Mobile phone ownership soars in Africa

Mobile phone usage and using the Internet all have definable carbon emissions and the ownership of mobile phones and especially smart phones is continuing to rapidly rise, and this is also the case in Africa according to a recent article in the Times Higher Education Supplement.

The economy of Africa has grown by 5% per year for the past 10 years and is predicated to continue to grow faster than any other continent over the next 5 years.  The growth of mobile phone ownership in Africa has soared as a consequence from 25 million in 2001 to 650 million in 2011.  Ownership rates are close to the global average with 86% of the planet’s population having a mobile phone connection.  The highest ownership rates in Africa are the Cote D’Ivoire at 93%,  Senegal 90%, South Africa 90%, Egypt 90%, Ghana 88%, Cameroon 86%, Nigeria 82%, Tanzania 80%, Uganda 79% and Kenya 71%.  In sub-Saharan Africa there are 40 mobile connections for each land line connection.  However, Internet penetration is poor and expensive with average current penetration only 15.6% compared to 83.6% in the UK, although this varies widely falling to just 1.2% in Somalia. The full article can be accessed here.

In-Vitro Grown Meat - a low carbon alternative?

Which scene do you think is more appealing? Lush green pastures, covering dozens of acres, filled with grazing cattle - or muscle cell culture, floating in a petri dish flooded with growth hormones, nutrients and stimulants. The end result of both: the beef burger you're going to chow down on for dinner. Easy decision, right?

Image source
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/11/11/uk-science-meat-idUKTRE7AA1Z020111111

Not so fast - there’s more to this “lab meat” than it initially seems. In-vitro meat – grown from animal tissue in an indoor setting - has the potential to be just as palatable and tasty as the "real deal".  The potential industry revolution has been garnering more and more attention in recent years: in 2011, PETA announced an award of $1 million to whoever managed to produce meat from cell culture which is as good as the meat from a whole animal (1). Though currently too expensive for the average person - a meat for a beef burger currently costs about £200,000 (2) - the costs will eventually drop, allowing those who find meat eating morally reprehensible finally have that steak they've been dreaming about for years.

But there is more than just an ethical benefit in replacing traditionally-grown red and white meat with the in-vitro variant.  The live meat industry is a massive contributor to global environmental change; it is responsible for 18% of greenhouse gas emissions, takes up 2/3 of agricultural land, and costs 2500-5000 gallons of water per pound of beef produced (3,4). Clearly, reducing our meat and dairy consumption is a simple but significant change that each individual could take to reduce one's carbon footprint. But in-vitro meat is an interesting alternative; the production method results in less greenhouse gas emissions, requires less energy and could reduce emissions at other points in the supply chain. A recent study by Tuomisto and de Mattos (5 - include a diagram, possible?) estimated that lab-grown meat would require 99% less land use, 82-96% less water consumption, 78-96 less greenhouse gas emissions, and 7-45% less energy per volume of pork, beef and sheep (poultry would require more energy but much less land  and water). Though these figures are built on many assumptions, technological innovations could meet these targets. Meat appears to be back on the menu in our environmentally-turbulent world.

The possibilities of in-vitro meat do not end there. Meat could be produced in urban environments and delivered rapidly to food distributers and shops, reducing the eco-burden of shipping and transportation from the source of production. The monetary and energy costs of freezing the product would be reduced also, as excess fats and bone would not need to stored. More savings could be made by "vertical farming" - high rise buildings devoted to the indoor production of food stuffs in urban environments (6). These "food factories" aim to be as efficient as a normal ecosystem, recovering water by hydroponics and aeroponics. Though conceived of as being a means to locally source fruit and vegetables in cities or town, combining the concept with in-vitro meat culturing has the potential to curb the environmental impact of overall food consumption.

Reducing food wastage and the consumption of meat and dairy products is an effective way we can reduce greenhouse gas emissions. But unfortunately not everyone is willing to sign up for the vegetarian lifestyle for the sake of environment. In-vitro culturing gives us a chance of a future where environmental change is under control but the humble hamburger remains – even if it were grown in a test tube.

