Locally grown food, growing algae for carbon capture and “pay-as-you-save” measures are among 19 “breakthrough ideas” that could transform the UK into a sustainable society, according to a new project launched today by the Sustainable Development Commission.
“Progress on sustainable development, at the national level, has been slow,” said Jonathon Porritt, chair of the SDC. “Yet all over the country, there are people taking action to make their own communities more sustainable, driving forward technological innovations, and pushing the policy agenda with really big ideas.”
The SDC’s “Breakthroughs for the 21st Century” project sets out to identify the ideas which could make the biggest impact on Britain’s efforts to tackle climate change, resource depletion and inequality. Almost 300 ideas were submitted by the public, businesses, academics, and sustainability professionals, of which 19 were selected by SDC Commissioners as potential breakthroughs.
Those ideas are being showcased at a conference today hosted by Anna Ford, Jonathan Dimbleby and Rosie Boycott, with a special visit by HRH the Prince of Wales.
Among the potential breakthroughs are:
Incredible Edible Communities — a project pioneered in Todmorden, West Yorkshire, to increase the amount of local food grown and eaten within the community;
The Royal Bank of Sustainability — Transforming the bank most closely associated with the oil and gas industry — now publicly owned — into one which invest in projects to halt the effects of climate change;
Algae and carbon capture — using fast-growing algae to absorb the CO2 given off by the industrial burning of fossil fuels;
Outdoor experiences for all children in the UK — reversing the trend of children growing up with no access to the natural environment, to increase their health, confidence and well-being, and their understanding of the relationship between their choices and the world around them;
Making cycling mainstream — Making the bike the normal choice for journeys of up to five miles;
Cap and Share — Suppliers of fossil fuels to buy permits for their greenhouse gas emissions before selling the fuel, with the proceeds shared between all citizens, who have the choice of whether or not to sell their permits;
Mobilising collective action — scaling up the active networks and organisations for change blossoming around the UK, including the Transition Towns network, Green Voice, and South London’s Project Dirt; and
From “Pre-Pay” to “Pay-As-You-Save” — Financing home energy efficiency measures through an innovative system where householders pay for improvements through consequent energy savings.
“Some of the Breakthrough ideas we’ve selected represent cutting-edge innovation and imagination; others are familiar but powerful ideas whose time has come,” Porritt said. “We wanted to celebrate the hard work behind these ideas, and start a bigger conversation about how the UK can best take these — and a host of other great ideas — forward. We’ve been talking about it for long enough. What we’ve got to do now is make it happen.”
The MSc aims to provide an analytical and integrated study of urban sustainability, urban design and the management of urban development. It is designed for early-career professionals from the development, sustainability, architectural, engineering, surveying and planning worlds.
“Sustainability is becoming a goal of many city plans, and is increasingly informing the practice of architecture, urbanism, landscape design and environmental planning,” said Jonathan Michie, director of the Department for Continuing Education. “Given the growing worldwide pressure for identifiable change in this crucial area, this is an appropriate time to launch an applied, flexibly-timetabled postgraduate course aimed at practising professionals.”
The MSc in Sustainable Urban Development is a part-time programme and the first students will start the programme in September.
The Prince of Wales presided over the signing of a memorandum of cooperation for the course. The Prince’s Foundation will contribute its teaching skills in placemaking, urban design and design coding, and civic engagement.
“This course will give professionals in any of the key disciplines the multi-disciplinary skills they need to plan and develop sustainable cities, towns and districts,” said Hank Dittmar of the Prince’s Foundation for the Built Environment. “The programme aims to develop an improved understanding of cities, the causes and consequences of urban growth and decline, and alternative approaches to future development.”
Will Day will succeed Jonathon Porritt as chair of the Sustainable Development Commission (SDC); his appointment was announced this week by Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
Porritt, who has served three terms as chair, will step down from the post on 27 July.
Will Day joins the SDC from a background in international sustainable development, having worked with aid organisations Care International, Save the Children and Oxfam; and in broadcasting with the BBC World Service. He was instrumental in setting up Comic Relief, and has chaired the BBC’’s Children In Need as well as advising Pricewaterhouse Coopers on sustainability. He is also special advisor to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and a senior associate of the University of Cambridge Programme for Industry, where he is a faculty member of the Prince of Wales’s Business and Environment Programme.
“I take this on at a time of growing public and political understanding of the immense social and environmental pressures that are building up around the world and that affect us all,” Day said upon his appointment. “These realities will require thoughtful and decisive action by government at all levels, business and our wider society.”
IBM has launched a new Smarter City Assessment Tool to help cities better understand and meet the demands of an increasingly urbanised world.
The new offering was announced today at the SmarterCities forum in Berlin.
Last year — for the first time in history, according to the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations — the majority of the world’s people lived in cities. By 2050, 70 per cent of the world’s population will live in cities.
