In the megacities that are home to nearly 10 percent of the world's 7.5 billion people, trees provide each city with more than $500 million each year in services that make urban environments cleaner, more affordable and more pleasant places to live.
In a recent study published in the online journal Ecological Modelling, an international team of researchers reported that in the 10 megacities they studied, tree-based ecosystem benefits had a median annual value of $505 million, which is equivalent to $1.2 million per square kilometer of trees. From another perspective, the value was $35 per capita for the average megacity resident.
The study's lead author, Dr. Theodore Endreny of the College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF) in Syracuse, New York, said the value of trees' services could easily be doubled by simply planting more of them.
"Megacities can increase these benefits on average by 85 percent," Endreny said. "If trees were to be established throughout their potential cover area, they would serve to filter air and water pollutants and reduce building energy use, and improve human well-being while providing habitat and resources for other species in the urban area."
The study estimated existing and potential tree cover, and its contribution to ecosystem services in 10 megacity metropolitan areas across five continents and biomes (a large, natural community of plants and animals that occupies a major habitat). The cities were Beijing, China; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Cairo, Egypt; Istanbul, Turkey; London, Great Britain; Los Angeles, United States; Mexico City, Mexico; Moscow, Russia; Mumbai, India; and Tokyo, Japan.
The researchers estimated the benefits of tree cover in reducing air pollution, stormwater runoff, energy costs associated with heating and cooling buildings, and carbon emissions. "Trees have direct and indirect benefits for cooling buildings and reducing human suffering during heat waves," Endreny said. "The direct benefit is shade which keeps the urban area cooler, the indirect benefit is transpiration of stormwater which turns hot air into cooler air."
Urban trees perform services most people are unaware of, including removal of airborne particulate matter dangerous to human respiration by capture on leaves; energy savings in the form of cooling and insulation from both summer sunlight and winter winds; and carbon sequestration, which occurs when trees absorb and store carbon dioxide as they mitigate climate change.
"Placing these results on the larger scale of socio-economic systems makes evident to what extent nature supports our individual and community well-being by providing ecosystem services for free," said one of Endreny's co-authors, Professor Sergio Ulgiati of University Parthenope of Naples, Italy. "A deeper awareness of the economic value of free services provided by nature may increase our willingness to invest efforts and resources into natural capital conservation and correct exploitation, so that societal wealth, economic stability and well-being would also increase. As a follow-up of this joint research, we have created in our university an Urban Wellbeing Laboratory, jointly run by researchers and local stakeholders."
PNNL's ThermalTracker software can aid responsible wind farm siting and operations.
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory's (PNNL) ThermalTracker software analyzes thermal video to help birds and bats near offshore wind farms. PNNL engineer Shari Matzner is shown here with a thermal video camera she's using for this research. Credit: PNNL.
The same technology that enables soldiers to see in the dark can also help protect birds and bats near offshore wind turbines.
Night vision goggles use thermal imaging, which captures infrared light that's invisible to the human eye. Now, researchers at the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory are using thermal imaging to help birds and bats near offshore wind farms. PNNL is developing software called ThermalTracker to automatically categorize birds and bats in thermal video. Birds and bats fly over offshore waters, but they're difficult to track in such remote locations.
"ThermalTracker can help developers and regulators make informed decisions about siting and operating offshore wind projects," said PNNL engineer Shari Matzner, who leads ThermalTracker's development. "We need scientific tools like this to better understand how offshore wind turbines can coexist with birds and bats."
The software can help determine if there are many birds or bats near an offshore wind project and if they could be affected by the project. If that's the case, officials can consider adjusting the location of a proposed project or modifying an existing project's operations.
Biologists at the non-profit Biodiversity Research Institute are testing the system this summer to determine how well it identifies birds compared to their field observations in Maine, one of the states considering offshore wind power.
"This is an extraordinary collaboration between technology developers, engineers and wildlife biologists who are working together on cutting-edge technology," said Wing Goodale, deputy director of Biodiversity Research Institute. "Developing technology to detect bird and bat avoidance at terrestrial and offshore wind farms will promote a better understanding of the nature of wildlife risks -- or lack thereof -- at any type of wind farm, and reduce uncertainty about the potential for unintended impacts during operation. These cameras could provide a reliable method of detecting bird and bat response to offshore wind projects, where it is not possible to conduct traditional wildlife monitoring."
