Environmental Issues – Page 5

The Verdict – The report from the Energy Audit

As previously mentioned the audit arranged by the Carbon Trust was pretty thorough, and conducted by someone who did seem to know what he was talking about.

About a month after the audit I received a report which was followed by a feedback session. The report gave an overview of the findings, and detailed a number of carbon reduction opportunities with their pay-back time.

Two sites had been audited, and it wasn’t always perfectly clear which data and suggestions related to one or both of these sites. There were some useful (and relatively cheap) suggestions.

The report, as expected, concentrated on the use of gas and electricity at the site. A breakdown of the electricity use for the site was provided; unsurprisingly it is the Plant itself and the lighting which constitute the biggest proportion.

The recommendations for the site vary in magnitude and expenditure from a pay-back time of less than 6 months to approximately 2 years.

The top three suggestions anticipate reducing the carbon footprint of the site (currently estimated at 642 tCO₂e) by 41.3 tCO₂e: a reduction of approximately 6%. The top three priorities were listed as:

Implement the findings of the report with regards to our energy management.
Improve lighting.
Shutdown of IT equipment.

The other changes require an expenditure in excess of £10k, but expected to produce a carbon footprint reduction closer to 10%. These are also changes that will take longer to implement and so, if deemed appropriate, may be saved for next year.

The report concluded with an energy management matrix, summarising their view of our energy management practices (to be honest, this is not very good reading).

The matrix looked at the following: Energy Policy, Organisation, Training, Performance Measurement (improvement in this area is underway — more about this in a later blog), Communication (as with most companies, we have already realised that this is an area where much improvement can be made) and Investment (this is perceived as our best performing area).

I will publish a series of posts over the coming months with the detailed verdict; planned improvements, and how I am dealing with the fact that the actual cost savings are quite minimal compared with total expenditure and our profitability.

Native Bees to the Rescue?

According to some recent reports (the Guardian and Radio 4) a new study is looking at the potential of the native black bee as a solution to the disappearance of about 30% of the UK’s honeybees. The current bee population is based on an Italian bee which is relatively docile and very prolific as a honey producer. The theory being tested is that the cold wet summers have left the Mediterranean bee less well equipped to deal with the Winter, whereas the native black bee is more used to the typically damp British weather and is therefore better equipped to last through the Winter on depleted food supplies.

I had heard about the black bee, but did not realise there are several colonies in the UK. The first step is being helped by the Co-Op which has launched a fund to help map where existing populations exist so they can be used to increase the numbers of native black bees.

For more background on the current problems in the bee population (although it is admittedly slightly USA – centric despite being written by a British couple) a good place to start is the book ‘A World Without Bees‘ or read the story as published in the Guardian this week.

Recycling at work.

Our Green Team started off with a brainstorming activity to identify areas where we thought improvements could be made. From this we decided that the most obvious area to look at first was recycling as there were no facilities at the moment (apart from a skip for cardboard and recycling of cling wrap) with all other waste being sent to landfill. It also seemed one of the easiest to tackle as recycling has been a high priority for a number of years in Daventry, with the council providing excellent facilities and being the first in the country to meet government targets for household recycling. Unfortunately, they do not seem at all interested in helping businesses in the area to recycle.

How have we done so far?

Two of the team spent a lot of time trying to find someone to take away our recycling. Some were not very helpful, a couple were more interested in the confidential shredded waste which is controlled from head office and therefore we had no authority to change, and some were just too expensive.

We have provided bins for the collection of bottles, cans and plastic which are then put in a particular skip provided by local Company, Cawleys and, at the same time changed our supplier of the cardboard skip to Cawleys, which saved enough money to provide the recycling facilities. Although there were some complaints initially that, heaven forbid, people are being asked to wash out their containers, and empty an extra couple of bins, it has in the main been well received.

We have also removed a larger skip from site which was originally rented in order to get rid of some particular waste some years ago and which now seemed to have a few broken pallets and bits of metal put in. The pallets are being taken away for free by a local company (we may be able to find someone to pay for them at some point, but this is not a priority) and we have had the skip removed which, at a conservative estimate has saved us £1500 a year.

