Radical Roots Rainbow Fruits

Environmental realism

2011-07-16T12:53:00.001+01:00

I woke this morning feeling really quite discombobulated. I've had 2 of the most mentally stimulating and exhausting weeks of my life which has left my mind racing and left a lingering anxiety. I have spent the last 2 weeks visiting research establishments, talking to academia and shadowing my policy colleagues in Brussels at negotiations on the Mercury treaty.

My first research visit was to Heriot Watt University in Edinburgh to hear from a group researching the properties of nanomaterials and their safety for use. I was presented with a whirlwind overview of the R&D programme including new EU project called MaRINA which stands for Managing risks in Nanotechnolgies which kicks off in September. They also run the NanoSAFE project with a database on the safety of various nanomaterials.

The following day our team headed off to Weymouth to have a tour of CEFAS, the aquatic science agency. CEFAS weymouth is positioned looking out over weymouth bay, the location of the watersports part of the Olympics with a superb view. Apparently the agency has been approached by loads of people requesting if they can view the Olympics from the balcony (Note to self - schedule important meetings during to olympics in weymouth). Again we were presented with an overview of the main projects relevant to my team. Examples include research into chemical mixtures, monitoring of industrial pollution, radioactivity, fisheries management. I was particularly interested in some of the work on mixtures, research into impacts of progestin (component of the contraceptive pill, and some of the tox data on pharmaceuticals like anti-depressents and their impacts on aquatic wildlife. The most disturbing information I was presented with is data from a project sampling fish in the North sea. Apparently 1/4 of the fish sampled have cancerous lesions. I was interested to note that a cancer charity was co-funding this research. It is interesting to see the links between human health and ecosystem health being researched. Certainly adds weight to the concept of Ecocide which Polly Higgins is proposing to the UN.

Saturday I had a lovely day at RHS Hampton Court telling stories to children about the Arbonauts, a tree dwelling race of humans who have survived the apocalypse by building noospheres in the trees and salvaging the last remaining soils from the destroyed rubbish infested earth to make living pods for food growing. For 5 hours I sat in a noosphere helping kids plant seeds and decorate the sphere while we discussed the lives of these mystical people from the future. I was heartened by the number of kids who said they totally loved plants and had school gardens.

Another inspiring day on Sunday. I spent the morning with a dear friend strolling around Spitalfields market and eating yummy food from the rainforest cafe. Also got some new running shoes from Terra plana. I made a pledge to my sister to take up running and not smoke so I've passed the first step. Now to actually put them on and head to the park.... Apparently Terra plana run barefoot running clubs in Hyde park so I might give that a try.

I then grabbed my bike, did a speedy change and headed to Syon Park for an Indian wedding. My friend Menka from Secret seed society has spent the whole week in wedding preparation and multi marriage ceremonies as is custom. I've not been to an Indian wedding before and I have to say it was a sight to behold. The bride looked incredible! And I've never seen so many beautiful jewell encrusted saris. The food was indian, vegan and extremely delicious. I took a bit of a risk with my outfit. The dress code was black tie and I choose to go with an electric blue silk jumpsuit and cropped tuxedo jacket with accessories made from beautiful orange seeds and mother of pearl. I think it worked.

Monday again another trip out and about. This time to Brussels to shadow my policy colleague at a meeting on the Mercury protocol. The meeting is with other Member states to decide the European negotiating position on a global treaty on Mercury. At this meeting we were negotiating a roadmap to ban mercury in certain products. Key issues are mercury in vaccines and dental amalgam and use of mercury for Artisanal Gold mining, a serious source of mercury from the developing world. However the overall biggest source of mercury is from combustion of coal so there was also discussions of financing Best available technologies and data sharing. Mercury is a highly toxic metal that can bioacculmulate through the food chain so control of mercury is considered a high priority. This paper outlines the key sources globally of mercury. My team is involved in an international science project on global mercury biogeochemical cycling called IKIMP. What is worrying me is that from the data presented at the last IKIMP meeting, mercury cycling is increasing due to climate change. The rising temperatures worldwide are melting the ice caps and the permafrost which contain large pools of mercury as well as historical deposition from the last 200 years. These pools are being mobilised and mercury is entering the sea and being converted to toxic methyl mercury which is accumulating in the food chain. Whatever branch of environmental science I dip into, the problems are all being exacerbated by climate change and rising temperatures it seems..... Anyway had some great discussions with other national experts on these issues.

Finally this week I attended a presentation of the Technology Strategy Board and their approach to funding innovation. I was heartened to see the priorities around Low carbon vehicles and decarbonisation of the energy supply. And after the talk we were all given packs of sunflower seeds. I think I'd like to plant mine in Parliament square. Alternatively I might send them to Japan as they remove radioactive isotopes from the soil... Apparently they were used to remediate soils after Chernobyl.

Book I've read this week: Straw dogs by John Gray and Capital Realism by Mark Fisher
Hours pent on trains in 2 weeks: 20
Song of the week: How to walk on the moon by Arthur Russell.

Let there be light, let there be flight – ‘Solar Impulse’, the first zero fuel airplane!

2011-05-31T16:34:00.016+01:00

I’ve been in Brussels for the last few days and by chance I managed to wangle a behind the scenes tour of the first zero fuel airplane, ‘Solar Impulse’. I love flying having first flown as a very young girl aged 3. I find it incredible the speed and the frequency we are able to transport ourselves around in the air. To this day I cannot understand why when people fly they don’t have their noses pressed up to the glass the whole way. It is incredible what humanity has invented. Maybe one day we will all be able to fly on sunlight, just like the birds... Anyway I'm not a bird and don't have wings so I was dead excited to see what the future may hold for flight.

And Solar impulse is something else… This plane is the cutting edge of aeronautical engineering - The first solar powered airplane powered directly by the energy from the sun. I received a message via facebook (hurrah for social media) that it was in Brussels this weekend so I leapt at the opportunity to get a spot on the bloggers breakfast to meet the visionaries behind the project, Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg.

The breakfast was hosted in an aircraft hanger in Zaventum on the end of Brussels. My first impression as I ran into the hanger was that it resembled a giant dragonfly, with huge thin wings and a cocoon for its one human passenger suspended below. The hanger was darkly light with the wings were highlighted by flashes of neon. Nestled below the wings I found a display area and a table laid out with lots of French pastries, pain au chocolate and coffee, where I was warmly welcomed by a group of bloggers, along with the solar impulse team.

Conversation was already in full flow with Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg explaining their motivations behind the project. Piccard, a psychiatrist and explorer, is the 3^rd generation in a family line of scientific explorers. His grandfather Augustus Piccard, invented the ‘Bathyscape’, a submarine which he used to explore the depths of Marianas trench in 1953 with his son, Jacques and explored the stratosphere by balloon measuring cosmic rays. Augustus Piccard is credited with being the inspiration behind the character Professor Tournesol from Tintin, the famous Belgian comic adventures and a firm favourite in my family! So exploration and scientific endeavor are a firm part of his family history. Borschberg, an engineer and ex-military pilot, leads the technical team and was responsible for directing the manufacture of the plane. Borschberg had followed Piccard’s world record balloon circumnavigation of the globe. They were brought together at the EPFL (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne) when André was brought in to conduct the initial feasibility study. The project launched officially in November 2003.

‘Notre objectif - Le premier vol autour du monde dans un avion sans carbutant par la seule energie du soliel’

The aim of this project is to circumnavigate the world solely on solar fuel and in the process inspire a wave of action for a sustainable future. The Solar impulse has already completed numerous test flights in Europe from its base in Switzerland. The next step is multi-day mission flights to develop the careful energy management to keep the plane in the air both day and night. The first day/night flight took place on the 7^th of July 2010 until sunrise on the 8^th July 2010 totaling 26 hours. As a result of this mission, Andre was awarded 3 world records (for duration, maximum altitude and elevation gain) in the solar aircraft category! Finally, in 2014, Solar Impulse will fly around the world solely on solar energy, a journey estimated to take approximately 20 days.

‘If an aircraft can fly day and night without fossil fuels, powered only by the energy of the sun, who can then claim that we cannot do the same with vehicles, heating systems, air conditioners or computers?’

When questioned on the carbon footprint of building the aircraft, Piccard replied that 8 years of work with 70 people creates significant emissions and if the aim of the project is to fly André from Switzerland to Brussels then a commercial flight would have a lower footprint. But that is not the objective. The project aims to provide a platform to develop new efficient renewable technologies, demonstrate what is possible and carry a message of hope for a sustainable future. Through development of the plane, information, technologies and skills has been shared and it is hoped there will be significant products spun out from the process that benefit society and assist the low carbon transition away from oil. Ultimately they hope to inspire millions of small actions with this message. An impulse. A leap to action. It is an optimist solution, to be emotive and encourage pioneers. The future is a big adventure with so many great challenges. Technologies can reduce the dependence on fossil energies due to energy savings and new ways of generating energy. They hope Solar Impulse will inspire the creation of new jobs, new products, increase wealth, and protect the environment. They would like to motivate the political leaders to fund solutions rather than maintain the expensive problems. Bertrand and Piccard hope that Solar impulse will inspire a move away from fossil fuels and towards a renewable future with preservation of our natural resources.

‘A pioneering spirit, new technology and political foresight can change society and put an end to our dependency on fossil fuel energy’

Half way through the breakfast Piccard invited Philipe Lambert, a European Parliamentarian to join us. Lambert, a member of the Green party, explained why he supports the project.

Lambert is an engineer and while interested in the technologies he is most touched by the idea that this plane will demonstrate that where there is will to create a dream that it can happen. To Lambert this project sends a signal of hope, especially to the youth of Europe. For too long people have been talking of a bleak future; that the best years are behind us. But this project demonstrates the potential for a creative sustainable future.

Finally the breakfast came to an end with a call from the staff. Apparently a very important regal Belgian had turned up unexpectedly to view the plane (I won’t say who it is… we were sworn to secrecy!). André and Bertrand had a final special gift for us. We were all presented with custom Solar Impulse ‘Victorinox’ pen knife (perfect accessory for camping expeditions which I LOVE!) and a beautiful coffee table style book with pictures charting the journey from conception to first flights.

This project is truly inspirational and I feel privileged to have both seen the plane and met these visionaries. The future is renewable. No. Stop. The NOW is renewable. We can slash our carbon emissions using existing technologies. What are we waiting for? Mission possible, should you choose to accept it, is to get the rest of the world to join the party.

‘After centuries of conquest, adventure today lies in developing quality of life, sustainability and respect’

Solar impulse has a supporters program if you would like more information or you wouls like to sponsor some solar cells. She will also be the Star of the Paris airshow which runs from from 20th-26th of June if you would like to see her for yourself.

Key facts

Wingspan: 63.40 m

Length: 21.85m

Height: 6.40m

Engines: 4 X 10 horse power (HP) – equal to the power output used by the Wright brothers in 1903.

Solar cells: 11,628

Average flying speed: 70 km/h

Maximum altitude: 8,500m

Weight: 1600kg

Mercury knowledge exchange - 'Integrating Knowledge to Inform Mercury Policy'

2011-05-26T00:03:00.000+01:00

It is safe to say that what I knew about Mercury on monday morning could be written on the back of a postage stamp. I was aware that mercury is used in dental amalgam and that mercury is released from combustion of fossil fuels. But that was really all I knew.

Since monday I have been on a super fast crash course of everything there is to know about how Mercury is transformed in our environment and its impacts on human health and food webs. I really had no idea of just how toxic or persistent this element is in the environment.... Or how its interacts with other cycles like the carbon or nitrogen cycle.

My learning experience took place at Oxford University in the Department of Earth Sciences. I was invited as part of the steering group (Defra is part of team) for a project mapping the science of mercury biogeochemical cycle (Called IKIMP), which the aim of providing policy relevant advice to governments and international regulatory processes (via UNEP).

Mercury Facts

- The largest source of anthropogenic mercury is from burning of coal.

- A liquid bed of mercury is used in lighthouses to rotate the bulb.

- Mercury acculmulates in the body fats of polar bears and is present in toxic levels in the liver, but is detoxified by the presence of selenium.

- Mercury enters the food chain by accumulating in fish - can reach levels harmful to humans in fish like tuna or swordfish.

- mercury is used in the processing of gold - to remove impurities.

- significant quantities of mercury are found in sea ice and permafrost in polar regions.

Below are the draft notes I recored from the meeting (This is kind of my online lab book...!). The full presentations from the speakers will be online shortly through the IKIMP website. An output paper from the workshop will be published soon.

1. Towards a global legal binding convention on mercury

Presentation on the UNEP Global Hg Programme. Mercury is toxic and persistent. Long range transport and cycles globally and widely used. Need a lot of evidence before something happens. (Given mercury toxicity it is surprising how long it has taken for action!). 1997 was the first global agreement on Hg.UNEP Hg programme established in 1983. Support political process, technical assistance, guidance etc.

2 complementary activities: global Hg partnership and the negotiations.

2001 - global assessment of Hg.

2003 - initiate national, regional and global actions ASAP.

2005 - call for partnerships between governments, IGOs, NGOs and private sector to reduce risks.

2007 - recognitions that further long-term international action required; and to

-review options of voluntary measures and new and existing legally binding instruments

· Strengthened the role of partnerships

2009 - Decision 25/5 III on mercury

Legally binding instrument on mercury.

Negotiated to be completed in February 2013. Identified a number of provisions for inclusion in the instrument.

The convention will include provisions on reducing supply, storage, trade, intentional use, unintentional, waste, financial and communication.

Main outcome of INC 2 meeting in Japan was reduction of supply and created lists of products and processes. Created transitional measures while transferring to non Hg alternatives.

Artisanal and small scale gold mining: to be dealt with a separate issue. Poverty and environmental issue. So mix of mandatory and voluntary measures. Can't be regulated as communities are dispersed and often illegal anyway.

Waste management
Strategy to capture and store it. Technology for stabilizing Hg is needed. Safe long term storage of Mercury also required.

Control of atmospheric emissions

· Support Best available technology (BAT concept)

· Mandatory action plans for large emitters

· Emissions limits proposed and discussed.

· Developing countries must not restrict their development.

Financial

· Compliance linked to commitments to financing and control measures.

· Common but differentiated responsibilities and 'polluter pays'

UNEP requested to prepare

· Draft convention text

· Report on Hg releases from oil and gas

· Comparative analysis of financial mechanism

· Report on Hg in medicines and vaccines

· Revision of INC 2 - document on waste

GC25 decided to continue and enhance work on communications, voluntary measures etc. Work going on through UNEP partnership areas.

Natural emissions - do we need detailed knowledge about this?

www.unep.org/hazardoussubstances

Gunner.futsaeter@unep.org

Q1 - Is there tension between the low carbon agenda and the toxics agenda? Specific example low energy light bulbs. A - There is an issue. Cost/benefit analysis. Tricky to compare costs due to global nature of benefits and impacts e.g. Different costs for consumers, manufacturers etc. Part of discussions.

2. Natural emissions and archives - Peter Outridge - University of Manitoba, Canada.

Mercury in substantial pools on land and in ocean with large fluxes. Sunderland and Mason, 2007 - Diagram of open ocean mercury model.

Significant deposition on the Artic circle. Oceanic natural and re emitted adds uncertainty to the model. Oceanic sources of mercury form a significant part of that deposition. South east Asia contributes 21%, Europe 9%

Bicester et al. 2008 - Lake sediments and peat bog mercury fluxes. Comparing background and modern fluxes. Significant increase in fluxes in both in modern times.

Muir et al. 2009 Hg fluxes from lake sediments in Canada. Looking at temperate vs subartic vs artic Hg fluxes. Melting of arctic is changing the fluxes of Hg due to melting of the permafrost's which is changing the cycling.

1930-1970s peak increase, then level to end 80s and now on decline from measurements of Hg on Greenland summit. Why is the arctic flux going up when industrial emissions are going down??!! Could be due to environmental change and melting of the poles, thus releases from land pools of Hg.

Sanei et al. 2007 - Wet deposition Hg fluxes in sub-arctic and southern Alberta.

Are Hg levels in Arctic Biota increasing or decreasing, and why?

Comparing long term and short term trends. Long term trends gives anthropogenic input and short term gives evidence of mixed pollution and climate drivers.

Biota sampling included Beluga teeth, birds, human teeth, polar bear hair, ringed seal teeth to see historical mercury time series. Dietz, Outridge and Hobson, 2009. Natural baseline around 6%. Man-made contribution is 94%. Old samples came from museum collections.

Braune et al. In press - paper on areas which are increasing and decreasing Hg levels. Mixed signal. No significant signal. Explanation - mixed pollution and climate signal. Climate change is changing the inputs of Hg and conversion of inorganic mercury to methyl mercury. Ice records are presently reliable records. Other abiotic problematic esp. in polar regions. Scientific consensus not reached. In fact more uncertain now then before.

3. Volcanic degassing of Mercury - University Palermo - Alessandro Aiuppa (aiuppa@unipa.it)

Bagnato et al. 2001 - diagram of volcanic Hg degassing. 700 tonnes per year emissions Hg from volcanoes.

Mercury flux project - Oxford / Cambridge / Palermo collaboration. 30 volcanoes have been studied.

Martin et al. 2011 - Thermodynamic model of of magmatic gas. Showing speciation of Hg at different temperatures.

Relationship between SO2 and Hg. As SO2 increases so too does Hg. Bagnato, Aiuppa et al. 2011. 10-4 - 10-6 range is most accurate ration range. Less than 10-7 gets unrepresentative.

9 volcanoes are contributing to 71% of the Hg flux - cumulative flux of 54 t/yr. Overall flux estimated at 94 t/yr. Bagnato et al. 2011.

Hg time series show significant Hg deposition from significant volcanic eruptions.

4. Emissions from the biosphere - Hans Freidlie

Sinks and Sources - HG from biomass burning. Sinks deposition into plant and organic matter. Sources from burning and post fire erosion. Erosion can contribute significantly to water Hg sources. Major determinants are climate and fire frequency. Mercury release during fire correlates with release of CO2. As CO2 emissions decline so too does Hg as all released by max CO2.

Hg assessment ground or plume measurements. Strong seasonal variability. Strong spatial variability. 8-9% of all Hg emissions to the atmosphere. Uncertainties accumulated from fuel and Hg measurements. Quantitative data very limited.

Biosphere Hg flux - 675 +/- 240 Mg/y

Biosphere Hg Data sources are from Boreal, temperate, Sage/Chaparral and grasslands, Agricultural waste data. Largest data set from Boreal forests.

