Green Group discussion

Here is an article about nature-based solutions to climate change and asks the question, Why aren't we using them? Highly recommended read:

https://psmag.com/environment/why-are...

Developed lands offer no protection, undeveloped lands can't be developed. There is no quick cash profit so it has no priority.

Plenty of energy in the ocean, this could power communities, be put into the national grid, or push water uphill to be released when needed to generate extra power.
Here is the latest tidal energy installation from Orkney at the European Marine Energy Centre's tidal test site.
https://www.orkney.com/news/magallane...

A nature based solution has been to expand or restore peatlands.

"The analysis revealed that increasing CO2 during the last 100 years has reduced photorespiration, which has probably boosted carbon storage in peatlands to date and dampened climate change. However, increasing atmospheric CO2 only reduced photorespiration in peatlands when water levels were intermediate, not when conditions were too wet or too dry. Unlike higher plants, mosses cannot transport water, so the water table level controls their moisture content, which affects their photosynthetic performance. So, models based on higher plants' physiological responses cannot be applied.

That the effect of CO2 depends on the water table level can have major consequences for peatland species composition, as only mosses that grow at an intermediate distance from the water table level benefit from the higher atmospheric CO2 concentration. Moreover, changes in the peatlands' water balance can strongly affect their future carbon balance as too wet or too dry conditions reduce peat mosses' ability to scavenge carbon.

Although peatlands have dampened CO2-driven climate change so far, the changes have already had devastating effects. If human CO2 emissions are not strongly reduced, the atmospheric CO2 concentration will further increase by hundreds of ppm by 2100, and average global temperatures will rise several degrees C above pre-industrial levels. It is unclear how peatlands will be affected by this."

https://phys.org/news/2022-01-atmosph...

More information: Henrik Serk et al, Global CO2 fertilization of Sphagnum peat mosses via suppression of photorespiration during the twentieth century, Scientific Reports (2021). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-02953-1
Journal information: Scientific Reports
Provided by Umea University

Marginal land is the term used for land barely good enough for forests or crops or meadow... this is a good type of land to use to fight climate change.

Afforestation often provides a solution here in Ireland. But that can mean removal of what might be peatland if there was more water. If peat gets too dry, it can go on fire. Here is a look at the critical factors.

https://phys.org/news/2021-10-valuabl...

"Forests and peatlands are inextricably linked, according to the study conducted by researchers at Wageningen, Amsterdam, Utrecht and other universities. These two ecosystems can exist happily side by side but as soon as they pass a certain point, critical limits are exceeded.

Then peat can turn into forest and forest can become peat. Wherever organic material accumulates, the soil becomes wetter and fewer trees grow, so the soil become even wetter, ultimately turning into peat. Conversely, desiccation causes trees to grow on peat, which gets even drier, becomes depleted and eventually disappears.

Jakob Wallinga, Professor of Soil Geography and Landscape at Wageningen University & Research says that "from this study we have learned a lot about tipping points in landscapes, in addition to insight into shifts between peat and forest systems. This knowledge will be useful in new research projects aimed at a climate-robust future for landscapes in the Netherlands.""

More information: Ype van der Velde et al, Emerging forest–peatland bistability and resilience of European peatland carbon stores, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2021). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2101742118
Journal information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Provided by Wageningen University

Maybe nature-based solutions will be introduced as soon as it becomes less expensive, or more profitable, than the norm.

https://www.costa-news.com/costa-blan...
With electricity prices sky-high, more projects to produce energy from sustainable sources in Alicante province are being presented.

The latest move by a home-grown company comes from Ibox Energy, which is set to invest €145 million in six solar farms.
Full report in Friday’s Costa Blanca News.

This alternative, using the earth's deep heat, for geothermal power, sounds promising again.

https://www.vice.com/en/article/g5qkn...

That is encouraging. Nothing could be simpler than drilling a hole to get heat to boil water. Unlike other alternative sources it would run 24/7 regardless of the weather.