In addition to this, we have found a local company that will take away some perspex chips that we use as part of our business (saving about 5kg of plastic going to landfill every month) and other sundry items that they sell on to schools and playgroups for craft purposes. The envelopes that were thrown away with the perspex are reused up to four times eah and we have even had other sites bring their perspex to us so we can send it for reuse. Although this last part makes only a small difference, I think it has raised awareness at other sites of what we are trying to do.

In addition to this, the search for someone to recycle has allowed us to get a cheaper quote for the rest of the general waste that will save us a further £750 per year.

So, what more can we do. I think we need to look at providing more facilities for general paper and newspapers, as well as for some of the less obvious things such as batteries. I am also planning to invest in a cardboard baler which will bring down the collection price of the cardboard and then look to try and sell or get a better price for some items such as wooden pallets and cling wrap (although the price of recycled materials has dropped dramatically in recent months following the collapse of the oil price). We also have intermittent pallets of waste that can be recycled, so my next task is to find a way to advertise some of these internally and see if they are needed at any other site.

Has anyone out there had any successes or failures recycling at work?

‘Pests’ and pricing.

If deer, rabbit and pigeons are such a pest causing millions of pounds of damage each year, then why are they so expensive and difficult to source at the butchers and supermarket?

A couple of weeks ago BBC Radio 4’s Farming Today concentrated on the problem of pests in farming, including some that those of us who are non-farmers would probably not have thought about straight away. Each day they highlighted a different animal, the damage they caused and the cost of protecting against them. The animals covered included pigeons, deer and rabbits, wild boar and rats.

Deer populations have apparently increased in recent years, and are attracted to the crops that are planted by the farmers as well as causing problems for forestry. A lot of money is spent on deer proof fencing as they are large enough to barge their way through standard fences if they want to get to the other side.

The rabbit population currently stands at 45 million, they cause damage to crops but also to machinery due to the holes that they create. Pigeons are also on the increase, woodpigeons being one of the most successful birds of recent years despite those declines seen in other wild bird populations often finding their way into grain stores as well as causing problems in the fields.

Now, I don’t come from a farming background, or even a rural one, so I find it hard to think about fluffy bunnies being a nuisance or deer, of which I have only seen a few, to be sufficient in number to cause damage (although I can quite understand the pigeon problems – we have one that runs amok in our garden most days). However, there is a burning question in my mind, why are these so expensive to buy at the butchers or supermarket? If these animals are costing hundreds of millions of pounds each year then why do two venison steaks cost £5.99 at Waitrose, why are pigeons about the same price as chicken when they are about a tenth of the size and why, is it almost impossible to buy rabbit (I have even tried a local butcher for rabbit and venison). Even if I could buy rabbit, the chances are that it would be farmed. Yes, that’s right, approximately 95% of rabbit sold in this country is farmed (and often not in conditions that are much better than those of battery chickens). So, in response to the damage these are causing can we not employ people to humanely kill these pests and sell them locally for a reasonable price – are we missing a trick, can Jamie Oliver create a market for rabbit? Is it time to simplify the legislation, are we concerned that these ‘pests’ are going to become extinct. We can’t leave it all to the polecats (although maybe this is a case for the reintroduction of lynx and wolves?).

Enviro-mentalist at work.

A year ago I set my team of direct reports the goal of examining the environmental and ethical impact of our workplace. OK, it was a bit of a nebulous title, but the idea was to get them working as a team and to think of something for an hour every other week that was not directly related to their current roles and that may spark a bit of interest. Any environmental or cost savings would be an added bonus. This was a group of people that had different experiences, different roles in the site and, different levels of knowledge and interest in the environment, sounds like the perfect team!

I have to admit, that at times it has been an uphill struggle and, my idea of letting them find their own way has led to fewer results than would have been ideal in the space of a year, but, all in all I would say there have been a number of successes, and I am keen to continue the work for a second year, but with some modifications.

We work for a service provider, with sites around the country, but with only a small number of employees. We don’t make anything, so there are few benefits to be gained in terms of reduction in waste materials, and the small number of employees at each site means that the energy consumption from IT equipment is minimal. (This is particularly so when one of the machines at site uses a massive amount of electricity every time it is turned on.)

