EkoNews
What Hapened on the Environmental Agenda? December 2022
You can listen to our "Eco-List-December'22" list on Spotify while reading monthly econews!
Policy
102 Thousand Lives Will Be Saved If Thermal Power Plants Are Shut Down Within 7 Years
According to a study by the Health and Environment Alliance, 102,601 premature deaths and 30,975 premature births could be prevented by shutting down coal-fired power plants by 2030. In addition, health cost of 3.1 trillion TL could be eliminated.
Coal-fired power plants continue to destroy both human health and nature. The use of coal for electricity generation in Turkey results in 5,000 premature deaths every year due to air pollution. According to a report by HEAL (Health and Environment Alliance), 102,601 premature deaths could be prevented if coal-fired power plants were shut down by 2030. "Curing chronic coal: The health benefits of a 2030 coal phase-out for Turkey" reveals the deaths, illnesses and health cost savings that could be avoided by shutting down coal-fired power plants by 2030 instead of 2050, when their permits expire.
EU Plastic Waste Ban
On average, each person in Europe produces around 180 kg of packaging waste each year. Packaging is one of the main culprits, accounting for 40% of plastic and 50% of paper used in the EU. According to the European Commission, plastic packaging waste could increase by 46% by 2030 if no action is taken.
For these reasons, the EU is working on a plastic waste ban proposal as part of the European Green Deal, an EU-wide plan to reach net zero by 2050, decouple economic growth from resource use and promote a circular economy.
The proposal aims to make all packaging reusable or recyclable by 2030. It also aims to get rid of unnecessary packaging, promote recycling and clarify the proper use and disposal of biodegradable plastics. By 2030, the proposed measures will reduce greenhouse gas emissions from packaging by almost a third. Accepting this offer may prohibit miniature hotel toiletries and disposable food containers. This can be defined as an equivalent reduction in Croatia's annual emissions. Additionally, the economic impact is expected to be positive after the initial investment required to make the transition. If businesses pass on their savings to consumers, Europeans can save an average of around €100 per year.
Mandatory Solar Panel Implementation for New Homes in Tokyo
After April 2025, it is expected that almost all houses in Tokyo will have to have solar panels installed. The regulation, passed by the local council of the Japanese capital, requires 50 major construction firms to equip homes up to 2,000 square feet with renewable energy sources.
Tokyo is the largest city in the world with a population of approximately 14 million in its central metropolitan area. Annually, each of its inhabitants emits an average of 8.6 tons of CO2. Therefore, it is stated by experts that the rule will help the city's transition to green energy. "In addition to the current global climate crisis, we are facing an energy crisis with the protracted Russia-Ukraine war, and there is no time to lose," said local councillor Risako Narikiyo.
Additionally, the metropolitan government says the measure overall will save residents money. The installation of the 4 kilowatt panels will cost around Yen 980,000 (€6,725), but the government estimates this will be covered by electricity sales revenue within 10 years. With the subsidies, this period is expected to be reduced to about six years.
Life
Snow to Electricity in Japan
In December, tests of an unusual electricity generation system began in the Japanese city of Aomori. It was planned to generate electricity from the temperature difference between normal snow and ambient air. While Aomori's city services previously dumped snow collected from the streets into the sea, it has now found an unexpected use as a power source.
The city has partnered with IT company Forte and Tokyo Telecommunications to equip a swimming pool at a local boarding school with a heat pipe and liquid system. The organizations will dump snow from the streets into the pool, while the pipes will be used outdoors (installed) and exposed to sunlight. Due to the temperature difference in the pipes, convection movement of the liquid will start. The liquid, in turn, will be used to power the microturbine. The higher the temperature difference, the greater the power.
Its efficiency is expected to be comparable to generating energy from solar panels and more environmentally friendly than wind generation. In fact, another advantage of the proposed snow and pond solution is that there will be almost zero waste.
Sustainability of Sail: Impact League
SailGP - Sailing Grand Prix - sets social and environmental sustainability criteria for catamaran racing teams, launching the Impact League, which awards points for reducing their carbon footprint and increasing inclusivity in sailing.
The Impact League will change the course of sailing, making it one of the most sustainable sports in the world. SailGP Chief Operating Officer Julien De Biase explains the Impact League as a parallel leaderboard where teams are scored on the positive impact they have on reducing their carbon footprint, sourcing their food responsibly, managing their waste and enabling a number of operators to stay at home and work remotely, all of which gives them a ranking. In the Impact League, teams are pioneering new green technologies in sailing as well as implementing practices such as eliminating single-use plastics from operations.
