Marked Improvement in Europe’s Air Quality Over Past Decade

24.11.2020

air pollution - zagađenje — Photo-illustration: Unsplash (Daphne Fecheyr)

Photo-illustration: Unsplash (Karl Janisse)

The EEA’s ‘Air quality in Europe — 2020 report’ shows that six Member States exceeded the European Union’s limit value for fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in 2018: Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Italy, Poland, and Romania. Only four countries in Europe — Estonia, Finland, Iceland and Ireland — had fine particulate matter concentrations that were below the World Health Organization’s (WHO) stricter guideline values. The EEA report notes that there remains a gap between EU’s legal air quality limits and WHO guidelines, an issue that the European Commission seeks to address with a revision of the EU standards under the Zero Pollution Action Plan.

The new EEA analysis is based on the latest official air quality data from more than 4 000 monitoring stations across Europe in 2018.

Exposure to fine particulate matter caused about 417,000 premature deaths in 41 European countries in 2018, according to the EEA assessment. About 379,000 of those deaths occurred in EU-28 where 54,000 and 19,000 premature deaths were attributed to nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and ground-level ozone (O3), respectively. (The three figures are separate estimates and the numbers should not be added together to avoid double counting.)

EU, national and local policies and emission cuts in key sectors have improved air quality across Europe, the EEA report shows. Since 2000, emissions of key air pollutants, including nitrogen oxides (NOx), from transport have declined significantly, despite growing mobility demand and associated increase in the sector’s greenhouse gas emissions. Pollutant emissions from energy supply have also seen major reductions while progress in reducing emissions from buildings and agriculture has been slow.

Thanks to better air quality, around 60,000 fewer people died prematurely due to fine particulate matter pollution in 2018, compared with 2009. For nitrogen dioxide, the reduction is even greater as premature deaths have declined by about 54 percent over the last decade. The continuing implementation of environmental and climate policies across Europe is a key factor behind the improvements.

“The EEA’s data prove that investing in better air quality is an investment for better health and productivity for all Europeans. Policies and actions that are consistent with Europe’s zero pollution ambition, lead to longer and healthier lives and more resilient societies,” said Hans Bruyninckx, EEA Executive Director.

“It is good news that air quality is improving thanks to the environmental and climate policies that we have been implementing. But we can’t ignore the downside – the number of premature deaths in Europe due to air pollution is still far too high. With the European Green Deal we have set ourselves an ambition of reducing all kinds of pollution to zero. If we are to succeed and fully protect people’s health and the environment, we need to cut air pollution further and align our air quality standards more closely with the recommendations of the World Health Organization. We will look at this in our upcoming Action Plan,” said Virginijus Sinkevičius, European Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries.

The European Commission has recently published a roadmap for the EU Action Plan Towards a Zero Pollution Ambition, which is part of the European Green Deal.

Air quality and COVID-19

The EEA report also contains an overview of the links between the COVID-19 pandemic and air quality. A more detailed assessment of provisional EEA data for 2020 and supporting modelling by the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS), confirms earlier assessments showing up to 60 percent reductions of certain air pollutants in many European countries where lockdown measures were implemented in the spring of 2020. The EEA does not yet have estimates on the potential positive health impacts of the cleaner air during 2020.

The report also notes that long-term exposure to air pollutants causes cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, which both have been identified as risk factors for death in COVID-19 patients. However, the causality between air pollution and severity of the COVID-19 infections is not clear and further epidemiological research is needed.

Source: EEA

Concentrating Solar Power Gets Supercritical CO2 Makeover

23.11.2020

Concentrating solar power may have finally found its one true love: supercritical carbon dioxide, aka sCO2, which is something that happens when carbon dioxide gas behaves like a liquid. The electricity generation field is all aflutter with the idea that sCO2 can ramp up power plant efficiency while cutting costs, and concentrating solar power could be just the ticket. Wait, how does that even make sense?

Why Concentrating Solar Power Even Makes Sense

Fuel efficiency is just one part of the sCO2 allure. The US Department of Energy also totes up reduced water use and a much smaller footprint (see illustration) among the bennies.

In the olden days, fossil fuels and nuclear energy would have been the go-to energy applications for sCO2, but nowadays the Energy Department’s Supercritical CO2 Tech Team is also exploring other options, including shipboard power, waste heat recovery, and geothermal energy as well as concentrating solar power.

The concentrating solar power angle is an interesting twist. The technology was championed by the Energy Department during the Obama administration. For those of you new to the topic, it involves collecting solar energy from fields of mirrors called heliostats, or from long troughs, and using it to heat a specialized oil or molten salt, which can then be used to generate electricity in a power station.

If that sounds both simple and complicated at the same time, it is. Concentrating solar power initially got a bad rap due to its relatively high cost, but the tradeoff is something that renewable energy fans dream about: the ability to replace conventional power plants with 24/7 clean electricity. The heated oil, salt, or whatever acts as built-in energy storage, enabling the plant to continue generating electricity at night.

Somewhat weirdly, the Trump* administration has also been pursuing concentrating solar power hand over fist and soup to nuts. That’s weird because if all goes according to plan, the technology will close down more coal power plants, and didn’t the soon-to-be former president promise to save coal jobs?

Bringing Down The Cost Of Concentrating Solar Power

“Ensuring low-cost, reliable electricity for all Americans while minimizing risk is a top priority for this department,” US Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette said when he introduced the new USD 130 million round of solar funding.

No kidding! With that send-off, Heliogen is tasked with overseeing a SETO initiative called “Integrated Thermal Energy STorage and Brayton Cycle Equipment Demonstration,” or Integrated TESTBED for short.

“The supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO2) Brayton cycle carries great potential for a high‐efficiency, low‐capital-cost option,” SETO explains. “This project team will develop, build, and operate an sCO2 power cycle integrated with thermal energy storage at temperatures in the range of 550°C to 630°C at a new or existing facility.”

“The goal of this topic is to accelerate the commercialization of the sCO2 Brayton cycle and provide operational experience for utilities, operators, and CSP developers,” SETO adds.

As the awardee, Heliogen will put up USD 31 million in cost sharing for the new system, which is expected to deploy readily available stainless steel alloys. That’s an important point because one of the challenges of sCO2 involves stress on system materials.

How Trump Could Help Kill The Global Fossil Fuel Industry

If all goes according to plan, concentrating solar could become another technology export industry for the US economy. The technology may be languishing in the United States, but it has taken hold in other parts of the world. In that case, the Heliogen project could end up making a significant impact on global decarbonization.

That’s bad news for US fossil fuel workers, whose jobs the Commander-in-Chief promised to save, and it’s not the only R&D area in which the Trump administration has fallen asleep at the fossil fuel wheel.

Not that we’re complaining or anything, but low-cost perovskite solar cell technology is another tech on which the Energy Department is eager to slap a Made in the USA stamp.

Photo-illustration: Unsplash (Sungrow Emea)

The Energy Department can also take credit for kickstarting a firm called Principle Power, which is emerging as a global leader in floating offshore wind technology, and now the agency is keen on promoting new floating solar panels as well.

Then there’s this new international pumped storage hydropower initiative and a new collaboration with the Netherlands that looks an awful lot like green hydrogen.

If President-Elect Joe Biden is serious about tackling climate change (spoiler alert: he is), it sure looks like he has a running start.

As for Heliogen, for those of you keeping score at home, that is yet another Bill Gates venture. That’s an interesting twist because Gates also has a nuclear energy firm called TerraPower in his fold. TerraPower launched with an apparent focus on the Chinese market, but it seems that the firm is shifting gears and taking a look at the potential for seagoing nuclear energy to power ships.

Interesting! Land-based opportunities for nuclear energy in the US are withering on the vine as renewable energy costs drop, and Gates’s own sCO2 venture through Heliogen could have a hand in that trend by pushing down the cost of concentrating solar power.

Oh well, water under the bridge. This is where the pieces fall into place. With its superior efficiency and the potential for lower costs, sCO2 could help make concentrating solar power more competitive in the sparkling green economy of the future.