Kevin Daly

References:

1. http://www.independent.ie/business/farming/peta-offers-1m-for-invitro-meat-26720454.html

2.http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-16972761

3. http://woods.stanford.edu/environmental-venture-projects/consequences-increased-global-meat-consumption-global-environment

4. http://www.earthsave.org/environment/foodchoices.htm

5. Environmental Impacts of Cultured Meat ProductionEnviron. Sci. Technol., 2011, 45 (14), pp 6117–6123 Hanna L.Tuomisto and M. Joost Teixeira de Mattos

6. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=the-rise-of-vertical-farms

Sharing is caring

Image

We all know that using public transport is more environmentally friendly than driving your own car alone, but it is also often more costly, time-consuming and inconvenient. So to make life easier, but still make a difference, we should share; share the car, and share the journey.

Public transport options are vastly more environmentally friendly than private transport options. But if we simply share the journey, then emissions are similar to public transport:

·         Car (medium-sized) with driver and two passengers (40g CO₂/passenger km)

·         Car (medium-sized) with driver and single passenger (60g CO₂/passenger km)

·         Taxi (medium-sized) with two passengers (80g CO₂/passenger km)

So with simply adding a passenger or two to our car/taxi journey we can greatly reduce the carbon footprint per passenger, even sometimes surpassing public transport options.

The idea of carpooling for the daily commute has been around in popularity since the 1970s but popularity faded over the years due to the fall in gas prices, lack of flexibility in routes/times, and lack of reliability among participants. However nowadays it seems to be making somewhat of a comeback, facilitated by the internet and mobile phones.

Dynamic carpooling takes advantage of smartphones` GPS to determine the route, match up drivers and passengers and use social networking for establishing trust and accountability. A number of popular websites exist globally and in Ireland to enable the success of dynamic carpooling: carpooling.ie, zimride.com, erideshare.com.

But instead of sharing just the journey, how about going one step further, and also sharing the car itself? Sounds crazy, right? Well we`ve all been doing this for years already, whenever we go on a holiday abroad and hire a rental car. Only this time, we hire the car for our commute/shopping trip/weekend away.

By paying a nominal annual fee and then per-mile rates, 24/7 access is granted to a fleet of cars parked in various spots all over a city. The beauty of the scheme enables customers to only pay when they actually use their vehicle; no insurance, VRT, road tax, NCT are payable by the customer. In fact, privately owned vehicles tend to only have a 5-10% utilization rate anyway, so why would you pay so many extra charges to only rarely use your car?

In addition, not owning a car might make us actually consider our transport choices and choose the most efficient means available. We could end up walking, cycling or taking the environmentally friendly public transport options if they are accessible to us, and only resort to the use of a shared car when we absolutely need to, thus reducing costs and CO₂ emissions further.

Some of the more popular carsharing companies include gocar.ie and zipcar.com. Customer feedback indicates that up to 15 privately owned vehicles are taken off the road per shared vehicle, either when customers decide against purchasing cars in the first place, or from selling their car. This amounts to a substantial saving in the CO₂ emissions that arise from the production of motor vehicles in the first place (via sourcing of raw materials, or manufacturing).

Finally, whether we choose to carpool or carshare, the net result would be a decrease in cars on the road, thus reducing emissions, traffic congestion, and parking demand, allowing us to commute cheaper, greener, quicker and more stressfree

In the end, we all have choices to make that will affect our wallets, but also the planet we live on. So if we truly want to start thinking and acting in a more sustainable manner, choosing to share is one way of showing we care.

COLM DUFFY

Controlling Wildfires – Sustainable for Who?

When people speak of sustainability they speak with the idea of creating a planet resourceful for all species, not just man. The human race will probably admit to being the leading cause of the disruption of sustainability so it’s fair that we also take responsibility to try repair it, not just for us but for all other organisms that inhabit earth. But what inspired me to write about this particular topic was that man is also trying to repair the disruption caused by other sources on the planet.