Clearing of Indonesian forests and burning of peat lands contributed significantly to Mercury biosphere emissions in Asia.

Paleoecology mercury data shows peaks in mercury as a result of major volcanic eruptions and industrial events E.g. An example is the gold rush signature which shows up in the paleoecological data and WWII manufacturing (weapons and plane building).

Future:

Weather, Climate and land use changes will change the Hg fluxes from the biosphere.

Weather: fires respond to natural cycles: droughts, wet cycles. Fire occurrences and burn areas are correlated with the Fire weather index).

Climate: IPCC assumptions - warmer, regional. Largest temp increases in areas of largest Hg pools.

Land use changes: tropical forest destruction, conversion to agriculture etc.

More threats from Mercury due to climate changes. Increases in methyl mercury formation.

Turetsky et al. 2006 Documented cases of modelled IPCC / CO2 scenarios. Demonstrating this change in Hg flux due to climate events / fire.

Policy implications - little human control of reducing Hg from BMB emissions. Its controlled by weather, climate and anthropogenic global emissions.

Reforestation activities may help! Reduction of global emissions will help. From both anthropogenic emissions and also climate emissions. Increase temp increases the threat.

Science needs:

Fire - extended and refined satellite data.

Hg - Emission factors for major ecosystems (ground or plumes data - Most urgent improvements needed here).

Earth systems model (ESM) - biogeochemical model for important fire effected ecosystems which includes BMB and Hg.

Monitoring sites in critical locations. To monitor biomass burning.

BMB contributes 8-9% of total emissions. However emissions are increasing and are located near to locations where can be hazard. E.g. Emissions from BMB impacting on fisheries for example.

Q1: Consensus on Emission Factors? A1: No, not yet. This is urgently needed.

5. Hg Monitoring - Peter Coleman - ALE DEFRA

Overview of Mercury sampling network. Monitoring at 12 sites for gaseous Hg 2 weekly tubes and rainwater.

Interactive monitoring website - urban heavy metals network. Highest values of Hg in UK in Runcorn, Midlands. Designed to address population exposure. Data used to update the atmospheric emissions inventory. Work on critical loads for Hg about to be published. Work on cost benefit analysis of heavy metals. Attention t ecosystem services. Prep for EU AQ directive.

Showed UK Hg emissions from 1980-2009. Can see big decline as industry has moved east in that timeframe.

Cremation - aim to reduce Hg emissions by 50%.

Data is being made publically available. Main site for website is http://uk-air.defra.gov.uk

CEFAS said Hotspots from dredging contaminating fish supplies. Mercury win from decarbonising our fuel supplies.

Re-emissions of mercury from soil now exceed emissions from industry.

6. Mercury fluxes above sea and ice - Henrik Skov - Aarhus University

The dynamics of mercury in the environment shoes model of pre industrial and modern budgets for mercury. Sunderland and mason, 2007, UNEP report.

Skov et al. 2008 UNEP report. Showing decline in Hg deposition of Hg. Measure elemental Hg and oxidised mercury.

Techniques available for GEM fluxes but not for GOM. Wet deposition is well determined.

2/3 of deposited Hg in arctic is immediately reemitted. Br is the best candidate for Hg0 oxidation but other might be. GEM fluxes over sea are based on 2 parameters and a very uncertain parameterization.

7. Chemical mechanism for models of atmospheric transport, processing, and deposition - Deanna Donohoue - University of East Anglia

Mercury kinetics in models. Models of mercury speciation and transformation. Hard reactions to measure. Binding energies for many Hg species are unknown. Or there is significant difference sin some of the published literature. Releasing as elemental Hg and deposition as an oxidised Hg form means it is critical to understand these transformation process in order to assess where emissions are coming from and going to. Kinetic studies show that the underlying thermodynamics is questionable. Again huge range in peer reviewed data. Order of magnitude different.

Mercury speciation model: Von Glasow, PNAS, 107, 6594-6599, 2010. closed model of mercury.

Mercury speciation / chemistry: Relevance if were ever to be a 'cap and trade' policy for Hg in the future.

8. Workshop activity - What do we need to advance the science?

Workshop aim was to create a matrix of knowledge regarding the different pools of mercury and their fluxes according to different factors.

What do we want to know? And how do we make it happen?

9. Future emissions and policy outlook - Lesley Sloss

Latest information based on latest coal partnership information.

Data from Payna indicates that coal still the major source. Pacyna et al. 2010. Hg assessment report

65% emissions from China.

Coal use is increasing therefore as coal plants not all clean plants then it is likely that mercury will increase.

Process optimisation Guide - UNEP report

· Improving SO2 and Nox control device operations - leads to Hg capture free.

· Improve plant efficiency

· Coal treatment

· Control of particulate matter.

Also contains a decision tree. Created an interactive tool called iPOG.

Coal plants in China are newer and cleaner than in the US. They are installing clean coal technologies.

Drive towards Maximum Achievable clean technology (MACT).

Inventories are evidence as accurate.

10. Future of the marine mercury cycle: experience from Galathea 3 (ship) circum navigation of the world (how damn cool) · Henrik Skov

Phd work from Anne Laerke Soerensen. Aim to determine the dynamics of mercury in the marine atmosphere. Cruise around world from August 06 - April 25th 07 sampling. Data from 114 days. On a rebuilt war ship. 100 people (50 scientists, 50 crew).

Gaseous elemental Hg and gaseous oxidised Hg measured. No diurnal variations in GEM in the MBL. Laurier et al. 2003, Laurier et al. 2007.

High radiation and Clean marine boundary layer then you see diurnal variation. Large difference in concentrations between april and august.

Atmospheric models have problems matching cruise data. As you move from sea to coast the mercury concentrations increase. Also recorded Hg/CO2 ratios. In northern Atlantic there is seasonal behaviour of GEM with max concentration in winter and minimum in summer.

11. The future of the terrestrial mercury cycle - Noelle Selin - MIT

Understanding the present and future global biogeochemical cycle of mercury (Selin, Ann. Rev. Env. Res., 2009). Soil lifetime: role of historic mercury emissions. Soil pool of Hg is really large. Mapped Anthropogenic Enrichment Factor. Selin et al. GBC, 2008

Policy and timescaes analysis (Selin et al. 2010 Environ Health Perspective)

Showed data of Fish MeHg (Methyl mercury).

No mechanistic link (yet) from oceanic Hg and methyl mercury in fish.

Mercury as a cross scale science policy problem. Matrix of mercury. Spatial scale vs temporarl scale.

Launching a science policy Mercury game. Will be online from mid summer.

12. Climate change on Arctic Mercury - Peter Outridge

Sea ice extent is consistently declining. All parts of the cycle can be impacted by climate change. Climate change and cycling of contaminants is a new science. Around 8 years old. Natural source of mercury in the peat permafrost. Contains similar level of Mercury as coal. When erodes into water it releases Hg. The scale of erosion of permafrost peat lands means lots of Hg. The carbon in the peat also drives microbial activity which leads to conversion of Mercury to methylmercury.

Paper in Nature Geoscience - methyl mercury formation can be created in mid water column. Surprising as not anoxic. Data based on stable isotope spiking of seawater to see rate of methylation.

Wang et al. 2009 Drivers of biological mercury have changed over time from natural state until 1800, then anthropogenic input until late 20th century, finally we have process driven (climate change). Significant changes from year to year. Very variable.

Must start to ratchet down the Hg emissions. Muted responses relative to reductions and delayed by decades. Time lag for reductions in Hg impacting the Arctic Hg levels (cycles).

13. Break out group discussions.

Global environmental change and the impacts on the mercury cycle.

· Changes to the marine environment

· Changes to the terrestrial environment

14. Headlines.

Marine Environment

· Arctic as a barometer of what is happening in the rest of the world. 'Mercury as a messenger for global change'.

· Need for a holistic model for mercury. Integrate abiotic and biotic models of Hg.

· Where methylation reactions take place?

· How is GEM formed?

· Biota - how is Hg changing in the food chain at a global level? Strategies to limit exposure.

· Differences in concentrations of Hg in different oceans? Transport of Hg?

Terrestrial environment

· Stabilisation of CO2 is very necessary if we are to reduce mercury cycling.

· Building up soil organic matter would help stabilise mercury. Ecosystem service benefit from SOM. (mentioned Importance of tropical forest Carbon for stabilising metals).

· changes to permafrost key driver of Hg.

· Big variations in soil concentrations

· Impact of acid rain may make Hg more mobile. Methylation a function of S.

· Increase soil erosion impacts reemission of Hg.

· Flood plains increase methylation?

· Effects of N cycle on Hg? Interlinking of effects.

· Cobenefits of tackling Climate change / POPs on Hg cycle.

· Patterns of consumption of Hg laden fish and impacts on populations. Impact of a shift in aquaculture?

QUESTIONS?

-What is the impact of upland peat fires on freshwater mercury concentrations?

- Dissolved mercury in sea ice. Loss of sea ice leads to large emissions of mercury. Potentially methyl mercury formation in the poles which have key fisheries so route to food supply.

- Mercury cycle is linked to the carbon cycle. What pulse changes of mercury might we see with climate change?

- Benefits that might come from action on Mercury. How holistic thinking in relation to biogeochemical cycling will solve multiple problems (tackling carbon, nitrogen and mercury cycles together for example). - interdisciplinary problem solving.

Sorry there is no pictures...

Another world is able

2010-12-05T13:33:00.000Z

My weekend kicked off in fabulous style. I had an invite to the private launch of the new Atmosphere gallery at the Science museum! The event was really well styled. There was a wide selection of yummy food (with superb vegetarian option), christmas punch and mulled wine.

Music was provided from a Bicycle powered swing band and a DJ with a glittery dance floor. Really funny how people stuck to dancing on the marked out dance floor. I decided that the whole room was my dance floor. Sardine dancing is not my style. I need space to move!

The gallery was on the 3rd floor. The dark lighting and interactive portals to information were very slick. I was impressed by the look of the Riversimple open source electric car and can't wait to get a test drive. I ope they come to London soon. I have no desire to own a car. But occasional use for those personal journeys that cannot be made by bike or public transport would be awesome. The Riversimple car is designed to be adapted over time. The blueprints are open source and anyone can contribute to improving the efficiency and style of the car. And the parts can be recycled.

A brief history of climate science was displayed in a very visual way. What struck me was the breadth of evidence that has been collected from a range of sources demonstrating the impact of changing composition of out atmosphere. From the ice cores, tree rings to geological rock formations that have formed under previous rapid climatic events. I also really liked the atmospheric gas sampler from the 1950s. So cool! Shaped in the classic style of a cartoon bomb. It is clear that the current rate of change is significantly higher than anything seen in our geological past.

On the ground floor there was a exhibition on future textiles and sustainable fashions. I was very impressed by the sugar bioplastic ball gown. Totally awesome. I want one. Preferably coloured using the amazing biomimetic paints that have been designed from the structures observed in butterfly wings. A deep iridescent royal blue with emerald green maybe in the shapes of peacock feathers... Dreamy....

After much feasting, dancing and net working I headed to a birthday party. Full of the joys of the now and the future.

Let Nature Feed Your Senses

2010-11-30T23:23:00.010Z

Let Nature Feed Your Senses - LEAF with Sensory Trust Outreach project on Health and Wellbeing

The aim of this project is to facilitate people engagement with nature, food and farming.

The project is funded to support people who are currently unable to access the countryside, who

¥ Over 64 years old

¥ Have any type of disability

¥ Are from regions 10% most deprived Super Outputs Areas

¥ Attend a school that is currently unable to access the countryside

In attendance were host farmers, people who represent client communities (children, those with disabilities, the elderly). The day provided the opportunity to share experiences, explore practicalities, unlock potential and build productive working relationships. Directors and managers were invited to gain insight into how they can take advantage of this England-wide project at a strategic level.

I requested to attend this conference as I’m personally interested in how we can share best practice on farms, open up the countryside and build a love for the outdoors and natural stewardship of the natural world. I’m passionate about the big issues of climate change, sustainable food and health and am interested in new ways of communicating these issues at the right level to a range of audiences.

Dr William Bird, Natural England's Strategic Health Advisor, spoke of the benefits of the natural environment for physical and mental health and general wellbeing. Dr Bird has founded a company called ‘Intelligent Health’. He spoke of how New York and Shanghai are developing green space in the cities and the concept of living breathing cities buzzing with life and sensory rich experiences. In London developing natural green space is a way of balancing inequalities. This concept is not a new one. Victoria park was developed as a result of the large number of deaths observed in the East of London. The Queen decided that a park was needed to save lives.

The main thesis of his talk is that a disconnection from nature is a significant risk to health and that many of the significant policy issues we face could be tackled by re-connecting people to nature and improving the wider environment.

Evidence that this is a significant issue:

Ricketts is on the rise in children due to lack of day light exposure and poor diet
Mental illness is on the rise – especially in children
Obesity levels have tripled in the last 20 years
27 Million people in the country not getting enough exercise

In 2005, 27.7 Million prescriptions were written for depression costing £338 Million despite the evidence that anti-depressants do not work for mild to moderate depression and that exercise is more effective (MIND, Pretty J et al. 2007) – Overall cost to the economy of depression is £75 Billion.

Exposure to Greenery is correlated with levels of activity: Bell et al. 2008 Am J Prev Med; 35 (6): 547-553

Possibility of GP practices planning the green space around their surgeries and prescribing access to green space and activities.

Evidence was presented on how exposure to nature and green space moderates stress.

Policy angle that Dr Bird is promoting: A state push for the entitlement of green space, access and outdoor play for children.

Given the severe health effects and lifelong impacts of lack of exposure in childhood, my thinking is that this could be seen as a something that is critical in upholding the Convention on Rights of the Child and the Millennium Development Goals – Childs Health. It is important to remember the legal frameworks we have already committed to and check that we are in reality delivering on those promises to society not just overseas but in our own country too.

Host farmers presentations on how the scheme has worked in practice for them.

Sue Padfield, a Somerset farmer hosted a group of elderly people from a care home. The day has left lasting memories and the care home noted a vast improvement in the well being of the residents as a result of the visit. Sue also hosts children’s visit.

Jo North hosted a group from the charity Kids and a group from an adults disabilities charity called Oak Community Project. Both groups had lasting benefits from the visit. The kids charity noticed how the behaviour of children changed, attention spans increased and the how much they enjoyed the interactions. Jo commented that you don’t need a great deal of resources to manage these visits. Often there is more than enough natural resources available to entertain (example of making maracas from grain and plastic cups). Important to create the space to discover so she tries not be too prescriptive in the activities.

John Alpe hosted range of guests on his 800 Acre farm. He has built a tramper track for disabled access to the land. What has impressed him about the scheme is the range of interesting people he has met and the questions people ask. It struck me that this is an excellent way of building trust, asking question and bringing about change in farming practices. An innocent question can lead to radical changes in perception of an issue.

The story workshop was delivered by Mercedes Kemp from Wildworks. Mercedes described her techniques for community engagement around storytelling and how to create lasting links in communities around people and space.

Examples included:

Creating outdoor theatre around the local stories – researched history with people, then co-created an epic story to be delivered outdoors
Archives for the human heart – making memory trees in a local community space – example shown was in the barn of a local farm.
Story pilgrimage – collected stories over a 2 week period then led a walking story tour of the area with the whole community on a Sunday - Prepared the stories, made maps, created flags, then led the interactive walk.
3-D maps of the village created and residents asked to redesign their village
Photographic collections – By collecting old photographs she created a narrative where people remembered examples of past community resilience. Example of all the men digging out the roads for the funeral of a local lady and the solidarity of the community when the local church burnt down – By collecting the pictures and displaying them, the community came together and realised what they still shared.
Soil shrine – collection of all the different soils in the areas and maps. Put together in a shrine.
Child detectives - activities sending children out on ‘walks with purpose’ to be detectives finding objects from the natural world.
School tea parties where children laid on a party and invited all the elderly in the community for high tea. Again the children were given the role of detectives and the task of interviewing all the Tea guests.

In some cases the exploration of the past enabled the communities to see what they lost. By seeing a picture of all the nurses in the village 50 years ago, it dawned on the residents that over time they had lost all their local health services. Now they had to travel 20 miles to see a doctor or a nurse. In one case this enabled the residents to form a brief to demand change from the local service providers and re-establish local health services. They had not realised what they had lost until they looked back in time.

The key to Mercedes success was to listen, to take time and to be an innocent observer/journalist. Important to go into these rural communities with no political agenda or pre-formed strategy. To see what will work naturally and let the appropriate story and methodology unfold.

Our personal activity in this session was to deliver a story linking about ‘farm and memory’. I delivered the story of my clothes peg – feel free to ask next time you see me and my peg.

In the play workplace we played a game of ‘quest’. First we had to make up super hero names and decide on a super power. Then our group was split into 2 tribes (we were the dead chinchillas) and we were set the task of discovering a new world through the portal (door out of the conference centre). We were to discover and describe this new world through the eyes of a child, create a narrative of our collective journey and collect items along the way ready to deliver a show and tell story on return.

Our basket of discoveries from the new world

This task was enormous fun and although the group were sceptical at first (remember a third of the participants were farmers or farm advisors and typically men) they soon got into the spirit. I was the youngest in the team and very quickly was nominated team leader. On return we delivered our story to the other tribe.

The purpose of this task was to demonstrate that you can find ‘affordance’ in any object. You do not need to provide toys or items to children. Given the chance they will find them and create their own stories. In times when the average child roams no more than 300 metres from home, creating spaces to explore and play in nature freely is so important. In the current adult created world we have separated children and prescribed the play areas. The whole world can be a playground if you allow for it.

In Summary, I realise that some of this may seem quite ‘airy fairy’ and that benefits / impacts are difficult to quantify but the fact is that relatively cheap initiatives like this can provide long lasting health and well being benefits to both the hosts and participants. The scheme is very keen to establish more links with farmers and increase the number of participants.

Awesome picture minutes

The things I loved about this conference were the visual minutes taking, the farmers stories, and the pictures shared in the story-telling workshop.

Leaf and Sensory trust are keen to promote the initiative and are looking for community connectors and environmental enthusiasts. For more details contact: enquiries@sensorytrust.org.uk

Dr Joanna Haigh on Sun spots and climate – quantifying the link and explaining climate change.

2010-11-26T20:05:00.001Z

Notes from lecture at Imperial on Sunspots and Climate Change given by Dr Joanna Haigh

One way to predict any future climate change in response to human activities is to simulate past climates and understand how the climate responds to natural sun variation.

