carbon project funding doesn't come easily

The South African Green Building Council is preparing to develop a home-grown rating system along the lines of Australia's Green Star rating system, which will help raise awareness and increase pressure for more sustainable building designs. That in turn should increase momentum for projects seeking funding through international carbon trading. There have been very few to date in South Africa: less than two percent of global certificates of emission reduction have come from the whole of Africa. By September 2007, just 21 CDM projects registered with the UN Climate Change Secretariat were in Africa.

But South Africa would do well to beef up its support of carbon reduction efforts, beyond just trying to facilitate trading through organisations like the Central Energy Fund or conferences like the annual Clean Development Mechanism and Carbon Trading Africa. A report from India points out that "despite Indian industry responding positively to the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), the carbon market in the country is up against institutional, financial and technical impediments". The country needs a more supportive legal and regulatory framework. Capacity building and information dissemination are key challenges, along with delays and costs in getting Carbon Emission Reduction certification, and uncertainties in the carbon market.

chocolate power

If you can't eat it... burn it. Two British environmentalists are on their way from Britain to Timbuktu in a lorry running on biofuel made from waste chocolate by British firm Ecotec. And when their load of 2,000 litres of fuel runs out, they can just crank up a small processing unit they are carrying with them to convert waste oil products into fuel, which they will donate to an African charity (Mali-Folkecenter), along with the lorry, at the end of the trip. Sweet.

The two claim their biotruck will be making the first-ever carbon negative expedition across the Sahara Desert through a combination of using biofuel and offsetting emissions with the portable processing unit:

"When measuring the carbon footprint of the expedition we will factor in the offsetting effect of the carbon saved by the fuel that is produced over the next 12 months following the expedition," say Pag and Grimshaw, who expect the project to save 15 metric tons of carbon emissions in the first year alone.

road to nowhere

We usually think of roads, railways and even waterways within cities as infrastructure that connects different parts of the urban area. But if poorly planned, they can divide communities and actually reduce accessibility to some parts. There have been plenty of examples of negative impacts on a grand scale, such as elevated waterfront freeways in Boston, Toronto and Cape Town; or more localised community divisions from widening of small roads to get more traffic past a bottleneck, making it harder to walk or cycle to shops, schools and other local destinations.

This can have a serious impact on sustainability by reducing the viability of local businesses, destroying social cohesion and stability, and resulting in decline in areas that are isolated. The 3 November edition of NewScientist [sub req'd] reports on a study that has confirmed that "geographical isolation is a prime cause of social deprivation, economic inactivity and crime, but can be hard to quantify." The study's authors, Dimitry Volchenkov and Philippe Blanchard, have come up with a mathematical model of neighbourhood accessibility [link to technical paper], which is a key first step in preventing new ghettos from emerging out of bad planning:

Random walks defined on undirected graphs assign the absolute scores to all nodes based on the quality of path they provide for random walkers. In city space syntax, the notion of segregation acquires a statistical interpretation with respect to random walks. We analyze the spatial network of Venetian canals and detect its most segregated part which can be identified with canals adjacent to the Ghetto of Venice.

buy nothing day

I spent most of yesterday in meetings that had a lot to do with sustainability and how it can be achieved through good planning and design. The discussions related to a particular development project I am working on as a transport planning consultant. Working for developers sometimes makes me squirm, because my view of an appropriate design solution is not always aligned with that of the client paying my bills; but in this case, the match is a good one.

What is even more satisfying is that the people who attended yesterday's meetings (people who are not involved in the project but have an indirect stake in its outcome) are generally supportive and are keen to see it succeed. As a result, they asked incisive questions and offered constructive criticism. They are concerned about its potential impacts - not only on themselves, but on culture and the environment, on social structures and on economic livelihoods - and they are looking for reassurance that the broader challenges will be considered and addressed, and that the potential positive spinoffs will be realised. The best kind of meeting.

