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Invest in green jobs in parts of Britain worst hit by pandemic, report urges

Posted on by dishanth
Invest in green jobs in parts of Britain worst hit by pandemic, report urges

Green Alliance says 16,000 jobs could be created in areas facing most severe employment challenges.

Some of the areas of Britain worst hit by the jobs crisis brought on by the pandemic are also those with the highest potential for green job creation, a report says.

About 16,000 new jobs could be created in restoring nature and planting trees in areas where unemployment is set to soar when the government’s furlough schemes end, according to the report from the Green Alliance thinktank. These include urban areas where people have little access to green space, as well as coastal areas and “red wall” areas that were Labour strongholds in the north of England.

Sam Alvis, the head of green renewal at Green Alliance, said the government should invest in nature-based jobs as lockdowns are eased, using money from the £4.8bn fund earmarked for “levelling up”.

Research suggests that for every £1 invested in peatland, local areas receive about £4.60 in economic benefits, while similar investment in woodland areas and salt marshes produces returns of £2.80 and £1.30 respectively.

The future parks accelerator, a project to promote green spaces, has calculated that investing £5.5bn in greening urban areas in the UK would produce £20bn in economic benefits. However, nature restoration is almost entirely missing from the levelling-up fund.

Alvis said: “The opportunity is there for the chancellor of the exchequer to create a legacy of new, high-quality jobs across Britain. Supporting innovation in green jobs will put nature at the heart of the government’s levelling-up agenda and help local communities build back better and greener.”

The report’s authors examined the fifth of parliamentary constituencies in Britain with the most severe employment challenges. They found many in the north of England were close to peatlands that could be restored to carbon sinks, helping the UK to meet its target of net zero greenhouse gas emissions.

The authors also mapped the potential for some widely available “nature-based solutions” to the climate crisis, including tree-planting, restoration of degraded landscapes and the restoration of marine ecosystems, across Britain. Two-thirds of the land most suitable for tree-planting was found to be in constituencies with “worse than average labour market challenges”. The government is falling behind on tree-planting targets.

Darren Moorcroft, the chief executive of the Woodland Trust charity, said: “Increasing native tree cover is a key part of the levelling-up agenda, shaping places people will want to live, visit and invest in. This will help increase employment opportunities as well as leading to happier, healthier communities.”

Many of the coastal constituencies where seagrass could be grown are areas of high job need, with a higher proportion of people on furlough and a lower-than-average increase in employment expected when the pandemic eases. Seagrass is an underwater flowering plant that can act as a carbon sink and nurtures young fish and other vital parts of the marine ecosystem, but which is under threat around the UK coast as 90% of seagrass meadows have been destroyed by overfishing and neglect.

In urban areas, thousands of jobs could be generated by investing in parks and green spaces for health and leisure. A growing body of research suggests that access to green areas has multiple benefits for people’s physical and mental health and wellbeing. Improving such areas in neighbourhoods currently without green space could create 10,800 jobs in areas with the worst post-pandemic jobs prospects, the report says.

Patrick Begg, the director of natural resources at the National Trust, said the pandemic and lockdowns had revealed the benefits of access to green space. “A greener recovery which increases access to nature is within our reach, [offering] massive social and environmental benefits as well as economic growth,” he said. “By investing in projects that make a greener recovery a priority, the government could generate green jobs for the communities that need them most.”

The potential jobs identified in the report range from entry-level roles in “shovel-ready” projects to graduate positions, for instance in research and development into nature restoration projects. Entry-level jobs can also help in the development of highly transferable skills such as machine operation, the report says.

 

 

Source The Guardian

XPRIZE and Musk Foundation announce guidelines and open registration for $100M XPRIZE carbon removal

Posted on by dishanth
XPRIZE and Musk Foundation announce guidelines and open registration for $100M XPRIZE carbon removal

XPRIZE, the global leader in designing and implementing innovative competition models to solve the world’s grand challenges, today announced the official launch of $100 Million XPRIZE Carbon Removal with the opening of team registration and the release of the competition guidelines. The announcement comes shortly after Peter H. Diamandis, XPRIZE founder and executive chairman, and Elon Musk sat down for a live stream hosted on Twitter to discuss the importance of spurring carbon removal solutions, the climate crisis, and the launch of the largest incentive prize in history. The conversation was followed by a virtual question and answer hosted by Marcius Extavour, vice president of climate and environment at XPRIZE, and XPRIZE’s chief impact officer, Zenia Tata.

Funded by the Musk Foundation, $100M XPRIZE Carbon Removal is aimed at tackling climate change by asking global innovators to develop solutions that can pull carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere or oceans and lock it away permanently in an environmentally benign method.

 

 

The climate math is becoming clear that we will need gigaton-scale carbon removal in the coming decades to avoid the worst effects of climate change. The International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimates the need at approximately 10 gigatonnes per year of net CO2 removal by 2050. As governments, companies, investors, and entrepreneurs make plans to meet this challenge, it is clear that we will need a range of solutions to be proven through demonstration and deployment to complement work that is already underway.