Ecowatch has a short article on cleaning dust off solar panels by means of electrostatic repulsion.

https://www.ecowatch.com/solar-panel-...

"Instead of water or cleaning brushes, the researchers use electrostatic repulsion to wick away dust and debris from the panels. This works by sending an electrode over the panels via a metal bar. The electrode gives off an electric charge to the dust particles, which are simultaneously repelled by a charge applied to an ultra-thin transparent conductive layer on the panels. The dirt then “leaps” off of the panels, according to an MIT press release.

The researchers shared their findings in Science Advances. In their own lab tests, the study authors found output reduced by up to 30% when panels go without cleaning for just one month. They also calculated that even a 1% reduction in power for a 150-megawatt solar power plant would equate to $200,000 in lost annual revenue. Globally, even 3% to 4% less output could cost up to $5.5 billion."

Using more timber in construction is being promoted. You may have seen the skyscrapers being built of timber.

https://edition.cnn.com/style/article...

"Switzerland is set to become home to the world's tallest timber residential building.
The project, named Rocket&Tigerli, will consist of four buildings including one that boasts a 100-meter-tall (328-foot) tower. The development will be built in the Swiss city of Winterthur, which is located near Zurich.
The world's skinniest skyscraper is ready for its first residents
The design will offer modern, high-quality housing with a maximum inflow of daylight, according to its designers, the Danish firm Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects (SHL). It will also seek to create an active neighborhood that will be "rooted in the area's historical context," according to a press release from the firm. The facade, for example, will be covered in dark red and yellow terracotta bricks combined with dusty green-colored details -- in keeping with the red roofs and yellow bricks of the older buildings in the surrounding area."

Visual Capitalist tells us:

https://elements.visualcapitalist.com...

"Wind and solar generate over a tenth of the world’s electricity. Taken together, they are the fourth-largest source of electricity, behind coal, gas, and hydro."

Useful infographic represents more invested nations with darker green.

https://singularityhub.com/2022/05/18...

"Once complete, Yangqu Dam is predicted to generate almost five billion kilowatt hours of electricity per year—that’s half a billion more than Arizona’s Hoover Dam—and plans are for it to be built entirely by robots, without any human labor.

A paper published last month in the Journal of Tsinghua University details a “3D printing system” that uses AI and robots for filling large construction projects. "

Clare wrote: "https://singularityhub.com/2022/05/18...

"Once complete, Yangqu Dam is predicted to generate almost five billion kilowatt hours of elect..."

Intriguing! I just finished a great science fiction trilogy -- The Bobiverse -- where 3-D printing is used to "bootstrap" technology in newly explored star systems. Should be interesting to see how this 3-D construction tech advances; maybe someday it can produce affordable housing? The home prices in the US are rising at an insane rate right now!

Affordable housing sounds great. but printed houses mean far fewer employment opportunities, so far fewer workers who earn enough to buy a house. Also, far fewer skillsets are used and taught. No easy answer.

This sounds good - nature sends snow, and snow reflects light, so a double-sided solar panel mounted off the ground still picks up enough light to work.


https://www.sciencedirect.com/science...

"Abstract
There has been a recent surge in interest in the more accurate snow loss estimates for solar photovoltaic (PV) systems as large-scale deployments move into northern latitudes. Preliminary results show bifacial modules may clear snow faster than monofacial PV. This study analyzes snow losses on these two types of systems using empirical hourly data including energy, solar irradiation and albedo, and open-source image processing methods from images of the arrays in a northern environment in the winter.
Projection transformations based on reference anchor points and snowless ground truth images provide reliable masking and optical distortion correction with fixed surveillance cameras. This allows individual PV module-level snow shedding ratio determination as well as average cumulative snow load by employing grayscale segmentation.
...
"Bifacial systems perform better than monofacial in severe winter conditions as average winter snow losses was 16% and the annual losses were 2% in the worst-case scenario. In addition, there was a bifacial gain of 19% compared to monofacial system during winter."

