<![CDATA[OUSU Environment & Ethics Committee - E&E Blog]]>Fri, 11 May 2012 04:00:15 -0800Weebly<![CDATA[What does a low carbon future look like?]]>Wed, 16 Nov 2011 10:14:53 -0800http://ousueande.weebly.com/1/post/2011/11/what-does-a-low-carbon-future-look-like.html By 2050 the UK will have reduced its emissions to less than 20% of 1990 levels. But with an 80% cut, what will actually change about our lives? Regular travellers on London Underground’s Piccadilly Line will be familiar with an artist’s impression of future London, with giant biomes and huge algae farms (for fuel rather than food, I think) but that looks more like something off Battlestar Galactica than the real future. Don’t you love how future-looking fiction always overestimates things? I mean, according to Back to the Future we’re only 3 years away from flying skateboards…
But I digress.

The Government has created an online tool to allow the public to see what the major differences will be by 2050, and to help them understand the scale of the whole operation. You can check it out here: http://my2050.decc.gov.uk/

It’s honestly amazing and as far as I can tell, the science and the figures behind it are pretty accurate. Have a look yourself and see what you can come up with to ge to 80%

Blog entry by: Daniel Lowe

]]><![CDATA[Shock Horror! A recent study has CONFIRMED THE EXISTANCE OF CLIMATE CHANGE. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-15373071]]>Thu, 10 Nov 2011 06:46:54 -0800http://ousueande.weebly.com/1/post/2011/11/shock-horror-a-recent-study-has-confirmed-the-existance-of-climate-change-httpwwwbbccouknewsscience-environment-15373071.htmlThis was actually front page news in October. It’s rather unbelievable that after all these years there are still people that think that climate change is either

a)    Not happening
b)    Happening but it’s not our fault
c)    Happening but there’s nothing we can do about it
d)    A scam dreamed up by the government to rob us of extra taxes
e)    A scam dreamed up by radical lefties who don’t like cars.

The one thing that I did find funny, though, was the fact that the research group in question, which included Nobel laureates, was part funded by climate change deniers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_activities_of_the_Koch_family#Anthropogenic_global_warming_skepticism)

Now that is newsworthy… or at least Have I Got News For You-worthy.

The reason I’ve chosen to blog about this is not because of what the article says, but because of what its existence says. The fact that reports confirming the existence of climate change still make headline news is disturbing. Why, after all these years, do we still have to convince people? The scientific community has reached far greater a consensus on this than they have on the evolution of the human species, the origin of the universe or what causes cancer, and yet people still don’t listen. Some of my favourite comments on the article are listed below for a laugh but they still do worry me.

The brighter side of this scepticism, however, is that that this government has kept the previous’ promise to cut UK emissions by 80%. The important people have read the writing on the wall and are ignoring the cries of ‘scam’ ‘pseudo science’ and ‘eco-fascists.’ I think it’s time the media started ignoring them too. Either that or can we have an article on ‘racism terrible for communities’ ‘terrorism=bad’ and ‘Pope confirms he is Catholic.’

Blog written by Tobias Allen
]]><![CDATA[To (Sizewell) B or not to be: that is the nuclear question.]]>Tue, 01 Nov 2011 13:55:26 -0800http://ousueande.weebly.com/1/post/2011/11/to-sizewell-b-or-not-to-be-that-is-the-nuclear-question.html Probably the most annoying thing about environmental campaigning is the conflict. It seems that one wing of environmental concern is constantly pitted against another. Take renewable energy for example. Every environmentalist wants to see more energy come from wind, tidal and solar sources but as soon as you suggest putting up a wind farm someone starts advocating for the biodiversity of birds in the area. Similarly, there is a real environmental principle supporting GM: it can make crops more resistant to drought and needs less land for farming by producing stronger yields… but it isn’t natural and there are risks involved. And of course, don’t forget the land conflicts of growing biofuels instead of food, even though drilling for oil (which we still need for freight and personal transport) killed countless marine organisms in the Gulf of Mexico.