This four-year global competition invites innovators and teams from anywhere on the planet to create and demonstrate solutions that can pull carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere or oceans. To win the grand prize, teams must demonstrate a working solution at a scale of at least 1000 tonnes removed per year; model their costs at a scale of 1 million tonnes per year; and show a pathway to achieving a scale of gigatonnes per year in future. All demonstrations must be validated by a third party. In the first of two competition phases, teams must demonstrate the key component of their carbon removal solutions at smaller scale, not the full operating solution. Fully operational solutions are required to win. Any carbon negative solution is eligible: nature-based, direct air capture, oceans, mineralization, or anything else that achieves net negative emissions, sequesters CO2 durably, and shows a sustainable path to ultimately achieving gigatonne scale.

 

“The goal of this CO2 Removal XPRIZE is to turn ideas into demonstration, and turn powerpoint solutions into hardware,” said Peter H. Diamandis, founder and executive chairman of XPRIZE.

 

“By launching the largest prize competition in history, our hope is to focus the brainpower of engineers, scientists and entrepreneurs around the world to build solutions that actually work, at low-cost and at massive scale. We know that our incentive prize competition models deliver huge philanthropic leverage. Typically driving 10x to 40x the prize purse spent by all the teams to achieve the goal. XPRIZE pays for demonstrated solutions versus ideas. So, we’re excited to see that same level of impact with this challenge. Many thanks to Elon Musk and the Musk Foundation.”

 

 

CLICK HERE TO WATCH FULL VIDEO

 

Throughout the competition, $100 million in prize purses will be distributed in the following manner:

Teams can enter the competition at any stage. XPRIZE is looking for the best solutions, whether they competed in earlier rounds or not. After 1 year of competition the judges will review the progress of competitors at that time and award up to 15 Milestone Prizes of $1 million each.

XPRIZE will also award up to US$5M to student teams in the Fall of 2021. These awards may fund participation in the XPRIZE Carbon Removal or the development of key supportive technologies.

In 2024, after developing their solutions, teams are invited to apply to be considered as Finalists, and be visited by XPRIZE to validate their solution’s performance in person. In 2025 after 4 years, judges will select the winners:

US$50 million paid to the single Grand Prize Winner
US$30 million to be distributed among up to 3 runners up

 

“It should be clear to everyone in 2021 that climate change poses an existential threat, and that our CO2 emissions are a leading cause,” said Marcius Extavour, vice president of climate and environment at XPRIZE. “Even as we race to get to net zero, the climate math tells us that we must also accelerate the development and deployment solutions that can be carbon negative. That’s what this prize is all about.”

‘’It’s not too late to create a better future, but doing that will take a group effort and companies facilitating the development of bold innovations. We’re looking forward to seeing what teams develop over the next four years and witnessing how their creations have a first hand impact on mitigating the climate crisis. Starting now.’’

For more information on XPRIZE Carbon Removal, to view the prize guidelines or to register, please visit xprize.org/carbonremoval.

 

About XPRIZE

XPRIZE, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, is the global leader in designing and implementing innovative competition models to solve the world’s grandest challenges. Active competitions include the $20 Million NRG COSIA Carbon XPRIZE, the $10 Million Rainforest XPRIZE, the $10 Million ANA Avatar XPRIZE, the $5 Million IBM Watson AI XPRIZE, $5 Million XPRIZE Rapid Reskilling, $5 Million XPRIZE Rapid COVID Testing, and $500K Pandemic Response Challenge.

For more information, visit XPRIZE

 

About The Musk Foundation

The Musk Foundation creates grants are made in support of: renewable energy research and advocacy; human space exploration research and advocacy; pediatric research; science and engineering education; and development of safe artificial intelligence to benefit humanity.

 

 

Source Eco News

Climate change: Biden summit to push for ‘immediate’ action

Posted on by dishanth
Climate change: Biden summit to push for ‘immediate’ action

The US will attempt to re-assert its global leadership on climate change as President Joe Biden hosts 40 leaders at a virtual summit in the White House.

It’s expected that the US will unveil an updated carbon pledge that will see their emissions nearly halved by 2030.

Ahead of the meeting, officials urged greater ambition on countries perceived as laggards on climate.

Referring to Australia, an official said “there would have to be a shift” in their approach.

President Biden has made climate change a key focus in the early days of his administration.

As well as re-joining the Paris climate agreement on his first day in office, he announced early on that he would gather around 40 world leaders for a global summit on Earth Day – 22 April.

 

President Biden rejoined the Paris agreement on his first day in office and pledged to hold a leaders summit shortly after Image Jim Watson

 

Among those attending will be China’s President Xi Jinping.

Despite serious tensions between the two countries on a host of issues, both sides seem keen to keep climate change separate from these disputes. Last weekend, the two countries issued a joint statement saying they would tackle climate “with the seriousness and urgency it demands”.

Speaking ahead of the meeting, a senior Biden administration official spoke warmly about the potential for co-operation.

“It’s quite clear that there is a distinctly shared level of ambition. Both countries see this as a crisis. Both countries see the need for action in the 2020s. Both countries see the need to work towards holding the increase in global temperatures to 1.5C,” he said.