A nature based solution to adapting to climate change is to plant additional species.

https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/business...

"We are in Mutrux, a small commune in canton Vaud, in western Switzerland. HereExternal link, six exotic tree species from Turkey, Bulgaria and the United States were planted on a plot of about three hectares in 2012. It’s an example of what is called “assisted migration”. “We accelerated a movement of species that would otherwise have taken at least thousands of years,” explains Brang, a researcher at the Federal Research Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape (WSL). There is nothing unusual in his experiment. Humans, he adds, have been intervening for centuries to shape forests according to their needs.

The introduced species were selected for their high resistance to drought and heat waves. Brang wants to study their growth and ability to survive in this new environment. “We want to know which trees could replace the species important to Switzerland that are suffering from climate change,” he says. "

Here is a good dataviz from Visual Capitalist. The 5 major types of natural energy.

https://elements.visualcapitalist.com...

A new study from University of East Anglia looks at the dangers to migratory bird species. Power lines and wind turbines rank high on the list.

https://phys.org/news/2022-06-infrast...

"One of the biggest impacts seems to be caused by things that would kill a bird outright—for example flying into a wind turbine, a building, being electrocuted on a powerline, hit by a vehicle or hunted. We found that exposure to these human-induced 'direct mortality' threats in the bird's wintering ranges are reflected in population decreases in breeding birds."

More information: Spatially explicit risk mapping reveals direct anthropogenic impacts on migratory birds', Global Ecology and Biogeography (2022).
Journal information: Global Ecology and Biogeography
https://phys.org/journals/global-ecol...
Provided by University of East Anglia

I just came across this report from May. This covers a new body established to look at the continued supply of freshwater. By the World Economic Forum.

"The work by the Global Commission on the Economics of Water is meant to offer advice on water management worldwide.

This comes as climate change and deforestation take an increasing toll on the water and rainfall supplies, co-chair Johan Rockstroem told Reuters at the unveiling of the new group at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

"For centuries we've been able to consider freshwater a free resource," said Rockstroem, who is also director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany.

Comprised of economists, scientists, community leaders and policymakers, the commission will investigate governance models to protect water resources and may consider pushing for a global price for freshwater, similar to what is being attempted with carbon markets.

"We need to put value on freshwater in order to manage it in a more resilient and responsible way," Rockstroem said.

Water stress driven by climate change is already affecting billions of people.
...

""What's new is that because of climate change and deforestation, we are changing the very source of freshwater - which is rainfall," said Rockstroem.
...

"Water scarcity could cost some countries up to 6% of their annual gross domestic product by 2050, researchers estimated in a 2016 World Bank report. They also warned of the potential for drought to drive migration or exacerbate conflict.

Rockstroem said the commission would explore incentives for ensuring water supply, for example paying nations, such as Brazil, Indonesia or Congo to protect their rainfall-generating forests, or compensating countries for water used in growing food for export."
https://www.rte.ie/news/business/2022...

If anyone thinks that giving people free water from the free supplies is top of the priority list, I encourage you to read the truth in
The Price of Thirst: Global Water Inequality and the Coming Chaos


by Karen Piper.

This is a link to a free e-book just out from the wonderful Scotland: The Big Picture.
The topic is Peatlands.
Peat is not only a carbon sink, but it stores freshwater and provides rich habitat.

https://www.scotlandbigpicture.com/St...

Mark Hamblin is the author. Mark Hamblin
Wild Peak: A Natural History of the Peak District is his previous book listed here on GR.

Scotland again provides this story about deforestation and looking for environmental solutions. Trees are one of the best stockers of carbon, because they provide shelter so many other life forms.

https://www.scotlandbigpicture.com/st...

“Chile ruined Scotland for us,” David laments. “Sailing into bays where the forest hits the sea up and down the coast for endless miles was such a stark contrast with the bare hills of Scotland. It was very graphic. And, once you’ve seen it, you can’t unsee it. I vividly remember thinking: ‘What has happened to Scotland?’”