Offshore potential
Winds are stronger over the ocean than on land, and DOE estimates the U.S. could potentially generate nearly twice the amount of electricity it currently uses if we captured the energy in winds that blow off our shores.
Offshore wind power is starting to take off in the U.S. The nation's first commercial offshore wind project is spinning off of Rhode Island and another proposed project near New York recently received early approval. Offshore wind is further along in Europe, where nearly 3,600 offshore turbines have a total generation capacity of about 12,000 megawatts.
For the birds
American officials are aiming to make U.S. offshore wind environmentally responsible, including limiting its impact on birds and bats near American shores. Today, most wind power sites are evaluated for birds and bats by biologists who stand in a field and take notes on what they see. For offshore wind power sites, scientists board a boat, but can only observe in daylight and when the weather cooperates. Remote sensing technologies could enable longer-term bird and bat monitoring that is also less expensive and labor-intensive.
Scientists have long used thermal imaging to observe bats, which are nocturnal and can't be seen with traditional video at night. But while thermal cameras see general animal shapes when visibility is low, they don't provide clear images or color, which makes identifying animals difficult.
PNNL's solution involves algorithms that can identify birds and bats based on their flight behaviors. The ThermalTracker software specifically evaluates two characteristics: the shape of the path that birds or bats take to fly from point A to B, and how frequently their wings beat up and down. The software evaluates thermal video for these behaviors and then determines whether the observed animals are bats or belong to bird families such as gulls, terns or swallows.
Upping the game
Two previously published papers describe how an early version of ThermalTracker detected 81 percent of all animals recorded in thermal video and correctly classified 82 percent of those observed animals. And it took humans an average of five times longer to arrive at the same conclusions as the software.
Now, Matzner and her PNNL colleagues are improving their software. They've already updated its algorithms so it can detect animals as video is being recorded, instead of processing video after the fact. Live data processing means the software only saves video when a bird or bat is detected. With less data to store, the system can be used for long-term observation and provide more complete information about birds and bats near offshore wind power sites.
The team is also creating a system that has "stereo vision," or 3D video by using two thermal cameras instead of the just one. Having 3D video provides depth perception, which helps determine if birds are flying at the heights where turbines spin and if birds are avoiding existing turbines. Stereo vision will also reveal how far a bird is from a camera, which can determine bird size and, in turn, more accurately identify a bird.
Testing it out
BRI field researchers are testing the new stereo camera system this summer. While the two-camera system records, the Institute's scientists are documenting which birds they observe, how far away birds are, and how well the camera system works.
Next, Matzner and her colleagues will use the field biologists' notes to refine ThermalTracker algorithms so the software can better identify birds and bats from 3D video.
Interdisciplinary teams at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory address many of America's most pressing issues in energy, the environment and national security through advances in basic and applied science. Founded in 1965, PNNL employs 4,400 staff and has an annual budget of nearly $1 billion. It is managed by Battelle for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science. As the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, the Office of Science is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time.
Biodiversity Research Institute's mission is to assess emerging threats to wildlife and ecosystems through collaborative research, and to use scientific findings to advance environmental awareness and inform decision makers. BRI has been researching topics related to wildlife and renewable energy since 2009.
While popular with conservation groups, coastal easements that prevent development in order to protect marshland from changes brought about by climate change and rising sea levels are not favored by property owners, according to a new study by the University of Connecticut and Virginia Tech.
The findings, based on the results of surveys conducted in 2015 of 1,002 owners of Connecticut coastal properties, suggest that relying on education about sea level rise and the ecosystem benefits of marshes alone will not protect land from future changes. Since private landowners are critical partners in efforts to save coastal marshes, identifying the best strategies will be essential to success.