It’s a sad state of affairs. There doesn’t appear to be an agreed hierarchy of importance. Personally, I think steps which prevent a more than 2oC rise should take priority over international development and biodiversity, simply because any greater a temperature rise and more people will go hungry and more species will be extinct. I’m also a pragmatist. I think the radical environmentalists who hold out for a social, economic and agricultural revolution which sees 100% of energy come from renewables and no use of oil, coal or gas (including transport) is too far off a future for us to consider: climate change is a real problem now and we need to stop it now. The amount of effort required to get people to accept much higher costs of living to make the greenest transition will create too long a moratorium and we’ll miss our chance to curb a rise at 2oC.

So that’s my view on priorities: biodiversity takes a back seat to energy issues. But that still leaves a few questions. How do we move to an energy market which is low-carbon enough to stop runaway climate change? What should that mix of sources look like? What are the obstacles?
The first questions is quite simple, the UK and EU governments need to take a lead on this. We need top down rules to steer market forces into a low carbon economy. The second question is trickier. The UK has the largest potential for offshore wind, but the current government line is calling for a mix of sources: renewables, coal and gas with Carbon Capture and Storage, and nuclear.

The nuclear aspect is a huge can of worms, particularly after the events in Japan earlier this year. Germany has decided to decommission all its nuclear power stations by 2025 as a result. Belgium and Denmark are already on their way to doing so and Italy and Switzerland have called a halt to all new builds for now. The UK and France, however, are flying the flag for new nuclear.

Everyone knows the risks associated with nuclear and many are opposed to it on grounds of biodiversity, land pollution, human safety and even geo-politically as nuclear waste can be used to make radiogenic weapons. But here are the risks for a non-nuclear pathway to a low carbon future: an intermittent energy supply based on wind that doesn’t always blow if we can’t broker international agreements to create a Europe-wide power grid; stupidly high carbon emissions from fossil fuel power stations if Carbon Capture and Storage doesn’t work; energy bills that are too high for the most vulnerable people living in the UK in order to pay for large amounts of renewables.

All of these risks, pro and anti nuclear, are huge, undesirable and very real. The thing is, the government has set up its plan and will fight tooth and nail to stick to it. Pulling back on nuclear would be internationally embarrassing and CCS is too good an opportunity to breathe life into the UK science and technology sector. What the government can’t do is change the way we use energy, the amount we use  and our personal vision for what the next fifty years will look like. Those sorts of culture changes need to be bottom-up and grass roots. Our task as environmentalists is to convince our peers of the scale of change that needs to occur. We need to be more energy efficient and consume less to bring the country (possibly kicking and screaming) into a low carbon future. Many of our colleges still don’t recycle properly, use their electricity efficiently and waste huge amounts of food. We, as students in our colleges, can effectively lobby to change these things, whereas a handful of ‘privileged Oxford students’ writing a letter or marching in the street will not change the government’s mind on nuclear.

I said earlier I’m a pragmatist, and my pragmatic thought is this. Nuclear is happening, it’s going to be in the UK for the next century. It’s time to get over it and move on. We need to take on campaigns we can win and make real change. Reducing energy demand in the long term will reduce the need for all these power stations, and then we can have the wildlife and forests in place of Didcot Power Station that once made England a green and pleasant land.

Blog written by Tobias Allen
]]><![CDATA[What's in your coffee cup? Shade-grown coffee in India]]>Wed, 21 Sep 2011 03:29:33 -0800http://ousueande.weebly.com/1/post/2011/09/whats-in-your-coffee-cup-shade-grown-coffee-in-india.html Like many 20 year olds, I have drunk my fair share of coffee. With an average intake of two coffees a day and a love of coffee that reaches back to my early teens, I have a fairly ‘typical’ relationship with the beverage. And I am not alone. Students across the country are familiar with the smell, taste and effects of the drink. A friend in those late hours of essay writing, a wake-up call before a lecture or an excuse for a mid-day break, coffee impacts our day in one way or another. Coffee shops dominate the streets of Oxford and coffee bags fill the shelves of supermarkets. Countless coffees are made, sipped and discussed every day. That is, 1.6 billion cups to be precise. These include over sixty different types of coffee beverages, from the classic Espresso to the more adventurous Dirty Chai or Zebra Mocha, all coming from a number of different countries. The crop grows over a wide-range of agro-ecological zones and standardised coffee blends may be a mix of as many as twenty different coffee types. Is it surprising then that coffee ranks as the second most traded commodity after oil or that it is the third most popular global beverage after water and tea?

