Solar Tunnel

Some really cool initiatives with renewable energy happening in Europe. Check out the size of the Belgian solar rail tunnel!

The 2 gigantic solar farms just launched in France are part of a much wider push for large-scale solar and renewables going on in Europe right now. In fact, the same company responsible for these farms has today unveiled a huge 1MW solar tunnel that will protect trains from falling trees (reducing the need for tree felling), and provide power to one of Belgium's most important railway stations in the process.

The Guardian reports that the two-mile long Belgian solar rail tunnel was specifically built to protect trains from falling trees on a high-speed rail link that runs by an ancient forest. By building this structure, the need to fell trees was drastically reduced, and the project is reaping a double environmental dividend by installing over 16,000 solar panels on the roof of the tunnel. The project will provide 50% of the energy used to power Antwerp station.

The video above gives a sense of scale of the tunnel (and an appalling soundtrack!).Enfinity, the renewable energy company behind the project, was also due to build similar projects along train lines around London. But Bart Van Renterghem, UK head of the company, told the Guardian that these plans are currently on hold pending the Government's review of feed-in solar tariffs for large scale energy production.

(source: treehugger)

Biodiversity Offsets

Last week at work I came across the concept of biodiversity offsets. I found the concept very interesting. Particularly because of 

the implications these ideas bring to the table for companies that have replaced in the past, or are thinking of replacing, native forests with other land uses, such as plantations or real estate... There are many things to think about here, and there is this report called ¨Biodiversity offsets: Views experience, and the business case¨ that explains what this is all about. It's by Kerry ten Kate (Insight Investment), Josh Bishop (World Conservation Union IUCN) and Ricardo Bayon, and it syntheses and interprets with a relatively objective view a series of interviews about biodiversity offsets conducted in 2004 with 37 people from the private sector, government organizations, NGOs, and academic organizations. 

Here is my two-page, super concise summary of it, so you don't have to read the 90 pages :) 

I. BIODIVERSITY OFFSETS (chapters 1 and 2) 

Biodiversity offsets are off-site conservation actions for the compensation of unavoidable harm to biodiversity caused 

by development projects. They are meant to ensure no net losses, and even achieve gains, in biodiversity. These 

activities should be quantifiable and should complement, not substitute, the strategies to avoid, reduce and rehabilitate 

harmed biodiversity areas, in that hierarchical order. In other words, they should be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, 

Relevant and Time-Bound (SMART). 

II. MOTIVATIONS TO UNDERTAKE BIODIVERSITY OFFSETS (chapters 3, 4, and 5) 

i) The conservation case. If adequately designed, implemented and enforced, biodiversity offsets could result in 

1) more conservation, 2) better conservation (i.e. with geographic flexibility beyond on-site restoration, 

conservation can be directed to areas where long-term conservation benefits are more likely, such as large 

areas instead of isolated smaller areas), 3) more cost-effective conservation (i.e. conserving areas of high 

biodiversity value and developing areas of high real estate values), and 4) value creation for undeveloped land 

(i.e. the creation of a market for biodiversity offsets could turn environmental liabilities, such as endangered 

species that are always accompanied by land use restrictions, into a financial asset that can be sold and 

traded). 

ii) The regulatory case. Developers use offsets for legal compliance: in some cases there are legal regulations 

that mandate offsets, while in others the policy framework facilitates them but doesn´t require them. In either 

case, this has caused the mitigation and conservation banks that sell biodiversity credits (which can be species 

or habitat specific) to needy developers that have to fulfill legal obligations. 

iii) The business case. In the absence of legal requirements for offsets, the business case is the motivation for 

companies to voluntarily offset their unavoidable harm on biodiversity. Reasons include an enhanced 

reputation (¨social license to operate¨) and regulatory goodwill, which lead to faster permitting, access to 

capital, and competitive advantage that facilitates future business by saving time and money. There is also 

employee satisfaction, sense of pride and retention, and the fact that offsets are practical tools for managing 

liabilities, especially through outsourcing. 

Challenges to voluntary offset implementation include the risk that the voluntary offset efforts will be 

unappreciated given the high levels of suspicion of the companies´ motives (public notion of ¨false altruism¨); 

risk of offset project failure, and new risks and liabilities created in the new offset areas. With no legal 

requirements, voluntary offsets are often the result of local, small scale initiatives from passionate individuals. 