“We certainly hope that President Xi will come to the meeting, and further elaborate on some of the additional efforts that China would choose to make. But I think we’ve got a very strong basis in the joint statement that the two countries made about the directions they seem to be moving.”

 

Protestors outside the White House hold cardboard cut outs of the leaders due to meet Source Reuters

 

But for other countries who have been slow to embrace action on climate change, the Biden team were less effusive.

Both Brazil and Australia’s sceptical approach to the issue had found favour in the Trump White House. That’s no longer the case.

“At the moment, I think that our colleagues in Australia recognise that there’s going to have to be a shift,” one official said.

“It’s insufficient to follow the existing trajectory, and hope that they will be on a course to deep decarbonisation, and getting to net zero emissions by mid-century.”

Speaking about Brazil, the same official said: “The expectation for all countries is that the ambition has to be increased immediately.”

But while the US is talking strongly about ambition, the proof of change for many observers will be in their new carbon-cutting pledge for 2030 they are expected to announce at the summit.

 

Despite some earlier uncertainty, China President Xi Jinping will address the US summit

 

This will require some clever footwork from the US. They will have to go for a figure that is scientifically credible but also politically achievable.

While the Democrats have a majority in the House of Representatives, the Senate is essentially deadlocked, making the passage of new climate legislation rather tricky.

“It seems to me that President Biden is in a bit of a bind, and he has to deal with the Congress that he has,” said Samantha Gross from the Brookings Institution.

“But I believe that Congress, particularly the Republicans, haven’t really kept up with increasing concern among the American public about climate.”

For some in the international community, even the mooted 50% cut in emissions won’t be going far enough.

 

A coal train snakes through the landscape in the US – predictions are that coal use will increase this year as the economy recovers from the pandemic Source Getty Images

 

“The US should cut at least 55% from 2005 levels by 2030 to inspire others to raise their ambitions,” said Quamrul Chowdhury, from Bangladesh and a climate negotiator for the Least Developed countries group.

“Mitigation is the best adaptation and major economies must cutback emissions quickly and steeply.”

The US pledge will undoubtedly be the headline, whatever its size – but there are also expected to be new steps announced by a number of countries.

“The three that I think are most likely beside the US to step up at this summit are Canada, Japan and South Korea,” said Helen Mountford from the World Resources Institute (WRI).

 

Australia’s prime minister Scott Morrison has been criticised for slow action on climate Source Tracy Nearmy

 

“China… would be fantastic, but I think [we[ quite likely might wait longer, I wouldn’t expect it at this time.”

She added: “India is a real question mark, but whether they’re going to announce either a net zero target or enhanced plan, I would say there’s less of a chance of that.”

For those who were involved in the negotiations that led to the Paris agreement in 2015, the key thing this week is not to derail the discussions at the first hurdle.

This is the first big climate meeting of a critical year that will culminate in a gathering of around 200 world leaders in Glasgow in November at COP26.

“I think that for the US leaders summit to be a success, we need to have the 40 leaders present and expressing their willingness to reach strong agreement by Glasgow,” said Remy Rioux, who was a negotiator for France during the Paris talks.

“And also for the US to demonstrate that they are back, and that they are back as convincingly and strongly as possible.”

 

 

By Matt McGrath
Environment correspondent

Source BBC

Sunlight to solve the world’s clean water crisis

Posted on by dishanth
Sunlight to solve the world’s clean water crisis

Researchers at UniSA have developed a cost-effective technique that could deliver safe drinking water to millions of vulnerable people using cheap, sustainable materials and sunlight.

Less than 3 per cent of the world’s water is fresh, and due to the pressures of climate change, pollution, and shifting population patterns, in many areas this already scarce resource is becoming scarcer.

Currently, 1.42 billion people – including 450 million children – live in areas of high, or extremely high, water vulnerability, and that figure is expected to grow in coming decades.

Researchers at UniSA’s Future Industries Institute have developed a promising new process that could eliminate water stress for millions of people, including those living in many of the planet’s most vulnerable and disadvantaged communities.

 

A team led by Associate Professor Haolan Xu has refined a technique to derive freshwater from seawater, brackish water, or contaminated water, through highly efficient solar evaporation, delivering enough daily fresh drinking water for a family of four from just one square metre of source water.

“In recent years, there has been a lot of attention on using solar evaporation to create fresh drinking water, but previous techniques have been too inefficient to be practically useful,” Assoc Prof Xu says.

“We have overcome those inefficiencies, and our technology can now deliver enough fresh water to support many practical needs at a fraction of the cost of existing technologies like reverse osmosis.”

At the heart of the system is a highly efficient photothermal structure that sits on the surface of a water source and converts sunlight to heat, focusing energy precisely on the surface to rapidly evaporate the uppermost portion of the liquid.

 

While other researchers have explored similar technology, previous efforts have been hampered by energy loss, with heat passing into the source water and dissipating into the air above.

 

“Previously many of the experimental photothermal evaporators were basically two dimensional; they were just a flat surface, and they could lose 10 to 20 per cent of solar energy to the bulk water and the surrounding environment,” Dr Xu says.

