Environment Industry Magazine - Issue 32

ISSN 2043-0140

Issue 32

The exotic pet industry C O M M U N I T Y O W N E D R E N E WA B L E S 72 T H E WAT E R A C T 134 R D F E X P O R T 128 B I O D I V E R S I T Y O F F S E T T I N G 56 J A N E Z P OTO Č N I K 144

We create chemistry that makes compost love plastic.

Most plastics don’t biodegrade. However, ecovioŽ polymers are certified compostable and biodegrade when composted in a controlled environment. Compostable plastics are an ideal solution for food packaging, especially when it comes to disposal with leftover food. Rather than ending up in landfills, the organic waste can be turned into valuable compost together with the ecovioŽ packaging.

www.ecovio.com

CONTENTS

38

News & Comment 8 News 32 The Watercooler 34 Jason Drew 36 Steve Grant 156 Environmental Prosecutions 158 Case Studies 168 Product Guide Air Quality 38 Monitoring emissions from incineration plants -- Steve Donnelly, Analytical Sales Specialist

Conservation 40 The Exotic Pet Industry

-- Clifford Warwick, Biologist & Medical Scientist

50 Marine Litter - A Growing Problem

-- Dr. Sue Kinsey, Senior Pollution Policy Officer, MSC

40

56 How numbers (not offsetting) can realise the ideal -- Dr. Julia Baker, Biodiversity Specialist, Parsons Brinckerhoff

Energy 66 The Energy Capacity Crunch

-- Jon Ferris, Head of Risk Management at EIC

72 Power to the People

-- Will Ferguson, Head of Communications, Triodos Bank

78 International standards for solid biofuels

-- Eija Alakangas, Principal Scientist, VTT Technical

Research Centre (Finland) and Project leader, ISO 17225

78

72

Food & Packaging 82 Sustainable agriculture - make climate change

your business

-- Nicolas Mounard, Managing Director, Twin and Twin Trading

Land Management 90 Fungi clean PAH and PCDD/F contaminated soil

-- Erika Winquist, Department of Biotechnology and Chemical Technology, Aalto University School of Chemical Technology, Finland

-- Marja Tuomela, Department of Food and Environmental

82

Contact:

Vivek Pandey (Head of Publications) Tel: 0161 341 0156 Email: vivek@environmentmagazine.co.uk

Sciences, University of Helsinki, Finland

-- Kari Steffen, University lecturer in Applied Microbiology, University of Helsinki,

Alex Stacey (Editor) Tel: 0161 3410158 Fax: 0161 7668997 Email: alex@environmentmagazine.co.uk

BlooGlobe Limited, 254a Bury New Road, Whitefield, Manchester, M45 8QN

Every effort is made to verify all information published, but Environment Industry Magazine cannot accept responsibility for any errors or omissions or for any losses that may arise as a result. Opinions expressed in articles do not necessarily reflect those of BlooGlobe Limited. Environment Industry Magazine welcomes contributions for publication. Submissions are accepted on the basis of full assignment of copyright to BlooGlobe Limited unless otherwise agreed in advance and in writing. We reserve the right to edit items for reasons of space, clarity or legality.

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CONTENTS

Sustainable Build & Civil Engineering 94 Birmingham New Street Redevelopment

-- Azhar Quaiyoom, Project & Sustainability Manager, Network Rail

106 Breaking the barriers to Sustainable Homes

-- Jade Lewis, Advocacy Leader, Saint-Gobian

112 Building Reality – performance not potential -- David Richards Director, Arup

Timber & Forestry 116 Cutting the carbon: Creating a sustainable built environment

90

112

-- Dave Hopkins, Director, Wood for Good

Transport 122 Making buses more environmentally friendly

doesn’t cost the earth -- Steve Rawson, Head of Retrofit Engineering, Eminox

Waste & Recycling 128 Refuse Derived Fuels Export

94

-- Herman Van der Meij, Director, Viridor Resource Management

Water 134 How the Water Act will boost business sustainability -- Ian Hewson, Head of Water and Wastewater Solutions, Business Stream

138 A Missing Piece of Regulation

-- Steve Chatwin-Grindey, Commercial Director, Deeproot Urban Solutions LTD

144 Urban waste water in the European Union:

Where are we heading?

116

122

-- Janez Potočnik, European Commissioner for the Environment

Misc 148 Carbon Reporting

-- Lee Brunsden, Head of CEMARS, Achilles

150 Portable Power

-- Stewart Dow, Packaged Energy Manager, Linde Group

152 Low Carbon Transformation and

Integrated Energy Strategy

-- Rajesh Nair, Associate Partner & Global Practice

128

Head, Resource Optimization and Sustainability Group, ITC Infotech

-- Yubaraj Sengupta, Sr Associate Consultant, Sustainability Group, ITC Infotech

144

150

environmentmagazine.co.uk | 5 |

from the

Editor

twitter.com/EnvIndMagazine

“Pollution, all around. Sometimes up, sometimes down. But always around. Pollution are you coming to my town? Or am I coming to yours? Ha! We're on different buses, pollution, but we're both using petrol... bombs!” ~ In memory of Rik Mayall 1958 – 2014 Recently, I was very fortunate to spend a long weekend in Brussels, a really beautiful city and I sincerely recommend that you visit if you have the chance. Avoid staying in the Hotel Madeleine at all costs, but definitely make sure you make time to pay a visit to Le Corbeau (www.lecorbeau.be) and Delirium Cafe (www.deliriumcafe.be); two of the best venues in the city.

Whilst I was in Brussels I had a meeting at the European Commission, during which a conversation ensued regarding the next European Parliament and the imminent nomination of the EU Commissioners by the respective Member States.

What struck me was, despite my whole hearted support of a European Parliament, the system of electing the commission seems considerably flawed. As the process stands, each of the twenty eight member states nominate a candidate (it is reasonable to assume that the candidates will be a representative of the incumbent political party and that the best people are usually kept by their national governments).

The selection of these candidates has no democratic mandate.

However, the European Commissioners do not work for any national government they represent the European Union, (although, I feel it is impossible to eliminate all domestic bias or political influence).

Following the nominations, the Elected EU President allocates portfolios to the commissioners to make up their cabinet (known as the College of Commissioners or College).

Each Commissioner puts forward three preferred portfolio options; these by the way are not necessarily based on their personal competences. Even if they were, it is unlikely a candidate would be equally competent in all three. Other candidates may have the same preferences and be more competent or suitable for the role. This means that potentially a commissioner may end up with a portfolio that they are neither interested nor competent in. Obviously the Elected President will assign the stronger portfolios to the strongest candidates; which, effectively minimises the influence of weaker candidates. The President has no real power to force a change in the nominated candidate although they can ask a commissioner to resign, if necessary.

The chosen College is then approved by the European Parliament where again there is little accountability, the European Parliament has the power at any time to force the entire Commission to resign through a vote of no confidence but has never used this power in its history.

On top of this there is a disparity in the length of service between the commissioner who only serves a five year term and the civil servants in their department who are employed indefinitely.

Due to domestic political trends there is no guarantee that an incumbent commissioner will even be nominated for consecutive terms and if they are, they may not be assigned the same portfolio. | 6 | environmentmagazine.co.uk

All of these issues combined could lead to a weak commissioner who has little investment in their portfolio and no accountability for the successes or failures of longer term interests. A weak commissioner may be unduly influenced by the civil servants in their departments.

From an environmental perspective we have been extremely fortunate for the last two European Parliaments. It is my concern that fortune may not favour us in the next term.

In light of this is it not time for a change to the process?

Possibly, instead of nominating one candidate each, the Member States as an alternative choose three portfolios with the greatest synergy with domestic policy and then nominate candidates to represent each portfolio from the vast reservoir of recognised expertise across the country, rather than from the diminishing pool of political allies who are past their prime.

This would allow the EU President to choose a candidate with expertise and enthusiasm in their respective portfolio from each member state knowing that they do not have to compromise on the candidate’s competency. This would also allow the candidate to transcend politics giving them more credibility and longevity in the role. It might also incentivise the domestic governments to support the commission.

It could even calm the Euro-sceptics in the media and public office who grumble and grouse about control from Brussels, exaggerating and distorting EU legislation to legitimise their arguments of excessive European bureaucracy in an attempt to push for a referendum on Europe.

In reality, being a part of Europe is not a choice, but a necessity.

Despite the bellyaching from the disaffected minority, we would lose far more by leaving than we gain by staying.

Despite our size, the UK is an important member of the EU. Our relationship with America and our links to the Commonwealth allow us to punch above our weight. We should use this to our advantage and to benefit Europe as a whole.

Whilst The UK is a part of Europe it should be at the centre, influencing and directing policy, not paddling about at the edges throwing our toys out of the pram when things don’t suit us.

Alex Stacey Editor

editor@environmentmagazine.co.uk

'Transparence-Elephant'

By Pascal Chesneau

| 8 | environmentmagazine.co.uk

Wildlife Artist of the Year

French sculptor Pascal Chesneau - Winner of the 2014 David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation (DSWF) Wildlife Artist of the Year competition with Transparence Elephant - recycled from an old car roof.

Born in 1967 in Britain, Pascal works with recycled metals to create his pieces using the material to develop more transparency and lightness.�

environmentmagazine.co.uk | 9 |

NEWS

Computer Aid International have been nominated for the prestigious BT Ingenious Award

by Tech4Good Award 2014 for their work in helping people in remote areas to have access to IT with the ZubaBox. Together with the African Medical Research Foundation (AMREF) in 2012 Computer Aid International provided a Zubabox in Kakuma, Kenya.

The ZubaBox is an environmentally friendly internet hub containing 11 individual monitors running from a single base unit, built from a 20ft shipping container with six solar panels fitted onto the roof – enough to provide 18 hours of electricity everyday for their 25 year life span.

Since introduced in Kakuma, the world’s third largest refugee camp, the ZubaBox has been an incredible success, allowing the local doctors in the town access to specialists anywhere in the worl d through ICT, thus bringing healthcare to some of the most remote people in the world. The ZubaBox also allows the local people near the camp (home to over 100,000, mostly children) to gather together to enjoy the facility as a community during the evenings.

The BT Ingenious Award is voted for by a panel of Judges, but we are also nominated for the People’s Award, and need the votes from our many donors and supporters.

To help Computer Aid, please submit your vote by following this link: www.tech4goodawards.com/vote/

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NEWS

Game-changing offshore wind foundation to be demonstrated in English Channel The developers of the Fécamp offshore wind farm have chosen to demonstrate and install Seatower’s patented Cranefree Gravity® foundation design. The Fécamp project, being jointly developed by EDF Energies Nouvelles, DONG Energy and wpd offshore, is located 13km off the coast of Normandy. The Fécamp demonstrator project is the final step in Seatower’s objective to move the foundation design to full-scale manufacturing and deployment. Norwegian based Seatower will, together with their partners, manage the installation project, including the demonstration of the entirely new “float-out-and-sink” offshore installation method. This means that, for the first time ever, an offshore wind foundation will be installed using only regular towing vessels.

The unique installation method represents the most important aspect of the demonstration. To date, there are around 300 installed offshore wind foundations that are safely and robustly holding wind turbines in harsh maritime conditions and that, like Cranefree Gravity, are mainly made from concrete rather than steel. However, these so-called “gravity base” foundations have been installed using highly specialised crane-ships, which are typically scarce, expensive and weather-sensitive.

The Fécamp demonstration project, which is scheduled for early 2015, will showcase the technology’s game-changing

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installation advantages to developers of offshore wind farms across Europe, especially those with project sites that are in deep waters – more than 30 metres – and that face the challenging weather conditions typical of the North Sea. Seatower’s technology gives offshore wind farm constructors more overall control of the installation process.

Construction management can run foundation installation programmes all year round, uninterrupted by poor weather.

The process can easily be sped up if necessary by increasing the number of towing vessels. Furthermore, crane-free installation does not involve noisy underwater piling, which is subject to restrictions in several jurisdictions, including “nobuild” seasons when installation is prohibited for fear of noise interference with mammals.

The Fécamp foundation will be pulled around 13 kilometres by a towing vessel before being positioned and subsequently sunk in a controlled manner by gradually letting in seawater.

It will be outfitted with equipment that will measure wind and other parameters on the site, as well as to provide data for future optimisation of the technology.

Eiffage, the French construction giant, which is an established manufacturer of conventional, steel-based foundations for the offshore wind sector, will fabricate the demonstrator foundation at the port of Le Havre.

For more news, editorials, and product reviews, visit www.environmentmagazine.co.uk

environmentmagazine.co.uk | 13 |

NEWS

First RHI Voucher installer gets trained Tom Hunisett, from TSG Building Services, the first installer to receive an RHI Training Support Voucher, redeemed it on a Solar Thermal Hot Water course at Logic4training. Training took place in April where Tom talked to Logic4training about his thoughts on the Voucher scheme and renewables in general. Tom is a gas installer by trade but has up-skilled to deliver heat pumps and now solar thermal. TSG's main customer base is within the social housing sector which has been quicker to get on board with renewables. However the company sees the Domestic RHI as their way into the private sector.

John Holloway, Renewables Director for TSG explained why Tom was put forward to receive the first voucher, presented to him by Energy Secretary, Ed Davey. "Tom was

an ideal candidate to be put forward for the first RHI Training Support Voucher recipient; he's enthusiastic and positive with lots of potential to progress - a great ambassador for TSG and renewables installation in general, hopefully someone that will encourage others to get involved."

About Tom's training

Tom undertook Logic4training's Solar Thermal Hot Water Installation course at its Luton centre. Logic4training is one of only a handful of providers approved under the RHI Training Support Scheme, delivering Qualifications Certification Framework (QCF) courses, now the only programme recognised by the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS).

Nautricity given consent for Mull of Kintyre tidal power scheme Nautricity, the renewable energy company, has been given the go-ahead to develop one of the UK’s first ‘next generation’ tidal energy schemes in waters off the Mull of Kintyre.

Marine Scotland has given consent for the deployment of the first Contra Rotating Marine Turbine (CoRMaT) device, capable of generating enough electricity to supply 400 homes, to be deployed in the Irish Sea, south of Machrihanish, Argyll.

In addition, Argyll and Bute Council has approved the construction of an onshore sub-station that will connect the array to the National Grid.

The Glasgow-based company is only the fourth to be granted full permission to deploy tidal devices in Scottish waters, having already received consent from the Crown Estate and SSE, the electrical network operator.

Work on the onshore connection is expected to start later this year with the devices being deployed in the water in early 2015.

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For more news, editorials, and product reviews, visit www.environmentmagazine.co.uk

With at least 38.4 gigawatts (GW) of newly-installed

solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity worldwide and a global cumulative installed capacity of 138.9 GW, 2013 was another historic year for solar PV technology. EPIA's flagship report assesses global and European PV markets in 2013, makes forecasts for the next five years, and analyses the role of PV within the European energy sector.

The European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA) has released its new report "Global Market Outlook for Photovoltaics 2014-2018". Compared to the two previous years, where global installed capacity hovered slightly above 30 GW annually, the PV market progressed remarkably in 2013, reaching a new record-level. Nevertheless, for the first time since 2003, Europe, with a very high and stable level of nearly 11 GW connected to the grid in 2013, lost its leadership to Asia. PV markets have become global!

EPIA's major findings for 2013 include: • At least 38.4 GW of PV systems were installed globally in 2013, up from 30 GW in 2012 • Almost 11 GW of PV capacity were installed in Europe in 2013, compared to 17.7 GW in 2012 • China (11.8 GW) was the top market in 2013, followed by Japan (6.9 GW) and the USA (4.8 GW) • Germany was the top European market with 3.3 GW. Several other European markets exceeded the 1 GW mark: the UK (1.5 GW), Italy (1.4 GW), Romania (1.1 GW) and Greece (1.04 GW) • PV now covers 3% of the electricity demand and 6% of the peak electricity demand in Europe • Several European markets that performed well in the past went down in 2013: Belgium (215 MW), France (613 MW) and Denmark (200 MW) • Outside Europe, several markets continued to grow at a reasonable pace, including India (1,115 MW), Korea (442 MW), Thailand (317 MW) and Canada (444 MW)

EPIA forecasts indicate that the globalisation trend of PV markets observed in 2013 will continue and further accentuate in the coming years. For the third year in a row, PV in 2013 was amongst the two most installed sources of electricity in the EU.

Communities to Enjoy Brighter Future as Wind Farm Wins Approval

Banks Renewables has been given the go-ahead to build

a 26 turbine wind farm in South Lanarkshire. The Scottish Government’s energy consents units has assessed the merits of the proposed Kype Muir Wind Farm, south of Strathaven, which had already won wide community backing. Now Fergus Ewing, Minister for Energy, Enterprise and Tourism has given approval to the scheme, which had also been supported by South Lanarkshire Council.

The 104MW wind farm will generate a community benefit fund of an estimated £11m during its 25 year lifetime. That money will help fund the long term development plans drawn up by Community Councils in Lesmahagow, Stonehouse, Strathaven and Sandford & Upper Avondale.

In announcing the go-ahead for Kype Muir, Energy Minister Fergus Ewing said it would save thousands of tonnes of CO2 each year, while producing enough energy to power 49,000 homes.

environmentmagazine.co.uk | 15 |

NEWS

Luke Hunter

New global alliance commits $80m to save the world’s wild cats and their ecosystems Commitment Unites Donors from China, India, the United Arab Emirates and the United States to Collectively Provide $80m in Cornerstone Funding for Panthera's $200m Initiative for Wild Cats Environmental philanthropists from China, India, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the United States have together provided funding of $80m to change the course of wild cat protection through Panthera, the leading organization dedicated to ensuring the future of wild cats through scientific leadership and conservation action.

The guaranteed 10-year commitment to cat conservation – an undertaking unprecedented in its scale and scope – will immediately fund the most effective solutions for conserving big cats: poaching for local and international trade; retaliatory and punitive killing from conflict with humans; unsustainable hunting of prey; and the loss and fragmentation of habitat.

As the animals at the top of the food chain, these cats help maintain the delicate balance of the ecosystems in which they live and upon which humans depend, and serve as the flagship species for conserving large, wild landscapes.

“Panthera is the gold standard in big cat conservation. It has the proven capacity and expertise to implement this all-important global effort to save the most charismatic | 16 | environmentmagazine.co.uk

members of the animal kingdom”, said Her Excellency Razan Khalifa Al Mubarak, Managing Director of the Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund. “His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi is honored to partner with Panthera, its Board of Directors, and other members of what we hope will be a very effective alliance over the next decade to help ensure that these iconic species thrive in their natural habitats.”

The founding members of the global alliance are: • H.H. Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi • Mr. Jho Low, CEO of Jynwel Capital and Director of Jynwel Charitable Foundation Limited, Hong Kong • Mr. Hemendra Kothari, Chairman DSP Blackrock India and the Wildlife Conservation Trust • Dr. Thomas Kaplan and Mrs. Daphne Recanati Kaplan, Panthera’s Founders

For more news, editorials, and product reviews, visit www.environmentmagazine.co.uk

Steve Winter/Panthera

Panthera

The multi-year pledges catalyze Panthera’s inclusive plan to help conserve all 38 species of wild cats, with a core focus on tigers, lions, jaguars, snow leopards, cheetahs, clouded leopards, cougars and leopards. Solutions that will be funded as a result of this commitment include:

• Protecting and stabilizing more than half of the world’s most important Asian tiger and African lion populations • Securing the largest carnivore corridor in the world for jaguars across 18 countries in Latin America • Creating community-based conservation projects in nearly all countries with snow leopard populations • Reducing killing and poaching in more than half of cheetah and leopard range countries • Designing and implementing a range-wide conservation strategy for cougars, inclusive of creating corridors and recovery landscapes across North America For more information on how to join Panthera in their efforts, visit www.panthera.org

Luke Hunter/Panthera environmentmagazine.co.uk | 17 |

NEWS

Ofgem has published proposals for a new regulated approach to help more electricity interconnectors to be built.

Electricity interconnectors are cables that allow electricity to flow from one country to another. They enable countries to import power at times of shortage and export when in surplus. They can help to lower electricity supply prices and cut the cost of delivering security of supply. Britain already has four interconnectors, with a capacity of 4GW, but more interconnection is needed.

Under Ofgem’s proposed ‘cap and floor’ framework, developers will identify, propose and build interconnectors.

Ofgem’s role is to assess, approve or reject individual plans and regulate how much money a developer can earn from operating an interconnector. Ofgem’s rigorous assessment process will evaluate consumer benefits to help ensure that only projects that are in consumers’ interests are approved.

If an interconnector plan is successful Ofgem will place a cap on the revenue the developer can earn. Anything above this cap is returned to consumers. Conversely, if their revenue falls below the floor then consumers top up developers’ revenue to the level of the floor. The level of the cap and floor will be specific to individual interconnectors and be determined by assessment of the efficient costs of developing and operating the interconnector. We expect to start considering applications in the autumn. Ofgem has also announced reforms to strengthen incentives on generators and suppliers to ensure they generate or buy the right amount of power to meet customers’ needs. When they fail to do so, National Grid incurs costs in taking action to meet demand, and the generators or suppliers who cause the imbalance are charged for their errors. Ofgem has reviewed these charges – known as ‘cash-out’ – so that they better reflect the costs that National Grid incurs in dealing with these imbalances.

You can read the full cap and floor consultation here:

Ofgem’s decision on reforms to balancing arrangements here:

Charity seeks 10,000 volunteers to get down and dirty on UK beaches Marine Conservation Society launches registration for the ‘Great British Beach Clean’ The UK’s leading marine charity, the Marine Conservation Society (MCS), says recent figures showing the highest amounts of litter on British beaches in twenty years, have prompted it to launch a mass beach participation event ‘The Great British Beach Clean’ to highlight the issue of Britain’s dirty beaches. The charity says that, in a year when pride about all parts of the UK will reach a peak with the World Cup, Commonwealth Games and Ryder Cup, we should try and reconnect with our coastline to ensure it’s a safe, clean place for this generation and those to come.

Last year MCS’ annual litter clean and survey found on average 2,309 pieces of litter per every kilometre of the coast cleaned. The charity says that between 19th and 22nd September 2014 it hopes to make Britain's beaches clean for one weekend.

MCS Beachwatch officer, Lauren Eyles, said: “We want to break the record for the greatest number of beaches cleaned in one event. We're aiming to clean at least 400 beaches for our 'Great British Beach Clean' this September, and do a litter survey on all of them. Beach litter is a serious environmental problem, but the solution is in our hands. The first step is to register as a volunteer. We want the ‘Great British Beach Clean’ weekend to offer a snapshot of what the future could look like for the British seaside if we turned the tide on litter.”

The Great British Beach Clean – be part of the biggest and most influential fight against marine litter in the UK. Find out more at www.mcsuk.org/beachwatch or telephone 01989 566017.

| 18 | environmentmagazine.co.uk

For more news, editorials, and product reviews, visit www.environmentmagazine.co.uk

Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) has launched

TechDemoSat-1, an in-orbit technology demonstration mission for innovative UK spacecraft equipment and software, on 8th July 2014 by a Soyuz-2 launch vehicle with a Fregat upper stage from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

TechDemoSat-1 is based on the SSTL-150 platform and is part-funded by a grant from the UK’s Technology Strategy Board, and SEEDA (South East England Development Agency).

The spacecraft will carry eight separate payloads from UK academia and industry, providing valuable in-orbit validation for new technologies.

Iain Gray, the Chief Executive of the Technology Strategy Board, said: “The UK is home to an expert space community and the Technology Strategy Board supports businesses with potential to be world leaders in this growing sector.

Technology and data from space can help solve problems on the ground – in agriculture, healthcare, transport and many other areas of life. This mission is an exciting opportunity to flight test innovative technology in extreme conditions.”

The Early Operations phase (LEOP) and platform commissioning will be performed by SSTL from the Satellite Applications Catapult Operations Centre at Harwell.

Subsequently, the commissioning of the payloads will be performed by SSTL via its own Mission Control Centre in Guildford before handing over day-to-day operation of the payloads back to the Catapult. SSTL will continue to manage spacecraft level monitoring and operations for TechDemoSat-1 in Guildford.

The payloads flying on TechDemoSat-1 are:

• MuREM, a flexible miniature radiation and effects monitor from Surrey Space Centre • ChaPS, a prototype compact instrument to detect electrons and ions from the Mullard Space Science Laboratory • HMRM, a lightweight, ultra-compact radiation monitor designed to measure total radiation dose, particle flux rate and identify electrons, protons and ions from Rutherford Appleton Laboratory and Imperial College • LUCID, a device to measure characterisation of the energy, type, intensity and directionality of high energy particles from the Langton Star Centre • Compact Modular Sounder system, a modular infrared remote sensing radiometer unit from Oxford University’s Planetary Group and Rutherford Appleton Laboratory • De-orbit sail from Cranfield University • Cubesat ADCS, a 3-axes attitude determination and control subsystem from SSBV • Sea State Payload, a device using an enhanced GPS receiver from SSTL and components from a Synthetic Aperture Radar from Airbus Defence and Space to monitor reflected signals to determine ocean roughness

environmentmagazine.co.uk | 19 |

NEWS

Electric Cars Clock Up 500k Miles on Electric Highway Drivers of electric cars have travelled over half a million miles over the last twelve months using Britain's Electric Highway. The Electric Highway, Ecotricity's national network of electricity pumps for electric cars, and the biggest network in Britain, has grown rapidly in reach over the last year and by the end of this year there will be an Electric Highway pump at every motorway services in Britain. The news comes as the Government announced new funding to incentivise electric vehicle purchases in Britain, while petrol prices are set to rise at least 2p a litre in the coming weeks, having already surpassed the 130p a litre mark.

Dale Vince, founder of Ecotricity and the Electric Highway, said: “The Electric Highway has grown remarkably over the last twelve months – we've powered over half a million miles of electric travel in that time, and while that is a drop in the ocean of road travel at the moment, we'll reach a million miles a year of clean driving in the next twelve months – and that's only going to increase sharply.”

Ecotricity's Electric Highway has already begun rolling out new technology this year to ensure the network caters for all three standards of electric charging – meaning new models from BMW and VW will also be able to use the network – and is also doubling the number of chargers at each location to accommodate increasing demand.

Global investors back the World’s largest farm AgriProtein has raised $11m to build its first two commercial farms; each will house 8.5 billion flies - the first in a series of 40 such farms to be rolled out. The world’s first commercial fly farm will be in Cape Town and by headcount will be the largest farming operation on the planet.

AgriProtein.com is at the forefront of the emerging nutrient recycling industry. AgriProtein uses flies reared on a very large scale to lay eggs that are hatched into larvae on organic waste material. The larvae are then harvested and dried into Magmeal ™ a natural and sustainable feed for chicken and fish.

The company has received product approval in South Africa and hopes larvae meal will achieve European acceptance as an animal feed within 24 months. It is after all what these animals would eat in the wild and what free range chicken and freshwater fish eat today. Independent academic research has tested and proven the efficiency of this natural protein in a range of farmed animals.

Instead of polluting the environment with abattoir and other organic waste, it is turned into high quality protein that can naturally replace fishmeal in industrial farming and help save our seas.

AgriProtein will start licensing its nutrient recycling technology worldwide in 2015. Within 15 years we will consider it as normal to recycle our waste nutrients as we do our paper, tin and glass today.

| 20 | environmentmagazine.co.uk

For more news, editorials, and product reviews, visit www.environmentmagazine.co.uk

Trident, the British sports car brand, has

announced the global availability of its flagship Iceni sports car, the worlds fastest and most fuel efficient diesel sports car. With a top speed in excess of over 190mph and the ability to run for 2000 miles on a single tank of mineral or bio-diesel, the Iceni uses torque multiplication technology to achieve this unique combination of speed, power and fuel efficiency. Two new models to the Iceni range were also unveiled, the Iceni Magna (fastback) & Iceni Venturer (estate). All three models boast the same impressive spec, each with its own distinctive design. In addition, the cars can store a minimum of two suitcases, as well as two holdalls, making a 2000-mile road trip a reality.

It is widely believed that horsepower delivers power, speed and fuel efficiency, but it is in fact torque that matters. Using this technology in a road car increases fuel efficiency by up to 20%. Trident has patented a unique way of utilising torque multiplication to improve performance and efficiency, which has been incorporated into all their sports cars. The British designed Trident sports cars boast a distinctive look, with clean curves and the unusual sculpted rear. The cars also incorporate over 39 bespoke, designed and manufactured components, including independent control of each car seat and oculight roof. In addition, every Iceni can be built to specific customer spec, ensuring a truly unique driving experience.

The three Iceni sports cars are available to buy globally with prices starting from ÂŁ96,000. With limited availability and a pre-launch waiting list, the three models are already in high demand across the globe.

environmentmagazine.co.uk | 21 |

NEWS

Mitsubishi Motors is celebrating again after the all-

new Outlander PHEV is awarded the ‘Environment Award’ at this year’s Fleet World Honours in Pall Mall, London.

The Fleet World Honours are presented annually to those motor manufacturers, service companies and individuals who have, in the opinion of the judges, achieved the highest possible level of excellence in their sector. The Fleet World Honours Awards are open to all motor manufacturers and the judging process combines the expert opinion of the Fleet World editorial team with the values provided by a number of leading leasing companies and fleet data providers.

The combination of the Outlander’s powerful electric

motors and petrol engine give it a smooth, quiet, refined ride with an official fuel consumption figure of 148mpg.

It only emits 44g/km CO2 which means for company car drivers a BIK rate of 5% and Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) of £0.

Most significantly, Mitsubishi are not charging for the PHEV technology, with prices ranging from £28,249[2] to £34,999.

5% BIK means that a 40% tax paying company car driver will pay £665 in tax in the first year – that’s less than many people spend on coffee in the same period. And the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV is not just great news for employees employers can write down 100% of the vehicles’ value in the first 12 months, saving thousands of pounds.

Greenshields guns for growth with £1.5m investment One of the world’s largest JCB machinery dealers is investing for growth with a £1.5m expansion of its headquarters.

Greenshields JCB has extended and completely refurbished its premises in Farnham, Surrey, creating additional open-plan offices, warehousing for parts and an additional acre of yard storage for customer machines.

The move comes as the UK market for construction equipment booms with total sales up by more than 50% compared to last year – making the market the fastest growing in the world.

Built to exacting JCB corporate dealer standards, the new complex stands on a 2.8 acre site. Greenshields JCB was established in 1996 and, with seven depots in Surrey, Essex, West Sussex, Hertfordshire, Hampshire and Kent, is now recognised as one of the world’s largest JCB dealers.

| 22 | environmentmagazine.co.uk

With 135 employees and rising, 55 staff are based at Farnham and there are 51 engineers including apprentices across the depot network. The company provides sales, service and support for the full JCB product range.

For more news, editorials, and product reviews, visit www.environmentmagazine.co.uk

Study tracks illicit drug use through Europe’s sewage system

The largest multi-city study using sewage to monitor drug usage across Europe has been published in the scientific journal Addiction. Scientists from the University of Bath are part of the Europe-wide SCORE network (Sewage analysis CORE group) that analysed wastewater from over 40 European cities during a one-week period over consecutive years (2011-13) to explore how the drug-taking habits of these populations has changed. Its conclusions are taken up in the European Drug Report 2014, launched by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs & Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), as well as in an online interactive analysis by the agency dedicated to the issue (Perspectives on drugs).

SEWPROF: http://sewprof-itn.eu The Sewage analysis CORE group (SCORE): www.niva.no/SCORE European Drug Report and Perspectives on drugs: www.emcdda.europa.eu/edr2014 Centre for Sustainable Chemical Technologies: www.bath.ac.uk/csct

From London to Nicosia and Stockholm to Lisbon, the study analysed daily wastewater samples from wastewater treatment plants over a one-week period in April 2012 and in March 2013. In 2012, the study involved 23 cities in 11 countries, while in 2013 it was broadened to 42 cities in 21 countries. Data from a 2011 study (19 cities, 11 countries) were used for comparison.

The scientists used highly sensitive mass spectroscopy techniques to look for tiny traces of biomarkers for cocaine, amphetamine, methamphetamine, ecstasy and cannabis in wastewater from approximately 8 million people. The results provide a valuable snapshot of the drug flow through the cities involved, revealing marked regional variations in drug use patterns.