Where The sCO2 Rubber Hits The Solar Power Road

The US Department of Energy has indeed been eyeballing the high efficiency of sCO2 to help reduce the cost of concentrating solar power, and that brings us to the latest coal-killing news. President Trump* has just a few weeks left in office, but it appears that he has left US coal workers a love letter (the bad kind, not the good kind) in the form of a USD 39 million Energy Department grant to a concentrating solar power firm called Heliogen.

The USD 39 million grant is a decent slice out of the Energy Department’s newly announced USD 130 million round of funding through its Solar Energy Technologies Office. That’s interesting because some energy industry observers are feeling like concentrating solar doesn’t make sense unless you apply it to oil and gas extraction, which kind of defeats the whole purpose of renewable energy.

Nevertheless, what’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander, as they say. Demand for oil and gas is set for a long, hard fall, meaning that the extraction market for CSP is going to dry up, eventually.

If and when it does, the Energy Department is already eyeballing the industrial market, as concentrating solar can produce the high heat needed in many processes that currently rely on fossil fuels.

Source: CleanTechnica

How to Turn Industrial Carbon Emissions Into Building Materials

23.11.2020

co2 - protest — Photo-illustration: Unsplash (Callum Shaw)

Photo-illustration: Unsplash (Timon Studler)

When Sophia Hamblin Wang flew to Davos, Switzerland, in January 2020, swathes of her home country, Australia, was on fire.

“So many of my communities were affected in profound ways. We could feel the impact on a day-to-day basis for a period of three months.

“I can’t begin to tell you how much living through a climate event really made me sure about my path,” she says.

Sophia was at the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting as a Global Shaper and the Chief Operations Officer of MCi, a technology platform that transforms CO2 into building materials and other valuable industrial products.

The company has designed and built three carbon reactor systems, including its flagship, a world-first global reference pilot plant in Newcastle, Australia – which transforms waste materials and emissions created by industrial processes – and hopes to lock away 1 billion tonnes of CO2 per annum by 2040.

On our video call, she holds up a piece of plasterboard made by combining CO2 with an abundant low-grade rock called serpentinite.

“This is actually a negative emissions building material – it’s locked away significantly more CO2 than was used to make it. So we’re embedding our emissions into our walls. And there are enough deposits of serpentinite in the world to lock away all of the emissions from fossil fuels that have ever and will ever exist.”

Back in Davos, as the panel discussed decarbonization, Sophia had a moment of realization, that as the youngest person there, she would have a key role to play in seeing the world meet its Paris Agreement targets – reducing emissions to zero by 2050 to limit global warming to 1.5C.

“I was the only person in the room who was still going to be working in 2050. It was the opposite of imposter syndrome. I realized that there was absolutely no other voice like me in this room – and it’s super-important to have diversity in these spaces.”

Ten months on, Sophia is speaking again at the World Economic Forum’s Pioneers of Change Summit, and in spite of the COVID-19 pandemic, the world has come a step closer in its race to zero emissions, with pledges from key economies in recent weeks.

Here, she discusses MCi’s Carbon Capture and Use process and why she’s a passionate advocate for seeing carbon as a valuable resource.

What is mineral carbonation?

Since the Industrial Revolution, we’ve been putting too much CO2 into the atmosphere. And so we know, based upon the IPCC report, and many of the intergovernmental organizations, that we need to reduce our emissions and reach net zero by 2050. But we also know that we’ll probably need to draw down CO2 out of the atmosphere and do something with it. So MCi is developing technology that turns CO2 into usable materials.

We use the Earth’s natural process of storing CO2, which is called mineral carbonation or weathering. Dissolved carbon dioxide reacts with the minerals in rock to produce carbonate, which is stable over a long period of time and can be used in construction. The White Cliffs of Dover in England are an example of Earth’s natural weathering process – over millions of years, CO2 has been absorbed into those cliffs and that’s why they’re white. We’ve just taken that process from millions of years into a matter of hours in an industrial setting.

Photo: Mineral Carbonation International

What products is MCi making?

Our technology is like a black box, where you can feed in industrial wastes like steel slags or incinerator bottom ash, or quarried local minerals, lots of different minerals and then a flue gas. We don’t actually need pure CO2, but any kind of gas that may come straight out of a stack pipe, and then we react that in our facility, and we create an output which can be processed into various things. At the pilot plant in Newcastle, Australia we’ve been building and creating carbonate products every day like this cement brick, and plaster board.

It’s a whole circular economy where you treat your waste and turn it into new products. Treating CO2 as a resource and embracing carbon capture and use will, we think, bring about change quicker in harder-to-abate industries in particular. Creating business models out of climate change is quite exciting and it may bring about change to emissions faster than waiting for some governments to legislate, and waiting for behaviour change in markets, which is also very important.

Where do the emissions come from for the process?

In the past decade, the global environment has really taken off with regard to renewable energy. Australia is a resource nation, but we have such a strong capacity for renewables, and we just see the trajectory of renewables to be so healthy, but there are other sectors that really do need decarbonization options that aren’t clear. For instance, the steel industry, the cement industry, chemicals, transition technologies for hydrogen also need options for CO2.

So we’re really looking at this transition medium-term, where we need to be decarbonizing rapidly, all industries, not just energy. And we can do it without a carbon price actually. At our next scale up, we’re already looking at making a profit and that’s quite a significant thing when you compare it to other ways of treating carbon dioxide, like underground storage and similar technologies.

How much progress have you seen in 2020 around decarbonization and does it make you hopeful?

I’ve been working with MCi since 2013 and we’ve been building this technology in commercial secrecy. Seeing a lot of change within global governments and attitudes towards targets, emissions trading schemes, other market-based incentives for carbon has definitely been volatile.

But at Davos this year, I was on a panel called ‘Building a New Carbon Economy’, and we had circular economy titans like Kenneth Rogoff saying carbon dioxide isn’t actually a villain. It can be something that can be used to create lots of valuable products, not just building materials, but chemical feedstocks and fuels and all kinds of things. So that was a real starting gun for technologies like mine.

A lot of the world’s largest companies used Davos to commit to net-zero, negative emissions pledges. Microsoft, Apple, BHP and Rio Tinto had all committed to net zero at that stage, and I just thought, wow, it’s no longer waiting for people and companies and countries to get up to speed, it’s now going to be a race. It’s a race to see which technologies are going to help us meet these ambitious targets. And it’s setting a new standard for what ambition actually is.

#ShapingDavos – What do you hope to achieve at the Annual Meeting? ?@SHamblinWang from the Global Shapers Canberra Hub highlights: “I want to show that while there is urgent need for climate action, there is also hope…We have to start now.” #wef20 pic.twitter.com/D1Esi7guXO
— Global Shapers (@GlobalShapers) January 14, 2020

What more needs to happen?

Significantly in the last few weeks, Japan, China, South Korea, have all committed to net zero by 2050 – 50 percent of the world’s GDP has signed up to net zero, which is profound. As the world commits to these really crucial targets, it’s time for the technologies to line up, to develop, to accelerate, to run as quickly as we can, in order to get there. We know that we have less than eight years before we hit a tipping point, so the next eight years is the most critical in that trajectory.

MCi is really clear that we’re going to be one of a portfolio of important solutions that are going to help our world to decarbonize. We’re going to help the steel sector, the cement sector, the chemical sector, we’re going to be partnering with direct air capture, to draw down CO2 out of the atmosphere, and lock it back down into safe and inert materials that can help with the built environment.

The market for carbon capture and utilization has been estimated to be almost $6 trillion per annum and that will grow in the future. If we’re looking for support for technologies like ours for investment, for policy certainty, then it’s really helpful to have market estimations like that and they’re only starting to come out in the next three years. More than half of that is in building products.

What’s next for MCi?

MCi has completed a pilot phase, we are processing a few hundred tonnes of CO2 every year and we’re able to test it in a lot of different settings. Right now, we are focusing on decarbonizing settings like nickel, creating a pathway for sustainable nickel as well as cobalt and lithium and other mining operations, as well as steel, cement and hydrogen. We will be scaling up into a demonstration phase next to make a significant amount of carbonates.

