SnippETS for 6 September 2018

Welcome to this week’s edition of our SnippETS newsletter.

In this edition we look at temperature change over the last 137 years, an important energy policy update from the US, and some promising results from tidal power.

Next we discuss sustainable living options and learn about the vehicle that has broken the fuel efficiency world record!

We also have articles on reducing emissions from Agriculture, recycling in Raglan, and how Barcelona has drastically reduced its air pollution.

We start this SnippETS with a look at some interesting visualisations on climate change. The primary visualisation shows the temperature anomalies from the past 137 years. Covering 1880 through to 2017, based on solid data from NASA, it’s pretty clear that Earth’s climate is changing!

California, the world’s fifth largest economy, has just passed a very important Bill. In the 100% carbon free electricity bill, interim targets are set at 60% by 2030 and 100% by 2045 to generate all of California’s electricity from carbon free sources. An important step for the future of the state and its 40 million residents.

Scotland is at the forefront in “blue energy” technology and has developed a new marine turbine system that is proving to be a formidable option for producing energy from tidal flows. In its first year of testing, it smashed previous records and set the benchmark for the industry. This technology appears as though it might be an important part of the future energy mix.

It seems that the tiny home movement is getting noticed in very high places. At the request of the UN, a team of architects has designed and built a tiny home that incorporates several technologies to create a model for low impact living. The units are designed with the intent of providing high quality but low cost housing, with sustainable technologies incorporated.

Duke University engineers have just thrown down the gauntlet for all challengers in regard to fuel efficiency. In a recent world-record-breaking run, they showed that their vehicle could drive halfway around the world on one gallon of fuel. Granted, they would be doing that very slowly and the fuel is hydrogen…but still this is no small accomplishment. Read more.....

The parliamentary commissioner for the environment says holding methane emissions from agriculture in NZ at current levels will not work in efforts to avoid global warming. Emissions from livestock will need to be 10-22% lower than 2016 levels by 2050, and even lower by 2100, if they are to not contribute to additional warming. The real question is how to best approach achieving this.

You may think that going vegan will help with lowering emissions, but this article may persuade you otherwise. Organic meat, based on traditional rotational systems, may not be as bad as the industrially grown crops that require high inputs of fertiliser, fungicides, pesticides and herbicides. Check out some of the pros and cons…

For 18 years, Raglan has been not just thinking about recycling, and thus lowering emissions, but doing something about it. Now the residents are fully on board with recycling and 75% of all waste is diverted from the landfill. Some other Councils are replicating the model… just imagine if all Councils would do the same! This article gives many good ideas on where to start.

Barcelona has had a serious air pollution problem because of the grid design of the city which prioritises cars and motorcycles over pedestrians and cyclists. Now city planners have begun to bring back car free zones to create more walking space. By introducing these Superblocks, air pollution has dropped by a whopping 40%. Maybe other cities can learn from Barcelona? Watch video.....