What a sensible idea and something the UK actually did quite well before the advent of Clone Town Britain.
Friday, 17 April 2009
Is wood burning a hole in your carbon footprint?
Here's a great blog asking the question I've been asking myself recently about these "biomass fuels" (fancy name for things that first you grow, before you burn them).
The basic jist is that its not as simple as 'carbon in = carbon out' equals carbon neutrality. Its about the rate of carbon release (through burning) versus the rate of carbon absorption (throughout the life of the tree). If a tree takes 50 - 100 years to grow and 1 week to burn on a fire, then just because you plant a tree for everyone you chop down - doesn't mean you're saving the planet today.
If you look at the rate of carbon release throughout the world today, versus the rate of carbon absorption by the biosphere (forests etc) in the world today...
Should we be planting more trees? Defintely.
Should we be chopping down any trees? Probably not.
Should we be looking at passive energy systems as a workable alternative (wind, wave, solar, mini-hydro) I think so...
Tuesday, 17 February 2009
Podcast on Cradle to Cradle sustainability in design
Here is a link to an excellent podcast recently recorded between Radio NZ's Kim Hill and Michael Braungart. Michael Braungart and William McDonough wrote the challenging book "Cradle to Cradle" (featured on the Recommended Reading list here on the right).
Cradle to Cradle is about environmentally intelligent design that doesn't just seek to minimise our negative impact - it aims to maximise our beneficial impact on the environment. As Prof Braungart says "it is not enough to say 'I am beating my child less than I used to', we must stop what is bad and do what is good". He goes on to highlight the example of the Ant. Collectively, the bio-footprint of Ants on the Earth far outstrips the footprint of Human Beings. Yet Ants have a significantly positive impact on the Earth compared to Human civilisation.
He also highlighted that countries who have been less efficient in minimising their impact on the environment, have actually come out infront of those pseudo-progressive countries that have created loads of legislation on behalf of the planet. Kyoto reductions are therefore not seen as a good solution to Braungart. He cites Volkswagen who have attempted to protect the environment by removing asbestos from brake pads; except they have replaced asbestos with antimony, a carcinogenic far more deadly than asbestos. These misplaced actions become more difficult to undo than the less efficient efforts of others.
"The perverseness of Eco-efficiency - you make the wrong things perfect and then they are perfectly wrong" says Braungart.
Keeping the Technosphere and Biosphere apart
What was most interesting was his take on "Technical Nutrients" - the fact that the book he co-authored was printed on plastic polymer instead of paper. Braungart argues that there is better recycling within the "Technical Metabolism" of polymers, than there is in the recycling process for paper. Currently we downgrade the paper product each time it goes through a re-cycle, losing many of the natural nutrients along the way, with inks that are incompatible with the recycling process for example.
Realising that the offcuts from the production of airline seating were toxic waste; McDonough and Braungart designed new seats for the latest Airbus where the materials were replaced by edible ones - the offcuts now being able to be used in gardening.
My personal favourite is the concept of ice cream packaging that is solid when the contents (ice cream) are frozen, but slowly turns to liquid at room temperature, disippating in hours. This accommodates people's seeming 'need' to litter and when the packaging is impregnated with rare plant seeds you actually harness littering and make it a beneficial process.
C2C Certification
Cradle to Cradle Certification is now available to companies, institutions and governments, with an increasing number dedicating resources to ensure C2C is embedded into product design. From US Postal Service packaging products to Eagle Corporation Allied Concrete products, an ever-expanding list of C2C certified products are now appearing and setting the benchmark for Corporate Citizenship.
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