But the real end-goal here is that we want to be locking away 1 billion tonnes of CO2 by 2040 and that is very achievable given the amount of applications where our technology can work. A lot of carbon capture and storage technologies rely on tax rebates and other incentives in order to be worthwhile. We absolutely need mechanisms and incentives. But our technology doesn’t need to wait for that. And in fact, we’ve had to develop our technology whilst having a high ROI because it wasn’t clear how long it would take for our markets to line up behind it. We expect that pension funds and ESG will want to fund our plants.

What advice do you give to business leaders?

Business leaders today know that they need to not only make ambitious climate targets in order to be market leaders, but they need to be thinking about a truly evolved way of considering emissions. So not just your own emissions and scope 1 [direct] and scope 2 [indirect] emissions of their business, but also looking at the way that their full supply chain and ecosystem are also decarbonizing [scope 3]. And we’re really seeing that with the largest companies in the world all starting to really look at decarbonizing these scope 3 emissions.

We’re really interested in that in Australia, because we’re a resource-based nation and we’ve got companies like Rio Tinto and BHP making net-zero-by-2050 pledges, and really considering their scope three. So that’s looking all the way down to the steel manufacturers when you’re an iron ore miner. We need to decarbonize, we need to be ambitious, but also you need to help your whole ecosystem also to do the right thing and reduce and remove our emissions starting now.

Source: Word Economic Forum

Improve Human Waste Management in African Countries for Better Health, Environment and Economy

22.11.2020

channel-otpadne vode — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

Poor sanitation continues to pose major health, environmental and socioeconomic risks in many African countries, according to new research by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). The paper highlights ways to improve management, generate industry from human waste, and improve sanitation for cities and households with poor fecal sludge management.

The research paper, Fecal sludge management in Africa: Socio-economic aspects, human and environmental health implications, is launched on World Toilet Day, which celebrates toilets and raises awareness of the 4.2 billion people living without access to safely managed sanitation. It explores current trends in fecal sludge management and how they are impacting human and environmental health in the region, and provides guidance on enhancing wastewater management and sanitation services delivery across the continent.

Poor fecal sludge management is a major contributor to the 115 deaths per hour from excreta-related diseases in Africa, while improved sanitation has been shown to decrease diarrheal disease by 25 percent. It also contributes to huge economic losses: on the continent, poor sanitation leads to losses of approximately 1 to 2.5 percent of a country’s GDP. As population growth skyrockets – the continent’s urban population is projected to triple by mid-century – so too does the volume of fecal sludge and wastewater. Across West African cities, one person produces between 20-150 litres of wastewater per day. Considering an average daily generation of 1 litre of fecal sludge per person, a city of 1 million inhabitants will need to collect 1000 m3 every day.

“The scale and threat of poor fecal sludge management can be turned on its head if we look at the government and business opportunities that can galvanise real change in health and livelihoods in marginalized communities in countries struggling with poor sanitation,” said Dr. Habib El-Habr, Coordinator of the Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-Based Activities (GPA) at UNEP. “COVID-19 shines a harsh light on the state of proper sanitation in many African countries, for whom improved sanitation should be a key part of green recovery and efforts to prevent excreta-related diseases.”

The report recommends technical innovations for improving the capture, emptying and treatment of sludge, highlighting good practices, including a programme in Uganda, through which the Kampala City Council Authority worked with the private sector to improve fecal sludge management in the city. The programme included a sanitation call centre to strengthen the link between customers, the City Council and private operators, and a GPS tracking system to improve service efficiency and avoid illegal dumping by for private operators.

Treatment plans can generate some revenue for countries and especially for poor communities, converting fecal sludge to compost or biochar for use as fertilizer, or converting to briquettes as fuel for industry. In 2017, Burkina Faso commissioned the first fecal sludge biogas plant in the country, generating electricity to feed into the national grid.

Dr. Olufunke Cofie, Principal Researcher and Country Representative for IWMI in West Africa: “We are reaching a crucial point in managing fecal sludge on the African continent: there are feasible and affordable opportunities to further invest in inclusive fecal sludge management, from feces capture to treatment and the report explores how transforming poop to useful products could help ease the crisis, as we are demonstrating in Ghana.”

The analysis finds that sustainably managing fecal sludge is hindered by a number of factors, including population growth and urbanization; over-reliance on financial aid for construction of treatment plants; low revenue generation from users of treatment facilities; poor operation and maintenance, and inefficient institutional arrangements for fecal sludge management.

The authors call for better coordination of the roles and responsibilities of diverse actors involved in the processes.

The report’s authors stress the need to invest in sanitation systems and mechanisms to improve fecal sludge management, as well as direct investments – especially to poor households – in order to tackle the global sanitation crisis and achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6: water and sanitation for all by 2030.

Source: UNEP

Still Insufficient Progress in Making Transport Fuels More Climate Friendly

21.11.2020

volvo_car_automobil — Foto-ilustracija: Unsplash (Nirmal Rajendharkumar)

The European Union is behind its objective to reduce the greenhouse gas emission intensity of fuels sold for road transport to 6 percent below 2010 levels, as set out in the EU’s 2020 climate and energy targets.

According to the EEA’s fuel quality data indicator, the emission intensity decreased by 3.7 percent between 2010 and 2018, mostly due to the increased use of biofuels. The emission intensity of fuels sold in the EU actually increased between 2017 and 2018, when considering the effects of indirect land use change due to the increased use of oil crops as feedstocks.

Transport is responsible for more than 25 percent of the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions and is a major contributor to climate change. Cutting emissions from transport is pivotal to realising the ambition of having net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, as set out in the European Green Deal. To support a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from transport, the EU’s Fuel Quality Directive sets the target that fuel suppliers should reduce the emission intensity of fuels sold in the EU by 6 percent by 2020, compared with 2010. In 2017, the average emission intensity of fuels in the EU was 3.4 percent lower than in 2010, thus failing to meet the indicative target of a 4 percent reduction by 2017. By 2018, the average emission intensity was 3.7 percent lower than in 2010.

More progress needed

Finland and Sweden are the only Member States whose emission intensities decreased by more than 6 percent according to the data.

This is because their road transport fuel mixes have relatively high proportions of biofuels (8 percent in Finland and 23 percent in Sweden) and, on average, the biofuels used have relatively low emission intensities.

The two Member States that reduced their emission intensities the least between 2010 and 2018 were Croatia (0.1 percent) and Estonia (0.9 percent).

Background

The EEA’s fuel quality data reporting complements the annual report on the Fuel Quality Directive published by the European Commission, which was also released today. EU Member States report annually on the volumes, energy content and life cycle greenhouse gas emissions of fuels used in road transport and non-road mobile machinery, in line with their obligations under the Fuel Quality Directive.

Source: EEA

Three Ways Drones Help Us Better Manage Our Land and Protect Our Planet

20.11.2020

dron-drone — Photo-illustration: Unsplash (Aaron Burden)

Photo-illustration: Unsplash (Bertrand Bouchez)

In the last couple of years, we’ve seen the use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) – or drones, as most people know them – really take off. From enhancing video coverage of events to taking stock of the aftermath of natural disasters, they now have a key role to play in many different contexts. They’re even part of FAO’s strategy to tackle the recent desert locust outbreak in West Africa.

The possibilities with UAV technology are far-reaching, and FAO is harnessing this potential to monitor the use of natural resources and increase sustainability. UAVs save time, are cost efficient and provide up-to-date data and images in high resolution for many different purposes. They’re also easy to use, making them the perfect tool for experts and amateurs alike.

So how is FAO utilising UAVs to protect our planet’s resources and people’s livelihoods?

1. Monitoring deforestation and land degradation

Deforestation and land degradation are major problems but ones that are often hard to see and monitor. Some 129 million hectares of forest – an area almost equivalent in size to South Africa – have been lost since 1990. This works out to a loss of 23 hectares of forest per minute! Additionally, 12 million hectares of land are degraded each year. Deforestation and land degradation damage biodiversity, hurt livelihoods and increase the risks from extreme weather, ultimately increasing poverty and hunger and at times forcing local communities to migrate.