With an interest in ecological restoration in South America, it was almost inevitable that Katharine and David would come across the pioneering work of Kris and Doug Tompkins, the renowned entrepreneurs and philanthropists who, over three decades, have restored millions of acres of wild lands, turning them into National Parks for the benefit of local communities."

https://www.rtbf.be/article/construir...

Article in French translated by RTE.


"What if you choose hemp to build your house? A Belgian company produces bricks made from this plant. With this 100% natural material, it has met with some success in the world of construction, because it offers an ecological solution. The properties of hemp are also very interesting in terms of insulation, whether thermal, water or acoustic.

The only drawback at the moment is that the industry needs more hemp processing plants in Belgium. This is a real brake on the development of this sector, even though it would allow the decarbonization of a sector, the construction sector, which is still responsible for nearly 40% of greenhouse gas emissions on a global scale.
...

"This is of interest to Belgian and foreign investors looking for carbon neutral solutions.
You have hemp, you have wood, you have flax, straw, rice straw depending on the region, depending on availability.
The idea is to make do with what is nearby or at least within a reasonable radius."

The pressures for and against photovoltaic panels near Madrid are going to be repeated elsewhere. This has been translated so the first it should probably be he.


"Alejandro Villamiel aspires to pass on the vineyards and the trade to his son. It has vines over sixty years old and is vehement in its arguments. "I understand the right to sell, but I also have the right to cultivate the vineyard; and if they put thousands of solar panels around me... I won't be able to continue with the wine. And I have the same right as they do".

Alejandro believes that those who want to sell the land are heirs of old rich people who now live in Madrid "weekend mentridanos". And he claims that there are commission agents in town who charge for convincing owners to sell.

Andres Garcia is one of those who sells. He has some land and is also in charge of tilling and caring for other people's land. "The problem," he says, "is that for 25 years this has not been profitable. People are abandoning olive trees and vineyards. Young people do not want to farm and the land has become unproductive. And these people - he refers to the companies - pay much more than what can be extracted."
...

"Voices for and voices against, but all agree on one thing: no one is opposed to renewable energies. What is needed is regulation, a balance between renewables and respect for the landscape, customs and the environment," adds Juan Portillo. Clean energy, yes, but not with "macroplants" that flood thousands of hectares of solar panels and destroy the entire ecosystem of a region, flora and fauna included.

And he recalls that this is what the different projects of Méntrida and the towns in the area are aiming at, in charge of companies such as Solaria (five plants are planned), Prodiel or Viridi."

https://www.rtve.es/noticias/20220712...

Thanks to RTE for showing this article and translating.

Green is not just using something clean, it also involves how the product is used.

The same thing happened in the organic farming business. Small, bio diverse properties with diverse crops and chemical free operations worked with the land to the benefit of the land which creates a healthy environment. The run off from the property is clean, the refuse is clean.

When organic farming became big business, the bio diverse treatment of the land, diverse crops and chemical free operations were all replaced by large monoculture operations with unclean runoff, which destroy the land like any monoculture operation does.

Recycling solar panels is not as easy as it sounds. While solar panels should last 20 to 30 years, the pace of innovation makes replacing the panels after 5 years economically feasible for large scale users. This is because the cost of power has gone from $2.79 per watt to 41 cents per watt and will get still cheaper. The materials in the cells is also undergoing changes from simple silicon cells to more exotic chemicals which increase the power output. Eventually there will also be a reduction in size but this will add to the expense of the sale price, not lessen it.

There are solar panel recyclers but for many people the choice to recycle them properly is still voluntary. The classification of the panels ranges from toxic to non toxic, which is dependent on the wording of the recycling laws. California is much stricter than other locations about paying attention to everything in a solar panel, instead of just treating them like bulk items with only some of chemicals and elements listed.

Material from "recycled" solar panels can still end up legally in land fills, though they shouldn't be there.