In discussion afterwards with a colleague who also attended, our conversation turned to questions about why sustainability is such a Big Deal. It's all about greed, she suggested. If we lived simpler lifestyles that met our physical, emotional and spiritual needs, we would automatically be living sustainably. My colleague had clearly been thinking of spiritual matters, as she had been out the previous night to hear Tenzin Palmo, a Tibetan nun who secluded herself in a remote cave 13 000 feet up in the Himalayas for 12 years of Buddhist meditation. I'm not advocating cutting ourselves off from the material world, but if we were more aware of ourselves and our social interactions, we would know what to do, and we might even do it.

So here's something to do. On Saturday, 24 November, buy nothing. Join international Buy Nothing Day as a reminder of our wasteful, consumptive lifestyles. It’s about reminding ourselves to really think about what we are buying‚ why we are buying it‚ and whether we really need it at all. Consuming at the level we do is unsustainable and is directly responsible for many of the world's environmental and economic problems. Waste, pollution, climate change, and many other topical and important issues are all fueled by consumerism.

I'll leave the last word to A.A. Milne, writing about Winnie-the-Pooh and the episode In which Christopher Robin leads an expotition to the North Pole:

"I think," said Christopher Robin, "that we ought to eat all our provisions now, so that we shan't have so much to carry."

"Eat all our what?" said Pooh.

"All that we've brought," said Piglet, getting to work.

"That's a good idea," said Pooh, and he got to work too.

"Have you all got something?" asked Christopher Robin with his mouth full.

"All except me, said Eeyore. "As usual." He looked around at them in his melancholy way. "I suppose none of you are sitting on a thistle by any chance?"

"I believe I am," said Pooh. "Ow!" He got up, and looked behind him. "Yes, I was. I thought so."

"Thank you, Pooh. If you've quite finished with it." He moved across to Pooh's place, and began to eat.

"It doesn't do them any Good, you know, sitting on them," he went on, as he looked up munching. "Takes all the Life out of them. Remember that another time, all of you. A little Consideration, a little Thought for Others, makes all the difference."

See also:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buy_Nothing_Day

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumerism

http://www.ecoplan.org/ibnd/ib_index.htm

http://www.verdant.net/society.htm

http://www.globalissues.org/TradeRelated/Consumption.asp

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/01/0111_040112_consumerism.html

Mozambique fuels farming debate

There's more to the biofuels debate than the impact on food security. One of the key concerns is that land availability for food production will diminish as farmers switch to producing crops for fuel, but a recent World Bank study notes that food security depends far more on a farmer's capacity to work the land than on the availability of land itself. A report from IRIN states: "Only 5 million of Mozambique's 36 million cultivable hectares are being farmed; of the remainder, some 13 percent was once cultivated but now lies fallow."

Why? A consultant for the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) Programme for Biomass Energy Conservation says, "Infrastructure is a constraint for investors and small farmers." The question here is whether investment in biofuels infrastructure will benefit farmers regardless of what they choose to grow. Mozambique is hoping that labour-intensive large-scale farming, as well as small family farms, will become sustainable with investments by multinational corporations like CAMEC. But they are experiencing challenges across the production process, from poor harvesting and storage practices destroying crops, to conflicts over water for irrigation.

In the best-case scenario, biofuel projects will bring infrastructure improvements that also benefit food producers, while entrepreneurs will invest in improving supply lines from the level of the family farm to a network of transporters, buyers and sellers.

Meanwhile, production from Mozambique's new biodiesel plant (opened in August by Ecomoz, with a capacity of 5,000 litres an hour) has slowed to a trickle because crops intended as raw materials are not of adequate quality. However, if biofuels teething problems can be sorted out, some analysts believe that "achieving full energy independence is well within reach" for Mozambique, reports DownstreamToday.com. With the extent of land available for producing cassava, sugarcane and jatropha, and investments of more than $658 million promised from several sources, it just might happen.

the other side of Riebeek Kasteel

While farmers and residents of Riebeek Kasteel are engaged in a public battle over pesticide health problems, a quiet revolution is taking place offscreen. This is an interaction of a different kind among not only farmers and townsfolk, but other community groups and the local prison.

I wrote in August this year about a community garden and food kitchen for the children of Riebeek Kasteel's poorer township. That programme is expanding, in a number of ways. While the programme is still struggling to obtain funding, the local Goedgedacht Agricultural Resource Centre has donated a water tank, Riebeek Cellars has offered to pump water to the garden to store in the tank, and the Department of Agriculture has provided fencing to keep the garden secure.

