We need more Bedzeds

Bedzed - Beddington Zero Energy Design

William Steel, Generation Green Think Tank member

Did you know that cats give off about 10 watts of heat and dogs about 15 watts. I suspect that a friend of mine with a Great Dane gets as much heat from his as a human though - roughly 100 watts. I was told this whilst being shown round Bedzed - Beddington Zero Energy Design Building.

This green apartment complex on the outskirts of London makes the most of heat from a variety of sources. The most impressive thing is that none of the flats actually have radiators - they're not needed. The building is very well insulated, they're designed to optimise heat from the sun and they also make the most of body heat too! One of the ways they do this is by creating a building that's used for both residential and office space. This means there are people around all the time - keeping the space warm.

There are 99 flats in total - and there are only three boilers servicing all of them. These are used for hot water. But it means that each dwelling is using about 83% less gas than people living in neighbouring properties. And 40% less electricity.

They're also efficient in their water use. The average person in the UK uses roughly 153 litres of water per day but at Bedzed it's nearly half that. However, I learnt that in the US the average is 460 litres of water a day per head and in Las Vegas it's a staggering 1300 litres! And Las Vegas is a desert area.

One of the ways they save on water is by putting bubbles in it. This makes the spray from taps look like there's a lot of volume, when actually, there's not very much. Low flush loos also play a part.

This was my second visit to Bedzed - the first was about a year after it started in 2003. This time I came with about 20 school children as part of the British Gas Generation Green Think Tank, that I am leading. It is our third visit to a 'green' project. The first was to Closed Loop Recycling in Dagenham, where they recycle plastic bottles. The second was the Met Office in Exeter, where the children learnt something about the science of climate change.

Our next trip will be to the Houses of Parliament, to present the children's policy ideas. The plan is to invite MPs, including the Prime Minister, to hear what they have to say. And to understand that there are lots of children who are concerned about their future and want to do something about it.

The great thing about Bedzed was that it was a real illustration of how attractive green living can be. None of the children would have preferred to live in the neighbouring buildings - a bog-standard development, with no green rooves, electric cars or community living. And Bedzed research showed that people living there generally knew about 20 of their neighbours. The equivalent figure for the UK is 3 neighbours.

You can see from the photos that the roof top cowls are very striking. They move with the wind and effectively ventilate the building, so the super thick insulation doesn't make it too stuffy.

It's a great pity there aren't more buildings like this. Having sat on the District Council in my area I think there's not nearly enough incentive to go this route. We need more innovation and green thinking - remembering that we're building in problems or solutions for many years ahead. If builders can't do it they shouldn't be given planning permission - perhaps that's one of the messages the children will be taking to Government.

Recycling plastic mountains

Omer Kutluoglu - Plastics recycling entrepreneur

In the UK we throw away mountains of plastic waste and use lots of plywood. Apart from a small amount of plastic bottles and an even smaller number of plastic bags, pretty well all the rest of our plastic debris is discarded, never to be used again. Omer Kutluoglu, a half-Turkish entrepreneur and INSEAD graduate, thinks this is ludicrous. One of his previous businesses was selling small cheap electronics – phones, MPG players and similar – many of which are bought as disposable items.

I visited Omer at the site of his new factory near Luton. His business, 2k Manufacturing is setting up to start recycling large quantities of mixed plastic, including electronic waste, into a product called Eco Sheet.

The brilliant thing about this process is that it can take mixed plastic from pretty well any source and even contaminated material – bits of paper and metal for example don’t cause a problem. This avoids a huge amount of sorting and grading, which is a significant part of most recycling processes. It also means that the volume of raw material for the process is almost infinite and it will be diverted from the waste stream.

There are lots of products that could use Eco Sheet but 2k have decided to focus on replacing plywood for the building trade and signage industry, which gets through between 20 and 25 million 8ft by 4ft sheets every year. This is virgin wood – some of it from rainforest areas. The plywood boards, used as fascia for building sites are often discarded after a single use – they are damaged by getting wet. But the Eco Sheets are impermeable to water and can be used again and again. They are also lighter, don’t have splinters and are cost competitive.

The plant in Luton is just gearing up but, not surprisingly, demand from the building industry is high – it looks likely to exceed supply as soon as the product becomes available. Other plants are planned around the country. My view is that the sooner they’re up and running the better. The building trade is currently the most wasteful industry on the planet. Anything we can do to lessen that has to be a good thing.

Amsterdam Declaration - Club of Rome Conference

Club of Rome conference delegates

Gorbachev looking a bit grim, arriving at Club of Rome conference

Gorbachev was the most high profile speaker but others on the platform included the former Dutch Prime Minister Ruud Lubbers, a former Chilean President, as well as leading lights from the environmental world, such as Jim Hansen, Gunter Pauli, Bill McDonough, Michael Braungart and Ernst von Weizsacker. There were also contributions from business including Philips Electronics, Shell and Triodos Bank.