The study, conducted by Christopher Field and Chris Elphick of UConn and Ashley Dayer of Virginia Tech, followed two major storms -- Hurricane Irene in 2011 and Hurricane Sandy in 2012 -- providing a valid measure of whether experience influences attitudes about taking action to lessen future risks.
Landowners in the study indicated skepticism about granting easements based on concerns as to whether they will be offered a fair price in exchange for keeping land as open space where marshes can migrate as seas rise. They also indicated worry that environmental organizations "might not act fairly or transparently in their efforts to encourage tidal marsh migration," the researchers write in an article published in the Aug. 7 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
In the study area alone -- the Connecticut coast -- there are an estimated 30,000 landowners in the zone projected to become tidal marsh by 2100, and millions of people globally live near tidal marshes. Whether they decide to leave room for marshes to move inland or instead build seawalls that harden shorelines means the difference between saving tidal wetlands and their many ecological, economic, and recreational benefits, or losing them altogether.
While surveyed landowners whose properties flooded during the hurricane were 1.4 times more likely to say they may be willing to sell their vulnerable land outright, the real world results call those stated intentions into question. Federal buyout programs after both hurricanes acquired fewer than 100 properties in the study area, although many more were eligible, the study states.
If land protection agreements with nonprofits and government agencies aren't the answer, what offers greater promise for the future of marshes?
Surveyed landowners responded favorably to the idea of restrictive covenants, even though they typically do not include financial incentives. Under restrictive covenants, an entire neighborhood agrees to forgo building seawalls and other shoreline armoring structures. However, note the researchers, these strategies tend to be counterproductive in the long run, because they divert erosion and flooding to adjoining properties.
Coastal landowners also liked the notion of future interest agreements. Under these programs, private landowners agree to accept the fair market value of their property at the time of signing if future flooding reduces the value by more than half. That future flooding would mean dry upland has been allowed to turn into coastal marsh.
The study was funded by Connecticut Sea Grant, UConn, and the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. Field is a postdoctoral fellow in the UConn Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; Elphick is an associate professor of conservation biology in the UConn ecology and evolutionary biology department and the Center of Biological Risk; and Dayer is assistant professor of human dimensions at Virginia Tech's College of Natural Resources and Environment.
The article, "Landowner behavior can determine the success of conservation strategies for ecosystem migration under sea-level rise," offers broad implications for how to best design programs to mitigate other climate change effects. But further analysis is needed, say the researchers.
Should people who profit from the cultural representation of wildlife pay towards conservation? That is the question asked in new research conducted by zoologists from Oxford University's Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU).
Writing in the journal Animals, they muse on whether organisations that profit in some way from wildlife imagery and popularity, could establish a corporate responsibility to contribute a portion of this income to the conservation of the animals represented.
Big cats for example, are a marketing dream. From catwalk trends to product branding and sports team representation, their likeness is everywhere and used to sell everything from patriotism to eggs. In fact, as the face of the British Lion Quality Seal, lions sell about 30 million eggs a day in Britain.
Using the product as an example, the paper argues that if a royalty system were introduced, and each lion stamp were to earn the species one tenth of a penny, then every day lion conservation could receive £28,900.That's £10.5 million a year.
But, the wildlife itself, is in crisis. Again, using lions as an example, the combined effects of everyday human conflicts with local African communities, poaching, habitat loss and trophy hunting mean there are now probably less than 25,000 left in the wild.
When you consider how much revenue could be made from egg sales alone, introducing a royalty for the use of wildlife imagery is both logical and highly lucrative way to fund conservation.
Caroline Good, WildCRU's Recanati-Kaplan post-doctoral fellow in Art and Conservation, said: 'Soccer is the most popular sport in the world and as a result one of the richest. The English Premier League uses a crowned lion as its logo. It is the richest of all the leagues and sells 5m strips a year. Even if the league contributed just £1 for every t-shirt sold per year, it would be enough to employ 4,000 local people to act as lion defenders each year, in areas where the species is under threat. It would also be good for the league's charitable footprint and buy them a lot of good publicity into the bargain.'