But the impact of coffee extends far beyond cafés, kitchen counters and student desks. Tied to the economies of countless countries and employing millions of workers, it comes as no surprise that coffee plays such an important economic, social and political role, on a global as well as local scale. Due to its economic and agricultural potential as well as its unpredictable prices and large quantities, coffee holds a critical yet tenuous place within international markets. This crop has influenced the lives, habitats and environments of many species for centuries. Human societies across North and Central America, South America, Africa and Asia have been dictated by this cash crop. The beans are often cultivated in countries which face some of the more severe development challenges in the world. As Anthony Wild wrote, ‘tropical countries produce it and rich countries drink it.  A result of colonial rule, this risky crop continues to touch the economies and livelihoods of millions well after the end of the British Empire.

As I found out this summer, India has a decisive role to play in this equation. It is the 5th biggest global producer of coffee beans, employing over 3 million workers. Though domestic consumption is surprisingly low in the country itself, it comprises 23 per cent of the national economy and there is a 100 per cent growth rate every year. Most importantly, 95 per cent of Indian coffee is shade-grown and carbon neutral. There are close to 250,000 growers in India, of which 98 per cent are small farmers, cultivating on less than 10 hectares. 400 million tonnes of coffee is produced for the government every year and a productive estate would generate an average of ½ tonne per acre. Unfortunately, however, with a rise in urbanisation, fluctuating coffee prices, inadequate government policies and widespread poverty, attitudes are changing and growers are favouring large-scale, cleared and mechanised farms. As a country with a fairly limited environmental agenda and a fairly unknown coffee producing industry, the future looks bleak for many of India’s coffee forests.
The environmental implications of coffee growing are not well known globally, let alone in India. Indeed, the ecological benefits of shade-grown coffee are barely known to some of the growers themselves (Not the farmers of the Karnataka Growers Federation may I add). Alongside the degradation of India’s forests comes the increase in human population size, loss of species and the emission of 15 million tonnes of carbon into the atmosphere. India alone burns 1,692 MT of fossil fuels and emits 1,870MT of greenhouse gases per annum. This increase in deforestation has been in order to accommodate increasing demands for food, fuel and development. Deforestation alone emits 2.9 billion tonnes of carbon annually. Dr Josep Canadell stated that ‘if you were to stop deforestation tomorrow, the World’s established and growing forests would remove half of fossil fuel emissions’. Wooded areas across the planet soak up fully a 1/3 of the fossil fuels released into the atmosphere each year -some 2.4 billion tons of carbon. How are we to promote this?

The Western Ghats in southern India is one of the 8 top ecological hotspots in the world and it has been estimated that tropical rainforest regrowth is removing an average of 1.6 billion tonnes of carbon a year. The coffee plantations, with their biodiversity and pristine forests, provide a “carbon sink” that reverse some of the effects of climate change. The Karnataka’s Growers Federation (KGF) estimated that the plantations provided 1.5 million hectares of carbon-reducing area and that one acre of trees produces enough oxygen for 18 people every day. Coffee plants grow between many different species of tree such as sandalwood, mahogany, teak, silver oak and cedar. In many of the plantations coffee is also interspersed with other foods and cash crops. This process not only conserves soil and forests but protects the micro-climate. These coffee ranges are home to wildlife sanctuaries, national parks and biodiversity plantations. One estate I visited engaged in waste management, had compost heaps, irrigation systems and man-made lakes, and barely used pesticides. The berries are handpicked and processed by local villagers –often female.