Also, they are often only aspirational goals (often dismissed as ¨greenwash¨) with no clear back-up of 

strategies, targets and routine implementation.  

III. IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGES (chapters 6 and 7)

Unlike CO2 and SO2, for which there are already well-established markets, biodiversity is a difficult thing to measure 

and commoditize. Quantifying ecosystem services is complex, and it requires prioritization of ecosystem services to 

establish an appropriate currency system encompassing values such as ecosystem functions and quality and quantity of 

flora and fauna. 

Defining the extent of biodiversity compensation is also problematic, as indirect damage is often not considered in the 

equation (i.e. the damage caused by workers moving to an area to work on a development project). There is also a lack 

of consensus about the equivalences needed in order to have ¨no net loss¨ of biodiversity, and we go back to the 

currency problem.  Equivalences are measured through ecological equivalence or economic equivalence, with the 

former being the most commonly used and the most accepted. 

Low flexibility of regulations that require offsets might be problematic, and a process that allows for site-specific 

solutions would work best. For example, it is usually a good idea to use ecological equivalence for really rare habitats 

that are being harmed, but conserving another type of habitat could be more effective with damage done to standard 

habitats. Public acceptance, however, is better when the conserved area is similar to the damaged area and the distance 

is closer.  In terms of timelines, offsetting should occur before the development project takes places, which creates 

high up-front costs, and it should also last at least for the duration of the expected impacts.   

There is also the problem of defining what counts as legitimate offsets, and this should be resolved on a case-by-case 

basis. For instance, we have additionality (when it is unclear whether an offset is really a contribution or if the action 

would have taken place anyway) and companies using offset funds to meet the costs of existing conservation projects 

that need funding (although this might be better than starting a new project from scratch). There is also the question as 

to whether other forms of investment are acceptable forms of compensation, such as capacity building (e.g. support for 

conservation agencies, environmental education and research) and social community development projects instead of 

direct conservation. These have many criticisms and low credibility when used as offsets, and a solution might be to 

invest only a percentage of the budget in capacity building in order to secure the long term success and longevity of 

conservation activities. 

Adequate participation, expertise, support and commitment from all stakeholders involved is key for successful 

biodiversity offset implementation. Environmental Impact Assessment and biodiversity offset implementation should 

be done by third parties to avoid underestimation of damage. Success is judged formally (by government and third 

party company audits) and informally (by local communities, NGOs and media), but the lack of biodiversity expertise, 

the lack of baseline data and the expense gathering it makes it important to define objectives and indicators of 

performance beforehand. 

IV. CONCLUSIONS (chapter 8) 

Biodiversity offsets offer a practical tool for managing social and environmental risks and liabilities without 

necessarily requiring elaborate new legislations. They have the potential of benefitting companies, government, 

conservation groups, and communities affected by development projects. Including biodiversity offsets as part of 

development projects is becoming increasingly accepted as best practice, and the number of biodiversity offset 

projects is growing, particularly thanks to the business case of voluntary offsets. However, even when properly 

designed, biodiversity offsets are likely to be controversial and the subject of disagreement.  In many cases, 

development projects are simply not appropriate and offsets should not even be considered.  

Despite the many issues, the concept of biodiversity offsets offers endless possibilities for conservation if a market 

mechanism with appropriate governance, transparency, participation from all stakeholders (including local, national 

and international discussion, co-ordination and dialogue to define and develop concepts and shared vocabulary, such 

as ¨biodiversity offsets¨), and accountability is created. It should therefore be further explored through dialogue, pilot 

projects and case study documentation, which would help gain practical experience and facilitate the development of 

guidelines and methodologies in the future.  

Mexico, I love you

Here are some pictures of my beloved country.

Zihuatanejo, Guerrero. December 2007. I spent Christmas here with my family for three consecutive years. The sunsets were incredible, full of beauty and colour. One day, we saw greens, electric blues and violets in the sky, but we didn't have the camera with us to capture that magical moment. 

Chamela, Jalisco. April 2007. This is the UNAM (Mexican National University) Biological Research Station in Chamela. Stunning sunsets too, and an amazing region to visit. One of the most biodiverse in the country!