Reusing solar panels is sometimes an option, but typically involves selling them to disadvantaged people or countries. The problem with older panels is the same as any electronic device, would you want to use a computer that can only run the original version of windows from 30 years ago or do you want to run the current version of windows.

By keeping the classification away from electronic waste and not listing all the chemicals and elements, the cost of recycling solar panels is less than it should be. Even with somewhat valid concerns addressed, the cost of recycling a typical panel is $25, the value of the recovered materials is $2 to $4. You really have to know what you are doing to make money in this business. The money is made by charging the customer for the cost of recycling. Which is why not everyone choses to recycle their old panels.

Some places have laws that require companies to be responsible for the recycling of their panels, but what they pay and what it costs and what happens to the panels is a very gray area. Just like any other industry where it has been tried to make the manufacturer responsible for the complete disposal of their product, the money that is charged at the beginning of the process somehow never completely pays the bills at the end of the process.

https://resource-recycling.com/recycl...

Another excellent solution, which has its detractors, is importing beavers.
By building dams to retain water, beavers slow flooding downstream, conserve freshwater and groundwater, and make forests less likely to burn. They also create habitat for many other species.

https://www.vox.com/down-to-earth/232...

"More than just spreading water around, however, beavers also help cool it down.

Dams can deepen streams, and deeper layers of water tend to be cooler. As streams run into these structures, they can start to dig into the river bed, according to Emily Fairfax, an expert in ecology and hydrology at California State University Channel Islands. So there can be, say, a six-foot-deep pool behind a three-foot-high beaver dam, she said.

Dams also help force cold groundwater to the surface. Made of sticks, leaves, and mud, dams block water as it rushes downstream, forcing some of it to travel underground, where it mixes with chillier groundwater before resurfacing.

“That is really important for a lot of temperature-sensitive species like salmon and trout,” Fairfax says.

In one recent study, scientists relocated 69 beavers to a river basin in northwestern Washington state, and found that, on average, their dams cooled the streams by more than 4 degrees Fahrenheit (2.3 Celsius) during certain times of the year. Another study, published in 2017, saw similarly large drops in temperature after beavers built dams."


Two great reads.

Awards tend to attract interest and attention. The Royal Dublin Society runs Farm and Forestry Awards annually, and I've found that the same occurs in Scotland.
Various categories, many of which would seem to help counter climate change, and a special category.


https://www.scottishlandandestates.co...

"Iver Salveson Award for Combatting Climate Change – sponsored by Murray Beith Murray

Caledonian Climate Partners Ltd – an environmental service and consultancy firm working with landowners, communities and businesses to revitalise Scotland’s peatlands.
S’Wheat – the East Lothian based brand behind the world’s first plant-based reusable bottle.
Wildflower Roundabouts – a Highland Council project that has successfully established wildflower roundabouts to help pollinators."

Switzerland is protective of its forests, but has started replacing spruce trees with species which might be more resistant to climate change.
And while the people use parks and forests for leisure, a balance is struck.

https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/society/...

"Bern council owns other recreational forests near the city, where it has made space for bike trails, wood chip trails, and child day-care facilities. However, it has also closed off certain areas of forest, leaving dead wood on the ground to enhance biodiversity. The council says it feels compelled to step up its communication efforts and explain to people about the very different ways in which society relies on forested areas – this on top of the fact that the use of wood as a native building material and energy source is also gaining greater importance.
...

"South of the capital Bern there is one such place: a deep, woody ravine situated only 12 kilometres from parliament, running underneath the road that takes you to the village of Schwarzenburg. When the Rhône glacier retreated 20,000 years ago, the meltwater carved into the soft sandstone to create a winding gorge. This untamed waterway is called Schwarzwasser (black water) on account of the dark trees all around."

California is looking to beavers for natural based water conservation projects that will help in wildfire prevention

From the 1920's to the 50's California exported beavers to various locations in the state to improve streams hold more water.

Then the agricultural industry complained beavers were flooding farmland and the practice was apparently scaled back.