In Myanmar, FAO is using UAVs as part of a project to monitor the use of forests and land to ensure that they are used sustainably. With forests covering over 48 percent of the country, it is almost impossible to know and monitor the situation from the ground, making it difficult to implement the right policies. UAVs, conversely, offer a broader, birds-eye-view of forests, making it easier to capture the current situation and allow authorities to monitor their use, protecting these precious resources from over-exploitation.

When it comes to tackling land degradation, UAVs have a similar role to play. Though local communities often know the situation on the ground, evidence is needed to share with the government and enable them to implement policies. Previously, this information was gathered manually, travelling the land on foot to assess the situation and report back. But with forests covering such vast areas, it is almost impossible to get an accurate picture this way. UAV photos and videos highlight the land condition from above, easily providing the necessary evidence to make informed decisions.

2. Mapping and planning land use

In order to accurately monitor forests and land degradation, Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) maps are fundamental. These maps demonstrate the various types of land, how they are being used and how this use changes over time. LULC maps are mainly developed through satellite imagery, alongside manual ground checking. However, photos taken by drones have now become an important third step, helping check and improve datasets and increase the accuracy of assessments. Myanmar has now implemented UAVs for its land use planning and sustainable land management.

UAVs also encourage involvement from the local community. UAV goggles allow people on the ground to see what the UAV sees, bringing the situation to life for local inhabitants and encouraging them to use land more sustainably.

3. Assessing the effects of natural disasters

Photo-illustration: Unsplash (Clay Banks)

The Philippines ranks fourth among the world’s most disaster-prone countries. Between 2018-2019, 21 typhoons hit the country. The rapid assessment of damages is vital to start the rebuilding process. However, the conventional method of manual assessments can often take months and may lead to inaccuracies. This lengthy process can result in farmers receiving recovery support too late or may lead to some areas being left behind. But since 2015, FAO and the Philippines Department of Agriculture have been working together to use UAVs to efficiently assess agricultural damage after a natural disaster.

After a successful FAO pilot programme using UAVs in pre- and post-disaster assessments, the Philippines government has dramatically improved its response capacity. For example, in early 2019, an El Niño event led to a significant drought, affecting crops countrywide. Thanks to the continuing expansion and improved use of UAVs, however, the Department of Agriculture had already deployed UAVs to the area and was able to confirm which crops were struggling for water and where they were located. By not having to assess the situation in person, the government saved time and resources. It also meant that field personnel and technical staff could exchange information and analyse the situation more easily, allowing them to provide help more quickly and better allocate resources.

Building a sustainable planet for future generations is impossible without innovation. In many projects around the world, FAO, hand-in-hand with countries, is solving age-old agricultural problems with new technology and fresh approaches. UAVs are just one of the technologies that can help us to modernise and scale up innovation across the agricultural sector, building a more sustainable planet for everyone.

Source: FAO

Backed by Space Technology, Asia-Pacific Countries Power Sustainable Development

19.11.2020

NASA-svemir-universe- satelit-zemlja-astronaut — Foto-ilustracija: Unsplash (NASA)

Asian and Pacific nations are leveraging space technology and geospatial information to respond to challenges on the ground, including in their efforts to contain the spread and mitigate the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new United Nations report.

Released on Wednesday, UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) report Geospatial Practices for Sustainable Development showcases examples from the region’s countries employing applications of space technology to advance sustainable development.

“Night-light” satellite images monitoring the impact of lockdowns, “heatmaps” to chart out communities vulnerable to the pandemic and its socio-economic consequences, real-time situational analysis, and dashboards integrating a wide gamut of critical information to support decisions are some of the practices cited.

Our ? report explores the diverse use for geospatial information and space applications and the vital role that they will continue to play for the #SDGs: https://t.co/ONNtMDhqjG #Space4SDGs #GISDay pic.twitter.com/1vmnnJTshQ
— United Nations ESCAP (@UNESCAP) November 18, 2020

The examples, according to the report, show how space applications and geospatial data have played an important role in providing essential location-based and temporal data to make an “overall data map” and snapshots on the COVID-19 pandemic for policymakers and the public.

Strengthening resilience

In addition, combining spatial data from contact tracing, quarantining, and social distancing with digital solutions and artificial intelligence (AI)-driven risk analytics can help enhance community resilience.

Such applications can also help in the recovery phase to build back better, by providing an evidence base for decisions on the easing of lockdown and the resumption of economic and social activities, the report added.

“The effective integration of geospatial data, with existing statistics and ground-based information, will be key to delivering the timely data needed for governments, businesses, communities and citizens to make evidenced-based decisions”, said Armida Salsiah Alisjahjabana, Executive Secretary of ESCAP.

The report, issued two years after Asian and Pacific countries endorsed an ambitious plan of action on use of space technologies to support sustainable development also provides a baseline for assessing future progress in the region.

Importance of partnerships

In addition to presenting an overview of the status along thematic areas such as disaster risk, natural resource management, connectivity, social development, energy, and climate change, the report also highlights the importance of multi-stakeholder partnerships.

“Many regional and country-based efforts are sparking innovations that attract both public and private capital, supporting start-ups and spinoffs from space applications research and pilots,” said ESCAP.

The report outlined seven key recommendations for policymakers to integrate applications of geospatial information into their planning and actions towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

These include investments to cultivate national experts; incorporating geospatial information into national institutions and platforms; integrating geospatial data with other data sources; employing geospatial data to create, implement and monitor policies; ensuring privacy, safety and ethics of data; providing open data access; and encouraging local to international collaborations.

Source: United Nations

The East African Rift: Realising the Region’s Geothermal Potential

19.11.2020

outdoors-planina-afrika — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

The East African Rift System (EARS) is one of the largest rifts in the world. Characterised by a spreading crust, the tectonically active region spans 6,400 kilometres in length and up to 64 kilometres in width and runs through several countries in Eastern Africa.

The geological attributes of the EARS make it so rich in geothermal energy resources that – if harnessed – could provide a reliable, affordable and indigenous source of renewable energy to help meet the electricity requirements and direct use needs of several countries in the region.

Harnessing these resources by overcoming the challenges faced by the geothermal sector across the region can improve energy access substantially and help governments meet the objectives of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the climate objectives set out by the Paris Agreement.

A new report published by IRENA, Geothermal Energy Development in Eastern Africa, finds that the geothermal potential of the East African Rift has been largely unrealised due to various challenges that have contributed to the slow development of projects in the region for decades. The report identifies a need for adequate policies and regulatory regimes to increase the flow of geothermal investments into the region.

The new report highlights that the limited awareness about the region’s geothermal resource potential and the associated benefits, especially about direct use applications, such as in agriculture and food processing, may be contributing to slow development. In addition, current risk mitigation instruments and incentives fail to cover direct use projects.

Furthermore, the report identifies the lack of adequately skilled, local geothermal workforce in most of the countries of the EARS and limited understanding of the Western branch’s geology (until recently) as barriers to the industry’s development.

“The new report highlights that limited awareness about the region’s geothermal resource potential and the associated benefits, especially about direct use applications, such as in agriculture and food processing, may be contributing to slow development.”

The EARS consist of two branches – an eastern branch and western branch. The eastern branch extends from the main Ethiopian Rift (Djibouti, Ethiopia and Eritrea) through Kenya into northern Tanzania. In contrast, the western branch extends from northern Uganda through Rwanda, DRC, Burundi, southern Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, and Mozambique.

Currently, only about 900 MW of installed geothermal electricity capacity exists in the region, with power plants in Ethiopia and Kenya while other countries are either at the surface exploration stage or exploration drilling stage. Developers in countries of the EARS have been predominantly focused on electricity generation from high-temperature fields. However, the high-temperature resources occur only in isolated places with central volcanos and within only a few countries of the eastern branch of EARS.