The output (sun spots) from the sun have been observed for centuries to vary in 11 cycles. The last solar cycle, which has just ended, is the longest on record. These changes in solar activity have been observed to correlate with extreme weather and climate events. Until recently these changes have been difficult to explain.

Joanna Haigh showed that variations in solar irradiance combined with changes in ozone levels in the stratosphere can lead to small but significant changes in global weather patterns and winds. Models from the height of solar activity showed bands of warming and cooling in mid-latitudes driving poleward movements of mid-latitude winds.

In 2003, a satellite called SORCE was launched by NASA to measure the solar spectra. The data obtained from SORCE combined with data on the chemistry of the atmosphere suggest that less solar radiation reaches lower altitudes when there is higher solar activity from the sun. This is a total paradigm shift in thinking. Additionally the data suggests that solar influence on climate is ‘top down’ via UV radiation warming the atmosphere. Previously the main driver of atmospheric temperature was thought to be from bottom up visible light radiation warming the earth’s surface.

The overall picture presented was that current global temperatures are higher than would be expected for current levels solar activity (stark decoupling of the relationship observed in 1985) and that there are some complex interactions in the atmosphere between solar physics and atmospheric chemistry.

FARM:Shop

2010-11-22T00:16:00.005Z

So how much food could we grow in London? Can our cities become more sustainable in terms of food production?

This summer design company Something&Son started the journey of transforming an empty shop in London into a farm.

At present the old shop has a mini fish farm, is growing vegetables and salad, and has chickens on the roof! There is also a rapidly multiplying Kefir culture collection expanding through the hall way.

If you fancy yourself as an urban farmer, like a bit of DIY or just want a fun day out volunteering book a slot at www.farmlondon.weebly.com to register to help out.

Manisha and I doing a spot of decorating. What fun.

For any sugar daddies out there keen to show financial support to the project contact someone@somethingandson.com.

P.S. Sorry the pics are so dark. Night falls so early these days!

Key Reading: The Hungry City by Caroline Steel

Sneaky peeks behind the scenes at the Natural History museum.

2010-11-21T21:09:00.004Z

The Natural History Museum is undoubtedly one of my most favorite places in London. So when I was offered a behind the scenes tour from Dave Roberts I jumped at the chance to discover what goes on behind the scenes and to find out more about the work of the museum scientists.

Dave Roberts is a taxonomist at the Natural History Museum. His specialism is the ciliates, a group of protozoa. These days Dave is less likely to be found in the lab as he manages a large EU project called ViBRANT – a project to enable communities of researchers to manage, share and publish taxonomic data online. The aim of the project is to make data available openly from scientists under creative commons license.

The Darwin Centre, in the Natural History Museum, is a state-of-the-art scientific research and collections facility. Our tour took us to the microbiology labs where we found researchers examining various moss samples from around the country, to the microscopy labs where we viewed a little Diophrys (a protozoan ciliate) on an interference light microscope.

The final part of the tour was to the spirit rooms. The museum has 8 floors of rooms containing specimens preserved in industrial methylated spirit. Over 23 Million samples are stored in spirit in the museum. The collection of specimens totals 71 million! This is the oldest public collection in the world and one of the most important. The majority of specimens are stored in specially designed jars. Although some were in recycled pickled onion jars and modified Kilner preserving jars!

The piece de resistance of the tour was the room containing the large pickling vats, a giant squid in a glass aquarium and shelves piled high with all manner of organisms from a jar of platypus’ (platypodes?), Burmese pythons, rays, dog sharks. Contained in the cabinets were samples from Darwin’s voyage on the Beagle. The museum also contains the largest paper collection of biological art – In the age before photography every expedition used to take an artist to draw all the specimens discovered.

The museum originated from the collection of Sir Hans Sloane a wealthy curiosity collector who made his fortune from the discovery of chocolate, which he sold to the Cadbury’s brothers along with his special recipe. Sloane's extensive collection was purchased by the state to form the first publicly accessible museum, the British Museum. As the museum grew the Natural history collection split from the social and cultural collections to form the Natural History Museum in Kensington. The book and journals split from the British museum to form the British Library.

We are only scratching the surface of what's out there in the world. In terms of the number of species in the world we have described 2 million. There is approximately 5-20 million not yet described, not to mention the biodiversity contained in soils. The majority of described species are invertebrates, of which most are insects. Sadly, before we have managed to discover all of the biodiversity on earth, we are sending much of it extinct. The Extinction risks taken from the IUCN is that 15-40% of the worlds’ biodiversity is at risk. The most severely at risk group are the amphibians. In terms of the world’s major biomes, 40-50% of biomes were lost or converted to other uses by 1990.

The Natural History Museum plays an important role in engaging the public in issues relating to the natural world and inspiring an awareness of the many forms of life in the world.

Biodiversity. Are we missing the target.

2010-11-10T21:56:00.001Z

Talk Science at the British Library with Professor Georgina Mace

Biodiversity targets were originally proposed at the Rio Earth summit in 1992 along with the Climate Change proposals. The CBD and UNFCC were formed. This was the first time that international governments formalised action. In 2002 targets were set for 2010. The aim was to significantly reduce the rate of decline. This has not been met. 2010 is the International year of Biodiversity. The next step is the set and work towards the 2020 targets. These have been discussed recently in Nagoya Japan. The final agreement is still to be published.

One of the key issues is defining ‘what is biodiversity’? It is variability of life on earth. Different parts of the world have distinct biodiversity and biomes.

The CBD definition is "Biological diversity" means the variability among living organisms from all sources including, inter alia, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part; this includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems.

Public understanding of Biodiversity is limited. A study on the Cairngorm national park described how public interpreted the term biodiversity as landscape, peace, nature, rocks, historical buildings, conservation features etc. It includes the conservation agenda, it is a metaphor for nature and wilderness, it underpins ecosystem services. This adds to the difficulty in the debate as there are so many concepts of biodiversity.

In terms of the number of species in the world we have described 2 million. There is approximately 5-20 million not yet described. The majority of described species are invertebrates.

The Extinction risks taken from the IUCN is that 15-40% at risk. The most severely at risk branch is the amphibians. In terms of the world’s major biomes, 40-50% of biomes were lost by 1990. State and Pressure status evaluated in paper by Butchart et al. 2010, Science. This paper sets out the intensity of threats and tracks how they are changing.

Why does biodiversity matter? Publication by Diaz et al. PLOS Biology 2006 looks at Tiers of human wellbeing.

"Human societies have been built on biodiversity. Many activities indispensable for human subsistence lead to biodiversity loss, and this trend is likely to continue in the future. We clearly benefit from the diversity of organisms that we have learned to use for medicines, food, fibers, and other renewable resources. In addition, biodiversity has always been an integral part of the human experience, and there are many moral reasons to preserve it for its own sake. What has been less recognized is that biodiversity also influences human well-being, including the access to water and basic materials for a satisfactory life, and security in the face of environmental change, through its effects on the ecosystem processes that lie at the core of the Earth's most vital life support systems"

Human well being
- Basic
- Freedom of choice
- Health
- Identity
- Security
Ecosystem services feed into these (e.g. Soil, flood control, food provisions, Habitat, protection from invasive species, climate regulation, disease regulation). One of the key problems is that people are unaware of the services they already benefit from nature, habitat or biodiversity. Therefore a key issue is communicating that awareness.

How do we value ecosystems and ecosystem services? This is discussed in the TEEB report.
E.g. In the TEEB report global fisheries are underperforming by 50 billion annually due to mismanagement. Aims to use Science in the targets.

Blue Targets – Pre condition for defining and quantifying
Green Targets – Conservation science to support agenda – to get what we do want
Red Targets – avoiding deleterious change – to avoid what we don’t want

Goals pre Nagoya were outlined in Perring et al. (2010) Science, 330: 323-324

Engagement of next generation is key. The message is to inspire, motivate and get them involved and outdoors. There are many citizen science initiatives out there to tap into to take action on Biodiversity and Climate change. E.g. Opal project and iSpot.

Final points
Agenda 21 has and continues to be important in setting the agenda. Think Global, Act Local Mantra. We need to join up across scales and get grass roots agenda linked with top government agendas to create action plans across all scales. We need a lot of people doing a bit, rather than a few doing a lot to achieve change. Therefore we need to engage across scales.

Further Reading:
Evolution host – Book from ZSL.

Beyond Limitations

2010-07-15T09:31:00.001+01:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SipVykiE6mY&feature=player_embedded

Boat Sweet Boat

2010-06-26T00:18:00.001+01:00

I now live on a boat. An old dutch barge. I'm living on the thames. The tide comes in and out. The boat bobs up and down. Every day is a joy and a challenge as I navigate the slippery slope between deck and pier.

The light on the water makes me smile. The gently rocking and the tapping of the rudder. The family of ducks that nestle in the bows. The cheeky coot. The herons watching from on high.

I'm mesmerised by the little green plants growing on the wooden slats attached to the pier. They cling on for dear life and manage to survive the daily submergence.

Apparently my great great grandfather was a lighter man on the thames. And my great Nana lived on a boat on the Lea valley navigation. So it would seem that boats, the thames and lights go way back in my family history.

I'm revelling in all things naughtycool. Breton stripes, boat neck collars and sailor dresses.... Buckle boots, tricorn hats, pieces of eight....

Its sweet. I'm so happy. I thought I'd simply share this simple fact.

Are we all speaking the same language?

2010-06-25T16:25:00.007+01:00

Today a contrast of top down and bottom up ecological systems thinking...

Hub networks: Role of Rural Hubs. Bottom up. Arranged by Limina.

First Hub Islington – 2006

Preliminarily formed as Workspaces aimed at attracting SMEs, start ups, charities, and social eco enterprises. The added value from the hub network is the access to a community and culture from the network that has developed in the hub spaces. Hubs have now reached maturity in London meaning it is now possible to ask almost any question or service to the Hub community and get an answer rapidly now the number has reached critical mass. The network of hubs is now comprised of 20 hubs around the world incl. Hubs in Tel aviv, Bombay, Johannesburg and Sao Paulo. The aim of hubs is to be locally routed but globally focused networks championing new ideas and innovations.

The aim now is to spread the model to rural communities through the formation of rural hubs to create a national network and regenerate communities.

1. “The Quadrangle Farm” – A farm comprised of 3.5 acres with river just outside London. A model Victorian farm with mix of workshop space, event space and overnight accommodation.

2. “West Lexham” - A farm in Norfolk comprised of 30 acres and river. Old farm. Lots of buildings. 2000sq m buildings. Kitchens and gardens. Space for people to stay. Farm used to employ whole village. The aim is to once again employ local people. Stop the endless commutes out of the area – or at least provide a viable desirable alternative. But also network the entrepreneurs from city hubs.

3. “The November” – boat on the Thames. Yurt on the boat with event space underneath. The boat is moored opposite houses of parliament. Not rural. But different space. Juxtaposition of architecture.

The rural hubs on land will have accomadation and there will be tiered pricing structure to make sure accessible to every budget. There will be opportunities to camp, spacious dormatories, or more luxury dependent on budget. Pricing structure still to be developed.

The main focus of the evening was a range of speakers from various low carbon alternative communities to give an idea of how rural hubs could evolve. The first presentation was given by Blanche Cameron from the Centre of Alternative Technology. CAT was founded by Gerald Morgon Bendle and can be considered the 1^st rural hub. It was set up in an old disused quarry as a centre for investigation of alternative ways of living during the oil crisis of the 1970s. The primary focus is searching for new ways of low impact living. It was founded in the days of the first publication of Silent Spring, the seminal work of Rachel Carson. The collective are mindful of the existing population and culture and make efforts to connect with surroundings and the wider community. Blanche feels it is important to make sure hubs are not satellites for urban escapades and that they become fully integrated into the local culture; that they create a dialogue and involve people in the journey right from the outset. There have been a number of successful spin offs from CAT.

Pat Bowcock from Ourganics, a 5 acre water meadow in Litton Cheney near Bridport and Dorchester. Not far from the coast. Pat lived in the community for 30 years beforehand and this may have been key to Ourganics success. In June 1999 pat had a vision to radically lower her personal imprint on the planet, to grow food and pass on this knowledge to local community. She moved on the land without planning permission initially living in a caravan on the land. Her aim was to integrate sustainably with the community. She made a number of creative additions to her humble abode first adding a turf roof, then an outdoor kitchen space, then a log burner and wood burning stove for cooking. Hadn’t grown commercially so was a real adventure. Over 2000 people have passed through the field. She is very busy now. Everything has gone in by hand. Wanted to demonstrate basic permaculture principles. Earth care fair share people care. This underpinned the whole project. Grew food for all the visitors on the courses. 32 m polytunnel, raised beds, forest garden. Sells food to box schemes, cafes, locally. People come and pick their own and volunteer in the summer. People do come and stay. Runs courses mostly in the summer. Seasonal income. Has a big wellie collection for guests. Has an outside kitchen on the side of the old stable. Has finally got planning permission for building. Planning has been a real issue. Hard to persuade people. But got their finally. Working to support people returning to the land. 10m by 5m shed is where they have a classroom. Sometimes has up to 25 people on permaculture courses. Planted an ancient woodland for future generations. Manages the water with irrigation channels and sluice gates across the land. Has solar and wind energy. Very small scale. Solar hot water and shower in the summer. Trying to break down them-us mentality. She encourages people to come and get involved to break down those barriers. She is very happy! Problem has been with planners. Parish council don’t understand why people would want to live off grid. Pat keeps lambs, ducks, geese, chicken during the spring and summer months. Land is quite wet so no animals in winter. Planning has been the biggest issue.

The next speaker was Andrew from Findhorn who detailed his experience as a City person moving to rural setting. Findhorn is on the north coast of Scotland and is thought of as a centre of spiritual growth. What is it like going from cityscape to rural landscape?? Andrew got to age 40 and decieded he needed to get away from his soulless city life and go on a holiday for the Soul and develop a new business. He was very interested in motivation. Motivation and why people do things was one of the main things that intrigued him from his time at Unilever. He was fascinated by game playing! He read the Aquarian conspiracy and couldn’t believe that there were other people out there who thought the same. He admitted that at the time he was a skin encapsulated ego in a flash car as he headed to Findhorn. But Findhorn has the ability to shine a light on complacency and arrogance. The places blows away superficial fallacy and gets you to think about other ways of doing things. A typical day does not exist. Every day is different. Place of serendipity. Different speed of energy. City is wheel spinning and nothing happening. Findhorn is slower but with traction. Work is love in action. Work is love made visible. A lot of what goes on in city lives is grudging and indifference. Not really caring. The inner journey is key to the Findhorn experience. Andrew lives in London and is a regular visitor. Doesn’t have many local visitors despite considerable effort from the community. His Findhorn experience has learnt to trust intuition from his experiences at Findhorn.

The final speaker joined us via Skype link from France with John Thackara. His opinion is that in rural settings trust and connections in the community take a lot longer to build. In France the saying goes that you are not a member of the town until you have a member of your family buried there. The town has a food market and there are a number of box schemes. Discussed the need fair exchange for work and sharing of skills that are useful to the community. Attended the transition town conference in Seale Haine in Devon.

Workshop discussion groups (open space model – can move between groups as you wish):

1. Community engagement

2. What is needed for social cohesion in hubs?

3. Legal structures that allow for exchange.

4. Financial workings and business models – can we evolve without money? – beyond business models?

5. Creating your own rural hubs/setting one up.

6. Food connecting spaces

I decided to participate in the Food projects discussion group. We discussed the importance of land-people connectivity and creating a new generation of food enthusiasts. As Colin Tudge likes to say 'the future belongs to the gourmet' (feeding people is easy).

We discussed a local schools project where children had been growing seedlings as part of the curriculum, growing on seedlings at home for sale in local fair. Her opinion that there has been a significant increase in interest in home grown food and growing project in her area in Berkshire (?). And that children are really engaged and enjoy the projects.

A market grower (surburban kent) told of his experience of trying to connect to local community and finding it very difficult. His trade was often from people travelling into the area rather than immediate neighbours. The feeling from the group that increased connectivity between communities was needed or new ways to engage with people. Feeling that there is a huge capacity for localised food production but not being realised. Certainly some work to be done there to penetrate communities and demonstrate the benefits of decentralised resilient food systems.

Sustain have some data on the local food production and have created links with the NHS around healthy eating and local engagement.

Another participant shared her experience as a grant evaluator for Kids first.. She has witnessed a trend over the last 4 years for children play spaces to incorporate food growing space and reflective spaces.

So Rural hubs. A post post modern fusion of farm, garden, theatre, office and village hall.

Urban Ecotopia

2010-05-19T09:23:00.001+01:00

A few months ago I awoke to a dream... That the Olympic site was turned into a super cool paradise of sparking watercourses for free swimming, buzzing orchards, vibrant fruit and vegetable patches.

Vision Statement: Urban Eco Farm Project on the Olympic Site

One of the biggest challenges of the third millennium is the need to create "sustainable low carbon cities" which provide food, shelter, basic services and jobs to the urbanites. The aim of this project is to take the concept of the city farm to a new more interactive and educational level. In the not so distant past the lea valley Olympic site was the area where a large proportion of London’s food production occurred. Could we go back to the future and recreate a new model of London urban agriculture and demonstrate the proof of principle of Urban Ecotopia to cities around the world?

My vision in the future is of a system of decentralised, urban farms that produce fresher and safer food at the point of consumption. While this movement has started gaining traction, in order to make great change, we need to expand beyond community and rooftop gardens into commercial growing and create an urban farm model for the world. That’s where the Olympic site comes in. The vision is to transform the Olympic site and stadium into the latest in future farm technology to produce fresh crops for London. An Eco vision of food production, learning, sustainability and science. A combination of Go-Ape outdoors adventures, the Eden project with a vegetable version of Willy Wonkas chocolate factory and Children’s summer camp. A truly interactive experience!

Incorporated into the design will be glasshouses and laboratories where simply food or growing related experiments can be carried out (such as on the influence of music on plant growth), soil and water testing laboratories (provide a resource where people can send garden soil samples for testing for example), experiments on composting, green manures and use of mulches to repel pests, interactive kitchens linked up to multi media channel where children can compete in ready steady style cook competitions with produce from the farm (inspire intuitive cooking and experimentation) and glasshouses where more exotic plants from around the world can be cultivated (celebrate our diverse multicultural food influences). In addition, there can be workshop space available for creative workshops related to clothing and building with plenty of outdoor activities sowing seed, planting and harvesting across the urban farm.