So what are the main disruptors of sustainability? Overpopulation, destruction of forests, burning of fossil fuels… all caused by man mainly. As a result of all these and many more, there is too much carbon being pumped into our atmosphere causing more disruption.  But we all know that and we are slowly trying to change ourselves to decrease our carbon emissions. Natural sources of carbon emissions however can’t change themselves and we’ve generously decided to also help combat their carbon emissions. But is this an entirely beneficial thing? Is this really sustainable for the entire planet or just us?

Wildfires are thought to cover 3–4 million km² of the globe each year and are responsible for the release of 2–3 billion tonnes of carbon to the atmosphere based on estimates from previous years. I think everyone can agree that this is bad and due to global temperatures rising, forests are becoming drier and more prone to more frequent and larger fires. But do we really have the right to try stop these natural occurrences?

Despite the billions of tonnes of carbon emissions, wildfires do have their benefits, of which many species take advantage. It is said that fires cause the loss of nutrients through a variety of mechanisms however it has been shown that very high temperatures have to be reached to result in a significant loss and generally these nutrients are replaced by the organic matter left behind after the fire. Fires also remove overhead vegetation resulting in fewer leaves intercepting rain which allows more moisture to reach the soil.

It is also said that fires result in the loss of biodiversity due to the death of species caught in the fires. This has been shown incorrect in many cases. The longleaf pine savannas of the southern states of America depend on fire to prevent the invasion of deciduous forest trees whose shade eliminates both the pines and the species beneath. The diversity and abundance of these species is closely related to fire frequency. Natural fire regimes of the forests of British Columbia are important in maintaining a diverse assemblage of vertebrate species and different species have adapted to exploit the different stages of succession, regrowth and habitat change that occurs following a fire. Fires also cause the habitat to evolve differentially afterwards and influence how vertebrate species are able to use the burned areas. In most grassland ecosystems, fire is the primary mode of decomposition, making it crucial in the recycling of nutrients. There are also many plant species that depend on fires to instigate the germination of their seeds such as the Giant Sequoia.

Fire serves many important functions within fire-adapted ecosystems. Fire plays an important role in nutrient cycling, diversity maintenance and habitat structure. The suppression of fire can lead to unforeseen changes in ecosystems that often adversely affect the plants, animals and humans that depend upon that habitat. So with all that in mind, is controlling wildfires creating sustainability for all or are we just looking at the smaller picture?

  

Alice Kennedy

Carbon Emissions and Food

The food that you eat and how it is produced is the single largest component in your dinner’s carbon footprint. Up to 30% of European GHG emissions come from the food and drink sector. Firstly I am looking into where I do my weekly shopping. I am writing a shopping list at the start of the week and deciding what I can buy locally, what fair trade items I will buy and what I can grow in my own allotment. All these alternative options will help lower my food miles and therefore GHG emissions.  Buying locally not only lowers emissions, it creates local employment and local economy. It is also important to buy fair trade products to help support the produce of farmers in third world countries. They supply us with out of season fruit, vegetables and flowers as well as coffee and tea. In order to lower my food footprint I also looked into food type, cooking, packaging, disposal and storage.

By eating less red meat and dairy products we can save up to 25%. By reducing red meat intake and replacing it with pork you can significantly reduce your GHG emissions. It is also healthier to reduce your intake of these foods. By planning out what you are going to eat, and either controlling how much you cook or keeping leftovers for the next day you can reduce the amount of waste. Put simply less waste means more food to go around and less demand means lower prices. Reducing the amount you buy, reducing meat and dairy and eating more seasonal foods and recycling waste packaging you will half you GHG emissions for food.

Katie Boyle

Sustainable Housing

One of the best ways to think about how to live sustainably is by looking at where you live. Whether you are buying a new home or upgrading your current one, making your house sustainable should always be in your mind.

Obviously people cannot just move house whenever they feel like it but there are ways to make an older house more sustainable as well as thinking ahead to what kind of house you will buy next. Living sustainably in a home usually focuses on insulating the home to make it easier (and cheaper!) to heat. There are many ways a house can be built sustainably but all have one goal and that is to have a small environmental impact.