Our main issue has been the apathy of people who don’t necessarily feel that they can make a difference at work, and the management of the Company for whom this does not seem to be a priority. Our main mistake has been that we did not start out creating the right kind of PR so did not counter the apathy and get others’ buy in at an early stage.

Over the coming weeks I will let you know how we have progressed, what has worked, and what has not and, hopefully, if any of you have any suggestions then you will let me know. I will be detailing our site surveys by external agencies, our attempts at recycling, our progress on energy usage and the payback we are hoping to get from our efforts.

If you have had any experience attempting to improve the environmental credentials of your workplace please leave a comment to let us all know how well it has been received and whether you feel that you are making a difference.

More news about Beavers.

They help protect against flooding, clean the waterways, look cute and keep those pesky trees under control and they may be moving to your neighbourhood (if you live near a river, which I don’t). Yes, following the decision to reintroduce beavers in Scotland later this year Natural England has conducted a study that has found that a reintroduction to England could be beneficial (more on the BBC website).

The benefits of the reintroduction include reduced flooding, tourism and cleaner waterways. I may be a bit blinkered about this, but to me these seem like pretty big advantages, with not too many disadvantages. It was a topic discussed on BBC Radio 4’s Farming Today program and I was a little surprised by the comments against the idea. Included in the arguments are the problems now encountered with Grey Squirrels and Mink. The difference is that Beavers were native to the UK and we hunted them to extinction.

I know that the UK is a different place to that of 500 years ago, but so is the rest of Europe where Beaver reintroduction has been successful. We’ll just have to reintroduce wolves or lynx at some point to keep the numbers down!

Seen any sparrows lately?

Continuing the theme of birds and whether there are more or less of them this year, I thought I would bring your attention to a worrying report from the RSPB that is highlighting the plight of the common house sparrow. Numbers of house sparrows have declined in the UK by 68% in the last 30 years (i.e. they have more than halved in my lifetime).

The reasons for this are unknown, but it is thought to be related to a lack of food for the chicks resulting in lower numbers leaving the nest and a higher mortality rate in those that do fledge. Why the lack of food? The reason is thought to be our disappearing gardens, the reduction in house sparrow numbers being more pronounced in towns and cities than in rural areas. The increase in decking and patios, the removal of hedges, the addition of the dreaded leylandii and the obsession with short grass have all reduced the number of insects inhabiting our gardens. This, coupled with our chemical warfare on all things creepy-crawley, has reduced the food available to the sparrows.

But, I hear you cry, shouldn’t this affect other garden visitors such as blue tits and robins? I think that it has, but it is just that the sparrows used to be so populous that the reduction is more noticeable. Pairs of sparrows need to raise at least five young a year to keep the numbers up, this means having multiple broods and more mouths to feed.

The numbers of sparrows in our garden fluctuates throughout the year, but I know there were a couple of pairs about and that there were two successful broods. Will that be enough? I am not sure, I have only seen the occasional sparrow in recent weeks, but it may be that they are off somewhere else at the moment. (A few weeks ago we had about 8 goldfinches at a time in the garden, then none for weeks, but lots of greenfinches and chaffinches; I guess it depends on whether there are other food sources around.)

So, what can we do? I fed the birds mealworms for a couple of months this year (admittedly they were aimed at the blue and great tits and I was a little annoyed at the time by the gluttony of the sparrows) but this can be expensive if rewarding. The RSPB recommends leaving patches of grass unmown for insects to congregate in and planting certain shrubs, one of the best being honeysuckle which provides food for birds and bees for a lot of the year as well as having the advantage of being easy to grow.

To read more about the decline of the sparrows see the BBC news pages and the RSPB website.

I will certainly be monitoring the sparrows in my garden from now on, let me know how the sparrows in your area are faring.

Re-Introductions

There have been two separate stories on the internet and in the papers this week relating to the re-introduction of species to the British Isles.