Getting all this set up and running takes labour, and that's where the prison comes in. Bridget Doyle, from the garden project, told me that the local police recognise the importance of projects such as this from the perspective of crime prevention, and they have been bringing together existing groups that are involved in community development, to create a coordinated plan so that they all can benefit from shared resources and reduced duplication of effort. One of these groups is from the prison.

Correctional Services runs the Group of Hope, which keeps inmates at this prison busy with activities like sewing, cooking and singing. As the community garden has been receiving weekly food donations from Malmesbury businesses Shoprite Checkers, Fruit & Veg, and For da Belly (a bakery), Bridget now has an arrangement to take the food to the prison, where the Group of Hope cooks it, and the cooked food is taken to the Saturday morning soup kitchen.

Not only that, but part of the land leased by the community garden has been set aside for the Group of Hope to set up their own garden to provide feedstock for their kitchen, and twice a week four inmates provide labour for the community garden while they work on theirs.

Others brought together by the police coordinator are the Valley Empowerment Project, the Women's Forum, a community worker from the ACVV, a government social worker, and the Riebeek Kasteel Steel Band Project.

The Steel Band, run by David Wickham for a number of years now, provides an opportunity for local children to develop music skills and confidence. The band also provides opportunities for the children to perform at local events such as the annual Olive Festival, and occasionally in Cape Town.

Washington just doesn't get it

The IPCC came out with guns blazing on Sunday. The Synthesis Report [6.5 MB PDF] of the Fourth Assessment Report says in the strongest terms yet that human-induced global warming is real, and we need to act immediately.

Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, as is now evident from observations of increases in global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice, and rising global average sea level. [...] Eleven of the last twelve years (1995-2006) rank among the twelve warmest years in the instrumental record of global surface temperature (since 1850).

The good news is that the IPCC believes that action needed to avert disastrous consequences is not only possible, but affordable, echoing the findings of the 2006 UK Stern Review. And, following a miraculous Damascus conversion this year, America has endorsed this report.

At least part of the reason given for America's refusal to sign up to the Kyoto Accord was because developing countries weren't required to cut their carbon emissions. Now, in the face of international and local pressure, Washington has joined the game - or so it seems. In fact, they're changing the rules to suit themselves, as is their habit, and if this were ice hockey I would give them a game misconduct.

America's Climate Security Act of 2007, introduced to Congress by Senators Lieberman and Warner, aims to establish a cap-and-trade system for carbon emissions. So far, so good: acknowledgement of climate change and the need to do something about it. But while the next phase of the Kyoto Accord - or its successor - looks set to increase pressure on developing countries to set carbon targets, Congress isn't taking any chances that America might be disadvantaged by other countries not paying the price necessary to reduce emissions.

Such "rogue" countries might export products to the US that are cheaper than homegrown products (because they use cheaper, carbon-intense energy and manufacturing processes), thus undermining US industry. True to form, this Act takes the protectionist route: subsidising the American transition to a low-carbon future, and getting other countries to tow the line by requiring imports to be certified for their level of carbon intensity. This means that even if Kyoto doesn't require it, American legislation will force change in any country wanting to sell to the US. Sound familiar? It should, since the US (and the EU, for that matter) already does this in specific industries; but by applying the principle to carbon, they have a net that covers all trade with the US.

Perhaps I should be leaping for joy at America's proactive stance on emission reductions, but a couple of things bother me with this scenario. The first is that Congress, once again, is taking a unilateral approach on an issue of global significance on the assumption that they know best (despite joining the game after halftime). The second is that the requirement for products to be carbon certified will be messy, bureaucratic, not synchronised with other forms of carbon labelling, and difficult to comply with. This will place developing countries at a disadvantage.

Washington's concept of fair play is out to lunch. Legislators on Capitol Hill don't acknowledge, for instance, that the basis of their current wealth and power is decades of carbon-intense industry, and that they will continue to benefit from historically high levels of energy and resource consumption even as their economy is transformed into one that is less energy-intense. So expecting - nay, forcing - developing countries to play in the same carbon league is nonsensical.

