Sir David picks 12 photographers for sustainability prize

The shortlist for the Third Prix Pictet, the prize for photography and sustainability, was announced today. The theme for this year is 'Growth'. A preview of the shortlisted photographers' works is on show at Galerie Filles du Calvaire, Paris, until 29 November.

The winner will be announced by HE Kofi Annan at the award ceremony in Paris on 17 March 2011. The shortlist was chosen by an independent jury from submissions by over 450 photographers.

The eight-member jury is chaired by Professor Sir David King, Director of the Smith School of Enterprise and Environment at Oxford and an Ashden Advocate. Today's statement said the jury looked for photographic series of the highest artistic merit

that also presented a convincing narrative about the critical issues of sustainability and in particular, the theme of Growth. Growth, which lifts countless millions out of poverty, also has a huge and potentially unsustainable environmental cost. It presents one of the great conundrums facing humanity in the early decades of the twenty-first century.

Sir David said, "Any one of these twelve artists would be a worthy winner."

Click here to read the rest of this post.

Harish says, "Look at the need, tailor the product"

The travel writer Frank Bures visits Africa and reports on why technology is "Africa's latest, greatest poverty fighter". Bures' article considers the work of two Ashden Award winners: D.light Design and SELCO. Dorcas Cheng-Tozun, of D.light Design tells him,

"Providing bright light really impacts so many facets of people's lives. It essentially extends their day. It allows them to work for longer hours and more productively. It lets children study longer."

Harish Hande of SELCO says:

"In the traditional, top-down methodology, it's a one-sided supply chain, where the product goes down to the poor. We go from the opposite side. We look at what the need is, then tailor the product to the need."

Click here to read the rest of this post.

IEA calls for end of government subsidies for fossil fuels

The International Energy Agency calls for governments to stop subsidising the fossil fuel industry. Last year governments - mainly in the developing world - spent $312bn subsidising coal oil, gas and coal. The BBC's Roger Harrabin reports that the IEA's World Energy Outlook 2010 - released today - says:

"Subsidies that artificially lower energy prices encourage wasteful consumption and undermine the competitiveness of renewable and more energy-efficient technologies."

Click here to read the rest of this post.

Is a Republican town in Kansas the greenest in the world?

Is Greensburg, a Republican-voting town in Kansas, where many people are sceptical of climate science, actually the greenest town in the world?

On May 4, 2007, Greensburg, Kansas, was destroyed by an F5 tornado. Almost every building in town was leveled. Eleven were killed, dozens injured. Yet within days, the people of Greensburg had committed to rebuild their town, and to rebuild green. Today, Greensburg is the greenest town in the USA, and maybe the world.

More.

Pic: Greensburg Community Art Center (H-t: Inhabitat)

Click here to read the rest of this post.

ITV visits house with energy bills of less than £100 a year

In September Mike visited The Recycled House at the same time as ITV's Meridian Tonight. The cost of renovations and energy-saving refurbishments at The Recycled House has been £140,000 (with about half of that spent on energy-savings). The result? The Recycled House has cut its carbon emissions by 90%.

Meridian Tonight was impressed by a house with energy bills of less than £100 a year:

“Green technologies like solar panels and tapping into natural heat from the ground are revolutionising the way we light and warm our homes."

Watch the video, which includes an interview with Mike.

Click here to read the rest of this post.

Live blogging and tweeting the webinar on climate change

This blog has signed up to the webinar about campaigning and climate change on Thursday at 5pm (London time). Topics include:

Different roles the public can play in tackling climate change
Behaviour change strategies for encouraging sustainable lifestyles and communities
Messages about climate change that engage the public (and those that don’t)

The speakers on "Pre-COP Communicating Climate Change" are Chris Rose, environmental campaigner and communications consultant, and Lorraine Whitmarsh, lecturer in Environmental Psychology. We'll be blogging and tweeting the webinar from 5. Join in.

Click here to read the rest of this post.

Public turns up to see how Juliet turned a small cold dark house into a SuperHome

The day of our first superhome opening began with a final burst of frenetic cleaning of windows and floors, and praying for some sunshine to show off the passive solar gain. It was our lucky day: we were rewarded with plenty of sunshine and a steady trickle of visitors, all keen to do energy saving on their properties.

A WI member brought her husband; some neighbours interrupted their Sunday lunch for a curious glimpse; another neighbour with horribly high electricity bills was looking for tips. Later the sustainability officer from the council turned up with her colleague from the Energy Saving Trust – both young and passionate about their jobs (must be, working on a Sunday!) and keen to align with us as their local “energy champions”.

