Archive for the ‘Deep ecology’ Category

Deep energy

Wednesday, May 5th, 2010

The Earth’s heat is there to be made a useful ally.

We use heat pumps where we go maybe 200 meters down to find temperature differences of a few degrees, and save energy.

But the deeper you get the hotter it becomes. The thermal gradient varies over the Earth, and in some places you have temperatures of several hundred degrees a few kilometers down.

Oil technology drilling techniques now makes it possible  to drill deep down – say 5-10 km. Several wells can be drilled in the same area, and the drilling techniques are advanced so that well systems can be made from interconnected wells. Even lateral precise drilling is possible.

There are technical challenges – surely – but these can be handled in due course.

Stable, kind, sustainable, even invisible energy anybody? Why not? The heat is on – always has been.

To the North Pole!

Monday, April 5th, 2010

Things are getting hotter near the North Pole in several ways.

The temperature is rising and the ice is disappearing. You can move about up there like never before.

The powers to be are trying to find their positions in the area. There is oil and gas at the bottom of the sea – most likely lots of it. Russia has already positioned a permanent flag made of titanium at the bottom of the sea near the Pole. The maps are being drawn, the continental shelf is measured, sonic booms are heard all over, the submarines are moving around.

The principles of division are hotly debated, mostly behind closed doors, rules are being laid out, and quotas will be allocated.

The US, Canada, Denmark, Russia, Norway are all in there already, and the referee is the UN. Sensible process so far it seems, but who knows what will happen when the final countdown begins. Big power or dialog based on international law? Maybe we need some new laws also?

Transparency is not allowed at the moment – the doors must be closed – don’t show your hand – who are these people jockeying for positions on behalf of whom?

So then follows the south China Sea, the South Pole area, and what about the bottom of the Pacific – not a word so far – is it too deep: Excitement all around us.

Maybe we should postpone the end of big oil a few (hundred?) years?

Intelligent planet?

Monday, April 5th, 2010

We are placing intelligence like small computers, logic circuits, sensors, RFID into all things. We could interconnect these systems and make a totality of it.

Monitoring the temperature, air moisture, particles and gases in the air, speed of traffic, number of cars and people in many places, flow of water ….. are done routinely today.

Buildings, means of transport have computers, municipal systems can be monitored and controlled for a number of variables, appliances, your dress can have intelligence….

Hospitals, energy production, factories, chains of supply….

Your personal portal where you can find all about yourself – plan, control, anticipate, interact, automate, check efficiencies, economics ….

We have the monitors and intelligence in place as many things are digitally enabled and connected through the internet. Data are created continously and may be used for simulation, control, analysis, adaptation, starting and stopping, controlling efficiency and economics.

Money movements could be similarly controlled.

The running of everything can be made smooth: we can plan, predict, adjust, react via the systems.

How far should we go? Local systems for all with the possibility to connect into a world grid? Mandatory or voluntary?

We are moving in the direction of integration, efficiency, optimalisation – watch it – value creation for all must be upheld.

Mission Zero

Monday, March 22nd, 2010

How can your company reduce your carbon footprint to zero? Do you know the emission numbers for your company? What energy do you use? Do you produce waste and just throw it away? Are the materials etc. you use for your production ecologically sound?

You can make this part of your strategy and business model development and innovation practices.

What about your private household? You don’t know? Well then start thinking – it could be both fun and useful!

Helpful websites: CO2 Benchmark , Carbon Footprint Calculator

Are we forgetting electromagnetic pollution?

Thursday, March 18th, 2010

The Earth’s magnetic fields are out there – always – and influencing our lives. The fields and radiation humans produce may influence us as well- some are static, others have a pulsed radiation.

Electromagnetic fields EMF and electromagnetic radiation EMR come in all sizes and shapes. Some of these fields and radiations are in the visible spectrum, others are invisible.

The spectrum of radiation is wide:

  • X-rays, radiation from nuclear activity, ultraviolet radiation,
  • visible rays
  • infrared, microwave, radio-waves, radar, mobile telephone, WIFI,
  • extra low frequency radiation ELF

If you look around you there are lots of uses:

  • battery driven equipment
  • homes full of electric equipment
  • electrics for industrial tasks
  • power rails for cranes, trains
  • power lines for distribution, transformers
  • detectors, door openers,
  • radio transmitters of many kinds
  • shortwave equipment, mobile telephones and their antennas,
  • radars, beacons, TV-towers
  • W-LAN-routers in your home and office
  • radio-controlled cars etc.
  • induction heating systems in industry and homes
  • radon
  • X-rays and other medical radiation
  • and more ……..