Despite the benefits of shade-grown coffee, global warming and climate change are threatening many of the coffee plantations. Not only is coffee not native to India, with the beans growing best in volcanic soil and needing near constant rain, but the conditions have been aggravated by the recent erratic weather and late monsoon rains. This climate change coupled with worldwide shortage of prime grade beans has impacted coffee prices and the industry in general. Consecutive droughts, high pest and disease epidemics as well as little credit flow have led to the abandonment of estates and deforestation. Alternate crops are being grown and forests replaced by other tree species. The changing fortunes of coffee have led to the plant being labelled a ‘disaster crop’ by the UN. The UID says that Indian farmer with the present source of agricultural income will rarely be sustainable. Shockingly, a study by Bitter Beans noted that in the 2003 and 2004 price crash 120 farmers in the state of Kerala committed suicide. With all these problems and limitations, it is easy to have a pessimistic view of India’s coffee-growing future.

This is where we need to step in. You might read this and think that the challenges are too big or that the problems are too varied. Though I don’t deny that many of the issues that the farmers face are unlikely to be resolved any time soon, there are a number of both short-term and long-term solutions. The reality of it is that farmers are commercially driven. They adapt to demand, need and circumstance. They are only recently recognising their value to the environment and the importance that shade-grown coffee might have commercially. Few people know that India produces coffee, let alone that it can do it in a sustainable and ecologically-friendly way. A start would be for people to recognise the plight of Indian farmers. International fora and organisations (including the UN REDD) rarely mention Indian coffee farmers. Brazil, Columbia, Vietnam and some African countries continue to dominate discussion. The lack of global recognition gives no incentive to the Indian Government to give greater support to the farmers. Certainly, government bodies do exist such as the Coffee Board but coffee growers rarely qualify for the economic benefits offered to carbon sensitive companies and organisations. Given a greater economic incentive, many of the small-scale farmers would reconsider before selling their plantation to agro-industries or converting to different crops. When I was in the Hassan region I discussed with the farmers the idea of marketing their coffee to highlight its ecological benefits. Increasingly, growers are having more active role in the production line as well as the growing process. Unfortunately, Indian coffee isn’t as popular in the supermarkets as it should be and continues to be used mainly as a filler. The next time you buy coffee, however, take a look at the label and pick an Indian blend.

Eco-tourism is another way of highlighting the problems that Indian farmers face and providing them with further economic support. The farmers are sensitive to some of the negative effects tourism can have on local communities. The KGF and state of Karnataka have rejected several motions passed by the government and other organisations such as UNESCO to broaden tourism there. The tourism that the farmers do support includes things like guesthouses, tours of the plantations and walks around the area whilst also promoting their sustainable shade-grown coffee. Planning a trip to India? Visit Hassan, Mysore or Chikmagalur and stay with one of the growers there. Many of them refuse to promote their guesthouses in tourist guidebooks or on the internet but once in situ there are a surprising number of them. Tourism can be limited and maintained in a manageable and respected manner. It also provides a means to shore up resources for lean coffee seasons.

While I was in India we worked on some of the long-term solutions for the coffee growers.  These might start with greater interaction between farmers and organisations, local, national and global. We also focused on developing the relationship between the government and the growers. This, we established, was best done through the coffee growing associations which have been in place for over a century. The farming community is a strong one and many of their leaders have some excellent suggestions for the future and care a lot about their environment. For many individuals, their livelihoods, culture and families depend on the coffee beans. The forests are often tied to folk tales and nature is worshipped within the Hindu faith. Education was also an important factor to be considered. There are very few local educational institutions and none that specialise in coffee growing. Many of the techniques used by the farmers have been passed on for generations and few have been formalised or put to paper. There should be a greater access to knowledge which should cross gender and class boundaries and explicitly promote shade-grown coffee. This would also limit urban migration which is occurring at a staggering pace.

I have touched briefly on a number of the different problems that the coffee growers face and my solutions are far from satisfactory. Organisations such as Oxfam and Centre for Social Markets are doing their best to overcome these injustices as well as promote the sustainable and eco-friendly nature of a great part of the Indian coffee-growing industry. If there is one thing I would want this article to accomplish it would be to raise awareness of shade-grown coffee: its existence, and its benefits. So many people do not even know that India produces coffee or the processes, methods and sometimes destruction involved behind each cup of coffee. Something to think about the next time you take a sip from your early morning cup.