Across the site a permaculture approach to the food growing with a range of agroforests created and intercropping scenarios deployed (for example arable rotations with hazel, potato rotations with sunflower, wheat with willow, etc). By designing in 3 dimensions efficient use of space designing according to the elements (soil type, water availability, aspect, wind direction) and using beneficial plant relationships to their greatest advantage. These agricultural forests contain a mix of treehouses and various climbing structures to encourage active engagement with the growing space with zip wires, swings and slides throughout the site. The aim is to make the site as interactive and playful as possible while providing learning opportunities for discovering the joys of food, growing, preparation, consumption, agriculture and ecology.

Create a wilderness and wild forest area for wild birds and bats with creative wild spaces for story telling and plays. Habitat corridors and diverse hedgerows for a multitude of wild creatures. Spaces for 'Guerilla scrumping' and foraging. Reignite the interest in our folklore and traditional heritage while celebrating the new cultural food influences of the East.

I see the Olympic stadium converted into a stepped agroforest/horticulture system in a greenhouse, along the lines of the domes at the Eden project capable of producing large quantities of fruits, salads and vegetables for consumption both on and off site. I see the stadium being converted into a hanging garden of Babylon. Vines snaking and curling around the metal struts.

Of course you could argue that we all ready have these facilities in London in our current urban farm networks.... How is this different? The main difference is the idea that this could be a residential experience where groups of schools could come to stay and interact with each over a period of time. This would provide an opportunity to be immersed in a practical creative skill and build new friendships with others from around the country. This farm could link in with the other city farms farms across London.

This is an opportunity to provide facilities and resources for the next generation of visionaries who wish to live sustainably and creatively on the planet. To create a space where a love of food and farming, compassion for plants, animals, birds and bees can be fostered and create a blueprint for urban city farming for our future.

Feel free to comment and say what you think the site could be like after the Olympics... I would love to hear your ideas! xxx

Sources of inspiration / website with ideas to assist in creating the vision:

http://www.blueforest.com/our-services/

http://www.rivendellorganics.com/ecocity_2.html

http://mams.rmit.edu.au/nebyf8puv6rk.pdf

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ae/Hanging_Gardens_of_Babylon.jpg

Petropolis

2010-05-18T19:28:00.004+01:00

Combustion flight above a dead scarred landscape.

Welcome to "The Alberta Tar Sands".

A pulsing heartbeat. Dead echos. Industrial symphony. The march of the dead.

Wake up. From your slumber. View this nightmare scape. Reality of Ecocide.

Yellow trucks weave like auto ants across a mars scape of burnt orange and iridescent oily rivers.

Veins of black. Slivers of silver. Oil flares. Stacks burning. Visual devastation.

Waves of nausea as the camera pans. I shudder as the horizon evolves.

What is happening? I didn’t choose this. Is there blood on my hands from not resisting more?

The men in the trucks. What must they think? Do they have families? Why are they there? Can they not feel the pain of their actions?

Hell on earth. Untie my hands. Let me go. Kicking and screaming from my nightmares. Let me be free from this matrix of oil.

The web held together by a viscous dirty slick. A mesh of blood, oil and tears.

I cry for my country, my nation, my world. I cry.

Displacement of tribes. Felling of trees. Burning of soil. A process so destructive.

Birds migrating die from the toxic tailing ponds.

No impact assessment. No planning. No idea for the future.

Relentless continual march on the robotic quest for more and more. For what?

Corporations get fatter. Atmosphere thicker. Temperatures rising. For what?

A colossal example of immense stupidity and greed. I feel sick.

Global transformation. How do you feel about energy? Where does your energy come from?

Food webs or chains? Solidarity together? Form clusters of sustainability.

Check your pension. Demand Action. End this destruction. Choose a clean future.

Look back. Gaze forward. Dream.

Family. Friends. Dreams for our collective future?

Take a moment. Be still.

Think.

“Not only is another world possible… She is on her way.” Arundhati Roy.

From Seed to Fulfillment

2010-05-16T10:27:00.011+01:00

This week I was privileged to participate on a course with 40 others called from "seed to fulfilment", a course on process psychology run by CFOR. CFOR facilitates community dialogue for violence prevention, social inclusion and creative community leadership within organisations, communities and societies in the UK, the Balkans, in Europe and internationally. Its activities focus on underlying conflicts and potential for creative cooperation in multicultural forums concerning European, national and ethnic identity; post-war reconciliation and conflict prevention; training in facilitation for leaders; arts, research and publications.

My journey folk on the course were a range of people in the age range of mid 20s to mid 40s. A mixture of Europeans with a bias towards eastern europe and the balkans. The aim of the sessions was to work through personal blockages, create a through understanding of operating in teams and role play to establish how to bring social projects to fruition successfully. We worked on a number of issues such as how to deal with you inner bad guy, issues of rank and hierarchy, feelings and connection to our inner core wisdom.

I was struck by how many very quietly powerful women we had in the group and how many exciting projects that are going on around Europe tackling xenophobia, violence, migration and asylum. One group were working on a group project of integration of Romany culture into Czech culture. Another was working on how to set up a nomadic skill sharing retreat where practical skill sharing would be combined with storytelling, music and culture in Estonia. Another of tackling prejudice to Russian romanies and getting acceptance by their birth country of their existence.

It would be impossible to describe all the incredible and meaningful conversations I had over the course of the week. It would also be unfair. We made a code that we wouldn't name names or share stories outside of our group setting. I felt a very deep connection with our team. Some stories were heart breaking, others were incredibly inspiring. I realised how essential it is for diverse cultures to come together, tell stories and share experiences. Ultimately this is what peace is built on.

But this brings me into conflict in one way. How to reconcile my curious nature and nomadic spirit with my environmental philosophies and sensitivities. How to travel and meet all my wonderful friends, while earning a fair wage and leaving little pollution footprints. Exchange of culture, trades and goods is an essential part of being human. But how do I align that with the consumption of the energy required to travel? We certainly need to consume less and use more efficient and environmentally benign forms of transport in the short and long run while skill sharing as much as possible. Continue to rebuild our cultures based on more sustainable ecologically integrated practices.

Regardless I'm determined that I will one day make a sustainable tour of eastern europe to learn about eastern folk lore and tribal history, deep ecology and visit all the wonderful passionate people I have met this week.

The quote that resonated most powerfully was “If you want to go fast, go alone, if you want to go far, go together.” I'm going to try and hold that in the fore front of my mind as I continue my personal journey reconnecting with my roots and deeper culture from my many past lives.

New Voters, New Politics: Debate at Charities Parliament

2010-04-30T01:27:00.002+01:00

'We need a new politics and to get it we must turn to a new generation,  because if you want to do something different, you have to be  different.'

Political debate with leading political parties on the issues of   international development, human rights, global health, climate change,  corporate responsibility and democratic participation. Tuesday 27th April 2010. Held at Charities Parliament. 

Speakers  

Hilary Benn, Labour Party
James Brockenshire, Conservative Party
Simon Hughes, Liberal Democrats
Darren Johnson, Green Party

The evening followed a Question Time format. All members of the audience were given pink and black cards which we got to wave at the panel depending on what we thought about their comments. Pink for love and black for hate. 

The debate kicked off with a question on youth participation in politics. What key policies would the parties bring in to increase the youth vote and participation in politics in general?

Simon Hughes set out 2 clear policies; 1st to change the voting age to 16 as this is the age when there is the first opportunity to leave school, 2nd policy is to provide work experience and volunteer opportunities to the 16-25 bracket and provide mentoring for the most promising bright sparks. Also a general policy of specifically asking to speak to younger voters on the doorstep. 

Darren Johnson outlined the party policy of a fairer, greener society which he felt appealed to younger voters, the policy of changes to structures within organisations to narrow the gap between the people at the bottom of a company and those at the top and the provision of green jobs. 

James Brokenshire outlined proposals for lowering the age of standing for parliamentary election from 21 to 18 and support greater community activism. Providing a method for key community issues with a core level of support being guaranteed a hearing in parliament. Creating direct democracy apparently. 

Next up a question on the current first past the post electoral system. 

SH - Reform the system and bring in proportional representation.

DJ - Agreed with SH

JB - Believes in the '1st past the post' system and would not reform. 

HB - Discussed how all systems have the pros and cons and overall he believes in maintaining links between MPs and constituencies. He believes in an elected house of lords and would call for a referendum in 2011. 

How is it possible to have faith in poltics after the current scandals? 

JB - Accountability is key. Calls for greater transparency and public right of recall.  

HB - Power is for electorate. MP expenses scandal was terrible but the system has changed. 

SH - Have to judge every politician directly. Believes in power of recall and PR. Didn't vote for Iraq. All lib dems opposed iraq. 

Penal reform, Asylum, Justice and Human rights.  

DJ - Positive about immigration and the benefits it has brought the UK in terms of economy and culture. Any concerns are usually a mask for other social issues such as access to quality housing and services. Believes that a fairer society is a more tolerant society. 

JB - Agreed with DJ and stated that it is important to open dialogue and discuss these issues openly and honestly. Be proud to welcome immigrants but put in place fair, just speedy controls. 

HB -Agreed with DJ and JB and stated how important immigration has been to our culture and how we are more interdependent than ever before. 

SH -  Complimented HB on his family's heritage in campaigning for human rights and rights of asylum seekers and immigrants. SH stated how important to separate issues of assylum from issues of immigration. 

How are the parties attempting to break out of the white middle class male stereotype?  

SH - positive action to encourage women and ethnic groups to participate and in some cases positive discrimination to create a balance. 

What would the parties do on child detention of asylum seekers?

DJ  - End immediately. No place for child detention. SH concured an pointed out this explicitly refered to in the lib dem manifesto. 

War on want As John Ruggie, the UN’s Special Representative on business & human  rights has said, the voluntary approach to corporate social  responsibility has not provided people with the protection from human  rights abuses that they need. Would you support the proposal drawn up by  the Corporate Responsibility Coalition for a UK Commission for  Business, Human Rights and the Environment, which would support  corporate accountability and provide new avenues for redress in the UK??

SH - Yes in principle. Currently being reviewed by party. UN not up to the job. Requires international law and expansion of powers for charging businesses on environmental grounds for violation of CR and environmental responsibilities. 

HB - Yes in principle but unsure of how it would work in practice. Believes important to change laws. Made the case progress to date with union support and believes empowering the union movement worldwide to affect change is the best method of acieving lasting CR policy. Also belives it is important support the ethical and fair trade movements to affect change and set standards for import to prevent illegal imports of unethical products. E.g. Illegal timber for example. 

DJ - Fair trade not free trade. Stop further deregulation as feels that is producing a race to the bottom in terms of standards. 

JB  - Last 13 years shown that legislation doesn't always work. constructive use of aid budgets to affect change and raise standards within countries. Also facitlitate greater free trade with developing nations. 

Question from stop climate chaoes coalition. What would the parties do about investmesnt in climate destructive projects such as tar sands and the fact that current such projects are being funded by the newly state owned RBS. 

DJ - Get RBS to stop funding destructive projects and instead fund projects for positivw change and mitagation of CC. 

HB - Not government role to play at banking. Would get Canada to meet Kyoto requirements. stated how UK has played a leading role in shaping negotioations in Copenhagen and how the UK had leap frogged Denmark recently in terms of wind energy capacity (is this true??). 

SH  - Has been involved in RBS tar sands discussions. Been lobbying for an end to RBS involvement in tar sands. Thinks governemtn should be able to influence these decisions. Highlighted the equally climate destructive practices of Shell off the coast of Africa. Currently flaring enough oil to power several african countries! 

JB - Not governments role to micro manage banks. 

Global health: Given we are way off target to meet millenium development goals what would the parties do to improve global health for poorest and do they support the Robin Hood tax?

JB - Yes to levy. IMF have also made tax/levy proposals. Would also place a focus on rate of maternal death and reducing those figures worldwide. 

DJ - Reference to Robin Hood tax on page 47 of the manifesto. Put serious money into climate change and international aid for developing world. Manifesto includes fully costed proposals. Lots of pink card waving as DJ outlined how trident would be scrapped in favout of these proposals. 

JB - Proper regulation of the banks. 

SH - Noted how we have increased gaps between the rich and poor within our nation and between developed and developing nations. would tackle these inequalities by progressive taxation and tax on transactions. Would create structures for effective tax collection. 

HB - Legislate for 0.7% tax on transactions and outlined how Gorden Brown had played a key role in working specifically on this issue in the treasury (unsure of this... check - may have mis heard). 

SH  -Stop brain drain from devloping to developed world. 

HB - Key issue is provision of clean water and sanitation world wide. Also empowering nations to develop themselves. Provide decent salaries for healthcare professionals and good working conditions to prevent brain drain and migration. 

JB - Clarified how believed in the role of DFID. Will keep 0.7% levy. (I was surprised - is this Tory policy?). Would establish fund to send western medical staff to those countries and contibute towards development of health care provisions in situ. 

DJ - Believed key to tackling this issue is cooperation not competition. 

Last question was on why 60 times more money spent on arms than renewable energy technologies.. What would your government do to priorities green jobs over arms? 

HB - We need international treaty on arms. Believes countries do have the right to arm themselves. 

JB - Also believes in treaty and required standards. Greater investment in green jobs. 

SH  -Prioritise green jobs over arms. Support treasty, ban cluster bombs and no british arms to oppresssive regimes. £3 billion investment towards green jobs. 

Is trident a credible detearant and can any of the parties see a time when it would EVER be necessary to deploy?

DJ - NO. Never a time when would press the button. Stated how very important to adequately equip and arm our troops. 

JB - Thinks we need trident (cue lots of black cards!). 

HB - Issue is whether someone else would press that button. Committed to multilateral negotiation. Stated how UK has already decommissioned and reduced number of warheads. 

SH - Commitment to not replace trident in current form. Possible renewal in different much reduced form depending on threat. Continue with negotiation on multilateral negotiations. 

Final words... Check out tube footage... Anyone got any??

Look left, look right. Time to be Counted and step into the future with precision

2010-04-30T01:18:00.020+01:00

Counted? is a fun antidote to election fever. Set in the stunning surroundings of the Debating Chamber at County Hall, its a stone's throw from Big Ben. Counted weaves the stories of a demographically diverse population and questions why up to 70% of the population do not vote.

The play opens in the office of a professor of Political Sciences. His mission is to uncover the reasons that the majority of the UK population do not vote and fail to be counted. Although the stories weaved are fictional, they are adapted from first hand interviews conducted by the team. Genuinely some were embarrassingly accurate! In one scene a local resident is bemoaning the local politicians putting some fancy pile of rocks in the park when the locals had asked for a community centre. Spookily familiar and reminded me of my recent rant about the Olympic Tower of Babel....

Expressed reasons for not voting included:
"They are all middle class white men. They don't represent me"
"Nobody came to the door. Seriously I'd vote for anyone if they actually came to see me"

The play doesn't give any answers or delve too deeply into any one specific reason for low turnout. It basically turns over a few rocks and uncovers a range of questions for thoughtful debate. The observations were well presented, the team versatile and engaging with a broad demographic covered. The play also highlighted how actually we all make political decisions on a daily basis. Overall the play was suitably politically neutral. Overall the show provided me with plenty of food for thought and insights on why people are so detached and disconnected from politics. But I'm hopeful recent events mean that a new generation is becoming politically aware and engaged. The tide may be turning.

Get down and see preferably before May 6th! Highly recommended.

Limber up. Stretch those vocal cords. Have a voice. Think. Vote. Act. Time to be Counted.

Nu Rave Nano-Camo for Environmental Fashionistas.

2010-04-29T15:50:00.004+01:00

Horizon scanning future fabrics and stumbled upon chameleon-like colour changing invisability clothing!

Check out this research from Sandia Laboratories. Straight out of Science fiction and a possible reality within 5-10 years. Synthetic materials that can change colour like chameleons can potentially enabling camouflage outfits that blend with a variety of environments without need of an outside power source.

The process is self powered by ATP, the basic fuel of cells. The team have achieved colour changing capacity by bio engineering proteins and forming moveable microtubules and quantum dots which can produce a range of light frequencies. These dots, made from cadmium selenide, can be moved around matrix of microtubules to produce a range of different colours depending on their location to each other.

Similar to the process that many fish use to change colour and is therefore an area of science called 'biomimicry'.

Maybe in the future we will have only a few items of clothing that we can change at will. More sustainable than a wardrobe of pradamark or other slave and pesticide laden commercial brands of clothing.

To read more about other future tech in fabrics check out this article.

Hello world. I'm here.

2010-04-27T12:51:00.006+01:00

Off to the Science fair to see demonstrations of robotics technology. Cool! Met Zephyrus II a decapedal robot, shaped like a millipede but with less segments. Apparently totally extensible though. Most of the robots they design are mimics of nature and natural forms. I like the insect inspired robots. Apparently they are building a range of spider robots.

On a more serious note robotics technology is used to explore brain function, mechanics and physics. The applications of the robots range from medical to use in high risk laboratories or in war zones or mine clearance. As all the robots are powered, I enquired as to whether the robotics industry is worried about climate change, the advent of peak oil and interested in ecological issues such as energy generation. Not really was the response. There is a worry about the availability of oil as it's required for manufacturing most plastics. I quickly replied that it's a good reason then to make sure we don't squander the remaining resources on pointless ugly plastic bags and takeaway containers. And save the plastic for long term creations.

As I examined the robot hands on display my mind wandered as I mused about to what extent we, the modern human race are robots or cyborgs or evolving into a race of homo interneticus? To what extent are we dependent / manipulated / controlled by technology or are using technology to control others. Many people go to great lengths to chemically and physically modify their bodies and we have created tools that are essentially an extension of our bodies, minds and spirit in the form of mobile phones, sat-nav, laptops, skate boards, bicycles, the list goes on. Man and machine.

To what extent is our dependence on technology key to our survival or a dangerous path? Can you unplug? What would happen if Google malfunctioned and started to send us in the wrong places? Could be quite exciting but also challenging. Or a solar storm took out all the electricity? Would we still function as a civilised society? Could we feed, clothe, water, and entertain ourselves in a world without electricity and animated machines? Where would we go to for information if Wiki went down? Do you have back up? Good reason to keep the books and libraries! Regardless from the fact nothing feels better than a good book in bed or the bath. I really can't see the iPad replacing the joy of an old worn novel.