Do we see biological effects from this massive radiation – is there a risk of discomfort, illness or death? Electric pollution is no doubt present – we are taking part in a giant experiment! Nobody is at the moment checking the combined consequences of electric pollution – the evidence of damage is therefore slight.

Rules for admissible levels of radiation vary – it’s OK if you are not cooked (US)  or it not OK if you feel discomfort (Russia).

The medical side is getting more attention. The Russians are active – they have found stress hormones, depressions, etc. US researchers have seen negative reactions in rats with levels of radiation that is lower than in an ordinary office, subliminal reactions are seen in people. The endocrine, metabolic and cardiovascular systems may be affected, as well as growth systems and immune response. Rumuors of cancer rates going up are found.

Military people are working on radiative weapons using pulsed radiation, big powerful antennas are found in many places. They are also using ELF extra low frequency signals of 30-100 Hz that have been shown to cause chronic stress and reduced disease resistance.

There are lots of available protection equipment for some of this radiation, but technical changes should be considered as to the way power lines, microwave antennas etc. are built.

Energy levels for all frequencies should be set, e.g. 100 microtesla for 50Hz. Magnetic fields in a typical house could be 0.1 microtesla.

Heating of tissue has been seen under the influence of radiofrequencies, and a value of 0.02 degree Celsius is allowed.  Researchers in Sweden claim to have seen cancer as a consequence of radiation. Non thermal effects are not generally considered.

Electropollution may harm the the stability and functioning of the electric currents and magnetic fields in the body.

The precautionary principle is violated now – the trouble is that we can’t see, touch, hear, feel, taste, smell these signals.

We need transparency – measurement – follow up routines in this area!

Urban agriculture

Thursday, March 11th, 2010

Good cities often have much greenery. Large plants like trees and bushes are used for decorative purposes and to give a sense of natural habitat to city dwellers.

The planting is traditionally done on the street level, but is also now found on many levels in all kinds of building. The aim is to soften the image, make the building seem ecological. Architects increasingly use “greening” as a tool in their work – often as part of landscaping and developing sustainable cities.

Now another force is coming up: Growing plants for food in cities, distributing and consuming them locally. This is small scale agriculture aiming to be ecological and fully sustainable. It is now being developed through projects in several cities.

This is called community based agriculture, and is utilizing new concepts of thinking and technology. Among these are criticism of the unsound global economic food production system, edible landscape thinking, grow food where people are, create pretty neighbourhoods, hydroponics.

The places used are rooftops, greenhouses, allotments, community gardens, roadsides, parks, hydroponic installations.

On a larger scale this becomes quite complex – the physical environment, landscaping, economics, social considerations, the ecology. City regulation and educating people must be part of it. Schools often find a special place in these developments.

Agriculture is also animals, so rearing animals for food is part of the plans.

The ecological side weighs heavy – no pesticides, organic growth, water and waste management.

The aim is both to employ people and feed them, make products locally available so that little transport is needed.

The choice of produce is important – products must suit the urban conditions and restrictions – so fruits require trees, vegetables can be harvested, flowers, herbs etc. Animals must be small – chickens for eggs – but milk production can be possible, rearing and slaughtering big and many animals may be difficult.

These processes have started – we are learning and progressing.

And what about beekeping in the city: non-aggressive bees that is?  See New York Times

Climate models – progress

Thursday, March 11th, 2010

An article in Science magazine says that water vapour in the atmosphere has significant effect on the temperature on Earth. Recent reduced levels of water vapour has reduced the temperature measured – but we do not understand these mechanisms fully.  We need time series of data on this effect, and we need to correlate this to other factors of the climate models.

The tropics seems to be the source of water for these vapours.

The knowledge of climate models is going forward – good.

Careful now IPCC: Get your facts and science right before you conclude – we don’t want data fitted to a new truth.

Farmed salmon – the multiple destroyer

Monday, March 1st, 2010

Farmed salmon is a big industry in Norway. Production per year is about 800.000 metric tons, making it the third largest export after oil and metals. Many improvements have been made through the years and costs have been going down substantially, with prices near the USD 4-5 mark pr. kilo.