On paper it seems like a system that would benefit all involved. But, it requires significant consideration to be effective. A species royalty scheme would primarily benefit carnivorous species and mega fauna, but it would leave less charismatic, 'appealing' wildlife without a financial lifeline. But, as apex predators, who sit at the top of the food chain, all wildlife sharing their habitat stand to benefit from the protection of big cats and mega fauna.
Dr Dawn Burnham, co-author and a researcher at Oxford's WildCRU, said: 'The quest for new mechanisms to fund conservation is a matter of live or death for wildlife. We have increasingly sophisticated Payments for Ecosystems Services and REDD schemes, but its not enough. Our idea for a royalty adds another option and, remembering that so many endangered species are in very poor countries this idea could cost little to the donors while making a huge difference."
Professor David Macdonald, Director of WildCRU, said: 'When you consider the volume of animal symbols, prints, and logos that adorn clothes, food, branding, and buildings, we are heavily indebted to charismatic wildlife. For centuries these species have brought people feelings of luck and protection, helping shape personal, professional, and national identities. It is now our turn to protect them and their habitat.'
The available and emerging renewable technologies suitable for urban environments have been assessed in a recent study. Wind and solar technology can now be integrated into building design, and smart grids and metering can more efficiently manage energy production and demand at a local level. Investing in community-level renewable-energy projects can, therefore, help meet the future energy needs of towns and cities.
Providing for the increasing demand for energy and mitigating the effects of climate change are major challenges facing society. By 2050, 70% of the world’s projected population of nine billion will live within urban areas1, which are likely to face significant environmental challenges. For example, higher temperatures will increase the energy demand for cooling (e.g. from air conditioning).
Renewable-energy technologies in the urban environment, such as solar and wind power, are increasingly regarded as an important solution to deal with climate change and energy security. Certain cities have already made progress in integrating renewable energy. For example, Rotterdam has adopted an Energy Approach Plan called REAP, where renewable technologies are brought into urban planning. In addition, Copenhagen aims to achieve 100% of its energy from renewables, in order to become the first carbon-neutral capital by 2025.
This study examined the potential role of renewable and zero-carbon technologies in meeting the growing energy demand for cooling. From existing literature, the researcher reviewed the emerging and more established renewable-energy technologies and how they can, or have been, integrated into towns and cities. Technologies outlined include micro-wind turbines, suitable for a built-up environment; how to incorporate solar panels in urban areas; and the role of information, computer technology and smart metering to manage energy use.
Emerging technologies include a variety of wind-turbine designs, which reduce the impact of erratic wind flow in built-up environments, and solar cells that are incorporated into pavements and floors, which are being piloted at the Solaroad project in the Netherlands. The efficiency of urban energy supply can also be improved on a local scale with small Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plants (which combine the production of heat and power). In Denmark, over 50% of the country’s energy demand is met by CHP connected to district heating and cooling systems. CHP can also be used with renewable technologies such as solar power.
Building owners have previously been discouraged from incorporating renewable technologies due to high costs and aesthetic and technical considerations. However, the researcher suggests that new technologies, such as micro-wind turbines, may be a more attractive prospect. There has also been considerable research into integrating solar-cell technology into building design. For example, a recent development has been to create dye-sensitised solar cells (DSCs) that can be incorporated into glazing facades. For example, replacement of the glazing facades in an office building in Palermo, Sicily, produced 112,000 kilowatt (kW) of electricity annually and also reduced energy consumption from air conditioning due to the extra shading provided2. Hybrid technologies can also have a significant role in increasing renewable use. Windrail technology can be installed on rooftops and produces electricity from both wind and solar energy.
The researcher says that the technologies summarised demonstrate that renewables could cope with the potential increases in cooling demand in the urban environment. She says the use of renewables is hampered by two factors:
most incentives for their installation are at the individual level, limiting community or district-level incentives, which might have a larger impact on total energy produced.
the high initial investment required limits those on lower incomes from installing renewable technologies.