“We have developed a technique that not only prevents any loss of solar energy, but actually draws additional energy from the bulk water and surrounding environment, meaning the system operates at 100 per cent efficiency for the solar input and draws up to another 170 per cent energy from the water and environment.”

 

In contrast to the two-dimensional structures used by other researchers, Assoc Prof Xu and his team developed a three-dimensional, fin-shaped, heatsink-like evaporator.

Their design shifts surplus heat away from the evaporator’s top surfaces (i.e. solar evaporation surface), distributing heat to the fin surface for water evaporation, thus cooling the top evaporation surface and realising zero energy loss during solar evaporation.

This heatsink technique means all surfaces of the evaporator remain at a lower temperature than the surrounding water and air, so additional energy flows from the higher-energy external environment into the lower-energy evaporator.

 

“We are the first researchers in the world to extract energy from the bulk water during solar evaporation and use it for evaporation, and this has helped our process become efficient enough to deliver between 10 and 20 litres of fresh water per square metre per day.”

In addition to its efficiency, the practicality of the system is enhanced by the fact it is built entirely from simple, everyday materials that are low cost, sustainable and easily obtainable.

“One of the main aims with our research was to deliver for practical applications, so the materials we used were just sourced from the hardware store or supermarket,” Assoc Prof Xu says.

“The only exception is the photothermal materials, but even there we are using a very simple and cost-effective process, and the real advances we have made are with the system design and energy nexus optimisation, not the materials.”

In addition to being easy to construct and easy to deploy, the system is also very easy to maintain, as the design of the photothermal structure prevents salt and other contaminants building up on the evaporator surface.

Together, the low cost and easy upkeep mean the system developed by Assoc Prof Xu and his team could be deployed in situations where other desalination and purification systems would be financially and operationally unviable.

“For instance, in remote communities with small populations, the infrastructure cost of systems like reverse osmosis is simply too great to ever justify, but our technique could deliver a very low cost alterative that would be easy to set up and basically free to run,” Assoc Prof Xu says.

 

“Also, because it is so simple and requires virtually no maintenance, there is no technical expertise needed to keep it running and upkeep costs are minimal.

“This technology really has the potential to provide a long-term clean water solution to people and communities who can’t afford other options, and these are the places such solutions are most needed.”

In addition to drinking water applications, Assoc Prof Xu says his team is currently exploring a range of other uses for the technology, including treating wastewater in industrial operations.

“There are a lot of potential ways to adapt the same technology, so we are really at the beginning of a very exciting journey,” he says.

 

 

Source Eco Voice

Matchbox cars get green makeover in eco drive

Posted on by dishanth
Matchbox cars get green makeover in eco drive

Matchbox is launching a series of toy cars based on real-life electric vehicles and making some more sustainable.

The first model will be a mini version of the Tesla Roadster and will be followed by other brands along with scaled-down charging stations.

The toymaker wants to raise awareness among children of the environmental impact of motoring.

Other firms, including Lego, are also bringing out more sustainable toys.

Other Matchbox cars being launched will be based on electric and hybrid vehicles made by Nissan, Toyota and BMW. The Tesla Roadster will be the first die-cast model made from 99% recycled materials and will go on sale next year.

The toy car is made from recycled zinc and plastic with just 1% from non-recycled stainless steel. It will come in zero-plastic packaging made from paper and wood fibre.

The aim of the sets is to raise “environmental consciousness” among children, and “empower the next generation of Matchbox fans to help steer us towards a sustainable future,” Roberto Stanichi, Global Head of Vehicles at Mattel, told the BBC.

“Since the inception of the modern-day die-cast car nearly 70 years ago, Matchbox has been using design and innovation to connect kids with the real world around them through play,” he added.

UK-based Matchbox, which is owned by US toymaker Mattel, was created in 1953 and sells more than 40 million die-cast vehicles each year.

Mattel, which also owns the Hot Wheels brand, plans to use 100% recycled, recyclable or bio-based plastic materials in the manufacturing of all its products and packaging by 2030.

 

GETTY IMAGES

 

Green bricks

Lego has said it will start replacing plastic packaging with paper bags this year as the toy brick maker aims to become more sustainable.

The Danish company said it had been prompted by letters from children asking it to remove the single-use plastic bags.

Lego will also be investing up to $400m (£310m) over three years to improve its sustainability efforts.

Lego bricks themselves are made of plastic, although the company is exploring alternative materials.

Waitrose has said it will no longer sell children’s magazines with plastic disposable toys to help tackle pollution.

The retailer said the free plastic toys have a short lifespan and cannot easily be recycled.

This comes amid calls from some of the children they are aimed at to stop giving away free plastic toys.

 

 

Source BBC

Monaco is becoming an unexpected leader in sustainability

Posted on by dishanth
Monaco is becoming an unexpected leader in sustainability

At a time when we’re understanding that glaciers are moving as much as 90 feet a day (100 times the usual speed), the need for climate action is shockingly evident. But which world leaders will lead this vital charge? The second-smallest independent state in the world is emerging as a leader in planet preservation. Monaco’s sovereign prince founded his namesake Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation in 2006 to combat climate change, preserve biodiversity, and conserve water resources. The monarch committed to reducing the principality’s carbon emissions in half by 2030, aiming to become carbon neutral by 2050.