It was amusing to see some reactions when they walked in the house, which is often called a Tardis. It’s a 100-year-old terraced house that looks tiny from the outside but when you enter it’s spacious and flooded with light. Some anticipated a new build: “I was expecting to see a spanking new eco house!” commented a local reporter who was clearly pleasantly surprised and interested. He even gleaned some tips on insulation and where to get biomass for his stove.

Journalists from the local press and Anglia TV interviewed the whole family, including 11-year old Callum who rose to the challenge. There was much amusement as everyone watched the TV reporter do her piece to camera demonstrating the energy monitor with Callum by switching the kettle on, only to be interrupted for the third time by the dog barking at the next arrival.

Our visitors came from as far as Burnham on Crouch and Manningtree, some 20 miles away, having read an article about us in one of the local papers. Word also passed through the transition town networks, some great nation-wide initiatives that are making communities more resilient to peak oil and climate change.

Although we stressed the money-saving benefits in our publicity about the superhome, hoping to attract some of the un-energy-savvy locals many of those who turned up didn’t need convincing, they were already planning or doing green measures on their own properties and looking to share ideas with like-minded people. Let’s hope at least some of them can become future superhomers to join the growing network. Our immediate target: 100 by March next year.

See This Sunday you can visit Juliet's SuperHome and How to turn a small, cold, dark house into a SuperHome

Click here to read the rest of this post.

Antiques Roadshow ends with thoroughly modern 100th Object

Last night’s episode of the Antiques Roadshow, which took place at the British Museum, ended by highlighting Radio Four’s 100th object.

The solar lamp and charger has received good media coverage following the announcement last month. But this was special: Sunday night on BBC2, on a programme that regularly draws 5.5 million viewers.

The show’s panel of experts pitched in with their own ideas for a 100th item that represented the modern age. There was the SatNav: “nothing has done more for domestic harmony”. There was the pair of rubber clogs: “They’ve changed my life at the seaside". And there was the microchip: “I’ve never seen it, I don’t know how it works, but it has changed everybody’s lives.”

But last night's Antiques Roadshow finished with the 100th Object - the solar-powered lamp, which is housed within the British Museum. The Museum's director, Neil MacGregor, said, "In fact, it's sunshine, captured, harvested and stored, to be taken out and used wherever and whenever we need it."

Neil MacGregor on what the 100th object teaches us
Nick Stern says solar power can free communities from corrupt practices,
In one hour from the sun, we get enough energy for a year,
100th Object introduces us to “the noise of the day",
100th object reminds us of extraordinary amount the semiconductor transistor has done for 21st century life
100th Object going "to change the way we think",
After today's 99th Object, one more to go,
From 100th Object to 100s of solar projects,
What the Twitterverse thinks of 100th Object,
100th Object: "a story worthy of this generation",
Solar-powered lamp revealed as 100th Object,
Tomorrow’s vote on 100th Object keeps solar in the news,
Solar lamp an icon in social entrepreneurship
and
Will solar powered lamp be 100th Object?

Click here to read the rest of this post.

Dale reaches 120mph in wind-powered car

Dale Vince, director of Ecotricity, an Ashden Award winner in 2007, takes the Guardian's John Vidal on a test drive of his electric sports car, the Nemesis

"I like to think of it as a wind-powered car because it's important in the whole debate about the shift to electric cars that we don't forget that the electricity has to come from somewhere and in our case what we've built here is a wind-powered car."

Dale has done 120 mph in his electric supercar and hopes, in a few months, to beat the record of 138-9 mph.

Click here to read the rest of this post.

Neil MacGregor on what the 100 Objects teach us

In an interview in today's Independent, the British Museum's director, Neil MacGregor, explains the lesson that can be learnt from a series about 100 Objects, that extends from a two million-year-old stone tool found in Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania to the solar-powered lamp from Shenzhen (pic).

"Once you have seen that different societies can organise themselves in different ways, the inevitable conclusion is that social order is contingent and therefore changeable. That totally transforms the role of the citizen, doesn't it? The citizen can change his polity, and then the consequences for society are enormous."