Information and Computer Technology and smart grids are suggested as a way to overcome these barriers. Smart grids — electricity supply networks that use digital technology to monitor and react to variations in usage — are described as a potential revolution in towns and cities to replace the centrally controlled grids of the 20th century. The researcher says smart grids, smart meters and district-level energy-gathering data can allow better balancing of energy generation. This allows for a better response to energy demand and can improve efficiency, reliability and interconnection of energy supply, and a reduction in energy costs. For example, a study assessing the use of smart metering in hospitals indicated a reduction of energy costs of 25–30%.
Community-scale demonstrations, such as the LEAF Microgrid in Italy, show that all energy needs can be supplied from renewables (achieving a zero-energy goal) by combining renewable and energy-management technologies to balance supply and demand. Smart meters also help individual users to manage their own consumption. At the Technical University of Crete, smart meters installed throughout the campus, combined with an awareness-raising campaign, led to a 17% reduction in energy consumption.
The researcher says that renewable-energy use in the future can be part of a more sustainable way of living within urban communities. Generating renewable energy at a neighbourhood or district scale means less infrastructure is needed to transfer energy to where it is needed. The researcher says that incentives should be provided for joint public and private renewable-energy projects at community or district level, where the energy produced can be used by local residences.
Global marine fisheries discards: A synthesis of reconstructed data by the Sea Around Us. Credit: UBC.
Industrial fishing fleets dump nearly 10 million tonnes of good fish back into the ocean every year, according to new research.
The study by researchers with Sea Around Us, an initiative at the University of British Columbia's Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries and the University of Western Australia, reveals that almost 10 per cent of the world's total catch in the last decade was discarded due to poor fishing practices and inadequate management. This is equivalent to throwing back enough fish to fill about 4,500 Olympic sized swimming pools every year.
"In the current era of increasing food insecurity and human nutritional health concerns, these findings are important," said Dirk Zeller, lead author for the study who is now a professor at the University of Western Australia and senior research partner with the Sea Around Us. "The discarded fish could have been put to better use."
Fishers discard a portion of their catch because fishing practices damage the fish and make them unmarketable, the fish are too small, the species is out of season, only part of the fish needs to be harvested--as with the Alaska pollock roe--or the fishers caught species that they were not targeting, something known as bycatch.
"Discards also happen because of a nasty practice known as high-grading where fishers continue fishing even after they've caught fish that they can sell," said Zeller. "If they catch bigger fish, they throw away the smaller ones; they usually can't keep both loads because they run out of freezer space or go over their quota."
The study examined the amount of discarded fish over time. In the 1950s, about five million tonnes of fish were discarded every year, in the 1980s that figure grew to 18 million tonnes. It decreased to the current levels of nearly 10 million tonnes per year over the past decade.
The decline in discards in recent years could be attributed to improved fisheries management and new technology, but Zeller and his colleagues say it's likely also an indicator of depleted fish stocks. As the Sea Around Us' 2016 global catch reconstruction paper revealed, catches have been declining at a rate of 1.2 million tonnes of fish every year since the mid-1990s.
"Discards are now declining because we have already fished these species down so much that fishing operations are catching less and less each year, and therefore there's less for them to throw away," he said.
Zeller and his colleagues Tim Cashion, Maria Palomares and Daniel Pauly, say that the study also shows how industrial fleets move to new waters once certain fisheries decline.
"The shift of discards from Atlantic to Pacific waters shows a dangerous trend in fisheries of exporting our fishing needs and fishing problems to new areas," Cashion said.
New born calf of a Friesian red and white cow. Back in 1993 there were only 17 real Friesian red and white cows left. Today, thanks to enthusiasts and a breeding program, there are about 300. Credit: Uberprutser (CC 3.0)
Reducing meat consumption and using more efficient farming methods globally are essential to stave off irreversible damage to the environmental, a new study says.
The research, from the University of Minnesota, also found that future increases in agricultural sustainability are likely to be driven by dietary shifts and increases in efficiency, rather than changes between food production systems.
Researchers examined more than 740 production systems for more than 90 different types of food, to understand the links between diets, agricultural production practices and environmental degradation. Their results are published today in the journal Environmental Research Letters.
Lead author Dr Michael Clark said: "If we want to reduce the environmental impact of agriculture, but still provide a secure food supply for a growing global population, it is essential to understand how these things are linked."