Traces of cocaine, for example, were higher in western and some southern cities but lower in northern and eastern cities. Use of amphetamine, while relatively evenly distributed, showed the highest levels in the north and northwest of Europe. When weekly patterns of drug use were examined, cocaine and ecstasy levels rose sharply at weekends in most cities, while methamphetamine and cannabis use appeared to be more evenly distributed throughout the week.

Methamphetamine use, generally low and traditionally concentrated in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, now appears to be present in the east of Germany and northern Europe.

environmentmagazine.co.uk | 23 |

NEWS

Symphony environmental technologies opens new laboratory facilities The new laboratory facilities recently announced by Symphony Environmental Technologies were officially opened by the Mayor of Borehamwood during the company’s international distributors’ conference.

The new facilities were designed to integrate the company’s R&D and testing facilities under one roof and are among the most up-to-date in the industry.

They will be used to increase Symphony’s capabilities in molecular spectroscopy (which analyses the elemental contents of plastic), to run artificial ageing tests which calculate the effects of sunlight and heat on degradation, and

to produce trial samples of additive to ensure consistency of quality, especially for the bespoke work needed for special applications.

They will also provide more efficient facilities for advanced research into ‘smart’ plastics across Symphony’s three main areas of expertise: controlled-life technology which converts plastic into a biodegradable material, healthcare plastics (using anti-microbial/ bacterial and anti-mosquito/insecticide additives) and anti-counterfeiting systems to protect branded packaging.

The company, which is based in Borehamwood, Herts, has gained wide recognition for the quality of its R&D and planned its new facilities after establishing a presence in more than 90 countries.

Pandas spotted in fashion house WWF-UK and eco fashion label Rapanui have launched a range of environmentally conscious T-shirts and sweatshirts for wildlife supporters. The collection, exclusively licenced to WWF-UK, aims to raise awareness of pressure on the environment and animals whilst raising funds that will help WWF-UK continue their vital conservation work.

Eco fashion brand Rapanui was founded by brothers Rob and Mart Drake-Knight, who cite their passion for sustainability as the motivation for the WWF collection.

| 24 | environmentmagazine.co.uk

“We started Rapanui after learning about the reality of climate change – a business that created products that are better for the environment felt like the best way to make a real difference. Hopefully along the way, we can interest and inspire people to think about conservation. As WWF fans from an early age, we’re delighted to work with WWF-UK and bring their ideas to life in fashion.”

The limited edition collection features bold wildlife inspired designs, including a range of silhouette cut-out designs ‘vanishing species’ which visually demonstrate species threatened by extinction. The prints are created on the Isle of Wight on Rapanui’s award-winning apparel, which is made from 100% certified organic cotton in an ethically accredited, wind powered factory.

For more news, editorials, and product reviews, visit www.environmentmagazine.co.uk

Balfour Beatty starts one of UK’s largest coastal protection schemes along the Fylde Coast Balfour Beatty has commenced work on one of the largest coastal defence schemes in the UK which will protect over 12,000 homes and businesses from the risk of coastal flooding while regenerating parkland for local community use. The £73m scheme consists of two separate projects along the Fylde Coast at Rossall and Anchorsholme which will renew 2.9km of sea-walls and the promenade and preserve its renowned sandy beaches.

The £20m Anchorsholme Scheme is being carried out for Blackpool Council and the £53m Rossall Scheme for Wyre Council and together they will see the existing 1930s structures completely renewed. Both schemes are majority funded by the Environment Agency and form part of the wider Fylde Peninsula Coastal Programme.

The first rocks for constructing the lower revetment structure and groynes have been laid at Rossall. This rock armour element will create the lower section of the defences, with pre-cast and in-situ concrete elements forming the upper section. Over the next three year period, Balfour Beatty will install 325,000 tonnes of rock onto the beach.

Sheet steel piling works will commence at Anchorsholme in Lancashire to form the bottom of the new defences along the beach and they will be capped with a concrete beam providing further defences.

Balfour Beatty has incorporated Building Information Modelling (BIM) technology into the design and planning of both schemes. BIM will provide a maintenance and operation schedule for the customer to use to manage the new assets and prolong their lives.

Works on Anchorsholme will be completed in autumn 2015 and the Rossall works in the summer of 2017. environmentmagazine.co.uk | 25 |

NEWS

Bluesky’s National Tree Map helps council map trees A detailed digital map of tree canopy cover is helping Central Bedfordshire Council gain an understanding of how many trees are on land under control of the Council’s Housing Department. A study, undertaken by specialist consultancy company Landscape Planning Ltd, compared the Bluesky National Tree Map data with layers from the Council’s Geographical Information System (GIS). Specialist scripts were developed in order to identify Council Owned Dwellings and Land Holdings requiring a visit for tree surveys as well as the number of trees at each location. Central Bedfordshire Council commissioned the project to inform a Competitive Tender.

The Landscape Planning team identified through the use of GIS analysis 5,177 Central Bedfordshire Council Owned

Wyke Farms Wins Guardian Sustainable Business Awards 2014 Wyke Farms, the UK’s largest independent cheese producer and milk processor, won the prestigious Guardian Sustainable Business Award for ‘Waste Innovation’ for its ‘100% Green’ sustainability initiative. The family-run company was recognised for its holistic and pioneering approach to sustainability and the tangible differences that it has made through its ‘100% Green’ long-term energy project. | 26 | environmentmagazine.co.uk

Dwellings. In addition the scoping project considered 352 Land Holdings containing Owned Dwellings and a further 2,446 Land Holdings not containing Owned Dwellings. By comparing the Council data with Bluesky’s National Tree Map, Landscape Planning were able to identify 2,985 dwellings containing trees. By excluding some trees based on size this figure was reduced to 2,058 dwellings containing 2,101 trees of 6 metres or taller.

The National Tree Map has been created from the most up to date, high resolution aerial photography, colour infrared data and detailed height models. It includes three individual map layers, detailing more than 280 million trees with a canopy cover in the region of 20,000km2 – around 13.5% of land cover. Bluesky’s National Tree Map is already in use in a number of Local Authorities, commercial organisations and academic institutions with interest also being shown from Central Government agencies and utility companies.

Wyke Farms’ on-site biogas plant is at the core of this project. It converts 75,000 tonnes of biodegradable waste from its farm per year into energy, which is used to power the cheese dairy. This saves Wyke Farms over 5 million kilos of carbon dioxide per annum and makes Wyke Farms the UK’s first national cheddar brand to be 100% self-sufficient in green electrical energy, and one of the very few independent family-owned food brands which is proactively committed to sustainability. The biogas plant is just one part of Wyke Farms’ comprehensive sustainability strategy that permeates throughout the business. Other initiatives include solar panelling, reduced packaging, factory wastewater re-usage and electric delivery.

Wyke Farms has been producing its award-winning cheddar for over a century and has grown to become the largest family-owned cheese maker in Britain selling over 14,000 tonnes annually.

Wyke Farms have 150 years of family farming experience.

Wyke Farms’ cheese and butter is made with the milk from their cows grazing the lush pastures of the Mendip Hills in the centre of the Cheddar making region in Somerset.

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NEWS

Toyota celebrates 100,000 UK Hybrid sales On 19 October 2000, the first day of the British International Motor Show, Toyota launched UK sales of its first-generation Prius. Fourteen years later it is celebrating 100,000 hybrids sold nationwide, confirmation that its clean, efficient and smooth powertrain technology is now an accepted and popular part of the mainstream motoring market.

British enthusiasm for Toyota hybrids is reflected in the

fact sales of hybrid-powered Auris are set to overtake those of petrol and diesel versions combined and Yaris Hybrid is taking an increasingly large share of overall sales of the supermini.

Notably, a fleet customer will be taking delivery of the 100,000th UK hybrid, reflecting the advantages of low company car tax rates and running costs and high reliability that are all part of the Toyota hybrid ownership experience.

Ecotricity saves British wind firm Britain’s leading green energy company Ecotricity has bought small wind firm Evance out of administration – ensuring vital expertise is retained and green technology comes to market in the next 12 months.

Evance have an innovative new windmill design 90% of the way through development and nearing the production stage, following the manufacture and supply of almost 2,000 of smaller windmills – between 10-20m tall – to Britain and locations across the globe from the USA and Madagascar over the past decade.

But with Government increasing the anti-wind rhetoric ahead of the next election and after cutting Feed-in-Tariffs last month for the second time in the past year, Evance was suddenly placed into administration last month after investors were spooked.

The Feed-in-Tariff for small wind turbines 15kW and under received a 20% cut from April 1 this year. The reduction came on top of a 37% FiT cut last year that led to an 80% reduction in small wind sales in Britain. | 28 | environmentmagazine.co.uk

ASEAN POWER WEEK 3 DAYS, 3 EVENTS, 1 VENUE

Connecting Asia's Power Professionals Coming to the KLCC, Kuala Lumpur on 10-12 September 2014, ASEAN Power Week, with its three events, will comprise the largest and most comprehensive conference and exhibition for the power generation industry within South-East Asia, with the individual events supported by both KeTTHA (Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water) and the Malaysian Convention & Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB).

As the region’s premier conference and exhibition for all aspects of the power generation industry, POWER-GEN Asia will itself celebrate its 22nd annual gathering with a comprehensive four track conference programme for the conventional power generation industry.

The other co-located events include Renewable Energy World Asia, which once again brings together professionals and industry experts from the renewable energy industry, includes a two track conference focusing on all aspects of alternative energy including hydro, wind and solar.

In addition to this, the inaugural POWER-GEN Asia Financial Forum enables attendees to learn about new opportunities, developments in current deals and trends across the ASEAN region, providing a 360° view of the industry that will inform decisions being made by the investment community. The target audience for this event will build on the traditional POWER-GEN Asia audience of engineers, developers, utilities and government representatives and looks to bring in finance experts and intermediaries including venture capitalists and expert credit agencies.

In addition to the Conference, the event boasts a large and ever growing exhibition floor, demonstrating the latest and leading technologies and solutions, with POWER-GEN Asia and Renewable Energy World Asia delivering a quality audience and experience to all who exhibit and attend, enabling high-level networking and business opportunities.

Connecting Asia's Power Professionals

ASEAN Power Week, with its combined events of POWERGEN Asia, Renewable Energy World Asia, and the POWERGEN Asia Financial Forum will become the leading force in delivering a platform for the power industry to meet, share | 30 | environmentmagazine.co.uk

information on the challenges facing the power industry and discuss solutions for advancing Asia’s energy future.

Attracting over 7,500 delegates and attendees from over 60 countries from across South East Asia and around the world, it is the industry’s premier regional conference and exhibition dedicated to the power generation, renewable and alternative energy industries.

The ASEAN Power Week conference is a key forum for senior executives, industry leaders and senior engineers to discuss a range of important topics, the latest issues and solutions, in order to meet the challenge of the growing demand for electricity in the region, all under the 2013 conference theme of “Connecting Asia’s Power Professionals”.

We invite you to join us in Kuala Lumpur from 1012 September 2014 to meet and network with senior executive and industry leaders.

As the region’s premier event dedicated to the electric power and renewable energy industries, ASEAN Power Week is the leading annual forum and meeting place to discuss and discover the latest issues, solutions and technologies to meet the future energy challenges.

With its rising prominence in the global economy, developing Asia’s energy capacity has become a major focus within the marketplace. Asia’s energy needs will expand in tandem with its growing economic influence.

Expanding renewable energy sources will not be enough to meet future demand alone. Consequently, Asia needs to invest in making conventional power cleaner and more efficient Visitors use ASEAN Power Week to:

• • • •

Encounter new technologies and developments Keep up to date with industry developments Source new products / suppliers Network with industry peers and colleagues

More than 120 international experts will be present in Kuala Lumpur for the ASEAN Power Week to present and discuss various issues in the power generation industry, focusing on strategic and technical power issues and challenges, the continued growth of the renewable and alternative energy sectors and the financial marketplace within power generation.

The combined preliminary conference programme

Take advantage of the Early Bird Discounts before 12 August 2014, and save over 10% on the Conference Delegate fee. For further information please visit www.aseanpowerweek.com or any of these websites:

www.powergenasia.com | www.powergenasiafinance.com | www.renewableenergyworld-asia.com

includes over 120 international experts across 7 conference tracks, covering strategic and technical topics for the conventional power sector and issues relating to the explosive growth of renewable and alternative energies in the region, as well as focusing on all aspects of financing for all types of power infrastructure development.

This year’s Opening Keynote Session, taking place on Wednesday 10 September 2014 at 9am, welcomes highprofile speakers, such as Mr. Hwang-Jik Lee, Executive Vice President & CEO, Boiler Business Group, Doosan Heavy Industries & Constructions Co., Ltd., Korea (South), as well as invited representatives from Tenaga Nasional Berhad and the Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water.

On Thursday 11 September 2014 at 14:00 the Plenary Panel Discussion will take place under the topic of “Delivering Asia’s Sustainable Power Growth: The Strategic and Technology Challenge”. This plenary panel discussion brings together experienced power industry professionals from a variety of disciplines, willing to share their views and speculate on how the electricity sector will meet the challenges ahead and what the industry will look like in 2020. This session will be moderated by Mark Hutchinson, IHS Energy Managing Director, based in Singapore. Panelists include: • Datuk Ir. Ahmad Fauzi Bin Hasan, Chief Executive Officer, Energy Commission, Malaysia • Datuk Torstein Dale Sjøtveit, Chief Executive Officer, Sarawak Energy Berhad, Malaysia • Mr. Wouter Van Wersch, Senior Vice President East Asia Pacific & President Alstom Singapore – Alstom International Senior Vice President Asia Pacific – Alstom Power Sales & Marketing

In addition to the Opening Keynote and Plenary Panel Discussion, the Conference Programme for ASEAN Power Week will take place over 3 days and feature 7 tracks in total running concurrently. Track topics include Trends and Planning, Clean and Flexible Operation; Power Plant Technologies; Operation, Optimization & Servicing; Finance and Planning; plus the two Renewable Energy World Asia conference tracks and POWER-GEN Asia Financial Forum track.

In addition to the Conference, the event boasts a large and ever-growing exhibition floor, demonstrating

the latest and leading technologies and solutions, with POWER-GEN Asia and Renewable Energy World Asia delivering a quality audience and experience to all who exhibit and attend, enabling high-level networking and business opportunities. Exhibitors currently include:

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

ALSTOM Andritz Hydro Ansaldo Energia Babcock & Wilcox BFI Automation Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction Dresser-Rand Durag Foster Wheeler GE Power & Water Hitachi Hyundai Heavy Industries Kawasaki Gas Turbine Asia MAN Diesel & Turbo SE Mitsubishi Heavy Industries National Electric Coil PW Power Systems Rolls-Royce Sarawak Energy Berhad Shin Nippon Machinery Siemens AG Energy Sector Teknik Janakuasa Tenaga Nasional Berhad Toshiba Corporation TOTAL Oil Asia Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies Wartsila Wood Group GTS

For companies involved in the manufacture of equipment to the supply of products or services to the power generation industry, ASEAN Power Week provides the platform and showcase opportunity to reach, meet and demonstrate to the electric power industry professionals and key industry buyers and influencers of South East Asia.

With a growing exhibition floor, demonstrating the latest and leading technologies and solutions, POWERGEN Asia and Renewable Energy World Asia delivers a quality experience and quality audience.

Gain access to the opportunities within the power generation and renewable energy industries of Malaysia and wider region, and ensure your presence at ASEAN Power Week ■ environmentmagazine.co.uk | 31 |

WATERCOOLER

TheWatercooler

Promotions Appointments Awards Resignations Achievements

Andy Deacon appointed new Managing Partner of Global Action Plan

Global Action Plan, the UK’s only UN endorsed environmental behaviour change charity, has announced the appointment of new Managing Partner, Andy Deacon. Andy will replace current Founder and Senior Partner Trewin Restorick, who has led the organisation since it was established in 1993. Trewin will stand down on 8th July. Andy Deacon is the former Director of Development at the Energy Saving Trust. He has been directly involved in several prestigious environmental projects across his career including the Mayoral Climate Change Action Plan and The Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution.

Gansewinkel appoints COO Waste Collection

Marc Zwaaneveld has taken up the position of Chief Operational Officer (COO) for Waste Collection at Van Gansewinkel. In so doing, he will become a member of the Board of Directors of this waste collection service provider, recycler and raw material supplier. Van Gansewinkel’s Board of Directors will consist of CEO Cees van Gent, CFO Joost Sliepenbeek and COO Waste Collection Marc Zwaaneveld. From 2005 until 2011, Marc Zwaaneveld held office as Vice-Chairman and CFO of SITA Benelux and Germany. He therefore knows the waste market well. Marc Zwaaneveld was formerly a partner at consultancy firm Accenture and held various positions at DAF.

Sustainable Polymers Company strengthens Board for next phase of growth

MBA Polymers, the world-leading multinational plastics recycling and technology company, has named Peter Whiting as non-executive director, effectively immediately. After graduating in physics from Lincoln College, Oxford, Peter had a career as a market analyst in the technology, engineering and automotive sectors. For four years up to 2011 he was Chief Operating Officer, European Equity Research for UBS, the Swiss global financial services company.

Since leaving UBS, he has built a portfolio of activities including serving as non-executive director of Microgen plc and a senior advisor for ElevenCanterbury.

Leading Civil Engineer joins SLR’s Belfast office

Jane Chambers has joined environmental firm SLR Consulting as a Technical Director in its Hillsborough office in Belfast. Jane has over 25 years’ experience in civil engineering and water services, specialising in feasibility, design, project and contract management. She was previously Regional Director at WYG Group in Belfast.

Throughout her career, she has been responsible for the construction, design and management of many highprofile schemes across industrial, health care, leisure, retail, public realm, water, wastewater and residential sectors.

With a detailed understanding of buildings and infrastructure, she has been employed by both contracting and consulting practices in the construction industry.

Environmental lawyer to receive an honorary Doctor of Laws degree

Leading environmental lawyer and former Director of the Greenpeace Environmental Trust Martyn Day has been awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree by the University of Warwick.

As the senior partner of the law firm Leigh Day, Mr Day currently heads a team of over 20 lawyers that specialises in international, environment and product liability claims. Further to this, Mr Day is an Executive Committee Member of the Society of Labour Lawyers and a member of the Association of Professional Injury Lawyers. Martyn Day is described as "without question one of the most knowledgeable and experienced environmental lawyers in the country". | 32 | environmentmagazine.co.uk

For more news, editorials, and product reviews, visit www.environmentmagazine.co.uk

SBS Appoints new Head of Marketing

Stephen Richardson has been appointed Head of Marketing for Sustainable Building Solutions (SBS), a division of the Travis Perkins Group, following a successful two years acting as consultant.Steve is responsible for the strategic development and management of the SBS marketing strategy across the group’s trade and retail businesses.

Vokèra appoints UK Sales Director

Leading heating manufacturer Vokèra has appointed Ian Harvey to the key position of UK Sales Director. Ian has extensive industry knowledge and a wealth of experience, including sales and business development roles at Glow Worm, Plumbing Trade Supplies and British Gas.

Lantra announces appointment of new Chief Executive

The Board of Trustees is delighted to announce the appointment of Marcus Potter as Lantra's new Chief Executive.

Most recently Marcus was Executive Director of Market Development with the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).

Having started his early career in finance, Marcus gained experience across a range of sectors and moved to RICS over 20 years ago. He was responsible for developing the profession, and its commercial businesses outside of the UK including successful new market entries in China, India, Brazil and Japan.

Peter Selkirk appointed to take UK waste firm to market

Waste industry expert and former Taylor figurehead, Peter Selkirk, has been appointed Executive Chairman at PyroPure®, a Hampshire-based company that has developed a new, micro-scale process for destroying waste at source, negating the need for collection, transport and disposal. His appointment marks the end of a six-year development and testing phase in which PyroPure received investment from the Sustainable Technology Fund, managed by Disruptive Capital Finance, and private investors including Rockhopper Investments Ltd, which is controlled by venture capitalist Edmund Truell.

Another Green Gong for Albert Bartlett

Albert Bartlett, the UK’s leading producer and packer of potatoes, has been recognised for its commitment to environmental excellence by scooping the Environmental Sustainability Award at the Scotland Food & Drink Excellence Awards last week. This follows Albert Bartlett’s recent award for environmental excellence at the Vision in Business for the Environment of Scotland (VIBES) Awards in December. The awards are organised by Scotland Food & Drink in partnership with The Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland (RHASS). The event’s headline sponsor is Asda and the awards are supported by Think Local.

Plan Bee picks up prestigious PwC prize

Lanarkshire sustainability pioneers Plan Bee Ltd has scooped a prestigious Scottish Private Business award from global commercial enterprise giants PwC. The Motherwell-based company follow in the auspicious footsteps of Brewdog and Spex, and have now been put forward to the national final in London this September. Now in their fourth year, the Private Business Awards are sponsored by PwC, in association with HSBC Private Bank and Ford Sinclair Events and are presented to the UK’s most successful private companies, entrepreneurs and management teams.

The national shortlist is available at www.privatebusinessawards.com

Vegware named Scotland’s Most Innovative Exporter

Edinburgh-based Vegware, the UK’s first and only completely compostable food packaging company, has been named Scotland’s Most Innovative Exporter of the Year in the BQ Scottish Export Awards 2014.

Run from its Edinburgh HQ, Vegware is now a global brand with operations in the UK, US, South Africa, Australasia and now UAE, with a Europe-wide network of distribution partners from Iceland to Portugal.

Recently named Scotland’s 3rd fastest-growing company in the Deloitte Fast 50 Awards, Vegware has achieved 901% turnover growth in five years, coming 160th in the Europe, the Middle East and Africa tech-sector ranking. environmentmagazine.co.uk | 33 |

COLUMN

We are in the closing stages of the epic battle between civilization and Mother Nature. The question is how and when mankind sues for peace. Let me explain.

Nature is uncivilized and many urban dwellers therefore have little interest in it. In fact for many people nature is far from natural, it is little understood and even frightening.

Which is why much of the planet hates it and the epic battle has ensued as civilisation has tried to exploit, dominate then control nature. It is a battle mankind is certain to lose.

Humans put themselves and civilisation at the centre of the universe and rules at the core of civilisation. The problem is that Nature has its own rules and systems and does not see things the same way. Nature does not view humans differently to any of its other animals or ecosystems - they all bend to her rules – eventually!

‘Nature is indifferent, unforgiving and uninterested in the problems of humans. Nature does not care if we live or die, succeed or fail – feel pleasure or pain’. It is this that the spoilt human race finds uncivilized. To live in a world so unsympathetic to us is, to many, intolerable.

So we deny, ignore and battle against nature. The Earth is 4.6 billion years old. If we change the scale of this, to lets say 46 years, we have been here for 4 hours of that time. On that scale the Industrial Revolution began just one minute ago in that time we have destroyed more than 50% of the world's forests, consumed most of the fish in our seas and stopped some our mightiest rivers reaching them. The list is endless. In the last ten seconds we have been struggling to eradicate hunger, starvation, disease and in general, delaying death and defying nature.

The balance lies in the hands of the entity that holds the real power and that is Mother Nature. This is a battle that Nature did not start but will without question win.

We therefore need to sue for peace. | 34 | environmentmagazine.co.uk

Photograph: Jan Tik

The industrial revolution is over and the sustainability revolution has begun. That peace looks like embracing this nascent revolution.

How we manage the transition from the industrial revolution to the sustainability revolution will define the outcome of the 21st century for humanity.

The new revolution will fundamentally change our lives over the next 15 years. During this timeframe it will deliver more change and more innovation than in the first 150 years of the industrial revolution. Old industries will be torn apart and new ones will explode onto the marketplace. Businesses will now seek to fit in with and repair the natural world rather than bend it to their will.

This will deliver more opportunity that we can imagine.

At the dawn of the industrial revolution workers threw their sabots or clogs into the works of the spinning jenny to halt the progress. There are those today trying to deny or stop the new revolution – their efforts will be as futile as those of the saboteurs.

Every age has its great wealth creators as will this age.

The next Bill Gates will make his fortune closing a loop in business that repairs the environment and our future.

We need a different attitude to nature. Attitude determines choice, and choice determines results. There has never been a more exciting time to be alive and in business.

In my next three articles I will look at a series of remarkable businesses that are doing just that. Creating new industries that will wipe away old damaging businesses and creating new and sustainable ones.

Keep calm and carry on? No thanks, I would rather raise hell and change the world ■

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COLUMN

Steve Grant 'You can't argue with the numbers' is what any actuarial professional will tell you, and the numbers have been telling the global insurance industry one thing – climate change is happening.

Indeed, according to Zurich, one of the world's largest insurers, the debate is long over as far as they are concerned.

In their recent report 'Climate Change and the Insurance Industry – no silver-bullet solution', they say that: “While climate change represents a serious threat to the insurance industry, only a relatively small number of insurers are proactively responding to the issue. Yet the climate change hazards and vulnerabilities are escalating. A signal of climate change is measurable in normalised global annual economic losses from weather-related catastrophes, which have been increasing at around 2% per year since 1970. A level of physical climate change hazards is locked in and increasing; regulatory responses are growing; and the associated complex social changes and feedbacks (sic) are under way”.

In other words – the people who pick up the tab after storm, drought, flood or fire no longer talk about whether climate change is happening or not. They just talk about how much it has cost, how much they expect it to cost in the future and how they and the wider industry are going to deal with it.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the pond, major insurance operation Illinois Farmers is trying to deal with it in what one might fairly describe as the 'American way': a lawsuit.

They have launched no less than 9 separate class action suits against government & municipal organisations in the Chicago region. The company has been dealing with a 'staggering' increase in weather-related claims this century, but took a huge hit after the extreme storm systems of 2013 crossed the state causing unprecedented havoc, including one event which made the national news stateside when a sanitation system backed up producing violent geysers of sewage in hundreds of homes.

The suit states specifically that officials were aware that climate change would bring more extreme weather and yet failed to take steps that would have prevented the losses.

So there we have it – the first case of an insurance firm hitting government on the basis of 'you knew, yet did nothing'.

It is a sobering prospect.

Head south to Florida, and another equally unsustainable scenario is playing itself out. Following Hurricane Andrew in 1992, the insurance sector voted with its feet and the state had | 36 | environmentmagazine.co.uk

to set up the Citizens Property Insurance Co which charges below-market premiums and, not surprisingly, became the states largest insurer. The company simply isn't able to honour the risk it has burdened itself with, and so it is underwritten by the state, who would have no choice but to issue bonds to cover the losses from a major event. The bonds would be paid for by – wait for it – a surcharge on insurance policies. This has led to the bizarre situation whereby the mega-wealthy with homes on the coast are paying below-par premiums for policies which will be effectively underwritten by every Floridian with any kind of policy – including the poorest end of the market with basic cover for an old car.

Despite these facts – not to mention the rising sea levels and increased storm intensity which regularly renders parts of Miami ankle deep in water – both the governor and senator are on record as deniers.

Head west now to Las Vegas and we learn that it is literally 'heating up' due to an ongoing drought coupled with rapid and unbridled urbanisation – despite the fact that its water supply is nearing exhaustion. Lake Mead is at its lowest level since the Hoover dam was completed in 1936. But still they build golf courses – they have over 60 of them, more than the entire Greater London area which has four times the population and, dare I say it, some fairly regular rain.

Finally, we continue to UC Irvine and give the last word to President Obama, who chose to tackle deniers head on in a speech given in mid June. “Now, part of what’s unique about climate change, though, is the nature of some of the opposition to action. It’s pretty rare that you’ll encounter somebody who says the problem you’re trying to solve simply doesn’t exist. When President Kennedy set us on a course for the moon, there were a number of people who made a serious case that it wouldn’t be worth it; it was going to be too expensive, it was going to be too hard, it would take too long.

But nobody ignored the science. I don’t remember anybody saying that the moon wasn’t there.” ■

Photograph: Shawn Rossi

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I N C I N E R AT I O N P L A N T S | S T E V E D O N N E L LY

Monitoring Emissions from Incineration Plants

By Steve Donnelly

Analytical Sales Specialist, ABB Incineration is a rapidly growing waste disposal method as well as an increasingly important source of energy.

Emissions from waste incineration plants can potentially contain many harmful pollutants but with the use of modern monitoring equipment, regulatory compliance can be ensured and emissions minimised.

Incineration plays an increasing role in the treatment of municipal waste as well as for the supply of energy.

Worldwide, some 2,200 incinerators dispose of about 255 million tonnes of waste annually. By 2017, 180 new plants, with a capacity of about 52 million tonnes, will be built. Growth is particularly strong in Europe where, due to the ban on landfilling untreated waste, large numbers of waste incinerators have been built in recent years, with many more under construction.

Incinerators reduce the waste volume by about 95%, dramatically cutting the space needed for disposal. The recoverable energy is just under 3 MWh per tonne of municipal waste, of which some 25% can be converted into electricity and the remaining 75% can be used for district heating.

Waste incineration produces more pollutants than a natural gas-fired plant, but less than a coal-fired plant.

The flue gases can contain high levels of particles, heavy metals, dioxins, furans, sulphur dioxide and hydrochloric acid. Incineration also produces CO2, about one tonne per tonne of waste, but because much of the waste is

| 38 | environmentmagazine.co.uk

biological, incineration is often classed as renewable energy.

A number of techniques are used to ensure the pollutants are reduced to within permissible limits. For instance, plants are equipped with a high-temperature zone where gases are heated to a minimum of 850째C for at least two seconds to ensure the breakdown of dioxins.

A flue gas purification system, located downstream from combustion processes, ensures that the concentration of emissions are below the legal limits, using various systems for removal of dust, acids, heavy metals and micro-pollutants. The resulting emissions are made up of fine ash in the flue gas, with varying amounts or organic and inorganic matter, which depend on the composition of the waste and the incineration process.

Directive demands control

In the European Union, the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED) 2010/75/EU, imposes strict obligations on the member states to ensure that continuous emissions monitoring systems (CEMS) are used to monitor flue gas.

These systems must meet EN14181, the CEN standard for quality assurance of automated measuring systems in stacks.

As well as ensuring regulatory compliance, data from emissions monitoring technology can provide valuable feedback on plant performance, enabling plant operators

www.abb.co.uk

to optimise efficiency and operational control, resulting in better energy recovery.

In a traditional system, monitoring is carried out by extracting a small sample of flue gas, using a pump, into the CEMS system via a sample probe. In some systems, the sample is diluted with clean, dry air, typically in a ratio 100:1, to make samples that are hot, wet or sticky more manageable. The sample is then transported through a sample line, or umbilical, to a manifold where individual analysers can extract samples. A data acquisition and handling system receives the signal output from each analyser and collects and records the emissions data.

An alternative method is hot dry extraction or direct CEMS. Here, the sample is not diluted but is carried along a heated sample line into a sample conditioning unit.

The sample is filtered to remove particles and then dried, before entering the sampling manifold. One advantage of this method is that it enables measuring of the proportion of oxygen in the sample. As dilution systems mix the sample with clean air, these cannot measure oxygen.

Infrared analysis

A more modern approach is to measure the flow of all pollutants at a single point. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analyses the spectrum from incoming infrared light. The infrared spectrum enables identification of the molecules as well as concentrations of substances.

An electronically controlled air injector sampling system conveys the sample gas, at constant pressure, from the sampling point to the analysers. To avoid pressure influencing the sample, which could happen with a conventional diaphragm pump, no moving parts are used.

Adjusting all sampling, transport and gas measurement elements to a constant temperature of 180°C ensures that the chemical and physical properties of the sample are maintained while avoiding possible alterations due to condensation. The absence of sampling pumps, hot ovens and connecting joints ensures accurate measurement and minimises maintenance costs.

This technology can also be used to improve the effectiveness of the flue gas purification system by analysing flue gases after combustion and again after treatment. The result is used to adjust the addition of reagents used in the processes.

The increasing use of waste incineration frequently gives rise to concerns about air pollution, not least in the local community. But with the use of modern instrumentation, emissions to the air can be effectively controlled and documented â–

+ More Information

Photograph: Mark Jensen

www.abb.co.uk

environmentmagazine.co.uk | 39 |

CONSERVATION

T H E E XOT I C P E T I N D U S T RY | C L I F F O R D WA R W I C K

The exotic pet industry

By Clifford Warwick

PGDipMedSci CBiol CSci EurProBiol FOCAE FSB Biologist & Medical Scientist

| 40 | environmentmagazine.co.uk

www.apa.org.uk

200 iguanas dead in one shipment of 414.

