Comment by Peter Saunders
Picturing Net-Zero
W
hen summer ends and the weather gets cooler, do you have any fall traditions? One of mine is to visit the annual World Press Photo exhibition as it passes through downtown Toronto in October. It’s free to attend, simply by strolling through the Allen Lambert Galleria at Brookfield Place, and it’s always fascinating to see which photojournalism and documentary photography projects, submitted from around the globe, have impressed the World Press Photo Contest’s jury as the best and most important works of the past year.
“Images showcase facilities exemplifying efforts toward a net-zero economy.” This year, one of the winning photographers was Italy’s Simone Tramonte, who captured images of facilities exemplifying ‘energy transition’ efforts toward a net-zero economy. Tramonte’s work, which has been published in Wired, National Geographic and The Guardian, to name a few, focuses on contemporary social and environmental subjects, with an aim to demonstrate how technology can help improve sustainability. Thus, his photos are relevant to consulting engineers. For his award-winning long-term project, titled ‘Net-Zero Transition,’ Tramonte travelled from Iceland to Italy between 2020 and 2022, documenting how a variety of companies are striving to reach European Union (EU) targets to cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by at least 55% by 2030 and achieve net-zero performance by 2050. Tramonte’s striking imagery helps bring many innovative, little-seen concepts to life. One image that from a distance resembles an igloo actually showcases a geodesic dome over a geothermal power plant’s injection 4
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well in Iceland. Underground fluids produce steam at the surface to drive turbines and generate electricity. At the same time, the plant captures carbon dioxide (CO2) from the process and fixes it within the bedrock, where it can be mineralized. Another image resembling an information technology (IT) server room depicts a microalgae facility’s photobioreactor. In a carbon-negative process (since microalgae consume CO2 ), the facility— also in Iceland—produces antioxidant-rich food supplements. Next, a worker harvesting tomatoes stands not in a field, but in an Italian greenhouse. A biogas plant nearby provides 100% of the energy needed for high-efficiency lighting, ensuring sustainable agricultural production; and the controlled environment means there is no need for herbicides or glysophates. (And speaking of plant growth, another photo showcases a lab technician examining microbial biofertilizers. The lab is part of an indoor ‘vertical farm’ in Denmark, where fermented plant waste is used to make the fertilizers on-site.) What may look at first like a satellite dish turns out to be a commercial solar plant in Spain, reportedly the first in the world to promise uninterrupted power all day long to the electrical grid. It does so by collecting and storing solar heat, rather than light. As such, it can operate for up to 15 hours without any sunlight. These are just a few examples of how Tramonte’s images can catch the eye with cutting-edge engineering efforts. If you would like to view the full series, visit www.worldpressphoto.org/collection/ photo-contest/2023/Simone-Tramonte/1.
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November/ December 2023
