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SnippETS for 23 May 2019
Welcome to our latest SnippETS newsletter.
This week we have noticed that there are some dynamic actions on climate change being undertaken, from a lone individual taking a stand outside parliament, to international finance ministers, the IMF, Fiji’s PM’s perspective, and young New Zealanders.
So, what else can be done? We have an in-depth article about EV’s and what’s happening with these in NZ, take a look at new food options, and end with an article on commercialisation of carbon capture.
We hope you find this weeks SnippETS interesting and informative.
Ollie Langridge sees himself as a normal guy that doesn’t know what to do. The recently released UN Biodiversity Report, warning that Earth was in the middle of a mass extinction that could see one million species go extinct, proved the tipping point for Ollie. Describing this as madness, he decided he would protest on the lawn of the NZ Parliament and would not leave until a climate emergency is declared. Hope it’s not a long and cold winter and the southerlies stay away. Read more.....
At the April meeting of the World Bank Group and International Monetary Fund, Finance Ministers from more than twenty countries launched a new coalition aimed at driving stronger collective action on climate change and its impacts. The Coalition endorsed a set of six common principles, known as the Helsinki Principles, that promote national climate action, especially through fiscal policy and the use of public finance. At this stage New Zealand is not part of this Coalition although we should be. Read more.....
Staying with finance, we delve deeper into how the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is reacting to the financial risks of climate change. With Christine Lagarde at the helm, she noted, “Climate change is the great existential challenge of our times” and it is high time this reality is reflected in the IMF’s work. One of new IMF papers is an update of global fossil fuel subsidies and negative externalities like air pollution. It found that a whopping 6.5% of global GDP or $5.2 trillion a year is spent subsidising fossil fuels. Read more.....
Climate change also brings its emotional challenges as the words by Fiji PM Frank Bainimarama demonstrate. “An elderly Fijian widow now wakes up in the morning to find the ocean at her doorstep, slowly wearing away a home she and her family have known for generations,” he said. “A young Fijian sugarcane farmer, who learned how to toil the ground from his father and his father before him, now watches helplessly as the fields that fuel his livelihood become too salty for crops to grow. It is now a matter of survival.. Read more.....
New Zealanders love cars. We have the world’s third highest rate of vehicle ownership. In 2017 alone 338,000 new and imported vehicles were purchased here. Things may be changing though. Many young Kiwis are choosing not to drive, and one of the reasons is to reduce greenhouse gases. But this isn’t just about young Kiwis. Everyone, individuals & corporate organisations, should be doing their bit to reduce emissions, as is discussed in some detail here. Read more.....
But, if you are going to drive, why not drive an EV? The current NZ fleet is small but there are many options available. There is a real coordinated effort to get information out about the benefits of owning an EV. “Flip the Fleet”, a new software package, enables sharing of driving and performance data among EV owners. Anecdotal evidence points to an EV being great ownership experience, and our environment will also benefit. . Read more.....
Staying with EV’s, Jucy Rentals now have a fleet of custom-made EV camper vans. Before being released for ‘normal’ hire this coming July, a comprehensive trial, of 13,000 km to 45 destinations all around New Zealand, was undertaken. Whilst confronted with a few minor charging issues during the trial, it showed that, with a bit of planning, an EV campervan can be a very real holiday option in New Zealand. Read more.....
New Zealand’s agriculture sector is our single biggest source of GHG emissions. As discussions are being had to how we can reduce the emissions generated from beef and cattle farming, there is another alternative that is beginning to make its way on the fast food menus, plant-based ‘meat’. US-based Impossible Foods have now released the results of an independent Life Cycle Analysis which shows that their latest plant-based burger produces 89% less carbon emissions than beef! Read more.....
Yet plant-based ‘meat’ has not yet reached a price point to completely replace meat, so for the time being we need to encourage people to eat plant-rich diets in order to start tackling climate change. But governments have been encouraging people to eat more fruits and veggies for decades, and yet rates of obesity and diabetes keep on rising. Maybe we should not be calling it healthy food. Could it be time for some new messaging?
In order to limit warming to 1.5C as per the Paris Agreement, we will need to deploy carbon capture technology in addition to reducing our emissions and planting trees. The carbon capture company ‘Carbon Engineering’ has been able to raise $100m on the premise that they will capture carbon emissions directly from the air at a cost of less than $100 per ton. This article gives a quick update on the new ‘cashed-up’ carbon capture industry and its role in addressing climate change. Read more....
This week in Innovation, a Is the future of power transmission beaming electricity with diamonds? Diamonds aren’t just for engagement rings and cutting tools—they can bring light to dark places.
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