PETA

environmentmagazine.co.uk | 41 |

CONSERVATION

T H E E XOT I C P E T I N D U S T RY | C L I F F O R D WA R W I C K

Hedgehogs crowded together at a wholesaler, many found sick and injured.

The exotic pet industry involves well over 1,000 species including invertebrates, fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals in a global market of many millions of animals annually. The fact that we do not know how many is a sign of the way this commercial sector has long evaded normal criteria for business practices. Nevertheless, available numbers are staggering, for example the UK alone imports approximately 40 million pet fish per year – almost all of which die prematurely. Around 700,000 reptiles enter the British pet trade yearly, and about 75% perish in their first twelve months in the home. Worldwide, the market for living curios is both vast and countless.

Very many if not most of these animals are wild-caught, although an increasing number are captive-bred under intensive conditions.

Whether stripped from nature to the detriment of species and whole ecologies or crowded into breeding centres, ‘wild pets’ face a similar catalogue of harm where cramped and crude storage, handling, transport and confinement commonly result in stress, fear, injury, disease and death. Superficial attempts to mask this damage are regularly employed by the pet industry, which frequently misdescribes or plainly falsifies the nature of what goes on behind the scenes, and instead promote the keeping of a lizard or other creature as ‘easy’. However, | 42 | environmentmagazine.co.uk

PETA

numerous scientific and high profile investigations have exposed the sanitised facade of exotic pet trading and revealed a translucent membrane stretched thinly across an unsavoury and often covert and illegal business.

Species degradation due to wildlife trade (including for pets) is now well recognised as a major cause of ecological alteration in these animals’ home countries, where even subtle disturbances to a former ‘balance’ can lead to the emergence of pests that were previously prey, predators with nothing to eat, and ‘particles’ such as viruses that were once stable. Also, importing exotic pets brings new ecological damage, as escapees invade local habitat and displace indigenous species. Controlling ‘invasive alien species’ costs at least €12.5bn annually in the EU, and could reach 10 times that. Thus dealing with these trademade pests alone may wipe out a community’s entire economic ‘benefit’ from any exotic pet-related revenues.

Humans are also direct casualties of the wild pet trade, as novel pathogens from remote regions of the world are ‘express-delivered’ Trojan horse-like to homes in and on the bodies of exotic animals. At least 70 ‘zoonotic’ pet-related infections and infestations are known. For example, pet turtles caused around 280,000 cases of salmonellosis in the USA yearly until the trade in small turtles was banned in 1975. In the UK pet reptiles may ►

www.apa.org.uk

A lizard cramped into a viviarium.

Animal Protection Agency

environmentmagazine.co.uk | 43 |

CONSERVATION

T H E E XOT I C P E T I N D U S T RY | C L I F F O R D WA R W I C K

A selection of dead animals from one day at a wholesaler. cause up to 6,000 cases of the disease each year. Globally, the picture is very concerning. Agricultural animals are also at risk from imported wild pet pathogens, and it is worth noting that the avian influenza virus achieved an early foot in the UK’s door via a consignment of birds bound for the pet trade.

Notwithstanding the questionable moral implications of stealing wild animals from one part of the world and then selling them to people in semi-detached houses and apartments elsewhere, the illegal and legal aspects of the pet trade are often so entangled as to make the beginning of one and the end of the other impossible to determine.

Regardless the criminal trade is thought to reach $1826bn annually.

This Spring a ‘European Parliament Resolution on Wildlife Crime’ acknowledged some important facts, namely: “as long as demand for wildlife products remains high and enforcement effort is low, legal trade will continue to serve as a front for the illegal trade and will drive poaching”; “organised crime groups, especially those with smuggling capabilities, find wildlife trafficking attractive because of the lack of law enforcement capacity and implementation, and because of high profits and weak penalties”; and concludes: “A main problem is that significant gaps remain regarding the effective enforcement of existing | 44 | environmentmagazine.co.uk

PETA

rules, both in the EU and globally. This is often linked to the low political priority given to the issue, insufficient resources at national level, and lack of awareness about the severity of the problem.”

As a scientist who has for three decades investigated all aspects of the wildlife trade, and who has followed animal collectors and other traders through forests, swamps and cities in many regions of the world, I can probably say more than most that the exotic pet trade is out of control.

In fact, it has never been under control.

So how has this mess come about? In my view there are two main causes. Obviously the pet industry and its promoters bear practical responsibility. However, civil servants are the problematic facilitators of this harmful trade. Civil servants the world over sit behind desks representing the major regulatory institutions such as CITES (the Convention on International trade in Endangered Species) and are typically not only thousands of miles away from the problems on the ground, but also a million miles away from what is necessary to protect natural resources. Ironically, the exotic pet industry, whose business frequently involves global harm to animals, people and the environment and which includes threats of extinction for entire animal populations and species, is itself being saved from extinction not by its own adaptation but by incompetent government officials. ►

www.apa.org.uk

An adult tortoise being crudely handled at a pet market.

Animal Protection Agency

Pythons cramped in a bin at a wholesaler, numerous were dead and crushed as the snakes try to seclude themselves.

PETA

environmentmagazine.co.uk | 45 |

CONSERVATION

T H E E XOT I C P E T I N D U S T RY | C L I F F O R D WA R W I C K

Baby tortoises confined in plastic boxes at a European pet market.

Most industries adapt to a changing commercial landscape. Often it is only through stricter imposition of controls that change comes, and after extinction looms on an industry itself. However, so far, governmental inertia fueled by civil servants misleading Parliamentarians about what is genuinely achievable, means that the exotic pet industry currently has little need to adapt.

A case demonstrating the disproportionate leniency enjoyed by exotic pet traders involved the world’s (and at the time the UK’s) most commonly traded reptile - the red-eared terrapin. Despite natural potential longevities of well over 30 years these coin-sized baby turtles frequently had their carcasses flushed down toilets after only a few short yet miserable months. In efforts to protect the terrapin in nature, where many were being wild-caught to form captive-breeding stock, 300 expert turtle biologists issued strong evidential opinions to the UK’s environment department stating that the species was being wiped out and needed CITES intervention. In response, the ‘competent’ civil servants quickly scoured around for counter evidence and found two unqualified pet dealers, one of which said he had heard the species was ‘still abundant somewhere’ and another who issued a handwritten note stating ‘get off my business’.

Nevertheless, the UK civil servants replied to the turtle biologists ‘clarifying’ that the pet trade experts had cast sufficient doubt on the scientific evidence to negate any | 46 | environmentmagazine.co.uk

Animal Protection Agency

protection for the species.

Even in these ‘greener’ times the pet industry is still influencing civil servants’ offices and pulling their strings.

In my experience the UK probably has one of the worst records for, let’s say, 'unhealthy collaboration’ with wildlife traders.

A current example involves the pet fish industry, where the UK government – via its ‘Department of Environment Food and Rural Affairs’ (DEFRA) and its agent the ‘Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science’ (CEFAS) recently conducted a ‘review’ to evaluate risks of released fish becoming invasive alien species. Any normal government commercial regulatory mechanism would withhold permission for a business until each product (ie each fish type) had been expressly proven safe for the environment. Instead, DEFRA and CEFAS elected to simply turn to a commercial ‘pet book’ and put all fish species they could find in trade (except catfish) on a ‘good to sell’ list (otherwise known as a ‘white-list’). Essentially, there was no genuine scientific review (which both DEFRA and CEFAS were supposed to apply) and there already exists scientific evidence showing that they were ‘rubberstamping’ known invasive species such as guppies. As if that were not bad enough, DEFRA also decided to make the most commonly traded species of carp (which includes the popular goldfishes) altogether exempt from the new regulations for no greater rationale than because they are so important to traders. This unscientific trade-

www.apa.org.uk

Mark Fischer

mollycoddling approach underpins almost all work done on the exotic pet trade by almost all governments, and accounts for the globally pervasive harm inherent to wildlife trade in general. Of course, such fishy business is good for a trader whose activities encourage capturing animals by pouring cyanide into natural waterways to ‘stun’ their catch, but extremely bad for the fish and the environment.

At a recent European meeting on exotic pets, a number of scientists directly challenged a key civil servant in the European Commission as to why the Commission (who are supposed to serve Parliament and not dictate to it) were insisting on a short list of banned animals to help guard against invasive alien species (a so-called ‘blacklist’) rather than allow only a short list of permitted species that science could demonstrate in advance pose no threat. The somewhat embarrassed Commissioner’s (rather anticipated) reply was: ‘The pet trade wouldn’t like such a list.’ If government agents were to ask all those responsible for commercial harm what type of controls they consider acceptable then this would set the ground for industrial anarchy.

And all this wildlife trade-favouring heel-dragging by civil servants goes on while EU Parliamentarians are calling on the European Commission and Member States to: “…adopt and implement clear and effective laws and policies that dissuade consumption of products derived from vulnerable wildlife species, to educate consumers on

the impact of their consumption of wildlife species, and to provide adequate information on the consequences and dangers inherent in the uncontrolled spread of certain alien species through native ecosystems.”

Last month, EU Parliamentarians also elected to ‘man-up’ and tell the Commission that their tradeaccommodating ‘black list’ idea wasn’t good enough and ordered them to do it again. All this emerges amidst the impassioned warnings of Prince Charles and Prince William on the urgent need to act against wildlife crime.

That’s what it takes to get things done!

There are really only two genuine solutions to the major, diverse and growing problems of the exotic pet trade. The first and most sensible approach is a total ban on any trade in wild animals as pets. Outright bans are proven effective measures. The USA’s Wild Bird Conservation Act (1992), the 2007 European ban on the importation of wildcaught birds for pets, a 1982 CITES ban on wild tortoise imports, the 1975 US ban on red-eared terrapins, the 1997 EU ban on red-eared terrapins, and others have turned former massive trades into relative trickles. Some illegal trade in these animals continues, as do illicit drugs and arms, but resolutions lay in better enforcement.

The second approach requires the widespread introduction of the ‘positive list’ system – effectively a moratorium on animal trade unless there is conclusive independent scientific evidence demonstrating trade is safe for people, animals and the environment. Belgium ► environmentmagazine.co.uk | 47 |

CONSERVATION

T H E E XOT I C P E T I N D U S T RY | C L I F F O R D WA R W I C K

Baby tortoises conďŹ ned in plastic boxes at a European pet market.

Animal Protection Agency

already uses the positive list, which works better and more economically than anything else. Now numerous countries are considering the system, with the Animal Protection Agency, Eurogroup for Animals, and the Federation of Veterinarians of Europe among three key organisations and many Parliamentarians behind the move.

Conclusions

That the exotic pet trade exists at all is arguably a defacement of scientific reason, moral substance and common sense. Too often the tail of vested interest pet traders is found wagging the guard-dog of regulation and enforcement. In the medium-to-long terms, complete bans on trading wild animals as pets must be implemented.

The common pet industry claim that bans will drive trade underground says a lot about the disrespect for law of many who sell wild animals. In the short-to-medium terms the widespread introduction of positive lists would allow for only extensively and scientifically pre-checked species to be approved for trade. It is unacceptable that the exotic pet trade continues to evade the normal precautionary principles of other, even far less harmful, industries. As human scientific and ethical awareness advances, future generations will reflect on the exotic pet industry as we now do trafficking and slavery of our own species, and condemn it for having ever existed â– | 48 | environmentmagazine.co.uk

+ More Information Animal Protection Agency www.apa.org.uk Emergent Disease Foundation http://emergentdisease.org People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals www.peta.org

CONSERVATION

MARINE LITTER | DR SUE KINSEY

MARINE LITTER

a growing problem Dr. Sue Kinsey, Senior Pollution Policy Officer for the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) discusses the environmental, economic and social consequences of our ‘throw–away’ consumer culture, as litter continues to increase in the marine environment.

| 50 | environmentmagazine.co.uk

www.mcsuk.org/beachwatch

environmentmagazine.co.uk | 51 |

CONSERVATION

MARINE LITTER | DR SUE KINSEY

Dr. Sue Kinsey untangling a stricken bird.

The United Nations Environment Programme states that “marine litter poses a vast and growing threat to the marine and coastal environment� (UNEP 2005). If no action is taken, litter will continue to accumulate in the marine environment and on our beaches. This will affect wildlife, ecosystems, the tourism and fishing industries and the UK taxpayer.

The material most commonly found on beaches worldwide is plastic. This should come as no real surprise as plastic use grows and it continues to replace many traditional materials. Plastics themselves are an extremely useful materials and are now a part of everyday life.

Indeed, it would be difficult to imagine our present society surviving without it. However, the material attributes, such as long life and durability, that have led to the extensive use of plastics in the packaging, consumer and fishing industries have also made them one of the most pervasive, persistent and hazardous form of litter in the marine environment.

Due to their lightweight nature, many items of plastic will float on the surface of the sea, or within the water column, where they can harm wildlife, foul fishing gear and cause a hazard to small craft. Floating debris can also be transported substantial distances by wind and currents, resulting in the deposition of items from many different countries on beaches around the world.

MCS has co-ordinated a UK-wide beach litter survey and clean up since 1994. Through these surveys we have recorded an increase in the amount of plastic litter on UK beaches and this trend is reflected in a number of other surveys throughout the world. Plastic items have always dominated the litter found during Beachwatch surveys and consistently account for around 60% - 70% of all | 52 | environmentmagazine.co.uk

www.mcsuk.org/beachwatch

Fig. 1: The increase in plastics recorded in Beachwatch surveys.

litter. The amount of plastic litter items/km in the same period has increased by over 100%, now ca. 1,000 items/ km (Fig 1).

Despite legislation aimed at preventing the dumping of litter at sea, such as the MARPOL Convention and the Port Waste Reception Facilities Regulations, together with increasing public awareness of waste and recycling, quantities of litter on UK beaches have shown no appreciable decrease over the last 18 years.

Where does it come from?

Identifying the sources of marine litter is vital to ensure that preventative measures are directed effectively.

Litter enters the marine environment and is deposited on beaches from a variety of sources, including direct littering by beach visitors, discarded fishing gear from fishing vessels, illegal dumping by ships and small marine craft, sewage discharges, combined sewer overflows, and fly-tipping.

Litter is also carried by rivers, streams and winds into coastal waters, so littering in urban areas can make a significant contribution to marine litter. Much of the litter accumulates along the strandline deposited by the incoming tides, whilst sand dunes, groynes, rocky areas and promenades also act as sinks or traps for wind-blown litter.

Lost or discarded fishing gear is one of the most hazardous forms of litter for wildlife through entanglement and ingestion, and also poses a threat to fishermen and other seafarers through fouling of active fishing gear and ship propellers.

The incidences of deliberate dumping of shipboard waste are unfortunately unknown. However, the amount

Average litter densities on UK beaches are now over 2,000 litter items/ km surveyed. of waste attributable to shipping does not seem to have changed appreciably since the introduction of the MARPOL regulations, and to date there have been only three UK prosecutions for illegal dumping of waste at sea.

The occurrence of sewage related debris on UK beaches is often the result of the public using the toilet as a 'wet bin’. An estimated 1.5 to 2 billion items of sanitary protection are flushed every year in the UK, in addition to 61-100 million condoms (National Bag It and Bin It Group, 1997). Many items flushed down the toilet will find their way onto our beaches through the sewerage network, particularly via combined sewer overflows.

The effects of marine litter

Marine and beach litter is not simply an aesthetic problem, but has environmental, ecological and socioeconomic impacts. It has been calculated that the UK spends approximately €18m removing beach litter every year (KIMO, 2010). Litter also negatively affects tourism and fishing interests as well as causing damage to boats, in the form of entangled propellers and blocked drainage outlets.

Wildlife suffers from marine litter either from ► environmentmagazine.co.uk | 53 |

CONSERVATION

MARINE LITTER | DR SUE KINSEY

Matt Oldfield

Matt Oldfield

Rob Drake Knight

entanglement in litter or by ingestion. Large litter items can physically trap animals, which can lead to drowning in air breathing species such as cetaceans and seals or to the asphyxiation of fish species. The extra energy needed to drag around items of litter can lead to increased risk of predation, starvation and death. Litter can also become tightly bound around the body or extremities, causing limbs to be cut off.

When litter is indigested it can cause physical damage to the digestive tract, which may lead to scarring, ulceration and occasional penetration into the body cavity. Ingestion can also cause a blockage or affect appetite by giving the animal a false sense of satiation. Seabirds confuse small litter items with food and, as they regurgitate their food when feeding their young, they can pass these directly to their chicks.

Worryingly, recent studies have shown that microplastics, caused by the breakdown of larger products or by microbeads from products such as toothpaste and facial and body scrubs being washed down our drains | 54 | environmentmagazine.co.uk

Matt Oldfield

can adsorb toxic chemicals from their surroundings. Since these can be ingested by animals towards the bottom of the food chain, the potential exists for these toxins to be passed up the food chain, ultimately to ourselves as sea food consumers..

New Directive, new hope?

Marine litter is specifically mentioned in the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MFSD) as one of the 11 factors in which Member States need to achieve Good Environmental Status by 2020. Descriptor 10 of the MSFD states “quantities and properties of marine litter shall not cause harm to the marine and coastal environment�. On the surface this would seem to be a clear driver to reduce the amount of marine litter.

Unfortunately, the targets and indicators set out by most of the Member States, including the UK, are quite weak with no quantitative targets for decrease being set.

Most EU governments are now in the process of, or about to, consult on the measures needed to achieve good

www.mcsuk.org/beachwatch

Ecomare

environmental status (the UK Government’s consultation will go out early in 2015). As these measures to tackle marine litter have yet to be decided, we now have, perhaps a once in a lifetime opportunity, to influence Government thinking and push for a suite of actions and measures that will make a real difference to the levels of litter on our beaches and in our seas.

However, solving the problem of marine litter is not simply a matter just for Government. We need to accept it concerns all of us from industry and design down to each individual, and that we all need to be part of the solution.

To achieve lasting solutions all players in the litter supply chain must take responsibility including: • Responsible design – minimal packaging, closed-loop design/design for recycling, increased use of recyclate in products, secure transport.

• Responsible use – reduction, reuse, use of recycling and disposal facilities, levies, deposit systems loan schemes, education.

• Responsible reuse/recycling - provision of appropriate facilities for collection, recycling and disposal, facilities and systems that make it easy for the consumer to do the right thing, development of markets for recycled materials.

• Responsible Government – coordinated marine litter strategies between the four home nations and Member States, education, enforcement of existing laws, fines that really mean the polluter pays, adherence to the precautionary principle, levies, deposit systems.

Much as the idea of Zero Waste strategies are gaining acceptance for solid waste strategies on land, there needs to be a similar sea change in attitude towards marine litter so that there is a goal of zero waste discharge into the marine environment. This would mean a much greater emphasis on waste prevention and minimization, as well as allowing no discharge of waste into our seas and onto our beaches.

Retrieving litter from beaches is important as it allows us to monitor the extent of the problem, and is the most visible component of this largely invisible problem.

However, once in our seas, the chances of retrieval decrease drastically and the chances of harm being caused increase greatly. Therefore, it is vital that we work towards this situation of zero discharge of litter to the marine environment.

The legacy of our ‘out-of-sight, out of mind’ attitude to the oceans will continue to be visible for years to come as litter continues to wash up on our shores, but as we banish this outdated mode of thinking, we can work towards a vision of beautiful, clean and safe seas and beaches for all ■

+ More Information www.mcsuk.org/beachwatch

environmentmagazine.co.uk | 55 |

CONSERVATION

B I O D I V E R S I T Y & O F FS E T T I N G | D R J U L I A B A K E R

| 56 | environmentmagazine.co.uk

www.pbworld.com

How numbers (not offsetting) can realise the ideal - development with a net gain for biodiversity

By Dr Julia Baker

Biodiversity Specialist, Parsons Brinckerhoff

Photography by Dave Rogers Numbers attract. Psychologically, it has been proven that people are naturally drawn to numerals more than words.

The power of numbers is evident from all of the ‘5 easy steps to…’ and ‘7 reasons to...’ blogs and marketing campaigns that use numbers to double their readership. So why do people love numbers? Some argue that numbers are the most universal form of language. But more than that, numbers provide structure and organisation that makes for faster reading. They’re also visually different from written text, so readers are more likely to notice them, and add detail that gets attention and let people know what to expect.

Numbers are an integral part of the business world.

Effective management requires measurement: baselines are established, targets are set and progress towards achieving a target is measured. Sustainability is no exception and, when the business world embraced the concept of sustainable development, the need to quantify results concerning environmental issues grew rapidly.

Environmental concerns, such as carbon and waste, were given a ‘number’ and corporate reports included metrics on sustainability performance. In the United Kingdom (UK), however, biodiversity was never given a number for quantification. This was partly because there was no universal measurement for biodiversity that could be easily adopted, given the complexities of measuring diverse and dynamic ecosystems. Consequently, ecological impact assessments of developments continued to be about

‘the potential of a site for dormice’ or ‘the probability of great crested newts’, and compensation for losses of habitats were effectively guesses of what might achieve no net loss. The problem with this system is that it is failing to stop biodiversity loss, despite efforts to protect biodiversity while development continues. Things need to change. The question is how.

Changing how we communicate biodiversity to a business audience

For some time, the nature conservation sector has tried to find terminology that engages a business audience. Green infrastructure, natural capital and ecosystem services are a few of the many. Numbers have two major advantages compared with these terms. Firstly, numbers are what business people use to make decisions, not just on commercial assets but also environmental components of a sustainable development plan. While business leaders make commitments to reduce a quantifiable amount of their carbon footprint and waste, biodiversity often lags behind, being the ‘poor cousin’ to the likes of climate change and recycling. Putting a number on biodiversity enables the business sector to more readily commit to, and demonstrate achievements in, no net loss or net gain initiatives. The second advantage of numbers is simplicity.

Quantifying biodiversity allows business leaders to assess more easily how their decisions impact biodiversity and the actions needed to avoid or reduce the impact. ► environmentmagazine.co.uk | 57 |

CONSERVATION

B I O D I V E R S I T Y & O F FS E T T I N G | D R J U L I A B A K E R

In cases where impacts are unavoidable, numbers provide a greater degree of certainty in the decision on how much compensation is needed - not just for developers, but for all involved including statutory agencies, local authorities, conservation organisations and local communities. Given these advantages of putting a number on biodiversity, the measurement used is critical.

Measuring biodiversity

When speaking with colleagues in the conservation sector about how much there is to gain from quantifying biodiversity, it’s normally about this stage in the conversation when they raise concerns. How can a single number represent the variety of life that biodiversity encompasses? How can numbers reflect the values | 58 | environmentmagazine.co.uk

that people attach to a woodland or green space, and the benefits that people gain from nature, especially in terms of health and wellbeing? While I agree with the concerns, I also recognise that we have a choice. If putting a number on biodiversity is too difficult then the choice is to keep with the current system, but we know this is failing to halt biodiversity loss. The alternative is to acknowledge the challenge and seek a solution, which the UK government did in 2012. As part of the pilot test on biodiversity offsetting, the government introduced a metric to measure ‘biodiversity units’. This habitat-based metric1 is based on three variables: habitat distinctiveness, habitat condition and size (area). To calculate biodiversity units, a developer (or their consultant) first identifies all habitat types on a development site and the size of each

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habitat. Then using UK government guidance, for each habitat they determine whether it is of low (2), medium (4), or high (6) distinctiveness and then assess whether the condition is poor (1), moderate (2) or good (3). Each variable is scored, and all scores are multiplied to give the number of biodiversity units. For example: Habitat Type

Distinctiveness

Condition

Area (hectares)

Biodiversity Units

Broadleaved woodland

High (6)

Good (3)

5

6 x 3 x 5 = 90

Highways transport verge

Low (2)

Poor (1)

2.5

2 x 1 x 2.5 = 5

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B I O D I V E R S I T Y & O F FS E T T I N G | D R J U L I A B A K E R

There is much debate about whether this metric accurately represents the true value of biodiversity for the environment, society, and the economy. Some argue that omitting wildlife is a critical flaw, while others support this habitat-based metric, because the existing legislation to protect wildlife overrides offsetting and because it focuses offsetting on creating habitats, rather than a narrow wildlife species-specific approach. Nonetheless, introducing the metric was a significant step for the UK to achieve the win-win scenario of a growing economy and a thriving environment. Sadly however, this has been overshadowed by the controversy over biodiversity offsetting.

Osetting biodiversity loss

Biodiversity offsetting is a way to compensate for the | 60 | environmentmagazine.co.uk

unavoidable loss of biodiversity from development. It is the last stage of the mitigation hierarchy (Figure 1) when all reasonable efforts have been made to avoid or reduce impacts on biodiversity. This means that developers go through stages of first avoiding biodiversity loss, for example by locating their development in a less sensitive area, and then minimising losses that cannot be avoided, such as reducing the amount of vegetation clearance.

However, if there are losses that cannot be avoided or reduced, planning policy and legislation dictate that developers compensate for these losses. Biodiversity offsetting is one way of doing so.

With offsetting, developers can compensate for the unavoidable loss of biodiversity at a different location to their development site if their offset meets certain criteria. These criteria vary among countries but most â–ş

CONSERVATION

B I O D I V E R S I T Y & O F FS E T T I N G | D R J U L I A B A K E R

governments, including the UK, have adopted the principles established by the Business and Biodiversity Offset Programme (BBOP). These principles include strict adherence to the mitigation hierarchy, limits on what can be offset (particularly irreplaceable habitat such as ancient woodland), and achieving ‘no net loss’ as a minimum, though a net gain is preferable. Adherence to BBOP’s principles is a safeguard against offsetting becoming ‘a licence to trash’2 culture, which is when developers immediately look to offset their impacts on biodiversity rather than first avoiding or reducing these impacts.

A key criterion, and one that makes biodiversity offsetting different from other forms of compensation, is the formal requirement to measure both the unavoidable loss of biodiversity and the compensation that will be gained – hence the ‘biodiversity unit’ metric introduced by the government for its pilot test on offsetting.

Focusing on the end goal

Figure 1. Mitigation Hierarchy Definition (adapted from The Business and Biodiversity Offset Programme)

Business and Biodiversity Offset Programme (BBOP) BBOP is an international collaboration between companies, governments, conservation agencies and financial institutions. Its aim is to develop shared views and best practice on demonstrating “no net loss” and a net gain in biodiversity, through biodiversity offsets among other means.

BBOP developed a framework of principles for designing and implementing biodiversity offsets and verifying success. See the BBOP website (http://bbop.forest-trends.org) for details.

| 62 | environmentmagazine.co.uk

The aim of the UK pilot test was to assess whether a biodiversity offset approach can achieve legislative requirements to protect biodiversity more efficiently and effectively than the current system. Unfortunately it devolved into a series of debates that all hinged on whether offsetting is a licence to trash. And no wonder, because the focus was on offsetting. Case studies from around the world illustrate that, correctly and appropriately undertaken, offsetting can deliver no net loss or a net gain. However, case studies also illustrate the risks and how, if inappropriately used, offsetting can degrade nature and affect the people who depend on it.

While the debate continues, it is important to remember that offsetting is a tool. It is a method, a way of getting to where you want to go. It is a means-goal but not an endgoal. So what is the end goal when it comes to business and biodiversity? As BBOP simply and clearly define, no net loss as a minimum and preferably a net gain.

In June 2014 the European Union launched a public consultation on its No Net Loss initiative3. By doing so they focus us on the goal that they want to achieve – no net loss as a minimum. Part of achieving no net loss is to influence decision-making by business leaders and numbers are, quite simply, an effective way of doing so. As a biodiversity consultant working in the UK construction industry, with the ‘biodiversity unit’ metric, finally I could speak about biodiversity in business terms. I could communicate biodiversity to business leaders in a way that they were familiar with, could readily understand and, mostly importantly, were interested in. Using numbers did not change anything about my work in biodiversity ►

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| 64 | environmentmagazine.co.uk

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The team adhered to Defra's and BBOP's principles to deliver what has become Network Rail's first net-gain biodiversity offset in partnership with the London Wildlife Trust and Lambeth Council.

conservation. I still gathered all of the information I needed to understand the biodiversity of a development site, its nature conservation value and its primary ecological function. I still assessed the impacts on biodiversity from a development, identified how the impacts could be avoided or reduced and what was the best way to achieve the ideal of development with a net gain for biodiversity.

Then I had a tool to communicate all of this very simply.

In my experience, numbers have transformed the typical response of the business sector to biodiversity and set a foundation to achieve the win-win scenario of a growing economy and a thriving environment.

Network Rail's Thameslink Programme is a fine example of this. By using numbers to communicate losses and gains in biodiversity from the programme, the Executive Board committed to a voluntary net gain target.

They established a 'Delivering Biodiversity Benefits' policy and procedure, trained their staff on the biodiversity unit metric and held biodiversity workshops for their supply chain that included brain storming sessions on on-site enhancements. Given the constraints to planting on railway embankments, offsetting was required for the net gain. The team adhered to Defra's and BBOP's principles to deliver what has become Network Rail's first netgain biodiversity offset in partnership with the London Wildlife Trust and Lambeth Council. The offset itself was woodland creation and enhancement at Streatham Common in South London, which is a nature reserve and public park. This ensured that the offset delivered a net gain in biodiversity for Thameslink, enhanced an urban nature reserve for wildlife and increased the enjoyment of a public park for people.

Interest in no net loss approaches and biodiversity offsetting around the world is growing. To name a few, the Swedish government is reviewing possibilities for a national policy on biodiversity offsetting, progress to adopt offsetting in Asia continues, and there is increasing interest from developing countries to establish a formal

The Thameslink Programme The ÂŁ6.5bn government-sponsored Thameslink Programme is transforming north-south travel through London. Journeys will be improved, with new spacious trains every two to three minutes through central London at peak times and improved connections will provide better travel options to more destinations than ever before.

offset system. All of these countries can learn lessons from the original pioneers of biodiversity offsetting, notably the United States and Australia. This is important to ensure that offsetting makes a positive change as a carefully constructed and well managed component of a wider biodiversity conservation strategy, and that putting a number on biodiversity helps to achieve the twin challenges facing many nations of growing the economy and enhancing the environment â– 1

2

3

HM Government Department of Rural and Farming Affairs 2012 Biodiversity Offsetting: guidance for developers.

POSTNOTE (2011) Biodiversity Offsetting. Number 369. UK Houses of Parliament, Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology. http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-14-645_ en.htm

+ More Information www.pbworld.com

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C A PAC I T Y C R U N C H | J O N F E R R I S

The Energy Capacity Crunch: Is your company ready?

Jon Ferris, Head of Risk Management at EIC, outlines how simple changes to a company’s energy management and a realisation that responsibility for energy use and procurement needs to be coordinated at the individual company level will give businesses a more solid foundation in preparation for the energy capacity crunch to come.

| 66 | environmentmagazine.co.uk

www.eic.co.uk

The Changing UK Generation Mix.

Global Gas Prices 2007 – present.

The UK is facing a capacity crunch as coal and oil-fired power stations go offline and gas plant is mothballed as the cost of importing gas continues to rise. The cost of supporting investment in new generation, an antiquated energy infrastructure and the retirement of a fifth of the UK’s power stations over the next decade mean a future of electricity price rises.

To understand the forces at work, an understanding of the wholesale energy markets and how the UK interacts with the rest of the world is essential.

The UK generation mix has continually evolved since the growth of nuclear in the 1960s, gas in the 1990s and renewables since 2000. Wholesale electricity prices have been driven by the cost of the marginal fuel used for generation, which has usually been gas. Electricity prices have therefore moved with a high correlation to gas prices.

While gas can be transported by ship as liquefied natural gas (LNG) and by pipeline there is no global market.

Instead, various regional markets have developed with different price determinants. The US, with abundant shale gas and restrictions on exports, currently has low prices.

In the Far East the supply-demand balance is the inverse, especially since the reduction in nuclear generation has increased the use of fossil fuels for electricity generation.

Europe lies in-between, with some indigenous production but also an increasing reliance on imports.

