Page 3 - Survival Plan: Climate Emergency

By David Walsh
Business Editor david.walsh@jpimedia.co.uk
Wednesday,September18,2019 www.thestar.co.uk THESTAR 3
‘2050 target can be reached - but only with funding and political will’
“I think we can survive.” That’s the view of Prof Lenny Koh, of the Energy
Institute at the University of Sheffield - but it comes with a big caveat.
She and colleagues agree that the technology exists
to get the UK to ‘net carbon neutral’ by 2050 and even become ‘net carbon negative’ by using emissions to create new fuels.
But technology, while impressive in its potential,
is only part of a jigsaw
which includes nothing
less than collaboration on a global scale. That requires long term funding and unprecedented political will.
Such decisions will be based in part on the latest
science and thinking from the institute.
Its expertise ranges from solar, wind and nuclear power, to batteries, carbon capture use and storage. It also looks at lifecycle - from materials to manufacture and from decommissioning to recycling - for only then can you know what is truly sustainable.
Prof Koh said: “I think we can survive. The big caveat is the successful implementation of policy and the collaboration of international partners.”
Energy Institute
head, Prof Mohamed Pourkashanian, added: “The technology is there if we want to implement it. But the
zero carbon economy that will control society is still being put together.”
Both stress there is no single solution to the world’s sustainable energy needs.
To maintain or improve living standards on a planet set to hit 9bn people by 2050 - and limit global heating to two degrees as required by the Paris accord - energy consumption will increase but at the same time carbon dioxide emissions have to be reduced significantly (negative emission) , Prof Pourkashanian said.
That means capturing CO2 from industry and power stations - or even the atmosphere - and storing or reusing it. Researchers
PICTURE SCOTT MERRYLEES
Profs Mohamed Pourkashanian and Lenny Koh of the Energy Institute at Sheffield University.
at the institute are working on producing alternative aviation fuels from captured CO2 and hydrogen from renewable energy which is a priority area at national and international level.
Batteries will also play a huge role in balancing
power supply when the wind doesn’t blow and the sun doesn’t shine. And the government has set a goal of all new cars being electric by 2040.
David Stone, Professor of electrical engineering, said heavy industry was needed to make batteries and they were expensive. So they were looking at ways of using them as much as possible, such
as linking them up at a Park and Ride to power an electric tram system. But to get involved, drivers would need an incentive.
“At the moment much is being driven by companies and their priority is shareholders.
“I suspect that something
big has got to change.” But taxes could see
production shift overseas. Prof Pourkashanian said an international approach was needed.
“CO2 has no borders, We can have a zero carbon target but if other countries don’t it won’t have any impact. There’s an argument for looking at it internationally, perhaps have the UN
make decisions. We are in transition from 100 per cent fossil fuels to 100 per cent renewables, integrating the old system with the new.
“The younger generation is very keen to bring it in. I’m very impressed with them. They will generate a fantastic future.”
Music spreads the message
UNDERSTANDING HOW WE FEEL ABOUT OUR FOOD
Research into ‘public understanding of food insecurity
and consumption through music’ may sound...unusual.
But it is at the cutting edge of work into an emerging understanding of the most powerful aspect of a global drive to feed the planet: how we feel about food.
Prof Duncan Cameron of the Institute for Sustainable Food at the University of Sheffield says our deep- rooted, visceral relationship with it can override what might appear to be common sense. It explains why ‘golden rice’ which is packed with nutrients is shunned in Asia, simply for being the wrong colour.
Aversions are part of who we are. And to someone who has little, or has lost everything, they are even more important still.
Prof Cameron, who has worked on food projects in refugee camps in Jordan,
‘It turns out the most powerful way to win hearts and mins is through
the arts and music, not some boring professor talking to you’
said: “If you lose everything, you want to maintain the things that are ‘you’ and that includes your aversions.
“A lot of it is about self respect. People aren’t stupid. If it comes down to life or death aversions can change. But you would be surprised.”
The other factor at play is ‘engagement’. Preaching about the benefits of new technology won’t work persuade a farmer to use it unless they feel a sense of ownership.
“It turns out the most powerful way to win hearts and minds is through the arts and music, not some
Prof Duncan Cameron researches climate ready crops.
crops, genetically modified foods - eaten in the US but illegal in Europe - and a total switch to renewable energy.
But that needs new policies, which means persuading politicians
- and that takes hard evidence. Prof Cameron has contributed to the Paris climate change negotiations and supported the work of the UK and EU Parliaments.
“The most harmful statistic is that our parents spent up to 40 per cent of their income on food and today it’s less than 10 per cent. That comes at a cost to the environment. In my lifetime we have lost a third of all the soil on earth.
“If we all thought about how we might reduce our impact in ways we are comfortable with, it would make a difference on a global scale.”
On a local level, the institute runs an urban farm in Tinsley.
“We asked the community and they said they wanted to access understanding around food education, sustainability, healthy eating and horticulture.”
boring professor talking to you.”
Hence the research.
These new understandings are why the Institute for Sustainable Food includes more than 100 researchers from five faculties. And why, despite being just five months old, it is backed with millions by the University of Sheffield.
Looking at the vast scale
of the global food security challenge felt overwhelming at first, Prof Cameron admits.
“It’s not a problem a person or a small group is going to solve. But get 100 researchers across five faculties talking to each other and suddenly it doesn’t seem so overwhelming.”
The University of
Sheffield created the nation’s first environmental sciences degree, under Prof David Read in the 1970s.
Today the Institute for Sustainable Food researches everything from soil to crops to horticulture in the context of a changing world. Prof Cameron believes we already have the ability to sustainably feed the planet by embracing climate-ready