The final chapter of the evening was due to be the screening of Spike Jonze' film 'I'm here', a robot love story celebrating a life magically changed and enriched by creativity. The film is set in modern day L.A., where life moves at a regular pace with the exception of a certain amount of robot residents who live among the population. A male robot librarian lives a quiet lonely existence lacking creativity, joy and passion. He is a geeky robot with clunky limbs and too short trousers. Shy and retiring. That is until the day he meets an adventurous and free spirited female robot who's constant 'joie de vivre' lands her in a number of near fatal scrapes. These robots have been primarily crafted for the purpose of serving the menial tasks on behalf of humans but are gradually recognizing their existence of self in the world. In the process they are starting to say 'I'm here!' and experiencing and celebrating their life beyond the realms of their primary designed purpose. In the end the film is bittersweet and sad. Ultimately the male robot sacrifices himself to his dreamy but self destructive partner by giving all he has and is. His love for her goes beyond reason and his desire is that she lives over him. Love - a most dangerous drug. But also one of the most magic....

The next science fair goes on a field trip to the roof of the Queen of Hoxton for a soiree of Astronomy. Star gazing. Love it.

'No-nonsense guide to Religion' Book launch

2010-04-21T15:21:00.002+01:00

A fresh insightful guide to Religion in a no-nonsense fashion brought to you by New Internationalist. In this book Symon Hill takes us knowledgeably through the history of world religion and offers interesting overviews of culture and faith in globalised society. Talk and reference to religion envelopes every aspect of society and it is important, now more than ever, to understand religious worldviews and perspectives of different faiths and cultures. Symon has explored religion and spirituality his whole life. His belief is that religious enquiry is about searching for truth and asking questions. Making a commitment to that continual quest for knowledge and experience. Very much in agreement on that. Spirituality, to me, is about experience, reflection and evolution of the self in the context of an ever changing world. Seeking truths and sharing widely. Seeking to maintain an open heart and free nature. Responding to challenges with courage, humility and honesty and committing to keep learning about life and improving life on earth for the greater whole. This evenings discussions centred around differences between religion and spirituality. The role of evolving spirituality in shaping religious doctrines. Discussions evolved on to say that spirituality can be the personal and the radical whereas religion being the dogma. But spirituality can at times radically overthrow the religious doctrines. Reminds me of the saying 'My Karma ran over my Dogma'. Its good to keep things fresh and to question what you believe, why you believe and the experiences and evidence for your beliefs. Symon briefly touched on the ability of open democracy and the digital age in shaping the exploration of religious ideas. It is now possible to connect with countless different worshippers, seekers, spiritualists around the world. Interesting ideas. while I accept that the digital world is great for accessing information, in my reality I'd rather worship off grid and in the real world. For me the world is my church and the spirit is everywhere. Discussions on religious conflict focused on the reality that the conflict is really over power. Power is a dominant theme throughout the book. It is sad to note that religion has upheld so many abuses over the centuries such as sexism, racism, homophobia, and countless other intolerances. So modern religious enquiry. A tool for liberty and freedom. So far i'm about 2 thirds through the book. It does exactly what it says on the tin and is thought provoking and easy to read. The chapter that has caught my eye is on 'Questions of Truth' and its relationship with scientific enquiry. Science has clearly brought, and continues to bring, immeasurable benefits to humankind. However it is also responsible for fuelling environmental destruction and war. While many assume Science to be a process of impartial observation this is often not the case and Scientists will be affected by background, education, views regardless of how open minded or unbiased they attempt to be. For a scientist to overlook cultural, political and economic contexts of research and innovation is as dangerous as is with religion. Food for thought undoubtedly! I thoroughly recommend this little read. And will get back to you with any further insights as I have them.

The soil nitrogen problem

2010-04-21T13:54:00.002+01:00

As most people who know me personally will know I'm passionate about soils and climate change. But I think perhaps I'm in a minority. Most take the soil beneath our feet for granted. The status of soil and soil nutrients can affect forests, deserts, and even climate. Humans can, with better management, potentially increase the carbon content of soils and thereby store some of the excess carbon dioxide changing our planet's atmosphere. My focus today is on nitrogen and how it affects human health, climate, and the ozone layer.

About 78 percent of the mass of the Earth's atmosphere is nitrogen gas. But the nitrogen in the atmosphere can't be used directly by plants and crops until it is converted to one of the forms we call active or available nitrogen. Nature can do that transformation. There are some bacteria called nitrogen fixing bacteria that can fix atmospheric nitrogen in symbiosis with leguminous plants. It's a difficult reaction and there are many processes and factors that can affect a soils ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen. Application of synthetic fertilisers, pesticides and herbicides can affect a soils ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen.

So humans, of course, being the ingenious creatures that we are, discovered a way to fix atmospheric nitrogen synthetically. This process, called the Haber-Bosch process was invented by the German chemist Fritz Haber and commercialised by Carl Bosch, a chemist at BASF. Statistics show that half of all fertilizers ever used have been used since the mid-1980s. This process is hugely energy intensive and uses approximately 5% of world natural gas production is consumed in the Haber process (~1–2% of the world's annual energy supply).

So we're now supplying the natural world with about twice the nitrogen it had a hundred years ago. It gets in the atmosphere. It gets in streams and rivers that are draining from farm fields. It gets into ground waters. When the ground waters are subsequently used as drinking water for humans, the concentration of nitrates can exceed a recognized public health standard. High nitrates in water cause a syndrome in young children and infants called blue baby syndrome. A significant fraction of nitrogen can end up converted by a process of (incomplete) denitrification into nitrous oxide, which causes a number of difficulties. One is that it's a potent greenhouse gas in the atmosphere (300 times the heat trapping power and with a long residence time). Another is that it is now thought to be the major source of ozone destruction in the stratosphere.

Another effect of synthetic fertiliser use is its impact on the soil carbon cycle. The net effect of synthetic nitrogen use is to, over time, reduce soil’s organic matter content. This is because nitrogen fertilizer stimulates soil microbes, which feast on organic matter. Over time, the impact of this enhanced microbial consumption of organic matter outweighs the benefits of more crop residues. As organic matter decreases, the physical structure of soil changes and the soil’s ability to store organic nitrogen decreases. changes in soils structure can lead to nitrogen leeching, fouling ground water in the form of nitrates (the cause of blue baby syndrome). This creates a vicious circle whereby the soil, with its ability to store organic nitrogen compromised, requiring heavy fertilization to maintain yields further exacerbating the problem. Soils can end up bleeding nutrients and the long term productivity is compromised.

The loss of organic matter has other serious side effects. Degraded soil are more prone to compaction, which makes it vulnerable to runoff and erosion and limits the growth of stabilizing plant roots. Worse yet, the ability of soils to hold water is affected, making it ever more reliant on irrigation. As water becomes scarcer, this consequence of widespread synthetic nitrogen use will become more and more challenging.

The majority of the problem is derived from large-scale agriculture. That's really where the education needs to be aimed. Those operations need to use nitrogen fertiliser with precision if at all, judiciously, at the highest efficiency that can be achieved. When the crop most needs it and is likely to accumulate it. That would prevent nitrogen runoff and losses through denitrification.

Another big thing that would be beneficial for both agriculture and society in general, would be to recycle wastes more effectively. By recycling organic wastes, such as manures and human waste (urine and fecal matter) we could reduce the amount of synthetic fertilisers required. On a personal level recycling organic waste in wormeries and through composting can provide nitrogen (and other essential plant nutrients) required for growing fruit and vegetables. The added benefit of this is reducing organic waste that ends up in landfill where it breaks down leading to methane emissions. Another potent greenhouse gas!

On a personal level the rate at which home gardeners use nitrogen as a fertilizer is often vastly in excess of what's needed. A lot of excess fertiliser washes off and contaminates the ground water. If possible use synthetic fertilisers sparingly or ideally make your own fertilisers with a wormery system. Wormeries can convert food waste to rich compost within two weeks. Cheaper and more sustainable. A win-win situation.

At a time of climate chaos and ever-growing global greenhouse gas emissions, any techniques that helps vast swaths of farmland soak up carbon would be an immense stabilising force for the climate. Moreover, carbon-rich soils store nutrients and have the potential to remain fertile over time. Building up our the carbon and nutrient status of soils has to be the priority for creating a sustainable future for generations to come.

The time has come to rebalance the carbon and nitrogen cycles. We need an agricultural revolution and we need it fast.

Food NOT lawns. Gardens NOT drives. Soil NOT oil!

Further information of interest:

Rich soil farming and Climate Friendly Food

Report on Can Organics feed the world? Discuss the imbalance in allocation of research funding between organic systems and biotechnological approaches to meeting food security.

Recent report From the University of Reading Centre for Sustainability.
Sweet diagram of greenhouse gases on farms.

The Future of Sustainable Urban Transport. My favourite top 4

2010-04-16T21:13:00.009+01:00

After yesterdays joy of learning about the London Cycle Superhighways I have turned my attention to thinking about Sustainable Urban Transport overall and what the sort of pedal powered (the ultimate biofuel powered vehicles) and electric vehicles (hopefully powered from renewable energy sources of course!) gracing our streets in the coming years will be. Below are my favourite 4 that I have stumbled on so far.

First up the world's first folding electric penny farthing called the Yike Bike! I had the pleasure of given this baby a short test ride at the UK Aware show. Seriously fun and totally futuristic. I felt like a cyborg on this thing. This bike was recently named one of the best innovations of the year by Time magazine. Shame about the £2995 price tag and the fact the manufacture has a high carbon footprint! Would prefer one made in bamboo! A sustainable alternative to carbon fibre.

Next up the Twike Electric car. This snazzy 2 person electric vehicle is different from other electric vehicles in that it is steered by a joystick and the seats are reclining. Although the top speed is only 53 mile per hour, the low seat position and joystick steering promises a fun filled ride. Check out the details here.

And finally in my random perusal of the web I stumbled across this delightful picture of a snazzy folding bike. No idea who the manufactureer is. but love the neon colours and the fact the wheels fold into the central wheel. Super cool. If anyone knows who makes this then please get in touch!

Last but not least. Check out this short video of the Honda personal mobility device. A kind of random personal gyroscope? Ignore the sh*t advert that is in the first 20 seconds.

Of course none of them are in my price range and I'm unlikely to be owning any of them anytime soon. But its fun to dream! For now my trusty push bike suits me just fine!

Ignorance is no excuse. Challenging the rising tide of climate sceptics.

2010-04-15T12:17:00.017+01:00

Off to SOAS to take climate skepticism and the spread of Science misinformation. Get the latest word on the climate wars.

The first speaker was Ben Stewart, the main media guy from Greenpeace. Ben started by giving his personal views on the UEA email debacle and how the issue first came to light. He realized very early on that the story would have reverberations throughout the climate community and described how and why the timing could not be worse in light of Copenhagen. In his opinion the climate debate has been reversed by up to 10 years.

He drew comparisons to the Swiftboating of John Kerry during the presidential elections. John Kerry, a war veteran, was accused of Cowardice. Even though it was incorrect the campaign smeared him sufficiently to ruin his campaign. John Kerry did not react as he was like "well I know I'm right so the truth will out". The moral of this story is that being right does not mean the truth will out in the end. You have to keep sharing accurate and truthful information. UEA took too long to react - 6 days to responds which is like millennium in news time. And that severely damaged the reputations of those involved. With Climate science there is a problem of asymmetrical warfare. Climate science is 99% right but people prefer to look and nitpick at the 1% where things have been wrong. Likewise skeptics can have the science wrong the majority of the time but the 1% where they get something right then that is picked up and celebrated. Massively frustrating.

But, and I guess this is where the problem lies. As a Scientist, I really can't be bothered to reply in many cases. Science is not about facts. It is about a process of investigation and building a picture from evidence and questioning that evidence. In time mounting evidence can paint a picture becomes so overwhelming clear that it can become accepted wisdom. But you have to question. Sometimes there are grey areas (although I prefer to think of them as rainbow areas) – this is the exciting part where the mysterious requires further investigation! That is what Science is about! In my opinion, the overwhelming evidence is that there is an increasingly dangerous amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Not just CO2, but methane, nitrous oxide and various potent fluorocarbons. This is de-stabilizing biogeochemical cycles. The rainbow is the area where we continue investigations of new threads to learn more about our beautiful biosphere and think about alternatives to how we currently live, what we do and what options we have available to us to change.

My opinion is that we need diversification. Diversify what we grow and eat (tackle the wasteful globalised agricultural system), we diversify the clothing we wear (think hemp, flax, nettle, wool to name a few of the beautiful natural fibers that are an alternative to highly polluting industrial cotton production) and support diverse modes of low carbon transportation (bicycles, trains, airships, sailboats) and energy generation (combined heat and power, bio-digestion, wind, wave and solar). Regenerate our home-grown industries. Create real jobs using materials grown and produced here.

A way of thinking about the current state of play with the climate is too consider that the academic consensus is 99% believe that dangerous climate change is happening. Incredibly dangerous in some parts of the world like Africa, India, Bangladesh! Recently the disputed island (India and Bangladesh were fighting over it) in the Bay of Bengal disappeared beneath the waves recently due to rising sea levels as a result of climate change. Mother Nature settled that 30-year dispute.

So would you get on a plane that had odds of 99 to 1 that it would crash? No obviously you would not. Planet Earth is a plane. On this plane we have had a rather glorious flight. No real problems. A little bit of turbulence but hey that exciting and part of the ride. Suddenly the pilot comes on the radio and says OMG one of the engines has gone... Oh and another.... Time to leap out with parachutes. The problem is on this plane we have someone at the front shouting, "I used to be a pilot and it’s not so serious". We also have someone spreading rumours that the pilot has shares in parachutes and will benefit from us jumping. Another that the pilot is a psychopath, that the pilot has taken us on this path, is wrecking the engines and that the parachutes are all broken. Result is that nobody knows what to do and the plane continues into rapid descent. Hmmm. Story was something like that anyway. Details slightly lost in the wash. Regardless I really would like to get on another path. Preferably one with airships, sailboats and bicycles. Down with the fossil fuelled vehicles with fat Vogons in them.

David Adam from the Guardian spoke on how he felt that businesses were aware of climate change and that society isn't as badly informed or skeptical as one might be led to believe. He is optimistic, as a number of pieces of legislation have been passed in recent years, which will go someway towards helping achieve the necessary changes, namely the Climate Change Act and the Sustainable Communities Act. Opinion is that climate skepticism is a media issue. He believes that business and politics is already changing. Doesn't think its worth engaging in detail with skeptic’s stories as it can serve to validate their arguments. Frustrated that in the past him, and other journalists were frequently asked to get skeptic angle for stories to provide so called "balance" when often skeptics have no scientific qualifications to speak of. Pointed out that climate science isn't the only area of media where science is distorted by ignorance or vested interests naming Health, Economics and Cancer as subjects in particular. I completely agree. There is a great deal of misinformation.

Stumbled upon this interesting blog from Financial times on climate views from within the energy industry. Validates points made by David Adam. The mind-set of businesses has already changed. Businesses have accepted that they have to address climate change. In fact it seems that is much more accepted by business than it is by political leaders. This point was also made in the film which I saw recently called A Crude Awakening. It seems that business and industry is well aware of the dwindling fossil fuel resources and the climate problem. Gets us back round to how to deal with the problem in a social just way. The most affected are the least able to respond. Time and time again.

George Marshall, and his mate Toukey the Toucan, from Climate Outreach Information Network (COIN) spoke on the issue of how to communicate in a way that information is believed, trusted and absorbed stating that delivery of the message can be a critical as the message itself. David's opinion is that it is important to make different groups aware of the science a sense of urgency of action. More people from different backgrounds (racial, social, educational etc) communicating the nature of the problem would assist in galvanizing public opinion to take the necessary steps towards sustainability. Diversity is key!

Phil from Campaign against Climate Change discussed how there are 2 main reasons for climate skepticism and inaction. Number 1 is the vested interests of big business and 2 the political bandwagon of neoliberalism and of removal of regulation. The threat of climate change requires regulation. The other main reason he feels is that climate change is bad news and people don't like being told bad news, prefer not to listen and are naturally conservative (that is conservative with a small c). Commented that at present we are on a course for catastrophe.

I agree in part. An additional problem that was not raised during discussions is lack of freedom of information. Many people prefer to make up their own minds and find information for themselves. The problem arises when the information is distorted (put through a filter of someone else background or prejudice) or information is purposefully restricted. Getting hold of first hand journal article and information is costly unless you are part of an academic institution or are prepared to live in the British library all the time. I really do think there should be a campaign to make journal articles freely available, data to be open source and for public funded research to be published in open access journals. Most people rely on the news so if that if news is corrupt, owned by vested interests or just plain wrong because the journalist has not done their homework then it is no wonder people are badly informed. The rise of blogging may help or hinder the spread of accurate information.

There were many questions in the Q+A session. Can't remember all of them. But one that sticks in my mind was from a Science teacher. He was explaining how he teaches the science and the severity of climate change, desertification, rising sea levels and such like but that his students are like "that’s very well sir but I still want a car". Worrying but that I guess that's the challenge we face. Innovating new low carbon fossil fuel free transport networks that give the next generation the freedom to travel and be independent without sacrificing air quality and our ability to live on this planet. It really pisses me off that I have known about Climate change and possible solutions for a good 20 years now and that those solutions are still not available to the average person on the street. Eco living is an inspirational lifestyle. For example cost effective efficient electric cars could have been with us years ago. See the film "Who killed the electric car" for the low down. Seriously I never believed I would own a petrol car when I was 11. I truly believed by the time I was 18 I would have a cute little electric car or bike powered by wind turbines. Yeah thanks New Scientist for selling me that dream. And thanks bl$$dy oil companies for sitting on the patents. Oh well at least I have my awesome bicycle!

Anyway news on the street this morning is that the climate scientists at UEA recently involved the 'scandal' have now been repeatedly cleared of any wrongdoing but the deniers who obtained their personal emails illegally are now being questioned by the police! Ha ha ha ha.

So what was the action advice?

Keep up the radical demands! Ha ha ha. I like this one. Today’s radical demand is for all European flights to be made by airship by 2020. Love the idea of airships. Think they look ace. Another is to make a council policy to give out free insulation made from the waste plastic bottle collected for recycling. Surely this is a possibility? Imagine a machine at the recycling centre where you feed it bottle and its spins your insulation perhaps.

Keep talking about solutions in uncompromising ways. Communicate openly and widely with friends and colleagues. Share information as you receive it. Be open-minded. My solutions are bicycles, passive housing, recycle plastic bottles into free insulation, permaculture, community resilience, seed bombs, drinking tea, preserve our orchards, eat sustainably and as locally as possible, shun the supermarkets, staycations, no mile high club and train travel.

Think about adaptation and mitigation strategies. My personal adaptation strategy is to learn to grow food, campaign on low carbon futures and biodiversity and keep up to date with the latest news and observations from Science and Agriculture! See this lovely scheme of fake debates vs. real solutions.