Once a net exporter of gas, the UK has now become dependent on gas imports from Europe via pipeline and LNG predominantly from Qatar. The UK price of gas is set by the cost in the markets we are competing with to attract the imports required to meet demand. For example, in 2009 markets assumed that we were competing with the US for new LNG from Qatar. As the US reduced imports ► environmentmagazine.co.uk | 67 |

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C A PAC I T Y C R U N C H | J O N F E R R I S

Ed Webster

and European import facilities came online, UK prices returned to European levels. In recent winters, high demand meant that the UK was at times competing to attract cargoes of LNG that would otherwise have sailed to the higher-priced Asian markets.

Exploration for shale gas in the UK may increase indigenous production, but this may be required simply to offset the decline in North Sea production. In order to reduce the wholesale market price, shale production would have to be significant enough to change the market with which we are competing. There is also pressure to find more environmentally friendly sources of energy. Continued growth in renewable generation will be required to meet the EU target of 20% energy consumption to be produced by renewable resources by 2020. In addition, to meet greenhouse gas emissions targets, emissions from coal plants will be further restricted by the Industrial Emissions Directive. As coal plants close, the less efficient gas plants that have recently been mothballed may be brought back into service.

Support from renewable generation and investment in networks has contributed to rising costs, even as wholesale prices have fallen back. The growth in renewable generation has also made short-term prices more volatile. This can be seen more obviously in German prices, where 39GW of wind and 35GW of photovoltaic generation are providing an average of 24% of their generation mix. However, this is dependent on the level of wind and sunshine, resulting in much greater variability in day-to-day prices than currently experienced in the UK. | 68 | environmentmagazine.co.uk

The Electricity Market Reform (EMR) – the UK Government’s initiative to attract the investment to replace our ageing energy infrastructure and meet the projected future increases in electricity demand – is now enshrined in law with the passage of the Energy Bill to the Energy Act. Regulatory and legislative uncertainty is slowing investment in energy projects and there is little new investment without guaranteed support, which is being passed on to customers, increasing energy bills for companies both large and small. However, the EMR is expected to continue this trend as the costs of Contracts for Difference Feed-in Tariff (CfD FiT) and the Capacity Market – both key aspects of the EMR – are expected to be recovered from consumers as another non-commodity cost, resulting in the wholesale price making up less than half of the total cost by 2020.

While higher energy bills are anticipated, this is to be largely driven by the continued increase in noncommodity costs. As a result, while shopping around will remain an essential way to optimise procurement, switching suppliers will not be the solution to higher energy costs.

As can be seen, the energy market has changed significantly in recent years and companies are recognising the competitive benefit of reacting to this new reality. In the past, only large companies would use flexible purchasing and basket deals to manage energy costs. Now, with an energy capacity crunch expected, SME-sized companies are changing their approach to energy procurement.

As energy bills rise, companies have to bear increased

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UK and German day ahead electricity prices 2009 – present.

2020 Price Forecast.

costs or pass them on to their customers, in turn increasing the cost of their product or service. But changes to how companies manage energy procurement have the potential to keep their energy bills down and reduce the need to increase prices paid by their customers – making them more competitive than their rivals.

To become more energy and cost efficient, companies need to look at the energy market in a different way. The use of energy brokers, like Utilitywise, is rising. Energy brokers not only have the ability to search the whole of the market to offer a range of tariff rates, but they also work with suppliers to develop new products that benefit consumers, which is becoming more attractive as companies look to control cost. Add this to a broker’s ability to navigate a confusing maze of tariff possibilities and consolidate multiple contract end dates to a single

day, it is easy to see why more and more businesses are turning to intermediaries for help.

However this is just the start: once a business has optimised energy procurement it is important to understand where, when and how its energy is being used and how much energy is wasted. This is the second change needed: monitor usage.

The introduction of AMR (automatic meter reading) is not new and many businesses will already have them, but few use the data to its full potential. Suppliers take AMR data to produce more accurate billing, but the ability to see and analyse the data allows companies to understand their business’ energy consumption and make changes to their operations to reduce it. Diverting the AMR data to a reporting platform is essential.

Using a reporting platform like the Utility Insight ► environmentmagazine.co.uk | 69 |

ENERGY

C A PAC I T Y C R U N C H | J O N F E R R I S

Consumption and Distribution Use of System (DUoS) cost.

The Utility Insight Dashboard screen.

software by Utilitywise allows a business to monitor and target energy consumption and the financial implications, identifying unusual patterns, trends or out of hours consumption. Utility Insight is a multi-utility, web-based reporting platform that gives users full insight into a business’ electricity, gas and water usage. Clear reports on energy consumption – and energy waste – can be shared across a company, automatically, and in as much detail as required. It can give minute by minute, circuit-board level detail; for example, which strip of lights are being left on out of hours, or whether the air conditioning is running in line with the control strategy.

Using this technology, one Utilitywise client has made a saving of over 80% on their gas bill. Another customer | 70 | environmentmagazine.co.uk

saved in excess of £14,000 a year because staff were leaving air conditioning units running and lights on outside of office hours when the building was empty. AMR reporting platforms can send automated daily reports on consumption and CO2 levels as well as comparisons between days, weeks or months, and set alarms if usage falls outside of normal patterns. But this is not the end, it is just the start.

The third change is to control consumption at crucial times. Distribution costs typically make up 10% of an electricity bill. For one Utilitywise client, 80% of these costs were incurred in the red band between 4 and 7pm. Load shifting away from this time will not only save on distribution costs, but also help with avoiding

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transmission costs and wholesale price peaks.

The fourth change is to generate your own power. Onsite generation will not only offset exposure to volatile wholesale prices, but also increasing non-commodity costs. CHP, exempted from CPS in the budget, is more controllable than renewables so can be used to respond to market price signals.

The final change is to integrate energy procurement with energy management. Applying the concept of flexible procurement to short term prices allows companies to benefit from new opportunities by participating in demand response, either in the capacity market or by trading energy on the balancing market.

There are a number of pieces of existing and upcoming legislation that are relevant when considering energy monitoring. Article Eight of the EU Efficiency Directive states that through the ‘Smart Metering Implementation Programme’ organisations within the smaller nondomestic sectors will receive smart meters. This means smaller businesses with an electricity profile class of 03 and 04, or a gas consumption of less that 732MWh per year will receive the technology. However, with the costs of the smart meter programme effectively paid by businesses, they should make the most of them through effective use of analysis and reporting capabilities like Utility Insight.

A volatile energy market is not going away, and there is no one-size-fits-all solution to reducing costs

and consumption. However, simple changes in how energy is managed and controlled, and a realisation that responsibility for energy use and procurement needs to be coordinated at the company level will give businesses a solid foundation in preparation for the energy capacity crunch to come â–

+ More Information www.eic.co.uk

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CO M M U N I T Y O W N E D R E N E WA B L E S | W I L L F E RG U S O N

Power to the

People

By Will Ferguson

Head of Communications, Triodos Bank

| 72 | environmentmagazine.co.uk

www.triodos.co.uk

Community owned renewables can generate green energy and a longterm source of income for the local neighbourhood.

Communities across Scotland have been the first to reap the benefits of the abundant resources nature provides to them. They’ve pioneered community renewable energy projects, collectively developed and owned by local people. Generating green energy and a long-term source of income for their community, renewables projects represent a way to contribute to our energy security and ensure the sustainable future of neighbourhoods across the UK. But with the general elections coming up next year the rhetoric about how to supply the UK’s future energy needs is heating up. The Conservatives have announced to cut all subsidies to onshore wind power – including community projects – if they win the next election, a move that the industry said would end deployment of the country’s cheapest form of renewable energy. Triodos Bank is involved in a number renewable wind projects and would greatly regret if this well understood technology would be dismissed as too expensive. We believe the renewable industry is making great progress in cutting costs and from a sustainable point of view on-shore wind projects remain the best value for money in the long run with minimal impact on the environment. Triodos Bank sees huge potential for many communities to generate their own electricity, putting power and profits back in the hands of the people.

Empowered communities

Odds are it's another blustery day on the Isle of Barra. As the southernmost inhabited island of the Outer Hebrides in Scotland it bears the brunt of whatever weather the Atlantic throws at it. Not that the locals mind. Every rotation of the Isle's new wind turbine's blades means more electricity generated and more money into the community coffers. Barra's one of a number of pioneering communities which have developed their own wind turbine. The turbine stands on land owned by the Scottish government at Gòb Sgùrabhal, Barra's most north-westerly point. The wind resource is so good

there that it's expected to be one of the most productive turbines of its size in Western Europe. Good news for local people as it's set to provide the island communities of Barra and neighbouring Vatersay with a steady, reliable annual income of £50,000 - £100,000 for years to come.

With its turbine's official opening in February 2014, Barra is the latest Scottish community to exploit their renewable resources, but it's by no means the first.

An abundance of wind combined with a strong community ownership movement made the Scottish highlands and islands a natural incubator for community renewables. Some of the first projects, such as the hydro-electric schemes at Assynt and Knoydart, have been running for the best part of 15 years now, and the communities of the islands of Eigg, Gigha and Westray have all taken pioneering steps in their own way. Ten years ago Gigha found a new home for three turbines from Cumbria after they were replaced with newer models, Eigg switched to 100% renewable power in February 2008 after decades of reliance on diesel generators, and the following year Westray was the first community to develop its own large-scale turbine from scratch.

Reaping the rewards

Head from Barra towards Scotland's most Easterly point and eventually you'll reach Fetterangus in Aberdeenshire.

Their renewable energy project is only slightly ahead of Barra's, with a community wind turbine that was commissioned on Christmas Eve last year. The £1.5m scheme, which like Barra has been financed by Triodos Bank, should generate £75,000 a year for the community.

With a population of around 500 people, that's a significant boost to local funding of £150 per head.

Project leader, Colin Wood explains what it means to the community. "The wind turbine is going to transform Fetterangus. We have been looking for a regular, sustainable income that will help us fund projects in our village and the turbine is the perfect solution." ►

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Members of the local community gather for Barra wind turbine's ofďŹ cial opening.

That transformation means renovating the village hall so it can be enjoyed by the parents' association, pensioners club, scouts and guides. They plan to purchase playing fields for the local football club and develop a new sports complex which will include a biomass heating system. And perhaps their most important ambition is the construction of affordable homes, to enable younger generations to stay in the area, keeping families together and conserving the life-blood of the community.

Elsewhere in the UK examples of large scale community renewables projects are fewer and further between but starting to filter through. One that's currently in development, Halton Lune Hydro, will provide green energy to Triodos Bank customer Lancaster Co-housing, as well as an income for local community projects. And with around 1,650 members, Westmill Solar Park on the Wiltshire/Oxfordshire border is believed to be the largest community-owned photovoltaic power station in the world. | 74 | environmentmagazine.co.uk

While the foundations are being laid, you only have to look to Europe to see how much more could be achieved.

Half of Germany's renewable energy capacity is locally owned and in Denmark more than 150,000 families are members of wind turbine co-operatives, owning more than 3,000 turbines which provide around a quarter of the country's overall energy production.

Secrets of success

One of the barriers to more communities realising their renewable ambitions is the huge amount of time and effort needed to get a project off the ground. The Fetterangus wind turbine project for instance was set up in 2004. A key ingredient for success is a cohesive community that's really behind the project. In that respect community schemes have an advantage over privately owned projects - those who initially oppose development often come round when they realise that the income generated will come back to the community.

www.triodos.co.uk

Barra community wind turbine is expected to be one of the most productive for its size in Western Europe.

Successful projects tend to have a committed core team of individuals with the time to put into the project.

Often they're retired with experience of relevant skills in areas such as management and civil engineering. Unlike professional renewable energy developers, communities haven't normally been through the process before and each step is a steep learning curve. But community renewables organisations and committed lenders like Triodos can help support them on the journey.

"Out of all the banks, Triodos Bank was the most sympathetic to the project, understanding our aims, and supporting us throughout", says Wood. "It has been a long journey, involving dozens of local people and lots of hurdles but it has definitely been worth it."

An abundance of wind combined with a strong community ownership movement made the Scottish highlands and islands a natural incubator for community renewables, contributing to energy security and ensuring the sustainable future of neighbourhoods.

Community energy strategy

Now a new commitment by government could make it easier for communities to achieve their potential. In January, the government published the first community â–ş environmentmagazine.co.uk | 75 |

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energy strategy, setting out the role that communities can play in helping to meet the UK's energy and climate change challenges, including supporting a sustainable and secure energy system.

"The Community Energy Strategy marks a change in the way we approach powering our homes and businesses - bringing communities together and helping them save money - and make money too", said Energy and Climate Change Minister, Greg Barker. "We want to help more consumers of energy to become producers of energy and in doing so help to break the grip of the dominant big energy companies."

Modelling for the DECC suggests that by 2020 community electricity could generate between 0.5GW and 3GW from a mixture of solar PV, onshore wind and hydro. At the top end of this range it could provide enough electricity for over 1 million homes - 1.4% of the UK's energy need. The analysis also suggests that beyond 2020, community electricity has the potential to make an even greater contribution.

Practical measures include a new ÂŁ10m Urban Community Energy Fund to support communities in England looking to explore the feasibility of, and planning for, electricity and heat projects. This complements existing funds for communities in Scotland, Wales and rural England. There will also be a consultation on doubling | 76 | environmentmagazine.co.uk

the Feed-in Tariff (FIT) maximum capacity ceiling to 10MW for community projects. And the Strategy also promises new working groups bringing together regulators and industry to tackle issues communities face on planning, electricity network connections and hydropower.

All these can help, but arguably the most important thing for community energy is the creation of some sort of a longer term political stability to give communities and investors the confidence to explore the potential of decentralised power generation. And although energy security concerns and related worries about price and political volatility are driving governments across Europe to re-examine the source of energy supplies, the prospects for a distributed-energy system in which decentralised renewable-power generation eventually displaces conventional power plants shifting to a system of local and regional energy systems still has a long way to go â–

+ More Information www.triodos.co.uk/en

Photographs by Abigail Treffry

ENERGY

I S O S O L I D B I O F U E L S | E I JA A L A K A N G A S

International Standards

for Solid Biofuels

By Eija Alakangas

Principal Scientist, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Project leader of ISO 17225

| 78 | environmentmagazine.co.uk

www.iso.org

SOLID BIOFUELS, FUELS derived from biomass or renewable waste feedstocks, are by far the largest renewable energy source, so are likely to play an important role in a low-carbon future.

For this reason the global production of solid biofuels has been growing steadily over the last decade but they have not been traded on an equal and harmonized basis at the international level.

At present there are a number of different testing methods available to attest to the quality of solid biofuels and various practices to characterize the products. For a supplier trading internationally this can mean multiple tests or results that cannot be compared.

To answer the need for clarification at an international level, The International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) is currently preparing almost 60 standards for solid biofuels specifications and classes. Standards for pellets include: ISO 17225-1 (general requirements), ISO 172252 (graded pellets) and ISO 17225-6 (non-woody graded pellets). The ISO 17225 series also includes product standards for wood chips, firewood and non-woody briquettes. This will provide concise and unambiguous criteria and methods for the characterization of solid biofuels.

General requirements

This ISO standard includes the raw material classification of solid biofuels, which is based on their origin and source.

Stating origin and source is mandatory for all biofuels. ISO 17225-1 includes the following raw materials: 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Woody biomass Herbaceous biomass Fruit biomass Aquatic biomass Blends and mixtures

Blends are intentionally mixed biofuels, whereas mixtures are unintentionally mixed biofuels.

Chemically treated wood (e.g. glued, lacquered, painted) shall not include halogenated organic compounds or heavy metals at levels higher than those in typical virgin material values or higher than typical values of the country of origin.

The property classes of these biomass pellets made from different kinds of raw materials are not bound together, meaning each class can be identified individually.

Mandatory property classes are: • • • • •

Diameter (D) Length (L) Moisture (M on wet basis, w-%) Ash (A, on dry basis w-&, ashing temperature 550°C) Mechanical durability (DU, w-% pellets after drum testing) • Amount of fines (F < 3.15mm) • Bulk density (BD) • Net calorific value as received (Q) ►

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I S O S O L I D B I O F U E L S | E I JA A L A K A N G A S

If the raw material includes chemically treated biomass, then also nitrogen, sulphur and chlorine content have to be stated. It also has additional properties like fixed carbon and volatile matter, which are specified only for thermally treated biomass such as torrefied pellets.

Graded wood pellets

This standard (ISO 17225-2) for graded wood pellets includes pellets for industrial and non-industrial use.

Biomass pellets in ISO 17225-1 and industrial wood pellets in ISO 17225-2 also include proprietary classes for particle size distribution for disintegrated pellets. This value is important, when pellets are co-fired with coal in pulverized combustion plants.

Wood pellets for non-industrial use will also be specified according to ISO 17225-2. Property class A1 for wood pellets represents virgin woods and chemically untreated wood residues low in ash and nitrogen content.

Fuels with slightly higher ash content and nitrogen content fall within A2. In property class B, chemically treated industrial wood by-products and residues, and chemically untreated used wood is also allowed.

Graded non-woody pellets

Non-woody pellets include those made from blends and mixtures, including herbaceous, fruit or aquatic biomass.

Blends and mixtures can also include woody biomass. ISO 17225-6 includes two classification tables: 1. A and B class pellets produced from herbaceous and fruit biomass and blends and mixtures 2. Those made from straw, miscanthus and reed canary grass pellets

Non-woody pellets have high ash, chlorine, nitrogen and sulphur contents, as well as major element contents, so non-woody pellets are recommended to be used in appliances which are specially designed or adjusted for this kind of pellet.

When using non-woody materials for combustion, special attention should be paid to the risk of corrosion in small- and medium-scale boilers and flue gas systems.

Herbaceous or fruit biomass may influence the fuel ash composition differently depending on growth and soil conditions. The content of chlorine, phosphate and potassium in the material may form chlorides and phosphates and other chemical compounds resulting in high hydrochloric emissions and chemically active ash with low melting temperature, causing corrosion.

In general, non-woody biomass materials have a higher content of ash-forming elements and produce ashes with a lower melting temperature compared to most woody biomass. This may result in fouling, slagging and corrosion inside boilers. These problems are especially related to materials that contain high contents of potassium and silicate and low levels of calcium. | 80 | environmentmagazine.co.uk

Andrew Writer

Comprehensive set of solid biofuels specification standards

Additions to pellet standards also ISO 17225 series include the following product standards: • • • •

Part 3. Graded wood briquettes Part 4. Graded wood chips Part 5. Graded firewood Part 7. Graded non-woody briquettes

Wood chips and hog fuel can be specified according to standard ISO 17225-1 for general use and for wood chips for non-industrial use according to ISO 17225-4. Nonindustrial use means fuel intended to be used in smaller appliances, such as in households and small commercial and public sector buildings.

Hog fuel is defined as: fuelwood in the form of pieces of varying size and shape, produced by crushing with blunt tools such as rollers, hammers, or flails. Wood chips are defined as: chipped woody biomass in the form of pieces with a defined particle size produced by mechanical treatment with sharp tools such as knives. Wood chips have a sub-rectangular shape with a typical length 5 to 50 mm and a low thickness compared to other dimensions.

Property classes A1 and A2 in ISO 17225-4 represent

www.iso.org

Quality declar wood pellets. An image of ISO 17225-1 Wood Pellets showing the relevant classification values can be found on the Environment Industry Magazine website (See QR Code below). virgin woods and chemically untreated wood residues.

A1 represents fuels with lower ash content indicating no or little bark, and lower moisture content, while class A2 has slightly higher ash content and/or moisture content.

B1 extended the origin and source of class A to include other material, such as short rotation coppice, wood from gardens and plantation etc., and chemically untreated industrial by-products and residues. Property class B2 also includes chemically treated industrial by-products and residues and used wood.

Chemically treated wood residues, fibres and wood constituents from wood processing and used wood are included in property class B2 as long as they do not contain heavy metals or halogenated organic compounds more than virgin wood.

New product standard for thermally treated densified biomass under preparation

It has also agreed to start preparation of a product standard for graded thermally treated densified biomass fuels (ISO 17225-8). This standard will include pellets or briquettes produced by torrefaction, steam explosion or hydro carbonisation.

Parts 1 to 7 are ready for market implementation

Fuel specification and classes – standards (ISO 17225-series Parts 1 to 7) were published in May 2014. The preparation of a product standard for thermally treated densified biomass fuels has just started.

The standards are intended for all stakeholders working in the solid biofuels supply chain, including fuel producers, traders, end users, authorities and policy makers. These standards will serve as a tool to enable efficient trading of solid biofuels and foster a better understanding between seller and buyer, as well as for communicating with equipment manufacturers ■

+ More Information Contact: eija.alakangas@vtt.fi Follow the QR Code to view a labelled photo showing the Classification of wood pellets (ISO 17225-1):

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FOOD & PACKAGING

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S U S TA I N A B L E AG R I C U LT U R E | N I CO L A S M O U N A R D

www.twin.org.uk

Sustainable agriculture

make climate change your business Nicolas Mounard

Managing Director, Twin and Twin Trading

When some attention grabbing headlines picked up on threats to coffee production in the most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, climate change was suddenly transported from distant melting ice caps to much closer to home.

As the IPCC chair Rajendra Pachauri neatly put it: “Nobody on this planet is going to be untouched by the impacts of climate change.”

Here at Twin, the ethical trading organisation specialising in coffee, we are acutely aware that business is waking up to this reality. Climate change is becoming a threat to business as usual, just as business as usual is propagating climate change. ►

Photograph: Dan Lacher

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www.twin.org.uk

Smart businesses are investing within their value chains today to ensure that they are climate resilient. Without investment now, productivity and quality is likely to be compromised in the medium, not long-term.

Furthermore, many producers squeezed by volatile, declining coffee markets and the cost of adapting to climate change are likely to abandon coffee production altogether. Certainly, for brands focused on speciality markets or marketing specific single origins, security of supply cannot be found in diversification - it requires concerted action.

The future of farming – lessons from the IPCC

The March IPCC report finds that profound climate effects are already being felt around the world, something our team is witnessing in coffee communities day to day. Poor, marginalised and rural communities are likely to be the hardest hit, and shortages in climate sensitive crops will cause global hunger and drive up food prices. The report also finds that shifts in production areas, water stress and increases in agricultural pests and diseases, such as the recent devastating outbreak of coffee leaf rust in Central America, will result in a “loss of productivity of highvalue crops such as tea, coffee and cocoa which would have detrimental impacts on export earnings”.

Despite all this, the IPCC says there’s still time to avoid the most catastrophic impacts of climate change. In fact, it cites local and traditional knowledge systems and practices, including indigenous peoples’ holistic view of community and environment, as a major resource for adapting to climate change. This idea is central to Twin’s approach to development, which is why all of our adaptation projects begin with farmer consultation. Besides, there is no ‘one size fits all’ answer. As the report says, we need local insight to tailor interventions to the stresses, vulnerabilities and resources on the ground. ►

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www.twin.org.uk

Adaptation workshop, Peru.

The power of partnerships – a value chain approach

Engaging producers is not enough, however. It’s frankly unaffordable for smallholders to bear the cost of adaptation alone. Meeting this enormous global challenge requires us to work together, but making change has to be in everyone’s interest if it’s to be sustained. That’s why Twin is engaged throughout the value chain to make the business case for adaptation with all actors in the chain.

Our approach is to foster partnerships from farm to fork, to bring together skills, knowledge and resources and build something greater than the sum of its parts. As a charity as well as a trader, we also use our network to access funding and bring in expertise from the development community.

Twin’s approach to developing adaptation projects:

• work with producer organisations to identify adaptation needs and priorities, conducting climate risk assessments • work with businesses to identify supply chain risks and understand branding objectives • develop tailor-made climate strategies and action plans with clear goals and activities • support and monitor projects implemented by producer organisations, facilitating finance and innovation through partnerships • access premium markets for producers and work with brands to communicate impact and achievements

Climate change adaptation includes a broad range of interventions that impact quality, productivity, and food security. These interventions could cover anything

from water conservation, farm renovation, and soil conservation to farmer training on organic agriculture and good practices. Businesses and farmers alike should therefore view adaptation not in isolation, but as integral to any sustainable business model.

Communicating sustainability – what businesses want

The business case goes beyond building resilience to safeguard a consistent, quality supply of essential ingredients; it’s also about building a credible, sustainable brand. We wanted to gain a better understanding of the business needs around sustainability in order to unlock the marketing potential of climate smart investments and add further value for producers. To do this, we conducted a survey of the coffee buyers sourcing from five producer organisations taking part in our Big Lottery Fund (BLF) climate initiative in Nicaragua – a project which uses climate field schools as spaces for farmers to share knowledge and learn good practices.

Strikingly, the survey results revealed little appetite for a new climate consumer label. Buyers expressed low interest from their customers in ‘climate-marketing’; none of them saw it as a selling point for their coffees. What they are interested in is information. They want to know what action producers are taking to improve good agricultural practices and build climate resilience. Comprehensive Monitoring and Evaluation systems are therefore crucial, as buyers want to understand how new practices impact ► environmentmagazine.co.uk | 87 |

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Leaf rust.

productivity and quality, as well as seeing the breakdown of costs and savings.

So, how do they want this information delivered?

Respondents were mostly interested in videos, images, and producer testimonials on economic, environmental and social impact. Content being delivered in English or with English subtitles was also important, as was the availability of online content. Once they have this information, buyers are able to explore storytelling and marketing opportunities on a case by case basis.

Encouragingly, there does seem to be an appetite for investing in adaptation projects â&#x20AC;&#x201C; getting the desired information flowing can only help facilitate this.

Based on these insights, Twin has supported BLF project partner Cafenica, an association of smallholder coffee producer organisations, in building an online platform (http://web.cafenica.net/en) to meet this demand for content. The next step is to link back to the producer organisationsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; own websites and use the platform as a marketing hub for sending out newsletters to buyers. Two years in, the BLF project has resulted in community action plans being drawn up in each region based on the location-specific findings from climate field schools. The plans range from reforestation to community awareness campaigns. Buyers are able to find out more about such activities via the website, and invest in those which meet their business needs and resonate with their customers.

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Our approach is to foster partnerships from farm to fork, to bring together skills, knowledge and resources and build something greater than the sum of its parts. As a charity as well as a trader, we also use our network to access funding and bring in expertise from the development community. + More Information www.twin.org.uk

www.twin.org.uk

Dennis Skley

Partnership case study

M&S, Matthew Algie and Twin – water conservation on Peruvian coffee farms

Marks & Spencer source some of the coffee for their cafes from the Peruvian Andes. Rainfall in the region has become increasingly erratic and temperatures are expected to rise by up to 2ºC over the next 50 years, putting future supply at risk from heat and water stress. Twin worked with producer partner San Juan del Oro, a smallholder coffee supplier of M&S, to assess their adaptation needs by conducting farmer workshops. San Juan’s members stressed water supply as the critical adaptation priority for their crops.

Twin forged a value chain partnership with M&S and the coffee roaster Matthew Algie to tackle water stress at the farm-level. Twin’s coffee business, Twin Trading, is also part of the supply chain, and all three value chain partners have clubbed together to jointly fund a project to protect water sources, install water-saving processing equipment, and develop a family awareness campaign on responsible water use.

Louise Nicholls, M&S Head of Responsible Sourcing and Plan A, said: “It is our collective responsibility to work together as supply chain partners to adapt to climate change, and it makes good business sense to invest in the very people we depend on to deliver the great quality coffee our customers expect.” ■

Adaptation workshop, San Juan del Oro Co-operative, Peru.

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LAND MANAGEMENT

FUNGI CLEAN | ERIKA WINQUIST ET AL

Fungi Clean

PAH and PCDD/F Contaminated Soil Erika Winquist,

Department of Biotechnology and Chemical Technology, Aalto University School of Chemical Technology, Finland

Marja Tuomela,

Department of Food and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, Finland

Kari Steffen,

University lecturer in applied microbiology, University of Helsinki, Finland

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http://chem.aalto.fi/en/

Many urban and industrial activities lead to soil contamination. Problems are caused by filling stations, repair shops, waste disposal and landfill areas, sawmill areas, market gardens and many more. Soils contaminated with organic pollutants, such as oil hydrocarbons, polyaromatic hydrocarbons, various solvents, wood preservatives and pesticides, can be theoretically remediated with biological methods. The ultimate aim in bioremediation is the mineralization of organic compound, i.e. the degradation to carbon dioxide and water. The technology is both sustainable (pollutants are degraded) and eco-efficient (bioremediation consumes less energy and creates less pollution than alternative technologies, e.g. combustion in high temperatures.

However, the use of bioremediation plays only a minor role in handling contaminated soils. First of all, landfilling is still the most common way of disposing contaminated soils. Secondly, the most persistent organic contaminants cannot be degraded by composting, which is the currently used bioremediation technology.

Composting is used commercially to treat in particular oil contaminated soils. However, oil contaminated soils might also contain polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). If the PAH concentration is high these soils can no longer be treated by composting. In addition to oil hydrocarbons, also chlorophenols, which have been used as active ingredients in wood preservatives, can be degraded in a well optimized composting process. Nevertheless, many

sawmill areas are also contaminated with polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/F), which are extremely persistent. Other examples of persistent organic pollutants are polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB), which were used as coolants and insulating fluids in transformers and capacitors, tributyltin (TBT) used in antifouling paints for ships, and trinitrotoluene (TNT) used in explosives.

The aim of the mycoremediation research, in cooperation between the University of Helsinki, Aalto University and Finnish Environment Institute, was to widen the applicability of bioremediation to the most persistent organic contaminants. Mycoremediation takes advantage of the lignin degradation capabilities of whiterot and litter-decomposing fungi, which live on wood and forest floor litter respectively. Both groups of fungi are able to degrade lignin with extracellular oxidizing enzymes. In addition to lignin, these enzymes are able to degrade other compounds with structural similarities to lignin such as many organic pollutants. Although these fungi do not naturally grow deep into the soil, they are able to survive in soil if suitable substrates are available.

In fact, one of the key issues in mycoremediation research was to find a suitable carrier material to enable extensive fungal growth in the soil.

The starting point for this research was a screening of potential fungal strains. The University of Helsinki has a unique culture collection (FBCC = Fungal Biotechnology â&#x2013;ş

Figure 1. Fungal inoculum is set inside the soil pile packed in tubes covered with biodegradable plastic.

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FUNGI CLEAN | ERIKA WINQUIST ET AL

Culture Collection) of approximately 2000 fungal strains isolated from mainly Finnish forests. Approximately 150 strains were tested for their capability to grow in soil and to produce lignin modifying enzymes (Valentín et al., 2008). Several promising fungal strains were found and Phanerochaete velutina, Stropharia rugosoannulata and Gymnopilus luteofolius were selected for further bioremediation experiments in the laboratory scale. P. velutina is classified as a white-rot fungus, S. rugosoannulata as a litter-decomposing fungus, and G. luteofolius grows on stumps and falls between both ecophysiological groups of white-rot and litterdecomposing fungi.

Sawmill soils contaminated either with PAHs or PCDD/ Fs were chosen as target soils for the experiments. Both soils were obtained from former sawmill areas with well documented sawmilling activity for decades. PAHs originated from the use of coal-tar creosote. The main compounds in the PAH contaminated experimental soil were fluoranthene and pyrene with a total concentration of 5000 mg/kg (sum of 16 PAH). Although fungi in general are able to tolerate high concentrations of PAHs, the toxicity for a fungus depends also on the bioavailability of PAHs in the soil. Since both bioavailability and the total concentration of PAHs were high, the original soil was too toxic for the fungi. However, after dilution with composted green waste to a concentration of 3500 mg/kg (sum of 16 PAH), fungi grew well in the soil and degraded 95% of PAHs in 3 months (Winquist et al., 2014). After the

dilution, indigenous micro-organisms were also able to degrade 70% of PAHs in a control treatment without fungal inoculum.

The other experimental soil was contaminated with PCDD/Fs. The chlorophenol containing wood preservative Ky-5 used in this area had contained PCDD/Fs as impurities. While the chlorophenols had degraded during the years, the PCDD/F contamination was still present.

The main congener was 1,2,3,4,6,7,8heptachlorodibenzofuran and the total concentration accounted for 75,000 ng/kg WHO-TEQ. This soil was not too toxic for the fungus and was therefore not diluted.

Tested fungi (S. rugosoannulata and P. velutina) were able to degrade up to 64% of PCDD/Fs in 3 months (Anasonye et al., 2014). No degradation was observed in a control treatment without fungal inoculum.