Chamela, Jalisco. April 2007. This is was taken around 6 am. I remember how the birds used to wake us up, and then you would get out of your room, barefoot, careful not to step on any of the beetles that walked tirelessly across the halls, and then, once outside, you would smell the cold air. It was awesome! Not cold, but FRESH.

Isla Pajareira in Chamela, Jalisco. This island belonged to the birds! Rocks were unnaturally white.

UNAM, Mexico City. 2008. An adorable grasshopper that allowed me to photograph him. 

Canon del Sumidero, Chiapas. 2009. This is one of the most amazing places I've ever been to. It felt like being in Jurassic Park somehow. Look at how tiny the boat looks! Someone told me recently it also looks like a scene from 'The fellowship of the ring' where they travel down the river and pass two HUGE statues. Kind of.

And a video a friend posted

DeforestAction

I made it to the Top 50 finalists for Borneo in 3D! If you want to learn more about the buyback land project of DesforestAction, log in to my personal Action Agent Hub to join the network and support a great cause by buying land for conservation in Borneo.


More info coming soon!

Last day to vote!

Hi everyone!

Please have a look at the PREVIOUS POST 'BORNEO IN 3D ACTION MOVIE' for more information onBorneo and on the project! I’ve been lucky enough to have the media supportingthis initiative. Here are some articles from Vancouver, Mexico and Italy about my participation in this project :D (I'm Mexican and have lived in Mexico all my life, and my mum's Italian. So I grew up in a multicultural household, and that's why the Italy media were interested too)

MetroNews Vancouver – April 8^th “UBC students hope to become deforestaction stars”

TheWoman.it – March 31st “Olivia la ragazza degli oranghi”

                          – April 5^th “Olivia Sanchez, l’intrivista per TheWoman”

ItalyNewsWeekly – March 29^th “Olivia Sanchez, an Italian girl to save Borneo”

                                 – April 5^th “Olivia Sanchez, an Italian girl to save Borneo Interview”

GoodNewsWeekly – March 11^th“UBC Students compete for conservation expedition”

Publimetro Mexico – March 10^th “Se busca lider ecologico que rescate Borneo” (and online version)

THANKS SO MUCH FOR VOTING!! 

Just go to http://gg.tigweb.org/tig/deforestaction/judge/

Make a new account, and cast your vote. Mi video is at the bottom (6th row bottom-up) I'm the one wearing 3D glasses! YOU CAN VOTE THREE TIMES

You can also view and rate here http://gg.tigweb.org/tig/deforestaction/48895/by clicking on the stars!

There's something about... PAPER

let it be written, what is written,


as well as what it is


written on

(Excerpt from A Poem On Paper by Scott Watson)

Do you know where the stuff you use on a daily basis comes from? Maybe you know the country? Probably not. The people that were involved in the production of its many components? Their stories? Not really. Look around you. Everything comes from somewhere else, and someone, probably hundreds of people, were involved in the conception of the idea, the production process, the transportation, everything. In my Economic Geography course we looked at commodity chains, which basically involve tracing things back to were they came from, every step of the way. Being unaware of the source of the things you consume is known as commodity fetishism. Here is something to read to defetishise if you use paper at UBC!

So this blog post is about paper. PAPER! What would we do without paper... Present in our everyday lives, yet so substantiallymorphed from its original form and so readily available that we often use itwithout considering that every sheet goes through a lengthy process before inkof all sorts is unleashed on it. Paper is a commodity, something self evident,ubiquitous and everyday; it is something that we take for granted. How did a tree in a managed forest in the South East USA turn into thesheet of paper you use all the time? Here I'll try and look at the linkages of the convoluted network that connects endless numbers of people,processes and materials in the pulp and paper industry. All information comes from personal communication, unlessstated otherwise. And the names have been changed.

I usepaper every single day. Despite the increase in technology that allowseverything to be done electronically, paper still plays an important role andis often irreplaceable. It is definitely indispensable for the University: inthe year 2010, around 140 million sheets of paper were purchased at UBC (these numbers are not updated on the UBC Sustainability Office, they only have for 2006/2007). I don’tuse a printer at home, but instead take advantage of the convenience offered bythe printers available in the Computer Labs of the Faculty of Forestry, as doaround 200 other students that use the facility on a regular basis. The paper is available to us, asmuch as we want. The copycards are a minimum of ten dollars and the HP LaserJetprinters are constantly being replenished by Fraser, the Computer Lab Manager.Two, three, four times a day as students frantically print off theirassignements at $0.05 per page.