Most sustainable homes are built from wood which is naturally insulating and also comes from well managed forests. The use of triple glazed windows always very little heat to escape once the house has been heated. Solar panels for heating water are an excellent addition to any home being built to be sustainable and these can also be used in homes which would like to become more sustainable. Many older homes are not very sustainable but this problem can be easily rectified. Homes can be insulated in a number of ways whether it be internal or external and the government even provides grants for some forms of insulation as well as for solar heating.

Although sustainable housing may seem like an expense it will save money on bills and require less fuel which could become very important if current consumption trends continue!

Eóin O’Brien

‘A week of Sustainable living’

After taking the Living Sustainability course at Trinity College Dublin I decided to undertake a week of sustainable living. Last week I began my sustainability campaign and here’s how it went.

Monday

Monday went well as I was full of enthusiasm for the coming week and my changing lifestyle. By 8 p.m. I had, taken a shower which lasted under five minutes (usually twenty minutes), went for a run outside instead of the gym, made dinner from locally sourced food and recycled my waste appropriately.

Tuesday

My new way of life continued into Tuesday. When taking a lunch break from the library I remembered to plug out my laptop charger and tell my friends to do the same. I was proud of my new environmentally friendly ways and decided to treat myself with take-out coffee from Starbucks, which, when finished, I tossed in the general waste bin in college. Oops, so much for my recycling today!

Wednesday

I filled my flask with coffee before heading out to lectures, not to make the same mistake as yesterday. Today went well. I noticed ways my friends could be more sustainable in their day-to-day lives, I may not have noticed if I wasn’t making such a conscious effort to change my own ways.

Thursday

I decided to change the light bulbs in my room so I proceeded to Dunnes Stores and bought three long life bulbs. LESSON NUMBER ONE: It’s good to be sustainable but make sure you have enough money in your bank account to support your sustainable lifestyle!

Friday

I went out for dinner with a few of my friends from college. I saw all the food that was being thrown away and wondered do restaurants dispose of their organic waste through composting. Not only am I being sustainable but I ate all my greens not to contribute to the restaurants organic waste.

Saturday

The sunny spell had gone and the rain descended upon the country. My run today would have to be done in the gym. I couldn’t get the flu running in the rain so close to exams!

Sunday

I filled my water and went for a walk to the market at Stoneybatter. I wandered around and bought fish and vegetables for my dinner that night, all the food was locally sourced.

My thoughts from a sustainable week of living:

I discovered it took a lot of discipline to stay on track but after making such an effort for the week I will find it difficult to go back to the way I was before. The sustainable living principles I have incorporated to my life in the past week are easy to adapt to day to day life. It was an enjoyable and worthwhile experience. Sustainable living takes a lot of planning and does not just happen without practice and discipline in everyday tasks. That’s a lesson not just for me, but for the world.

 Katherine Hickey

A sustainable student life-is it feasible?

TCD Environment Society Community Garden, Dartry

Many students use the excuse of too little money as to why they can’t live more sustainable lives. They probably envisage having to solar panel up their house and pop a wind turbine in the garden, but with a few small changes students can make huge savings and improve their lives. The idea that living sustainably is expensive is a common misconception. By far the cheapest way to eat is by growing your own food, even just a few potato plants will give you more potatoes over the winter than you’ll know what to do with. Buying foods that have been grown locally from a market can also be a lot cheaper than you think. If you normally take the Dart/Bus to college and you switched to cycling you could save at least €700 per college year! Your health would benefit too from gardening and cycling so you could drop the gym subscription and save on the Zumba class. Swopping the tv/laptop for these outdoor activities, layering up during the winter instead of turning the heating on, cooking in bulk (saves time too!) and switching lights off when not in use can have surprisingly big savings on your gas/electricity bills! So make a few small changes and start saving money and enjoying your healthier life today!

 Gwen Duffy