After promising laboratory scale results, field scale trials followed. The two major challenges in the field scale are 1) production of fungal inoculum in larger quantity, and 2) correct application of inoculum for obtaining adequate growth in the soil. The selection of a suitable carrier material is crucial for both of these steps. We used pine bark as a growth substrate (Valentín et al., 2010).

Pine bark is a by-product from pulp, paper and timber manufacturing. It is composed mainly of lignocellulose but contains also phenolic extractives with antimicrobial properties. The composition of pine bark makes it a selective growth substrate. Therefore it is possible to use semi-aseptic growth conditions during the production of

Figure 2. Three months later, (see figure 1) the fungal mycelia are growing on the surface of the contaminated soil.

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http://chem.aalto.fi/en/

Gymnopilus luteofolius in it's naturally occuring form.

Darvin Deshazer

fungal inoculum and even added to soil pine bark is only slowly colonized by other soil micro-organisms.

Field experiments, described more in detail by Winquist et al. (2014), were carried out with PAH contaminated soil.

The excavated soil was placed in two piles (each in size 2000 kg) of which one contained fungal inoculum (80 kg) and the other was left without serving as a control pile. The original soil was diluted with composted green waste according to the laboratory experiments, but the starting concentration was lower (1400 mg/kg). Due to the lower starting concentration, fungal treatment did not enhance the biodegradation, but both treatments, with or without the fungal inoculum, resulted in an efficient remediation and 94% of PAHs were degraded. However, the inoculation of the soil in the field scale worked out well and we were able to achieve an extensive growth in the soil.

As a conclusion, promising results were obtained in the laboratory scale, particularly with PCDD/Fs, which are extremely persistent in the environment. The next step would be to continue with the field experiments before the technology is ready for commercial use. The research on this topic still continues at the University of Helsinki and in addition to PAHs and PCDD/Fs also TNT contaminated soil has been remediated successfully by fungi (Tuomela, 2013) ■

+ More Information 1

2

3

4

5

Anasonye, F.,Winquist, E., Kluczek-Turpeinen, B., Räsänen, M., Salonen, K., Steffen, K.T., Tuomela, M., Fungal enzyme production and biodegradation of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans in contaminated sawmill soil, Chemosphere 110 (2014) 85-90.

Tuomela, M., Winquist, E., Anasonye, F., Räsänen, M., Steffen, K., Bioremediation of TNT contaminated soil with fungi, European Conference of Defence and the Environment, Helsinki 2013, Conference Proceedings p. 141.

Valentín, L., Kluczek-Turpeinen, B., Oivanen, P., Hatakka, A., Steffen, K., Tuomela, M., Evaluation of basidiomycetous fungi for pretreatment of contaminated soil, J. Chem. Technol. Biotechnol. 84 (2009) 851-858.

Valentín, L., Kluczek-Turpeinen, B., Willför, S., Hemming, J., Hatakka, A., Steffen, K.T., Tuomela, M., Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) bark composition and degradation by fungi: Potential substrate for bioremediation, Bioresource Technol. 101 (2010) 2203-2209.

Winquist, E., Björklöf, K., Schultz, E., Räsänen, M., Salonen, K., Anasonye, F., Cajthaml, T., Steffen, K.T., Jørgensen, K., Tuomela, M., Bioremediation of PAHcontaminated soil with fungi – from laboratory to field scale, Int. Biodeterior. Biodegrad. 86 (2014) 238-247.

Title Photo Credit: Leslie Seaton

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SUSTAINABLE BUILD

B I R M I N G H A M N E W S T R E E T | A Z H A R Q UA I YO O M

Birmingham New Street Redevelopment Azhar Quaiyoom

Design Project Manager and Sustainability Manager, Network Rail

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www.networkrail.co.uk

The architectural challenge â&#x20AC;&#x201C; how to turn Birmingham New Street station: a dark, unwelcoming and overcrowded hub with poor access for passengers, into a light bright welcoming space.

The environmental challenge â&#x20AC;&#x201C; how to convert a very dated and energy intensive system of heating, cooling and ventilation, which was poorly maintained and controlled, into a modern, green, sustainable development while adhering to stringent rail standards.

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When the project commenced design in 2008, Network Rail was in its infancy regarding corporate policy and guidelines for creating sustainable transport hubs and the BREEAM methodology. So when the funding partners set the goal of achieving a BREEAM minimum rating of ‘Very Good’ the team knew that this would not be a straightforward target to achieve against a background of complex refurbishment in a rail environment.

Network Rail and its delivery partner Mace, backed

by Birmingham City Council, Centro and the Department for Transport, needed to deliver the kind of station passengers deserve: one that the people of Birmingham can be really proud of with sustainability credentials not achieved for a major train station of this kind.

New Street is the busiest station outside London and the busiest interchange station in the UK with a train leaving the station every 37 seconds. All this work had to be done without causing disruption to the trains or the live railway station which the project surrounds.

The first part of the new station opened to the public in April 2013 and it provides a fantastic experience for everyone who passes through its doors. It is brighter and lighter and gives a great first impression of the city.

Once the project is finished in 2015 there will be 36 new escalators and 15 new lifts - reaching every platform.

The exterior of the station will be clad in a stunning new stainless steel façade and the construction of a huge atrium will allow natural light to flood into the station concourse.

However, complying with current legislation for disabled access for a sub surface station with additional lifts, escalators and increasing concourse capacity and retail facilities also significantly increases energy requirements. Therefore it was very important when such an increase in energy occurs for the same building, low or zero carbon solutions must be explored as long as there is a viable case to satisfy the triple bottom line for a sound economic, environmental and social case as well as a safe | 96 | environmentmagazine.co.uk

one for the daily passengers through the station.

Refurbishing a 1960s structure to meet modern day sustainability requirements in a busy city centre can bring some challenges. However, the project team have been working hard to gain green credentials for the project through various recycling and energy monitoring initiatives as well as working closely with the designers and regulatory bodies.

Key facts

• In the completed station, we'll be incorporating: • Low energy and high efficiency LED lighting • 60% of the toilet flushing demand provided by rainwater harvesting system • Efficient water spray taps for water conservation • Energy efficient lifts and escalators • Sub-metering for all water, heating and cooling to monitor energy consumption • Natural daylight for the concourse and natural ventilation where possible to minimise energy consumption • Responsibly and legally sourced materials including timber • Use of alternative materials such as carpet tiles with the yarn made from recycled fishing nets • Network Rail’s first ever station to incorporate a stand alone Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plant with the station electricity taken from the plant and waste heat transferred into a city district heating scheme

Waste recycling

To create space for the new station concourse that opened in April 2013, over 7,500 tones of concrete was removed from a disused car park adjacent to the old station. All the waste concrete removed from this site has been taken to a waste recycling facility for use on other projects. 98% of the material from the demolished Stephenson Tower (now the site of the new John Lewis department store) has also been recycled.

The project is aiming to recycle/re-use an average of 95% of the non-hazardous waste material as a minimum, of which we have currently exceeded in elements of the ►

www.networkrail.co.uk

A view of the Eastern Square.

John Lewis Bullring link bridge view.

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demolition works and general waste. We have been closely engaged with our supply chain regarding waste and our main waste contractor Weir Waste, recently using a new local state of the art facility to segregate and recycle construction waste.

Energy Monitoring

The redevelopment project has also installed a submetering system which allows an accurate method of measuring water, electricity and carbon usage across our worksite on a day to day basis. This helps the project to monitor targets and reduce consumption throughout our works. This information has been shared around the works site and canteen areas

BREEAM

BREEAM has become the principle measure used to describe a building's environmental performance and Network Rail is dedicated to ensuring best practice for sustainability measures where we can.

It has been a tough journey but the station has met its target to gain a BREEAM rating of 'very good' for the design stage. The project team is now monitoring construction activity to ensure that we maintain this rating throughout the build and in the finished station.

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Procurement and Site Management

Network Rail and its partners have been working closely with many external bodies throughout the project, including The Carbon Trust, WRAP (Waste & Resource Action Programme) and NISP (National Industrial Symbiosis Programme).

The project has also created and implemented a bespoke Project materials procurement policy to ensure the supply chain sign up to legal and responsible sourcing of materials.

We also ensure our supply chain hold Environmental Management Certificates to ISO 14001 or BES 6001 or equivalent.

Keeping traďŹ&#x192;c oďŹ&#x20AC; Birmingham's streets

Working around an operational railway can be a challenge in itself; however it also provides a very accessible resource that the project team uses to transport material into and from site, without having to use carbon intensive lorries around the busy city centre.

Every week the train makes two journeys into the construction site from a logistics depot in Bordesley, on the outskirts of the city, and is expected to keep 10,000 lorry journeys off Birmingham's roads throughout the life of the project.

www.networkrail.co.uk

Energy

The expansion of the station concourse and additional lifts and escalators will mean that we will need nearly double the amount of power. So, in 2009, Network Rail commissioned the lead design and engineering consultant Atkins to carry out a Low and Zero Carbon (LZC) study for the project.

Before pursuing renewable technology it is imperative that the building fabric is the first area to improve, but one disadvantage of using the existing 1960’s façade is that it becomes very costly to improve with long payback times and therefore unviable. New areas of the façade were built to current Part L of the Building Regulations.

Network Rail worked closely with Atkins to make the main concourse area naturally ventilated to minimize energy usage. Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) modelling was carried out to ensure the new atrium worked effectively in extracting warm air in the summer using the stack effect and the station concourse was not too cold in the winter. Some seating and waiting areas were to be installed with radiant heating panels as a result of the modelling.

Exploration of various renewable and low carbon technologies ranging from Ground Source Heat Pumps (GSHP), Biomass boilers, and Photovoltaic (PV) to cover 2,000m2 around the South of the station façade was

undertaken. Using an existing city centre location meant special constraints excluded the use of many technologies such as Biomass and wind.

When PV’s were discounted due to the John Lewis development on the South Side removing the proposed PV area, Network Rail actively pursued the option of a Combined Heat & Power (CHP) scheme to provide the station with electric from gas and also looked at options of connecting into the local district heating network to the North of the station. This would reduce carbon emissions from site micro generation, as opposed to traditional power station generated grid electric, reduce transmission losses and use the waste by-product of heat that is normally lost in the cooling towers of old power stations. The preferred bidder Cofely was also very keen to use the subterranean network beneath the station to supply the south of the city and avoid disruption around the city centre.

The dilemma for Network Rail for using a CHP system was that the station demand profile was more electric intensive than heat: to a ratio of around 8:1. A heat partner was required to utilise surplus heat generated from the CHP plant and John Lewis was an ideal candidate being attached to the south of the station with its biggest store outside London.

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B I R M I N G H A M N E W S T R E E T | A Z H A R Q UA I YO O M

to a heat agreement with Cofely, a carefully co-ordinated agreement was created that acquired simultaneous signing of Energy Supply Contracts.

Once key partners and an outline scheme were identified, the major challenges of finding a location for a proposed 1.6MWe engine and planning the pipework routes through the station and John Lewis without disrupting a complex programme of works around the station redevelopment is a key challenge. Identifying the location of the plant to satisfy The Clean Air Act and avoiding a large chimney stack to satisfy local planning is just one of many obstacles the team have overcome in pursuing low carbon technologies.

Lighting and Controls

All lighting is being changed to low energy LEDs and lighting controls significantly improved to ensure lights are turned off in back of house areas for prolonged unoccupied periods and dimmed in public areas where passengers are not present. All lighting shall be centrally controlled and monitored via a Building Management System (BMS) based in the control room.

Water

The project aims to minimise the consumption of potable water by the use of dual flush cisterns in all toilets along with low flow sensor taps. All water consumption is also to be monitored via the BMS to allow close monitoring of consumption, something not regularly carried out at managed stations. A leak detection system will also produce an alarm in the control room if a leak is detected in the system. | 100 | environmentmagazine.co.uk

The project has also constructed a large 100m3 rainwater collection tank that collects clean rainwater from the roof and façade to provide for more than 60% of the stations toilet flushing demand and irrigation for planting.

Other attenuation tanks have also been installed to prevent flooding from overwhelming the main local sewer during periods of intense rainfall due to the future effects of climate change and increased risk of flooding in the city.

Materials

Sourcing materials that have a low environmental impact has also been a key consideration. Processes introduced on the project at an early stage ensure suppliers and contractors responsibly source all materials to ISO 14001 or equivalent and legally source all timber to FSC and PEFC. The project actively researched alternative materials and sourced carpet tiles from Miliken of which the yarn is made from recycled fishing nets and the base from recycled off-cuts from car seats.

Land Use and Ecology

Despite the location for New Street having a low ecology site, Network Rail appointed suitably qualified ecologists to advise and report on enhancing and protecting the ecological value of the site. A key feature of the output was a 325m2 green wall with over 25 different species along the Moor Street link to the East of the new station, creating a completely new welcoming route into the station and concealing a long dark and dirty retaining wall. â&#x2013;ş

www.networkrail.co.uk

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The challenge - delivering the first BREEAM excellent modular building in a live rail environment.

We've delivered a new and very green office building on platform one for our colleagues at Cross Country Trains. It has a green roof, solar photovoltaic panels to generate power and solar thermal panels for hot water.

This building has achieved a BREEAM rating of 'Excellent'.

The challenging brief was to provide a 1,000m2 office accommodation building for train crew within a year of starting on-site and in a challenging live rail environment with restricted site access in a city centre location. The brief was to also deliver a BREEAM Excellent rated | 102 | environmentmagazine.co.uk

building. This led to innovation with the first green roof in a live rail environment, first BREEAM Excellent rated building within a rail station and an innovative modular construction method on-site, high recycled rates from waste and reduction of greater than 10% in carbon emissions from renewables.

Challenges

An innovative modular construction method was used to fit with the location of the site, the constraints of limited working space and a very challenging programme.

The building was completed in a number of sections, waterproofed then fit out to reduce the construction programme considerably.

www.networkrail.co.uk

These challenges led to the following innovations:

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-

-

-

Bespoke modules fabricated and placed at large radius due to the aforementioned limitations. All module loads were within the cranes safe working capacity.

Other more conventional methods of construction were considered but could not deliver within the timescales imposed in the scope.

All crane lifts carried out within railway possessions limited to max seven hour period on Saturday evenings in order to adhere to stringent safety criteria and mitigate any risk to the overhead line and rail station operations to a critical infrastructure.

Drop zones were created from platform to an obsolete tunnel below. This was utilised to transit demolition and groundwork waste and taken outside of the station with electric buggy and carts.

The north side of the building was built into a sandstone outcrop. The sandstone was stabilised. 4m rock pins

were used and completed with shotcrete encapsulation.

Due to programme constraints the rock stabilisation works were carried out in parallel with the construction of the superstructure.

The above initiatives led to successful construction works and delivery without any incidents affecting the live rail network that was adjacent to the site.

Start & finish dates

GRIP 3 & 4 workshops (RIBA C/D) – April & May 2011 BREEAM pre-assessment – May 2011 GRIP 4 submission (RIBA D stage) – June 2011 Deconstruct existing Lampblock – August 2011 BREEAM Excellent (Design Interim stage) – July 12’ Construction period Aug 2011 – May 2012 Cross Country move in – 2nd June 2012 ► environmentmagazine.co.uk | 103 |

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B I R M I N G H A M N E W S T R E E T | A Z H A R Q UA I YO O M

The Team

Client: Network Rail Tenant: Cross Country Trains Delivery Project Manager: Mace (Matt Hempstock) Construction Manager: Mace (Paul Gaffney) Principal Contractor: Mace GRIP 4 (RIBA C/D) Design: WSP Design Interfaces: Atkins Design Project Manager and Sustainability Manager: Network Rail (Azhar Quaiyoom) D&B Main Contractor: Spencer Ltd Main modular building construction contractor: Caledonian Sub Structure/Groundworks Contractor: MPB Demolition Contractor: Coleman & Co

Innovation in Sustainability

The Lampblock accommodation building contains many items of green technology and sustainable construction practices implemented from the outset by early engagement into the scheme design and procurement process for creating a more sustainable development. Many the items incorporated are a first for a building within a rail environment. The Lampblock has incorporated many innovative initiatives in the design to offset its carbon emissions by incorporating the following: • Solar panels for electricity generation (photovoltaic panels) – located on the roof, these panels generate electricity to assist in powering the lighting and small power load of the building.

• Solar Thermal tubes – again located on the roof, the tubes absorb heat and transfer the energy for supplementing the hot water demand with the boiler used as a top up and secondary source.

• Sub metering – to monitor the different energy demands such as lighting / heating and cooling circuits so there is more visibility on where the energy is being used via a building management system.

• Leak detection – to inform the building maintainer if there are any leaks in the refrigerant system that may harm the atmosphere and water loss due to leakage.

• Monitoring and setting targets for CO2 emissions from transport to and from site.

• Use of energy efficient and LED lighting to reduce energy consumption with lighting controls to avoid them being left on during unoccupied periods in all areas, as well as dimming with daylight.

• Sheltered and well light secure Cyclist facilities – to encourage building users to cycle to the workplace.

• Dual flush toilets and low capacity cisterns along with low water use taps and showers – to minimise consumption of water.

• Ensuring 95% of materials have been responsibly sourced and timber legally sourced – ensuring all timber has FSC or PEFC certification.

• Ensuring the supply chain has an environmental management system in place – preferably ISO 14001 or equivalent.

• Ensuring non-hazardous construction and demolition waste was re-used and recycled at a rate of over 85%. | 104 | environmentmagazine.co.uk

www.networkrail.co.uk

The above renewable technology was calculated to offset over 10% of the building’s carbon emissions produced for the operation of the building.

The building has received a BREEAM design stage 'Excellent' rating, a first for a building within the rail environment and adjacent to platform. It is expected to receive a final ‘Excellent’ certification also at the time of writing.

From an ecological prospective, the building houses a ‘green roof’ that contains over 14 different species which enhances the local ecology. This is a first in any rail environment and also assists the drainage system from being overburdened by providing attenuation from heavy rain. In addition to minimising flood risks from new developments, we have installed attenuation tanks that capture any sudden surges in storm water and delay its input into the main sewer with the aim of preventing any flash floods risk increase due to the effects of global warming.

On site we have insisted our contractors use responsibly sourced materials and legally sourced timber, as well as having environmental management systems in place.

Waste produced from any prior demolition works and packaging on-site has achieved high recycled / re-used rates in excess of 85%.

This project has set a new precedent for rail buildings across the network and a good practice delivery benchmark for Network Rail to follow. It has changed the culture by creating awareness for sustainable buildings within the organisation. The project has also created a realisation in the wider organisation and rail sector that despite challenges of working in a live rail environment with tight deadlines and within a limited work area, sustainable buildings can be delivered using innovative methods of construction ■

+ More Information www.networkrail.co.uk

A link to the CGI flythrough of the station.

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E N E RG Y E F F I C I E N C Y | JA D E L E W I S

BREAKING BARRIERS to Sustainable Homes

A RECENT REPORT from an industry group identifies the barriers faced when retrofitting the UK housing stock. Jade Lewis, Advocacy Leader at Saint-Gobain in the UK and Ireland, managed the production of the report. Here, she explains the challenges the UK retrofit industry needs to overcome if itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s to grow and achieve the energy efficiency targets set by the Government.

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www.saint-gobain.co.uk

Industry experts and policy makers alike will both agree that refurbishing existing housing to reduce carbon emissions is one of the most cost-effective means. Our reliance on fossil fuels as an energy source can be lowered, we can reduce the running costs of our homes and improve our general health and wellbeing. In addition, there are huge economic benefits to retrofit, including the creation of jobs, skills, and increased revenue from taxes.

The Energy Efficiency Partnership for Buildings (EEPB), an organisation which works with the industry, Government and the community on all aspects of energy efficiency in buildings, partnered with independent charity The National Energy Foundation (NEF) and retrofit businesses, including Saint-Gobain, to review the barriers and potential solutions to Whole House Energy Efficiency Retrofit. Together, we looked at how an integrated wholehouse approach to retrofit is needed, going beyond conventional policy-driven approaches that focus on individual aspects of a dwelling to achieve specific results.

The EEPB’s report, titled ‘Breaking Barriers: An industry review of the barriers to Whole House Energy Efficiency Retrofit and the creation of an industry action plan’, explores the obstacles for whole-house retrofit. In doing so, we identified 415 financial and non-financial barriers, outlining ways in which the industry and Government could address them.

The workshops with key organisations and stakeholders in the industry, including British Gas, the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and our strategic partners, The Passivhaus Trust, took place over 12 months. This led to the creation of a two-year action plan, which specifies the working groups needed to implement the programme.

While it is well known that whole-house energy efficient retrofit of homes has been shown to improve the energy performance by an average factor of four or within a range of between 65-95% compared with prerenovation levels, difficult barriers to large-scale take-up and deployment remain.

The 415 barriers we identified during the process were grouped under the following main categories: • • • • • • • •

Consumer Coordination and supply chain Economics Education and skills Performance Political Practical installation issues Pilots

Demand is the biggest problem for bringing retrofit to the consumer. Even if measures are offered free of charge, many consumers turn it down for various reasons. There

Jade Lewis

is a definite lack of information for the consumer, so it’s our job to raise awareness of the technologies, solutions and measures currently available to retrofit the home. If barriers to consumer take-up can be overcome, a sizeable increase in demand could be realised. The lack of longterm structural incentives for retrofit such as those linked to Council Tax or Stamp Duty retrofit is a problem, as is the complexity of current schemes such as the Green Deal which can knock consumer trust and deter those considering energy measures for the home.

We identified a number of ways to solve these and other consumer problems in the report. It was clear that promotion of the wider benefits of retrofit was needed, along with highlighting the value that energy efficient homes can bring them. A simple and easy process is needed to increase interest for the consumer, so a ► environmentmagazine.co.uk | 107 |

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E N E RG Y E F F I C I E N C Y | JA D E L E W I S

Informed Consumers

Trained Professionals

Sustainable Homes Saint-Gobain's Training Academy Network strives to address a lack of skills in the industry, where few installers, surveyors and designers are truly experienced in whole-house retrofit.

specialised sales service or a ‘compare the market’ for whole-house retrofit could boost the market as well as demand.

The supply chain as it stands is fragmented, with single product focus and short-term thinking. Renovation for energy efficiency is not coordinated with general building renovation, resulting in poor use of resources and inefficient building performance. Coordination of the supply chain can bring efficiency and consistency in the process. By working collectively, training and knowledge can be shared, product development can take place and a long-term approach can be applied.

Education and skills was a key priority for us when looking at the potential barriers. There is a lack of skills in the industry, with few installers, surveyors and designers truly experienced in whole-house retrofit. A lack of knowledge and training go hand in hand, while correct installation is needed for the solutions to perform at their intended level, so qualified tradesmen need to be up-skilled to introduce retrofit measures to their businesses. Saint-Gobain’s Training Academy Network strives to do just this: provide those qualified and those working towards qualifications with the correct skills and techniques needed to install our retrofit products to ensure that there is no performance gap. | 108 | environmentmagazine.co.uk

When it comes to installation, there is no ‘one size fits all’ solution. Each property has its own complexities.

Difficulties can crop up during the installation, delaying the process, disrupting the occupant and costing more money. The involvement of experienced research teams on whole-house retrofit projects could help to minimise the gap between predicted and actual performance, as well as offering support for individual cases. Sharing this knowledge will in time enable the process to run more smoothly, building confidence in the consumer and the industry so that whole-house retrofit is not seen as such a daunting procedure.

The lack of clarity, long-term plans and a roadmap from Government were found as political barriers for whole-house retrofit. Further incentives are required, while planning permission and legislation would need to be addressed. The implementation of energy labelling and quality assurance systems would strengthen the demand for energy efficient measures. Local Authority participation could create friendly competition between areas to show a ‘leaderboard’ of the most energy efficient part of the country. Landlords and social housing cannot be ignored here, so licencing for landlords and an energy standard for social housing has been suggested.

Throughout our study, we not only looked at current ►

SUSTAINABLE BUILD

E N E RG Y E F F I C I E N C Y | JA D E L E W I S

policy instruments, but also potential news ones, always with a long-term view in mind. The group now plans to implement the two-year action plan, which includes the creation of a strategy to articulate a clear vision on whole-house retrofit, building consumer confidence in the concept of retrofit, developing a whole-house retrofit plan and increasing knowledge and skills in the supply chain. To implement the plan in these areas, three task groups have been set up.

At a time of limited growth in the renovation sector, our proposed strategy in this report looks to improve this.

In turn, this will help both the industry and Government reach their energy efficiency targets. At Saint-Gobain, we are pleased to have been involved, and we hope that our ideas are considered to help boost the industry and assist the Government in meeting its carbon reduction targets.

We strongly support the fabric first approach to

Breaking Barriers: Summary Report http://www.nef.org.uk/themes/site_ themes/agile_records/images/uploads/ BreakingBarriers_SummaryReport.pdf

| 110 | environmentmagazine.co.uk

building, focusing on the materials that form a building from the onset to deliver energy efficient and sustainable homes for decades to come. Through education and sharing of best practice, from training tradesmen in correct installation for optimum performance, to the introduction of innovative products emerging to the market, we can move one step closer to creating sustainable habitats for the future â&#x2013;

+ More Information www.saint-gobain.co.uk The reportâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s findings, which comes in two parts, can be accessed via links below.

Breaking Barriers: Literature Review http://www.nef.org.uk/themes/site_ themes/agile_records/images/uploads/ BreakingBarriers_LitReview.pdf

SUSTAINABLE BUILD

S U S TA I N A B L E O F F I C E S | DAV I D R I C H A R D S

Building

Reality performance not potential

By David Richards Director at Arup

In the world of real estate the penny has finally begun to drop. Whilst it is fine to talk about the potential of buildings to perform, it is reality that matters. Is my beautiful, financially successful building delivering the low carbon emissions it should and could? (which the UK needs it to if we are to meet our commitments to reduce carbon emissions), and are the people in the building happy, healthy and productive? No really, are they? Not just on paper.

The process of planning, designing and constructing office buildings has been dominated for a number of years now by a suite of environmental calculations and metrics – Part L of the Building Regulations and Energy Performance Certificates to name just two. However, these are all metrics which compare the potential for a building to be energy, carbon or water efficient. They calculate a theoretical model of how a building could perform, and do not represent reality.

But the property industry is beginning to shift to a parallel and more important focus on actual performance. | 112 | environmentmagazine.co.uk

There is a long way to go, but perhaps we are creeping closer to a day when buildings that don’t perform are simply worth less and are not occupied.

Energy & Carbon

In a hard-nosed way, putting aside the clear benefits for the planet, why should environmental performance of buildings matter to a commercial property developer?

There are a number of reasons - some legislated and others driven by the desire of many in the broader property industry to do better. As well, building performance also sits against the backdrop of the UK’s commitment to an 80% reduction in carbon emissions by 2050.

From a design perspective, increasingly more stringent Part L Building Regulations in 2016 and 2019 should lead to better performing buildings in the future, which could impact on the value of poorly performing existing buildings. The Energy Act 2011 includes a provision for something called Minimum Energy Performance Standards (MEPS). MEPS will require buildings to meet a

www.arup.com

minimum target performance (currently assumed to be an E rated Energy Performance Certificate or better) before they can be legally leased. Whilst this still deals with potential performance rather than actual it nevertheless signals an intent to make carbon performance an integral part of a properties financial success. After all if you can’t rent it to anyone it isn’t a business proposition at all. Let’s hope the government holds firm on this commitment.

Legislation regarding reporting actual energy and carbon performance is still evolving.

Current examples include: • Mandatory Reporting. Under the Companies Act 2006 (Strategic and Directors’ Reports) Regulations 2013, quoted companies are required to report their annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in their directors’ report.

• The Carbon Reduction Commitment Energy Efficiency Scheme (CRC). The CRC requires all companies or organisations with an annual electricity usage of 6000MWh or more to report their carbon emissions. For commercial office space this could be converted to a portfolio area of approximately 30,000 to 50,000m2. The scheme involves payment and credit based on emissions

and improvement – i.e. money.

• Display Energy Certificates (DEC). Display Energy Certificates are currently only required for public buildings. They are a certified statement of a buildings energy performance and must be displayed publicly in the buildings entrance lobby.

There are also a number of corporate indices and reporting standards which require carbon and energy metrics to be reported: • • • • •

Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB) Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) FTSE4Good Index Global Reporting Index Construction and Real Estate Sector Supplement (GRI CRESS) • EPRA Reporting Guidance – European Public Real Estate Association Best Practice Recommendations on Sustainability Reporting • UN Global Compact

Beyond legislation and indices there are two further factors to consider: firstly, simple value. Whilst it remains ► environmentmagazine.co.uk | 113 |

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It’s an exciting time for people in the property sector who care about the environment because the link between environmentally superb buildings and financial success is beginning to become firm.

hard to quantify, there is a demand in the market for more sustainable and high performance buildings with occupants and investors paying far closer attention to these issues at the pre-purchase and occupation stage. Whilst much of the UK property market is still concentrating on an approach to building design focussed around Building Regulations and Energy Performance Certificates, the leaders in the market are now looking beyond this simplistic approach to a more sophisticated measurement and understanding of true performance.

Secondly, there is a wider cities agenda. As our cities continue to expand, the power network will become increasingly stressed and it is likely that electricity companies will reward customers who can control their peak and overall power use. This correlates very directly with carbon footprint and performance.

Occupant satisfaction

Understanding office performance is becoming ever more important to occupiers as the combined pressures of new working practices and the desire to enhance productivity increase. It is worth considering that energy and water costs usually amount to little more than 1% of business costs whereas staff costs are around 90%. So a 1% improvement in productivity swamps utility costs and may represent a saving of as much as £50 per m2 of office space.

Measurement and interpretation of occupant satisfaction is undoubtedly harder than that of energy or water use, but when done well it can facilitate significant improvements in occupant wellbeing and productivity, and address a broader range of concerns:

• The first positive dynamic is that of engaging with occupants.

The intent to better understand the performance of a workplace is beneficial in building relationships and opening a dialogue with the building users.

• Surveys can often reveal features of a building that are particularly valued, as well as highlighting the top issues affecting the occupants in the office.

• This understanding can then help technical building performance issues to be addressed. For example, simple complaints of glare could lead to a re-commissioning of a

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lighting control system.

• The cost of making changes to the office environment can often be small in proportion to the potential for direct productivity improvements. With high overheads associated with providing office space and indeed employment, savings may come from improved business output.

• Satisfaction improvement will also lead to a happier workforce, potentially reducing sick leave, other absences and improving staff retention. Some of these metrics can be harder to measure, but nevertheless can return significant reductions in overheads.

• As potential savings are identified for a series of measures, occupant satisfaction surveys improve targeting of investment.

• Improved use and understanding of performance metrics provides better measurement and comparison of new building or refurbishment programmes, new ways of working and new technologies.

• Finally, building feedback and lessons learned can be used to close the gap between the project brief, design and performance in use.

Measurement

So the imperative to focus on real performance is mounting. But the thought of having to measure and then improve can be daunting. It need not be.

Measuring energy performance can start in a simple way. Read the meters. How much electricity, gas and water is being consumed? If you can read them weekly, good – you will get a picture of whether your building benchmarks well against others by using data sites like CarbonBuzz. You can also start to see if the seasonal variations make sense. If you can get daily data – even better. You will begin to see if the weekends look the same as the week days and if there is a story to investigate.

If you can get hourly information – usually involving an automated meter reading system – then even better. You will see if there are issues overnight. One of the most common problems is simply leaving too many things switched on at night or at the weekend when no one needs them.

Once you have begun to get a feeling for whether your building is performing well or badly overall you then need to get more granular. Where is the power being used? Is it

www.arup.com

lights or computers? The server room or the toilets? This means using meters that measure more specific things – sub-meters, if you will. And once you have these in place you can focus and drive improvement very directly. It takes some investment in hardware, software and time.

But the rewards are there, especially with the low hanging fruit like making sure the lights are turned off at night.

Measuring people’s satisfaction as a proxy for health and productivity is harder to do and softer in its interpretation. However, it is very easy because there are pre-packaged systems that you can employ to collect and analyse the data and make comparison simple. The two leading brands in this field are The BUS Methodology (www.busmethodology.org.uk) which focuses on the overall performance of the building and its impact on occupants, and the Leesman Index which focuses more on the effectiveness of the workplace and its effectiveness to support a business.

