The Environment Thread

Come on all you lazy "fat" bastards on the General Chat Thread and enter the stock picking competition.

And post in the thread of your pick. Let us get to 100 entries in the January 2021 Comp.

gg

Garpal Gumnut said:

Come on all you lazy "fat" bastards on the General Chat Thread and enter the stock picking competition.

And post in the thread of your pick. Let us get to 100 entries in the January 2021 Comp.

gg

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Well I'm just considering buying ETF's and leave the work to someone else.

Single stock picking is too hard for a lazy sod like me.

SirRumpole said:

Well I'm just considering buying ETF's and leave the work to someone else.

Single stock picking is too hard for a lazy sod like me.

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Well just choose an ETF. Any bloody ETF.

And enter the stock competition and post on an ETF thread appropriate to the ETF you have chosen.

It's not that goddam difficult.

If you need a straw I'll walk you through it via DM.

gg

Couple of stories re. The Environment.
Both highlight what we know but don't want to take seriously.

Cleaning up plastic in the oceans.

What is happening with microplastics ? How are they getting into "everything " ?

Another piece of deep research by George Monbiot that is terrifying..

Microplastics in sewage: a toxic combination that is poisoning our land​

George Monbiot


Policy failure and lack of enforcement have left Britain’s waterways and farmland vulnerable to ‘forever chemicals’


A digital composite image of plastics found in rivers across the UK. Photograph: Alex Hyde/Greenpeace/PA
Thu 26 May 2022 06.00 BSTLast modified on Thu 26 May 2022 07.14 BST

https://www.theguardian.com/comment...son-land-britain-waterways-chemicals#comments
361
We have recently woken up to a disgusting issue. Rather than investing properly in new sewage treatment works, water companies in the UK – since they were privatised in 1989 – have handed £72 bn in dividends to their shareholders. Our sewerage system is antiquated and undersized, and routinely bypassed altogether, as companies allow raw human excrement to pour directly into our rivers. They have reduced some of them to stinking, almost lifeless drains.

This is what you get from years of policy failure and the near-collapse of monitoring and enforcement by successive governments. Untreated sewage not only loads our rivers with excessive nutrients, but it’s also the major source of the microplastics that now pollute them. It contains a wide range of other toxins, including PFASs: the “forever chemicals” that were the subject of the movie Dark Waters. This may explain the recent apparent decline in otter populations: after recovering from the organochlorine pesticides used in the 20th century, they are now being hit by new pollutants.


Microplastics found deep in lungs of living people for first time
Read more
But here’s a question scarcely anyone is asking: what happens when our sewerage system works as intended? What happens when the filth is filtered out and the water flowing out of sewage treatment plants is no longer hazardous to life? I stumbled across the answer while researching my book, Regenesis, and I’m still reeling from it. When the system works as it is meant to, it is likely to be just as harmful as it is when bypassed by unscrupulous water companies. It’s an astonishing and shocking story, but it has hardly been touched by the media.

Regenerating the soil. Fascinating well researched look at how we must restore our soils if we are to have any future as a species.

More practical information about how regneration farming transforms land within a few years

So much for being worried about particulates coming from ICE motors. Apparently the overwhelming problem is the daily grinding away of car tyres.
And to top it off they are the major source of oceanic plastics pollution

wayneL said:

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Apparently it's cellophane. But it's still funny.

Clever way to reduce waste, recycle well and support not for profits community organisation.

GreenChair saving office furniture from landfill, while helping WA charities furnish for free​

ABC Radio Perth
/ By Kate Leaver
Posted 21h ago21 hours ago

Gordon Bateup has saved more than 123,500kg of commercial furniture from landfill.(ABC News: Kate Leaver)
Help keep family & friends informed by sharing this article



After 20 years in the construction industry fitting out corporate offices, Gordon Bateup was sick of seeing perfectly usable office furniture being sent to landfill, simply because it was out of style, or an office block was being demolished.
So he decided to come up with a solution.

"Essentially it is diverting unwanted furniture from demolition projects and de-fits and connecting it to not-for-profits, charities and community groups who need to fit out an office and don't have the budget," he told Tom Baddeley on ABC Radio Perth.
"And it's as simple as that.