The first relates to the re-introduction of beavers to Scotland, a story that first hit the headlines back in May. The four families of beavers, which will be released in May, have been flown into the UK from Norway. Although there still seems to be some opposition to the move, mainly from those employed by the fishing industry, it appears to me to be a good idea. From what I can tell, there has been a long period of consultation and much study of other beaver re-introduction schemes in Europe. The releases are on a small scale, and therefore should not have a wide-scale effect on the environment at large. Also, this is a creature that has many beneficial effects on the local ecosystem, and was once a native until we killed them all to make fetching hats. It is not comparable with, for example, the release of mink, a species that has never been native to this country and which has nothing but a detrimental effect on the local fauna and flora. If you want to read more about this visit the BBC website.

In a separate story this week it appears that there are plans to re-introduce White-Tailed Eagles (Sea Eagles) to England. Following a successful re-introduction to the west coast of Scotland thirty years ago, plans are being drawn up to re-introduce these magnificent birds to Norfolk. There are currently 42 pairs in the west of Scotland, and they are now attempting to re-introduce them to the east coast. This is a re-introduction that has not been entirely problem-free with too many cases of poisoning and trapping of the eagles, with farmers believing them to be taking lambs being the main suspects. This is despite the estimated £1.5 million per year revenue that the eagles are thought to bring to the Isle of Mull.

The White-Tailed Eagle was once native to England before being driven out approximately 200 years ago. Norfolk has been chosen as a potential release area as it is thought to provide sufficiently large areas of wetland. The work carried out on this project and the ones in Scotland are of importance worldwide as there are only 7000 pairs remaining. As with other such schemes there will no doubt be a long period of consultation prior to the start of the scheme, although the first survey of 500 local people appears to be promising, with 91% in favour of re-introducing the eagles. More about this story can be found on both the BBC and RSPB websites.

Interesting Links

I just thought I would share a few stories that I found on my newsfeeds this week.

The BBC today had a story about British Waterways who are looking to add hydroelectric turbines to some of the land it owns alongside the canals. It is hoped that they will produce enough electricity to power 45,000 homes and generate £1 million for British Waterways.

According to Now Public our Horse Chestnut trees are under attack again. First it was a fungus, and now it is a Greek Moth that is creating havoc with our conkers. The moths are spread by the wind and have so far reached the Midlands. Fortunately it is believed that the trees will be able to withstand the damage and will be back to their leafy best next year.

New Scientist reports on some research which is looking at different forms of fungus for use in the desulphurisation of crude oil. Although this approach is not new, the latest find would, at first sight, appear to be more efficient than previously discovered sulphur removing bacteria. The advantage of this approach is that it is carried out at room temperature unlike traditional refining which requires temperatures up to 455oC and pressures 200 times atmospheric.

The Economist reported that bears are being given a bad press in North America this Summer with increasingly lurid stories about bear attacks grabbing the headlines. Although bear attacks resulting in injury or death are relatively uncommon (only 13 incidents in North America this year with only one fatality), this is not stopping the news reports fuelling peoples’ fears as more people venture into bear territory whilst out walking, cycling and camping. Stories telling how one man survived by playing dead whilst the bear “tried to eat my brains” certainly won’t help.

Finally, No Impact Man is trying to start a campaign to stop people buying bottled water. Although he does live in America, many of the sentiments hold true whichever side of the pond you are on. These include cost, the energy consumption to make the bottles, the waste from the bottles, transportation of the bottles and bottled water and the fact that he claims many of the water companies are buying up water rights. He is asking people to stop using bottled water and to just fill a bottle with tap water – something we have been doing for a long time.

Help maybe at hand to recycle plastic bottles.

An article published on the New Scientist website this month highlights research that has discovered a strain of bacteria that could make recycling PET (polyethyleneterephthalate) drinks bottles more lucrative. These are a strain of pseudomonas bacteria that can change the low value PET into higher value PHA (polyhydroxyalkanoates) plastics some of which are used in the production of medical devices. According to Wikipedia PHAs are polyesters that are ‘produced in nature by the bacterial fermentation of sugars and lipids’.
The incentive to recycle the billions of PET bottles produced is currently low because the low value PET is recycled to more PET. Now, a team of researchers in Dublin, may have found a way to convert this low value plastic into higher grade PHA. By heating the PET in the absence of oxygen they break it down into terephthalic acid (TA). They then found a strain of bacteria which will convert this into PHA.
Not only would this reduce the amount going to landfill it could also make recycling more profitable – maybe mining landfills for plastics will come a step closer after all.