On the other hand, low to medium temperature resources (<150 degrees Celsius) are more common, occurring mainly in the western branch and within large sections of the rift floor between the central volcanoes. Thanks to the development of binary cycle technology, in which geothermal fluid is used via heat exchangers to heat a process fluid in a closed loop, medium temperature fields can be used for electricity generation or for combined heat and power. The direct use of these geothermal sources could support industrialisation and transform the region’s countries from a socio-economic development perspective.

Building on the analysis of experiences in Comoros, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia, IRENA’s report offers recommendations that can fast-track the deployment of geothermal energy in the region for power and direct use, including through:

Improving Policies and regulatory framework through transparent, clear, and predictable licensing and administrative procedures to attract geothermal developers and investors.
Developing new and innovative financing schemes to support the existing financing and risk mitigation instruments.
Creating awareness on the potential for direct use and associated benefits among decision-makers, communities, and industries.
Developing geothermal heat roadmaps with clear targets, as well as financial incentives to support the development of direct use projects.
Applying appropriate exploration techniques for geothermal resources in the Western branch of the East African Rift with a focus on discovering geothermal reservoirs along fault planes and shallow depth.
Focusing training and capacity building for public institutions more on mentoring support through on-the-job training to impart technical skills and commercial knowledge and support decision-making.

Source: IRENA

Winners of EEA’s “REDISCOVER Nature”

17.11.2020

photographer_egret_birdwatching_posmatranje_ptica_bela_čaplja — Foto-ilustracija: Pixabay

A praying mantis in Cyprus, a huddle of butterflies resembling a flower, galloping Galician horses and an alpine sunset in Slovakia are the winners of this year’s European Environment Agency’s ‘REDISCOVER Nature’ photo competition announced today.

The five winning photos were selected from a record entry of more than 2.800 photos submitted from across Europe. The photos focused on exploring and cherishing the wonders of nature around us.

Nature and the environment have been of great benefit to many across Europe these past lockdown months as we cope with the COVID-19 pandemic.

The winners of the ‘REDISCOVER Nature’ photo competition were selected by a jury of environmental communication experts who selected the winners in the competition’s three main categories and the Youth Prize while the Public Choice Award was decided through an online vote.

The winners in the three main categories will be awarded a cash prize of 1,000 euros, the winners of the Public Choice Award and the Youth Prize will receive 500 euros.

Winner of the Close-ups of Nature category and the Public Choice Award: ‘Window Of Autumn‘ by Hasan Baglar

Winner of the Nature on my doorstep category: ‘Butterflyflower‘ by Jaroslav Vyhnička

Winner of the Zoom out on nature category: ‘Horses in Galicia‘ by Javier Arcenillas

Youth Prize Winner: ‘Farewell to the sun‘ by Filip Hrebenda

A praying mantis from ??
Butterflies ? & Tatras flowers in ??
Galician horses ??
These are the 4 winning shots out of 2,800 applications in the “REDISCOVER Nature” photo competition by @EUEnvironment
A wonderful glimpse of #EUBiodiversity, see more on:https://t.co/HR04e9qJX0 pic.twitter.com/CfHRPZKAgq
— EU Environment (@EU_ENV) November 17, 2020

You can see all the ‘REDISCOVER Nature’ finalist photos on the EEA Flickr account.

Source: EEA

Namibia’s Locust Crisis: “They have no Mercy at All”

17.11.2020

skakavac — Photo-illustration: Unsplash (Iva Rajovic)

“This is the first time seeing such a scary situation ever since i was born here. Nothing else can compare to such a serious threat,” said farmer Fabian Sisamu.

“It is the worst situation ever; we are fearful of the future,” his friend Ian Mubita adds, disheartened by what may lay ahead.

Fabian and Ian are both farmers in Kasaya, Namibia, a small farming outpost near Africa’s fourth-largest river, the Zambezi. An outbreak of African Migratory and Red Locusts has been terrorizing communities in the country’s northeastern region bordering Zambia and Botswana.

The locusts were first reported in February 2020 in small numbers, but there has since been a significant surge in swarms spotted in various parts of the region.

“At first, we thought they wouldn’t pose such a serious threat to our livelihoods because there weren’t as many as we are seeing now, but it seems we underestimated them,” Fabian continued.

Locust swarms destroy all the vegetation in the area, reducing grasslands to nothing but sand and decimating people’s livelihoods. FAO is working with the Southern African Development Community and the International Red Locust Control Organization for Central and Southern Africa to support the governments of the four affected countries – Namibia, Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe – in controlling the locusts. The USD 0.5 million project is supporting ground and aerial surveillance, mapping and control operations, and there are ongoing efforts to raise more funds to support control efforts.

“These locusts are very vicious; they have no mercy at all. They chow down anything green that they come across and hardly leave anything behind,” explained Ian.

Fearing the worst

“This is also my first time seeing so many locusts like this,” began Lionzi Hastings, a middle-aged smallholder farmer who owns a vegetable garden in Kasaya.

“They have completely wiped out the grass surrounding my garden,” said Lionzi, pointing to the riverbank, which lays a few meters away from his garden. “I am afraid that they might come and clean out my garden if they are not brought under control,” he said.

Much-needed assistance

A few kilometres west of Kasaya, in Kabbe North constituency, the local community leader in the area says the situation is critical and requires all hands on deck if the fight against the locusts is to be won.

George Matengu says that his community first started noticing the locusts last November and then again in July when the floodwaters subsided.

“My field where i had planted maize was badly affected, only the stalks of the crops remained, but everything else was destroyed,” he said.

His situation is not unique. Many other households throughout the area were affected the same way. He says the food security situation has become dire and that most people are now surviving on food they buy at the market – like maize meal – using a large portion of their already minimal household incomes.

FAO is supporting the national locust control effort by providing logistical and technical support in the safe use of pesticides to the government’s teams carrying out the spraying, as well as providing some of the pesticides and the necessary protective personal equipment.

“The pesticide appears to be effective in that we have now started seeing dead locusts as they succumb to the spraying programme of the government,” said George.

“We remain hopeful that the situation will be brought under control before the planting season starts and that efforts to reduce the outbreak will be doubled,” he added.

Helping to control the locusts

FAO recently launched the Southern Africa Emergency Locust Response and Preparedness Project. In Namibia, FAO has provided technical and financial assistance to the country’s Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform to ensure the training and deployment of technical staff and strengthen the ongoing battle against the locusts.

The project will increase the emergency response capacity in the locust hotspots and strengthen coordination and information exchange among the affected countries. Around 7 million people in these four affected countries are still recovering from the 2019 drought and the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The African Migratory locust outbreaks in southern Africa are separate to the Desert Locust emergency simultaneously occurring in eastern Africa. Desert Locusts, in fact, do not affect the southern Africa region.

Locusts are among the most destructive pests in the world. One swarm can contain tens of millions of adults – there are currently multiple swarms in the southern region. A 20 km2 swarm of locusts with an average density of 60 million adults per km2 can eat the same amount of food in one day that would feed 2 500 people for a year.

FAO is working with affected countries for both of the emergencies, helping to protect the food security and livelihoods of the millions affected.

Source: FAO

Kazakhstan Forges Ahead With Renewable Energy

16.11.2020

vetroelektrane_vetar — Foto-ilustracija: Unsplash (Priscilla Du Preez)

Foto-ilustracija: Unsplash (Andy Falconer)

The signing of a syndicated USD 95.3 million deal to support the construction of the Zhanatas 100 MW wind farm in southern Kazakhstan, marks a major milestone in the decarbonisation and diversification journey away from the country’s coal legacy.

This will be one of the largest wind farms in the region, achieving a myriad of breakthroughs in the market and firsts for the country: the first project for a large Chinese investor, the first renewable project for the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) in Central Asia, the first renewable project in the country co-financed by a commercial bank and the first Kazakh windfarm under a project finance structure.

Construction of the wind farm proceeds at a strong pace despite global turbulence and challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic. Following lockdowns and restrictions, the Government of Kazakhstan extended deadlines for the completion of all renewable projects, providing crucial support to all stakeholders in the sector. Zhanatas Wind sends a strong message to the international energy community that it is possible to continue pressing on with the green agenda, despite immense global challenges.