To put those figures into perspective, a century ago, fewer than 20 cities around the world had populations in excess of 1 million people. Today, that number has swelled to 450 and is expected to continue growing for the foreseeable future.
Cities using the Smarter City Assessment Tool will be able to provide IBM with specific data about their core operational systems, including people, business, transport, communication, water and energy. IBM can then analyse that data to benchmark a city’s overall capabilities against peer locations, highlight relative strengths and weaknesses, and provide initial recommendations for improvement.
The tool is based on a methodology developed by IBM’s Global Location Strategies consulting service, which helps corporations determine the best countries and cities in which to locate businesses.
“Cities are in the midst of a realignment of power — with greater influence highlighted by greater responsibility,” said Peter Korsten, global leader for the IBM Institute for Business Value. “Aspects of a city’s operations that city managers have previously been unable to measure — and therefore unable to influence — are increasingly being digitised, creating brand new data points. With the greater digitisation of its core systems and the use of advanced analytic capabilities, cities can enhance decision-making and improve urban planning.”
IBM has also just published the first in a series of three studies on smarter cities. Titled “A vision of smarter cities — How cities can lead the way into a prosperous and sustainable future,” the study outlines the new central role that cities are playing in the world economy and the associated need for cities to address their sustainability challenges by transforming their core systems, individually as well as holistically.
Kingston University is launching a Sustainability Hub to bring together its research, curriculum and other work in this area.
Projects that will all come under the new hub’s umbrella include developmetnss like the university’s new green motorbike and degree courses with sustainability modules, as well as the use of fair-trade products in university shops and canteens.
From using rainwater to flush its toilets to advising local businesses on how to reduce their carbon footprint, Kingston University in south-west London already has an established track record on sustainability. But it hopes to make an even greater impact by bringing together its work in this area into the new Sustainability Hub.
“There’s a lot of sustainable activity going on in Kingston but it’s very disparate, we want to bring people together to exchange ideas, enliven debate and raise our profile in the local community and beyond,” said Ros Taylor, the hub’s director. “The Hub is an important development because it’s relevant to our lives today. It’s engaging with both the outside world and with the next generation.”
Taylor added the hub aims to make an international as well as local impact through existing links with universities in Oldenburgh in Germany and Cadiz in Spain.
The coalition’s assessment gave the Barroso Commission an overall mark of 4.4 out of 10.
The “Green 10″ report examines successes and failures in 12 policy areas that affect the environment, and also sets out a checklist for the next Commission.
The report blames the outgoing Commission’s low score on, among other things, a failure to reform agriculture and fisheries policies and, more broadly, to propose sustainable economic policies. However, it did find some positive
notes, most notably in climate, energy and transport policy.
With Europe gripped by both economic and environmental crises, the environmental groups are calling on the next Commission to double its efforts over the next five years and put in place policies that benefit the environment and people’s health, and create sustainable economic growth and jobs.
The “Green 10″ report finds the Barroso Commission got off to a bad start upon taking office in 2004 by judging
environmental objectives to be inconsistent with the overriding jobs and competitiveness agenda. However, spurred by growing public and media interest in environmental issues in the second half of its term, the Commission belatedly began to strengthen legislation in the fields of climate, energy and transport, earning it scores of 7 out of 10, 6 out of 10 and 6 out of 10, respectively.
Those policies, though, have not delivered the results predicted after being weakened by EU governments, the report finds.
The report also finds the Commission has neglected the protection of nature and disregarded its importance for long-term economic sustainability and the fight against climate change. The report criticises the Commission for too often giving in to vested interests when legislating on issues affecting agriculture and marine life.
In particular, the so-called “CAP Health Check” was a missed opportunity to truly reform the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy, the coalition says.
The Commission scored just 4 out of 10 on agriculture.
Amsterdam aims to become the European Union’s first “intelligent city” with a coordinated programme aimed at reducing its energy consumption and carbon footprint.
City officials have enlisted the help of global management consultant Accenture to help them implement their “Amsterdam Smart City” programme.
The programme seeks to use a smart electric grid, smart meters, smart-building technologies and electric vehicles to reduce energy consumption in housing, commercial properties, public buildings and areas, and transportation. The City of Amsterdam is the first city in the EU to deploy intelligent technology, such as smart grids, in its electricity distribution system.
Smart grids are electricity distribution networks that combine traditional and new technology to manage the flow of energy more effectively and efficiently than previously possible.
Accenture will work with the Amsterdam Innovation Motor, a city-affiliated agency that establishes public and private-sector cooperation, to develop, implement, manage and assess each of the phases and projects of the Amsterdam Smart City programme.
“Amsterdam Smart City is closely linked to the Amsterdam Climate Programme, which states clear climate goals for the City of Amsterdam to reduce carbon emissions and encourage change in the energy consumption of our citizens,” said Joke van Antwerpen, director of Amsterdam Innovation Motor. “We chose Accenture for its innovative thinking in helping city authorities and utilities come together in responding to climate change challenges, as well as its expertise in smart-grid and smart-metering technologies.”