The two day conference in Amsterdam was organised by the Club of Rome, famous for its Limits to Growth Report in the early 1970s. Worryingly, the over-riding theme was that their concerns and predictions about the depletion of the world’s natural resources were proving to be rather accurate. And that the threats from climate change would shortly be irreversible unless there was a very dramatic change in the world’s response. The culminated with a document called the Amsterdam Declaration. The plan was to present this to the Copenhagen Summit in December as further reinforcement to some significant global commitments.

In my view there were three major conclusions from this conference, as follows:"

1. The world needs to move away from GDP as a measurement for wealth, so that prosperity is not directly linked to depletion of resources.

2. The target for reduction in greenhouse gases should be no more than 350 ppm (parts per million) rather than 450 ppm, if we are to avoid runaway climate change.

3. Developed countries should commit to building no new coal-fired power stations and developing countries, including China should have clear deadlines for phasing them out.

He heads the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York but is best known for his testimony on climate change to the congressional committees in the 1980s, that helped raise broad awareness of global warming issues. As well as explaining some of the tipping points for climate change he told the conference that “the most essential thing is to put a price on carbon emissions”. His idea was that the US, China and Europe should ramp up the costs of carbon emissions and invest revenue in preventing climate change. Developing countries, exporting carbon intensive products or services, would also have to pay, but the money would be given back to them to pay for women’s education, re-afforestation and other important initiatives.

Gorbachev summed up his views by saying that “This is an emergency – the planet is in a perilous and disastrous state.” And that we need “political will at the highest levels to commit to industrialised countries leading the reduction in emissions”. He also pointed out that the economy was not undermined by environmental concerns but by the ‘glorification of consumerism”.

The Dutch Minister for the Environment, Jacqueline Cramer, made her commitment clear. Her message for the Copenhagen summit was that "We have to turn the Age of Stupid into the Age of Wisdom”. I hope that she’s not alone in pressing for action and innovation. My fear is that she may be overwhelmed by those trying to put the brakes on and explaining why any commitments should be made by someone else.

As well as attending this conference, which I found very motivating, I spent 4 days in Amsterdam with my eldest son Connor and my mother. We went on a canal cruise and did a lot of walking around the city, crossing over quite a few of the 1281 bridges that are an integral part of the city – and we stayed on a barge.

My mother, Minker with my son Connor and me in Amsterdam

The Age of Stupid film

I've just watched this film at a screening in the nearby village of South Petherton. The village hall was jam packed, although I was one of the few who had taken along my children. At the beginning we were warned of bad language in the film but actually all that I noticed was someone swearing a couple of times.

It wasn't really a very child-friendly film. My middle son, who is nearly 13, found it hard going - he said it was 'boring' and not nearly as good as 'An Inconvenient Truth'. However my youngest son, who is two years younger was more positive. He wanted to look at the website - www.notstupid.org.

Sitting next to me was a friend who imports toys and stationery products from China. I turned to look at him when the film explained that about one quarter of the energy produced in China is used on making - in their words - 'crap products' to export overseas. He was asleep! To be fair, I don't think he snoozed off for long and he definitely didn't do it after that - but perhaps that was because I kept an eye on him....

The part of the film I found most engaging was about a chap who was trying to get more wind turbines built in the UK. He said that we really needed to move faster on this but most of the proposals put forward are turned down in the planning process by protesters.

The key concern is aesthetics. And this is despite the fact that most people claim that they are worried about climate change and want to do something about it. That 'something' clearly doesn't stretch to having turbines anywhere near their homes. Personally, I'd be very keen to have some turbines on the hill where I live - they would be far more attractive, in my view, than the existing mobile phone mast. But I'm not yet sure how my neighbours would react...

There's one statistic in the film that's particularly striking even though I've heard it before. It tells us that whilst only 1% of scientists are sceptical about man-made climate change, the figure for the general public is around 60%. I think that there's so much debate about whether there is a problem or not because it diverts people from facing up to the fact that we're all going to have to make changes to our lifestyles.

Certainly, when I went to the Met Office in Exeter, where weather across the globe is forecast in the near and long term, there were no doubts at all. They were unequivocal. Climate change is happening and we need to respond.

The Age of Stupid gave insights into people's lives across the globe. One of it's strongest messages is about the disparity between the rich and the poor, as well as pointing a finger at the capitalist system. They summarised this with a quotation saying that our society was good at making a profit but not so good at preservation. And in the debate that followed the film in the village hall there were fiercely opposing views on this subject.

Personally, I don't think we can sort out all the evils of the world - and come up with a completely fair society with no poverty or injustice. And I believe that it doesn't make sense to suggest that we have to address these concerns before we can really do anything about climate change or other environmental issues. I don't think it's a sin to make a profit. What I do think is that we want to try and make sure that people profit from working towards a green future.

That's an argument I've been having for a very long time. In 1989 I was a speaker at the Green Party conference in Wolverhampton. I was heckled from the audience with a cry of 'why have we got someone on the platform who is making money from the environment'. Although the debate may have a similar theme, I think we've moved on a long way from then - and many more businesses are moving in the right direction. I don't want to take away the profit motive. I want to encourage them to do more - a lot more.

