Each week brings some new technological idea for ‘fixing’ the world’s rising CO2 problem. Such as capturing the gas and storing (sequestering) it underground or on the ocean floor.
These ideas often strike me as far fetched, costly, and difficult, and I can’t help thinking it would be simpler, cheaper and quicker to find ways of reducing our greenhouse gas emissions.
But one ingenious idea caught my eye this week. It comes from Iceland where, let’s face it, they need a little good news these days.
CarbFix plans to turn CO2 into stone. Powered by Iceland’s unlimited geothermal energy, they will chemically convert the gas into calcite, the carbonate mineral that is a major component of limestone. Unlike sequestration, this would permanently lock the gas into a stable mineral form, so there would be no fear of the gas leaking out catastrophically.
Another story that caught my eye is a US project to harness solar power from space. Solaren Corp. plans to launch solar panels into orbit, convert the power generated into radio transmissions that can be beamed to earth, and then fed into a power grid. You can read an interview with the Solaren CEO here, on the Next100 website.
Another potentially good news story is research that suggests bacteria can digest oil-tar to yield a cleaner gas resource. If you’ve heard of the controversial Canadian tar-sands, you’ll know that these enormous deposits are costly and dirty to extract, and to process and refine into a useable form. But as oil prices rise, they are becoming an increasingly important Canadian resource. This latest research suggests a new, more acceptable way to extract value from the sands.
Bad news however, from a WWF report into fishing fleets, which confirms what many people feared: huge amounts of catch are wasted, and commercial fleets discard a stunning 40% of what they take. It’s an unsustainable situation, and a disaster in the making unless something radical changes fast.
Not so good news either from a UK report this week into ‘greening’ and future-proofing existing homes. Most of the homes will still be in use in 50 years time, but improving insulation and energy efficiency will, the Economic and Social Research Council and the Technology Strategy Board reckon, be ‘a herculean task’. The same is surely true in Ireland.
And still with the bad news . . . much of the Canadian province of Manitoba is now underwater, with mass evacuations in place. (Nasa satellite view here.)
I’m in Canada for 6 months, where the top news story for the last month has been the annual Red River floods in Manitoba and in North Dakota, so I don’t know if this story has reached Ireland yet. Amazingly, given the scale of devastation, the floods have claimed just one life, so it’s possible the story hasn’t yet reached a threshold that would bring it to European attention.
The floods come with the annual snow melt, excacerbated this year by the long winter, the frozen lakes (which have effectively dammed the river at its northern outlet), the frozen and waterlogged ground which can’t absorb any more water, and even frozen sandbags (which don’t make for a watertight seal).
What has been especially interesting for me as an outsider, is the different approach taken in Canada and, south of the border, in North Dakota which lies upstream. Canadians are happy to take government intervention, and this has led to major flood prevention works, including a massive canal to diver the flood around the provincial capital of Winnipeg, which seems to have held, despite this year’s record flood level.
North Dakotans, however, don’t take kindly to government intervention — action that would be viewed as socialism! — and there it is every man for himself. Hence the floods have hit harder there, despite the fact that they are upstream of the worst. It’s an interesting socio-cultural difference in approaching climate and environmental problems. You can read about it here – though I see Toronto’s Globe and Mail charges for access to its stories!
And finally . . . know anyone who will take a tonne of metal across the sea this summer for you, and not charge you a penny? Provided the metal has four wheels, the cross-channel ferry companies are happy to oblige it seems.
Veteran British environment and science writer Fred Pearce is taking on the ferry companies and the fares policy that favours motorists over foot passengers, in his GreenWash column at the Guardian.
If you haven’t already discovered Fred, he’s always worth a read.
(c) Mary Mulvihill 2009 http://marymulvihill.net/
Mary’s new guide to easy, sustainable living is Drive Like a Woman, Shop Like a Man (2009). Click here to suggest a tip, and be in with a chance to win a copy of the book.
The Handmade Furniture Company, 44 The Quay, Waterford, is holding a “As Green As It Gets “Design Competition in conjunction with GreenMe.ie. Entrants are asked to design a drawing of a finished piece of functional furniture; Entries for the competition will be accepted from the 28th September until November 30th