A certain amount of climate change is in the bag so to speak so we will have to deal with it. Say what we are committed to and what we intend to do about it. So get on with tree planting, reforestation, building up soils and soil organic matter, stopping the spread of tarmac, food not lawns, gardens not driveways. Soil NOT oil!

Be the Change you want to see.

Lastly have you seen the plans on the tfl site for Cycle Super Highways in London? Bloody awesome!

Juliette of the herbs - Herbalist, Vet, Poet, Healer and Afghan Dog breeder.

2010-04-07T12:08:00.008+01:00

The Extraordinary Story of Juliette de Bairacli Levy

Its the weekly permaculture picture evening at Passing clouds and I'm along to hear the extraordinary tale of Juliette de Bairacli Levy, who is widely credited as being THE pioneer of holistic veterinary medicine.

Her passions for animal welfare and healing were ignited early after losing her first pet dog. This led her to embark on her studies of veterinary medicine at the Universities of Manchester and Liverpool. However Juliette rapidly became disillusioned (she did not approve of the vivisection and animal experimentation that was going on in the universities in the name of science and health) and set off to travel as a scholar with gypsy's and nomads to discover the craft of holistic veterinary medicine and intuitive herbalism. Juliette felt the gypsy's and nomads to be kindred spirits and she greatly admired their connection to the animals they kept. Under Romany law the killing of a dog or horse is the biggest crime next to manslaughter.

During the late 1930's Juliette ran a distemper clinic in London where, at a time when many dogs were dying from this disease, she treated and cured hundreds of dogs with fasting, herbs (dandelions, fig leaves, mulberry, borage, wild strawberry) and a natural diet. When many Afghan hound puppies were dying of distemper, Juliette raised a litter of puppies on her natural rearing methods and these puppies won Best of Show at Crufts Dog Show.

During this time Juliette developed a line of herbal supplements for animals known as Natural Rearing Products. For the next 50 years these were the only products of their kind on the market. Today these supplements are still distributed world wide. Examples include seaweed to provide extra vitamins, minerals and trace elements; parsley which acts as a digestive tonic; garlic as a natural antiseptic, which helps to deter parasites; watercress is a good source of iron; dandelion can be used to tone the liver and digestive system, while cleavers can help cleanse the lymphatic system.

During the World War II Juliette worked in the Women's Land Army gathering sphagnum moss which she used to treat soldiers' wounds and administering herbal remedies to the sick. Shortly after the war in the bitter cold winter of 1947 she traveled to Yorkshire to stay with sheep farmers on the welsh Lincolnshire border. The snow was think and thousands of sheep were sick and dying in the fields. The local vet had declared the flock incurable. Juliette swiftly diagnosed that they were suffering from a lack of chlorophyll and put them on a diet of sweet ivy mixed with molasses. The ivy being one of the few plants fresh available on the snow covered farm. The sheep recovered rapidly much to the amazement of the local vet. Word of her 'miracle' spread and she was quickly approached by Sir Albert Howard, founder of the organic movement. Sir Albert Howard encouraged Juliette to learn all she could about herbal treatments for animals.

Juliette treated a herd of cows with an infection of the udders with a tincture of witchhazel and cobwebs to bind the sores. The cows healed in days. In place of bandages she frequently used leaves. Leaves allow the wound to breathe naturally and do not form a firm bond with the skin thereby preventing the problems of removing the bandages and tearing the skin.

Juliette's two children, Luz and Rafik, were born in the early 1950's. Juliette took her children to live in Israel where they raised owls, hawks, dogs, goats, donkeys and bees. Sounds very much like the tales of 'My Family and other animals' by Gerald Durrell, one of my all time favorite novels. Juliette became famous for saving her hives of bees from shell attack during the six day war. In Israel and later when she moved to Kythera Isle, Greece, Juliette continued to write, to raise Afghan hounds, to garden and to gather herbal remedies. As well as her herbal books, she has written several travel books, two novels and three books of beautiful poems.

At her base on Kythera Isle, rumoured to be the landing place of Aphrodite the Greek goddess of love, Juliette cultivated a beautiful herbal garden with an abundant olive tree. Two of her favorite healing plants from her garden were Rosemary and Southernwood. Rosemary makes an excellent tincture and is beloved by birds and bees. Southernwood is a herb from the Artemsia family and is related to wormwood the herb commonly used to make absinthe. Southernwood is renowned as a protector of women and the first born.

Juliette passionately believed that nature provides us with all we need to be happy and healthy. If we reconnect with the earth and plants we can heal. Her final thoughts are how angry she is at what man is doing to animals and our environment with chemical pollution and habitat destruction. The vanishing of the bees is a stark warning that man is destroying the Ecosystem upon which we are all dependent.

Juliette was certainly one of a kind. A free spirit who pursued her passions in determination. An infinitely kind and humane creature who lived in harmony with her nature. She has certainly inspired me to continue experimenting with creation of remedies of my own.

Juliette de Bairacli Levy, November 11th 1912 - May 28th, 2009

Food from the Sky

2010-04-06T18:44:00.007+01:00

My mission today was to explore 'Food from the Sky' a growing project in Crouch End. An edible organic roof garden grown as sustainably as possible while growing, educating, promoting and selling 'endangered vegetables', fruits'and herbs that will be then sold to the local community in the store below. How planet friendly is that?!

This project is on the top of the local supermarket Budgens.

The project is in collaboration with the store and the some of the staff are involved. The project is led by Azul who dreams of keeping chickens and bees on the roof as well as tending to a rich and diverse veggie and salad patch.

Debra works for Budgens and will be the resident caretaker of the project. She is very excited about tending to the plant and thinks it will make a lovely space to relax in quiet moments away from the shop. The roof has professionally surveyed to ensure it is stable for weight of container and soil. The roof can take up to 150kg per metre squared.

Today we planted a range of seeds including peas, beans, spinach, rocket, dill and beetroot. Azul is keen to get some plantlets established despite still having some paperwork to finalise.

Further details can be found here: http://foodfromthesky.ning.com/profiles/blogs/we-are-starting-with-our-pilot

Check out this amazing flower wind turbine

2010-04-06T17:49:00.006+01:00

A symbol of transformation in Southern Widnes, Cheshire. The future is cool! Gotta go see this one sometime soon.

Check out the full article at www.inhabitat.com/2010/04/06/future-flower-giant-wind-powered-metal-flower-unveiled-in-england/

Wandering fool of Europe - the making of...?

2010-04-02T02:29:00.016+01:00

April fools day. Time to reflect and contemplate on my foolish actions. Non more foolish than in my last year. Undoubtedly the worst year of my life. When all my beliefs and structures in my life were dissolved. Suddenly my life went in reverse.

The quest begun. A greedy feast from the fountain of knowledge. Life took on a new dimension as I voraciously explored the meaning of life, the universe and everything. This deep exploration of my inner and outer worlds created visions which came thick and fast. From seeing patters I believed it had become my destiny to save the world. Whose world though? Largely depends on the scale and the extent of my/your horizons.We are all experiments and ultimately we can only save ourselves.

My visions flashed between science, spirituality, materialism, forces of nature. I felt a profound connection to the gods everywhere. As if hands were guiding me. I started to run. This way. That way. Tripping and falling. Stumbling over my own self created anxiety and psychosis. To save a world I cared deeply about. I felt manipulated and watched. As if outer forces started to control me. And deep fears started to creep in. Desperation as walls dissolved and my mind completely shattered into pieces. Time warped. Where my thoughts being read or was I simply tapping into the global consciousness? Chicken or egg? Leader or follower. Switch.

The spirit of Heyókȟa. The Contrarian jester.

Described as being backwards-forwards, upside-down, or contrary in nature. This spirit is often manifest by doing things backwards or unconventionally such as riding a horse backwards, wearing clothes inside-out, or speaking in a backwards language.

Kind of like the red room in Twin peaks...? Indeed one of my insights into the ecological challenges faced by intensive agriculture came from a merging of a particular science experiment on denitrification with the ideas conceptualised in Twin peaks. A story for another time perhaps....

The Heyókȟa symbolize and portray many aspects of the sacred, the Wakȟáŋ. Their satire presents important questions by fooling around

Has this been my main mode of science communication?

They ask difficult questions, and say things others are too afraid to say. By reading between the lines, the audience is able to think about things not usually thought about, or to look at things in a different way.

Now who is looking what way? Certainly my world view has shifted. Where is the stage and who is the audience. Me or you.

Big mouth strikes again. Reading between the lines or can't see the wood for the trees. All seems so obvious with the beauty of 20:20 hindsight. However in reality I had all the tools I needed. Maybe just needed a little more faith.

Principally, the Heyókȟa functions both as a mirror and a teacher, using extreme behaviors to mirror others, thereby forcing them to examine their own doubts, fears, hatreds, and weaknesses. Heyókȟas also have the power to heal emotional pain; such power comes from the experience of shame — they sing of shameful events in their lives, beg for food, and live as clowns. They provoke laughter in distressing situations of despair and provoke fear and chaos when people feel complacent and overly secure, to keep them from taking themselves too seriously or believing they are more powerful than they are.

Heyókȟa’s don’t seem to care about taboos, rules, regulations, social norms, or boundaries.

It could be argued that his testing of boundaries serves an important role in shaping tribal codes. Paradoxically it is by violating these norms and taboos that Heyókȟa help to define the accepted boundaries, rules, and societal guidelines for ethical and moral behavior. Working against the dominant paradigm. What does it mean to be ethical and moral in the current post post modern world?

Heyókȟa ask “Why?” about controversial topics and sometimes use satire to question specialists those in positions of power and authority. In doing so, they demonstrate the theories of balance and imbalance. They search out, turn over rocks, and attempt to create a deeper awareness of the world around them.

For people who are as poor as us, who have lost everything, who had to endure so much death and sadness, laughter is a precious gift. When we were dying like flies from white man’s disease, when we were driven into reservations, when the government rations did not arrive and we were starving, watching the pranks and capers of Heyókȟa were a blessing

. — John Fire Lame Deer, from Seeker of Visions“Thunder dreamer

The Lakota believe that if you had a dream or vision of birds you were destined to be a medicine man, but if you had a vision of the Wakíŋyaŋ Thunderbird, it was your destiny to become a Heyókȟa, or sacred clown. Like the Thunderbird, the Heyókȟa are both feared and held in reverence.

When a vision comes from the thunder beings of the West, it comes with terror like a thunder storm; but when the storm of vision has passed, the world is greener and happier; for wherever the truth of vision comes upon the world, it is like a rain. The world, you see, is happier after the terror of the storm... you have noticed that truth comes into this world with two faces. One is sad with suffering, and the other laughs; but it is the same face, laughing or weeping... as lightning illuminates the dark, for it is the power of lightning that Heyókȟa have.

—Black Elk, quoted in Neihardt (1959), p160

The Heyókȟa are healers and have many functions, for example healing through laughter and awakening people to deeper meaning and concealed truth and to prepare the people for oncoming disaster with laughter.

Visions of birds? Tick. Challenging authority? Since day dot. Ask my mum. Lack of care of social taboos and boundaries? Oh dear.

Am I Heyókȟa? A silly child, a scientist and philosopher with no current direction or decorum? Time bomb that was set to explode from bloated over consumption of ideas and a burning fear of the path we are all on, of which I have undoubtedly contributed. The shards of my mental well-being ended up spread far and wide. But perhaps the rebuild and piecing together will create a place and space that true wisdom can evolve from. Time will tell.

For now I dream for the storm of vision to pass and a greener happier world to manifest. But actually have little idea of how to proceed in creating it. Step by step.

Make believe then believe and make. On my own path. Preparing for potential disaster through the power of laughter!

Huzzah!

The emerging face of Gaia - East side style.

2010-03-31T12:59:00.001+01:00

Two very different meetings but perhaps one and the same. Today I'm reporting on the Capital growth Meeting in East london to discover the scope of grassroots growing projects across the Capital.

Capital growth is a scheme creates as part of the drive to create 2012 growing spaces by the 2012 Olympics. followed by an extreme dash across the city to hear James Lovelock speak on Gaia and his theory of systems ecology.

The main projects at Capital growth to really catch my attention were the Bee Action Network and the Urban Wine Company.

Bee Action Network are an organisation that has been created to help Bees to survive by increasing forage (food!) and habitat. Currently nationwide bees and pollinators are in decline. There are many reasons for this but the general consensus is lack of appropriate forage material, decline in habitat and habitat corridors and chemical overload. There is particular concern over a type of insecticide called nicotinamide. Some countries are now outlawing the use of these pesticides - Italy, Slovenia and Germany, for example.

In response to this serious problem of Bee survival, the network has launched a campaign called Daisy Chain. The Daisy Chain campaign is a practical solution to the problem whereby people are requested to create chains of bee-loving wildflowers and organic cottage garden plants through food growing spaces and gardens in London. Food growing groups can request wildflower packs from the network. The form for request of these packs can be found here.

Urban Wine Company. a network of currently 200 individuals in London growing vines. The consortium pool grape harvest for wine making. The grapes are collected and processed at a farm in Kent. The wine is then distributed back to the growers. The organisation is looking for additional sites over London to increase production. There is developer membership for those wishing to participate in the scheme. The company will help you to plant, cultivate and crop your own vines. They will even supply the vines if you do not already have them. They provide on going advice to help get the best results and highest yield from the vines. What an ace idea... Wonder if I can grow some vines this summer? Dreamy...

Other presentations included descriptions of food growing and community projects such as Dirty hands, St Mary's Secret Garden, London community Resource Network and the One pot pledge. The Dirty hands project wins prizes for innovative recycling. They managed to acquire 3 giant spent print cartridges from the Guardian newspaper to use as Water Bowsers (water storage tanks) on their site, horse manure from the Met police and are about to take delivery of an old shipping container as a garden shed. Apparently a shipping container will set you back a sweet £1200. Awesome. I quite fancy one to live in. got a vision of a cute little house with a green roof growing food. Quite possibly in orange and pink.

After a speedy near death experience cycling across London I arrived to hear James Lovelock speak on "The Vanishing face of Gaia".

James Lovelock is truly a British icon. An interdisciplinary scientist and a prophet whose prophecies are coming true. Lovelock is best known as the 'father' of Gaia theory, which is now established as the most useful way of understanding the dramatic changes happening to the environment of the Earth.

Although the concept of Gaia has been picked up as an almost religious concept James is clear that he is first and fore most a Scientist and his theory has a basis in observation and evidence gathering. He has been right for all his working life and, although it is frightening for many of us to believe the scenario he describes in The Vanishing Face of Gaia, he is almost certainly right.

The Vanishing Face of Gaia is James Lovelock's final word on the terrifying environmental problems we will confront in the twenty-first century. The earth as we know it is vanishing. It is moving inexorably to a new, hot state. The idea that we can "save the planet" by reducing carbon emissions is, Lovelock writes, nothing but a sales pitch. I totally agree! To focus solely on carbon emissions is overly simplistic and probably nothing more than a way to generate money for the few.

As I often tell people it is about the other biogeochemical cycles too. We cannot possibly solve the GHG problem unless we also look at the nitrogen and phosphorus cycles. That means dealing with the problems of our fuel and the globalised industrialised food systems. See this cute little animation. So recycling back to the start and capital growth really quite nicely! Practical solutions to the ecological problems. James' solution to the ecological crises we face is education, education, education. Getting ecological systems thinking into our lives at every level.

Vivienne Westwood, the clothing designer, spoke of the challenge to environmental responsibility being the idea of continual growth of the economy. She spoke of the urgent need to challenge this idea and promote ideas of sustainability and resourcefulness. To measure other indicators of society.

In my mind this seems common sense. As there are only so many resources then the current measured growth comes at the price of the environment. Instead measure different types of growth. What kinds of alternative growth could we measure? Growth in eco-social capital...? Growth in a responsible freely skilled society...? Happiness?

Possibly a trend towards "Open source" humans able to dip in and out of tasks as necessary as a local need appears - open agent of action, change and creation. Dissolving of the core work space, decentralisation and dissolution of hierarchies? Gaming for good? A step to far? There will always be chains of training and learning from each other by doing. But perhaps this will become more fluid and transient as we adapt to a rapidly changing environment.

The final message from James was that enjoy while you can and that female equality is key to survival of the survivor. Not rocket science!

The earth, as it always has done, will save itself. It is up to us to save our human race.

I write this while listening to "its the end of the world as we know it" and my final thought is that we are a core PART of, not dominating OVER, the self regulating organism that is planet earth.

Live it and love it. Love Nature and all her forces. Get out and experience in all her glory. Freedom from Fear.

Heart of Dullness

2010-03-24T15:05:00.002Z

Climate change is a concept.
And idea that has been invented.
A hypothesis that is being tested.
Observations are collected.
And evidence presented.

From my unique viewpoint I see the climate is changing.
Systems that have been stable for millenia are moving in increasing flux.
As point by point the warming potential of our atmosphere increases, so too does the energy.
Whirling around with greater and greater force.

The seasons have changed as I've aged and matured.
Flowers are blooming earlier.
Rainfall patterns are less predictable.
Desertification is spreading.

CO2, CH4, N2O and various fluorocarbons pumped out from industrial processes absorbing increasing amounts of the suns radiation.

How many needless chemicals are circulating around the globe poisoning our earth, air and water? Polluting ourselves and others.
Affecting the immune systems and bodily processes of insects, reptiles, birds, mammals.
All beings the world over.

I understand how fossil fuels were created over millenia from the decaying matter of ancients plants.
Its a precious resource that can power many incredible machines. It leaves me in awe and wonder, what man has created. But I also taste the by-products of their combustion. And feel the heat of the tarmac as it increasingly covers the earths skin.

On some days I'm riding my bike through London and I am feeling physically sick (indeed a few weeks I was completely overcome by nausea and was to my horror!) from the particulates from the vehicle in front of me. Are cars the cockroaches of the modern world? This gross human obsession with ever increasingly bigger vehicles is, well, so fucking freudian. My cock is bigger than your cock.

Vehicle emissions make me sick. Does that stop me cycling and make me wish to get into a vehicle and inflict the same pain on someone else to protect myself from fumes? Cycling is freedom. I'm proud that I am strong enough and capable enough to power my way through the city streets. build your energy field and join me. The only truly sustainable biofuel powered machine is yourself.

Common sense tells me that there is only so much of this miraculous fossil fuel that can animate machines. So why are we wasting it?
If you can choose a more resourceful sustainable mode of going about your daily business then please do it.
At present our entire life support stems are fossil fuel dependent.