 

“Monaco is an incubator of sustainable solutions. We’re a laboratory for innovative ideas in sustainable development which can be fully expressed here before being scaled-up,” says Olivier Wenden, VP and CEO of the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation.

 

Monaco now uses modes of public transportation such as electric shuttle boats. Photo: Courtesy of Monaco’s Government Communication Department

 

To reach the lofty target, Monaco expanded public transportation options including biodiesel buses and electric shuttle boats. The e-bike-sharing program has a fleet of 300 electric bikes and 35 bike stations. E-bikes cost one euro per trip and are used 1,200 times a day. E-vehicles represent almost 7% of the Monegasque fleet. There are free recharging stations and an e-car-sharing system.

 

Monaco’s popular e-bike-sharing program has a fleet of 300 electric bikes and 35 bike stations. Photo: Courtesy of Monaco’s Government Communication Department

 

Additional eco-friendly systems have been developed to limit waste by repurposing garbage into fuel and purifying water before being discharged into the Mediterranean. The Monaco Clean Beaches campaign placed 8,000 ashtrays on the beaches to reduce cigarette litter. Monaco has two marine protected areas as well as 3D-printed artificial reefs, and is working to preserve species including the Mediterranean Monk Seal.

Monaco has an ambitious goal of having zero single-use plastic waste by 2030. Single-use plastic bags were banned in 2016; straws in 2019; and plates, cups, glass, and cutlery in 2020. Conscious consumption is also present in Monaco’s culinary offerings through reducing of food waste and Terre de Monaco, a Monegasque organic urban rooftop farming project.

 

Elsa is the world’s first 100% organic Michelin-starred restaurant. Photo: Courtesy of Monte-Carlo Société des Bains de Mer

 

Elsa, the world’s first 100% organic Michelin-starred restaurant, is in Monaco, located in the Monte-Carlo Beach resort. “Elsa is a philosophy, a way of life. Respecting nature, respecting your body, eating healthy, and enjoying it! This is the well-being we aspire to,” says Dimitri de Andolenko, who leads the sustainability projects at the resort . “Elsa respects the environment by favoring local purchases, using green electricity, and limited paper consumption.”

 

Monte-Carlo Beach has led a preservation campaign for local birds, one of several reasons it won the Green Globe Gold certification for sustainability efforts. Photo: Courtesy of Monte-Carlo Société des Bains de Mer

 

Monte-Carlo Beach and Monte-Carlo Bay received the prestigious Green Globe Gold certification for sustainability efforts. Monte-Carlo Beach has a preservation zone for local birds, and Monte-Carlo Bay works with the Prince Albert II Foundation to preserve the habitat for a local Mediterranean seahorse species. For three years, solar panels have powered Monte-Carlo Bay. Over 88% of Monaco’s hotels have international third-party green certifications. Méridien Beach Plaza, Columbus Monte-Carlo, and Métropole Monte-Carlo are Green Key members.

Looking to the future, an eco-district, the Mareterra, is slated to open in 2025. The new neighborhood will have a pedestrian-only and environmentally conscious design with luxury apartments and villas, public parks, a marina with a seafront promenade, and, naturally, e-bike stations. “Moving forward, a greener path is full of promises and opportunities—and worth it,” Wenden says.

 

 

By Lola Mendez

Source Architectural Digest

Carbon reducing multi-million pound heating network backed

Posted on by dishanth
Carbon reducing multi-million pound heating network backed

Plans for a new ‘carbon emission-reducing, energy efficient’ district heating network have been unveiled which will set out to support efforts to tackle climate change by cutting emissions from a new housing development by up to 70%.

 

The initiative is being backed by Teignbridge District Council, Exeter City Council and Devon County Council with funding of up to £7.3 million contributions to the £23 million capital investment project.

An advance payment of £50,000 will be made available for preliminary infrastructure works to take place.

According to Viridor, analysis suggests that the new heat network will reduce carbon emissions from new homes planned by up to 70% compared with natural gas fired boiler alternatives, delivering carbon savings of at least 2,500 tonnes per annum via a long-term low-carbon heat supply.

The new heat network will support the current Local Plan’s mixed-use development at South West Exeter which, with Teignbridge Council, Exeter City Council’s planned housing developments, will see up to 2,500 new homes in the area plus a new school campus, shops and community facilities.

The network will be provided with heat from the nearby Viridor Exeter Energy Recovery Facility (ERF) located in Marsh Barton. The ERF puts residual waste which ‘cannot be recycled’ to work to generate heat and power.

 

With the Government stopping the use of fossil fuel heating systems in new homes in the ‘shortest possible timeline’, the network heating solution will provide home owners with not only an environmentally friendly alternative but also a cost effective one

 

Viridor says the export of heat from the ERF is around five times more energy efficient than the generation of electricity at the plant and it would mean that for example, gas boilers would not be needed in homes within the South West Exeter development area.