What makes this scenario even more galling is that America will effectively increase its control over the terms of global trade at a time when the rest of the world is lessening its dependence on trade with America. According to an article on the US economy in the current edition of The Economist, "Since 2000 its share of world imports has dropped from 19% to 14%." The developing world is watching the current slowdown in the American economy with some trepidation, because we know there will be global ramifications; but in fact trade is becoming geographically more diversified, and financial advisors always say it's good to diversify portfolios. The Economist even suggests that the best hope for strong global growth, while America faces its economic crisis, lies with emerging economies.

My guess is that this Act before Congress will stifle the developing world's growing sense of freedom, and we may yet be shut out by Team USA.

[Update on 19 December 2007: In what looks very much like a tit-for-tat response to the Climate Security Act (and the unsportsmanlike conduct of US negotiators this month in Bali), Germany's Social Democrats have called for sanctions on imports of energy-intensive products from the US.]

what to do with that old engine block

How to recycle cars that just won't run anymore: turn their parts into multimachines that are accurate drill presses, sanders, grinders, metal mills, wood or metal lathes, and just about any other tool you can imagine. Pat Delany has invented the ultimate high-precision, low-cost machine. And the best part? The plans are freely available online.

Riebeek Valley sprawl

Riebeek Kasteel has been getting a bit of press coverage over the past few months, with a volley of letters to the editor last week. The small farming town, about an hour outside of Cape Town, is witnessing a court battle between a farmer and the residents living next to his vineyards.

Residents are claiming that the farmer is not following health and safety requirements when he sprays his crops, and are experiencing health problems from pesticides drifting in the wind. The farmer says he's following prescribed procedures.

The issue is not as straightforward as that, but it's a classic case of conflict between urban and rural land uses. The town's main attraction is its location: nestled in a valley filled with vineyards and olive groves, away from bigger urban areas. This has fuelled expansion of the town into agriculturual land at the same time as the farmers are experiencing a boom in demand for their olives and grapes.

On the face of it, Riebeek Kasteel presents a model of the ideal relationship between town and country. Physical expansion of the town onto productive farmland clearly has negative impacts, but what interests me here is the interaction and symbiosis between the two.

The biggest sign of the town's tourist boom is the annual olive festival, but there are smaller markets throughout the year, a steady escalation of property prices, and new businesses opening all the time that are not aiming at the traditional small-town market. Farmers are taking advantage of this new market for agricultural products by opening retail outlets and selling products at weekend markets. Townspeople benefit - in theory, at least - with more jobs.

There is no clear urban edge - either in planning or on the ground - and many vacant plots within the town are used to grow crops, adding to the sense that the town is integrated with the farmland. (The irony, in light of the current controversy, is that there was a time when farmers would spray the entire town with pesticides, believing they were doing everyone a favour.)

Urban sprawl is often facilitated by an economic weakening of farms on the urban fringe. In the case of Riebeek Kasteel, both the town and surrounding farms are thriving, producing a strong dynamic between them. On the fringes of larger urban areas, this strong relationship might create a useful check on sprawl, more effectively than a tightly controlled urban edge.

It will be interesting to see how land development plays out in the Riebeek Valley. Most recent growth in Riebeek Kasteel has been outward, rather than on vacant plots within the town. In the neighbouring town of Riebeek West, there has been a stronger focus on infilling rather than outward sprawl, and some of the recent housing projects have been at densities higher than one might expect in a rural town. This may have more to do with the intentions of the owners of surrounding farms than with strong planning, but as land values increase within the towns, the farmers may feel the urge to sell. Let's hope that a healthy urban-rural symbiosis will keep temptation at bay.

hydrogen fuel breakthrough

The problem with some alternative fuels is that they consume just as much energy to produce as they release when they are later used. Which makes them new forms of batteries - energy storage devices - rather than energy sources. How would you classify hydrogen from biomass such as cellulose or glucose?

US researchers have developed a method of producing hydrogen gas from biodegradable organic material, potentially providing an abundant source of this clean-burning fuel, according to a study released Monday.

[...]

"This process produces 288 percent more energy in hydrogen than the electrical energy that is added in the process," said Bruce Logan, a professor of environmental engineering at Penn State.

[via clusterflock]