"You sit there and think 'Someone should do something about this' and then I thought, 'Well I'm probably that person because I know the industry and I
In less than two years, more than 123,500 kilograms of commercial furniture has been saved from landfill in Western Australia through Mr Bateup's project GreenChair.

About 14,900 items of furniture have gone to 200 WA-based not-for-profit organisations, charities, and community groups in desperate need of office furniture.
have the network to do it'."

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How Gordon's simple idea saved more than 120,000kg of furniture from landfill

For two decades, construction worker Gordon Bateup would watch office furniture that was "basically brand new" chucked into landfill because corporations wanted an update — then one day he decided to do something about it.

www.abc.net.au

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Another idea way out of left field. Creating a bionic robot fish that will clean up micro plastics in the ocean and self repair if damaged !!
Seems like the prototypes work.
One question What happens to real fish that think these look tasty and gobble the up ?

​

Scientists unveil bionic robo-fish to remove microplastics from seas​

Tiny self-propelled robo-fish can swim around, latch on to free-floating microplastics and fix itself if it gets damaged

Researchers at Sichuan University have revealed an innovative solution to track down these pollutants when it comes to water contamination: designing a tiny self-propelled robo-fish that can swim around, latch on to free-floating microplastics, and fix itself if it gets cut or damaged while on its expedition.

The robo-fish is just 13mm long, and thanks to a light laser system in its tail, swims and flaps around at almost 30mm a second, similar to the speed at which plankton drift around in moving water.

I mentioned a long time ago, that the issue of solar panels and its effect on limiting food production, would eventually become an issue.

There are several theories, time will tell which is proven correct, another of those uncharted areas yet to be tested.

China may bar solar developers from building panels on farmland as the government weighs the importance of food security against its clean energy goals.

Three ministries including the National Energy Administration are circulating for comment a draft proposal that would make forests and cultivated farmland off-limits for solar development, industry media Polaris Solar Network reported on its WeChat account, citing a copy of the document.

sptrawler said:

I mentioned a long time ago, that the issue of solar panels and its effect on limiting food production, would eventually become an issue.

There are several theories, time will tell which is proven correct, another of those uncharted areas yet to be tested.

China’s Leaders Mull Banning Solar Panels From Farmland

China may bar solar developers from building panels on farmland as the government weighs the importance of food security against its clean energy goals....

www.iqstock.news

China may bar solar developers from building panels on farmland as the government weighs the importance of food security against its clean energy goals.

Three ministries including the National Energy Administration are circulating for comment a draft proposal that would make forests and cultivated farmland off-limits for solar development, industry media Polaris Solar Network reported on its WeChat account, citing a copy of the document.

Growing Crops Under Solar Panels? Now There’s a Bright Idea

In the new scientific (and literal) field of agrivoltaics, researchers are showing how panels can increase yields and reduce water use on a warming planet.

www.wired.com

Largest Farm to Grow Crops Under Solar Panels Proves To Be A Bumper Crop For Agrivoltaic Land Use — AGRITECTURE

This agrivoltaic farm generates enough to power 300 private homes, and grows tomatoes, turnips, carrots, squash, beets, lettuce, kale, chard, and peppers.

www.agritecture.com

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I think we should ban housing estates on farmland.

SirRumpole said:

I think we should ban housing estates on farmland.

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I don't think we have the same issue China has, even though our population probably eats as much as theirs.?

sptrawler said:

I mentioned a long time ago, that the issue of solar panels and its effect on limiting food production, would eventually become an issue.

There are several theories, time will tell which is proven correct, another of those uncharted areas yet to be tested.

China’s Leaders Mull Banning Solar Panels From Farmland

China may bar solar developers from building panels on farmland as the government weighs the importance of food security against its clean energy goals....

www.iqstock.news

China may bar solar developers from building panels on farmland as the government weighs the importance of food security against its clean energy goals.

Three ministries including the National Energy Administration are circulating for comment a draft proposal that would make forests and cultivated farmland off-limits for solar development, industry media Polaris Solar Network reported on its WeChat account, citing a copy of the document.