Before humans started exploiting and eradicating the beaver population their North American population was estimated to be between 100 and 200 million and they were found in just about every stream. Now there are about 10 to 15 million beavers.

People were always hunting beavers for their fur or permanently removing them from streams but before 200 years ago the number of people engaged in this practice was insufficient to substantially reduce the beaver population, and other animals as well.

Beavers are very adept at plugging leaks including man made ones such as drainage pipes and water culverts. They also cut down trees for dam building, repairing, shelter, and food. The state supplies devices and strategies to minimize their impact. The beavers carefully choose the location and size of trees they cut down which results in better forest growth.

One problem with beaver dams is that when they flood low land areas sometimes roadways get flooded. The thing is, with the current rainfall situation, any road or any location can become flooded, and some roadways are getting washed out. This storm caused road damage is expanding in duration and location which means we will probably have to redesign roads if we want them to last in these new weather conditions, which leaves concerns about beaver flooding in the rear view mirror.

https://www.latimes.com/california/st...

https://timberdoodle.org/news/how-bea...

Iowa scientists say more trees will be needed as climate change accelerates

Iowa lost 7 million trees from one thunderstorm storm in 2020.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/iowa-scien...

Always a good time to plant trees.

Agreed! My wife is awesome at nursing baby trees to health. She planted a bunch of tiny saplings received in the mail from the Arbor Day Foundation in our front and back yard; they're now all grown up, providing beauty and shade!

This article is in French but your browser may offer to translate.

https://www.rtbf.be/article/le-scan-l...

Translation by RTE.

""The effects on biodiversity, on avifauna, of this wind farm will not be mainly mortality, but instead fear. The birds will desert the place. There is no direct causal link. The first cause of the disappearance of birds from our countryside is not wind turbines. The causes are identified: it is mainly the loss of habitats. The loss of areas where birds can rest, can feed. And so wind turbines are not the primary cause of bird disappearance."
...

"If we talk about wind turbines, we must also talk about the regulations around wind turbines that have continued to evolve. And if they do indeed participate on their own scale, in the progressive loss of space available for birds, it is also important to know that today, developers are often obliged to try to compensate for this impact. The good news is that we are now creating what are called compensation zones. Let's go and see what it looks like, with the help of Jean-Philippe, our avian expert:

"These are plots that are set up on agricultural plots and are dedicated to biodiversity and mainly to birdlife. Species are finding two essential elements they need, which is shelter and more importantly also feeding areas." "And it really works. When the measures are properly implemented and properly sited, you have a real impact on bird presence and you get back the species you're supposed to get back."

So it is possible to find balances. You may have noticed that these are bird lovers who say so. Today, they too are finding that wind turbines are not necessarily the worst enemies of their little protégés."

Recharging underground aquifers is becoming increasingly more popular as a means of insuring future water supplies.

Underground water storage dates back to ancient times. Treated water and recycled water is typically what goes into storage. This is water that has already been taken out of water supplies. The water run off from rainfalls has been steadily increasing in volume which has people wondering how to collect this water.

Collected run off would add new water to the water reserves. Storm runoff was the original source for underground water cisterns in ancient times. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/arizona-ca...

In India, rivers have been made slower and broader in places to let more water soak into the ground. This will, as you say, add new water to the reserves, and it will reduce the impact of downstream flooding.

Laboratory experiment shows that bacteria really eat and digest plastic. The bacterium Rhodococcus ruber eats and actually digests plastic. It is found in the water and the land. It is estimated that this one bacterium could be eating 1 percent of the plastic in the ocean. The plastic is probably broken down by the ocean, the weather, and sunlight before the bacteria can handle it.

The article says that the bacteria reduces the plastic into harmless byproducts and carbon dioxide. Bacteria eating plastic in the ocean isn't a solution, in fact, it is problem, because it releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

Bacteria have a habit of passing around successful strategies. If the practice of eating plastic were to become common place with carbon dioxide as a byproduct, all the plastic trash would become another source of carbon dioxide.

https://phys.org/news/2023-01-laborat...