‘With the Government stopping the use of fossil fuel heating systems in new homes in the shortest possible timeline’, the network heating solution will provide home owners with not only an environmentally friendly alternative but also a cost effective one,’ says Viridor.

Officers from Exeter City, Devon County Council and Teignbridge Council have been working with advisers from the University of Exeter and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) to bring the project forward. Last mile multi-utility network and operator, Leep Utilities will operate the network as the Energy Services Company (ESCo).

Leep Utilities is working closely with ERF operator Viridor to put in place arrangements for accessing the plant’s heat.  They are also in the process of negotiating terms with the development area’s housebuilders and developers in order to provide low carbon heat to future residents and occupants.

The need for substantial upfront capital investment and uncertain rates of return means that the scheme today is not commercially viable, leading council members to decide to support the venture with a multi-million-pound package of grant and loan funding. The funding will come from developer contributions, including the Community Infrastructure Levy, which is a charge on development to fund new infrastructure. The expectation is that the system would also have the capacity to heat further new homes and commercial buildings at Marsh Barton.

 

‘Innovation’

Teignbridge Council leader Alan Connett said:  “This is an innovative way of helping future home owners with an effective energy solution for heating their homes whilst at the same time making a significant impact on our carbon savings plans.

“It is an example of how we as a council can work with neighboring authorities and developers to implement solutions which improve housing while tackling environmental concerns.

“Until contracts are signed we can’t guarantee that the scheme will go ahead but everyone is committed to overcoming the outstanding issues and pushing forward with this innovative approach”.

Cllr Rachel Sutton, Exeter City Council’s Deputy Leader and Lead Councillor for Net Zero Exeter 2030, said she welcomed the initiative:  “Coming up with better ways to heat our homes is vital if we are to reduce our carbon footprint,” she said.

 

It is an example of how we as a council can work with neighbouring authorities and developers to implement solutions which improve housing while tackling environmental concerns.

 

“Using heat from the Energy from Waste plant is both sensible and efficient,” she added.

Devon County Council Leader John Hart said: “We support the concept of this district heating system in the south west Exeter development, as we’ve seen it successfully introduced at other developments in the area such as Cranbrook and Monkerton, and it would help our efforts to tackle the climate emergency.”

Viridor Chief Operations Officer Richard Pennells said the company, which has its headquarters in the South West, was looking forward to working with the councils.

Mr Pennells said: “Exeter ERF already attaches a purpose to non-recyclable waste, diverting 60,000 tonnes from landfill every year and generating enough energy to power the equivalent of more than 6,600 homes. The ERF is, however, designed to be a combined heat and power plant and we are pleased to be working with the councils and its partners to fully realise the ERF’s potential and contribute to this important initiative.”

 

 

Source Circular Online

Sri Lanka’s first solid waste power plant to open on the 17th of February 2021

Posted on by dishanth
Sri Lanka’s first solid waste power plant to open on the 17th of February 2021

Minister of Power Dullas Alahapperuma says the first power plant generating electricity using solid waste in Sri Lanka established in the Kerawalapitiya area in Hendala will be added to the national grid by Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa on the 17th of this month.

The power plant is planned to generate 10 megawatts using 700 tons of garbage daily and will operate by collecting waste from the area.

The Minister said that the use of waste collected in this manner for the generation of electricity in the entire district is also environmentally beneficial.

In addition, the Ministry of Power plans to commence the first project to generate electricity from biogas using biodegradable waste in the Matara District.

 

Source: Business News LK

 

The project, which is being constructed in Kotawila in the Matara District, is planned to add 400 kilowatts to the national grid using 40 tons of garbage per day. The project is expected to be operationalized by October this year and added to the national grid.

President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa’s Vision of Prosperity policy framework marks the milestones of an innovative power generation process that goes beyond conventional power generation, and as the Minister in charge of the subject, he has been given the challenge of increasing the contribution of renewable energy to 70% of the national grid by the year 2023, Minister Alahapperuma said.

The Minister added that it was his responsibility to overcome the challenge and provide uninterrupted, quality, reliable and affordable electricity to the electricity consumers. Accordingly, steps will be taken in the future to implement the process of generating electricity from garbage as well as the process of generating electricity from biogas at the district level covering the entire island, said the Minister of Power, Dullas Alahapperuma.

 

 

Source Colombo Page

Bill Gates-Led Fund Backs Tech to Use Natural Gas Without the Carbon Impact

Posted on by dishanth
Bill Gates-Led Fund Backs Tech to Use Natural Gas Without the Carbon Impact

C-Zero splits methane into hydrogen and solid carbon, eliminating much of the greenhouse-gas impact.

Breakthrough Energy Ventures, the fund helmed by Bill Gates, led a funding round to raise $11.5 million for California-based startup C-Zero Inc.