The first phase of the Amsterdam Smart City’s low-carbon projects, launched on June 3, includes:
A ship-to-the-grid project, by which commercial vessels and river cruisers will be connected to electric grid when docked;
The implementation of smart meters and in-home feedback displays to provide homeowners with information to help manage their energy consumption;
A smart building at Accenture’s Amsterdam office at the ITO Tower, where intelligent technology will collect, monitor and analyse the building’s programming and utility data to identify energy consumption efficiencies and lower the building’s carbon footprint;
A “Climate Street” at Utrechtsestraat, Amsterdam’s popular shopping and restaurant street, will have sustainable waste collection, tram stops, and street and façade lighting. Smart meters and energy usage feedback tools will help municipal authorities and shop and restaurant owners manage energy consumption.
“Because cities are the world’s major source of carbon emissions, they must play a leadership role in energy management and electricity consumption by uniting the private and public sectors,” said Maikel van Verseveld, Accenture’s European lead for smart grids. Accenture’s role is to facilitate this integration and to build and manage the intelligent infrastructure that will transform the urban environment.”
The City of Amsterdam is a member of Accenture’s Intelligent City Network. The network brings together city authorities and utilities around the world committed to deploying smart electric grids. Members of the network exchange knowledge and practical experience on the planning, challenges and advantages of smart-grid technology.
IMEC’s newly launched silicon photovoltaics industrial affiliation programme (IIAP) aims to find a way to sharply reduce silicon use whilst increasing cell efficiency and lowering substantially the cost per watt of solar energy. The programme brings together silicon solar cell manufacturers, equipment and material suppliers and is based on a sharing of intellectual property, talent, risk and cost.
By joining the IIAP, researchers from Schott Solar will work with IMEC’s research team to help develop the next generation of silicon-based solar cells.
“In the highly dynamic market of solar power, short time to market for new products is essential,” said Martin Heming, CEO of Schott Solar AG. “We support IMEC’s ambitious goals and their work towards creating success for their partners.”
Crystalline silicon solar cells account for more than 90 per cent of the world production of solar cells. Within its IIAP, IMEC aims to reduce both the cost of producing crystalline silicon solar cells and the amount of silicon per watt needed by a factor of 2 to 3. The programme is aiming at efficiency improvements of more than 20 per cent.
The Love London Green Festival, which is set to run from 4 through 28 June, will feature nearly 200 different eco-oriented events across the capital.
Billed as one of the largest annual green festivals in the world, Love London will kick off with a Recycled Sculpture Show at the WWT Wetland Centre in Barnes.
Other events, many of which are free or inexpensive, will include the Wandle Valley Festival in Croydon, the Revolve Eco-rally near City Hall, the big Green Borough Festival in Barking, and Insider London’s cutting-edge Green Tour. The festival this year is also putting a focus on Eco-Thrift to show Londoners that saving the planet can also save them money.
The festival’s Green Innovations events will include an eco-vehicle rally and a climate change art exhibition.
This year, Love London organisers have partnered with a mobile phone recycling scheme, which will raise money to support sustainable projects across the city. They’ve also established a global video-conference on sustainable building materials and close ties with a sister festival in Vancouver.
The research was conducted by Cré - Composting Association of Ireland, which consulted with a wide variety of stakeholders. The report proposes upper limits for heavy metals, pathogens and impurities based on an assessment of potential impacts on human, plant, soil, animal health and the environment.
“Although significant progress has been made in managing waste, Ireland is in danger of missing a key EU target for diverting biodegradable municipal waste from landfill,” said Larry Stapleton, EPA Director for the Office of Environmental Assessment. “The work presented in today’s research report sets out a scientific basis for improved management of biodegradable waste and will contribute to achieving national goals in this area. The research will support sustainable waste management.”
The final results of the project were presented to scientists, policymakers and other stakeholders at a special launch event in Dublin.
Locally grown food, growing algae for carbon capture and “pay-as-you-save” measures are among 19 “breakthrough ideas” that could transform the UK into a sustainable society, according to a new project launched today by the Sustainable Development Commission.
Oxford University’s Department for Continuing Education has joined forces with the Prince’s Foundation for the Built Environment to create 
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IBM has launched a new 
Kingston University is launching a Sustainability Hub to bring together its research, curriculum and other work in this area.
The outgoing European Commission’s 
Amsterdam aims to become the European Union’s first “intelligent city” with a coordinated programme aimed at reducing its energy consumption and carbon footprint.
Germany-based Schott Solar, a photovoltaics manufacturer, has entered into a three-year research partnership with IMEC, a European nanoelectronics research centre, to 
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Ireland’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released a new research report into a potential standard for