But where does Fraser get the paper? He gets it delivered tohis office thanks to the orders placed by Anne. Anne is the person designated to place the orders for the Dean’sOffice and the Student Computer labs, and she has access to a UBC Purchase Cardnumber with which she can place orders from Unisource, a single-source providerof just-in-time delivery of printing products. Anne started recording paperusage in September 2009, and roughly speaking, an order of 5 boxes (5000 sheetsper box) has been placed every month up to March 2011 for the Computer Labs andthe Dean’s Office.

The paper ordered is Recycled Husky Xerocopy, uncoated 8.5” X 11.5" sheets that are $8.06/1000sheets (+tax) and contain 30% post-consumer fibre. From April 1st 2008,Unisource and UBC have a revised contract that agrees to provide 30%post-consumer recycled paper for the same price as virgin paper. However, there is more behind this branding thatwhat we might think.

In the paper industry, this symbol is used mainly to demonstrate theamount of recycled fiber in a product.  The symbol should be accompaniedby a legend identifying the percentage (by weight) of recycled fiber. Absenceof legend indicates the product is made from 100% recycled fibre. There shouldalso be a specification of what type of fibre it is. Post-consumer fibre hasalready been used once for its intended purpose and returned for re-use,therefore uses less energy and water, and doesn’t impact forest ecosystem.
Unisource is the distributor of many different paper brands.Recycled Husky Xerocopy paper is produced by Domtar, the second largestmanufacturer of uncoated paper in the world. The Head Office where thecorporate decisions are made is in Montreal, Canada, and the company employsnearly 13,000 people across North America. 

Most of this picture is SFI, which allows large clearcuts. Centre is FSC. There is 
no more information about this picture - we don't know if the areas were logged 
the same time, etc. 

Domtardirectly owns or manages forestlands totaling 11.3 million hectares, which iswhere about half of the raw materials for making the paper come from (the otherhalf comes from recycled paper and non-wood sources). These forests are allcertified by two main certification schemes: Sustainable Forestry Initiative(SFI) and Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). The fiber from Recycled HuskyXerocopy is SFI Fiber Sourcing Certified, meaning that the wood for making thispaper comes from SFI forests. The Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) is acontroversial certification scheme, often referred as “greenwash” certification.Under this standard, things like large clearcuts, toxic chemicals andconversion of old-growth forests to plantations are permitted.

With the help of the stenciled number on the package of the paper, I tracked down where the sheets of paper I use have been every step of the way. James, who works at the Ashdown Mill, told me how there is alot of wildlife in the forests managed for paper and how “ a lot of people think that not using paper willcontribute to more forests and more wildlife, but this is not the case in theSE USA."

The trees were cut down in early 2010 bya harvesting crew, and they could have come from and area that would includemost of East Texas, Southeastern Oklahoma, Central to SouthernArkansas, and Central to Northern Louisiana. Trees are cut and replantedon 12 to 50 year life cycles depending on the timber type. Thenon-recycled fibre in this paper is hardwood fiber (oak and cottonwood) withthe balance being softwood fiber (pine).

The trees were cut into logs and transported to the sawmillfor lumber production. The waste both from the harvesting and the sawmill wasthen sent to the Ashdown pulp mill in Ashdown, AR. The chips could havebeen chipped out of the wood anytime between May and June 7^th 2010. The conversion of pine and hardwood chips to pulp for thepaper started around June 7th or 8^th 2010. The chips from thedifferent species were mixed, boiled and washed. This separated the fibres fromthe lignin, and then chemical bleach was added to produce the “pleasing 92brightness and good opacity”.

The description on the Husky specification sheet mentions it is “elemental chlorine-free (ECF)”. This is not the same aschlorine-free as the products are still bleached with chlorine-based compoundsthat produce dioxins, which have been connected to cancer, infertility andother critical health problems. Who would have thought that for usto have this white bleached paper a worker in a pulp mill is getting increasedrisk of lung cancer from occupational exposure to sulphur dioxide in pulpmills? We also getthe characteristic “paper-town smell of rotten eggs” from the release ofhydrogen sulfide.