The company has developed technology to lower the greenhouse-gas emissions from using natural gas. Instead of burning the fuel to produce carbon dioxide and water, C-Zero passes the gas through a mixture of molten salts. Doing so splits methane — the main component of natural gas — into hydrogen gas and solid carbon. When the hydrogen burns, it produces water; the solid carbon goes to landfills.
The company’s tech appealed to the prominent clean-energy fund because the world will need access to gaseous fuels like hydrogen at large scales and low costs to meet climate targets. Developing the process “needed both cheap natural gas and the world to care about reducing CO₂ emissions,” said Zachary Jones, C-Zero’s chief executive officer. Both those conditions have been met only in recent years, with the fracking boom overlapping with the urgency to act on climate change.
Splitting methane, which is made up of one carbon atom and four hydrogen atoms, into hydrogen and solid carbon is not difficult in terms of the chemistry. The main challenge now is lowering the cost when the technology is scaled up.Gas per day, followed by a commercial unit that is capable of producing more than 1,000 kg per day. Most clean-energy startups fail at the scaling stage.

Natural gas doesn’t just hurt the environment when its burned. Producing and transporting the fuel also adds to the greenhouse-gas burden. Leaky wells and pipes dump unburned methane into the atmosphere, where it traps as much as 86 times more heat than similar amounts of CO₂. “The benefit of our technology is that it can be a deployed on the well head,” said Jones, reducing some methane leaks.

Alongside BEV, the other investors in C-Zero include Eni Next, the venture arm of oil and gas giant Eni SpA, and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, which is developing hydrogen turbines. Michael R. Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg LP, is also a backer of BEV.

C-Zero isn’t the only one trying to deploy the tech. Nebraska-based Monolith Materials Inc. is also hoping to find a market for the solid carbon produced as a byproduct of turning methane into hydrogen. Australia-based Hazer Group Ltd turns natural gas into hydrogen and graphite, a form of carbon that can be used in lithium-ion batteries.

“I wish that our carbon had value. That’s a much better business model,” said Jones. If only 10% of the natural gas the world consumes today was converted to hydrogen through this process, Jones estimates that the global market for solid carbon would be saturated. “That’s the difference from our competitors. We’ve been 100% focused on making the lowest cost, cleanest hydrogen we can,” he added.

If not put to use, solid carbon has to be discarded as a waste. As yet, no one has done it at a scale for there to be studies on the environmental risks. But Jones is confident that it would be like dealing with the ash from burning coal, which the world produces in the hundreds of millions of tons each year and which often just sits in landfills.

Much of the world’s hydrogen today is produced from natural gas. The current method, however, produces large amounts of carbon dioxide, which are dumped in the air. Countries such as the U.K. and Germany are working on incentivizing the use of carbon capture technology, which will see CO₂ injected deep underground. Jones argues that it’s much better to deal with solid carbon than worrying about buried CO₂ gas.

There’s also the risk that the company may struggle to get enough climate-conscious investors to bet on a technology that helps prolong the use of fossil fuels. Jones said that, once scaled up, C-Zero’s tech can eventually be used on methane produced from biological sources, often referred to as renewable natural gas.

 

 

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Source Bloomberg

Singapore is building a 42,000-home eco ‘smart’ city

Posted on by dishanth
Singapore is building a 42,000-home eco ‘smart’ city

In a country where over 80% of residents live in public housing, a government commitment to sustainable urban design could have huge implications. And when it’s a tropical country where convenience and air conditioning are a way of life, the impact could be greater still.

Promising 42,000 new homes across five residential districts, the eco-town of Tengah — the Malay word for “middle,” though it’s in the island’s western region — will be the 24th new settlement built by Singapore’s government since World War II. It is, however, the first with centralized cooling, automated trash collection and a car-free town center, which conservationists hope offers a roadmap for slashing carbon emissions in the Southeast Asian city-state.

The development is being dubbed a “forest town” by officials, due to its abundant greenery and public gardens. Once home to brickmaking factories, and later used for military training, the 700-hectare (2.7-square-mile) site has been reclaimed by an extensive secondary forest in recent years. A 328-foot-wide ecological “corridor” will be maintained through its center, providing safe passage to wildlife and connecting a water catchment area on one side to a nature reserve on the other.

Planners say the town has been designed with pedestrians and cyclists in mind. Credit: Courtesy The Housing & Development Board

 

 

The project has proven a tabula rasa for urban planners advocating green design principles and “smart” technology, according to Chong Fook Loong, group director for research and planning at Singapore’s Housing and Development Board (HDB), the agency overseeing the country’s public housing.

“Tengah is a clean slate,” he said in a video interview, explaining that roads, parking and utilities are being pushed beneath the town center. “We’re going for the ideal concept of segregation of traffic, (with) everything underground and then the ground level totally freed up for pedestrians — for people. So, it’s a very safe environment for all.

“We want a town that allows walking and cycling in a very user-friendly manner,” he added, saying that cycling has “taken off” in Singapore in the “last three to five years especially.”

The master plan will see the installation of electric vehicle charging stations, while the streets are also being “futureproofed” to accommodate emerging technologies, Chong said.

“When we planned the road network, we envisaged a future where autonomous vehicles and self-driving vehicles will become a reality,” he said.