The Future is real

It’s an exciting time for people in the property sector who care about the environment because the link between environmentally superb buildings and financial success is beginning to become firm. At the heart of this is the drive to make our buildings do what they say they can – emit less carbon and be great places to live and work ■

+ More Information David Richards is the lead author of the British Council for Offices recent publication ‘Improving the Environmental Performance of Offices’ : tinyurl.com/BCOreport

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S U S TA I N A B L E B U I LT E N V I R O N M E N T | DAV E H O P K I N S

Cutting the Carbon:

Creating a Sustainable Built Environment

By Dave Hopkins

Director, Wood for Good Campaign

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www.woodforgood.com

As the UK’s single biggest carbon emitter – accounting for just under half (47%) of all emissions according to government research – the built environment is being called on to clean up its act. Dave Hopkins, director at timber industry awareness campaign, Wood for Good, discusses a new resource that is helping the industry make more sustainable choices about the materials they use.

Despite reforms to the Infrastructure Bill relaxing the zero carbon target for small developments, both domestic and non-domestic properties are still required to be much more energy efficient than their older counterparts.

Architects and contractors are challenged to adopt more environmentally-friendly products and practices, while quantifying their material choices in order to meet stringent building standards.

Compared to many mainstream building materials, timber products require very low energy inputs for production and manufacture and actually absorb carbon emissions during the growth phase, offering a low carbon and highly sustainable solution.Yet, despite its impressive credentials and significant use in construction among neighbouring countries in Europe, timber makes up a much smaller proportion of the market in the UK. The reasons for this have been at least in part due to an historic lack of data that offers conclusive evidence of the whole-life carbon impact of different product types.

However, we’re now starting to see more and more developers turn to timber, thanks to a new resource that offers proof of the environmental sustainability of timber and is revolutionising how products are specified.

Carbon capture

As a naturally-occurring potentially endless resource, wood is without doubt the most sustainable building material we have at our disposal.

As trees grow, they actively absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, emitting the oxygen and storing the carbon in the wood of branches and trunks. This carbon remains stored even after a tree is cut down, stopping it from re-entering the atmosphere.

It may seem counter-intuitive, but almost 90% of UK timber comes from sustainable forestry, which sees older trees harvested when they have reached the peak of their cycle and replaced with younger, more efficient saplings. The process helps to optimise the carbon cycle, while causing no net loss of material or habitat. In fact, an increased appetite for wood in turn stimulates demand for more active forest areas.

Robert Greshoff, ArcEye Images Ltd

Even during harvesting, processing and manufacturing, minimal energy inputs are needed to the finished product, resulting in minimum carbon production. The resulting products are very lightweight, with whole buildings often fitting onto one lorry.

The operational performance of a property will also be a consideration in the effort to create more sustainable buildings. Once again, timber scores well in this area. Its natural thermal properties make it an excellent insulator – five times better than concrete, 10 times better than brick and 350 times better than steel – while the precision which can be attained through prefabrication means a tight building envelope can be achieved.

Quantifying performance

Wanting to understand the barriers to the widespread adoption of timber construction, more than two years ago representatives from the timber industry came together ► environmentmagazine.co.uk | 117 |

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S U S TA I N A B L E B U I LT E N V I R O N M E N T | DAV E H O P K I N S

Alfonso Quiroga

to source end users’ experiences and find out what would help them to choose wood as a primary building material.

Our discussions revealed that while many were convinced of the various benefits of timber, a lack of lifecycle assessment (LCA) information on timber products meant they didn’t have the empirical evidence they needed to specify wood. Where data did exist, this was often disjointed and difficult to find.

This led us to embark on a major project – supported by industry bodies including Scottish Enterprise, Forestry Commission Scotland, the TTF and TRADA – to create the Lifecycle Database; a single, free and easy-to-use register of LCA data. Given the broad scope of the project and highly technical need, we also appointed global sustainability consultancy PE International to oversee the | 118 | environmentmagazine.co.uk

collection and analysis of the data.

The Lifecycle Database features contains whole-life performance on all major wood products commonly used in the UK, including different varieties of softwood and hardwood, plywood, trussed rafters, and closed and open-panel timber frame. It also features modernengineered solutions, cross-laminated timber and glulam, as well as proprietary materials often used with wood, such as adhesives and steel fixings.

Crucially, the database is the largest register of its type for any building material sector in the UK, helping to position timber before its competitors in the specification process – and that’s without even considering some of the excellent results from the analysis.

A key finding to come out of the database was that ►

This

says

the f uture

Ask for SFI

you c are

about of our forest s.

Wood from responsibly managed forests is an excellent choice for any new construction or renovation. Builders and architects are turning to products certified to the Sustainable Forestry Initiative速 (SFI速) Standard, endorsed by PEFC, to meet green building requirements.

By asking for SFI, you are promoting sustainable forestry, helping to improve forestry practices and encouraging responsible purchasing of forest products.

Look and ask for wood certified to the SFI Standard for all your projects.

Visit sfidatabase.org for a list of SFI and PEFC products.

Learn more at sfiprogram.org/green-building.

Internationally endorsed by

PEFC/29-1-1

TIMBER

S U S TA I N A B L E B U I LT E N V I R O N M E N T | DAV E H O P K I N S

Zollernalb

every timber product assessed was deemed to have a negative carbon rating on a cradle-to-site basis. This means the amount of carbon absorbed and stored in the timber is greater than that emitted during harvesting, processing and transportation, and can be used to significantly reduce the carbon footprint on an individual building level. We also found evidence that timber has very low embodied carbon compared to other materials and a lower water footprint, further supporting its use.

Reducing global warming

Since the LCA Database was launched in April, there’s been further evidence to support swapping steel, concrete and brick construction for timber.

Using LCA data to compare the various uses of wood and forestry, a joint study from Yale University’s School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and the University of Washington’s College of the Environment identified that increasing the use of timber in construction could significantly reduce global carbon emissions and fossil fuel consumption. Furthermore, it concluded that if managed properly, this could be done without loss of biodiversity or carbon storage capacity.

The research found that increasing the 3.4 billion cubic meters of wood harvested every year for construction, from 20% today to 34% or more, would help to reduce the amount of carbon produced by the built environment.

Between 14 and 31% of the world’s CO2 emissions could be avoided by using timber in place of alternatives, due | 120 | environmentmagazine.co.uk

to trees capturing carbon as they grow and effectively ‘trapping’ it. In addition, up to 19% of annual global fossil fuel consumption would be saved through this process, including burning scrap wood and other unsellable material for energy.

These positive effects carry through to the build stage.

Building with wood consumes much less energy than concrete or steel; for example, in comparison to a square metre of floor space supported by a steel beam which would require 516 megajoules (mj) and 40kg of energy, a wooden floor beam of the same size would need only 80mj and 4kg.

The result is an excellent motive for using wood that should convince more people of its role as a sustainable material for the future.

By raising awareness of the benefits and making it easier to choose timber, we hope to stimulate the demand for timber products and in turn help to lower the industry’s impact on the environment, creating forwardthinking buildings that will last for generations to come ■

Title Photo: Wolfgang Manousek

+ More Information www.woodforgood.com

TRANSPORT

R E T R O F I T T N G B U S E S | S T E V E R AW S O N

Making buses more environmentally friendly doesn’t cost the Earth In February the EU announced it was launching legal action against the UK for failing to tackle pollution in its inner cities. Steve Rawson, head of retrofit engineering at pioneering emissions reduction specialist Eminox, explains how retrofitting older buses with leading edge technology can cut pollution at a fraction of the cost of investing in new fleets.

According to the UK Supreme Court, air pollution limits are regularly exceeded in 16 zones across the UK. The areas affected are Greater London, Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, Teesside, the Potteries, Hull, Southampton, Glasgow, the East, the South East, the East Midlands, Merseyside, Yorkshire & Humberside, the West Midlands, and the North East. The Court also noted that air quality improvement plans estimate that for London, compliance with EU standards will only be achieved by 2025, fifteen years after the original deadline, and in 2020 for the other 15 zones.

In the UK the responsibility for improving air quality falls to local authorities, who are bound by the EU’s Ambient Air Quality Directive. Having previously focused the majority of efforts on monitoring air pollution and identifying its sources, there is now mounting pressure on councils and public transport operators to find practical solutions to improve air quality in local hotspots.

Improving air quality in our towns and cities is vital for a number of reasons. According to Defra, air pollution is estimated to have an effect equivalent to 29,000 deaths each year and is expected to reduce the life expectancy of everyone in the UK by 6 months on average, at a cost

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of around £16bn per year. Air pollution also damages biodiversity, reduces crop yields and contributes to climate change.

However, the operation of heavy duty diesel vehicles is also critical to our economy. They represent a relatively small percentage of the total vehicle population. However, they also account for a disproportionate amount of air pollution, especially in built-up metropolitan areas. For example, buses alone are responsible for around 10% of London’s total Nitrogen Oxide (NOx) emissions and considerably more in central areas.

Newly-manufactured buses are now required to be manufactured to meet Euro VI emissions reduction standards in order to minimise their impact on the environment. While electric and hybrid vehicles often capture the headlines as a viable alternative, new buses, especially those fitted to run on alternative fuels, can remain beyond reach for cash-strapped public sector transport services. However, solutions are available to retrofit existing fleets with technology that can significantly cut emissions and bring them up-to-date at a fraction of the cost.

According to the Department for Transport there are ►

www.eminox.com

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www.eminox.com

Taking the concept of combining a diesel particulate filter and a selective catalytic reduction into a system that can be cost-effectively retrofitted to older vehicles, Eminox is working to retrofit 230 older inner city buses with technology that will bring them in line with the highest EU emissions standards.

some 36,000 buses in the UK, with an average age of 7.7 years. Outside of London, this age rises to 8.3 years.

This means that many of the buses which operate in our towns and cities fail to meet the latest Euro VI emissions standards, but with most buses expected to be in service for up to 15 years they still have considerable useful life in them.

The challenge is how to keep these buses in service, whilst also cutting emissions. Large scale vehicle replacement is not affordable for most fleets, so it’s vital that solutions are applied that reduce emissions from our existing fleets.

In the UK, the Department for Transport established the Clean Bus Technology Fund (CBTF) in 2013, a £5m package of grants to help local authorities make their bus fleets less polluting. Retrofitting the oldest, most polluting buses with diesel after-treatment systems is the most cost effective and fastest way of achieving this. Eminox is working closely with local authorities and bus operators, under the CBTF, to retrofit more than 230 older inner city buses with technology that will bring them in line with the highest EU emissions standards, helping to dramatically reduce kerbside pollution and improve air quality.

Eminox has already converted just under 600 buses for Transport for London, and is also in the process of retrofitting its proven selective catalytic reduction

technology (SCRT®) to 40 buses for Go North East in Sunderland, Durham and Gateshead, 27 buses in Liverpool and 119 school buses for Metro West Yorkshire.

The technology works by taking the concept of combining a diesel particulate filter (DPF) and a selective catalytic reduction (SCR) into a system that can provide real world emissions reductions and be cost-effectively retrofitted to older vehicles. 15 buses can be upgraded in this manner at a cost equivalent to purchasing one new vehicle, thereby removing the prohibitively expensive option of replacing entire fleets.

The project has presented Eminox with new challenges, with a need to specifically target NO2 while also achieving other reductions. This has driven the development of a new generation of SCRT technology, requiring new catalyst formulations and extensive system calibration. For example, Eminox’s engineers were required to find new and novel ways to fit the systems into the limited available space on different types of vehicles. An early innovation that enabled this was the unique development of mixing technology which allows extremely close positioning of the Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) and Continuously Regenerating Trap (CRT) components of the system.

Bridging the gap between European legislated emissions and local air quality requirements, the brand new technology comes as part of continued SCRT® ► environmentmagazine.co.uk | 125 |

TRANSPORT

R E T R O F I T T N G B U S E S | S T E V E R AW S O N

Eminox has already converted just under 600 buses for Transport for London, and is also in the process of retrofitting its proven selective catalytic reduction technology (SCRT®) to 40 buses for Go North East in Sunderland, Durham and Gateshead, 27 buses in Liverpool and 119 school buses for Metro West Yorkshire.

innovation – simultaneously reducing PM and NOx levels from diesel engines in urban applications, while minimising secondary emissions. As well as meeting the tightest emissions regulations, the new catalyst formulations have reduced total system size significantly, while delivering excellent results in the real world.

Independent tests for Transport for London to assess the impact of the technology were first carried out at Millbrook Proving Ground on the MLTB test cycle, which simulates London operating conditions and is based on a London bus working on Route 159 from Streatham to Baker Street via Whitehall and Oxford Street. The results showed reductions of 88% of NOx and 55% on NO2, indicating the SCRT system can achieve better than Euro V emissions levels.

Next, the system was installed on a Euro III London bus and monitored during normal operation in order to prove that actual real world emissions performance can meet the projected expectations. The bus was fitted with two sensors measuring engine out and tailpipe NOx levels so that emissions before and after the SCRT system could be compared in real time. Average NOx reduction taken over one month showed an 87% decrease, equivalent to an annual NOx reduction of circa 700kg per bus per year.

London is unsurprisingly the area of the UK with the | 126 | environmentmagazine.co.uk

greatest air quality problem to address and has taken a strong lead on this with the implementation of its Low Emission Zone (LEZ) which is designed to discourage the most polluting vehicles from operating in the capital. Many other cities across Europe, in Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark, have also introduced their own LEZs, all of which allowed for retrofit as a means of achieving compliance. However, while London style LEZs may be needed in the most severely polluted areas, more targeted schemes have also been implemented across Europe to specifically address emissions from diesel buses ■

+ More Information www.eminox.com

WASTE

WA S T E TO E N E RG Y | H E R M A N VA N D E R M E I J

Refuse Derived Fuels Export

By Herman Van der Meij

Director of Resource Management, Viridor

| 128 | environmentmagazine.co.uk

www.viridor.co.uk

Over the past 15 years

there has been a huge transformation in the way waste is managed in the UK. This has largely stemmed from the 1999 EU Landfill Directive which was designed to reduce the negative effects that waste landfill can have on the environment, and to increase the amount of waste that we recycle.

This legislation has brought a number of benefits both for our green credentials and to our economy – not least because it has encouraged councils and the private sector to invest millions of pounds in recycling equipment and facilities to put policy into practice.

Over the past decade alone, Viridor has worked hard to develop a network of advanced recycling technologies and now boasts the UK’s largest network of Material Recovery Facilities (MRF). We have invested £1.5bn in next generation recycling and energy recovery infrastructure, including a £25m investment earlier this year in the UK’s most advanced glass recycling centre at Newhouse in Lanarkshire.

Positive changes have also come about because of the UK’s Energy from Waste (EFW) social infrastructure investment programme, which is helping to build the UK’s capacity to compete with Europe’s leading economies ensuring we continue to recycle as much as we can but also recover renewable energy from residual waste as we go.

There’s no doubt that we have a great deal to be proud of when it comes to progressive waste management – and particularly the amount we now recycle as a country. But there is no room for complacency. As with any industry it is vital that we look ahead for more developments to ensure our recyclates and renewable energy continue to bring lasting and sustainable benefits to our economy over the long term.

We are also eager to ensure lasting benefits to our communities, which is why Viridor supports convenient and cost-effective collections of recyclable materials using the recent ‘TEEP’ guidelines, which brings benefits to the public and local authorities we work with. It is a real priority for us to work with our clients to deliver recycling services meeting their local requirements, and to deliver quality systems that work for them.

It is within the wider context that Viridor welcomes DEFRA’s recent call for evidence to explore what key industry stakeholders see as the challenges facing the Refuge Derived Fuel (RDF) market and how these should be managed. DEFRA is keen to gain insights about how the fuel is made, who uses it, and most significantly, challenges surrounding its unrestrained export. The responses the Government will receive will help to fill knowledge gaps which will hopefully result in action and bring more long lasting benefits to UK industry.

There is no question that the production of RDF is a good thing where it is beneficial on a wider scale. As part of that though, I firmly believe we should be encouraging investment in energy recovery capacity at home, rather than overseas, to ensure the UK continues to go from strength to strength in terms of our waste management credentials.

In 2013/14 the UK’s top 10 exporters of RDF shipped over 2 million tonnes of British RDF resources overseas. The cost to the UK was up to £192m with the loss of resource capable of powering over 312,000 British homes or circa 1.3% of the UK population. By shipping RDF overseas, I believe UK plc is missing a trick. Material which is currently being processed and exported is not only lost to the UK economy, it also undermines the significant levels of British investment in next generation green infrastructure.

What’s more, a whole host of poorly managed operations exist which export sub-standard and minimally treated waste material contributing to an already uneven international market. This creates an unfair competitive advantage for those operators abiding by the highest national and international standards. There is widespread evidence of waste going directly into balers without pretreatment, where the degree of recycling by less reputable ► environmentmagazine.co.uk | 129 |

WASTE

WA S T E TO E N E RG Y | H E R M A N VA N D E R M E I J

James Meacock

operators is highly questionable. This only serves to illustrate that current unchecked commercial drivers for the production and export of RDF can be counter to the implementation of the waste hierarchy.

In our increasingly globalised economic world, exporting is inevitable and necessary – it makes economic sense. However, it is important that when moving forward with the UK’s RDF agenda, DEFRA focuses on creating a level playing field for UK businesses. Unrestrained export of RDF, combined with a restrictive domestic policy and regulatory framework, has harmfully restricted the development and associated economic and employment benefits of vital UK infrastructure.

For that reason, Viridor is supportive of this timely Government review of the RDF market. It is vital that our Alan Levine

| 130 | environmentmagazine.co.uk

resources are used in a way that brings maximum benefits to our society. And for that reason it is important the Government looks at how the imposition of illogical planning restrictions which limit the area from which waste may be received within the UK has disadvantaged our infrastructure when no such restrictions apply in Europe.

UK infrastructure faces competition from European facilities often funded by the public sector which are not subject to the same levels of debt repayments as plants in the UK. It is further undermined by EFW facilities in Northern Europe often connected to subsidised district heating systems which enable them to obtain an additional revenue stream for their heat. In combination, these factors keep gate fees low for European plants. ►

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WASTE

WA S T E TO E N E RG Y | H E R M A N VA N D E R M E I J

UK’s leading recycler, Viridor notes the introduction of a requirement for separate collections of recyclable materials from 2015, ensuring recyclates are utilised as opposed to being managed as residual waste. A lack of standards and enforcement in the pre-treatment of RDF may seriously undermine this.

It is also time for the Government to take action and target illegal operations where sub-standard material is being poorly managed and stockpiled with no anticipated or identified end user, or where such practice leads to disamenity and more and more frequent accidental or allegedly deliberate fires at UK waste facilities.

In our response to DEFRA, we have called on the Government to consider the requirement for RDF producers to demonstrate that they operate to management standards for production methodologies for RDF along with established standards for management systems – ISO 9000, 14000 and 18000.

We also support an urgent review of permitting requirements – and that includes measures to link transfrontier shipments to upstream RDF production facilities.

If this recommendation is taken forward, it would relieve potential burdens on UK taxpayers by requiring financial guarantees for the potential return of material which is rejected at its end destination. It would also guarantee the return of material which breaches permit requirements on treatment, transport and storage operations.

We support the introduction of mandatory specified end destinations for each tonne of material prior to a permit being issued. It also makes sense for permits only to be issued at actual RDF production sites, rather than brokers, and we would welcome the withdrawal of all unused TFS permits.

Jendo Neversil

Viridor is supportive of intervention to encourage investment in UK infrastructure, to limit the loss of resources capable of powering energy security and fuelling growth.

And that is why, as part of our response to DEFRA’s call for evidence, we have called on the Government to end industry poor practice where the British public are often left to pick up the tab.

As a leading investor in UK recycling and energy from waste infrastructure, Viridor is concerned that unrestrained activities in the RDF sector are undermining investor, business and public confidence in the sector. Not only is that damaging to our economy, but impacting on our sustainability as a country.

It is interesting that DEFRA has expressed concern that RDF may contain easily recyclable material. As the | 132 | environmentmagazine.co.uk

I mentioned earlier that exporting is necessary in today’s global village. We are stronger when we work in partnership with other countries for mutual gain. But it is correct that DEFRA gives priority to Britain to balance its books, to invest to compete on that global stage and create a level playing field for British industry. Viridor is currently investing over £1bn in next generation infrastructure to translate zero waste policy into practice and we see real opportunities for the future. On that note, I look forward to hearing the response from the call for evidence in due course, and hopefully to it helping to make the UK a greener and more competitive place to live, work and do business ■

+ More Information www.viridor.co.uk

Title Photo: Russell Street

Some see waste.

We see a way to generate energy.

Our award winning recycling and waste management facilities help our customers recycle as much as possible and put their waste into action. For a free waste review and to find out more call 0161 872 0976. www.viridor.co.uk

WATER

T H E WAT E R B I L L | I A N H E W S O N

How the Water Act will boost Business Sustainability

By Ian Hewson

Head of Water and Wastewater Solutions, Business Stream

In May the Water Bill became an Act of Parliament. That will open up big opportunities for English businesses, public sector institutions and other organisations to enhance their sustainability.

Water forms an important part of driving this in any organisation. Or at least it should. The reality at the moment is that most businesses in England are used to being presented with a bill at the end of every month or quarter for the amount of water they have consumed, with little consultation and support on how they can reduce consumption and cut costs.

The Water Act will change all that. It’ll put customers in control, and give them the power to tell water companies what they want from a supplier – and sustainability can be a big part of that. The difference is that it’ll be up to customers to decide.

Good water management is about more than just paying a bill, particularly in a business context. The Water Act means that many organisations will be able to choose their supplier of water and waste water services for the first time. That’s a big change, and competition will force retailers to up the ante and work with businesses, instead | 134 | environmentmagazine.co.uk

of dictating the terms of engagement.

Although a competitive market of sorts has been in place for some time, it only allows sites using more than five million litres of water a year to switch supplier. That’s just 27,000 business premises across England.

From April 2017 the market will be opened up fully to competition, enfranchising more than one million organisations. That doesn’t mean English customers have to wait for another three years though. The areas where sustainability measures can really be brought to bear – in water efficiency, recycling, improved trade effluent performance and so on – are already open to competition.

Customers with sustainability agendas can test the market now, and find out who has the expertise and ability to help water work a bit harder for them.

The precedent: competition in Scotland

We’ve had competition in Scotland for more than six years, and the Water Act takes much of its inspiration from Scotland’s market, which was the first of its kind in the world.

Since the introduction of competition to the non-

www.business-stream.co.uk

Matt Wilkinson

domestic water market in Scotland there has been a direct positive impact on the environment. Some 16 billion litres of water have been taken out of use. That’s the equivalent to 28,000 tonnes of carbon, or taking 7,000 cars off the road.

There have also been tangible benefits for nondomestic Scottish customers. Lower consumption means reduced water bills. The market has achieved £36m in consumption savings, while a further £30m in discounts have been taken up by businesses across the country.

Competition has driven this. To win and retain customers, retailers have had to think hard about what customers want. They must focus on customers and their needs, driving innovation in the market. In our case we’ve worked with customers to design a suite of 60 services tailored to a range of very different needs – compared to just 6 when the market opened.

Market innovation driving sustainability

Since the introduction of competition these new services have helped customers cut their water consumption, reduce risk, manage their costs more effectively and

improve their impact on the environment.

Among them the introduction of automated meter readers (AMRs) has helped organisations across Scotland monitor, analyse and often reduce their water consumption. For example, an estimated 3,000 AMRs are being installed across the public sector, helping to detect leaks and address unexpected peaks and spikes in consumption.

In many cases though, sustainability has taken a back seat. Recent research from the 2degrees network, the community for sustainable business, showed that 18% of respondents to its Sustainable Business Trends Tracker did not have any budget for sustainable projects. That’s a significant obstacle to overcome for these organisations.

Again, the market has innovated to deliver for customers. It was identified that Glasgow City Council could cut its water consumption substantially by repairing some of its infrastructure and monitoring use across its sites more closely. A gainshare financial model was adopted, whereby we provided the upfront capital for water efficiency measures and labour required. Both of us shared the subsequent savings. So far the council has ► environmentmagazine.co.uk | 135 |

WATER

T H E WAT E R B I L L | I A N H E W S O N

Since the introduction of competition to the non-domestic water market in Scotland, some 16 billion litres of water have been taken out of use, equivalent to 28,000 tonnes of carbon or taking 7,000 cars off the road.

André Karwath

saved an estimated £1.4m on its water bills over four years, equivalent to 1,105 tonnes of carbon.

In the commercial world, Coca-Cola wanted help to cut water consumption and achieve its target of becoming water neutral. Water controls were installed that helped it reduce use by 1.4% and an operation manual was provided to staff to help them manage the plant on a day-to-day basis.

In England there are many organisations that could benefit from harvesting water from alternative sources.

Depending on the quality of water required, that means abstracting water from boreholes, rivers and canals, or even harvesting rainwater. That’s better for the environment, cuts costs and relieves pressure from the water network, particularly during times of stress.

These are just a few examples of what has been delivered for customers under the competitive model in Scotland. It has driven retailers to focus on the customer’s business and their needs. It’s the key driver of innovation in the market, ensuring that customers get the services they require. More often than not, that means cutting consumption and managing risk, which leads to reduced bills and more sustainable practices.

The time to act is now

The opportunity in England is going to be even greater.

Its market will be approximately ten times the size of Scotland. That means there is huge potential to save water and drive sustainability in different ways across industries.

But that requires organisations throughout the country to engage with the changes that are taking place. If you are one of them, you don’t have to wait until 2017 to | 136 | environmentmagazine.co.uk

look at making your business’ water management more sustainable. If, in your estate, there are sites that meet the five million litre threshold, these can be switched now.

That’ll help you get a feel for how the market might be able to serve your overall requirements in a few years’ time, as well as being able to select a retailer that can better meet your business needs.

At other sites you can also look to reduce consumption and cut costs. Look at the services you have. Think about whether they are working for you. Consider what you need and where you could reduce consumption – often simple steps, such as water efficient taps, can have a significant impact.

2017 might seem like a long time away, but organisations that engage with these changes now stand to benefit the most from what they will offer. They will be in a prime position to make their businesses more sustainable, efficient and cost effective. It’s never too soon to begin preparing, so start looking at your water supply now ■

+ More Information www.business-stream.co.uk

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28.04.2014 18:02:12

WATER

S U D S | S T E V E C H AT W I N-G R I N D E Y

A Missing Piece of Regulation The Final Provision of the 2010 Flood and Water Management Act is Needed Now

| 138 | environmentmagazine.co.uk

www.deeproot.com

By Steve Chatwin-Grindey Deeproot Urban Solutions Ltd

You may have noticed it’s been raining again. In fact, the last decade has seen some of the worst rain and storms, impacting the lives of thousands of people. Despite this however, there appears to be very little activity to mitigate the risks of storm water. We need to come out from under the umbrella, recognise just how damaging all that water can be and arm ourselves with the tools that will protect us.

There is a degree of mitigation that is governed by legislation. The Flood and Water Management Act, for example, “provides for better, more comprehensive management of flood risk for people, homes and businesses, helps safeguard community groups from unaffordable rises in surface water drainage charges, and protects water supplies to the consumer”. It was introduced on 8th April 2010 to implement Sir Michael Pitt’s recommendations following the 2007 flooding of 55,000 homes and businesses, caused by surface water run-off overloading drainage systems.

The Act is a positive step, but the big issue is that some parts of the Act were not immediately enforced in 2010 and are still outstanding. The one that concerns me most is Schedule 3, which requires the inclusion of sustainable drainage of surface water in developments that require planning approval or have drainage implications. It also removes the automatic right granted by the Water Industry Act to connect to the existing public sewer system.

Schedule 3 would introduce a crucial checkpoint and give control to local authorities as SUDS Approving Bodies (SABs) to approve new drainage systems and their connection to public sewers before they permit new development that might adversely affect flooding in their area. It would also ensure all SUDS meet certain ►

environmentmagazine.co.uk | 139 |

WATER

S U D S | S T E V E C H AT W I N-G R I N D E Y

SUDS mimic natural processes, helping to manage water by absorbing it and delaying run-off into sewage systems that can pollute receiving waterbodies.

| 140 | environmentmagazine.co.uk

www.deeproot.com

performance criteria by introducing a National Standard covering their design, construction, maintenance and operation.

Developers would pay an application fee of £350 for small-scale projects, increasing on a sliding scale up to £7,500 for larger projects. Once submitted, SAB's would have 12 weeks to make a determination for major developments and 7 weeks for smaller developments, and developers would be able to appeal against decisions within 6 months.

Without this schedule in place, new developments can add pressure to the existing infrastructure with no thought of the consequences. With developments increasing in density, this could prove catastrophic, especially in areas already struggling to cope with storm water.

In January this year, the government said that it would introduce regulations by April, and then pushed its own deadline back to October. More recently, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs wrote to stakeholders to tell them that the revised date will also be missed. The longer the delay in the implementation of SUDS, the greater the risk of flooding, therefore there’s an urgent need for the industry and indeed the general public to put pressure on the Government to implement the final parts of the Act. When the 2010 Act was being written, the requirements of Schedule 3 were intended to be phased in over 3 years, so even if the Government introduces it at the end of this year, we still wouldn’t see the full benefit for some time. That said, it would be prioritised in the right way, with major developments first and then ultimately all developments of more than one house included.

Why we need SUDS

The need for effective SUDS now is not just about our changing climate, which has seen an increase in rainfall of about 5% in Britain over the last 20 years. With population growth currently expected to hit 77 million by 2050, we need to accommodate more people with developments of a high density. This means more concrete and paving leading to faster water run-off, which needs to be managed.

SUDS mimic natural processes, helping to manage water by absorbing it and delaying run-off into sewage systems that can pollute receiving waterbodies. They cost 50% less than traditional drainage systems and come in different shapes and sizes, so it’s important to assess

which solution is the most suitable. That means using the right systems, tools and products, those that allow for large soil volumes, plentiful rooting space, water flow, utilities and maintenance.

The natural umbrella

A key benefit of well-designed SUDS is that they allow trees to thrive, and trees play a critical role in managing water. Large mature urban trees absorb vast quantities of rainfall while also providing a host of other benefits – they filter and clean the air we breathe, enhance the aesthetic of an urban environment, provide proven psychological health benefits, and offer habitats for invertebrates, mammals and birdlife. The more they mature, the more they can achieve.

They need certain conditions to thrive and often the construction process for new development acts as a major barrier to this. We compact soil to build new development, which cannot absorb anywhere near as much water as soil that is protected from the thousands of tonnes of urban development above it. So not only are tree roots restricted, causing reduced growth, shorter lifespans and less water movement, but the soil itself cannot retain as much. So more water flows into our ageing and overtaxed drainage and sewer systems, and even small storms can become big events that cause flooding and the spread of pollution.

But we don’t need to use compacted soil if we use suspended pavements, which support the weight of paving, creating a void space underneath which can be filled with lightly compacted, high-quality soil. Not only does this provide essential storm water retention, reducing local flooding and run-off, it also reduces the need for local watering in warmer weather and provides ample space for increased tree health and growth. Rainwater can be directed into the suspended pavement through pervious pavement, curb cuts, catch basins, slot drains and the like - reducing the load on local sewer systems and prolonging the lifespan of urban trees.

Products like DeepRoot’s own Silva Cell, a modular suspended pavement system that holds large quantities of soil, offers simplicity and accessibility. It is made of a lightweight polypropylene blend and can be stacked vertically to the depth of any excavation, and spread laterally as far as is needed. The soil acts as an underground rain-garden, capturing and storing water running off the catchment area. ►

environmentmagazine.co.uk | 141 |

WATER

S U D S | S T E V E C H AT W I N-G R I N D E Y

Above and beyond

Just because SUDS aren’t enforced yet, there is a case for both local authorities and developers being proactive.

Here are two example of where the private and public sector have taken the lead, to great advantage.

In 2010, the developers of a Superstore in New Milton implemented a significant tree canopy in their car park to shade the paving and create a more pleasant environment for customers. New Forest District Council, concerned about local tree health and longevity, had mandated a minimum of 20m3 of lightly compacted soil per street tree.

The solution combined tree growth with on-site storm water management, allowing the developer to maximise the number of parking spaces and save money thanks to the Silva Cell system, which offered them the opportunity to downsize water attenuation systems elsewhere on the site.