The paper was made from the pulp on June 11th, 2010, at theAshdown Paper Mill. Some of the larger Mills of the company, such as Ashdown,have the pulp mill, paper mill and the converting centre in the same location. Atthe paper mill, the water was drained from the pulp and then subsequentlysqueezed between rollers with heat applications. When the paper was dry, it waswound into giant rolls and transported to the Ashdown Converting Centre.

Sheetconverting is the last stage of papermaking, when the paper rolls are cut intosheets. The sheets were made on June 12th, 2010, and after the paper was cutinto A4 size, packages of 500 sheets were produced. Ten of these packageswere placed into a cardboard box, and 40 of these cardboard boxes were placedon a pallet. Finally, 21 pallets were loaded into a truck. Theloading/unloading is done by workers like Harry. Harry is 25, and he probablyloaded the boxes containing these sheets. His job is variable – sometime heloads trucks with ready-to-use sheets, sometimes he unloads the rolls of paperfrom the paper mill. He describes the work atmosphere as "very hectic", and 60hour labour weeks are common.

Thepaper then started the journey to cross the border and get to the NewWestminister Unisource Distribution Centre in Canada, from where it was shipped to theFaculty of Forestry at the University of British Columbia, about 12 monthsafter the trees that contributed the fibre were felled.

Sustainable Forestry Initiative logo on packaging. Domtar

does carrypaper lines, such as the EarthChoice paper, 

made from FSC certified fibre. FSCoffers a more effective

certification system (comprehensive set of ecological 

indicators, stringent guidelines, social criteriafocusing 

on local communities and indigenous peoples, 

Chain-of-CustodyCertification for careful trucking 

through all the links of the suply chain,etc.)

Thepulp and paper supply chain shows how many people are involved over greatgeographical distances. The intention of the chain is to provide the knowledgefor the reader to defetishise and decide independently what to do with thisinformation. Although we asstudents are the main users of the paper in the Forestry’s Computer Labs, probably no one is aware of where the paper comes from. We arereally not faced with a choice of what paper to buy, like we would in asupermarket when choosing between different brands. We just accept theconvenience of the Faculty’s printers without looking further, even if we couldbe demanding paper made with FSC certified-fibre.

When I contactedthe UBC Sustainability Office to inquire about the paper they promoted on theirwebsite for the people that make the orders all over campus (this paper is,just as the Recycled Husky Xerocopy, produced with SFI certified fibre) theywere unaware of the distinction between SFI and FSC certification, and I wasput in contact with Supply Management. They are currently going through arequest for proposal for a preferred paper supplier at UBC. After talking tothem and bringing this to light, UBC will specify FSC certification in the newcontract/bid and will be working with Unisource to find an alternative paperbrand. I thought this was pretty great, and I’m grateful I had the chance to do this project that allowed me to do something to change my consumption practices for the better.

Obtaining all the information on where the paper actually camefrom involved many phone calls all around Canada and theStates – which shows how difficult it is for consumers to obtaininformation on the exact places where the product was made, even with the Chainof Custody label in place. In a printed essay are different places, socialrelations, financial circumstances, and so much more. We just go into theComputer Lab and print as much as we want. Eventually, these sheets of paper(stapled together with a $0.003 Staples staple made from zinc-plated steel inChina and printed with refurbished toner manufactured in the States) will beplaced in one of the 5000 Deskside Recycling Units all over campus, or in oneof the Blue Bins. It will be part of 850 tonnes of office paper and 295 tonnesof cardboard that UBC recycles every year (or part of the illegal 160 tonnes ofoffice paper and 14 tonnes of cardboard that get sent to the landfill).

HOME

This is a movie by one of my favourite photographers, Yann Arthus-Bertrand. He's a french photographer, environmentalist and jouralist! Check out the documentary, the images are amazing (the video posted here is in Italian because it's the only one Blogger allowed me to post. For English go HERE) ENJOY!

Magnified food

Banana skin

Sugar sprinkles

Cauliflower

Chocolate cake

Fortune cookie

Pineapple leaf

Purple onion

Red radish

Red licorice

Star anice

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