Think about it. How do you feed, clothe, transport yourself? What would you do if the pumps closed tomorrow and the supermarket shelves were empty?

Its so frustrating. Our Scientists and Engineers have developed cool green technologies but for years these innovations have been stifled by greed, power, control, arrogance, selfishness, vested interests, short term thinking.

The possibilities of future could be cool. But at the moment we seem to be heading for boiling point? Does it matter? Is it a case of whatever will be will be? This is our nature? There is nothing to be done?

It would be terribly boring if we squandered our resources and ended back as warring tribes living in caves.
Facing a raging climate of chaos, turbulent seas and witness to the most massive loss of biodiversity that the planet has ever seen.

To be well and truly aware that we are the creators of this destruction.

Apocalypse could be seriously DULL and BORING.

gOd and nature of religion

2010-03-24T14:01:00.001Z

The debate about gOd is silly. Religion is just ideas. Some basic guidelines to life. My current views on gOd are as such:

Perhaps gOd is just the end game sum of your actions. The positive and the negative. The fine line between the dark and the light. The night and the day. The balance and harmony. If everything was always good we wouldn't appreciate it. gOd is just reality. Just reality - justice for all beings.

Maybe gOd something we strive for - a place and destination. gOd is the light in the sky that we grow up to. As plants twisting and turning revolving up to the heavens. We are all seeds that can grow towards the light. Maybe god is the interface between dark and light. The place where we make decisions. gOd: the nature of our reality? Doesn't really matter though does it? Your god. My god. His god. Her god. Our realities all overlap and we are dependent on each other. So we all share bits of each others gods. I have my own god. Its my invention. And I'm happy to share it or not as you wish. What is your reality?

I believe in nature and natures forces. You can make some generalisations but you can never be certain. Science and Religion are actually very similar. About discovering who you are, how the world around ourselves functions. Discovering how to look after it and adapt to it. The nature of how people and planet function. I'm trying to navigate myself through it. Our earth is an organism of which we are part. Gaia. Our magical being.

But if we look to ourselves, each other and the world around us there are trends that can be identified and potential destructive paths avoided? Where will we go at this current cross roads? Further descent into materialism? Further fascism and control of our natural systems?

Who am I? Just like you I'm still struggling for my part in the greater whole. Twisting and turning towards the light. Trying to grow in harmony with my surroundings. Not suffocating other plants and seeds along the way. Somedays I fail and send out poisonous messages or withdraw my roots. Other days I support those seedlings around me and share nutrients. Some days others pick my leaves and stunt my growth. But each day with the sunshine I grow back. Taller and stronger. Spreading out. Interacting as widely as possible. We are all seeds and we all have uniques qualities to bring into this world.

We are part of the web of life. Connect. Create positive networks. Get in touch with the seasons and celebrate. Dig information, share nutrients, plant ideas freely. Choose biodiversity in our systems. Nourish the grassroots.

Laugh, dance, and skip. Create Energy.

Heritage seeds and the value of biodiversity in a changing climate

2010-03-22T14:34:00.001Z

Biodiversity is the spice of life and the value of preserving diversity cannot be under estimated. Diverse varieties and genes provide us with the genetic pool to adapt to changing environmental conditions.

It is now widely accepted that our climate is going to change radically over the next 50-100 years as the full effects of our industrial era kick into play. At a time when the global climate is changing in unpredictable ways, nobody knows what sort of crops may be needed in the future. The meagre number of commercial varieties available could prove useless in the new environmental conditions faced.

The more varieties variable the greater the chances of being able to manage pest resistance and grow varieties capable of growing under extreme conditions. You never know what the future holds and this is true with farming. It is absolutely critical to maintain a diverse genetic make up.

Ways to get involved in preserving biodiversity include participating in Seedy Sundays

http://www.seedysunday.org/ Community Seed Swap Events.

If you are interested in growing more obscure rare varieties and contributing to the continual maintenance of seed bank diversity contact the Heritage Seed Library.

See http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/hsl/index.php

“The 800 endangered varieties in our living collection include all types of common vegetables such as tomatoes, carrots, beans, peas and onions – staple foods for millions of people around the world. And it’s not just vegetable varieties that we are losing, but it’s the local history, culture, tradition and skills that go with them. Once the varieties are extinct, we will never be able to get the seed or heritage back.”

Bob Sherman, Director of Operations

“Over the last 40 years there has been a disastrous loss of biodiversity in every food crop across the entire continent. This is of course why the Heritage Seed Library exists (along with its many sister organisations across Europe) and why its work continues to be so important.”

Rebsie Fairholm, Seed Guardian, Gloucester

Free seeds available from the BBC dig it project: http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/digin/

"The earth was not given to us by our parents, it was loaned to us by our children." Kenyan proverb

Can organic farming feed the world and save the planet?

2010-03-20T16:34:00.002Z

An overview of my visit to SOAS for a presentation by Francis Blake from the Soil association on Organic Farming presented to the SOAS food group.

The Soil association is a charity that promotes planet friendly food and farming. The soil association also manages on of the most recognised organic certification schemes. Francis began by outlining the benefits of organic. The first is that there is greater employment on farms. Roughly 50% more staff per farm and 30% staff overall more per hectare. Organic standards promote health, ecology, fairness and care. Organic farming promotes biodiversity as it is good for resilience, stability, balance, self-regulation and building soil carbon an important store of carbon and a potential mitigation tool in reducing atmospheric carbon levels.

The legal framework of organic certification is set out by EU regulations 834/2007 and 889/2008. The UK adopted these EU standards without amendment. The main aims of organic are to safe guard biodiversity, respect local conditions, farm with closed nutrient cycles and with optimized internal inputs. Essentially adopting a whole system approach to farming. At present organic standards do not allow for Humanure as EU regulations state it illegal. That may change in the future. There are issues of disease transmission and contamination by toxins and xenobiotics. However it is important to recognize that one of the issues we face is accessing enough phosphorus and dumping our human waste out at sea is a waste of a valuable source of nutrients.

The challenges faced by the organics sector are much the same as the rest of the agricultural sector. Climate change and rising costs of fossil fuel will put pressure on the industry to adapt. Soil association are working on best practice for energy descent and how to make organic sustainable in the long run while maintaining or increasing yields. Also looking at transitions to more sustainable agricultural footprints. At $200 barrel for oil then organic becomes competitive as organic lower fossil fuel input. Currently organic has on average a 30% reduction in energy use (carbon footprint) due to not using artificial fertilizers. Organic yields are 10% lower than standard farming in developed world but 50% higher in developing world! A surprising large difference and possibly due in part to the soil conservation practices adopted by organic farmers in the developing world.

The other major challenge to the agricultural sector is succession. Who are the farmers of the future? The average age of UK farmers is currently 57 apparently. To me this is a very worrying statistic! Are you a budding farmer of the future? If so the BBC is looking for ten couples (friends, partners or siblings) to take part in its new series. See details below.

73% of organic produce sold in supermarkets. 65% is imported. This doesn't sound very sustainable to me. However, in some cases it is more energy efficient to import from overseas than to grow in this country. So food miles may not be the most important factor to consider when purchasing goods. For example its cheaper in terms of energy to import NZ apples in winter than to cold store UK apples for the winter. And tomatoes from Spain may have a lower footprint than UK tomatoes in heated greenhouses. There is currently a Glasshouse consultation on standards due to take place in April/May. All a bit confusing so best to think of it this way... Really the most climate friendly and sustainable foods are those convenience foods you fall out of your back door to harvest. Plain and simple.

Reading University Center for agricultural strategy looked at footprint of UK agriculture and the possibility of the UK being totally organic. It is possible if increase grass fed beef and sheep, decrease pork and chicken thereby freeing up arable, decrease grains (cereals and oats) and increase fruit and veg. Approximately a 1/3rd of world grain goes to feed livestock. Issue is not sufficient food its affordability and who has access to the food produced. See the full press release here: http://www.reading.ac.uk/about/newsandevents/releases/PR245825.aspx The problem is the market is distorted by subsidies. Hopefully this issue will be rectified in the near future as CAP reform is due in 2013. It is also worth remembering that presently a third of all food produced is wasted!

Opinion was that one way to radically sort out agriculture would be to reverse the taxation system. Tax raw materials (finite resources) and not labour (effectively a renewable resource).

I personally think we can feed ourselves well on the current land we have in production and that we can do it without excessive petrochemicals, agrochemicals and fertilizers. By utilizing natural pest management strategies and crop rotations we can manage disease outbreaks and increase productivity. The example that springs to my mind is the GM potatoes I investigated during my PhD that were engineered with sunflower genes. But why bother? Couldn’t you just grow the potatoes in rotation with the sunflowers? Or intercrop potato rows with sunflower? Surely that is simpler? And would look nice too. I much prefer sunflowers to oilseed rape. There is too much oilseed rape everywhere. Raping the countryside with filthy allergenic pollen.

A recent article written by fifteen of the most eminent scientists and published in Nature magazine has proposed boundaries for nine of the Earth-system processes thought to be essential for maintaining the relatively stable conditions of our present geological era. And, with the exception of stratospheric ozone depletion, agriculture is the most significant key driver of potential disruption for all of these Earth systems, according to this group of scientists. Time for an earth shift.

So to leave on a positive note I discovered that the lovely ladies at SOAS have set up a food cooperative which runs on Wednesday afternoons in Russell square. According to the SOAS cooperative girls there has been a lot of interest from other student unions requesting details of how to set up a food cooperative. Great stuff. Providing sustainably produced products on the cheap for students and locals in the area. Nice one.

Further reading
http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=is-earth-past-the-tipping-point-2010-03-18
http://www.resurgence.org/magazine/article3064-the-next-food-revolution.html

BBC is looking for ten couples (friends, partners or siblings) to take part in its new series. Over six weeks you’ll learn how to run and manage your own farm, with the winning pair getting the opportunity to live and work on their own... smallholding. To apply, email your name to farm@splashmediatv.co.uk and an application form will be emailed to you.

Doh

2010-03-19T14:04:00.001Z

No fucking prizes for guessing who I might be. Very hitch hikers guide. Simplistic short video along the lines of "Story of Stuff" for Food. Making the case for localised food production.

How to feed the world ? from Denis van Waerebeke on Vimeo.

Seed OUR world

2010-03-19T13:50:00.000Z

“Seed Our World” to the tune of Heal the World

There’s a space
In our streets 
And I know that It Is bleak
And this place
Could be brighter for tomorrow 
Growing flowers
Where you can,
Public spaces roof or cans
Create a space
Where all birds and bees will flourish

We can all cycle
And choose a world
without pollution 
Forget the rush 
Choose to go by bus…

Seed our world 
plant a special place 
For you and for bees  
And the entire food chain  
Our systems dying
and if you care enough for Gaia  
Seed bomb a little space  
For you and for bees

If you want to know why
Birds and Bees are
slowly dying
Take a look at our waste
And all pollution
So lets mend
All our ways
and start planting brighter days
Sow and seed,
planting food,
And lots more flowers

So get your wellies,
Get a trowel and get
plants growing
Grow a better world
Eat better food...

Seed our world 
Make it a better place
 For you and for bees
And the entire food chain
 There is wildlife dying
our world almost frying
Seed a little space  
For you and for bees

And our dream of living
Harmoniously
With the whole food chain
Plant seeds, lets dance and sing
Out in the sun and rain
So lets keep on planting our
Earth with all our soul
Flowers, Birds and Bees
This world is heavenly
Let nature flow

Watching fly
Birds up high 
Free spirits never die  
In my heart  
I feel we’re all connected  
Create a world
With more trees  
Together planting more species
 See our nations turn their swords into plowshares

We could really get there
If you cared enough
For the living
Plant a little space
To grow a special place...

Seed our world 
Sow a special space
 For you and for bees 
And the entire food chain
 There are sparrows dying
 If you care enough 
For Starlings
 Seed a little place 
For you and for bees

Seed our world 
Sow a special space
 For you and for bees 
And the entire food chain
There are ways of sowing
 Seed bombing, tossing and hoeing
 Seed a veggie patch
 For You And For Bees

Seed our world 
Sow a special space
 For you and for bees 
And the entire food chain
  We can all cycle
And choose a world
without pollution 
Forget the rush 
Choose to go by bus…

There are ways of sowing
 Throw bombs, tossing and hoeing
 Seed a veggie patch
 For You And For Bees

Our world is frying
If you care enough
 For the living
 Plant many trees
For you and for bees

You and for Bees
Me and for Bees
You and for Bees
Me and for Bees

Words written by Lucy Gilliam with creative input from Lucy Orchard

A selection of the organisations working on the plight of bees and pollinators. Get involved!

http://www.saveourbees.org.uk/register.asp
http://www.helpsavebees.co.uk/
http://www.adoptahive.co.uk/?gclid=CK_BnIGR46ACFQs-lAod6BiEEw
http://www.britishbee.org.uk/
http://www.beesactionnetwork.org/4.html

Crops pollinated by our beloved bumble bees.

Kiwi fruit Oil seed rape Runner beans
Cranberry Turnip rape Lima beans
Blueberry Sunflowers Broad beans
Gooseberry Cotton Soya bean
Currants Vetches Aubergine
Cherry Alfalfa Tomato
Pear Clovers Peppers
Plum Lupin Cucumber
Apple Buckwheat Squash
Blackberry Pumpkin
Orange Gourds
Lemon Celery
Melon Coriender
Watermelon Fennel
Raspberry Gherkin
Peach Marrow
Strawberry Mustard

A new potential biofuel source from artificial photosynthesis in frog foam!

2010-03-18T14:14:00.000Z

A totally cool exciting new way of harvesting energy from the sun and turning it into sugars has been invented by researchers at the University of Cincinatti. Their results have just been published online in "Artificial Photosynthesis in Ranaspumin-2 Based Foam" (March 5, 2010) in the journal "Nano Letters." Email me for a copy of the original source!

In natural photosynthesis, plants take in solar energy and carbon dioxide and then convert it to oxygen and sugars. Oxygen is released to the air and the sugars are dispersed throughout the plant.

The new method takes energy from the sun and carbon from the air to create a new form of biofuel, thanks to a semi-tropical frog species. This new artificial photosynthetic material uses plant, bacterial, frog and fungal enzymes, trapped within a foam housing, to produce sugars from sunlight and carbon dioxide. Foam was chosen because it can effectively concentrate the reactants while allowing very good light penetration and air circulation. The design was based on the foam nests of a semi-tropical frog called the Tungara frog, which creates very long-lived foams for its developing tadpoles.

Research Assistant Professor David Wendell, student Jacob Todd and College of Engineering and Applied Science Dean Carlo Montemagno co-authored the paper, based on research in Montemagno's lab in the Department of Biomedical Engineering.

"The advantage for our system compared to plants and algae is that all of the captured solar energy is converted to sugars, whereas these organisms must divert a great deal of energy to other functions to maintain life and reproduce," says Wendell. "Our foam also uses no soil, so food production would not be interrupted, and it can be used in highly enriched carbon dioxide environments, like the exhaust from coal-burning power plants, unlike many natural photosynthetic systems."

He adds, "In natural plant systems, too much carbon dioxide shuts down photosynthesis, but ours does not have this limitation due to the bacterial-based photo-capture strategy."

"You can convert the sugars into many different things, including ethanol and other biofuels," Wendell explains. "And it removes carbon dioxide from the air, and doesn't compete with arable land for food production."

"This new technology establishes an economical way of harnessing the physiology of living systems by creating a new generation of functional materials that intrinsically incorporates life processes into its structure," says Dean Montemagno. "Specifically in this work it presents a new pathway of harvesting solar energy to produce either oil or food with efficiencies that exceed other biosolar production methodologies. More broadly it establishes a mechanism for incorporating the functionality found in living systems into systems that we engineer and build."

The next step for the team will be to try to make the technology feasible for large-scale applications like carbon capture at coal-burning power plants.

"This involves developing a strategy to extract both the lipid shell of the algae (used for biodiesel) and the cytoplasmic contents (the guts), and reusing these proteins in the foam," says Wendell. "We are also looking into other short carbon molecules we can make by altering the enzyme cocktail in the foam."

Montemagno adds, "It is a significant step in delivering the promise of nanotechnology."

With an approximate 96% chemical efficiency, this is much better than just about any
industrial process I can currently think of. Exciting stuff with huge potential. I look forward to hearing more about this exciting technology in the future.

My cautionary notes: Exciting advances like these do not negate the need for urgent and personal action on reducing our emissions. Technologies such as this are exciting but very much in development stages. Certainly not a get out of fossil fuel jail free card. Not yet at least.

And don't forget to consider the biofuel for yourself. The most sustainable fuel is from the bottom of the food pyramid.

Rammed Earth - A sustainable alternative to concrete

2010-03-18T13:12:00.001Z

Presentation from Rammed Earth (www.rammed-earth.info) by Rowland Keable.

Rammed earth construction is a from of building with soil as the construction material. The beauty of the rammed earth construction method is that it can be done with conventional concrete machinery and concrete form work forming a range of different shapes and styles. Rowland is passionate about using earth building as a sustainable construction method and is trying to get people to understand that this is a material that can be controlled and predictable and is durable and sustainable in the long term.

What is impressive is that earth walls can take load of the equivalent of a London bus which stands up to the properties of cement walls! Although earth walls cannot build skyscrapers, they are more than suitable for most types of housing, schools, clinic or business uses.

Rammed earth also works with children and adults with behavioural problems by providing them with learning opportunities teaching building and woodland management skills. The method of building is very quick and can be done with young people of little building experience.

Rowland outlined a project where they built a classroom block in Sussex at an Agricultural college. The style of building was timber clad with load building elements created from earth walls. They incorporated a green roof. The building is heated by wood burning stoves and piped water. Earth buildings store heat well. Antoher interesting observation is that people seem to work well in these buildings and Children have been observed to settle well and get down to work faster in these earth buildings; the building seem to create a peaceful atmosphere. Also holds humidity at the optimum range so these buildings are good for asthma sufferers and this has been demonstrated empirically.

What I hadn’t realised before this presentation was just how polluttng cement is. Apparently 1.25 tonnes of CO2 for every ton of cement. In fact the product of cement factories is mostly carbon dioxide with a side order of cement. The overall total emissions from cement factories world wide is 3.5 times the worst effects of aviation (taking into account radiative forcing). Cement emissions have doubled over the period of 1990 to 2007! Interestingly over 67% of the carbon footprint of the Olympics is embodied in the materials used to construct the facilities. That means the majority of the footprint comes from the construction materials and energy to move them around and build the venues!

All fascinating stuff and a purpose for soil that I had not previously considered!