The EBRD loan provides financing of up to USD 24.8 million to support China Power International Holding (CPIH), in partnership with Visor Investments Coöperatief, with the construction and operation of the 100 MW wind power plant, as well as the construction of an 8.6 kilometre 110 kV single-circuit line connecting the facility to the national grid. The project is co-financed by a USD 34.4 million loan from the AIIB, a USD 13.3 million loan from the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), and a concessional loan of up to USD 22.9 million from the Green Climate Fund (GCF).

In line with the EBRD’s Green Economy Transition approach, the Zhanatas Wind Project will reduce the country’s annual CO2 emissions by approximately 262,000 tonnes. The project also has a strong inclusive component, promoting employment opportunities in the renewable energy sector amongst young women and men through the development of gender-inclusive training and employment programmes.

This is the Bank’s 14th renewable energy project in the country and second signed under the Bank’s Kazakhstan Renewables Framework II. The original Framework approved in 2016 has been fully utilised in just three years, financing EUR 300 million of renewable energy and grid integration projects. Kazakhstan’s Renewables Framework II builds on its predecessor and earmarks an additional EUR 200 million to advance the green agenda in the country’s power sector.

The Zhanatas Wind Project entails the first-time entry of AIIB and ICBC into RES projects in Kazakhstan and Central Asia. “It is great to see such reputable investors and financiers joining Kazakhstan’s renewables story. We are excited to broaden our partnerships with CPIH, AIIB, GCF and ICBC,” said Nandita Parshad, the Managing Director of the EBRD Sustainable Infrastructure Group, at the virtual signing ceremony.

Aida Sitdikova, Director of Energy Eurasia in the EBRD Sustainable Infrastructure Group, commended the potential positive impact of China’s bolder policy on Central Asia, expressing hopes that China’s new 2060 Zero Carbon agenda will have a major spillover decarbonisation effect in the broader region.

Ms Parshad further voiced the EBRD’s intentions to continue supporting this exciting paradigm shift in Kazakhstan’s renewables journey, adding that “we would like to see sponsors, like CPIH, champion new investments in renewable energy in our countries. And I am sure, we, AIIB, ICBC and many others will be willing to support it. This signing sends a very important signal to governments and investors in the region showing that it is possible to preserve the green agenda despite the current challenges. I am delighted to have this piece of good news in the midst of the world’s fight with the coronavirus pandemic, keeping our eyes on the green recovery.”

Another piece of positive news just arrived earlier this week, when Kazakhstan held its first round of 2020 renewable auctions. Despite a worsened macroeconomic environment and weaker local currency (in which the tariff is set) the auctions were successful and re-confirmed continuing downward price trend. The auction scheme, established with the support of the Bank, further strengthens the country’s green agenda, and serves as an important mechanism in steering the country towards green recovery, even amidst a global crisis. With competitive pricing and support under the auction scheme, the country will incentivise introduction of more international players into the renewables market.

Source: EBRD

Land Consolidation Is the Missing Link for Farmers in North Macedonia

16.11.2020

traktor_drvo — Foto-ilustracija: Unsplash (Patrick Fore)

Photo-illustration: Unsplash (Heather Gill)

Coming from a family with a long tradition in agriculture, Ljupco Angelovski, a young family farmer in the village of Egri, North Macedonia, wanted to modernise his farm when he took it over from his parents. His land, however, was fragmented into 15 tiny plots scattered in different locations.

“Time and fuel are wasted on traveling from field to field distant from each other, for plowing, fertilising, harvesting,” explains Ljupco. “Parcels like this can only be useful for subsistence farming.”

Ljupco’s farm in North Macedonia is losing out to other European countries because of excessive land fragmentation and small farm sizes.

“Competing in the EU market and the global economy is simply not possible with small plots of land,” says Ljupco. “There are no economies of scale.”

Why is the land so fragmented?

Land fragmentation is a common problem that dates back to the land reforms implemented when centrally-planned economies in Central and Eastern Europe moved to market ones. Large-scale state farms were broken up and agricultural land was given back to farmers.

Due to this, most farms in North Macedonia have an average size of less than two hectares, compared to the 16.6 hectares that is the average farm size in the European Union. Additionally, these two hectares are often fragmented into five or more smaller land parcels that are irregularly shaped and distant from one another, making them challenging to farm. This means that, through no fault of their own, family farmers have great difficulty in scaling up agricultural production and shifting towards commercial farming.

Ljupco and his wife Kathy, who run the farm together, knew that they needed to address these issues and implement modern techniques for their farm if they wanted to provide better opportunities for their family. Through awareness-raising activities by the EU Delegation, FAO and the Macedonian Ministry of Agriculture, Ljupco and Kathy heard about the MAINLAND project, an initiative focused on helping agricultural land owners and rural communities in North Macedonia to address the problem of land fragmentation. Implemented with FAO’s technical and financial assistance, the project aims to enlarge farm sizes and improve necessary agricultural infrastructure.

Through this project, Ljupco and Kathy’s land has been consolidated into three regularly-shaped parcels with an average size of two hectares, up from just 0.4 hectares beforehand. Ljupco and Kathy’s land also has better access to agricultural infrastructure, now that the project is improving agricultural roads, drainage and irrigation channels. These improvements, according to Ljupco, will increase land use efficiency and improve yields by 30 to 40 percent.

In Ljupco’s village, the land re-allotment plan was adopted by the qualified majority of landowners in January 2020 to become the first majority-based land consolidation project in North Macedonia. The land re-allotment plan for the village of Egri reduced the number of land parcels by almost fourfold from 874 plots to 260. The 214 landowners now have the same amount of land, but in regularly-shaped parcels that allow for better farming practices.

Adopting modern means of production

With his land consolidated, Ljupco is thinking about the next step to make his farm more competitive: mechanisation. He and Kathy are upgrading their agricultural tools to modern machinery to further increase their farm productivity.

“Ever since I took over the farm from my father, I have recognised the need for modernisation, such as a tractor and connecting machines to facilitate our field work, reduce costs and be more productive. However, applying such modern equipment to the tiny and scattered parcels was simply impossible,” says Ljupco.

He is now preparing to apply for EU funding so he can invest in a modern seeder, pepper transplanting machine and a row mulcher.

With improved access to the irrigation network, Ljupco and Kathy are also hoping to expand their drip-irrigation system. This modernisation would save water, help them to vary their crops and improve their yields.

“Access to irrigation water will make us less vulnerable to climate change and also enable us to broaden our crop choices and increase the value of our products for the marketplace,” says Kathy. Wheat and maize account for some 50 percent of their agricultural production, but they also produce peppers and melon. She and Ljupco are looking into growing medical herbs and spices, including organic mint and saffron. They have attended several workshops on organic production and are exploring new opportunities to diversify their production and income.

With land consolidation, everyone stands to win because food security increases when farms flourish. With partners like the EU, FAO is improving family farmers’ land structure and access to infrastructure, technology and markets. This attracts youth to the sector and ensures our food systems are sustainable and fit for the future.

Source: FAO

Smart Building Solutions From ABB Bring Energy Efficiencies To Hospitals

15.11.2020

doctors-hodnik-doktori-bolnica — Photo-illustration: PIxabay

Photo-illustration: Unsplash (Hush Naidoo)

Modern medical facilities are some of the most complex buildings ever developed. Building designers and managers must balance a host of competing demands, including the need to be more cost-efficient in energy and resource use while still delivering resource-intensive medical treatments.

Systems like ABB’s open-standard i-bus® KNX reduce staff workload by automating core building functions such as lighting, shutter control, heating, ventilation, security, and energy management. ABB has delivered a key component of building automation, lighting management, to the new Calvary Adelaide Hospital, the largest private hospital in South Australia.

The modern 12-story hospital has been equipped with the latest ABB i-bus KNX® smart building technology. The hospital opted for the ABB i-bus® KNX system for all lighting control and monitoring in the building. Based on the worldwide KNX standard, ABB’s i-bus® KNX solution features intelligent and integrated building control for easier lighting management and increased flexibility, security, economic efficiency and convenience.