Nick Stern says solar power can free communities from corrupt practices,
In one hour from the sun, we get enough energy for a year,
100th Object introduces us to “the noise of the day",
100th object reminds us of extraordinary amount the semiconductor transistor has done for 21st century life
100th Object going "to change the way we think",
After today's 99th Object, one more to go,
From 100th Object to 100s of solar projects,
What the Twitterverse thinks of 100th Object,
100th Object: "a story worthy of this generation",
Solar-powered lamp revealed as 100th Object,
Tomorrow’s vote on 100th Object keeps solar in the news,
Solar lamp an icon in social entrepreneurship
and
Will solar powered lamp be 100th Object?

Click here to read the rest of this post.

AIDFI works hard for votes in last week of BBC World Challenge

(Pic: AIDFI gathers votes at a local college)

The BBC World Challenge is simple: be an innovative project that makes a real difference at the grassroots somewhere across the globe. The AID Foundation (AIDFI) in the Philippines certainly fits the bill. Its use of a simple technology, ram pumps - where the power of a river’s flow pushes water uphill - is saving time and money for 50,000 villagers.

An Ashden winner in 2007, AIDFI was selected as a World Challenge finalist this summer. Over the past two months, volunteers and staff have worked hard to secure votes. AIDFI has also been visited by an ABS-CBN film crew who, trekking across the mountains of the Philippines, recorded the impact of ram pumps in remote communities (pic below).

AIDFI Director Auke Idzenga has been manning the miniature ram pump display in a shopping centre in Bacolod City on Negros island (pic above). The display has attracted the crowds. Auke says:

“Even when you have completely explained how the system works. They will still ask at the end: ‘no fuel, no electricity?' The funniest reactions come after you tell the visitors at the display that the main spare part is an ordinary door hinge. They just shake their head.”

Auke says many of the shoppers in the Mall come back to vote.

“People first pass by the display, accept the leaflet with all the info, then disappear in the mall for a few hours, and then many people come to our booth and vote. They understand and are very, very proud that such a programme and product was developed on their island.”

For AIDFI, getting more votes is not just about the World Challenge.

“The campaign itself is one big gain for AIDFI. It's triggering so much publicity and officials are getting to know us more. What is very important is that people not only vote but as well share the link on their own Facebook page and their networks.”

Voting for AIDFI’s ram pump project closes midnight on 12th November. You can vote for AIDFI here.

Click here to read the rest of this post.

Geological Society says emitting more CO2 "likely to be unwise"

The Geological Society has prepared a position statement on climate change, focusing specifically on the geological evidence. As you would expect, it takes the long view. It considers:

What is climate change, and how do geologists know about it?
What are the grounds for concern?
When and how did today’s climate become established?
What drives climate change?
What is the Greenhouse Effect?
What effect do natural cycles of climate change have on the planet?
Has sudden climate change occurred before?
Are there more recent examples of rapid climate change?
How did levels of CO2 in the atmosphere change during the ice age?
How has carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere changed over the longer term?
How has carbon dioxide in the atmosphere changed in recent times?
When was CO2 last at today’s level, and what was the world like then?
When global temperature changed, did the same change in temperature happen everywhere?

and, finally,

In conclusion - what does the geological record tell us about the potential effect of continued emissions of CO2?

The answer:

"it is reasonable to conclude that emitting further large amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere over time is likely to be unwise, uncomfortable though that fact may be."

Click here to read the rest of this post.

Five of the toughest energy questions for scientists

1. Could we support our current western lifestyle with only "renewable" energy?

2. Do you agree with the US Joint Forces Command (JFC) that spare capacity in global oil production may very well disappear in 2012 and a shortfall of 10m barrels per day develop by 2015?

3. The world's population is due to rise to 9 billion people. Can the planet supply the energy needed to achieve that end?

4. What's your best case scenario for the world's energy supply mix in 50 years time? What's your worst case scenario? And where you you think we'll actually be?

5. Is energy storage - ie battery technology - one of the biggest things holding back renewables and widespread energy efficiency?

Answers.

Click here to read the rest of this post.

Delegates at the Hague this week are looking for 'climate smart' solutions: we suggest a few

The Down2Earth Conference on Agriculture, Food Security and Climate Change is taking place this week (31st October-5th November) at the Hague. International organisations, companies and civic organisations have come together in the Netherlands with delegates from over 80 countries to build a roadmap for facing the triple challenges of climate change, poverty and food security.

They will be looking for ways to achieve climate smart growth within our global agricultural system, that is, growth within the agricultural sector that tackles the twin issues of poverty and the need for climate mitigation and adaptation.

May we suggest that delegates look to the work of some Ashden Award winners for concrete examples of climate smart growth?