Growing Crops Under Solar Panels? Now There’s a Bright Idea

In the new scientific (and literal) field of agrivoltaics, researchers are showing how panels can increase yields and reduce water use on a warming planet.

www.wired.com

Largest Farm to Grow Crops Under Solar Panels Proves To Be A Bumper Crop For Agrivoltaic Land Use — AGRITECTURE

This agrivoltaic farm generates enough to power 300 private homes, and grows tomatoes, turnips, carrots, squash, beets, lettuce, kale, chard, and peppers.

www.agritecture.com

Click to expand...

Well forests aren't a good fit for solar panels so fair enough. In fact China has had to reforest a lot of land that was heedlessly denuded.

As you pointed out there are excellent examples of solar power/farming synergies. I suspect that intensive rice farming won't be one of those. The Australian examples of sheep and cattle grazing around solar panels is a proven concept. The other example you raised is also effective.

basilio said:

Well forests aren't a good fit for solar panels so fair enough. In fact China has had to reforest a lot of land that was heedlessly denuded.

As you pointed out there are excellent examples of solar power/farming synergies. I suspect that intensive rice farming won't be one of those. The Australian examples of sheep and cattle grazing around solar panels is a proven concept. The other example you raised is also effective.

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Yes as you suggest it isn't a one answer solution, just another thing that needs managing.

What worries me a lot, is we seem to be heading down the same path with this solar farm development, as we did with the gas development.
Giving the private sector the rights to the land use, the product it generates and all we expect in return is a pittance in a bit of income tax off the workers and whatever they consume on site.
It is all fine at the moment because we have a huge amount of land, but when a fair amount of it is in foreign ownership and supplying foreign countries with electricity, we at some time in the future may need , it just seems to me that safeguards need to be put in place early.
To me it just has a feeling of a gas like scenario in the making, whether it be because at some stage more renewable farms are stopped because of environmental or for habitat issues or whatever, to be just letting the generation to offshored with minimal return seems like another recipe for disaster.
There should be a clause, that a certain percentage of its generation be reserved for Australian consumption if required now or in the future, it is obvious this could eventually become an issue.
It is like the gas issue, this sort of stuff is hard to fix retrospectively, just dumb short term politics IMO.


Singapore-based Sun Cable, the company planning on building the world’s biggest solar and battery energy storage project in the Northern Territory (NT) and exporting it to Singapore, has lodged an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) Summary revealing the full extent of its enormity.

According to the EIS, the $30 billion-plus Australia-Asia PowerLink (AAPL), which already has financial support from Australian billionaires Mike Cannon-Brookes and Andrew Forrest, is set to generate its renewable energy via a 17-20 GW solar farm with 36-42 GWh of battery energy storage called the Powell Creek Solar Precinct, occupying 12,000 hectares in the NT’s Barkly region


“This is another significant milestone, facilitating Sun Cable’s AAPowerLink pathway as we work with the Northern Territory to realise the potential of this world-class solar asset, creating jobs, investment, large-scale green industry development and lower emissions,” the company said in a social media post.

Once operational, the AAPowerLink will supply power to Darwin and to Singapore via a 4,200-kilometre transmission network, including a 750km overhead transmission line from the solar farm to Darwin and a 3,800km submarine cable from Darwin to Singapore. The project is expected to generate enough renewable electricity to power more than 3 million homes a year.

The project, which is anticipated will provide 800MW of renewable energy capacity to the Darwin region from 2026 and up to 15% of Singapore’s electricity needs from 2027, has already secured key approvals with the Australian federal government awarding it Major Project Status while the Indonesian government has approved the submarine transmission cable route.

Chief Minister Natasha Fyles said the $30-plus billion project will deliver an economic and employment bonanza for the Top End.

“Sun Cable’s AAPowerLink will invest $8 billion in Australia, with the majority invested here in the Territory,” she said. “That means more local jobs, more opportunities for local businesses, and a strong and diversified economy.”

Sun Cable has said construction for the project will begin immediately after financial close in October 2023 with commercial operations to commence in 2027.