Norwegian salmon companies have interests in many countries – Scotland, Ireland, Peru, Canada a.o.

There is increasing concern about the sustainability of this production as the negative environmental effects are serious all over the world. Offshore farming methods using net-pens are not sustainable. They are very vulnerable to all sorts of incidents: virus, warm water, rough weather etc.. It is rather incredible that this technology has been allowed at all.

  • animal welfare is extremely low with fish being crammed into net-pens
  • the fish is dying from salmon lice
  • there are substantial amounts of lost foodstuffs, medicines, de-lousing substances, faeces etc. in the surrounding sea destroying the seabed – what you put in the pen is everywhere else too.
  • there is risk of human cancer due to the use of these substances, other health issues have also been raised
  • wild fish is degenerating or disappearing altogether due to large losses of fish from the pens
  • the spawning areas and transport routes for wild fish are restricted by salmon farms
  • other animals depending on fish are suffering
  • the tourist industry is suffering

The feeding industry for the salmon industry is also large: It takes 4-5 kg of fish to make 1 kg salmon. Also note that producing 1 kg of salmon requires less feed than producing 1 kg of chicken (chickens eat plant food)

The fish farming industry is huge – direct and indirect employment runs into the tens of thousands, profits are mostly huge.

The administration of  salmon farming has received massive criticism and the politics, ownership, lobbying are all big with blurred lines of action and responsibility. Has it become an industry too big to fail – or to change – so big it does not listen to anybody? The politicians and the regulators are owners themselves, the employment and profits are important.

In many parts of the world this criticism is raised, and shrimp farming has been under attack for many years.

The criticism have led to the development of new sustainable methods, landbased and completely without the negative effects.

See link: Next-Generation Aquaculture: closed containment, landbased,no risk. And what about plant food for the fish?

The public will not buy shitty fish! Changes must come – or are we killing the goose laying the golden eggs?

See also: Green Warriors of Norway

And now reports of farmed monster cod found by fishermen in the sea – we don’t need more of this! Get your act together!

Nature’s own – back to nature

Monday, March 1st, 2010

Environmental thinking and practice is moving forward.

“AgroNova AS is an environmental technology firm based in Moss, Norway. At our headquarters we manufacture fibres, testing plant for sludge treatment and plant for the processing of biomass and production of topsoil.”

The company has been working hard for many years and now has sustainable products based on recycled sludge, recycled paper and bark. The low temperature composting process they use also removes odour.

They use recycled composted sludge and recycled paper to make natural fertiliser, building insulation and hygienization products for municipal sludge.

The recycling and composting processes are done at low temperatures so that nutrients and microbiological components are not destroyed.

Soil products for agriculture and gardens are also made by combining composted garden waste, fertilizer, composted sludge and paper fibre.

A natural fertilizer has also been produced.

http://www.agronova.no/en/images/logo.gif

So they are using waste products and good thinking to reduce waste, make sustainable products and close nature’s loop.

Good thinking – we wish them commercial success.

Similar efforts are underway in Turkey and Israel THE LIFE PROJECT

Developing a sense of nature

Sunday, February 28th, 2010

Environmental thinking is developing nicely, although good environmetal practices are somewhat lacking in many places.

The look of a landscape should be part of environmentalism – especially where humans have made changes.

Landscapes could be opened up for transport, building, viewing, business, leisure but increasing care must be taken to ensure that nature is part of our considerations – that we develop a sense of nature.

Beautiful scenery can be combined with human activity, landscaping can add new dimensions to roads, bridges, tunnels etc. to make an integrated solution as regards what nature made and what man made.

Agricultural areas, waterways, roads, railroads could all be designed so that they are in harmony with forests, mountains, rivers etc. in a holistic picture.

The next ambition could be to design urban spaces, agricultural areas and even industrial areas with a view to beauty and integration with nature.

Landscaping can add new dimensions to nature, nature can enhance manmade structures.

See also: ” MAD is a Beijing-based design office dedicated to innovation in architectural practice, landscape design and urban planning. MAD develops its unique concept of futurism through a persistent investigation of the symbiotic potentials amid nature and technology. MAD aspires to design in close harmony with nature, offering people the freedom to develop independent urban experiences.”