The Low Carbon Trust has lots of exciting opportunities to volunteer with the Low Carbon Trust in 2010.

They are looking for people to help out on training courses, Earthship Inspirations Conference and in the Earthship Brighton garden.

Training courses:
They are looking for people to support our Self-building an Earthship, Introduction to Photovoltaics and Building with Rammed Earth and Chalk training courses. The dates for the courses that we need help on are:

- Self-Building an Earthship on Wednesday 21st, Thursday 22nd and Friday 23rd April
- Building with Rammed Earth on Saturday 22 and Sunday 23 May
- Self-Building an Earthship on Friday 11th, Saturday 12th and Sunday 13th June
- Introduction to Photovoltaics on Tuesday 15th June
- Self Building an Earthship on Wednesday 16th, Thursday 17th and Friday 18th June

All courses are held at Earthship Brighton and for more details see: http://www.lowcarbon.co.uk/education

Earthship Inspirations Conference:

In partnership with Brighton Permaculture Trust and Earthbuilds Europe, the Low Carbon Trust is hosting a one-day conference on 19 June 2010 that is a celebration of 10 years of Earthships in Europe. We would like people to come and help us on the day. For more details of Earthship Inspirations please see: http://www.lowcarbon.co.uk/events/earthship-inspirations-conference

Earthship Brighton garden will be cultivating lots of delicious organic vegetables during spring, summer and autumn. If you would like to come down, learn about organic gardening and get involved then get in touch with them.

Grassroots growth

2010-03-17T00:07:00.002Z

Aaaah. Glorious sunshine, bicycles, food projects and trekking round East London. What a wonderful way to spend a fresh and bright sunny day.

Today I decided to go an exploration around the canals and the Olympic Site to see what I could see. In doing so I stumbled on a few little hidden gems. My original mission was to track down What will the harvest be, a harvest garden in Newham. However after a getting a ickle bit lost I found another found another little food growing project with a educational children centric focus called "Play, Sow, Grow" on the site of an beautifully elaborate Byzantine style pumping station, described as The Cathedral of Sewage. The site was a dilapidated house with a very overgrown garden area but with the help of lottery and arts council funding has been transformed into an outdoor adventure playground with orchards, raised beds and wildlife habitats.

The old house has been restored and rooms renovated to provide education centres for learning about food, biodiversity and nature. The plan to have microscopes, library and computing facilities for interactive learning. There are also bird and bat cams for remote monitoring of the wild visitors to the site. Play, Sow, Grow is a project managed by a community organisation called Community Links

Sally, the project manager, explained how one the aims of the project is to engage children in the area and facilitate interactions in the community, wider environment and out playing in the streets again. We both lamented the fact that it is so rare these days to see kids out playing in the streets as we were doing many moons ago.

Onwards to the project "What will the harvest be" a short ride around the corner in Newham. This open access harvest garden is a community project and is being overseen by Hamish, the part time project manager, gardener and passionate allotment farmer. The site, which was a previously a contaminated brownfield site has been remediated with fresh top soil and the addition of raised beds and reseeding to provide growing space to any volunteers who wish to get involved in return for a share of the produce. The site will also host a range of free garden club workshops for children and adults alike.

On my return I stopped of briefly to survey the Olympic site from the ViewPoint. The viewpoint was designed by Urban Space Management and has been constructed from old shipping containers which I think is really cool! They have been painted a glorious shade of sunshine yellow. Inside is a viewing tower and cute little cafe which has been furnished with sustainable and reclaimed wood. The menu serves a range of fair trade coffees and teas, croissants and patisserie and tasty sandwiches. Apparently there are plans afoot to grow some of the herbs and salads in the surrounding land for the cafe which is pretty cool. The Viewpoint is also host to a monthly bicycle workshop run by Bikeworks

Bikeworks operates a cycling centre close to Stratford where bike hire and guided cycling tours to all the key Olympic sites are available at an affordable price. Well worth checking out.

Make your own eco washing up liquid....

2010-03-16T16:09:00.001Z

Most people knowIi'm allergic to both the washing up and washing up liquid. Most commercial washing up liquids are made with a cocktail of substances, a number of which may cause allergic skin reactions, hormone disruption and respiratory problems which freaks me out and triggers my eco-ocd. Not great for the wider environment either - phosphates used in dishwashing detergents pollute our rivers and lakes and can lead to runaway algae growth in our waterways. So here is a home made recipe to get me back into doing the washing up and in the good books of my house mate.

By making your own you can reduce packaging and create different products from the same basic products. Over all saving money and plastic.

3 tbsp liquid Castile soap
2 cups warm water
2 tsp glycerine (Can be found in most pharmacies)
2 tbsp. white vinegar
10 drops lavender essential oil

Mix all ingredients in a jar, cover, and shake well to blend. Use about 1 tbsp for dishwashing.

A source of Castile soap is Dr Bronners soap is great and can be put to many uses so overall cutting down on the number of products you buy. There is a stand in my local Braodway market that sells it.

Other non branded natural cleaning materials that may be lurking in your kitchen cupboards include:

Bicarbonate of Soda - an all-purpose, non-toxic cleaner. Cleans, deodorises, removes stains, scours and softens fabrics. For even more useful information about this amazingly versatile substance, click this link.

Vinegar (acetic acid) - cuts grease, removes stains, mildew, wax build-up and is an excellent water softener.

Castille or vegetable-based soap - unscented soap in liquid form, flakes or bars is biodegradable and will clean just about anything.

Borax - cleans, deodorises, disinfects, softens water, cleans wallpaper, painted walls and floors and is also a natural insecticide and herbicide.

Ethanol (ethyl alcohol) - is an excellent disinfectant. Remember this one from my lab work days.

Caustic Soda (sodium hydroxide) - is a powerful drain-cleaner. Use with care. Always follow safety instructions.

Cornflour (cornstarch)- can be used to clean windows, polish furniture, shampoo carpets and rugs, starch clothes, absorb oil and grease.

Herbs and Essential Oils - for disinfecting and fragrance.

Salt (sodium chloride) - an abrasive.

Lemon Juice Cuts through grease and removes perspiration and other stains from clothing. A bleach alternative.

Washing Soda (sodium carbonate): Cleans clothes, softens water, cuts grease and disinfects. Increases the cleaning power of soap.

Ravishing rainbow carrot cake with edible flowers

2010-03-16T13:24:00.001Z

Cake

2 cups self-raising flour, sieved
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup soft brown sugar (try substituting half sugar with ground almonds or rice flour)
1 cup sultanas
3 rainbow carrots, grated (blue, yellow and orange)
1 cup vegetable or sunflower oil
2 medium sized organic free range happy eggs

Icing

2 cups Icing Sugar
1 cup or large dollop Shea butter

Dust with pistachio's, walnut or almonds or edible flowers (Chrysanthemum, borage, carnations, marigolds are all possibilities). Create a glorious feast for the eyes!

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 180C, 350F, Gas Mark 4

2. Grease and line an 8 inch loose based cake tin.

3. Mix together the flour, baking powder and soft brown sugar in a large bowl.

4. Add the sultanas and grated carrot.

5. Beat the oil and eggs together, and then add to the bowl.

6. Mix well with a wooden spoon.

7. Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 1-1¼ hours. Insert a metal skewer into the cake; if it comes out clean, then the cake is cooked.

8. Cool on a wire rack.

9. Sieve the icing sugar and blend with the shea butter to form a thick paste. Spread evenly over the cake and dust with ground crushed nuts or arrange a masterpiece of wildflowers.

I choose to bake with compassion. Choose organic fairly traded produce produced with high animal welfare standards if you can.

Fuel cells - a promising technology to power the future

2010-03-13T11:42:00.000Z

Stumbled across this article today on fuel cells. Fuel cell technology offers the opportunity for sustainable localised energy production. At the moment fuel cells are powered by hydrogen or natural gas so still dependent on fossil fuels (fossil fuels are required to create the hydrogen. But eventually gas fuel cells could be replaced by liquid methanol fuel cells and methanol generated from waste bio-digestion or from gas from processed sustainable biofuels. A possible biofuel crop could be Switchgrass which has a high energy to processing ratio and is highly yielding per hectare.

Permatopia: a vision of resilience

2010-03-11T01:56:00.000Z

The most pressing issue we face is getting society to face up to the realities of the day. We need global shifts we are to survive and thrive. This beautiful star provides a view of the main building blocks required for achieving this. Check it out!

The power of Beetroot

2010-03-10T17:07:00.000Z

I love beetroot so I was particularly interested when I stumbled on this research from the University of Exeter (my University!) on the power of my favourite root vegetable.

A new study has found that beetroot juice boosts stamina, and could assist in exercise output for 16% longer. Last week, a group at the University of Exeter led a study showing how the specific nitrates in the juice makes this happen. These nitrates reduce oxygen uptake, making exercise less tiring. The study shows that drinking the beetroot juice reduces fatigue – something that other studies have never previously shown.

The team believes that these findings are particularly important for endurance athletes, such as marathon runners. They also believe that those with cardiovascular or metabolic disease, as well as elderly people, may find this beneficial.

The researchers conducted their study with a group of eight men, between the ages of 19 and 38. For six consecutive days they were given 500mL (2 cups) of organic beetroot juice. They then completed a series of tests, all of which involved cycling on an exercise bike. They later were given a placebo of blackcurrant cordial for six consecutive days, then completed the same tests.

After drinking the beetroot juice, the group could cycle an average of 11.25 minutes, 92 seconds longer than with the placebo – approximately a 2% reduction in the time taken to cover a set distance. The subjects of the study also had lower resting blood pressure.

The exact mechanism is not clear, however, but thought to be related to how nitrates are converted in the body. The speculation is that once consumed, nitrates turn into nitrite (by bacteria on the tongue). After entering the stomach, the product turns into nitric oxide, and then enters as nitrite into the bloodstream. Nitrites have been linked with improving endothelial function (blood vessels) along with anti-platelet properties.

Regardless, the study was small; the team plans to conduct further studies to try to understand in more detail the effects of nitrate-rich foods on exercise physiology.

So all power to the incredible beetroot. One of my favourite roots and top ingredient in my exceedingly tasty beetroot and pomegranate cake.

A link to the original journal article can be found here: http://jap.physiology.org/cgi/content/abstract/107/4/1144?maxtoshow=&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=beetroot+juice&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&sortspec=relevance&resourcetype=HWCIT

Fake debates vs. real solutions

2010-03-10T00:39:00.001Z

A useful perspective...

The earth's boundaries for self regulation are being exceeded. The time for debate is over. We need real solutions now.

Climb aboard and set sail for a sustainable future.

Forays into Ecobuild

2010-03-10T00:08:00.000Z

Last week I investigated the EcoBuild show in Earls court. A trade show for the ecologically aware in the industry. I particularly liked the green roof displays which have moved on since the last time I was at such a show. Now a variety of habitats can be catered for and there are a range of systems to keep the roofs hydrated and collect water. I also like the porous tarmac with water collection tanks underneath - a very smart alternative surface which not only prevents flash flooding but also provides a way of capturing water for grey water use in buildings. Very smart. There was a range of different stands offering eco insulation from recycled plastic, to hemp fibre, flax and wool. All fantastic materials without the hazards of glass wool or asbestos. The final items of note were the building materials made from recycled cardboard. At the Centre for Alternative technology stand, a recent student had designed partition walls from recycled cardboard. The number of stand with different types of solar were too many to mention. But its clear that technology has advanced rapidly. Just in time for the feed in tariffs.

Hmmmmm. Now I just need to build a house to incorporate all these neat green ideas into.....

When it is obvious that goals cannot be reached, don't adjust the goals, adjust the action steps. Confucius.

Sustainable transport and sail power - A wet dream?

2010-03-09T23:49:00.000Z

RENEWABLE ENERGY = SUSTAINABLE TRADE!

Some of you have heard my dreams of a return to trade by sail, possibly super fast tea clippers. Apparently there are others out there who think this is a wonderful plan to.

See http://www.sailtransportcompany.com/

Today I discovered the Sail Transport Network. For thousands of years, wind energy moved people and goods all over the world without pollution. Today with peak oil upon us other forms of transport are necessary. Even the e-trade with computers is dependent on forms of fuel, and unsustainable in the longer term. And wind is free. So doesn't it make sense to make use of this incredible resource? And wouldn't it actually be fun? Imagine doing your gap year as a deck hand trading spices with the Caribbean.

Let us start to visualize the role that sails, and the wind that drives them, will play in the glorious future that is totally possible. The Earth and her atmosphere are ready for us to live amongst her and in awe and praise of her power. Sail freight and transport are integral to our sustainable future.

Lets bring back trade by Sail! Open the ship yards. Seed the fields with hemp for sails and rope. Imagine the return to sail power..... Fair trade, sail trade goods. A glorious wet dream.

http://www.superyachttimes.com/editorial/8/article/id/516

A vision of....

2010-03-06T13:03:00.001Z

This week I had the fortune to watch a magical film about an agricultural rebel in Austria. This charming farmer has transformed his family farm into a productive paradise. I love the way he describes the natural interactions and life processes on his mountain farm in the alpes. Must see viewing! http://www.cultureunplugged.com/play/930/The-Agro-Rebel

So my vision is a combination of Agro Rebel's farm intercropped with urban ecological creative clusters. clusters of production including vegetables, community orchards, bees, birds, playgrounds with zip wires, swings, rope ladders, trampolines, clay ovens, flags, bunting, cakes and delicious diverse teas. The land being farmed intelligently and creatively by all organisms. Working with nature to produce maximum yield for minimum effort. Think intercropping, companion planting and rotations.

Urban creative islands in a sea of diverse wilderness and abundant food production zones. Public transport networks and high speed trains between ecological cultural centres. Clever, bright, diverse and creative.

The day will come when, after harnessing the winds, the tides and gravitation, we shall harness for God the energies of Love. And on that day, for the second time in the history of the world, (wo)man will have discovered fire.
Teilhard de Chardin

My super quick bread recipe

2010-03-01T23:58:00.000Z

For Zoe who loves my bread! ;-)

500g Organic flour (White, Wholemeal or Spelt)
1 tsp Herbamare salt
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp yeast (I use Doves organic quick yeast)
1/2 pint water
1 tbsp olive oil

1. Combine flour, salt, sugar and quick yeast
2. Mix in water and kneed
3. Add oil and kneed well
4. Place on floured surface and shape into desired loaf shape or make rolls
5. Allow to rise for 25-45 minutes
6. Bake in oven at 200 C for 25-45 minutes depending on size of loaf or rolls.
7. The bigger the individual loaves, the longer the cooking time.

Feel free to experiment! Add nuts, seeds or dried fruit as desired. Honey instead of sugar. Roasted some sliced onions or add some cheese. There are no rules! Experiment. Whats the worst that can happen? You get a shit loaf and you feed the ducks. But I bet 9/10 you'll get something AMAZING!!! Nom nom nom nom nom.

Chocolate, parsnip and apple cake with chocolate chilli icing

2010-03-01T22:34:00.000Z

Cake
75g (3 oz) cocoa powder
180g (6 oz) plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
225g (7½ oz) caster sugar
250g (8 oz) grated parsnip and apple (approx 1 small parsnip and 1 apple)
3 large organic free range happy eggs
200ml sunflower oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Icing
100g Icing Sugar
100g Dark chocolate
1 finely chopped chilli

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 180˚C / 335˚F / Gas 4.
2. Sift the cocoa powder, flour and baking powder into a bowl.
3. Grate the parsnip and apple.
4. Add the eggs, one at a time and next add the vanilla and oil, and blend until smooth.
5. Add the sugar to the mixture.
6. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients, add the beetroot mixture and lightly mix.
7. Pour into a greased and lined 9 inch cake tin.
8. Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until the top is firm when pressed with a finger.
9. Cool on a wire rack
10. Melt the chocolate in a "bain marie" and combine with the icing sugar and chilli.
11. Spread evenly and allow to cool.

Nom nom nom nom. Enjoy! xxx

Beetroot and Pomegranate Cake

2010-03-01T22:27:00.000Z

Cake
250g (8oz) self-raising flour, sieved
2 teaspoons baking powder
150g (5oz) soft brown sugar
100g (3½oz) sultanas
200g (7oz) beetroot, peeled and grated (2-3 medium sized beetroots)
150ml (¼ pint) vegetable or sunflower oil
2 medium sized organic free range happy eggs

Icing
200g Icing Sugar
100g Shea butter
2 tbsp pomegranate syrup (available from middle eastern shops in general)

Dust with pistachio's, walnut or almonds

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 180C, 350F, Gas Mark 4

2. Grease and line an 8 inch loose based cake tin.

3. Mix together the flour, baking powder and soft brown sugar in a large bowl.

4. Add the sultanas, grated beetroot.

5. Beat the oil and eggs together, and then add to the bowl.

6. Combine with either a wooden spoon or electric mixer.

7. Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 1-1¼ hours. Insert a metal skewer into the cake; if it comes out clean, then the cake is cooked.

8. Cool on a wire rack.

9. Sieve the icing sugar and blend with the shea butter and pomegranate syrup to form a thick paste. Spread evenly over the cake and dust with ground crushed nuts.

Luscious Leek, bulb fennel and pearl barley risotto with goats cheese

2010-03-01T20:35:00.001Z

This weekend I invented a delicious new dish from the produce of my scrummy organic veg box - Luscious Leek, bulb fennel and pearl barley risotto with goats cheese.

Ingredients
Slosh of olive oil
1 washed and chopped leak
1 chopped bulb fennel
2 cloves of finely chopped garlic
Large cup of pearl barley
Marigold vegetable stock
2 cups water.
Herbamare salt to taste
Nutmeg
Pepper
150 g Goats cheese

Gently fry the leeks and bulb fennel in olive oil. Add the pearl barley and stir well making sure evenly coated in olive oil. Leave with lid on for 3 minutes. Add 2 cups of water and table spoon of vegetable stock powder. Place lid and simmer for 20 minutes. Keep checking and add additional water as necessary. Once liquid is reduced and the pearl barley is tender, add nutmeg, pepper and salt to taste. Finally add crumbled goats cheese and stir.

Variations to test. Different soft white cheeses including vegan soft cheeses. Can add real cream or soya/oat cream instead. Could use arborio rice or spelt instead.

Different vegetable to include could be mushrooms, courgettes, asparagus. Go experiment, invent and create.

Serve with sparkling elderflower cordial or light sparkling white wine.

Eat, drink, be merry. xxx

To source an excellent organic vegetable box go to:

http://vegbox-recipes.co.uk/veg-boxes/find-a-box-scheme.php