You will enjoy this skit. An Irish trio of comedians have been entertaining us on YouTube for a couple of years. This is their latest; the energy sources throw a party. We've previously had medicines throwing a party, vegetables ditto.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoHUi...

Clare wrote: "You will enjoy this skit. An Irish trio of comedians have been entertaining us on YouTube for a couple of years. This is their latest; the energy sources throw a party. We've previously had medicin..."
Excellent skit!

A couple of minutes of fun is good for us.

Awesome. Still laughing!!!

Farmers in Niger were removing trees and using the space to plant rows of crops. Niger is bordering the Sahara and one of the poorest countries in the world. But....


"Niger, the world’s least developed country, was once covered in trees. But colonialism ruined that – pushing farmers to hack out tree stumps and create neat lines for crops, starting a vicious cycle of deforestation that led to near-barren soil.

But when a farmer in the 80s came home too late to dig out his tree roots before the rainy season, he found his crops did much better – helped by the fertilisation of falling leaves, and protected from the wind. Word spread from farmer to farmer, and a new movement was born.
...
"Over the past four decades, farmers in Niger have quietly grown 200 MILLION trees. They’ve restored ancient forests across millions of acres of dusty, drought-prone landscape while massively boosting their crop yields. And all without planting a single sapling!" Says SumOfUs.

They link to
https://www.theguardian.com/world/201...

"According to scientists, what has happened in Niger – one of the world’s poorest countries – is the largest-scale positive transformation of the environment in the whole of Africa. This is not a grand UN-funded project aiming to offset climate change. Small-scale farmers have achieved it because of what the trees can do for crop yields and other aspects of farming life.

“It’s a magic tree, a very wonderful tree,” said Abasse Tougiani of Niger’s National Institute of Agricultural Research, who has travelled all over Niger studying Faidherbia albida – the gao’s Latin name.

Shielded from the sun, crops planted under the canopy of a tree usually do not do well in the short term, although there can be longer-term benefits. That’s one reason why many west African rainforests have been decimated. But with gaos, it’s the other way round. The root system of the gao is nearly as big as its branches, and unusually it draws nitrogen from the air, fertilising the soil. And unlike other trees in the area, gao tree leaves fall in the rainy season, allowing more sunlight through to the crops at a key moment."

https://archive.ph/sJAVA#selection-44...

Wonderful to learn!

An extreme but natural if applied, method of shielding us from the sun.
Throw some moon dust at the sun.

https://phys.org/news/2023-02-space-e...


"In the second scenario, the authors shot lunar dust from the surface of the moon towards the sun. They found that the inherent properties of lunar dust were just right to effectively work as a sun shield. The simulations tested how lunar dust scattered along various courses until they found excellent trajectories aimed toward L1 that served as an effective sun shield. These results are welcome news, because much less energy is needed to launch dust from the moon than from Earth. This is important because the amount of dust in a solar shield is large, comparable to the output of a big mining operation here on Earth. Furthermore, the discovery of the new sun-shielding trajectories means delivering the lunar dust to a separate platform at L1 may not be necessary.
...

"One of the biggest logistical challenges—replenishing dust streams every few days—also has an advantage. Eventually, the sun's radiation disperses the dust particles throughout the solar system; the sun shield is temporary and shield particles do not fall onto Earth. The authors assure that their approach would not create a permanently cold, uninhabitable planet, as in the science fiction story, "Snowpiercer."

"Our strategy could be an option in addressing climate change," said Bromley, "if what we need is more time.""

More information: Dust as a solar shield, PLOS Climate (2023). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pclm.0000133 , journals.plos.org/climate/arti … journal.pclm.0000133

Journal information: PLOS Climate

Provided by University of Utah

This isn't a new TED talk, but I just stumbled across it and found it incredibly encouraging. The speaker touts use of livestock to mimic natural grazing patterns in a way that can resurrect desertified lands. On a macro scale, might have the potential to help mitigate climate change? Research is ongoing...but I'll take any source of optimism I can grasp! ;-)

https://youtube.com/watch?v=vpTHi7O66...