Using life cycle assessments - which detail the input, output and environmental impact of a food production system - the researchers analysed the comparative environmental impacts of different food production systems (e.g. conventional versus organic; grain-fed versus grass-fed beef; trawling versus non-trawling fisheries; and greenhouse-grown versus open-field produce), different agricultural input efficiencies (such as feed and fertilizer), and different foods.
The impacts they studied covered levels of land use, greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs), fossil fuel energy use, eutrophication (nutrient runoff) and acidification potential.
Dr Clark said: "Although high agricultural efficiency consistently correlated with lower environmental impacts, the detailed picture we found was extremely mixed. While organic systems used less energy, they had higher land use, did not offer benefits in GHGs, and tended to have higher eutrophication and acidification potential per unit of food produced. Grass-fed beef, meanwhile, tended to require more land and emit more GHGs than grain-fed beef."
However, the authors note that these findings do not imply conventional practices are sustainable. Instead, they suggest that combining the benefits of different production systems, for example organic's reduced reliance on chemicals with the high yields of conventional systems, would result in a more sustainable agricultural system.
Dr Clark said: "Interestingly, we also found that a shift away from ruminant meats like beef - which have impacts three to 10 times greater than other animal-based foods - towards nutritionally similar foods like pork, poultry or fish would have significant benefits, both for the environment and for human health.
"Larger dietary shifts, such as global adoption of low-meat or vegetarian diets, would offer even larger benefits to environmental sustainability and human health."
Co-author Professor David Tilman said: "It's essential we take action through policy and education to increase public adoption of low-impact and healthy foods, as well the adoption of low impact, high efficiency agricultural production systems.
"A lack of action would result in massive increases in agriculture's environmental impacts including the clearing of 200 to 1000 million hectares of land for agricultural use, an approximately three-fold increase in fertilizer and pesticide applications, an 80 per cent increase in agricultural GHG emissions and a rapid rise in the prevalence of diet-related diseases such as obesity and diabetes.
Professor Tilman added: "The steps we have outlined, if adopted individually, offer large environmental benefits. Simultaneous adoption of these and other solutions, however, could prevent any increase in agriculture's environmental impacts. We must make serious choices, before agricultural activities cause substantial, and potentially irreversible, environmental damage."
An aeolid nudibranch moves along coral in Vatu-i-Ra Seascape. Photo by Cat Holloway.
The Government of Fiji has made a commitment to gazette two large Marine Managed Areas (MMAs) within Fiji's Vatu-i-Ra Seascape -- a highly diverse and productive area vital to both people and wildlife alike.
During his address at the United Nations Ocean Conference in New York City, Fiji's Minister for the Ministry of Fisheries, Mr. Semi Koroilavesau announced that Fiji is committed to scaling up MMAs in Fiji, including the Vatu-i-Ra Seascape. The Ministry is working to designate the Bligh Waters and Central Viti MMAs, spanning an area of 13,650 square kilometers.
The move will help protect a host of wildlife species that use the ecologically unique and bountiful Vatu-i-Ra Seascape. This includes migratory humpback whales that migrate from Antarctica to the area to breed, colorful vibrant corals, sharks, rays, more than 200 fish species and regionally significant seabird populations. A second commitment on protecting marine mammals in Fiji reinforces the commitment to gazette the Bligh Waters and Central Viti MMAs to, protect and sustainably manage known humpback whale migration, breeding and calving areas.
"The area boasts a remarkably biodiverse array of species, both permanent and transient," said Dr. Sangeeta Mangubhai, Director of the Wildlife Conservation Society's Fiji Country Program. "The seascape provides for the plants and animals, and the plants and animals provide for the people in the form of food, livelihoods, coastal protection and reduction of climate change impacts."
Among some of the other benefits provided by Vatu-i-Ra Seascape are annual tourism dollars US $22.8M and fisheries valued at US 11.6 M. There are seamounts of cultural importance, and breeding grounds for sharks, rays, turtles and a range of coral reef and pelagic fish species.
Soft corals, crinoids and anthias fish are in the Vatu-i-Ra Seascape. Photo by Cat Holloway.
