he added.
For villagers, the biggest benefit is finally being able to use government services they never had access to before, said Pratibha Budruk, head of the Aitawade Budruk’s village council.
When the bank suffered power cuts and frequent loss of internet connectivity, payments of pensions, students’ scholarships, loans and insurance were often delayed, putting a strain on people who relied on the money, Budruk said.
“The changeover of rural banks to solar power … has opened the doors of modern banking facilities for our local villagers,” she said.
Solar power challenges
In a country where 65 per cent of the population lives in rural areas, according to the World Bank, switching rural banks to solar power might even slow the migration of young people from villages to cities as more economic opportunities at home arise, said energy management expert Binoy Krishna Choudhury.
“Solarising banks is a good step to developing the rural economy,” said Choudhury, who teaches at the Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management in Kolkata.
But projects to bring solar panels to rural banks face a raft of obstacles, said Russell deLucia, director and founder of the Small-Scale Sustainable Infrastructure Development Fund, a U.S.-based nonprofit.
Potential hurdles include finding ways to transport and install the equipment in far flung, often off-road locations, said deLucia, whose company helps E-Hands raise funding for its solar power projects.
Once the systems are up and running, finding skilled technicians nearby to fix anything that goes wrong is another issue, he said.
Despite those challenges, Budruk, the village council head, wants to see more banks tap into solar power as a way to both improve the lives of rural communities and limit worsening climate change impacts such as extreme heat.
“Installing solar systems in the banks is like planting trees throughout the year for purifying the air we breathe,” she said.
“When the whole world is trying hard to slow global warming and the impacts of climate change, this is a small contribution from our village.”
This story was published with permission from Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, climate change, resilience, women’s rights, trafficking and property rights. Visit http://news.trust.org/climate.
Imperial will work with Hitachi and Hitachi Europe to establish a joint research centre that will deliver research projects, reports and white papers on the challenges facing the net-zero transition.
The ‘Hitachi-Imperial Centre for Decarbonisation and Natural Climate Solutions’ will explore the potential scenarios and pathways of the net-zero transition, with a focus on carbon management, decarbonising energy and transport and enhancing biodiversity through nature-based solutions.
The Centre will also help train the next generation of scientists and engineers in the field. The collaboration will be delivered by senior representatives from both Imperial and Hitachi, including Professor Mary Ryan from Imperial’s Faculty of Engineering, and Dr Kazuyuki Sugimura, CTO of Hitachi Europe.
Professor Ryan said: “There is greater urgency than ever before to tackle global pollution, of which CO2 is one of the biggest sources. This joint research centre will bring together world-leading scientists and innovators in decarbonisation and climate repair to develop new technology and solutions to the climate emergency.
“Imperial and Hitachi will work closely together to make significant advances in developing cleaner energy and this new centre will accelerate our work towards a zero pollution future.”
Professor Ryan also leads Imperial’s Transition to Zero Pollution initiative, which aims to build new partnerships to help deliver a “sustainable zero pollution future”.
As for Hitachi, the company joined the United Nations Race to Zero Campaign in 2020, was a principal partner of COP26.
Hitachi set a carbon-neutrality goal for 2050 that covers the entire value chain, including production, procurement and the use of products and services. It builds on an existing commitment of making all its offices and factories carbon neutral globally by 2030.
Nature-based solutions
There are some key challenges that need to be overcome if nature-based and climate solutions are to roll out at the pace required to help decarbonisation efforts.
Estimates suggest that the current market for offsets will need to grow by at least 15-fold by 2030 and up to 160-fold by 2050, if businesses and nations approach a 1.5C pathway using offsetting to the extent currently planned for. At present, most of the market is accounted for by nature-based projects as the capacity of man-made solutions is smaller. If existing challenges are not addressed, this scaling could bear awful consequences for biodiversity, Indigenous communities and global food security.
Globally, the world is facing an $8.1trn financing gap into nature to help combat the climate crisis and ecological breakdown, according to UN reports that warn that annual investments into nature-based solutions need to increase fourfold by 2050.
The report found that current investment into nature-based solutions sits at $133bn – 0.10% of global GDP – most of which comes from public sources. However, up to $4.1trn is required by 2030, which rises to $8.1trn 2050, a four-fold increase.
Up to $203bn annually is required for forest-based solutions, with peatland and mangrove restoration also highlighted as critical solutions. Marine environment solutions such as seagrass meadows were not covered by the report but will be included in future editions.
The report also estimates that annual investments into these solutions will need to reach $536bn annually by 2050.