With more than 1,200 KNX devices in the hospital, this is the largest project of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere. The solutions connect all of the building’s lighting and energy systems, allowing them to be automated or controlled at the touch of a button. With this smart building technology, the hospital is estimated to save up to 60 percent of energy costs.

Photo-illustration: Unsplash (Luis Melendez)

The chosen lighting technology and control play a critical role in the cost structure of hospital maintenance, given the countless number of lighting points in patient rooms, research facilities, hallways, waiting rooms, laboratories and lobbies – all requiring lighting that best serves their purpose.

For Calvary Adelaide Hospital, the ABB i-bus® KNX, coupled with DALI (digital addressable lighting interface), gives hospital personnel and maintenance staff full command of the lighting functions. All of these functions can be managed automatically according to a schedule, sunset or sunrise, or presence of people, or by the touch of a button. This level of controllable lighting system is key to energy saving, with the additional benefit of increased comfort and safety.

ABB’s i-bus® KNX solution integrates the hospital’s lighting and energy metering to interface with the building management system (BMS) and Nurse Call system. This provides lighting automation and control critical for effective lighting, operational efficiency and safety. This interface enables the lighting and heating/cooling systems to work in unison, so as lighting sensors detect the movement of people and turn lights on, it triggers the heating/cooling system to respond accordingly.

Photo-illustration: Unsplash (Artur Tumasjan)

An important challenge for hospitals is to reduce operational costs without adversely affecting patients. Studies have shown that KNX can result in energy savings of up to:

-10 percent in time switched (for example, automatically turn off lights in the evening)
-20 percent as a result of presence detection (lights turned on only when a person is detected)
-40 percent in presence and brightness detection (the system detects the level of sunlight to regulate how much lighting is required)
-50 percent in constant brightness control (the system maintains a constant level of light based on the level of natural brightness)

Patient rooms can be automatically configured to respond to individual needs, saving staff time while maintaining high-quality service.

Calvary Adelaide Hospital’s focus on state-of-the-art light management for buildings is just one example of how ABB solutions bring operational efficiency to medical facilities by understanding the facility’s individual needs, and bringing together a range of solutions seamlessly to deliver on key objectives.

Source: ABB

New Electric School Buses In Virginia & Massachusetts

14.11.2020

boston_traffic_saobraćaj_school_bus_školski_autobus — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

Photo-illustration: Unsplash (Marcelo Cidrack)

We will cover basically every electric school bus story that comes across our desk, because it is that important for schools — shuttling around many of our youngest, most vulnerable kids — switch over to clean electric transport as soon as possible. I cannot think of a single vehicle case that should be switching over to electricity quicker than school buses.

Dominion Energy has an “Electric School Bus Initiative” in Virginia that involves the eventual rollout of 50 electric school buses in just its first phase. This will reportedly be the “largest planned deployment of electric school buses in the United States,” and Dominion Energy has selected Thomas Built Buses to provide all 50 of those buses.

Thomas Built Buses, meanwhile, has partnered with Proterra to provide the electric powertrains for those buses. The all-electric Saf-T-Liner C2 Jouley electric school bus includes a 220 kWh battery that offers approximately 135 miles of range on a full charge, plenty for a few rounds up child pickups and deliveries. Further, “Thomas Built Buses is currently the only school bus manufacturer to offer DC fast charging architecture as standard equipment. Jouley can charge in about three hours and can supply power back to the power grid using vehicle to grid (V2G) technology,” Proterra writes.

“Thomas Built Buses and Proterra offer electrical infrastructure project management and a comprehensive turn-key solution for EV integration. Known as the Electric Bus Authority Program, Thomas Built Buses works one-on-one with customers through the entire EV planning and implementation process.”

Dominion Energy’s first Saf-T-Liner C2 Jouley electric school bus was recently delivered and a celebration held on October 27.

These Saf-T-Liner C2 Jouley electric school buses have also recently been deployed in Alaska, Illinois, Massachusetts, and Michigan.

Beverly, Massachusetts, Gets Electric School Bus

The City of Beverly and Beverly Public Schools received its first electric school bus last month, and that was also a Thomas Built Buses Inc’s Saf-T-Liner C2 Jouley electric school bus using Proterra electric vehicle tech.

This is actually “the first Thomas Built all-electric school bus in New England.”

Beverly Public Schools isn’t just testing the waters with this electric school bus. The school district plans to fully switch to electric school buses for its 27 bus fleet.

“I’ve been in the pupil transportation business for many years and last week was one of the most exciting days in my career to see the first all-electric school bus drive into our bus depot,” Dana Cruikshank, Beverly Public Schools Director of Transportation, said. “We’re thrilled to have the electric school bus in our fleet and to start retiring the diesel buses.”

Incidentally (or not), Beverly Mayor Michael Cahill, who also serves as a Beverly School Committee member, “is a member of the Climate Mayors Steering Committee, a group of over 20 mayors who will serve as a leading voice in efforts to further climate action across the U.S. making up the Climate Mayors coalition.” He and colleagues in Beverly appear to be clear climate hawks — exactly the kind of leaders cities and counties around the country and the world should be electing.

Notably, these buses aren’t just better because they’re electric. They’re also better because they have better tech. They include interior cameras, rear back-up cameras, Wi-Fi, and high-quality ventilation systems.

As noted above, these are the same Saf-T-Liner C2 Jouley electric school buses used in Virginia, so they have all the same specs.

While it probably hasn’t crossed your mind yet, we — especially those in Beverly — can give Volkswagen Group a kind of thanks for this. Settlement funds from their diesel emissions scandal have contributed to this electric school bus transition in Beverly. Here’s more info on where some of the funding is coming from to switch to these electric buses:

“In January 2019, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) announced the availability of five VW Settlement Trust-funded open grant programs aimed at reducing emissions of nitrogen oxide (NOx) and greenhouse gas (GHG) across Massachusetts, while supporting electrification of the state’s transportation network.

Foto-ilustracija: Unsplash (Mitchell Johnson)

“Beverly issued a request for proposal (RFP) in summer 2019 to lease its first electric school bus and the winning bidder was Highland Electric Transportation of Hamilton, Massachusetts. In addition, in September 2020, Beverly issued a request for proposal for a second electric bus and again the bid was awarded to Highland Electric Transportation. The second electric school bus will arrive in early 2021.

“To assist with the electric school bus project, Highland Electric Transportation received a Volkswagen Open Solicitation Grant from the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) and was also recently awarded grant funding from the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center Accelerating Clean Transportation Program to secure a second bus.”

As one more method of support, it’s worth noting that the utility servicing Beverly, National Grid, has installed thousands of electric vehicle charge ports around the US Northeast.

“Clean transportation is key to fighting climate change,” said Badar Khan, President of National Grid, US. “We are proud to have helped Beverly Public Schools offset the costs of this electric school bus by providing the infrastructure that connects the charger to the grid. All children deserve to breathe clean air and travel to school without compromising their health. We will work with Beverly Public Schools to replace more diesel school buses with clean electric buses. We want to help other school districts do the same.”

Source: CleanTechnica

How the Platform On Sustainable Finance Will Help Define Our Green Future

13.11.2020

vetropark — Foto-ilustracija: Unsplash (TJ K)

With an ever more ambitious global green agenda coming into focus, states, markets, blocs and businesses are working to go carbon-neutral in time to keep world temperature rises from exceeding 2C and, preferably, the more ambitious target of 1.5C.

But, to achieve their goals, those taking action in so many different fields – who each started by developing their own bespoke vocabulary to describe greening their work – must now all learn to speak the same climate language.

There isn’t long for them to create and learn this shared language and find uniform ways of measuring climate change and taking concerted action, either.

Climate scientists have identified 2030 – just 10 years away – as the date by which global net human-caused emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) need to fall about 45 percent from 2010 levels if the world is to reach the target of “net zero” emissions by 2050 and keep temperature rises in check.