However, unsustainable harvesting of fish, an increasing human population, growing demand for goods, and market access has led to increased pressure on the area's natural resources. Unless overfishing and land-based impacts is addressed, the seascape is projected to rise to a medium to high threat level by 2030, according to the global assessment "Reefs at Risk" by the World Resources Institute.
The Bligh Waters and Central Viti MMAs will contribute to an ecological network of MMAs in Fiji aimed at restoring and preserving the health, productivity, and diversity of Fiji's coastal and marine systems.
Said Dr. Mangubhai, "With our community partners and the government of Fiji, we celebrate this special announcement. It is critical that we decrease the pressure we are putting on our ocean, and create a sustainable balance."
"The Bligh Waters and Central Viti MMAs will be the first for Fiji's archipelagic waters and will contribute an additional 1.2 percent to Fiji's international commitments under the Convention on Biological Diversity, "said the Honorable Mr Semi Koroilavesau, Minister for Fisheries. "The MMAs showcase Fiji's drive to attain key achievements on protected areas and efforts towards Sustainable Development Goal 14 to Conserve and Sustainably Use the Oceans, Seas and Marine Resources for Sustainable Development. "This is our home-our health, wealth and wellbeing is intricately connected to the health of our ocean."
The Canary Islands have the potential to become carbon neutral by 2050, a new study indicates. This could be achieved by shifting to a 100% renewable energy supply, improving energy efficiency and building new grid connections between islands. Energy solutions for small island regions, such as the Canaries, could act as role models for larger systems, as well as similar islands, the researchers suggest.
Transferring to a renewable energy supply can be more challenging for islands, as they have small isolated markets for energy and associated technologies. Furthermore, they are often popular with tourists, which makes energy demand very variable and, therefore, harder to provide for with variable renewable supplies. On the other hand, renewable energies represent an excellent opportunity for islands where the cost of energy production is usually much more expensive than on the mainland and where pollution is usually an issue.
This study suggests that it is entirely possible for the popular holiday islands of the Canaries, Spain, to shift over to a near-100% renewable energy system, which is carbon-neutral and cheaper than a fossil-fuel-based system. Currently, the islands import 99% of their energy needs in the form of oil, which is used to generate power, produce heat and for land transport.
The researchers arrived at this conclusion by identifying and modelling the steps needed to meet the goal of a totally renewable energy system in the Canaries by 2050. In their analysis, they took into account not only which energy technologies are available and feasible for the islands, but also how energy savings could be made by various sectors, including industry, transport and the residential sector, and the impact of introducing new energy cables between and across islands.
They assumed that there will be a major shift towards electrical transport; this can be quickly and feasibly introduced, they say, as car journeys are typically short on the Canaries (given each island’s small size), and so battery recharging is not as much of an issue as it is on the mainland. The study also assumed continued economic and population growth, and an ongoing increase in tourist numbers.
The study’s modelling exercises suggest that the total final energy demand of the Canaries could drop to 58 petajoules (PJ) per year if energy efficiency measures are applied across all sectors considered by the researchers1. This compares with around 92 PJ in 2012, and a predicted 131 PJ in 2050, if no measures are taken at all.
This demand could be met by a mixture of renewable energy technologies. With increased sector coupling, power generation becomes more important. A power-generation capacity of between 11.3 and 12.2 gigawatts (GW) would be necessary, depending on how many new energy cables are installed. The overall power generation of this capacity ranges between 16.5 and 18 terawatt hours (TWh), equivalent to 60–65 PJ. This is around 70% of the primary energy demand of 86 PJ and equates to 320–350% of annual peak load. Power cables bring benefits through their effects on the overall balance of energy sources: the higher overall grid capacity enables the use of cheaper power-generation technologies. However, the researchers acknowledge that some of the cables they propose are currently difficult to install, due to the deep and rough seabed.
The least-cost mix of energy sources with the highest potential output of energy would be dominated by solar technologies, which would account for around 37% of primary energy demand, followed by wind (31%), geothermal/ambient heat (29%) and biomass (3%). This shift to renewables could lead to cuts in CO2 emissions by 48% by 2030 and nearly 100% by 2050.