Our winners are producing biogas for cooking and fertilizing crops, developing solar drying techniques adding value (and income) to fruit crops and using simple treadle-powered pumps and ‘drip’ irrigation to expand the production of smallholders. They are at the forefront of solutions tackling rural poverty, food security and a changing climate.

Today’s focus on finance models addressed a question that has been key for Ashden winners: "what are the business and funding models that will deliver the adaptation and mitigation solutions needed within agricultural development?"

Tomorrow the Down2Earth Conference will hear keynote speeches from Kofi Annan, HRH Princess Máxima of the Netherlands and Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the Earth Institute.

For more discussion on sustainable agriculture see:

Treadle pumps bring water to nearly 4m
It's time to tackle climate change and agricultural development in tandem
A summary of yesterday at Down2Earth
The conference blog 'A new agriculture for food security'

Click here to read the rest of this post.

Most popular 10 blogs in October

We've just checked the stats to see which blog had the most visits last month. The winner was the solar-powered lamp, with Juliet's SuperHome (a late entry) attracting a lot of interest in the last few days. Jo's visit to the biogas plant at SKG - published in March - is still in the Top 10.

1. Will solar-powered lamp be 100th Object of the World? (12 October 2010)
2. How to turn a small, cold, dark house into a SuperHome (27 October 2010)
3. Didcot pilots an energy source close to home (5 October 2010)
4. What the twitterverse thinks of the 100th Object (14 October 2010)
5. When electricity boards went on the offensive (27 October 2010)
6. Mike set to save £500-£600 on gas and electricity (29 October 2010)
7. Solar-powered lamp revealed as 100th Object (14 October 2010)
8. Brazil's ex-energy minister could become 'most powerful woman in the world' (7 October 2010)
9. Jo sees installation of biogas plant at SKG (10 March 2010)
10. Dulas brings Endurance wind turbines to the UK (31 August 2010)

Click here to read the rest of this post.

Zardari sees opportunities in Pakistan for 'massive investment' in renewables

President Zardari said yesterday that Pakistan offers promising opportunities for massive investment in alternative energy sources. President Zardari was presiding over meetings on ‘Alternative Energy Options’ available to energy-starved Pakistan.

He advised the authorities concerned that all the new houses being built in the rural areas of Sindh under Behan Benazir Basti Programme should be provided with solar or wind power. The president also said new street lights should be solar/LED-based, billboards and electronic power-based neon signs should be converted to solar, and special industrial hubs set up in the coastal areas of Sindh and Balochistan based on the wind power harnessed in these areas.

Click here to read the rest of this post.

First and largest referendum on clean energy policy

Strong aggressive messaging from climate hawks in California - including its Governor (left) - ensured that voters yesterday rejected Proposition 23, which sought to repeal the 2006 Global Warming Act.

Time magazine describes this result as:

a decisive and historic victory for the state’s clean energy economy, clean air and climate policy. The defeat of the Dirty Energy Proposition signifies the first and largest public referendum in history on clean energy policy.

(Hat-tip: Climate Progress)

Click here to read the rest of this post.

Tonight's TV: "priceless goodies and quirky too"

Recommended TV tonight: Part Two of The Secret Life of the National Grid (BBC4 9pm). Part One was a hit in this office, and others agreed.

The New Statesman's TV reviewer said the series director, Gaby Hornsby, is

an extremely deft film-maker, and her documentaries manage to be not only comprehensive - crammed with technical and historical detail, not to mention priceless goodies from the film archives - but quirky, too.

Click here to read the rest of this post.

This Sunday you can visit Juliet's SuperHome

Last week we reported in how to turn a small, cold, dark house into a superhome on how Juliet, Ashden's Media and PR Manager, had transformed her three-bedroom Edwardian terrace house in Essex.

Her local paper, Maldon and Burnham Standard, devoted two pages to the story and quoted Juliet, saying:

"We want people to see how warm and comfy the house is and that you don't have to spend loads of money."

Now people can see for themselves. This Sunday Juliet and her partner Ian Daglish (pictured) are opening their SuperHome in Wycke Lane, Tollesbury to the public between 11am and 3pm. More info: juliet@julietheller.co.uk

Click here to read the rest of this post.

40 years of you and your energy

As You and Yours celebrates its 40th Birthday, Julian Worricker takes a look how energy has shaped the past four decades and how attitudes to energy policy have changed during the lifetime of Radio 4's midday consumer programme.

Click here to read the rest of this post.