 

Cooler by design

Although comparatively small, with a population of under 6 million people, Singapore’s per-capita emissions are higher than those of the UK, China, and neighboring Malaysia, according to the country’s National Climate Change Secretariat.

That’s due, in part, to air conditioning, which accounts for more than a third of typical household energy consumption. Global warming will only exacerbate this dependence. The Meteorological Service Singapore (MSS) has predicted that, by the end of this century, average daily temperatures in the city-state may be at least 34.1 degrees Celsius (93.4 degrees Fahrenheit) “almost every day” during the eight warmest months of the year.

An artist’s impression of the 2.7-square-mile site. Credit: Courtesy The Housing & Development Board

 

 

As such, keeping cool will, increasingly, be a necessity for residents. Rather than demonizing air conditioning, Tengah’s planners have instead sought to reimagine it. Cold water, chilled using solar power, will be piped though the district’s homes, meaning residents don’t need to install inefficient outdoor AC condensers (though they can still control the temperature in their own apartments).

According to the town’s energy provider, SP Group, this will generate carbon dioxide savings equivalent to taking 4,500 cars off the roads each year. The state-owned energy company reports that, of the apartments already sold in advance, 9 out of 10 future residents have signed up for centralized cooling.

Planners used computer modeling to simulate wind flow and heat gain across the town, helping to reduce the so-called urban heat island effect (whereby human activities and structures make urban areas notably warmer than the surrounding nature). Elsewhere, “smart” lights will switch off when public spaces are unoccupied, and trash will be stored centrally, with monitors detecting when garbage needs collecting.

“Instead of using a truck to collect garbage from every block, we will suck all the garbage through the pneumatic system to a chamber that serves several blocks,” Chong said. “From time to time, the (garbage) truck just needs to collect from the chamber.”

One of the town’s five residential districts, known as the Plantation District, will offer community farming. Credit: Courtesy The Housing & Development Board

 

 

Of the 42,000 homes being built at Tengah, more than 70% will be made available through the HDB on long-term leases. Prices for two-bedroom apartments currently begin at just 108,000 Singapore dollars ($82,000), with the first apartments set to complete in 2023.

All residents will have access to an app allowing them to monitor their energy and water usage. (“You empower them to take control of where they can cut down their energy consumption,” Chong said.) Digital displays in each block will meanwhile inform occupants of their collective environmental impact, which could even encourage competition between residential blocks, according to SP Group.

Regardless of whether the use of smart technology can significantly dent greenhouse gas emissions or not, engaging residents with their own consumption could instigate behavioral change, according to Perrine Hamel, an assistant professor at Nanyang Technological University’s Asian School of the Environment. This, she added, is a crucial part of Singapore’s goal of reaching peak emissions by 2030 and reducing them thereafter.

“Thinking about food consumption and thinking about the way people use air conditioning is all part of (achieving climate targets),” she said. “Changing behavior is going to be an integral part of it and, of course, urban design is the first way to affect and change behavior.”

Dubbing the project a “forest town,” planners aim to retain some of the site’s natural greenery. Credit: Courtesy The Housing & Development Board

 

 

Connecting with nature
For Hamel, the integration of nature and residential areas — which creates “more opportunities for people to interact with nature” — is where Tengah’s plan excels. In addition to the aforementioned forest corridor, the town’s residents will have access to community farming in the so-called Plantation District.

Beyond promoting and protecting biodiversity, conserving nature on the site can lead to further behavioral change, Hamel said.

“There are a lot of examples, from around the world, showing that changing our relationship with nature through everyday encounters does help people take environmental action,” she said. “On that front I think the biophilic design and (Tengah’s) master plan actually does a good job.”.

The Nature Society Singapore (NSS) has nonetheless criticized the plan for conserving too little — less than 10% — of the site’s existing forest. The environmental group has proposed two additional “core forest areas” at either end of the green corridor to promote biodiversity and protect migratory species.

 

 

The government said it is “refining” its plan based the NSS report, though Singapore’s Land Transport Authority has since disclosed that even more of the remaining forest — about 3% of the proposed corridor — will be felled to make way for viaducts connecting the town to a nearby expressway.

(In an email to CNN, the agency said it will later replant the trees in the cleared area and create “suitable temporary wildlife crossings … to provide a safe passage for animals during construction.”)

Yet, even Tengah’s critics have broadly welcomed the eco-town, with the NSS concluding its environmental critique by stating it is still “heartened by this bold plan.”

What these urban design initiatives mean for the rest of Singapore remains to be seen. When Tengah was first revealed in 2016, it was the first new town announced by Singapore’s government in two decades, meaning every other neighborhood was designed long before the era of autonomous vehicles and internet-enabled amenities. Chong readily admitted that “it’s not so easy” to retrofit underground road networks and pneumatic trash chutes in existing towns.

Nevertheless, he struck a positive note when asked what Tengah’s model offers future residential projects.
“We try to bring all the lessons forward — whenever we can and to the best of our ability,” he said. “You look at Tengah and, in a nutshell, you’re seeing the future of what the (government) is trying to build: the future of towns.”

 

 

Written byOscar Holland

Source CNN