A combination of energy-storage technologies would be needed to better integrate variable power production from wind and photovoltaic generators: hydrogen storage, hydroelectric storage2 and battery storage together with a more active demand response. Again, this mix varies with the degree of grid connectivity — very high connectivity reduces the need for battery storage, for instance.
The mix of energy technologies identified could generate electricity at a cost of €0.10–-0.13 per kilowatts hour (kWh), the researchers calculate. Costs for storage, grid and demand flexibility amount to additional €0.07 per kWh. The cheaper cost, €0.10, assumes that there is a comprehensive network of grid connections across the islands. The savings achieved by introducing renewable energy would offset the costs of installing initial infrastructure, such as cables; a fossil fuel-based power system would cost around €0.23 per kWh in 2050.
However, the study admits to only focusing on land transport and does not include the energy needs of aviation and shipping (significant for this remote holiday destination), which are likely to continue to depend on imports of either fossil or renewable fuels in future.
Sectors considered across all models used in the study were: agriculture, commerce, heating, industry, power, residential, service, tourism, land transport and water.
The researchers say that, given the mountainous surface of most islands and the availability of many water reservoirs, significant potential for an installation of PSH is available in the Canary Islands, concentrated on the islands of Tenerife and Gran Canaria.
With climate change and social inequity addressed, restoring the ocean will help alleviate poverty, provide livelihoods, and improve the health of millions around the world. Credit: Lindsay Lafreniere.
A healthy ocean will benefit global sustainable development in a number of ways, finds a new report published today by the Nippon Foundation-Nereus Program. With climate change and social inequity addressed, restoring the ocean will help alleviate poverty, provide livelihoods, and improve the health of millions around the world.
"The challenges--both environmental and socioeconomic--that confront our oceans have reached a critical level," said Yoshitaka Ota, Nippon Foundation-Nereus Program Director of Policy. "This report demonstrates how ocean sustainability holds the key not only to our future prosperity but also for our survival from a comprehensive science-based perspective."
Developed in preparation for the UN World Ocean Conference, June 5 to 9, this is the first comprehensive report on Sustainable Development Goal 14: Life Below Water. The goal outlines seven targets agreed upon by the international community as key to the issues plaguing our oceans - from eliminating subsidies to minimizing acidification, ending overfishing to creating marine reserves.
"If fish stocks recover and are effectively managed, fisheries are more likely to provide sustainable livelihoods and food, and be more resilient to climate change" said William Cheung, Nippon Foundation-Nereus Program Director of Science. "Sustainable fisheries can help reduce poverty, limit hunger, and contribute to decent work and sustained economic growth by providing employment opportunities and productive fish stocks."
The Nippon Foundation-Nereus Program highlighted linkages between the ocean goal and the other 16 Sustainable Development Goals, developed by the UN in 2015. The report focuses on the challenges of climate change and social equity concerns in achieving ocean sustainability.
Credit: Lindsay Lafreniere.
"Climate change and social equity issues go hand and hand. The countries that are projected to be the hardest hit are tropical countries, which are mostly developing," said Gerald Singh, Nippon Foundation-Nereus Program Senior Fellow at UBC. "Sea levels are rising and fish are moving to different locations. But populations are also growing and moving towards coasts. Reducing inequalities is at the heart of sustainable development."
The co-benefits of achieving the ocean goal on the other sustainable development goals are wide reaching and not immediately apparent.
"The results may seem surprising, but a healthy ocean can contribute to achieving gender equality," said Ota. "Fisheries activities are quite gendered -- women typically do unrecognized and unrewarded work. Men will go on boats to capture fish that are sent to markets. But women are often collecting the subsistence food."
"A healthy ocean can also mean the difference between malnourishment and a steady supply of high quality protein for vulnerable communities," said Andrés Cisneros-Montemayor, Nippon Foundation-Nereus Program Manager. "The oceans are connected to our lives in many ways. Restoring the oceans isn't just an environmentalist's dream but is vital for employment, well being, livelihoods, and health around the world."