Derby City Council, as part of an ambitious urban regeneration project, set out to improve the public realm at Derby Railway Station while also improving its drainage system, which was easily overwhelmed by storms. A traffic island was created with five Silver Birch trees in a twolayer deep Silva Cell system, which serves as a storage zone for run-off from the station’s roof and surrounding area and provides attenuation for storm events, while also irrigating the planting.

And then there’s the question of what we do to address the impact of existing developments. Although not part of the legislation, retrofitting SUDS can have a major impact.

A few developers and some local authorities have looked at this on a small scale but there is scope to achieve so much more by thinking bigger.

| 142 | environmentmagazine.co.uk

One of the largest retrofit SUDS projects carried out in the UK and part of the Rainscape Stebonheath Primary School in Wales by Welsh water was completed in July 2013. It underwent its first real test during the major storms between December and February, when it never reached saturation point. It’s a brilliant example of how a retrofit SUDS installation can equip existing developments with the tools to manage water on-site, take pressure off existing infrastructure, helping to combat the effects of climate change as well as providing a welcoming green space and playground.

A final plea

We must do all we can to push Section 3 of the Flood and Water Management Act forward so this piece of legislation can fulfil the ambition for which it was intended. Without SUDS, our systems will continue to fail and more people and indeed our economy will suffer as a result. We need to remember that it’s not just about managing storm water, it’s also about promoting quality green space and tree growth which enhances both attractiveness of towns and cities and well-being. Why wouldn’t we want to do that? ■

+ More Information www.deeproot.com

Title Photo: Henry Burrows

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WATER

WA S T E WAT E R | JA N E Z P OTO Č N I K

Urban waste water in

the European Union: Where are we heading?

Janez Potočnik

European Commissioner for the Environment Recent decades have seen significant improvements in the state of the European environment. Water pollution has been greatly reduced, largely thanks to the implementation and enforcement of EU environmental legislation, and EU citizens now enjoy some of the best water quality in the world. But much remains to be done before the European Union can relax in the knowledge that it is "Living well, within the limits of our planet", the stated aim of the General Union Environment Action Programme to 2020 (7th EAP), which entered into force on 17 January 2014. The programme sets out the conditions that will help transform the EU into a resource-efficient, low-carbon economy. One of its requirements is that the Union continues to deal with challenges to human health and well-being, including, of course, water pollution.

The main legislation here is the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive, adopted in 1991. Although it's rarely in the spotlight, it is crucial for public health. The situation has improved significantly in recent years, thanks to considerable investment. In 2010, the most recent year for which EU-wide figures are available, older Member States | 144 | environmentmagazine.co.uk

were collecting 100 % of their urban waste water load, but there is room for improvement for Member States that entered the EU after 2004, where some rates were below 30%. Overall compliance rates for biological treatment are at 82%, again with differences between Member States (in the range of 90-100% for older Member States, and an average compliance of 39% for new Member States). Compliance rates for more stringent treatment – i.e. nitrogen and phosphorus removal to combat eutrophication – were 77 % overall. New Member States averaged only 14 %, whereas some old Member States reached 100 % compliance.

The full details are available at: tinyurl.com/ECreports

So while the big picture shows that we are clearly on the right path, the details reveal that a lot more needs to be done in the future. The way forward is set out in

ec.europa.eu/environment

"Living well, within the limits of our planet" The stated aim of the General Union Environment Action Programme to 2020 (7th EAP), which entered into force on 17 January 2014.

Tom Phillips

the 7th EAP and the 2012 Blueprint to safeguard Europe's Water Resources, showing how the implementation of legislation relating to waste water, drinking and bathing water needs to be improved. Getting EU waters into good environmental status is a complex process, but it's clear that we won't get there without better waste water treatment in particular. So I would like to outline some of the waste water challenges that await, with some ideas about how we could make the progress we need.

The first of these concerns information, data sharing and transparency. Naturally, citizens, taxpayers and customers have a right to be properly informed about factors affecting their environment, but good implementation of legislation â&#x20AC;&#x201C; one of the top priorities of European environmental policy â&#x20AC;&#x201C; also requires relevant and timely high-quality information. With this in mind, the Commission is introducing a new tool known as Structured Implementation and Information Frameworks or SIIFs, to facilitate access to up-to-date data about compliance and governance. The water SIIF is still in a pilot phase, but it has already enabled a review of the

current situation and general principles for appropriate collection of data, and more efficient data management processes have been set up at different administrative levels. Once fully implemented, as well as leading to improved compliance in the Member States, SIIFs should lead to a radical overhaul in data reporting, with improved transparency for stakeholders and all concerned.

Energy efficiency is another important area. Urban waste water treatment plants are often the highest single energy consumers in a city, with energy use accounting for up to 30 % of their total cost of service. Too little attention is paid to energy efficiency: in the construction phase, for instance, it could be addressed in the existing operation guidelines, and once a plant is running, operators should systematically optimise energy consumption by establishing a management framework based on best practice to reduce energy consumption.

Toxic or hazardous substances pose a significant risk to the aquatic environment of the European Union. EU legislation addresses them systematically, with the Water Framework Directive establishing a list of 33 priority substances, and the Priority Substances Directive setting environmental quality standards for these substances in surface waters. In July 2013, the initial list was updated with 12 additional substances, and a watch list mechanism was introduced with three pharmaceutical products that are potentially harmful to fish. These may be added to the priority list in the future. As this could influence the treatment of waste water in the European Union, discussions are needed on the way forward regarding the use, handling and treatment of these pollutants.

Water scarcity and drought is a frequent and widespread phenomenon in the European Union, and if temperatures continue to rise as a result of climate change, the related water challenges will become ever more pressing. One solution is already available in the form of recycling technologies that can reduce net water abstraction. Some Member States are already applying the re-use of waste water, but take-up in the EU is low.

The Commission is planning to push water re-use up the agenda. After an impact assessment expected for the end of this year, a proposal could be put forward â&#x2013;ş environmentmagazine.co.uk | 145 |

WATER

WA S T E WAT E R | JA N E Z P OTO Č N I K

Kevin Dooley

by the end of 2015 on the most suitable measures for water re-use, while also maintaining high levels of public health and environmental protection. Water re-use might also influence the technological requirements for urban waste water treatment plants in the future, making them a permanent source of water for re-use.

Much of Europe's growth in the past was a result of intensive resource use. But as the century progresses, some of these resources are potentially in short supply, and, with a view to making Europe's economy sustainable by 2050, the Resource Efficiency Roadmap identifies a number of resources that need to be used more carefully in the future. Phosphorus, vital for our agriculture, is one example. Its supply needs to be monitored, with action to reduce our dependence on mined phosphorus. Greater recycling and use of organic phosphorus could stabilise the amounts of mined phosphate required, and would also help address the environmental impacts. Recycling phosphorus from urban waste water is one possible approach. The technologies are tried and tested, but industry remains cautious due to high associated costs.

But as market prices rise and recycling costs come down, the use of this technology will become increasingly attractive.

Climate change too is an important challenge. Urban waste water treatment plants must be sufficiently resilient to address the related threats. Sanitation systems need to be adapted to avoid problems associated with heavy rainfall. Around 60-70 % of the overall costs for sanitation in cities actually stem from waste water collection rather than treatment. Sustainable solutions can help reduce the costs for the necessary adaptation of collecting systems and the treatment plant to future needs, provided that they are accompanied by appropriate legal and technical steps by governments and responsible authorities. | 146 | environmentmagazine.co.uk

Neil Williamson

Finally, waste water treatment is for all – not just for agglomerations of more than 2000 population equivalents.

If a collecting system does not produce environmental benefits or involves excessive cost, the legislation also envisages the use of individual or other appropriate systems. There are also further requirements for the agglomerations below 2000 population equivalents in line with the Water Framework Directive. Technology can help here, and progress in this area is putting EU manufacturers in a strong position to compete on the world market.

New challenges require new strategies. To that end, in the wake of the Blueprint mentioned above, the European Innovation Partnership (EIP) on Water was launched, with a view to speeding up innovations that contribute to solving societal challenges, enhancing Europe's competitiveness and contributing to job creation and economic growth.

The EIP Water pools expertise and resources, bringing together public and private actors at national and regional levels, and combining measures from both the demand and the supply sides. As well as facilitating the development of innovative solutions to address water challenges and supporting the implementation of water policy with innovative approaches, the Partnership also aims to create market opportunities. The need for more knowledge and more technology to improve water collection and treatment systems – with an eye on the world market – should allow an already strong European industry to realise the full benefits of its vast potential ■

+ More Information ec.europa.eu/environment

MISC | CARBON REPORTING

ESOS POLICY | LEE BRUNSDEN

Businesses must ready themselves for upcoming energy reporting changes

By Lee Brunsden

Head of CEMARS at Achilles For many large corporations, carbon reporting is currently an ingrained, best practice process and reported in annual CSR reports. A new scheme being brought into effect by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) on 26 June 2014 however will soon change this. It will now require more than 7,000 businesses across the UK to report on energy use for the first time, compared to just 800 in years previously.

The EU’s recent Energy Efficiency Directive emphasised the need for businesses across Europe to cut the amount of carbon they use by 20% by 2020. In direct response, DECC’s Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS) aims to tackle rising energy bills and pressure from investors on businesses to deal with mounting climate change risks.

The ESOS scheme will soon require any company in the UK with more than 250 employees, a turnover of more than €50m (£41.5m), or an annual balance sheet total of more than €43m to produce comprehensive reports about their energy use. For any company, such reporting

| 148 | environmentmagazine.co.uk

measures are vital to maintaining trust and positive relationships with key stakeholders.

While the exact details, including penalties for noncompliance, will be revealed by DECC on 26 June, ESOS is already being viewed as something of a ‘double-edged sword’ for the business community in the UK. DECC’s scheme will require a significant reporting increase from more businesses than previously. Currently, approximately 800 companies in the UK have to report on their energy use, but come 26 June, ESOS will cover more than 7,000 companies and up to 200,000 commercial buildings. The directive stipulates that all large enterprises must carry out this energy audit by December 2015, meaning they will have to start gathering information later this year in order to meet the deadline.

As a minimum, firms will be required to provide energy performance information to the Government to comply with ESOS, including a review of the total energy use and energy efficiency of their organisation. A report on

www.achilles.co.uk

the energy use per employee, focused on key buildings, industrial operations and transport activities, will also be required. This information will help them identify potential savings and quantify cost effective energy savings opportunities. These should be, wherever practical, based on life cycle assessment (LCA) instead of simple payback periods (SPP). Finally, businesses must also name an approved ESOS assessor to conduct the assessment.

While DECC is likely to announce a list of pre-approved assessors who are managed by the Environment Agency, businesses who employ their own energy manager to conduct the job internally need not hire outside help at all.

Companies already stretched for time and resource may see these requirements as yet another burden on their bottom line and resources, which they fear will adversely affect productivity.

Energy saving assessments like those ESOS demands, though, can actually help identify where money can be saved. Cutting out waste and putting energy saving measures into place could potentially save the average large business £56,400 per year on energy bills*, an attractive proposition for businesses regardless of industry. The framework of the ESOS scheme as a whole was designed by officials to deliver direct savings to industry. DECC also notes that compliance with these rules is not a financial burden, as compliance would cost just a fraction of the potential energy savings offered by the scheme.

Without external support, though, already strained businesses may find it difficult to gather the required information to conduct a continuous energy audit of this scale. By making ESOS part of a wider improvement programme, firms can continually identify areas for ongoing efficiency improvements, cutting energy bills year after year. With an embedded process, updates can be made constantly, and reporting becomes much easier over time.

This also makes it easier to juggle ESOS with multiple policies, including the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme, Climate Change Agreements, the EU Emissions Trading System and mandatory greenhouse gas reporting.

Processes such as the Certified Emissions Measurement and Reduction Scheme (CEMARS) in the UK from Achilles can allow companies to use energy data they are already collecting to minimise the costs of compliance.

The government estimates that the ESOS policy could save the UK around £1.9bn between 2015 and 2030. This

is, however, based on a quite conservative estimate that only 6% of the potential energy saving opportunities will be implemented. With our past experience of energy, we think the benefits could indeed be much wider reaching for businesses due to the positive chain reaction it creates.

The ESOS audits will recommend to businesses costeffective ways to save energy and cut their bills, making them more efficient and competitive, and boosting productivity. Companies will want to put these into practice for the benefit of their business. The scheme will not just help individual businesses – it will also ease the pressure on the UK’s energy system as a whole and help to meet emissions targets.

Even for businesses that are not yet required to report their usage, the scheme remains significant, as their larger peers that are being asked to do are likely to ask their suppliers to follow suit in the long term. Large companies can only really know their own impact when they know what their supply chain is doing.

With buyers under the microscope, many suppliers may find ESOS incorporated into their reporting processes down the line.

ESOS is a significant step towards cutting costs whilst tackling climate change through business policy. While it might seem to businesses like a burden at first, it creates a positive need for internal reporting that ultimately leads to business savings, both financial and in terms of efficiency.

It also has the potential to make a positive impact on emissions to help achieve the EU emissions guidelines.

Proper awareness of DECC’s ESOS scheme in advance of the announcement will best position businesses for future environmental and legislative changes, as well as continued growth. DECC’s ESOS scheme will be a logical next step for businesses already embracing green measurement initiatives, and provides motivation for those who have been fearful to take steps to cut down on their energy use through the savings it can provide ■

The ESOS policy could save the UK around £1.9bn between 2015 and 2030, based on a conservative estimate that only 6% of the potential energy saving opportunities will be implemented.

Photo Credit: Shaun Dunmall

+ More Information *Energy and Climate Change Minister Greg Barker, 11 July 2013: http://tinyurl.com/barkerenergyclimate

environmentmagazine.co.uk | 149 |

MISC | PORTABLE POWER GENERATION

F U E L C E L L S | S T E WA RT D O W

Portable Power

Hydrogen innovation replaces diesel generators

By Stewart Dow

Packaged Energy Manager, Linde Group

When electricity is needed off-grid, people usually turn to diesel generators. However, an eco-friendly alternative – Hymera – has been developed. This portable fuel cell significantly increases efficiency, runs at a whisper and produces zero emissions at point of use, all thanks to innovative hydrogen technology.

Electricity sometimes announces itself loud and clear – a dull hum and distinctive petrol-station odour are immediate tell-tale signs that power is coming from a generator rather than the grid. After all, most portable electricity supplies rely on diesel or petrol combustion engines. But that may now be set to change. Engineers at The Linde Group working with BOC have developed the Hymera fuel cell generator in collaboration with Horizon Fuel Cells in Shanghai. This portable solution produces electricity from the reaction between hydrogen and oxygen, with the only by-product being water. And it | 150 | environmentmagazine.co.uk

barely makes a sound – at around 45 decibels, you could practically take it to the library. Together, the generator and hydrogen cylinder (the oxygen is obtained from the surrounding air) weigh as little as 20kg, which is about the same as a holiday suitcase.

This peaceful and portable power source is gradually making a breakthrough across a wide range of applications.

Construction company Morgan Sindall, currently building new railway lines and tunnels in the London area, is making use of the portable power source. As Morgan Sindall measures noise levels in its work providing electricity for overnight track maintenance, a loud generator would not be conducive to operations.

With further uses in the construction industry, the fuel cell is also ideal for supplying electricity to portable offices that are not yet connected to the grid. Hymera has also proven its worth with a water supplier, who is using

www.the-linde-group.com

the system to power alarm systems and water level monitors.

Security services are emerging as the third sector to benefit from this technology. Here, Hymera is already providing electricity for isolated surveillance cameras that previously ran on batteries. Although popular, batteries have a major disadvantage – they have to be changed regularly, which is not only inconvenient, but also liable to draw attention to the monitoring equipment.

Surveillance equipment specialist Advanced Monitoring in Dublin has touted Hymera for saving valuable time, as the fuel cell can keep a camera running for three full weeks. Previously, the company had to replace the camera batteries every four to five days.

Last but not least, Linde’s hydrogen innovation is also a plus for fans of festivals and other open-air events, where they are an attractive alternative to noisy, smelly diesel generators. For WhiteLight, a leading British supplier to event organisers, Hymera cells and matching lightweight hydrogen cylinders from Linde could become an indispensable part of their event portfolio.

The Hymera fuel cell provides up to 200 watts of power. That might not sound like much at first, but thanks to today’s advances in energy efficiency it is perfect for a wide range of applications. A few years ago, 100 watts and a conventional bulb might have provided sufficient lighting for your desk at home. Now, however, the same wattage can illuminate an entire tennis court in combination with modern LED lights. With a single small cylinder of hydrogen, Hymera can generate up to 3kWh of electricity – enough to power a large LED floodlight for up to 40 hours or a modern TV for an entire week. The new larger, portable GENIE cylinder could power an off-grid street light for 3 months.

The newer, smaller, ‘efficient and eco-friendly’ diesel and petrol generators usually supply electricity in the kilowatt range. There simply are no standard models available for lower wattages, giving portable fuel cells a huge competitive advantage in the lower power class.

Conventional generators have efficiency levels of just a few percent at lower wattages, whereas Hymera achieves an impressive 50%, meaning that not only does the new fuel cell go easy on the ears, health and wallets, but also the climate.

Batteries are the only power source that outperform fuel cells in terms of energy efficiency, but they lag behind in other areas – and not only when it comes to video surveillance. Lead-acid batteries are up to 10 times heavier, which affects portability. And while lithium batteries hold

The Hymera fuel cell provides up to 200 watts of power. their own on the weight front, they are significantly more expensive.

The photovoltaic sector represents another competitor for portable fuel cells, but is unable to match reliability and footprint. Solar panels can’t generate any electricity whatsoever at night, and only to a limited extent in areas subject to fog or shaded by trees. Even in optimum conditions, the amount of electricity produced still depends on the weather, so solar collectors have to cover a particularly large surface area to ensure a reliable power supply. To run a 100-watt application would require a three-kilowatt panel, or a surface area of over 20m2 , which in many cases just isn’t feasible.

As the 200-watt Hymera fuel cell climbs the sales charts, engineers already have their sights set on new models for other power classes, ranging from just a few watts to a few hundred. Fuel cell technologies have already achieved a high level of maturity, and as long as the manufacturers have all the necessary components available, market-ready models could be available within the next year. Positioning these solutions on the market is a slightly bigger challenge, however, as the variety of potential applications is huge with no single “killer application”. So far, though, after a long period of development fuel cell manufacturers are finally making in-roads into real markets. There are already between 50 and 100 applications that are efficient enough to run on a portable fuel cell – and the trend is clearly upward ■

+ More Information www.the-linde-group.com

environmentmagazine.co.uk | 151 |

MISC | CSR

E M I S S I O N S T R A D I N G | R A J E S H N A I R & Y U B A R A J S E N G U P TA

Low Carbon Transformation and Integrated Energy Strategy: An Imperative in an Energy and Carbon Constrained World

| 152 | environmentmagazine.co.uk

www.itcinfotech.com

Emissions Trading Targets and Timetables Timetable EU Alberta

New Zealand

RGGI

India

2005 - 2020

Target

Annual intensity 2007-Present reduction of 12% below baseline

2008 - 2020

2009 - 2018

Coverage

20% below 1990 11,500 Installations levels by 2020 40% of Total Emissions All industrial facilities

Forestry (2008). Energy 10-20% below Fuels and industrial 1990 levels by 2020 (2010). Waste and Synthetic GHGs (2013) 10% below 2014 levels by 2018

PAT Scheme: 2012-2015

20-25% intensity Power, thermal, iron reduction below and steel, fertilizers, textiles, aluminum, 2005 levels by pulp and paper, 2020 chlor-alkali

2013 - 2020

Reach 1990 levels Sources (2013). Oil and by 2020 gas (2015). Reaches 85% of Total Emissions

QuĂŠbec

2013 - 2020

Target

Coverage

2013 - 2020

5% below 2000 levels by 2020

Energy, Industrial Process, Commercial Transport. 60% of Total Emissions Differs between pilots; National coverage unclear

(Higher targets conditional on global agreement)

China

2013 - 2020

(National from 2015)

Kazakhstan

2013-2020

Switzerland

2013-2020

Power Sector

Energy, Industrial

California

Australia

Timetable

Energy, Industrial 20% below Sources (2013). Oil and 1990 levels by 2020 gas (2015). Reaches 85% of Total Emissions

Intensity reduction of 40-45% below by 2020

7% below 1990 levels by 2020

Oil and gas; power; Mining and Metals; Chemicals; others being considered

20% below 1990 levels by 2020

950 companies across multiple sectors

(Higher targets conditional)

Tokyo

2013-2019

25% below 2000 levels by 2020

1400 Facilities, 20% of Total Emissions

Korea

2015 - 2026

30% below BAU by 2020

490 Emitters, 60% of Total Emissions

The Worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Carbon Markets A CASE STUDY GUIDE TO EMISSIONS TRADING

www.ieta.org/worldscarbonmarkets

Figure 1: Global Emission Trading Schemes.

This article is co-authored by Rajesh Nair, Associate Partner and Global Practice Head - Resource Optimization and Sustainability Group, ITC Infotech and Yubaraj Sengupta, Sr Associate Consultant, Sustainability Group, ITC Infotech As low carbon growth becomes a global challenge, economies are pushing for energy efficiency and alternate energy. The world is moving towards an energy and climate regime which would be governed by energy intensity and emission caps for both the developed and developing countries.

Energy intensive plants under energy and emission caps are preparing for stricter regulations. Europe has moved towards increased auctioning of emission allowances (one allowance is the right to emit one tonne of CO2) from the third commitment period (2013-2020). The US has recently targeted the power sector with deep emission cuts. The situation in the developing world is not very different. While China has embarked on emission caps in seven of its provinces in 2013, India has introduced an energy efficiency cap and trade regime.

For these plants energy security is also a major issue. This coupled with the challenge of achieving low carbon growth requires strategic interventions based on understanding of (a) availability and pricing of alternate and clean energy sources (b) implications of energy and climate change regulations on operations and (c) best in class technologies.

The Imperative for a Decision Support System

Most corporations today lack the information required for the evaluation of energy reduction and emission abatement potentials. As a result, many companies could well underestimate the cost risks they face in the coming years. Agencies like Department of Energy & Climate Change UK, EU Commission, are now undertaking exercises at sector and economy levels to evaluate the appropriate cost of carbon so as to allocate allowances and price them suitably. In India, the Bureau of Energy Efficiency has undertaken studies to assess the internal costs of energy reduction within energy intensive plants.

Cap and trade regimes put a price on energy intensity and greenhouse gases. It also provides an economic incentive to reduce energy use and emissions, beginning with the lowest-cost opportunities. These opportunities (low hanging fruits) may exist either within plant operations, or outside as allowance purchases. Firms have now started to integrate energy and carbon risk into their operational decision making.

Business leaders must now evaluate the key business risks that their organization is exposed to, based on the imposed energy and climate change regulations and forthcoming policy challenges.

It has become imperative for companies to assess risks across their value chain, reduce energy use and also incorporate sustained use of non-conventional energy at every segment of their value chain. â&#x2013;ş environmentmagazine.co.uk | 153 |

MISC | CSR

E M I S S I O N S T R A D I N G | R A J E S H N A I R & Y U B A R A J S E N G U P TA

Dirk Duckworth

To assess risk and develop mitigation strategies firms need to have an integrated energy strategy which has elements of business environment scanning, projecting energy future, developing an optimal investment portfolio of technology interventions, and compliance management systems.

In order to assess possible opportunities for enhancing energy efficiency and incorporating use of nonconventional energy, a detailed energy balance needs to be performed. Starting from the basics of developing a sub process wise Sankey Diagram, this energy balance will need to encompass mapping of the overall supply side with the gross energy demand.

Based on the energy balance, retrofits for improving energy efficiency or supply side management with introduction of non-conventional energy will be evaluated to reduce the energy and emission intensity of the operations.

ITC Infotech’s proprietary operations research based partial equilibrium model can evaluate all possible technology interventions and generate marginal abatement cost curves for energy and emissions. These curves can be developed for the short run and the long run. | 154 | environmentmagazine.co.uk

The cost curve gives a set of options (and the associated costs) available to a firm to reduce energy use and emissions. The curve is a valuable tool for prioritizing investments in energy and emission reduction opportunities.

In order to arrive at emission abatement cost curves, the modeling platform captures the technology and cost details of the production process, taking into consideration:

• Technology (installed capacities, technical efficiencies, fuel type consumed) • Cost (fixed and variable costs) • Options and substitutes (which include retrofits, maintenance for improved efficiency of equipment, fuel switches, technology changes)

Optimization techniques can then evaluate the technology and cost implications for achieving desired production levels within the defined energy/emission constraints and generate the cost curves.

Given that Corporations also have the option to buy emission allowances, it is essential to determine quantity of emissions to be reduced in-house versus number of allowances to buy. The quantum is determined by comparing the internal marginal cost of reduction to the emission allowance price.

www.itcinfotech.com

Follow the QR Code or the link below to view the editorial on the Environment Industry Magazine website with supporting graphs and diagrams: http://wp.me/p4xk6F-1rR

Short term analysis with the decision support platform

The emission reduction costs within a company can however vary over the short term due to changes in fuel price (in the absence of long term contracts), plant maintenance and technology upgrades (variable costs).

As a result optimal price quantity combinations for purchasing allowances / trading credits may differ across auctions. External factors like changes in demand (for firm’s output) in the short run can also impact emission reduction costs.

For large scale industrial facilities and utilities the option with the highest potential to mitigate financial risk in the short run is fuel switch. Sensitivity analysis (based on expected allowance price) can help determine the relative fuel price which makes economic sense for switching fuels in plants with dual fuel capabilities. The same methodology can be applied for entities opting to include technologies to enhance the use of non-conventional energy in their processes. Even though the opportunity for switching fuel or incorporating non-conventional energy sources at the supply side exists (and sounds relatively easy), it is technically complicated and ties the plant to the decision for a certain time period. The other option in the short term is maintenance and retrofitting, to reduce the energy demand from the operations.

For short term decision support, the Platform is nimble to collect technology and cost data on a “near real-time” basis. This is essential for real-time decision making on allowance / credit purchases. Most energy intensive plants monitor their critical equipment from the perspective of health and preventing downtimes.

The technical information captured through this exercise along with changes in variable costs can provide data to generate the short run marginal cost curve, which would facilitate short term decision making.

Based on the short run analysis and the various sensitivities performed, a set of interventions is proposed which are economically beneficial to the company’s operations.

Supporting long term investment decisions

Optimization techniques can also model the impacts of longer term uncertainties such as production growth, technology improvements and policy changes on the costs of energy and emission reduction within a plant.

Generating scenarios for such variables help in optimizing long term operational costs. The results help dictate the

direction of future investments in plants. Such analysis can be useful for:

• Manufacturing plants to plan their fuel mix based on the overall cost impact (including cost of emission) of using different kinds of fuel • For example the cost advantage of using a cheaper fuel like coal (which has a higher emission than a more expensive but cleaner fuel like natural gas) can disappear due to higher costs resulting from increased emissions • Corporates to take decisions on the geography for setting up new projects based on the existing emission regulations in the region • Plants to plan retrofits, maintenance and capital investments based on emission reduction potentials and resulting payback periods • Corporates to model implications of changes in production levels on resulting emissions and emission abatement costs

Conclusion

Energy efficiency and emission reduction obligations have emerged across the developed and developing countries.

Individual national governments have undertaken initiative levels to curb energy use and emissions significantly. The third trading period of EU (2013-2020) has greater clarity on quantities of allowances to be auctioned. In the US, through a historic regulation on 3rd June 2014, the Obama administration has imposed deep cuts in emissions from power plants. One of the key motives for such a regulation is to pressure emerging economies like China and India to also adopt cleaner energy policies. Countries like India, China, South Korea, etc., have come up with their individual cap and trade mechanisms. With increased focus on energy and emission reduction initiatives (cap and trade or other market-based mechanisms), corporates would seek to optimize their cost of energy and carbon emission abatement.

The emerging long term certainties in energy efficiency and climate change policies gives firms options to consider longer term investments in energy and carbon abatement technologies and analyze its impact on the energy and emission abatement costs. A low carbon transformation strategy using energy analytics provides the ideal platform for investment decision support in abatement opportunities. Improved investment decisions would positively impact the firm’s financial bottom lines ■

+ More Information www.itcinfotech.com environmentmagazine.co.uk | 155 |

PROSECUTIONS

Waste Disposal Nottinghamshire man fined £10,000 for waste offences

Jason Marshall, of Hodgkinson Road, Kirby-in-Ashfield pleaded guilty at Mansfield Magistrates’ Court to waste offences. The six charges relate to the mismanagement of a site on Wigwam Lane, Hucknall and the unlawful storage of waste in the back yard of his home address. The 45-yearold was fined £10,000, ordered to pay prosecution costs of £8042.81, along with a £120 victim surcharge.

Two Doncaster men jailed and £200,000 seized in illegal waste case

Environmental Prosecutions

Phillip Slingsby, 42, of Thorne, and Robert Spencer, 63, of Finningley, Doncaster have been sentenced at Hull Crown Court. The offences relate to illegal waste activities that occurred between 2008 and 2010 at Middleton Quarry, Pollington and then at Wroot Road, Doncaster.

Slingsby was sentenced to a term of 12 months imprisonment, ordered to pay a contribution towards prosecution costs of £20,000 and disqualified as a director for 6 years. He was also subject to a confiscation order in the amount of £200,000 under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 made at an earlier court hearing. Robert Spencer, aged 63, was sentenced to a term of 9 months imprisonment, suspended for 2 years and he was ordered to pay £20,000 in confiscation under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.

Portsmouth waste tyre boss to pay £13,500

Mr Brian Wade, sole director of Southern Rubber Products Ltd, based out of Unit 6, West Building, Claybank Road, Portsmouth, Hampshire, appeared at Portsmouth Magistrates’ Court on 12 May. Mr Wade pleaded guilty to storing more than 780 tonnes of waste tyres at his Portsmouth waste facility.

He was sentenced to 8 weeks imprisonment, suspended for 12 months, in addition to a curfew order to remain indoors between 7pm and 6am (electronic tag) plus an £80 victim surcharge. Mr Wade’s company, Southern Rubber Products Ltd, was fined £10,000 and ordered to pay the £3,511 costs claimed.

Illegal waste activity in Knockin ends with £69,000 penalty

Jarsan Ltd and Thomas Jones have been sentenced at Shrewsbury Crown Court for offences relating to illegal waste activities. Jarsan Ltd and Thomas Edward Jones had previously pleaded guilty on 16 April 2014 for offences relating to the operation of a regulated facility without an Environmental Permit in a rural part of Shropshire.

The Court ordered that Thomas Edward Jones (68) rather than the company should pay the fine and costs and he was fined £24,000 and ordered to pay £45,000 in costs accordingly. | 156 | environmentmagazine.co.uk

For more news, editorials, and product reviews, visit www.environmentmagazine.co.uk

Waste Disposal

Poaching

Environment Agency forces Dudley company to stop operating

Yorkshire anglers warned to obey the law

The Planning Inspectorate has dismissed Oakham Environmental Waste & Recycling Centre Ltd’s appeal against the revocation of their Environmental Permit by the Environment Agency.

The company ran a skip business and waste transfer station at Oak Farm, Kingswinford in the West Midlands.

The Environmental Permit was transferred to the company in January 2011, but since then they have significantly breached certain permit conditions.

The Environment Agency revoked the permit in May 2013 after the company allowed a series of breaches.

Following rejection of the appeal, the company has now been ordered to remove all of the waste from the site within six weeks.

County Durham farmer fined £1,600 over illegal waste operation

Stephen Anthony Suddes, 52, of Thornley Pit House Farm, near Tow Law, Bishop Auckland, was fined £1,600 for operating a waste treatment facility without a legal permit

by Darlington Magistrates. Suddes, who has a previous conviction for illegally depositing waste, admitted one charge of operating a regulated waste facility without a permit.

Chesterfield scrap metal firm fined £16,000 for illegal fires

A Chesterfield skip hire and scrap metal firm has been fined £16,000 for illegally disposing of waste by burning it. Richard Fletcher (Metals) Ltd, based at Newbridge Lane, Old Whittington, Chesterfield, was sentenced by North East Derbyshire & Dales Magistrates following an Environment Agency investigation. In court, the firm admitted one charge of disposing of waste in a manner likely to cause pollution or harm to human health.

