Transition Island Blog

There is so much bad news that it is all too easy to become a gloom-merchant.

But some dedicated searching can lead to progress and a real potential to change the environment. Here’s a few possibilities…

Solar cooling system

A Spanish research team has produced an air-conditioning system that uses green energy sources.

Powered by using solar and residual heat, it also reduces greenhouse gas emissions in its cooling system by combining the use of a lithium bromide solution, which does not damage the ozone layer or increase the greenhouse effect. Read more…

Active focus solar panels

New York engineers have redesigned photovoltaic panels to include concentric circles that focus the sun’s rays on miniaturized modules.

The panels automatically sense sunlight and turn towards it, helping to make these high-tech solar cells more efficient. The key breakthrough is the miniaturized concentrator solar cell, which uses a lens with concentric grooves to focus collected light. Only the size of a postage stamp, the cell is much more efficient in collecting and reusing solar energy. Read more…

Carbon sink method workable

Adding lime to seawater increases alkalinity, boosting seawater’s ability to absorb CO₂ from air and reducing the tendency to release it back again. While the process of making lime generates CO₂, adding the lime to seawater absorbs almost twice as much CO₂ so the overall process is therefore ‘carbon negative’.

The idea has been bandied about for years was thought unworkable because of the expense of obtaining lime from limestone and the amount of CO₂ released in the process. But it could be efficient in regions that have a combination of low-cost ’stranded’ energy considered too remote to be economically viable to exploit — like flared natural gas or solar energy in deserts — and that are rich in limestone, making it feasible for calcination to take place on site.

Shell is so impressed with the new approach that it is funding an investigation into its economic feasibility. Read more…

Algae capture carbon doxide

Ohio University engineers have designed a simple, sustainable and natural carbon sequestration solution using algae. a photo bioreactor that uses photosynthesis to grow algae, passing CO₂ over large membranes, placed vertically to save space. The CO₂ produced by the algae is recycled as it dissolves into the surrounding water.

The algae can be harvested and made into biodiesel fuel and feed for animals. A reactor with 1.25 million square meters of algae screens could be up and running by 2010. Read more…

opinion

It’s true there’s many a slip twix cup and lip - research is some distance (and time) (and money) away from industrial production. But where there’s a will there’s a way!

Good and bad news came in around the UK energy situation. 

Problems in the area are not going to go away. Here we have a selection: political, economic, local opinion and habitat impact.

uncompetitive supplies

Allan Asher, the chief executive of Energywatch, has told MPs that power companies have it too easy. There is next to no market competition.

It is indisputable that competition in a market of six major players is unlikely to be as fierce as it would be with 20. As a result, he said, the difference between them is “just a few pence a week”.

hot air

Villagers in part of south Leicestershire are protesting at proposals to build a wind farm. They would be equivalent to eleven 40-storey buildings.

Members of the protest group claim the plan will damage the environment.

nuclear expansion

The UK government confirmed in January that it was in the country’s long-term interest that nuclear power should play a role in providing Britain with clean, secure and affordable energy.

Although considered highly reliable, nuclear power has been seen as a high-cost option, compared with other methods of electricity generation. But a range of independent studies now show that full life-cycle costs are competitive with other sources. This competitiveness improves further when factors such as desirability of meeting policy objectives of cleaner, more secure power sources are taken into account.

The quantity of nuclear waste is extremely small when compared to overall national volumes of all toxic wastes

tide plans

A new model of the Severn estuary built in Cardiff University will be used to study the impact of tidal power plans, including a barrage.

A feasibility study by the Welsh Assembly Government and the UK Government into the Severn Barrage, which could produce about 5% of the UK’s electricity within 14 years, was announced in January.

Professor Roger Falconer, who led the team designing and building the model, said it would be used to double check computer simulations of the impact of a barrage or other tidal power proposals.

“It will help us make the right decision as to how we can minimise any adverse environmental impacts,” he said.

folding Array?

The world’s largest planned wind farm, the London Array offshore scheme is being developed by a consortium called London Array Limited. which aims to have up to 341 turbines some 20km (12 miles) generating 1,000 MW in the Thames Estuary, east of London. One of the three partners in the consortium, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, aims to withdraw, putting the entire scheme at risk.

Shell’s corporate advertising focuses on its green energy initiatives and said it was shifting its wind power focus to the United States because government incentives were more competitive.

opinion:
Any disciplined major change takes time to organise. A wholesale catastrophic change might be quicker, but is a great deal less comfortable. Let’s keep learning…

About one million litres of water will soon be saved by Southern Water on the Island every day.

The County Press says this is enough to fill 10,000 baths.

A £7 million investment in new state-of-the-art recycling equipment, which takes water out of sludge, will improve supplies in the south of the Island.

The project at the Sandown works is part of £700 million of environmental improvements being carried out for Southern Water throughout Kent, Sussex, Hampshire and the Island between 2005 and 2010.

The water company said its new equipment, which is nearing completion, will take 90 per cent of the water from a thin sludge that previously went to waste.

new machinery

The new machinery takes water used in backwashing the normal filters, slows it down and adds clarifying chemicals that bind together the solids in the sludge so that it falls out of the flow. This clarified water can then be sent back to the beginning of the filtration process and can end up as clean water.

Southern Water section leader Des Eastman said: “This is a cost-effective and eco-friendly way of putting good quality water back into the system. As an island, water resources need to be managed very carefully on the Isle of Wight. Investing in schemes such as this is vital to ensure we continue to meet the needs of our customers and the thousands of visitors to the island every year.”

meter successes

The Isle of Wight provided evidence that metering does lead to more prudent consumption over the long term. The National Water Metering Trials, which ran from April 1989 to March 1993 on the Island, recorded an average reduction in domestic consumption of 11%, with peak period reductions of up to 30%. (Southern Water Services (December 1997) Water Consumption on the Isle of Wight 1988 - 1997)

We use an average of nearly 55,000 litres of tap water a year for drinking and washing - enough to fill a private swimming pool. If we had to use bottled mineral water at roughly 36p a litre instead, that would cost us each £19,800 a year.

drought trends

Exactly how frequent droughts are in the UK is difficult to define. 1976 was definitely a drought, and so were the mid 80’s. The mid 90’s was argued over - it was a drought according to some and not to others. The trend since the 1860’s is for wetter winter and drier summers, and this has increased since the 70’s. This seasonal cycle is strongest in the south and east of the country and if this trend continues then we can certainly expect more droughts in the future.

hosepipe bans

During the next drought water companies will be able to ban most uses of domestic hosepipes. Inconsistencies of the hosepipe ban where highlighted during the 2005-2006 drought. After consulting, Defra announced in October 2007 that the legislation would be changed and allow water companies greater discretion over what they ban.

On average, the Environment Agency says, garden watering is about 5% of household water use over a year. But this is concentrated in summer months, when water is most scarce. A hosepipe ban can save significant amounts of water - evenings and weekends water demand can double or even treble the daily average as people water their gardens. 

Interestingly, on the Isle of Wight where 90% of households are metered, hosepipe bans are introduced more rarely, and if necessary, later in teh year.

bathwater re-use

Save yourself money and reduce water wastage by fitting a simple but ingenious device to divert your used water from the shower/bath to your garden. This simple device is controlled from ground level by pull cords. Easily fitted to existing pipework, you can use pre-heated water to warm your greenhouse in early spring - saving parafin or electric too! Read more…

water butts

Now is the time to buy a water butt and rainwater diverter kit. You can use this water from watering plants, washing cars, flushing toilets - for free!

Action:
At least, buy a water butt or two!