Hopefully, the Age of Stupid, will help with this. It was certainly thought-provoking on a number of levels. I'd encourage anyone who hasn't seen it to go, although you might get mixed reviews from your children.....
Phone mast on Coker Hill

Water refill stations are coming

I generally carry a water bottle around with me when I'm travelling. It saves on buying bottled water on the move. Anyone who has read previous blogs of mine will know that I'm not a great fan of bottled water - lots of energy used in transport, packaging, waste etc...

However, according to the Guardian, London is going to introduce its first water refill machines in late October. They'll be on trial. The 'Hydrachills' as they are known, will be installed at Hammersmith Bus Station and at the Tower Bridge Museum. These machines will fill up to 500ml of chilled water for a small fee. Even better, the proceeds will go to Waste Watch, which is a charity working to reduce waste.

The hope is that the scheme will be extended to bus and railway stations, as well as the London Underground, ahead of the 2012 Olympics. Let's hope they're a success.

Solar powered lighting is good

My outside light is great. It's a solar powered security light, with a movement sensor. I've had it up for a few months now and it's works really well. It came from Eco Promotion - a website that sells lots of energy efficient products from light bulbs to radiator panels.

We had to put up a small solar panel a little way from the light installation, so that it got some light in the day - but it's not in a very bright spot because it's on the North side of the house. Even so, it seems to get plenty of power for what's needed. The light itself is above the back door. It seems to know before we've even started coming through the gate in the car because it's always on, when I'm parking.

But, of course, the best thing about it, is that it doesn't use any energy to run.

One of my worries when I moved to this house was that all the outside light installations literally gobbled energy, even if they're only on for a short time. The one I had was at the bottom end of the range and still used 200 watts.

I'd definitely recommend solar lights wherever you can use them. I'm not such a fan of CFL lights with sensor that turns the light on when it's dark - so it's on all night whether you need it or not. I don't think lights should be on when they're not being used. A movement sensor makes much more sense.

Is Rick Stein's fish sustainably sourced?

Last weekend I went to Padstow. This fishing port is best known for its association with Rick Stein, who appears to own half of the businesses in the town from his eponymous restaurant, fish & chip shop and deli to a local pub, bistro and patisserie.

Predictably there was no space for a last minute booking at his restaurant. We were told that we might be able to eat there if we tried our luck at the bar without booking. The menu looked great but the uncertainty wasn't what we were looking for. So we decided to try out Stein's Fish & Chip shop, the following day.

I've been there before and remembered that the food is great. Good chunky chips, fresh salad and a wide range of grilled and battered fish.

But what about the sustainability of the fish we were eating? There were no signs anywhere I could see telling customers what the policy was. So we asked the Polish waitress whether the fish had been sustainably caught. Not surprisingly, she didn't understand the word 'sustainable'. A lady from behind the counter overheard. She shouted across that the cod was from 'sustainable sources'.

We wrote the word 'sustainable' down for our Polish helper and tried to explain what it meant. But she didn't get much help from her colleagues except to say which fish had been locally caught. Most but not all of it. The 'sustainable' cod came from Iceland, I think. The sea bass was farmed - which is quite common. And there was no information about the skate and the monk fish, which are the two species I know to be particularly vulnerable.

Advice from Fish Online, which advises on the sustainability of fish says this about skate:
ADVICE: The common skate belies its name as it is becoming very rare in UK shallow seas and in European waters. Common skate is assessed as Critically Endangered by IUCN -World Conservation Union. Avoid eating.

Monkfish advice is a little less categorical: Monk or anglerfish are a long-lived species and have low resilience to fishing. Avoid eating fish from the depleted southern stock. To help increase the sustainability of fish eaten from healthy stocks, ensure fish is above or equal to the size at which it matures - at least 70cms - and avoid eating during its breeding season - spring and early summer.

Surprisingly, if you look at Rick Stein's website, he talks about sustainable fishing. And in 2006 the Sustainable Fish Summit was held at Rick Stein's cookery school in Padstow. So why not say something about the issue in his fish and chip shop? Given that Stein's name has become almost synonymous with fish, I think this is a huge failure.

Even the Food Standard's Agency is advising consumers to make 'informed, sustainable choices' and to 'choose fish that has been produced sustainably or responsibly managed' as well as to look for 'assurance scheme logos'. I try hard to do this - and often ask at the restaurants or hotels I go to about their policies. But it's unusual to get a well-informed response. Many think that 'locally caught' is synonymous with 'sustainable' but it's not.

Back to my fish and chip lunch - rembering advice from Charles Clover's excellent film 'End of the Line', and from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's TV series on fish, I thought I look for an alternative to cod or haddock, like pollock. It wasn't on the main menu but luckily was a special for the day. And it was truly delicious.

Next time I'm in Padstow, I'll make another visit and hope that things have changed. Sustainable fish policies should be easy to see, easy to understand and promoted to the public. If not then we'll be lucky if there's any fish left for us to eat and Rick Stein will be out of business - or at least his fish business.