Desertification is a fancy word for land that is turning to desert," begins Allan Savory in this quietly powerful talk. And terrifyingly, it's happening to about two-thirds of the world's grasslands, accelerating climate change and causing traditional grazing societies to descend into social chaos. Savory has devoted his life to stopping it. He now believes -- and his work so far shows -- that a surprising factor can protect grasslands and even reclaim degraded land that was once desert.

Restoration of bogland by a community in the Irish midlands.

https://www.rte.ie/news/leinster/2023...

"A network of peat dams and bund walls has been constructed which now retain large pools of water.

In their natural, soggy state, bogs can act as carbon sinks.

Globally, they hold more than twice as much carbon as the world's forests do, according to the United Nations Environment Programme.

"There's water everywhere here, but that's because of recent rainfall and it's just a first step," Chris explains. "The overall aim is to maintain the water table as close as possible to the surface, without too many fluctuations over the course of the year. That's what creates the conditions for the sphagnum moss."

According to Chris, sphagnum moss is "the real climate hero of Irish bogs and peatlands".

The tiny, colourful plant is excellent at sequestering carbon.

And it has been making a comeback on the key raised bog at Abbeyleix.

"When the first ecotope survey of the raised bog area was carried out in 2009, about 1.5% of it qualified as 'active raised bog'. That means it is actively growing. Eleven years later in 2020, we did a third survey and you could see the progression. We are now on 13.5% active raised bog.""

I'm proud that Ireland has powered itself by 79.19% renewables during the past 24 hours. We have also exported 10% of our power to the UK recently through the power interconnectors.
This is mainly due to the ongoing Atlantic storms. The rivers and reservoirs are also pretty full contributing to HEP. Renewables include biomass and gas from compost of biomass.

https://www.rte.ie/eile/climate-change/

The graph shows that: coal 3.49%, gas 13.18%, other, 14.5%.

Clare, that's awesome! These kinds of stories give me hope. I noticed that Portugal recently ran 100% on renewables for almost a week as well:

Portugal just ran on 100% renewables for six days in a row — https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/...

Atlantic coastline provides plenty of wind power.

https://www.rtbf.be/article/les-vetem...

"With the emergence of fast-fashion, the devastating effects on our planet have become exponential. One solution is both Belgian and sustainable: textile hemp. Valbiom, a non-profit organization active in the valorization of biomass, has identified long-fibre textile hemp as an innovative crop. As a result, the Walloon Region entrusted him with the task of developing hemp cultivation in Wallonia.

Hemp reaches maturity after just 3 months, without the use of plant protection products. The quality of our soil and the particularity of our climate suit it perfectly. All co-products are used for fuels, building materials or in the food industry."

https://phys.org/news/2024-01-insect-...

"Agrivoltaics is the combination of solar energy production with agricultural and vegetation management practices. One type of agrivoltaics focuses on the establishment of habitat for insect pollinators and other wildlife that can provide important ecosystem services, such as pollination."

More information: Leroy J Walston et al, If you build it, will they come? Insect community responses to habitat establishment at solar energy facilities in Minnesota, USA, Environmental Research Letters (2023). DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/ad0f72

Journal information: Environmental Research Letters

Provided by Argonne National Laboratory

Measures such as rewetting bogs and rewilding river courses are included in this new law.

https://www.rte.ie/news/europe/2024/0...

"European Union countries have approved a flagship policy to restore damaged nature, after months of delay, making it the first green law to pass since European Parliament elections this month.

The nature restoration law is among the EU's biggest environmental policies, requiring member states to introduce measures restoring nature on a fifth of their land and sea by 2030.

EU countries' environment ministers backed the policy at a meeting in Luxembourg, meaning it can now pass into law.

The vote was held after Austria's environment minister, Leonore Gewessler of the Greens, defied her conservative coalition partners by pledging to back the policy - giving it just enough support to pass."