So words like “alignment” and “systemic” – describing the need for everyone, everywhere to use a shared climate vocabulary – are being used with increasing urgency in the green world, as increasing numbers of new partners come together to work out how to move forward together.

“In general, we are basically looking to find a common language,” explains the EBRD’s Carel Cronenberg.

A significant step forward comes this autumn in the shape of the Platform on Sustainable Finance, a new body of 50 experts and 10 special observers in the climate, environmental, sustainable finance and social or human rights expertise.

The Platform is one building-block in the European Union’s strong ambition to green its economy, set out in its wide-ranging European Green Deal announced last December.

Selected by the European Commission, the Platform started work on 1 October and will consult with multiple industry and other parties as it works towards categorising what green means for all of them and how to measure it.

The Platform will expand the work done over the past two years by the earlier Technical Expert Group (TEG) – which has compiled a “dictionary” of EU sustainable finance, the EU Taxonomy, agreeing detailed shared definitions of what is considered green in climate mitigation and adaptation.

This climate component of the EU Taxonomy will be written into EU law, in a so called delegated act, by the end of 2020. The new Platform on Sustainable Finance will add four new areas: biodiversity, circular economy, water systems, and pollution prevention and control. These four new areas will follow in a second delegated act, by end-2021.

“The Platform will specifically focus on the development threshold criteria that will directly be applied is input for legislative purposes. It is different from the TEG, which was working more like a think-tank, with a relatively broad mandate and with only an indirect connection with EU legislative processes. As a result the Platform is much more formal and structured,” says Mr Cronenberg, the coordinator of the five EBRD members of the Platform, and previously a member of the TEG.

The EBRD, which already works across the spectrum of sustainable investment, has valuable contributions to make to the Platform’s work, he adds.

“We will be strongly involved in sector groups and working on specific components such as the circular economy and on pollution prevention and control.”

The EBRD, with countries of operation both inside and outside the EU, has a special role to play in representing the views both of the newer EU member states, such as Poland, Bulgaria or Romania, which have conditions that make it more challenging to implement some of the required threshold criteria, as well as of EU neighbours such as Turkey or Middle Eastern countries or Ukraine, so that the Taxonomy may be used outside the EU as well.

The EBRD’s project experience in the private sector will be useful in shaping the discussions; and being closely involved in the development of sustainability criteria will in turn give the EBRD expertise that can be put back into its own project development and discussions with our clients.

Mr Cronenberg is also taking part in the work done by a parallel group fostering greater alignment – the International Platform on Sustainable Finance. This worldwide organisation discusses how standards are evolving in different parts of the world, and helps to bridge the gap between different developments and make sure they are aligned rather than undermining each other.

“These platforms are both very good for helping develop this common language,” Mr Cronenberg says.

There are more bodies at work on bridging gaps and establishing shared reference points. One is the Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS), a coalition of the willing gathering central banks and national supervisors for the financial sector, working on climate and green finance issues.

“There is a need to synchronise watches between what’s happening on a policy level with the EU, in the green bond markets, and what central banks and financial supervisors are doing and what regulations they impose on their countries. It’s quite a complex situation, but very important that we sit together and find out where we are fully aligned and where there are misaligned activities,” says Mr Cronenberg.

“There are currently three types of language being developed – one on a country or United Nation (UNFCCC) level, a climate policy level. There’s a second set of language for people working on climate risk; the TCFD (Task force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures) is very much about the private sector taking the financial risks and opportunities related to climate change into account in corporate strategies and reporting. And there’s a third area where language being developed, which is in the area of dedicated climate investments – if you talk about EU taxonomy it’s very much about climate investments, directing financial flows towards sustainable activities” he adds.

“The EBRD’s own green ambition, to make more than half its investments green by 2025 – as set out in its Green Economy Transition (GET) approach 2021-25 – is very much in this third area.”

“The big challenge is to connect these three areas – and the EBRD is right in the middle of them all.”

The EBRD, long at the forefront of climate action, is committed to the Paris Agreement on limiting climate change. It also has its own climate finance commitments, enshrined in its GET 2021-25 approach, which is closely related to the definitions of the EU Taxonomy and reporting.

And it works through providing project finance to clients whose interest in climate finance may stem primarily from the impact climate change could have on their business.

As Mr Cronenberg says: “One role for the EBRD is to make sure that we are all talking about the same things and that we connect the dots. That’s a key challenge.”

Source: EBRD

Advanced Marine Technology From ABB Pioneers Emissions Reduction On the Waterfront

13.11.2020

Smart_Cities_-_Ferries_1 — Photo-illustration: ABB

Thriving port cities and the vessels that serve them have been drivers of economic growth for decades, even centuries. Today the role played by ports and ferries in improving the environment of their home cities has become an increasingly significant topic in an era of climate-change concern. Thanks to technological advances such as electrified vessels, electrical propulsion systems and sustainably powered ship-to-shore charging, they are emerging as beacons of best practice in ‘smarter city’ thinking.

In the Unites States, for example, ABB technology is supporting Washington State Ferries, the largest ferry system in the country, in an ambitious program of achieving zero-emissions operation via a staged removal of diesel power from its fleet. From 2024, new ‘Olympic Class’ ferries, designed around hybrid-electric propulsion and a high-capacity energy storage system, will be introduced, each capable of carrying 144 cars and 1,500 passengers. Thanks to ABB’s Onboard DC Grid™ power distribution system and drive technology, the ferries will optimize the energy use on board, whether drawing on main engine power, operating in battery-only or in hybrid mode. Together, ABB’s technologies will contribute to significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and fuel use.

The introduction of the ferries is emblematic of Washington State’s 2050 goal to reduce emissions by 57.5 percent below 2019 levels, for the environmental benefit of the region. The combined fuel savings of this single project will be around 10 million gallons in 2040, with CO2 emissions expected to fall below 2050 reduction targets by 2034.

Additionally, in Washington State, and increasingly around the world, shore power will be used to further reduce the environmental footprint of vessels – not only at sea, but also while they are stationary in often dense population centers. ABB shore connection technology enables the type of emissions-free ship power that regulators, ports and local residents increasingly demand.

This practice of so-called ‘cold ironing’, pioneered on the U.S. West Coast for cruise liners, is now widespread in Scandinavian countries and increasingly so across Europe, Japan and China, as well as other parts of the world. It prevents air pollution in ports and, supplied by sustainable electricity, enables ships to operate carbon-free. Earlier this year, the Port of Tallinn installed the latest ABB shore power systems on five of its piers in Old City Harbour as part of the first shore power project in Estonia, enabling vessels with shore power technology to draw on land-based power in port.

Ship operators and port authorities are starting to see shore power as an operational necessity. There is also a growing corporate social responsibility imperative to cut emissions. Increasingly, says Marcus Martelin, ABB Marine & Ports VP for Electric Services, electrical shore connection is regarded as a ‘must-have’, thanks the immediate environmental benefits conferred: “The key criterion for a shore connection installation has traditionally been payback time,” he says, “that is: how many hours a day a ship was tied up in port. But now port executives are measuring landside benefits on the basis of sustainable operation and commitments to the environment, with payback time lower among priorities.”

And soon, Europe’s busiest commercial waterway, and the ports it serves, will benefit from the direct application of emissions-reducing ABB maritime technology. From 2023, two super-size hybrid ferries will become operational on the cross-channel route between Dover, England and Calais, France. Their daily shuttle route, in one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes, will be reliant on the full scope of ABB integrated solutions, making it pivotal, therefore, to the sustainability ambitions of operator P&O Ferries.

The unique maneuverability advantages inherent to the Azipod® propulsion units on the two ferries will further benefit the harborside environment at each terminal: the units’ ability to swivel 360 degrees below the hull means the ferries will no longer have to perform complex about-turns at the end of every crossing. This capability alone will save a ton of fuel per trip, along with an associated reduction in noxious emissions.

“Moving towards a zero-emission future relies on technologies that meet the environmental and cost needs of today – and offer flexibility to integrate future energy sources in the years ahead,” says Juha Koskela, Division President ABB Marine and Ports.

Source: ABB

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