Blog written by Hester Carro, St. Hughs
]]><![CDATA[Does it have to cost the Earth to fly round the world?]]>Mon, 04 Jul 2011 05:18:16 -0800http://ousueande.weebly.com/1/post/2011/07/does-it-have-to-cost-the-earth-to-fly-round-the-world.htmlAs someone who has flown less than 4000 miles in a lifetime I am hardly the most reliant on air transport as a method of getting where I need to be.  This doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate there are some things for which it is necessary to get somewhere thousands of miles away fast, where an international conference call will not suffice.  The world needs air travel.  The world also needs a way to do it without toasting itself in the process.

A few weeks ago a friend mentioned to me at dinner something he had been pondering: ‘How do we fly when the oil runs out?  You’re a physicist and you’re into environmental stuff, what do you think?’  The slightly shameful answer is that at the time I hadn’t given that scenario much thought.  After trying to solve the problem at the dinner table using some theoretically perfect solar panels and my rather sketchy memory of Stefan’s constant we eventually had to admit defeat and consult Google.  Sadly (at least with my search terms) Google did not seem to come up with ways we can commercially fly without oil, just ways we can’t.

The problem with most of the alternative energy sources for cars and the like which are being researched at the moment is they are quite heavy.  For flight, weight is (of course) one of the most important considerations.  If a fuel hasn’t a high enough energy density you aren’t going anywhere.  This rules out hydrogen fuel cells and solar panels somewhat.

Many say that when oil runs out we will be able to produce biofuels which can do the job, but emissions from burning biofuels are hardly much of an improvement.

I don’t know the answer and (correct me if I’m wrong) it seems that few do at the current moment in time.  Until we find a solution all we can do is encourage new planes such as the Airbus A380 – the double decker bus of the aeroplane world - which are far more efficient per passenger than standard sized planes.  Most importantly though, cut out frivolous flying.

Blog written by Natalie Haley, E&E Chair
]]><![CDATA[Now let us turn to inspiration from… Belgium]]>Mon, 06 Jun 2011 05:44:16 -0800http://ousueande.weebly.com/1/post/2011/06/now-let-us-turn-to-inspiration-from-belgium.htmlThe Guardian reported today that Belgium will be covering one of its train
tunnels in solar panels: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/jun/
06/tunnel-solar-belgium-rail

Whilst I question how putting trains in a tunnel protects the need to fell
trees (maybe the slipstream would make them fall down?) this is supremely
admirable, take one blight on the landscape and cover it with solar panels,
diversifying the use of the land and saving enough energy to power the Belgian
train network for a whole day (the article doesn’t say how long it takes to
generate this power).

Our government argues that such a project isn’t feasible this side of the Channel
as solar energy technology is too expensive, but what they don’t seem to realise
is that bulk buying something drives its price down. That’s the problem with
libertarian free-market economics; by putting the cost of green technologies
solely in the hands of the free market prices won’t become ‘affordable’ until
its too late. The time lag of the causes and effects of climate change is just too
long for us to wait for the private sector to consider solar technology a good
investment. The government needs to make it affordable.

I mean, come on, Belgium figured this one out and they don’t even have a
government…

Blog entry written by Anon.
]]><![CDATA[Vegetarian Rant!]]>Tue, 24 May 2011 08:02:22 -0800http://ousueande.weebly.com/1/post/2011/05/vegetarian-rant.htmlSo, for those of you that don’t know, it’s National Vegetarian Week. Don’t feel bad
if you didn’t, I didn’t until someone I barely know popped up on my
twitter feed re-tweeting someone I don’t know…

That aside, I consider myself to be a good vegetarian. I don’t have leather
shoes or a belt (I make effort to find trousers that actually fit). I steer clear of
Haribo and check that my cheese is animal rennet free. I don’t even drink non-
vegetarian cider. The sad thing is, posh restaurants make it so damn hard to eat
out as a vegetarian without wanting to throttle the chef.