As well as being the first major league sport to use sustainability as a competitive measure, SailGP has pledged that by 2025 all its events will be powered by nature, both in the water and on the shore. In addition, events are broadcast sustainably. Broadcast operations for the 2021-22 SailGP were conducted and coordinated remotely through SailGP's renewable energy-powered production center in London, making SailGP the first carbon-positive entertainment broadcast in the industry.
Conscious and Sustainable Consumption by Country
Consumption habits have a much more serious environmental impact than estimated. For example, the fashion industry is responsible for more than 10 percent of carbon emissions and consumes around 100 million tons of oil every year. About a third of the world's food rots in landfills before it can be eaten. These results point to the need to change consumption habits.
A study by Savoo, an online fundraising platform, ranked the 30 most populous countries in Europe in terms of their green shopping habits. To calculate an overall 'sustainability score', the researchers ranked the countries according to a number of different criteria. These included recycling rates, consumption footprint, amount of textile waste and household waste per capita.
Overall, Finland comes out on top. This is largely due to its excellent SDG score, which is the highest among the 193 UN member states. Finland has also reduced its consumption footprint by a fifth between 2010 and 2020.
Malta, on the other hand, ranked as the worst country for sustainable shopping. With the lowest SDG score of all the countries on the list, Malta increased its consumption footprint by 10.5 percent between 2010 and 2020.
Italy has reduced its consumption footprint by an impressive 26.03% over the last 10 years, making it the European country that has reduced its consumption footprint the most over this period. It is closely followed by Sweden with 21.99% and Greece with 20.75%. But Italy is also notable for having the highest textile waste per capita in the EU, generating more than 200,000 tons of textile waste per year.
Looking at recycling data, Germany recycles the most municipal waste in the European Union, with an estimated recycling rate of 67% in 2020. Malta, on the other hand, recycles only 11 percent of its municipal waste.
Business
Affordable Energy from Biomass
Scientists from Aston University's Energy and Bioproducts Institute are launching a project to turn Indonesia's unwanted rice straw into low-cost, commercial-scale biomass energy.
Indonesia produces 100 million tons of rice waste annually, 60% of which is burned in open areas, causing air pollution. If the waste is converted into electricity, it is expected to provide ten times the energy needed to power the country's households. Initially, the project will focus on developing a business model to help companies and local governments on the Indonesian island of Lombok to generate local, affordable energy. It will then expand to other countries with biomass capacity.
District Heating System
Spanish researchers are developing a community heating system that promises to reduce carbon emissions. The district heating system developed by NASUVINSA and ENGIE is expected to reduce CO2 emissions in local neighborhoods in Spain by around 80%. Located in the city of Pamplona, the new district heating system will sustainably heat thousands of houses in the local area, helping the region reach its carbon neutral targets. The project, which includes a public-private sector management model, is part of an initiative to innovate smarter energy systems to support the transition to clean energy, neighborhood renewal and embrace environmental sustainability, both in Pamplona and across Spain.
The low-emission district heating system is scheduled to go live in the second quarter of 2023, when the construction of the entire infrastructure is complete. The model is expected to be commercialized at the end of the project.
Eco-Friendly Wind Turbines
Two companies, Aeromine and Vortex Bladeless, have started producing bladeless wind turbines that generate energy solely from vibrations.
The United Nations says that global wind energy growth needs to triple in the next decade to meet the goal of carbon neutrality. Traditional wind turbines, often criticized for being noisy and damaging to wildlife, are struggling to contribute meaningfully to this goal. To address these issues, Spanish start-up Vortex Bladeless has designed a wind turbine that generates energy through vibration, while Texas-based Aeromine has produced silent, bladeless turbines. Aeromine's turbines can be fixed to the side of buildings with the strongest winds and generate energy from winds as slow as five miles per hour. Because they are so small, they take up much less space than conventional turbines and have the advantage of being silent. Since the Vortex wind turbine does not need blades either, the turbine is relatively low maintenance, quiet and the design does not harm birds. This is an important feature, given that hundreds of thousands of birds are killed by wind turbines annually.
References:
https://www.euronews.com/green/2022/12/29/how-sailing-is-being-reborn-as-a-sustainable-sport
https://www.innovationnewsnetwork.com/new-project-utilises-biomass-affordable-energy/28503/
https://www.ecohubmap.com/the-news/eco-friendly-bladeless-small-wind-energy/50emlbavl7tm
Ece Özyaşlı
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Elif Aslan
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Elif Çora
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