Composting company fined for causing offensive odours

A Dorset composting business has been ordered to pay £13,500 in fines and costs for breaching its environmental permit and causing offensive odours. The company, located close to houses, local business parks and Bournemouth Airport, is able to process 180,000 tonnes of material a year of which 45,000 is food waste and 35,000 tonnes green waste. The site also has a permit to process soils and wood.

Appearing before Bournemouth magistrates, Eco Sustainable Solutions Ltd (ESS), of Chapel Lane, Parley, Christchurch was fined a total of £7,400 and ordered to pay £6,100 costs after pleading guilty to 4 offences of contravening permit conditions between October 2012 and June 2013 and 5 offences of causing significant odour off-site between February and April 2013.

During the Bank Holiday weekend, from 24 to 26 May, Environment Agency fisheries enforcement officers checked 361 anglers at 21 separate locations using local knowledge and intelligence to catch offenders.

During these 3 days, 57 people were reported for various fisheries offences. Most of these were fishing without a licence, although one offender was caught coarse fishing despite the close season being in operation at that location.

Pollution Severn Trent fined over reservoir pollution

Severn Trent Water Limited has pleaded guilty at Scunthorpe Magistrates’ Court to polluting the Messingham Reservoir, a local fishing pond near Carcar Farm in North Lincolnshire with untreated sewage which led to a significant fish kill. The company was fined £25,000 and ordered to pay £10,267.05 in costs, along with a £15 victim surcharge.

Tyne and Wear scrap metal firm fined £3,000 over disruptive air pollution

A Tyne and Wear metals recycling company has been fined £3,000 over an air pollution incident that caused disruption to residents and businesses in Swalwell.

J&J Stanley Ltd was sentenced by Newcastle Magistrates following an emission of chemical fumes from its site on Longrigg Road, Swalwell, 2 years ago. In court, J&J Stanley Ltd admitted an offence of depositing controlled waste in a manner likely to cause pollution or harm to human health.

Northumbrian Water Ltd fined £30,000 over pollution incidents

Northumbrian Water Ltd has been fined a total of £30,000 for two sewage pollution incidents that happened last year. In two separate cases that were both heard before Peterlee Magistrates’ Court on 22 April, the water company admitted and was sentenced for two offences of discharging polluted matter into watercourses.

Water samples and an ecological survey showed that a one-kilometre stretch of Bowburn Beck had been significantly affected. There were high numbers of dead and dying invertebrates, with a small number of dead fish.

There was also a thick sewage fungus present.

Northumbrian Water Ltd admitted one offence for each of the pollution incidents. For the Kyo Burn offence, the company was fined £14,000 and ordered to pay £3,996.04 costs and a £120 victim surcharge. For the Bowburn Beck offence, the firm was fined £16,000 and ordered to pay £4,772.52 costs. environmentmagazine.co.uk | 157 |

Case study

Ouse Valley Energy Services Company (OVESCO), UK “OVESCO is at the vanguard of the community energy revolution. We were impressed with its commitment to passing on its technical and practical knowhow to other community energy organisations, which will help the sector really take off.” Ashden UK judging panel.

The UK government published a Community Energy Strategy in January 2014, which included a target of 3GW of community-owned energy generation by 2020. But there are many technical and legal hurdles to setting up a community energy company, and not all communities have the right expertise available to succeed in this at present.

OVESCO has demonstrated what a community energy company can achieve, by completing two share offers to fund the installation of solar PV arrays on several local buildings. It has also been working hard to replicate this success in its local area, and is currently mentoring other groups that aim to set up their own community energy companies.

• • •

• • • • • • •

OVESCO has run two over-subscribed share offers, raising over £441,000.

Five solar PV installations have been completed so far, totalling 191 kWp. Annual electricity generation is about 185MWh, saving 110 tonnes of CO2 per year.

Community and commercial buildings are bene�iting from the electricity generated by OVESCO’s solar PV arrays.

Over 250 investors are earning a 4% dividend on their shares.

OVESCO has facilitated the creation of Community Energy South, which includes more than 20 local community energy groups.

Over the past few years, OVESCO has assisted over 30 community energy groups, including 12 that it has been funded to mentor through the government’s Community Energy Peer Mentoring Scheme.

OVESCO is currently working on a 5MW solar farm project, and has received RCEF funding for a feasibility study.

OVESCO Ltd was established as a plc in 2007, initially to run a local microgeneration grant scheme. OVESCO IPS was established as a cooperative in 2010 to work on community energy projects.

OVESCO currently employs one person part-time, but also bene�its from signi�icant unpaid work from its directors and volunteers.

| 158 | environmentmagazine.co.uk

Case study

Hemcrete Projects Ltd, UK “This is a big leap forward on the journey towards zerocarbon buildings. By making it commercially viable to use Hemcrete, the possibilities for expanding the use of this sustainable material across the commercial and domestic building sector are substantial.” Ashden UK judging panel More than a third of UK greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are due to the use of buildings, so it is vital to make sure that new buildings are ef�icient. However, construction itself causes GHG emissions too, so it is important that building materials have low ‘embodied’ emissions, as well as reducing emissions in use.

Hemcrete is a building material, made from industrial hemp and lime, which provides excellent insulation, thermal inertia and moisture control. However, mixing and using it on a construction site is messy, slow and weather dependent. Hemcrete Projects has developed building components based on Hemcrete, called Hembuild and Hemclad, which can be manufactured off-site and quickly installed during construction.

• • • • • • • • •

Hembuild and Hemclad have been used in more than 50 projects to date, including a large Marks and Spencer store in Cheshire and a Science Museum.

Hembuild and Hemclad provide insulation, thermal inertia and humidity control.

Hemp locks up carbon as it grows, o"ffsetting the CO2 emissions from lime production, so Hembuild and Hemclad are carbon-neutral building products.

If the buildings constructed using Hembuild and Hemclad had been built using normal methods, an additional 2,300 tonnes of CO2 would have been emitted during construction.

As part of a design to minimise a building’s energy use, Hembuild and Hemclad can result in additional CO2 savings of up to 17% compared to equivalent products with a similar U-value but little thermal inertia.

Heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) plant can be reduced in scale if Hembuild or Hemclad are used in a building, cutting construction and running costs.

Hembuild and Hemclad cost slightly more than their conventional equivalents with similar U-values and structural properties, but the reduced HVAC requirements can offset this cost in commercial and public buildings.

Hembuild and Hemclad are exceptionally �ire-resistant.

Hemcrete Projects is expanding its work and seeking new markets – it is currently working on the construction of schools in Ealing (London), Milton Keynes and Grimsby, and a second artefacts storage facility in Scotland.

environmentmagazine.co.uk | 159 |

Case study

Global Action Plan (GAP), UK “GAP is bringing some TLC to the NHS – Operation TLC is improving patient healthcare, and at the same time is cutting energy use. With impressive �inancial savings this initiative has huge potential to be rolled out across the health sector, with bene�its for patients, planet and the public purse.” Ashden UK judging panel

Buildings in the UK rarely achieve their designed energy ef�iciency; how its occupants use the building is just as important as how it was designed. Many organisations try to ensure that their staff are aware of how to best use their buildings, but the challenge is in creating a permanent change in their behaviour.

GAP started its work with Barts Health NHS Trust by talking to staff and �iguring out what motivated them to make changes in their working practices – patient care featured much higher than saving money or helping the environment. As a result, GAP developed actions that would bene�it patients whilst also saving energy, and did this by using a range of face-to-face approaches to engage with staff and persuade them take action.

• • • • • • • • • •

GAP’s work at Barts Health is known as ‘Operation TLC’: Turn off equipment, switch off Lights, and Close doors.

These actions bene�it patients through reduced background noise and fewer invasions of privacy, resulting in better sleep.

GAP has piloted Operation TLC in two of Barts Health hospitals, The Royal London and St Batholomew’s.

In the pilot programme, Operation TLC was taken up by 35 out of 60 wards, with 2,500 staff engaged with directly and 15,000 aware of the programme.

Barts Health NHS Trust treats 1.4 million patients per year.

The Operation TLC pilot programme cost £90,000 to run, and delivered annual savings of £100,000 from behaviour change and a further £200,000 from practical changes to the building.

Electricity savings for the pilot programme are estimated at 1,088 MWh/year, and gas savings are estimated at 278 MWh/year, resulting in a CO2 saving of 500 tonnes/year.

Operation TLC has moved into the next phase, and is now working with all 6 of Barts Health hospitals, as well as Frimley Park Hospital.

Further expansion is on the way, as GAP is partnering with Skanska to include Operation TLC in an Energy Performance Contract for Kent and Medway Partnership Trust.

GAP was founded as a charity in 1993, and had a staff of 30 and a turnover of £1.85m in 2013/14.

| 160 | environmentmagazine.co.uk

Case study

Centre for Sustainable Energy (CSE), Bristol, UK “Not only has CSE helped tens of thousands of people in the West Country manage their energy bills, its achievements in in�luencing national policy on fuel poverty have been quite extraordinary.” Ashden UK judging panel

A household is described as being in fuel poverty when it cannot afford to heat its home to an acceptable temperature. Rising UK energy prices since 2004, combined with falling real incomes during recession, have pushed millions more households into fuel poverty, leaving them in a situation where they sometimes have to choose between heating or eating.

Over the past 35 years, CSE has directed much of its resources to dealing with the problem of fuel poverty. It has taken three approaches: direct advice and assistance given to households; helping other organisations tackle fuel poverty; and in�luencing government policy on fuel poverty and energy.

• • • • • • • • •

83,000 fuel poor households have received advice or direct assistance since 1980, including 15,000 in the past year alone.

3,000 households at risk of fuel poverty have had insulation measures installed in the past year.

CSE’s work in 2012-13 has helped vulnerable households make energy savings of 5,000 MWh/year. Since their work started, the cumulative sustained energy saving by vulnerable households is 32,000 MWh/ year.

Households helped directly by CSE in 2012-13 are saving a total of £145,000 a year, and a collective energy tariff switching project saved a further £130,000 a year for over 1,200 households.

Households bene�it from improved health due to warmer homes with reduced damp problems, and bene�it from reduced energy bills, enabling them to spend money on other essentials.

CSE provides assistance to other organisations in the sector, allowing them to download advice materials and other resources and data free of charge.

CSE’s research and advisory work has proved instrumental in driving government policy on fuel poverty.

CSE is continuing to run projects to boost energy ef�iciency and reduce fuel poverty in their local area, and is keeping government informed of its learnings and progress.

CSE was founded in 1979 and currently has 46 employees and generated an income of £2.4m in 2012/13. About £250-300k, a year is spent directly on fuel poverty work.

environmentmagazine.co.uk | 161 |

Case study

Abundance Generation, UK “This is an exciting, innovative initiative that has huge potential to boost the UK renewable energy sector. As well as plugging the big gap in the availability of �inance for local renewable energy projects, it is also giving people the opportunity to make a positive difference and earn some money at the same time.” Ashden UK judging panel

The UK has a signi�icant number of small to medium scale renewable energy developers, both in the commercial and community sector. They all face two key problems in developing a renewable energy project: accessing �inance at a reasonable price, and gaining the acceptance of the local community.

Abundance Generation has helped to solve both problems by developing a crowd-funding platform which allows individuals to invest in renewable energy projects. By creating a low-cost, ef�icient process with minimised risks, �inance is provided to developers at a competitive cost, and by enabling people to invest in local projects, community support for them increases.

• • • •

• • •

Five operating projects have been fully funded by Abundance so far, with a further three projects currently open for investment, two of which have reached their minimum target. All eight projects are operational and generating electricity.

The total investment raised for projects to date is £5.5m.

The seven projects funded so far include two 500 kW wind turbines and a total of 1,840 kWp of solar PV. A further 773 kWp of solar has recently opened for investment.

Generation from the eight projects is about 5,400 MWh/year, resulting in CO2 savings of over 2,400 tonnes/year.

1,200 people have invested in one or more Abundance-backed project, and a further 4,100 are registered on the Abundance website, enabling them to investigate potential investments.

Investors earn a return on their investment, typically in the range of 6 – 9% IRR. Abundance charges developers a fee of 3.5 – 5% of the amount raised to cover project setup costs, plus a 1.5% annual fee for managing the investment. No fees are charged directly to investors and returns are quoted after the project fees have been paid.

| 162 | environmentmagazine.co.uk

Case study

Accoya Deck selected for Chaumont-sur-Loire International Garden Show Accoya, the world-leading modi�ied wood, has been selected to provide decking for one of just twenty six gardens on display at Europe’s most renowned garden events the Chaumont-sur-Loire International Garden Show.

The festival which runs until the 2 November receives hundreds of entries each year from the world’s leading designers keen to showcase their work. Every garden featured is tasked to re�lect the festival’s theme, which this year is ‘Seven Deadly Sins’.

Architectural designer Hay Joung, of London �irm Randle Siddeley Associates, has been selected to showcase her garden concept, which features Accoya Deck and is entitled ‘The Balance’. The design of the garden re�lects the paths in life which lead to temptation or avoidance of the deadly sins.

The garden includes stone monoliths which represent the seven deadly sins and seven heavenly virtues connected by wooden decked paths, crafted from Accoya wood. There are also ‘see-saw’ structures of Accoya which connect different sides of the garden and which symbolise the need for balance in life.

A rock sculpture at the end of the garden completes the space. The structure is inspired by rock-balancing artists who themselves require patience, practice and sensitivity to achieve their goals, re�lecting the complexity of life.

environmentmagazine.co.uk | 163 |

Case study

Mace FSC® Project Certi�ication Case Study — Park House Andrew Kinsey, sustainability director with international construction �irm Mace, explains how the company worked with multi-sector certi�ication body BM TRADA to achieve FSC Project Certi�ication for the prestigious Park House development in central London.

For Mace, the international consultancy and construction company, obtaining FSC Project Certi�ication is a vital business tool as well as a key corporate environmental responsibility.

The company, which employs over 4,000 people in 65 countries, has seen increasing interest in sustainability among clients and the general public. The spotlight is falling more and more on the provenance of building materials, and companies are under increasing pressure from consumers and government agencies to prove their green credentials.

Certi�ication that can clearly demonstrate this is essential in today’s construction market.

At the same time, Mace has enshrined a strong commitment to sustainability as one of the �irm’s core business values. The business is proud to work with forward-thinking customers and suppliers to achieve greater sustainability standards and project certi�ication that re�lects this.

When it comes to individual building projects, however, construction companies face speci�ic challenges in proving that the timber speci�ied and supplied is from sustainable sources.

In answer to this, Project Chain of Custody Certi�ication has been designed as a mechanism for independently verifying the use of certi�ied timber in a construction project and allowing the industry to use the certi�ication trademarks to promote their responsibly sourced credentials.

There are currently two project certi�ication schemes available: FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) Project Certi�ication and PEFC (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certi�ication) Project Certi�ication.

When Mace won a contract with Land Securities to construct the prestigious Park House development in central London, it chose to work with world-leading multi-sector certi�ication body BM TRADA to achieve FSC Project Certi�ication.

Project Certi�ication — the facts Project Certi�ication is a process through which individual projects – whether new build development, major refurbishment or one-off features – can obtain chain of custody certi�ication and make claims and statements about the use of certi�ied timber during the build.

| 164 | environmentmagazine.co.uk

FSC Project Certi�ication recognises and addresses the following key challenges: • • • •

Multiple contractors are involved on-site and not all have their own chain of custody certi�ication The timber supplied is from certi�ied suppliers but the uncerti�ied subcontractors cannot make that claim Each project will undoubtedly contain a quantity of uncerti�ied timber Some activities involving timber will take place outside the con�ines of the certi�ied site

Case study

A cheerier exterior Knauf Insulation’s ThermoShell® External Wall Insulation (EWI) rock system has helped to transform four residential blocks at Peregrine Road in Spelthorne, Surrey, as part of a £1.7m scheme undertaken by housing association A2 Dominion. The EWI system has improved not only the energy ef�iciency of the 34 homes, it has also saved money on the residents’ energy bills and enhanced the appearance of the area.

Laura Donovan, project manager at A2 Dominion commented: “Over the past few years we have decided to embrace the challenge of improving the energy ef�iciency of our housing stock and so we chose to tackle our properties in Spelthorne. Throughout the project we had a working partnership between the residents, suppliers and contractors.

This ultimately made the renovation process easier for everyone working on-site and those living in the homes... Although we were ineligible for ECO funding having already received support under the CERT scheme, we still chose to install EWI to the residential blocks as it offered a range of attractive solutions, including the energy performance of the system and the ability to upgrade the aesthetics of a property.”

Knauf Insulation’s ThermoShell EWI system using rock mineral wool insulation, was installed to the four residential blocks and rendered using a combination of colours: blue and white – which were chosen by the residents from an engagement programme organised by A2 Dominion at the beginning of the project.

Johan Van Zyl, regional operations manager at Mitie, said: “Due to the concrete beam construction, the buildings were facing problems of cold bridging causing damp spots. Finding a solution to the cold bridging was a starting point of the project and originally we thought of installing an Internal Wall Insulation (IWI) system. However, after meetings with A2 Dominion we came to the conclusion that the building itself needed a facelift and so we decided that an EWI system would be a better option.

We therefore opted to install Knauf Insulation’s ThermoShell system and we already had an existing relationship with the company.”

The ThermoShell EWI rock system is a cost effective solid wall insulation solution, designed for the lifetime of a property. The system shields the existing exterior façade, whether brick, stonework, concrete or clay blockwork, from the effects of weathering – extending the longevity of the building but also providing the opportunity to enhance and upgrade the appearance of the building.

The innovative system has also achieved a British Board of Agrément (BBA) certi�icate, which provides contractors and speci�iers with peace of mind that the system is under full guarantee and warranty.

Johan continued: “As we had never used Knauf Insulation’s ThermoShell EWI system before, we sent our team to its training centre in Cheltenham to learn how to install the products and to learn about the theory behind it. The training offered our colleagues con�idence in both the product and their own ability to undertake the project.

For more information: www.knaufinsulation.co.uk

environmentmagazine.co.uk | 165 |

Case study

Kingspan and ISD Solutions deliver the latest state-of-theart warehouse and distribution centre for Aldi Aldi’s new super-ef�icient cold store warehouse and distribution centre at Goldthorpe, near Barnsley, features a unique single envelope design by ISD Solutions and incorporates high performance insulated panels and a solar PV system from Kingspan.

Due to open in 2015, the multi-million pound development, including warehouse, chilled food storage areas and of�ice space, totalling 52,000 m2, will serve Aldi's growing portfolio of stores across South and West Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and Derbyshire, employing some 400 new staff.

With overall project management lead by DSP Construction and following a strict tendering process, ISD Solutions was selected providing its expertise in single envelope warehouse design and build, especially thermally ef�icient cold store construction, while Kingspan products have been speci�ied due to their high performance, durability and energy ef�iciency.

Expected to operate 24/7, 365 days a year, the speci�ication for the project provides a high performance, environmentally friendly solution, with extremely low running costs. The single envelope design was chosen as it produces a structure that is faster and more cost effective to build, with signi�icantly improved thermal properties.

The single envelope construction requires between 33-50% less supporting steelwork than conventional structures, while the airtightness of the envelope ensures that the interior environment, both in the ambient and chilled areas of the warehouse, requires less energy to maintain and control.

20,000 m2 of Kingspan’s controlled environment insulated wall panels are installed on the project, providing excellent levels of technical performance to ensure controlled temperature levels within the cold store. The panels feature an innovative secret-�ix system that not only delivers superior airtightness, but also results in a �ixing-free, clean surface to the panel façade. Kingspan Topdeck insulated panels have been chosen for the ambient roof as their pre-adhered membrane saves on installation time.

Both the ambient and the chilled areas of the warehouse feature Kingspan Roof Mounted PV System, designed, supplied and installed by Kingspan Energy. The 1.5 MWp solar PV system covers a total area of 15,000 m2 and consists of 1,500 modules, 250 Wp each. It will provide Aldi with 1.2 MW of electricity per annum, further improving the energy performance of the building and reducing its lifetime running costs.

Kingspan Energy’s Commercial Manager, Aisling McArdle comments: “The new Aldi distribution centre at Goldthorpe is one of the biggest rooftop solar PV installations we have undertaken to date, and we are pleased to have completed it in a relatively short time frame of less than three months. Our PV system will signi�icantly reduce Aldi’s electricity costs on this site, ultimately contributing to their continued growth and penetration into the UK market”.

| 166 | environmentmagazine.co.uk

Case study

Envac wins world’s largest multiple use hospital contract The global pioneer of underground automated vacuum waste collection, Envac, has secured its largest trisystem contract with Hainan Cancer Hospital, an international cutting-edge centre of healing and research in Haikou City, China. The deal, which is estimated to be worth almost £3m (€3.6m), will see Envac handle the laundry of 1,200 hospital beds and the general waste of over 11,000 staff and patients. It will also form a key component in helping the hospital to achieve the coveted ‘Luban Award’, China’s illustrious award for design and construction.

The development will integrate Envac’s general waste system, its linen collection system, which will transport laundry around the entire site, and the Kitchen Waste System throughout the hospital’s 230,000km2 build area. A general waste system will also be connected to the hospital’s staff quarter. In total the three systems will transport almost 13 tonnes of waste from the site’s 628 waste inlets each day throughout a pipe network that will span almost 2 miles (2.7km) in length on completion.

Mr Wang Tielin, Director of the hospital at Hainan Cancer Hospital, comments: “Given the size of the hospital traditional modes of waste collection and transportation are no longer viable. With a strong hospital portfolio in China, Envac has not only proved that its technology is tried and tested but also highly successful in densely populated areas.

It’s also much more hygienic than traditional waste collection which, as a hospital, is one of our main priorities. Envac will make waste collection easier and quicker whilst freeing up valuable corridor space as manual waste collection movements will be reduced by 90%.”

Envac generated global interest within the healthcare sector when it launched its �irst ever system, a hospital waste system, in 1961. It has since installed 61 systems in hospitals across the world.

Fredrik Lauritsen, Head of Envac’s Hospital Programme, adds: “Just as everything evolves and changes to adapt to an ever-changing environment traditional waste collection is rapidly becoming an outdated and ineffective approach to waste management. The simplicity around automated waste collection, not to mention its countless bene�its, is enough for large organisations to rethink their waste strategy and integrate a solution that is relevant both now and in the future. Hainan Cancer Hospital has achieved this and on completion it will have a method of waste collection that will save time and money whilst dramatically increasing the hospital’s productivity and hygiene levels.”

Construction on the site began in March 2014 and will be completed by July 2015.

For more information: www.envacgroup.com www.envac.com.cn

environmentmagazine.co.uk | 167 |

PRODUCT GUIDE

Ion Science Launches New Wireless Indoor Air Quality Monitor Ion Science has launched Corvus, a continuous wireless VOC (volatile organic compounds) monitor specially designed for Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) Monitoring, ensuring a safe working environment for personnel and reducing the risk of sick building syndrome. It is also suitable for use in process control and building emissions level monitoring.

The Corvus IAQ monitor utilises unrivalled, highly sensitive technology detecting VOCs down to low partper-billion (ppb) levels measuring compounds with its 10.6 eV lamp. Corvus includes sensors for temperature, barometric pressure and humidity helping to identify the actual source of VOCs present. Typical gases Corvus detects include Benzene, Ethyl Benzene, Styrene, Tetrachloroethylene, Trimethylbenzene, Toluene and Xylene.

• For more information please visit

www.ionscience.com

BSS Industrial, supplier of heating and

Industry first for Toshiba as Estia heat pumps gain triple approvals from key bodies

pipeline solutions, has added a range of one

The advanced Estia heat pump range from

dimensions of the new transmitter allow

and two pump BOSS™ Booster Sets (with

Toshiba Air Conditioning is believed to be

installing the unit on DIN rails and in

WRAS approved pumps and components)

the first to achieve full approval under three

switching cabinets even under confined

to its industry-leading, own-brand range of

key industry certification bodies, namely the

conditions. The connecting options using

products. They are suitable for a wide variety

MCS, British Kitemark and NFPAC approval

plug-in terminals on the transmitter front

of system requirements, including potable

schemes. The most recently awarded NFPAC

ensure quick and reliable wiring as well as

water supplies. Supplied fully-assembled to

mark certifies compliance with energy

to quickly exchange the transmitter without

ensure ease of installation, BOSS™ Booster

performance and sound power levels in

tools. The modern menu-based operation

Sets have a compact design, produce minimal

accordance with European standards.

with rotary-push button and colour display

Booster Sets Welcomed To Boss Range

Transmitter with intuitive operation NivuFlow 750 is the successor to the well-known OCM Pro CF.

The compact

noise and provide constant pressure using an

The three approvals apply to the full Estia

allows quick and easy commissioning of the

inverter with duty assist and duty stand-by

range, including Toshiba’s latest 4 Series,

measurement system on-site. Additional

modes. The range consists of six, one pump

spanning heat pumps from 8kW to 14kW

input devices or software are not required.

variable speed booster sets and six, two

heating capacity. Following the achievement,

The internal memory contains all common

pump variable speed sets for duty ranges

Estia heat pumps have been specified for

channel shapes and pipe geometries so that

between 0.4l/s and 7l/s.

use on a very large residential development

only the dimensions need to be entered.

currently being rolled out.

This additionally facilitates and expedites

• For more information please visit

www.bssindustrial.co.uk

• For more information please visit

www.toshiba-aircon.com.sg

Product Guide | 168 | environmentmagazine.co.uk

commissioning.

• For more information please visit

www.nivus.com/index_uk.asp

For more news, editorials, and product reviews, visit www.environmentmagazine.co.uk

New vibratory spreader feeder from Mogensen Mogensen has introduced its largest yet vibratory spreader feeder designed to accept a feed from a relatively narrow, high-speed source such as a conveyor belt, and divide it accurately between two following items of process equipment spreading the process material evenly across the whole width of each unit.

The new machine weighs 8.8 tonnes, and is driven by two counter-rotating Invicta vibrators, which provide a linear vibration stroke of 8 mm. It is designed to serve two 3-metre wide machines such as vibratory screens, conveyor-type fluid bed driers, which require an evenlyspread feed at a low velocity to enable them to operate at their optimal efficiency. Spreader-feeders are also used to supply a carefully controlled flow of feed material to magnetic drum separators, and computerised optical and X-ray sorting machines, which require an evenly spread, single item thick “curtain” of feed to be presented to the illumination source and sensors.

• For more information please visit

www.mogensen.co.uk

Hazardous Waste Tracking Software Matrix Hazardous Waste Tracker from Autoscribe

simplifies

hazardous

Energy efficient heat pump air curtain now added to Energy Technology List

Reduce Water Pipe Bursts with HWM’s New High-Frequency Pressure Transient Logger

waste

Mitsubishi Electric’s range of Mr Slim heat

management by tracking work and samples to

pump air curtains has now demonstrated the

Water and asset monitoring specialist

comply with EU / EWC / Environment Agency

energy saving criteria needed to be included

HWM-Water Ltd has developed a new data

regulations. This Windows-based system

on the Government’s Energy Technology List

logger specifically for monitoring the water

features a dual web/Windows user interface

(ETL). This enables companies using the air

network for damaging pressure transients

and allows the registration of hazardous

curtains to offset the capital costs against the

and combating ‘water hammer’. With a five-

waste items, progress/status checking, chain

Enhanced Capital Allowance (ECA) Scheme – a

year battery life, fast data sampling and large

of custody management and reporting,

key part of the Government’s programme to

memory, HWM’s Pressure Transient logger is

lookup of EWC lists and consignment of

manage climate change. Air curtains are ideal

suitable for both long-term surveys and rapid

hazardous waste. Details of carrier, consignee

for any frequently used commercial entrance,

trouble shooting deployments. The new logger

and users, with their associated authority, are

including high street stores, shopping centres,

features an expanded 4GB of flash memory and

all stored within the system.

hospitals, hotels, banks, factories, warehouses,

uses advanced data compression algorithms to

The system accommodates EU, Environment

pubs and clubs, restaurants and airports. The

store up to eight billion readings on board. It can

Agency, GLP, GMP and ISO9000 requirements

range of heat pump air curtains has been

operate in the field for weeks or even months

by automatically recording who performed

developed by Mitsubishi Electric in conjunction

while still sampling rapidly enough (25Hz) to

essential functions related to a sample and

with air curtain manufacturer Thermoscreens,

effectively monitor for pressure transients.

when they occurred.

All actions are fully

to offer even greater energy and carbon

The Pressure Transient logger is supplied

audited and retained within the database for

savings, easier installation, servicing and

with a robust aluminium case containing the

enhanced traceability and accountability.

• For more information please visit

maintenance and lower noise levels.

• For more information please visit

data logger, pressure transducer with quick-fit

www.autoscribeinformatics.com

www.airconditioning. mitsubishielectric.co.uk

connector, download lead, software and full documentation.

• For more information please visit

www.hwm-water.com environmentmagazine.co.uk | 169 |

PRODUCT GUIDE

Hydroguard Introduces The Most Effective Flood Defence Barrier System British company HydroGuard has developed a unique and ingenious domestic flood prevention barrier that fits any standard PVC or wooden door thanks to its sliding mechanism - and unlike less effective and unhygienic sandbags HydroGuard can be used again and again.

Effortlessly and securely fitted in seconds with no pre-installation work required, HydroGuard is the ultimate in flood defences. It is light, affordable and slides back down to an easily storable unit, ready for when your property is once again under threat.

If your property is at risk from flooding, wouldn’t it make sense to have HydroGuard at hand to give you peace of mind?

• For more information please visit www.hydroguard.co

Ion Science Launches New Wireless Indoor Air Quality Monitor

Eaton Software Puts You in Control of Your Breakers

Remeha Commercial launches Fusion Hybrid Range Remeha

Fusion

Hybrid:

a

unique,

Attack has introduced two new models

Eaton is now offering an easy-to-use

in the DP Profi range of wood gasifying

software package that provides enhanced

bespoke bivalent hybrid heating and hot

boilers. The Slovakian built Attack log boilers,

control and monitoring facilities for moulded

water system that combines Remeha’s high

available from Thermal Earth, have outputs

case circuit breakers, with electronic trip units

performance gas absorption heat pumps in

of 75kW and 95kW allowing them to cater

in the company’s popular NZM2, NZM3 and

conjunction with high efficiency condensing

for large heatloads and qualify for the non-

NZM4 ranges. The software makes it easy to

technology with a fully-integrated, scalable

domestic RHI scheme.

check the breaker trip settings, an important

building control system to maximise heating

These Attack DP Profi models feature a

aid to achieving selectivity, and also provides

efficiencies and reduce carbon emissions.

conventional fin type heat exchanger with

access to trip history information, which

Remeha Fusion Hybrid, which is available with

electronic temperature control and with

facilitates fault diagnosis. The software is

outputs from 100 to 1000 kW, offers versatile,

an efficiency of up to 86% they provide an

free to download from Eaton's website and

tailored

outstanding capital cost to return ratio.

runs on Windows-based computers, which

low-carbon heating in both new build and

The split log boilers can use both hard and

connect to the breaker trip unit via an interface

existing buildings. With its high seasonal

soft wood in the larger fuel chamber that

connection kit. The software immediately

efficiencies and low-carbon and low-NOx

allows for a longer combustion time from

recognises the breaker and automatically

emissions, Remeha Fusion Hybrid meets all

one load. The Attack DP Profi boilers boast

configures itself to match the device.

environmental legislation including the ErP

solutions

for

energy-efficient,

simple operation and cleaning with safety

A name or reference can be allocated to

Directive. Remeha Fusion Hybrid is easy to

measures, such as automatic shutdown after

the breaker, which will be shown when it is

install and suitable for both commercial new

fuel is depleted, and fireproof clays that are

subsequently accessed. The real time values

build developments and retrofit projects as

resistant to temperatures up to 1500°C. • For more information please visit

of key parameters, including phase currents,

an environmentally-friendly alternative for

are also shown, along with load warnings that

space heating that can significantly improve

indicate tripping may be imminent.

• For more information please visit

the energy performance of a building.

• For more information please visit

www.attackbiomass.co.uk

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www.remeha.co.uk