Take my mother’s birthday for example. We went to a very nice restaurant in
London that had an absolutely delectable menu, provided you were no stricter
than pescatarian. Even the soup had beef stock in it. There was one starter
that I could have: mushroom bruschetta. The ‘vegetarian’ main course was
mushroom risotto, only I had to put a special request for the whole thing not to
be adulterated with pecorino.

I understand that most people in this country eat meat and wish to continue
doing so, whilst I hope for the day when this is no longer a fact, this particular
rant is more about lazy chefs. These men and women are supposed to love food,
take an interest not just in their dishes but in their menus. I worked as a kitchen
hand in my teenage years and our menus were planned so that no one had to eat
a starter and main course focussed on the same thing. It’s not difficult. I mean
seriously, when did vegetarian mean ‘mushroom lover’ or for that matter, goats’
cheese guzzler or an acolyte of the church of stuffed peppers.

Chefs that can’t be bothered to whip out anything other than mushroom risotto
do not deserve their role. There are scores of underused vegetables out there
that we never see on menus. When was the last time I saw parsnips, fennel or
runner beans anywhere other than my own kitchen.

One very eye catching dish on the menu the other week was deep fried stuffed
courgette florets. Sadly they were stuffed with mozzarella and anchovies, but as
the restaurant was good enough, they were handmade and fresh so I was able to
get some fish-free (who likes anchovies anyway?). Annoyingly I was still stuck
with mushroom risotto, which I will be eating again this Friday as I head for a
society social at Pierre Victoire.

My colleague managed to sum up my current feelings towards haute cuisine in a
recent email ‘I resent paying £30 for what will inevitably be a slice of quiche’

For a list of vegetarian brands of beer, wine, cider visit: http://
www.veggiewines.co.uk/

And cheese: http://cheese.joyousliving.com/

Blog written by: Tobias Allen ]]><![CDATA[Cutting the UK carbon footprint by 80% - so let's get talking about the big things!]]>Thu, 05 May 2011 01:43:45 -0800http://ousueande.weebly.com/1/post/2011/05/cutting-the-uk-carbon-footprint-by-80-so-lets-get-talking-about-the-big-things.htmlIn the Nineties, green issues were certainly apparent in the minds of the general population; logging in the Amazon was a major concern, and who can forget Captain Planet and the Planeteers? Even educational videos designed to teach good spelling were themed around pollution on planet Earth (I can't have been the only one to watch Earth Warp, surely?).

In the Noughties, however, green campaigning really took off. 'Global Warming' became 'climate change,' pollution and wastefulness became your 'carbon footprint' and the dangers of carbon dioxide were no longer limited to an overflowing soft drink. But are people now, in this new decade, getting a little tired?

I believe that now is the time to stop trying to convince the sceptics, and I began the OUSU Environment Handbook by saying that anyone who didn't believe in the existence of climate change is either misinformed or stubborn. Whilst this is wholly true, I worry about the effect this will have on green campaigning as a whole.

By relaxing our campaign efforts, people have begun to forget the message of Reduce, Reuse and Recycle, and especially the order in which those words should come. I was appalled when I heard of an advert condoning leaving a light on all night because it was fitted with an energy efficient bulb; such a notion is wholly misleading. By reducing the amount of energy we use in our day-to-day lives, we should not therefore start engaging in more energy-wasting activities.

The government has now finally agreed to a target for reducing the country's carbon footprint by 80% before 2050, but there's only one way to do this. We have to throw out the strategy of showing people little changes they can make to reduce their carbon footprint, and start impressing the importance of the big changes. Line drying your clothes instead of using a tumble dryer will save much more energy than switching lights off when you leave the room, and I think everyone knows what to do when it comes to air travel. A renewal within the green campaign is necessary to provide the same effervescent campaign of the mid noughties if we are to convince those that have installed the right lightbulbs that the next step is to unplug their tumble dryer.


Blog post by Tobias Allen ]]>